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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Beast Mode pt.2

By Lowest of Men

Friday means it’s time for more exciting tournament results, this time hosted by Lowest of Men. Today we’ll be covering:

  • 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

If you’re looking for any of the following, go check out part 1 from Wednesday:

  • 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

Smite Club Open 2024 – 40K World Championships Qualifier

97-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Mesa, AZ, US on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Blood Angels versus T’au Empire

Terek Haehl – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Jason McKenzie – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Fish versus Vampires, let’s go. The T’au have begun shifting towards Retaliation Cadre in recent times in their quest to prune out sneaky enemies from behind walls and up their shenanigan game. It’s a prudent approach, letting them catch fragile opposition off guard and dictate tempo a little more early game. This list slams in some big guns via the Broadsides, who will rinse most hard targets that step out their way, to anchor the home in tandem with Riptides. There aren’t actually many Crisis drop teams on hand, freeing up points for wider board control, so using those 3 inch hits effectively is going to be crucial.

In the BA corner we have some of the regulars (massed Assault JPIs, Dante, Lemartes) flavoured in with a smattering of less seen choices (Bladeguard, Death Company Dreadnaught, big Sang Guard brick). It’s a bit of a swiss army knife style list and my concern is that the damage dealers are concentrated into two infantry blocks (ideal Crisis hunting), and a lot of the remainder is relatively slow, or mechanised, leaving them very vulnerable to the T’au firebase if their more mobile options get traded away into chaff or picked up by the Ret Cadre precision strikes. In the event, it looks like that’s probably how this went with a strong T’au victory.

Result

T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre) Victory – 99 – 68

Jason McKenzie – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre) – 1st Place

Tau Coldstar Commander. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Broadside Castle Ret Cadre

Thoughts

An original spin on Ret Cadre that nudges the balance towards a bigger defensive castle off of which the Crisis Teams can push and impact the game. Really effective, lethal in any kind of open space and more than capable of getting a small primary lead via Crisis heroics and then daring the opponent to push and do something about it. I really like this list, very well done on the event win!

Donovan Sailo – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force) – 2nd Place

Brotherhood Librarian. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mixed Arms GK

Thoughts

A nice Librarian / Terminator / DK fusion Grey Knights list, setting out to do what they do best and keep games close whilst playing keep away with their crucial units. Very effective, lots of secret mission potential, and, as long as the libbies don’t decide they’re too fragile for this cruel world when they go to do damage, very potent as well. Awesome work on the top placing.

Gareth Hunt – Orks (Dread Mob) – 3rd Place

Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun. Credit: Rockfish
Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Dreadmob Infantry Spam

Thoughts

There is a degree of sadness with which I must report that the evidence is starting to add up, and Dreadmob is at it’s most effective when…. you don’t take Dreads. Rather, massed infantry Flash Gitz and Lootas with some SAG goodness appears to be the way, behind an infantry carpet of Grots. This list packs SO MANY bodies, a lot of shooting and plenty of mission play antics. I think it has genuine legs as we keep seeing little sightings of infantry heavy Dreadmob- may it continue to thrive!

Jon Camacho – Adeptus Custodes (Null Maiden Vigil) – 4th Place

Credit: Daniel “Skails” Rodenberg

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Null Maiden Vigil?!

Thoughts

Ok, colour me impressed. Null Maidens make out with a top placing here. I suspect the triple Caladius does a fair bit of work getting this list through tough opposition, but there is an absolute wall of mission play and nonsense standing in front of it that I am now obliged to try and explain. The detachment forces Battleshocks on nearby Psykers or damaged units in the Command Phase via Creeping Dread. Having played Night Lords, this does add up more than you would think, and can create some serious headaches for the opponent mid game. It can force further shocks via Huntress’s Eye on the Knight Centura.

The anti Psyker toolkit is real in the Stratagems – with forcing auto shock and potentially mortals on a Psyker unit in their turn via a unit within 18 via Desperation’s Price an absolute slam dunk into Thousand Sons, who really won’t like this detachment at all. Definitely slightly skewed in it’s match ups, it is nonetheless INCREDIBLE to see this out in the wild and taking names, really well done.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 5-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Terek Haehl – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): The BA list from the showdown.
  • 6th – Killian Minton – Leagues of Votann: Massed Hearthguard, Sagitaurs and Land Forts.
  • 7th – Jason Flanzer – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Silver Tide Crons with lots of Warriors and Characters.
  • 8th – Wyatt Harris – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Go-wide character heavy Drukhari with Urien!!
  • 9th – Tanner Floyd – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Kauyon Tau with Skyrays and Riptides.
  • 10th – Aaron Weisman – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): BoF Goodstuff, Paragon Edition.

Kassel Cup Singles – Alpine Cup

64-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Vellmar, HE, Germany on September 05 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Malte Höfs – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Accursed Heavy Renegades

Thoughts

Renegade Raiders picks up on the cue of ‘plug in triple Accursed and stuff will happen’ that CSM detachments have been getting lately, and goes to town. Having one squad scouting and potentially advance and charging via Mark of the Hound is very potent indeed, and Accursed love being able to fall back from Combats at inopportune moments too. Very punchy, and very effective, well done on the event win!!

Mathieu Clerc – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 2nd Place

Einhyr Champion. Credit: Rockfish
Einhyr Champion. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Votann Mixed Arms

Thoughts

The Leagues of Votann are sneaking back into the meta, where their particular qualities are able to slide a little more happily with certain predators (Tsons, Elves) on the down. Big Bezerker bricks give you a potent answer to enemy combat armies and the rest of the assets available can shoot and stick around with the best of them. Mobility remains an issue but Votann definitely like the mission demands of Pariah more than those that came before! Really well done on the top placing.

Manuel Wayand – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force) – 3rd Place

Grey Knights Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

GK Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Another run out for the combined arms Libby / DK / Terminator approach. This appears to be the groove GK have settled into after a weird flirtation with pure mech skew that flattered to deceive somewhat before Pariah put it in the ground. These builds are flexible problem solvers and can weather the loss of any one asset, just be careful not to get connected into en masse! Great work on the top placing.

Tim Schneider – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 4th Place

Brôkhyr Iron-master. Credit: Rockfish
Brôkhyr Iron-master. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Bezerks!!

Thoughts

Bezerk spam – quite possibly legit. Building on the German Votann list we saw at WTC, going hard on Bezerks opens up points previously sunk into Hearthguard for other things – Bezerks don’t offer much shooting threat but they are world ending in combat into judged targets, and the fight on death ensures that it doesn’t really matter if the opponent connects into you first- which they have a very real chance of doing, you’ve got a movement of five! Votann can hunker down midboard and grind out wins and I am enjoying their mini resurgence. Very well done on the top placing.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 5-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Liam Vsl – Death Guard:  A Mortarion gunline with loads of Predators and PBCs, interesting…
  • 6th – Christian Matschke – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): BoF Goodstuff.
  • 7th – Vojtech Čistecký – Death Guard: Another Mortarion gunline, this time with Brigands!
  • 8th – Sebastian Gehart – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Brutal triple Monolith Hypercrypt.
  • 9th – Ben Hackländer – Death Guard: A more conventional Rhino rush DG list. Goodness Death Guard were out in force at this event!
  • 10th – Patrick Schmitt – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Mixed Monsters and chaff in Invasion Fleet.

Shanghai Sanlin Warhammer Chinese championship

49-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in 上海市, 中国 on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Yizheng Shen – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 1st Place

Adeptus Custodes Blade Champion by Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Custodes Shield Host

Thoughts

Custodes claim an event win here, dialling it back a few months with Blade Champion Guard units, supplemented with some Venatari ingress shenanigans. Getting full value from every asset is essential for Custodes now, and this list strikes a fine balance between MSU golden boy squads and a smattering of cheap scoring and screening pieces. Nonetheless, this will have required near perfect piloting to reach 1st place, really really well done on the win!

The Best of the Rest

There were 9 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – chen liang – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Triple Wulfen, double Thunderwolf Wolf Jail. Awooo!
  • 3rd – jun hong – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): BoF Goodstuff.
  • 4th – Bao 宝 – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Big brick Shield Host infantry.
  • 5th – Eric Chen – Astra Militarum: Massed Bullgryn / Rough Rider Guard.
  • 6th – xuan hewen – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force): Double gun-brick Gladius Dangels.
  • 7th – 黯精灵 夜风 – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force): Lennon style Gladius Dangels.
  • 8th – Kuro Kuromi – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Polish style AD Necrons.
  • 9th – Zhang Fanzhou – Chaos Daemons: Big boy monster mash Daemons.
  • 10th – Crow Shi – Thousand Sons: Double Mutalith Thousand Sons.

Da Summer Waaagh 2024

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

Mike Porter – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius) – 1st Place

Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Big Brick Manifesto BA

Thoughts

Big bricks are the best. I’ve played against an iteration of Mike’s BA nightmare and can confirm, double Sang Priest causes absolute mayhem in your efforts to counter attack. Blood Angels are, for all their damage output, quite brittle. Plugging two Priests in to the flying murder bricks gives you some crucial solidity (especially when combo’d with Armour of Contempt) which buys you time and helps absorb some of their worse match ups (Thousand Sons, Drukhari), turning these into much more winnable games. Knowing when to commit the hammer blow is key, but this list packs a go-turn like few others and can stick the retaliation too. Really well done on the event win!!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Markus Hinson – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Dreadknight / Canis hull heavy GK.
  • 3rd – Rees Darvill – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Big Knights and Armigers IK.
  • 4th – Christopher Chedotal – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Massed characters and double Vortex Beast Tsons.
  • 5th – Peter Duff – Chaos Knights: War Dog spam with a smattering
  • 6th – Ben Facey – Aeldari: Ynnari with a Wraithblade brick Anchor for the MSU.
  • 7th – Shaun Delaney – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Double Van Vet brick Blood Angels.

The Fall of Empires II

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam on September 07 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Trần Ngọc Thanh Danh – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 1st Place

Sagitaur. Credit: Rockfish
Sagitaur. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Triple Land Fort Votann

Thoughts

A triumph for triple Land Fort Votann, which blasts its way to a first GT win for the dwarves in Pariah! Lots of shooting, good solid transports and plenty of punch from the little units inside once they disembark to make trouble. Votann are plugging away with honest tools in a very dishonest meta, so all credit for taking the event win here, really well done.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Duy Nguyen – Death Guard (Plague Company): Rhino rush DG with Brigands and Rotigus in tow.
  • 3rd – Trần Vinh – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): War Dog spam CK.
  • 4th – Phạm Xuân Thủy – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Toolkit Kauyon with some Crisis teams in support.
  • 5th – Lê Quang Triều – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Doomsday Ark / Monolith Hypercrypt.

Wrap Up

That’s it for this week folks! LGT beckons in the UK, and with it a flurry of meta hopping and counter-teching. I’m really excited to see if any new builds are unleashed in this maelstrom of competition. In the meantime, enjoy lovely balanced Pariah and the joy of very diverse event outcomes!

Lowest of Men, out.

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