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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Beast Mode pt.1

By James "One_Wing" Grover

We’re in short intro mode this week because I spent the weekend running the GHO UK (see below) and am still recovering from the classic TO’s mix of not enough sleep and a very late drive home on the Sunday.

This week, I’ll be covering:

  • Goonhammer Open UK September 2024
  • Crucible 2024 Warhammer 40K GT
  • 40k Italian Grand Tournament – Road to Atlanta 2024
  • Warhammer 40.000 Fall Edition MidtconGT
  • Winchester 40K GT – September 2024

On Friday, Lowest of Men will take over (for which I am particularly grateful on weeks like this) and review:

  • Smite Club Open 2024 – 40K World Championships Qualifier
  • Kassel Cup Singles – Alpine Cup
  • Shanghai Sanlin Warhammer Chinese championship
  • Da Summer Waaagh 2024
  • The Fall of Empires II

As ever, our esteemed patrons have been asked to vote for their favourite matchups for the Showdowns, and have selected:

  • Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) vs Thousand Sons (Cult Of Magic) at the Crucible GT
  • Leagues Of Votann (Oathband) vs Death Guard (Plague Company) at the Fall of Empires

Goonhammer Open UK September 2024

53-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The event was streamed by Hellstorm Wargaming, and you can check out the VODs for day 1 and day 2 on YouTube.

Thanks again to our sponsors, who are:

Danny Evison – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) – 1st Place

Szarekh, The Silent King. Credit: Rockfish
Szarekh, The Silent King. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Heavy Hypercrypt

Thoughts

The premium Necron build of the current metagame takes a Golden Ticket and champion’s belt in Danny’s hands. Shooty Heavy Hypercrypt has the firepower to flatten key metagame threats without compromising on mobility or a bit of punch up close. Monoliths and the Silent King both pack nasty melee, and the threats are durable enough that a foe can charge, swing and miss, suffering disastrous consequences. I like Danny’s use of a very cheap Royal Warden as a bearer for Dimensional Overseer, minimising spend on anything that isn’t the big guns (plus the one Battleline unit that’s pretty much mandatory in Pariah, especially if you can teleport it). All good stuff, and Danny saw off a very challenging gauntlet of players to take the win, huge congratulations!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Alex Harrison – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Durability-skew Sons with the double VanVet/Priest setup.
  • 3rd – Jay Seebarun – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force): A surprise return for Desolation Marines here, with two units providing chip damage behind the impenetrable wall of Deathwing Knights (plus a Librarian/ICC unit for increased durability).
  • 4th – Giulio Cesare Ghermandi – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Classic 4/2 Venom/Raider Skysplinter (lead by an Archon that won best painted single mini).
  • 5th – Sam Nash – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): Extra shooty Raiders with 3×2 Obliterators alongside Abaddon, plus a squad of Possessed as a hammer.
  • 6th – Alex Fowler – Thousand Sons: Double Mutalith Tsons with a few extra chaff units in place of a rubricae squad or two.

Crucible 2024 Warhammer 40K GT

116-player, 7-round Major in Orlando, Florida, US on September 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

The Ritual – Swift Action – Crucible of Battle

John Lennon – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Mike Muzeni – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic)
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Thoughts

A faceoff between two of the rudest current builds here, but on a relatively unusual mission to keep things somewhat interesting. I think this is definitely tough for the Thousand Sons, but they’ve got a few things that help at least somewhat. Firstly, The Ritual makes it easier to stem the Primary bleeding than it might otherwise be – even Deathwing Knights are going to have to be cautious about pushing for a centre objective against an army that counterattacks as hard as Thousand Sons, so in early turns shooting for at least parity on Primary scoring is fairly doable. It also helps having the big Warpflamer unit around, as that’s probably the biggest deterrent you can field in the army, especially as the Dark Angels don’t have great tools for shooting them, which allows them to be fairly muscular. Swift Action can only help the Tsons too, as it gives them a bit more scoring flexibility than normal.

All that and this is still rough, and it’s very hard for the servents of Tzeentch to stay on the board long enough to lock in the win. Although The Ritual creates an easier route to early parity, it also has some tendency to condense the early fight, which is rough if you’re up against Deathwing Knights. This also really highlights how absurdly better Jump Intercessors are as scoring/objective “chaff” than any other faction gets – the fact that what Marines are throwing around to pick up Secondary points is a real unit at the same price point that some other armies get pure sacrificial jerks is a subtle driver of how strong Dark Angels and Blood Angels are right now.

From the Thousand Sons side, I think the aim here is to try and pull the second objective you place a long way off to one side of the table, and try and use the minimum resources possible to deny the Dark Angels while cautiously building up their score. It would help them a lot in this specific game if a Rubricae unit and one of the Enlightened squads became two units of regular Tzaangors – double move high OC denial might give them a route over the line. As is, they’re relying a bit on the Dark Angels giving up a bit too much to either Magnus or the flamer brick to keep pace on resources, which is a problem when the Dark Angels are piloted by one of the best players in the world. John duly locked in a decent win.

Result

Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) Victory – 84 – 65

John Lennon – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

5 Deathwing Knights with Power Swords in the Rainbow Warriors scheme
Rainbow Warriors Deathwing Knights by Craig “MasterSlowPoke” Sniffen

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Deathwing GTF

Thoughts

I mean this is one of the best armies in the game, and John was one of the big names who launched it, so what did you expect?

Congratulations on adding another trophy to the veritable dragon’s hoard I assume exists in the Art of War offices.

Jack Harpster – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force) – 2nd Place

Grey Knight Paladins. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Terminator Grey Knights

Thoughts

In second place we’ve got a build that is locked and loaded for a metagame packed with Damage Reduction. I’m a huge fan of the Paladin/Grand Master/Sigil unit, and think it should be used more, but Jack’s version goes even further, adding a Grand Master to a Terminator unit to create a blender that (with Lethal hits) will threaten almost anything in melee. Adding in the overwhelming pressure that Draigo can bring to bear creates an ultra-threatening combination – this army can roll people over, but also play a very grindy game into essentially any target as needed (and also rocks at Secret Missions). A very strong twist on the faction (unsurprising from Art of War) and a well-deserved second place as a result.

Mike Muzeni – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 3rd Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Double Mutalith Tsons

Thoughts

Another build requiring pretty much no introduction – Dark Angels can fight this, Blood Angels can maybe overwhelm it, but the sheer power and variety of threat that this list projects makes it a daunting prospect for almost anything else. Well done to Mike on taking it to the final, and putting in a respectable score again st John even there!

Richard Siegler – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort) – 4th Place

Skitarii Marshal
Skitarii Marshal. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Board Control AdMech

Thoughts

The AdMech master returns (as foretold), unleashing a very retro boat-heavy build, using lots of Skitarii in transports for objective play and lightning lunges, and ferrumite Skorpii as cost-efficient shooting threats. Using the latter allows the list to avoid including Breachers, which are very good but also a big investment you need to plan positioning about. This build is free to go wherever it needs, has decent punch, and can score objectives like a champ. Great stuff as always from Richard.

The Best of the Rest

There were 7 more players on 5-2+ records. They were:

  • 5th (6-1) – Rielle Long – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): A balanced spin on Sons, combining some cheap shooting from Baal Predators, a footslogging threat from an Impulsor packed with Bladeguard, and the big Lemartes jump unit.
  • 6th – Z Martin – Aeldari: An unusually crunchy Aeldari list with the Avatar and triple Wraithlords screening a full shuriken cannon bike unit, all backed by lots of Storm Guardians (and one Defender squad) to contest the board. A few scoring units and the classic Death Jester/Autarch Lone Op combo round the army out, and overall it’s nice to see a list that isn’t just pure scoring keep-away do well for Aeldari.
  • 7th – Robin Roberts – Genestealer Cult (Host of Ascension): A fairly all-rounder Host of Ascension build using Purestrains and two full Jackal Squads to put the enemy under pressure, then Acolytes and Neophytes to try and finish the job. Looks fairly white knuckle to play, but performed very well, so great job Robin.
  • 8th – Christopher Herron – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Heavy Hypercrypt with a Tesseract Vault and Nightbringer instead of Monoliths.
  • 9th – Robert Birmingham – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Speedy Flame Sisters.
  • 10th – Steven “Wiggin” Rota – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Quad C’tan and a Vault.
  • 11th – Collin Watts – Grey Knights: Ultracrunch Grey Knights with the full Six Dreadknights and Canis.

40k Italian Grand Tournament – Road to Atlanta 2024

78-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Milano, Lombardia, IT on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Edoardo Rinaldi – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Credit: Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Extra Hefty Guard

Thoughts

A brutal build from the Astra Militarum here, combining multiple Dorns with maximum Bullgryn to slam foes into the dust. On top of that, the build doubles down on overwhelming force by packing a full squad of Armoured Sentinels to get maximum respawn value from Reinforcements. That adds up to an incredibly daunting list to take on, and no one was able to rise to the challenge. Great work from Eduardo on really emphasising the might of the Militarum.

Andrea Manfroni – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Photo cred: Riley Trembley

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Champion Wolf Jail

Thoughts

Wolf Jail trots onwards, here supplemented by a Ragnar/Impulsor unit for some precision blending of anyone who tries the genius tactic of hiding behind a wall. If enemies don’t manage to escape from the fluffy bars of lupine prison fast enough, then Bjorn rocking in to start taxing CP is very likely to seal the deal. Given no one was able to overcome the fearsome might of this army, I’d say that plan probably worked pretty well – congratulations Andrea on undefeated second place.

Giorgio castelli – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) – 3rd Place (Undefeated)

Doomsday Ark
Doomsday Ark. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Heavy Hypercrypt

Thoughts

Another showing for heavy shooty Hypercrypt in third place, mixing things up by subbing the Nightbringer in for a Monolith to provide a bit more threat diversity and some additional counter-punch. Also goes a bit heavier on SPyders than normal to try and keep the Doomsdays in peak condition, plus give the Silent King an additional layer of resilience. Love to see a ro-boss winning, great stuff Giorgio.

Marco Santopadre – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force) – 4th Place

Grey Knight Kill Team
Grey Knight Kill Team
Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Terminator Grey Knights

Thoughts

Another Terminator-heavy Grey Knights build, here splitting the second Brotherhood unit into two fives to really maximise the Secret Mission potential. Grey Knights with Grand Master Paladins continue to seem super well placed in the metagame, great work from Marco.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Andrea Lelli – Thousand Sons: Rubric-heavy Tsons with a single Beast.
  • 6th – Daniele De Gemini – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Extra-mechanised Kauyon with three Breacherfish and three each of Sky Rays and Hammerheads.
  • 7th – Giulio de Cicco – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Wolf Jail.
  • 8th – Edoardo Pierini – Imperial Knights: Double bigs with the current on-trend option of Canis and an Atrapos.
  • 9th – Federico Buggiani – Astra Militarum: Infantry-punch Militarum with a couple of Kasrkin squads screened by Bullgryn.
  • 10th – Riccardo Ghio – Grey Knights: It’s Terminator season apparently, with a double Paladin build here that also features the unusual addition of Voldus, presumably to make one of the smaller Brotherhood units extra durable.
  • 11th – Andrea Costa – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ): Champion Wolf Jail with Bjorn.
  • 12th – Matteo Samarani – Astra Militarum: Triple Tank Commander with a gigantic wall of Catachans to screen.

Warhammer 40.000 Fall Edition MidtconGT

60-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Viborg, DK on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Alexander Jessen – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Scarab Tsons

Thoughts

A timely reminder that Tsons have a centrepiece option that is both fringe and also entirely capable of winning a major. Scarabs with the Crystal give a maximum strength gut punch that can overwhelm some forces, plus a rock-solid anvil that needs different answers to the Mutalith standard. Which this build also has one of. Love that for it. Still, Scarabs are much cooler than Mutaliths (yeah I said it) so great stuff from Alexander.

Morten Hørby – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Imotekh the Stormlord. Credit: Wings

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Skorpekh Spam

Thoughts

Speaking of lists that are way cooler than the dominant options – Awakened Dynasty holds on here via a mixture of willpower and the sheer trade efficiency of Skorpekh Destroyers (particularly factoring in getting the Lord back up with the Stratagem). Wraiths can still tarpit like champions to set up great counter-charges alongside this, and Plasmancer gauss Immortals are pretty strong into a healthy variety of targets once you factor in Szeras. It’s far less direct in how it takes foes down than the heavy Hypercrypt standard, but it’s very cool and much more how I like playing Necrons, so I really love seeing it go undefeated, huge props to Morten.

Killi Paaske – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 3rd Place

Eldar Support Weapon - D-Cannon. Credit: Rockfish
Eldar Support Weapon – D-Cannon. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Keep-away Aeldari

Thoughts

Scoring pieces and indirect murder engines, you just can’t beat them. Well, you sometimes can, but one of the ways you do that is pressuring on Primary, and the bonus double Corsair Wave Serpent here provides a very effective tool for counter-denying on that front. It also further enhances Aeldari’s relatively good Secret Mission game by letting them stash some Battleline till late. In the abstract Corsairs are overcosted, but I can definitely see that they add some value to what this list is doing, so smart pick from Killi!

Simon Darre – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 4th Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Deathwing GTF

Thoughts

It’s the Deathwing Knight GTF build you know and love, only upgrading the Repulsor to a Redeemer for some extra toasty goodness, and a bit of discouragement to Hypercrypt or similar trying to run rings around the army. I think if I’m honest I don’t quite rate it as worth 100pts over the more standard Repulsor, but it’s still a generically very strong unit, and secured a top four finish here.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Martin Bræmer Nielsen – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Extra speedy Flame Sisters, cutting out the Warsuit unit and Vahl in favour of extra Seraphim and Celestine.
  • 6th – Tim Verbeek – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Plasma Fireknifes, Riptides, Sky Rays, Breacherfish, all the scary stuff.
  • 7th – Mathias Larsen – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort): Mechanised Skitarii, a big hammer each of Sterylizors and Ruststalkers, and a Breacher squad for all-rounder dakka.
  • 8th – Paul Bridge – Grey Knights: Triple Dreadknight and the Sigil GM Paladin unit.
  • 9th – Morten Troelsen – Chaos Daemons: Three big Daemons (Be’lakor, Bloodthirster, GuO) backed by a Bloodcrusher missile and some Soulgrinders.
  • 10th – Lars Hedegaard – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Shooty Hypercrypt that sports Doom Scythes instead of Doomsdays, plus a squad of Lychguard to hurl around.

Winchester 40K GT – September 2024

29-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Martyn Cooper – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Valhallan Leman Russ. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Board Control Guard

Thoughts

Martyn takes down another event with his board-control focused guard, and having played against him using this build I can attest he knows exactly how to leverage all the Catachans and Bullgryn to keep a foe pinned at bay while the tanks do their work and the points rack up. Great work as always!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Tom Mitchell – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): Bonus Berzerker Eaters with a second full 10-model unit in a Rhino, and extra spawn instead of a second Exalted unit to compensate.
  • 3rd – James Ball – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Board-control heavy Daemons with a GuO as a central anvil and Big Bird to snipe.
  • 4th – Jude Burges – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): All-rounder Hypercrypt with extra Heavy Destroyers and a Tesseract Vault.
  • 5th – Rayne Avery – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre): Crisis and Ghostkeels galore.
  • 6th – Michael Corr – World Eaters: Mostly the standard World Eaters setup, but sneaking in a single Forgefiend for some dakka.

Wrap Up

A surprise late showing for Necron season, all told – reminding us that Hypercrypt still rocks, and is poised to strike if other armies get hit without the Silent King and Doomsdays going up. Much to consider. Anyway – more Warhammer with Lowest of Men on Friday, make sure to come back then!

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