The battles of Gallet continue on and wow there are a lot of events going on this past weekend, in almost every corner of the world. We see Seraphon making a resurgance with the more Galetian Veteran friendly Fangs of Sotek eclipsing Thunder Lizards (I think Skinks may be an invasive species) and Nighthaunt establishing themself as a serious threat in the meta. There’s still a lot of interesting lists to see with a few surprised so with no further ado lets begin.

Raccoon Rumble

120-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Vellmar, Germany on September 16 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Colin Klären – Maggotkin of Nurgle:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Matthias Brinkert – Nighthaunt:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

A real unstoppable force meets unmovable object match. With 70 Bladegheist Revenants there isn’t a whole lot that can stop the charge of this kind of Nighthaunt List. A 20 ghost unit is looking at doing 60 attacks at Rend -1 on the Charge, cutting through many enemy forces like ribbons. It doesn’t suffer on defense, either. In addition to the Ethereal rule, the Cruciators reduce damage by 1, and Soul Torments can bring back dead models.

Still, Nurgle is one of the armies who is uniquely designed to handle a threat like this. The excess of blight kings are incredibly tough and can blunt the charge quite well, and then push back with mortal wounds to overcome the Etheral armor saves. For as strong as the Nighthaunt list is, it needs to push really hard to make up for it. Sadly it comes up a bit short and doesn’t quite clear it.

Result

Maggotkin of Nurgle Victory – 12 – 8

Colin Klären – Maggotkin of Nurgle – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Rotcoven supported by Blightkings, Pusgoyles and Plaguebearers.

Thoughts

The shift to Galet has pushed a lot of debate about whether Flies have lost their place or if they need to make way for foot troops. This list asks, why not both? Combining the solid Anvil that is Blightkings with the more movement heavy Pusgoyles gives a solid mix of offense and defense.

An unusual choice is the focus on the Rotcoven, normally a Lord of Afflictions with the usual kit would be expected in any list with Pusgoyles, but not here. Colin completely eschews them to focus on casting, packed with a solid array of buffs, Mortal Wounds spells and Endless Spells to mess with opponents. With the bonuses to casting, only more specialized casters will be able to regularly stop the onslaught of spells that come their opponent’s way.

Tristan Pfaffenholz – Seraphon – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Seraphon good stuff, with the powerful teleport and summoning Fangs of Sotek allows

Thoughts

Fangs of Sotek have sort of faded into a distant second place, coming back in a big way in Galet. The focus on infantry while still being solid with the bigger, scarier units allows it to succeed much better in many missions. The skink buffs are clear: When everything goes on correctly, they get 60 attacks with reroll 1s to hit and mortal wounds on 6s to wound. Parting Shot is basically a better Unleash Hell, if the roll goes off.

The other stuff just plain works: Salamanders are mortal wound machines, Bastiladons are decent ranged damage even if they can’t fire twice and Saurus guard make excellent early game screens or outriders. The leader suite is pretty standard, but an interesting choice is giving a Slann Master of Magic and the Arcane Tome, giving them another spell and guarantee they pretty much can’t fail, ever.

The Best of the Rest

There were 10 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd – Stephan Kintzel – Idoneth Deepkin: An Eidolon, a Soulscryer and Soulrender lead some thralls and reavers and a Krondspine helps out.
• 4th – Lukas Raczek – Daughters of Khaine: Morathi and a Melusai lead some Blood Stalkers, Witch Aelves and A Krondspine.
• 5th – Daniel Pommer – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Pusgoyle Spam.
• 6th – Andreas Hölter – Stormcast Eternals: Knight-Draconis and nothing but Stormdrakes.
• 7th – Tobias Schwarz – Disciples of Tzeentch: A herohammer list with the usual suspects of Kairos, Magister, Lord of Change and Changecaster. Leading screamer screens and a Krondspine.
• 8th – Timo Knapp – Kharadron Overlords: Ironclad, Thunderers, Admiral. You know the deal by now.
• 9th – Jonas Schlüter – Daughters of Khaine: Morathi and Ironscale with Bowsnakes, Spearsnakes and Shadowstalkers.
• 10th – Dan Tipp – Fyreslayers: 4 Magmadroths and a unit of Berzerkers.
• 11th – Matthias Brinkert – Nighthaunt: Bladegheist Revenant Spam.
• 12th – Jan Tomeček – Beasts of Chaos: Lots of Tzaangors, both on foot and on discs.

Hammerfest 2022

88-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Houston, TX, US on September 17 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission –

Kel Pigg – Nighthaunt: The Quicksilver Dead:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Zach Kennedy – Sylvaneth: Harvestboon:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Nighthaunt lists tend to lean hard on Dreadscythe Harridans or Bladegheist Revenants. Both are solid, just pick one and really lean in on it. Both have the same goal, charge in and tear the enemy to shreds with lots of attacks. Few armies can handle that and survive.

However, this Sylvaneth list is particularly well suited to handling it. They can warp out as neccesary to avoid the blunt of the damage, and spiteriders can heal up at the end of each phase, to avoid proccing the Dreadscythe’s bonuses to hit and to wound. The Incarnate is similarly well suited to blunt their attacks, as it shirks all its damage after each round.

In the end the Sylvaneth win by a decent margin.

Result

Sylvaneth: Harvestboon Victory – 30 – 23

Zach Kennedy – Sylvaneth: Harvestboon – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Spiteriders accompanied by an Incarnate

Thoughts

A fascinating list. The Spiteriders end up taking almost half of this list, and thats before the Incarnate takes another fifth. Not that I’m questioning it, because these gys attacks hurt. 24 Rend -2 and 18 Rend -1 Attacks is going to chip through a lot of units. They also are difficult to lock down, able to warp away and charge back in again, gaining Strike-First. The Krondspine adds a solid buffer of raw damage on top, and gives them reroll charges they will so badly need.

Matt Beasley – Legion of the First Prince – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Legion of the First Prince with Kairos, Boomthirster, Contorted Epitome and Khorne Daemon Prince. No Be’lakor, but Krondspine for spice!

Thoughts

Since the nerf to Legion of the First Prince the faction has pretty much been written off, Be’lakor is a bit too vulnerable with just a 4+ Ethereal save and no bodyguard. Well this list says to hell with him and runs a lot of the staple heroes and a Krondspine to add some extra punch. The basic jist strategy would remain much the same, but Be’lakor be a liability.

Matt Robisch – Sylvaneth – 3rd Place

Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

John B – Beasts of Chaos:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Quite honestly, the Beasts of Chaos got a real edge here. While Sons of Behemat are strong, they are vulnerable to lots of high rend attacks and this list has it in spades. The Dragon Ogors and Tzangors on Discs can hit them with a lot of damage rapidly, and Hailstorm with Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws is a potent mortal wounds dealer even on relatively fast enemies.

The Giants list is largely…well it’s giants. You know what they do, chill out on the point and if they can hold on, great. If the BOC player can keep their herdstone guarded from all the monsters on the other side, they have a real advantage. Overall this final match gets pretty hairy, ending in only a 4 point difference.

Result

Beasts of Chaos Victory – 0 – 4

John B – Beasts of Chaos – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Dragon Ogor bonanza supported by Krondspine and Tzaangors on Discs

Thoughts

This is basically “Beasts of Chaos Good Stuff”. Dragon Ogors are incredible, especially when supported by a Shaggoth. Tanky and have a lot of attacks for such a low model count, the rend from the Herdstone makes them a terrifying threat.

Tzaangors offer ranged support while the gors can be screens and flankers, and ungors get smashed against the rock for summoning.

JJ Cropley – Stormcast Eternals – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Certainly not any archtype I’m used to…lots of Vexillors and Judicators.

Thoughts

This…frankly bizzare list is a ranged heavy list which can plant D3 Mortal Wounds all over the battle field to break up castles and pelt them with arrows, while the Annihilators and the Krondspine hold the front line. Absolutely out there list and I respect it.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd – Nathan Watson – Blades of Khorne: Triple Bloodthirsters and Krondspine.
• 4th – Adam Turner – Sons of Behemat: See Showdown.
• 5th – Donald Macrae – Hosts of Slaanesh: Glutos is a surprise appearance alongside Slaanesh mainstays like Sigvald, Contored Epitome and Blissbarb Archers.
• 6th – David Jack – Nighthaunt: Bladegheist Revanant Spam with the usual suspects for Leaders
• 7th – Leigh Martin – Daughters of Khaine: A surprisingly Morathi free list with lots of Witch Aelves, allied Black Ark Corsairs and two Avatars of Khaine.

Invasion AOS 2022

44-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Vest-Agder, NO on September 17 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission –

Eirik Søraa – Nighthaunt: The Scarlet Doom:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Tom Kenneth Solli – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Bladegheist Revenant Nighthaunt vs Skink spam Fangs of Sotek. We’ve covered both these lists in other tournaments so I won’t belabor the point, but since Nighthaunt live or die by the charge phase, this puts them at a severe disadvantage when they can both Parting shot and Unleash Hell on two units the charge phase, if necessary. This ends up going a fair bit in favor of the Seraphon, as predictable

Result

Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek Victory – 15 – 5

Tom Kenneth Solli – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Fangs of Sotek Skink Spam

Thoughts

At this point we’ve come across it so much there isn’t much to say. We’ve moved from Thunder lizards to Fangs of Sotek which means more Skinks, but the Skinks combo still works, just even better with Parting Shot. Salamanders and Bastiladons offer ranged support

Benjamin Flodda – Skaventide – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

6 Stormfiends supported by a Warlock Bombadier and 2 Verminlords.

Thoughts

Before the current tome. 9 Stormfiends was generally accepted as the way to go, as it was far and ahead the best unit in the book. Now that you have options, they’re still really good but there’s a good argument for dialing it back to 6 so you can fit more stuff in.

Like 2 Verminlords! Verminords are aggressively underutilized, theyre great models and put up a solid fight, something many Skaven units lack. The Clanrats make disposable cannon fodder, as they should.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd – Sindre Kjølvang – Soulblight Gravelords: Mannfred, Vordrai and a Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon lead 10 Blood knights, some skeletons and grave guard.
• 4th – Ole Vatland – Ironjawz: 1 mounted Warboss and 2 Warchanters with lots of pigs and 5 Ardboyz
• 5th – Kristoffer Mällberg – Beasts of Chaos: Lots of Bestigors and Ungor Raiders supplemented with a Krondspine and Cygor.
• 6th – Lasse Kalberg – Daughters of Khaine: Morathi, Ironscale and 15 Bowsnakes with some Witch Aelves and Shadowstalkers for support.
• 7th – Lars Hjelen – Sylvaneth: Spiteriders and Kurnoth hunters make up the bulk of this force’s damage dealers, with lots of heroes and chaff sprinkled in.

Montreal GT

42-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Montréal, Québec, CA on September 17 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Prize of Gallet

Julien Saïz – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Danick Gagne – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Push comes to shove I’ll give this to Seraphon. Ah, sorry! You’re right. I’ll give it to Fangs of Sotek.

OK! Fine! Geez. Both lists are naturally trying to do pretty much the same thing here, Skink blob being the focus centerpiece with the other stuff around it supporting it to do some additional damage and general support ability. I think Danick might have the edge here, while the Bastiladon in Julian’s list is tanky and offers some chunky long range damage, Danick has 2 squads of 30 skinks for redundancy and Salamanders can do a lot of damage, albeit at shorter range. Which isn’t such a bad trade when you have a free can’t fail teleport. This match ends up being a bit of a blow out, with the glass cannon strategy managing to push back against the tankier list.

Result

Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek Victory – 33 – 14

Danick Gagne – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Skink blob Fangs of Sotek

Thoughts

As stated above this list is much more delicate, lacking a Bastiladon and much in the way of tankier creatures but it’s effective at its job. It packs a ton of redundancies with enough skinks to block out the sun, with two 30 blobs to put down the keys buff and smaller groups to offer point holders and disposable screens.

Christian Riel – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Drowned Men – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Nurgle fly spam.

Thoughts

The hot debate about Nurgle flies continues and the argument that its not dead is pretty damn strong. The manueverability and mortal wounds is just difficult for most armies to match, who cares if you can’t get Expert Conquerers if you just kill everything on the board anyway? The 10 man block of Blightkings is good for holding back lines, or just plain grinding the opposition out.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd – Vincent-Pierre Martineau – Nighthaunt: A healthy mix of Dreadscythes and Bladegheists, supported by the usual cast of Leaders.
• 4th – Alex Thibaudeau – Stormcast Eternals: Pure Vanguard spam with hunters and Palladors alongside the usual Longstrikes.
• 5th – Julien Saïz – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek Skink Spam
• 6th – Loic Gosselin Delort – Kharadron Overlords: Barak-Zilfin with Arkanaut company, Ironclad and Thunderers.
• 7th – Frederick Proulx – Ironjawz: Two megabosses, one mounted and one on foot, with a healthy mix of Warchanters, Pigs, brutes and Ardboyz.
• 8th – Marc-Andre Fecteau – Nighthaunt: A more Herohammer list with Lady Olynder and a menagerie of different units mashed together.

Northern Wastes GT

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Prince George, British Columbia, CA on September 17 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission –

Nic Fortin – Skaventide:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Matthew Chaput – Flesh-eater Courts:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

The Skaven book is still pretty new and people have had a wild ride trying to suss out what you can do with it. This list definitely focuses on putting much more bodies on the field, synergizing the plague monks with a plague priest. The  FEC list is much more monster heavy, with 2 Terrorgheist Leaders supported by a Krondspine.

In the end the huge number of Skaven win in a bit of a blow out.

Result

Skaventide Victory – 20 – 5

Nic Fortin – Skaventide – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

A real skaventide list focused on Clan Pestilens and a lot of the most fun artefacts the book has.

Thoughts

One of the things I guessed about the Skaven book is that there would be a lot of paths to victory and there wouldn’t be a clear list. While 6 or 9 stormfiends still does quite well, the field has allowed a lot of different options paths to victory here.

In this case there’s a clear focus on Clan Pestilens, with the Priest granting a bonus attack for the units, their Rend -2 on 6s isn’t quite as good as Mortal wounds but it gets pretty damn close, especially on that many attacks (60 for a fully buffed unit).

The dipping in of the Deathmaster gives him access to the Gnawbomb, so the plague monks can get across the field quicker, and the Bombadier gives the brass orb, allowing him to remove a threat for a turn. This list is the only one that ended the event 5-0

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Daytond Obre – Daughters of Khaine: Zainthar Kai: Morathi, Melusai with 20 Blood Sisters and 15 Blood Stalkers.
• 3rd – Matthew Chaput – Flesh Eater Courts: See showdown.
• 4th – Ryeker Gilbert – Fyreslayers: A Lofnir list but surprisingly only 2 monsters, with 20 Berzerkers and a strong entourage of heroes backing it up.

Wrap Up

Whew! Another wild week, and a ton of events after a few weeks of slow goings. Seraphon seem to be happily back on the top of the meta pile, albeit in another form but they do not go uncontested. Many recent battletomes are showing off their stuff and putting up a solid fight, and some old favorites are peaking their head up just to show they’re still alive. We got a few more months before the end of the year so there’s plenty of time for things to change. See you all next week!