It’s not just the 10,000 dispensing the Emperor’s wrath this week, and today we’ll see that the Sororitas are at it as well. Presumably the Drukhari have falsified some documents to get themselves off the purging list, because they’re also out here thriving, as will be recounted in detail later in the article.

Today Lowest of Men will take on:

Battle To End Alzheimers 2024
Warhammer World 40,000 Grand Tournament
Renegades Open: Echoes Of War 6
Wizards Asylum GT
2nd Annual Blue Ridge Championship GT Hosted By Battle Company 540 & Sector Cville
Saffron Slam VIII

Today I’ll be covering:

Kassel GT – Alpine Cup
The NORTHAMPTON 40k SUPER-MAJOR
The guild 2nd Gt
The 36 Chambers #3
Hydra GT 2024 I (February)
Kingston Nexus 40k Club Champs 2024

Battle To End Alzheimers 2024

109-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Westminster, MD, US on February 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jeffrey Kolodner – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Sisters MSU

Thoughts

Ok- the Adepta Sororitas are cooking in post-slate land. This is for a couple of reasons. Some of their worst match ups have taken hits, and the overall shift in the game away from artillery (except Guard) has freed them to move away from the swingy Exorcist platform towards a bunch of cheaper, more consistent units (Castigators, Paragons, Immolators, etc). This list packs a horrific width of assets in which means it’s ability to score and deny scoring is immense. It may not have quite the spike output that a list oriented around the Triumph would have had, but it is extremely well placed to dominate games of 10th edition. Solo Mortifiers make obnoxious screening and trading pieces- armies will really struggle to get their teeth into units that matter against this army, bouncing instead off layers of disposable, cheap units. Really well done on the first place finish!!

(The unit names are amazing – please get in touch if ‘Old Tom’ the Priest is in fact named after Old Tom from Muppets Treasure Island, as I make that joke a lot. Don’t bother if he isn’t.)

Zach Point – Ynnari (Battle Host) – 2nd Place

Drukhari Kabalite Warriors. Credit: Charlie Brassley

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ynnari Lance Spam

Thoughts

Poor old Eldar are having to fall back on an entire Index of excellent units and the remainder of their excellent rules at the moment, and as a result are only continuing to be really, really good. One way of achieving this is maximising certain kinds of skew by borrowing across the Drukhari range in Ynnari, a combination I expect we will see a lot more of. I love this build from Zach which jams as many high quality Lance shots in as it possibly can by bringing some Ravagers along for the party, supplementing them with the stickying of objectives and OC from Kabalites, who are really nifty utility even outside of pure Drukhari. Support Weapons are still just as lethal and obnoxious as they’ve always been, and it was only really the Eldar mirror (and the Nightspinner / Yncarne combo) that was keeping them out of lists. Finally free of Eldar, Eldar can now thrive! A very cool list and a really impressive finish, well done.

Joshua Campbell – Necrons (Canoptek Court) – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Canoptek Wraiths / C’tan

Thoughts

Canoptek Court continues to do well after the adjustments to Immortals via FAQ. They still boat excellent raw stats for controlling objectives and bodying the unwary, and a wonderful host of tools with reactive moves and Lone Op on tap, and this makes engagement with them very difficult for a wide range of armies in the game. Triple C’tan gets a run out here and is just as durable and challenging to deal with as ever, and I like the inclusion of the Transcendant to ensure some extra reach. Doomstalkers remain really dangerous board control pieces in Canoptek, where they thrive. A solid list with all the right tools, very well done on the placing.

Tyler Principio – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders) – 4th Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Black Templars Mixed Arms

Thoughts

A very balanced take on Black Templars that brings some fire support in Lancers alongside plenty of precision melee and Redeemer delivery. A cheeky drop pod makes the list here too – my assumption is that this is a Rapid Ingress pressure piece, and I’d love to have been a fly on the wall to see how it was used as they are so cheap that one with some melee heroes feels like something that can be really good for both Templars AND Blood Angels in the current game. Scouts and a Callidus shore up scoring, make this is a really well designed list that i’m a huge fan of. Really well done!

The Best of the Rest

There were 8 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

5th – Stephen Henry – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Blocks of Infantry with Double Calladius in support.
6th – Don Belec – Blood Angels (Gladius Task Force): Truckloads of Death Company, Inceptors and Eradicators, this is amazing.
7th – Mark Hertel – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Gladius Ultramarines with triple Land Raiders.
8th – Edward Appel – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Sisters Goodstuff with the Exorcists reduced down to one to allow for more MSU.
9th – Ken Knox – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Triple C’tan and 12 Wraith Canoptek Court.
10th – Matt Schuchman – Aeldari (Battle Host): Double Avatar double Nightspinner Aeldari is still alive!
11th – Paul McArthur – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Triple Castellan and some Armigers.
12th – Pierre Daze – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Massed Guard and some Wardens, all the bricks!

Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament

64-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on February 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

George McCoulough – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

TANTALUS BABYYYY

Thoughts

You’ll have noticed that all of the true Archons are back in town… Skysplinter is simply too fun to ignore, despite having some very real predators at the top of the game, and George of Realspace Raiders takes down an event with a very unusual list that highlights the different ways you can build! He messaged me to say that the choices here were inspired more by what he had available than by the ‘optimal’ picks, but I’m not as inclined to agree entirely. The Tantalus is a great big, fast, mortal wound spewing transport that actually synergises beautifully with the new stratagems in the detachment- access to a 4++, disembark and charge after moving, and various other excellent combos. You can hide this safely on GW style boards early game before jamming it when the moment is right. Grotesques can ride in this bad boy as well, and they’re a rare unit that actually benefits both from the [IGNORES COVER] AND [LANCE] benefits that the new detachment offers, making them lovely, obnoxious interference pieces that are a little bit more durable. An awesome list bringing some unusual pieces and still taking down first, well done George!

Joseph Reed – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Custodes Golden Slabs

Thoughts

Our very own 6++ calendar model Joe Reed takes down second place with his favourite army, the Custodes! There are some lovely bits of tech in here- the Draxus / Guard combo unpacked further down this report, but also Valerian, who offers some AoC AP reduction to an attached unit which goes a long way in the mirror (Joe won this narrowly towards the end of the event). Plenty of utility and a few flex pieces here rather than pure foot slogging infantry – the Venatari give you a lovely push Ingress piece to catch the opponent out with. A well balanced and interesting take on Custodes, and a fantastic showing from Joe. It’s just a shame he eats peoples models.

Wayne Jimmison – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance) – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

War Dog Spam

Thoughts

War Dog spam isn’t real, it can’t hurt you… except it very much is, and it very much can! No Daemons here, just tonnes of War Dog Chassis, ready to play a grindy hidey game or simply body you via full send. More predators out there now for this than before but it remains extremely potent, very well done on the top placing Wayne!

Kylo Turley – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 4th Place

Custodian Guard. Credit: Edwin “Lupe” Moriarty

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Custodes Golden Slabs

Thoughts

Loads and loads of Custodes infantry, ready to run you straight over. It is going to start getting difficult for me to find interesting things to say about Custodes very quickly, But Ceaseless Hunter remains an excellent pick on a brick of infantry with Black Champion to force cautious movement from the opponent and threaten a counter charge at any moment. Well done on the top placing!

The Best of the Rest

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

5th – Paddy Baron – Tyranids (Synaptic Nexus): SN Tyranids with plenty of shooting bugs, some Screamer Killers and a Norn Emissary!
6th – Sam Neale- Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Monolith, Double C’tan, Wraiths and Deathmarks HC.
7th – Liam Murphy- Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): An unusual build with Skorpekh, a Monolith, Void Dragon and lots of smaller support units and a Necron Warrior brick.
8th – Simon Ward – Genestealer Cult (Ascension Day): Massed Acolytes and Neophytes, a Rockgrinder(!) and Aberrants and Purestrains for the centre. Love it.
9th – Robert Kimpton – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Another true Archon with a mixed arms list packing Scourge, Incubi, Mandrakes and small Battleline trade pieces. Solo Drazhar gets a run out!
10th – Stuart Manks – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): A glorious ‘one of each God and Belly’ Greater Daemons list with Armiger support to complete the skew.

Renegades Open: Echoes Of War 6

37-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Cardiff, Wales, GB on February 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown – Tau versus Dark Angels

Take and Hold – Chilling Rain – Search and Destroy

Jake Stojanovic – T’au Empire (Kauyon)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Chris Lewis – Dark Angels (Vanguard Spearhead):
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Thoughts

A clash of two classics, the unstoppable shooting force of the Tau versus the immovable object of the Dark Angels. The DA list has a big brick of forward deploying Deathwing Knights (horrible for Tau units to shift), supported with some devastating shooting options in Azrael inspired Hellblasters and some Centurion Devastators for up-down-shoot your face off shenanigans. The scoring support is a touch light – no Callidus here, and Scouts and Infiltrators have a lot of work to do to compensate. I can see this list bodying the Primary but starting to struggle for secondaries if the support assets get picked off, even with the added mobility of Vanguard.

On the other side, the Tau have an excellent fire base with Crisis and Riptides, Broadside support and Stealthsuits and Breachers for mission play. I back the Tau to find and eliminate the non DWK Dark Angels assets more easily than the Dark Angels in reverse, utilising their speed and reach. That said, the primary becomes a massive issue for them unless Deathwing decide to fail their saves en masse, which doesn’t typically happen. This creates an intriguing situation where the Tau may well be able to trim down and outmanouvre the DA whilst falling down a little on the generous Take and Hold primary scoring, setting this up to be a nail biter. In the event these two forces produced a 10-10 draw, which is absolutely amazing and a testament to both players in navigating the challenges of the match up. Well done both!!

Result

Draw! – 10 – 10

Chris Lewis – Dark Angels (Vanguard) – 1st Place

Deathwing Knights. Credit: Kevin Stillman

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Dark Angels Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Big changes await the Dark Angels with the release of their codex, but for now the blueprint is fairly established, with this particular take using some of the Vanguard combos whilst staying focused on what make DA strong. Deathwing Knights provide an anchor like no other whilst excellent shooting pieces pick off the things they can’t reach. Triple Scout squads gives you great early board control to force engagement which in turn gets the DWK into the fray in retaliation. I like the Phobos Librarian / Infiltrator combo, giving you a backfield piece that can’t be shot by artillery and can screen out all these pesky 3 inch deep striking armies. Really well done on the win Chris!

The Best of the Rest

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

2nd – Jake Stojanovic – T’au Empire (Kauyon): See showdown
3rd – Bryn Morgan – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Bricks of infantry and a freaking LAND RAIDER. Golden tank of doom forever.
4th – Thomas Warwick – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Double Caladius and massed infantry.
5th – Sam Jones – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Massed Rhino infantry, with Repentia and Arco-flagellants. This looks very tasty indeed…

Wizards Asylum GT

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Wichita, KS, United States on February 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Colin Kay – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Sisters Goodstuff

Thoughts

Ok, ok. Sometimes the right thing to do is the thing you were already doing. This list from Colin doesn’t pivot away from Exorcists but stays firmly focused on their indirect shooting as the anchor from which to play the game, cutting down a little on Arcos to fund the points changes but still throwing out plenty of chaff to gum up the opponent in the midboard. The Triumph stays in too, and this first place victory highlights that every now and again keeping on as you were is the way forwards! Very well done Colin.

The Best of the Rest

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

2nd – Mike Hestilow – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): A Land Raider and Dreadnought sneak in amongst the golden slabs of infantry.
=3rd – Jason Mode – Necrons (Hypercypt Legion): Triple Doomsday Arks here (Custodes tech?) alongside the Silent King and three C’tan.
=3rd – Nathan Blankenship – Orks (Waaagh! Tribe): Trukk rush Orks with plenty of Squighogz in support.
5th – Tim Royers – Death Guard (Plague Company): Liam VSL style Death Guard with PBCs, Rhinos, and Brigands.
6th – Cam Hawkins – Black Templars (Gladius Task Force): Mixed arms Templars with Double Land Raider Redeemers. Land Raider stonks high this week!
7th – Matthew Cortez – Blood Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): Ironstorm Dreadnoughts with two Death Company Dreadnoughts amongst the guns.

2nd Annual Blue Ridge Championship GT Hosted By Battle Company 540 & Sector Cville

31-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Harrisonburg, VA, US on February 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Trent Mazer – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 1st Place

Allarus Custodes by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Custodes Golden Slabs

Thoughts

Another triumph for the golden boys here, heralding a few months of dominance after both balance levers got pulled at once. Draxus goes really nicely in a Guard brick, where rerolls to wound amp up their output considerably. The big slab of Allarus is fantastic horde deterrence but also does nasty things to any unit with a character in, and the overall threat and board presence is simply too much for a lot of armies to handle. Congratulations on the victory Trent!

The Best of the Rest

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

2nd – Steven Page – Necrons (Canoptek Court): The Silent King joins the fray with this Canoptek Court build, packing the two favoured C’tan and two Wraith bricks to accompany him.
3rd – Patrick Powell – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): Double Lord of Skulls, Angron, and a bunch of Eightbound.
4th – James Lovett – Salamanders (Firestorm Assault): Mech’d up Salamanders Firestorm with a Redeemer, two Repulsors, flamer Aggressors and plenty of Eradicators.
5th – Joseph Heinzelman – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders): Triple Land Raider Black Templars, amazing.

Saffron Slam VIII

27-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on February 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Drukhari versus Grey Knights on Supply Drop (Scrambler Fields) and Hammer and Anvil

Tom Lowman – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Harley Scully – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

A classic match up from mid 9th edition is revitalized, as the resurgent Grey Knights and Drukhari throw down once more. I had a front row seat to this one as I was playing the Drukhari so can offer a bit more insight than normal! The mission itself was Supply Drop – this mission favours whoever goes second drastically on Primary, and the order in which objectives disappear also gives one player an advantage a lot of the time. In this case the GK ‘safe’ objective remained whilst the Drukhari one disappeared first, with the middle the one left at the end – broadly GK favouring. Scrambler Fields mission rule however hurts the Grey Knights, as they wouldn’t be able to take objectives by using their 3 inch deep strike (I don’t tend to let my opponents do this, but its still not ideal for Harley!).

Both lists can cause massive damage to the other- the Dreadknight shooting is ideal for picking off MSU Drukhari units and destroying the transports that Skysplinter depends on for its buffs, but Dark Lances, Haywire and Incubi in particular all absolutely cleave through Grey Knight units if they connect. You can also use the new disembark after moving and charge stratagem to get around Mists of Deimos – simply move the transport 9.1 away, disembark and then charge 6 to cause real problems for the Grey Knights! This, and the raw threat of the big Terminator bricks in the GK list meant we both had to be very careful to avoid getting a blow out at any stage. The general pattern of the game saw us both using our manoeuvrability to take out the other armies secondary scoring and utility units – I hunted down all the non-terminator units and picked off the Dreadknights and Callidus, whilst Harley trimmed away at my transports and Scourge in reply. The GK ran out of utility units first, which gave me an advantage in secondary scoring, but they were on end of turn which meant a big push for the centre would probably get them enough primary to win the game…

In the event, this game came down to the final turn, where the GK would either get the end game swing on the Supply Drop primary to narrowly win, or fall short and lose. The remaining GK Terminators had split up in pursuit of precious Capture Enemy Outpost points, which gave me a hail mary in to try and blitz the centre with what remained of my army and hold on in Harley’s turn five. There was some sensational good luck in the Drukhari shooting phase (Haywire Scourge killed three Terminators without empowerment) and that, plus lots of failed saves, meant the Terminator brick with Draigo leading it evaporated, and the remaining Grey Knight forces were unable to flip the centre, now decorated with transports, Wyches, and Incubi, producing a very narrow (and very jammy) Drukhari triumph. Well played as always Harley.

Result

Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) Victory – 65 – 54

Tom Lowman – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Skysplinter Assault Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Oh hey, it’s me! Well done me. I went for a balanced take on Skysplinter honed in conversations with my 6++ buddy and Drukhari mastermind Rob Kimpton after the slate. We decided triple Scourge and a Ravager gives you just enough backfield presence and consistent shooting to keep the opponent honest, whilst Raiders and Venoms ferry plenty of melee nastiness forward to do work up close. The ten brick of Incubi with a Nightmare Shroud Archon comes out to play here, and I went with two additional smaller Archon / Incubi pieces- I prefer having three squads over more utility or shooting as I just like the damage this combo can do too much not to have as much of it flying about the board as I can, protecting the ten man hammer with Wraithlike Retreat, and the fives with the Venoms end of fight phase re-embarkation. If you’ve not tried a Beastmaster out I can highly recommend it, as it offers fantastic forward pressure and blocking to steer the enemy where you want them. Skysplinter has some great match ups and some less great ones, but it’s definitely got teeth, so underestimate it at your peril!

The Best of the Rest

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

2nd – Sam Squires – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): A combined arms Invasion Fleet build with lots of monsters for staying power (Exocrines, Maleceptors), Purestrain Genestealers and Von Ryan’s for forward pressure and Gargoyles for primary denial.
3rd – Jack Sayer – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Belly, Skarbrand, Shalaxi and a Keeper of Secrets supported by loads of Nurglings and some chaff for scoring.
4th – Harley Scully – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): The GK list from the showdown.
5th – Jack Tite – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): A glorious mono-Khorne (and Belakor) build selected pre-slate for Jack to play by the 6++ online community. Skarbrand, Bloodcrushers, lots of solo Khorne characters… He still bodied pretty much everybody he faced, as this build got way more potent now Rendmasters stack damage!

Wrap Up

That’s it for this week! We march forwards into the unknown. Will Custodes keep being very, very good? Will our other breakout stars be able to keep up the momentum? Are Guard going to fail to win any more events ever again leaving me crushed and embarrassed, their fanbase vindicated? The only way to find out is to get out and play more Warhammer. Don’t let me down.

Competitive Innovations in 10th: 24-Karat Carnage pt.2

Battle To End Alzheimers 2024

Jeffrey Kolodner – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Zach Point – Ynnari (Battle Host) – 2nd Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Joshua Campbell – Necrons (Canoptek Court) – 3rd Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Tyler Principio – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders) – 4th Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament

George McCoulough – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Joseph Reed – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Wayne Jimmison – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance) – 3rd Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Kylo Turley – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 4th Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Renegades Open: Echoes Of War 6

The Showdown – Tau versus Dark Angels

Take and Hold – Chilling Rain – Search and Destroy

Thoughts

Result

Chris Lewis – Dark Angels (Vanguard) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Wizards Asylum GT

Colin Kay – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

2nd Annual Blue Ridge Championship GT Hosted By Battle Company 540 & Sector Cville

Trent Mazer – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Saffron Slam VIII

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Drukhari versus Grey Knights on Supply Drop (Scrambler Fields) and Hammer and Anvil

Thoughts

Result

Tom Lowman – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Wrap Up

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