It may have come to your attention that something quite exciting happened on the weekend – the first ever World Championships of Warhammer, bringing together a truly astounding shark tank of the world’s finest to battle for glory. We are, of course, going to be covering that, but there’s plenty of other warhammer to talk about as well. To give us time to prep the level of attention it deserves, and look at the full top eight, we’re putting the WCW on Friday, and for both parts this week Lowest of Men and I (Wings) will be taking some of the events.

Today that’ll include:

Renegade Open 2023 – Warhammer 40K Major (major)
DaBoyz GT Rochester 2023 40K (major)
Maui Fundraiser 40k GT by Dicehammer
Heroes Of The Mid Table 3
Peterborough Slam GT 4!
Warpstorm Over Cyprus

On Friday we’ll have

Warhammer 40,000 World Championships of Warhammer (supermajor)
The Alliance Open Grand Tournament (major)
Bajio Open 40K, El Bunker (major)
The Standoff
West Coast GT (Nov)
Nemesis 40k 2023

Another epic week, all-told, to let’s dive in.

Renegade Open 2023 – Warhammer 40K Major

80-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Minneapolis, MN, US on November 18 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Wings is covering this.

James “Boon” Kelling – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 1st Place

Avatar of Khaine. Credit: James “Boon” Kelling

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Double Avatar

Final Round Matchup

92 – 85 Victory against Alex Vian – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force).

Thoughts

I mean look, based on past precedent and the current power level it was pretty likely that Boon would win a big event with the Eldar Index at some point, and here it is. He’s on a classic Double Avatar plan, but does add the unique spin of taking a Falcon and some Dark Reapers instead of a second Spinner. That’s a particularly powerful setup in Aeldari mirror-matches, and can be handy at picking off backfield objective pieces in popular Chaos builds too, helping the Yncarne do some mischief. It also provides an additional mobile tool to play with when required, making Boon’s version of the army even better at scoring than the average. Great stuff from our boy, and I’m sure we’ll see an event writeup soon.

Devin Orchard – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers. Credit: Rockfish

The List

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Archetype

Dakka Necrons

Thoughts

Those sure are some guns. If you’re worried about Ironstorm Marines then packing major Gauss heat is certainly one way to solve the problem, and the Lokhusts are pretty good at punishing Chosen and similar stuff. The scythe Lychguard with Orikan are also an unusual but deadly choice, really tripling down on this being a build that murders stuff far more than the Necron standard. It clearly works too – Devin took down a mighty three Aeldari players on the way to undefeated, with the sheer killing power on show here clearly enough to overwhelm even the defences of the Yncarne and Wraithguard alike. Wraithguard do feel like a place where the Scytheguard can be clutch, as it gives the list a tool that can actually take a chunk out of them without major reprisal (especially if Orikan goes sicko mode at the same time). Big fan of glorious Necron triumphs, well done to Devin.

Mark Weiss – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 3rd Place (Undefeated)

Allarus, Trajann, and Vexilus Praetor. Credit: Pendulin

The List

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Archetype

Allarus Spam

Thoughts

…well OK then. Custodes have been quiet since they caught the big nerfs, and if you’d asked me what builds might succeed I’d have guessed ones with Caladius Tanks, but apparently the actual answer is tanks-that-walk-like-unto-a-man. Triple Allarus bricks is an exceptionally tough heavy Infantry challenge for opponents to face down, and significantly more difficult for D3 from all the Redemptors that are out-and-about to deal with. The Blast on their grenades also makes them very dangerous to hordes, and having two thirds of the army able to pick up and redeploy for a high pressure play against something like Aeldari can be clutch too. In the event, Mark ran into lots of crunchy Imperial lists, including a very scary looking Templar build in the finals, and was able to carve through them all. Congratulations for showing that there’s life in the Golden hHost yet.

Alex Vian – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 4th Place

Deathwing Terminator Praetor. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

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Archetype

Double Deathbrick

Thoughts

The Terminator theme continues as we round out the top four, with a murderous brick each of Deathwing Knights and Aggressors (the latter in a Land Raider) using the flexibility of the Gladius Task Force to stay mobile and deadly. Backing them with Scouts, Inceptors and Lancers both packs the army with the highest quality units from the book, and also gives the opponent a very limited supply of easy targets early on, ensuring that the unforgiven maintain enough assets to hit hard into the mid game. Alex did eventually fall to Boon’s Avatars, but even there ran them very close, so big props!

The Best of the Rest

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

5th – Bryan Rindo – Death Guard: Mortarion, a big unit of Deathshrouds, two stench-ridden Rhinos and lots of Daemon Engines – all the finest Death Guard toys.
6th – Ian Muggli – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): Some wild stuff kicking off here – triple RepEx with Darkshroud protection, Azrael with a full Sternguard unit and the Lion as a melee blender. He’s certainly pretty good with the re-rolls and Mercy is Weakness.
7th – Derek Maass – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): More of a dedicated hull gunline build, taking a mix of Dreadnoughts, Talonmasters and a RepEx around the Darkshroud.
8th – Tyler Broderius – Aeldari: Yncarne, loads of hulls and the Wraithguard brick.
9th – David Arimond – Space Wolves (Gladius Task Force): A very unusual MSYUinfantry spam build, mixing up Terminators, Bladeguard, Intercessors and a bunch of Leaders.
10th – Cyle Thompson – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead): Melta Impulsor spam, layering the shooting power by packing them with Hellblasters and Eliminators for drive-bys.
11th – Miles Engrav – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead): Lancer and Redemptor gunline.
12th – Eric Olson – Chaos Daemons: Top-heavy Monster Mash with a mighty five big threats.
13th – Gil Myvett – Chaos Space Marines: Kind of a bit of everything, with a Land Raider and lots of options in how to pack stuff into it being the standout.
14th – Albert Lim – Imperial Knights: Ultra pressure Knights, taking Canis, an Atrapos with Mysterious Guardian and a Crusader with the Banner (so even that can start marching up the table).

DaBoyz GT Rochester 2023 40K 1v1

71-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in West Henrietta, New York, US on November 18 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Lowest of Men is covering this.

Adam Dye – Chaos Space Marines (Slaves to Darkness) – 1st Place

The List

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Archetype

CSM Gunline with Abby

Final Round Matchup

89 – 86 Victory against Scott Ferguson – Aeldari (Battle Host).

Thoughts

Abaddon soups up a triple Forgefiend / Quadruple Obliterator gunline here, bringing rerolls that take both the shooting and overwatch threat of these units up to eleven. Melee push is lighter in this build so two Warpsmiths are on hand to prop up the Fiends and make sure they keep blasting for as long as possible in the face of enemy fire and their own dark pact damage. A very brutal shooting build that can simply wreck anything it manages to draw a bead on, and a few things it doesn’t thanks to the Obliterators no-line-of-sight activation. Excellent work on the victory Adam!

Ken Knox – Deathwatch (Gladius Task Force) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

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Archetype

Deathwatch Mixed Arms

Thoughts

An extremely cool Deathwatch offering in second place. The units in this index have been freed to explore new detachments (the break up with their own was mutual and absolutely nothing to do with it being nuked from orbit in the dataslate), and there are a couple of places they synergise rather well. This build takes Gladius as it’s shell – the Proteus Kill Team can scoot around and apply doctrines as required with it’s deceptive mixed movement profile offering a lot more reach than people expect. The back up units can all shoot hard and the Blackstar can drop another sucker punch into the enemy lines giving this list real flexibility as well as a huge number of mission scoring units. I rate Deathwatch here and I suspect similar builds could also really sing in Vanguard, congratulations to Ken for the really unique take on them and for placing so well!

Scott Ferguson – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 3rd Place

The List

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Archetype

Triple Night Spinner Aeldari

Thoughts

Still competitive! That’s it. That’s what I have to say about that. Nice work on the top placing.

David Koszka – Cult Mechanicus (Rad-Cohort) – 4th Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mixed Arms Ad Mech

Thoughts

A varied Ad Mech build that slightly diverges from ‘lol Breachers’ to bring a wider range of tools and threats. Armigers bring some good OC and movement, Raiders and Pteraxi offer cheap scoring and harassment pieces, and Kastellans with a Datasmith in towe offer a bit of punch and solidity for the brawl. This list feels less prone to getting tied up and bogged down in fights it has no answer for, and really well equipped to contest the cards and primary all game, I really like it. Very well done on the top placing David!

The Best of the Rest

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

5th – David Lover – Aeldari: Wraithguard double Avatar with the unusual choice of TWO Autarch Wayleapers.
6th – Matthew Bailey – Chaos Daemons: Khorne heavy Daemons with big slabs of Bloodcrushers supported by a Rendmaster and the First Daemon Prince leading the way.
7th – Chris martens – Aeldari: Double Avatar Wraithguard Aeldari with Bright Lances instead of Night Spinners.
8th – Christopher Drazan – Dark Angels: Unforgiven Task Force with lots of Deathwing and some Hellblasters. Unforgiven are starting to pop up a bit more!
9th – Matthew O’Hara – Adepta Sororitas: Triumph Shenanigans Sisters with Vahl and some Paragons for heavy lifting, as well as multiple Castigators.
10th – Joseph Sault – Deathwatch: Deathwatch detachment with several big Repulsors and a Corvus supporting a bunch of utility infantry.
11th – Trevor DeVantier – Black Templars: Ironstorm Templars with an absolute car park of marine tanks and artillery. Led up by three super cheap Scout squads.
12th – Tom Bojanowski – Space Wolves: Stormlance Thunderwolves with two Vindicators for heavy support. This is epic.
13th – Eric Cripps – Leagues of Votann: Double Fort / Double Sagitaur Votann with loads of infantry and bikers backing them up.

Maui Fundraiser 40k GT by Dicehammer

43-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Irvine, CA, US on November 18 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Wings is covering this.

The Showdown

Sites of Power – Chilling Rain – Hammer and Anvil

Jeff Jew – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead): Dreadnoughts, Lancers and Inceptors, plus Whirlwinds to taste.
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vs.

Daniel Reddehase – Death Guard (Plague Company): Mortarion-less Mechanised Death Guard, with loads of Plague Marines, Nurglings to screen and some Brigands to add killing power.
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Rhino-heavy Death Guard continue to be a mood, and Daniel’s build here leans into it even harder than some of the ones we’ve seen the last few weeks. It also packs a lot of Nurglings for early screening and harrassment, and eschews Death Guard shooting in favour of the efficient and speedy Brigands. This is definitely a list that’s tuned for putting the opponent under pressure and putting them straight on the back foot, and that’s going to work out very well for them in this mission.

The Templar list here is very deadly, and unless the Brigands get exceptionally lucky I think they’re more than capable of grinding the Death Guard out the the game. However, the Death Guard build is incredibly well set up for Sites of Power, with relatively durable infantry protecting loads of Characters, and a bunch of Nurglings to hold the enemy up and try and stop them reaching the centre. There are Ironstorm builds that are worse at this mission, but the detachment in general is not designed for this, meaning they’re going to be badly up against it on the Primary.

Having Scouts does, at least, save this from being a complete washout for them. The Templars need to really hope they get to place the first unit, then use the first Scout squad to protect a corridor from their deployment zone to the centre, giving space for some Redemptors to rush up the board with Techmarines in tow, and desperately try and establish at least one Empowered objective early on. I think they have to accept that the Death Guard are going to get 6VP a turn from one of the objectives beyond that, and put the rest of their efforts into trying to minimise the number of turns they score a 12. From the Death Guard’s side, they’re very well set up to near guarantee capping the Marine Primary at 18VP total for turns 2-4, and looking for any opportunity to lunge forward with a War Dog and punk a Techmarine, as they’re going to have to come forward. That plan hard caps the Marines at 83VP, lower if multiple Characters die, so the Death Guard just need to measure out their resources to ensure they reach 84+, which should be doable even into this murderous list.

That, in turn, means that the Templars probably just have to go max aggro and try and cause the scoring to pivot their way earlier, but that’s inevitably going to create some risks for the Characters, and the odds are definitely with the Nurgle side here. Sure enough, they took the win fairly handily.

Result

Death Guard (Plague Company) Victory – 88 – 64

Daniel Reddehase – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 1st Place

The List

See showdown.

Archetype

Brawler Death Guard

Thoughts

Always be brawlin’. I actually think the principles of this list end up weirdly close to the Brawler Goodstuff builds that Chaos Space Marines are currently on – it’s the same mix of mechanised melee infantry with embedded Characters alongside very self-sufficient shooting threats. The combination of Nurglings and the option of Skullsquirm Blight also gives the army a very strong matchup into other brawler lists, as shockingly being at effectively -2 to hit can make carving through Plague Marines pretty tough! Definitely enjoying all the Death Guard tinkering we’ve seen in the last few weeks, long may it continue and congratulations Daniel.

K E I N L Y – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 2nd Place

The List

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Archetype

Double Avatar Wraithguard

Thoughts

None whatsoever.

Well done K E I N L Y, if that is your real name.

The Best of the Rest

There were 7 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

3rd – Andrew Porras – Imperial Fists (Gladius Task Force): A combined arms Fists list, with Tor Garadon leading Aggressors and Lysander with some Terminator backup as the centrepieces.
4th – TJ Spaeth – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead): Lots of Crusader MSUs screening a Gladiator.
5th – Brick Taylor – Leagues of Votann: Go-wide Votann, packing lots of Hearthkyn and Bikes with two units of Beserks in Sagitaurs as counter-charge, and a bug Hearthguard hammer.
6th – Omar Gonzalez – Chaos Space Marines: Brawler Goodstuff, adding Lucius with a full squad of Legionaries as an extra threat.
7th – Manuel Valera – Tyranids (Vanguard Onslaught): Melee pressure with lots of Genestealers and a full melee Warrior unit with a Winged Prime.
8th – Mark Meng – Grey Knights: Two big Terminator bricks with MSUs and Characters to troubleshoot.
9th – Kennith Onyeabor – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Mega monster mash, packing a trio each of Maleceptors, Haruspex and Exocrines.

Heroes Of The Mid Table 3

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Langley Twp, BC, CA on November 18 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Wings is covering this.

JT McDowell – Ynnari (Battle Host) – 1st Place

Yvraine & The Visarch. Credit: James “Boon” Kelling

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ynnari Wraithguard

Final Round Matchup

60 – 57 Victory against Brendan McKenzie – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs).

Thoughts

Mostly Ynnari business-as-usual here, with efficient Scourges and Ravagers added to the normal Aeldari toys to great effect. I do like the choice to augment Yvraine (who you have to take) with a Troupe and the Visarch though, as taking all of them together gives you a nifty little counter-charge threat to play with. Cool little additon to an effective formula, good stuff from JT.

The Best of the Rest

There were N more players on X-1 records. They were:

2nd – Brendan McKenzie – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Arco-Flagellant spam, with Battle Sisters, Immolators and the Vahl/Paragon brick as heavy hitters.
3rd – Kyle Zimmerman – Aeldari (Battle Host): Avatar/Wraithguard
4th – Jim Downie – Aeldari (Battle Host): Avatar/Wraithguard, now with some D-cannons.
5th – Kyle Gray – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Another successful installment in the Calgar/Guilliman buddy cop series.
6th – Mike Garcia – Space Marines (Firestorm Assault Force): Flamer-tastic mechanised Marines, using a big unit each of Aggressors and Eradicators in a Redeemer and Repulsor (whichever unit the Captain goes with taking the bigger ride), then lots of Redemptors to back them.
7th – Myles Scott – Aeldari: No Avatars in sight, instead Wraithguard anchoring a much more go-wide Aeldari build than the standard, with lots of extra Aspects and some Windrider MSUs.

Peterborough Slam GT 4!

33-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on November 18 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Lowest of Men is covering this.

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

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Guard Mixed Arms

Final Round Matchup

86 – 30 Victory against Jack Chapman – T’au Empire (Kauyon).

Thoughts

Guard specialist Martyn smashes to first place here with an excellent list that dilutes the emphasis on artillery in order to have a wider range of options on the board. Basilisks still provide key threat removal and slowing effects from behind a wall, but the Rogal Dorn and Commander can keep opponents honest whilst lots of disposable infantry squads die for the cause. The Guard index has held it’s own remarkably well despite not being one of the ‘nuts’ ones at release, and it was great to see a faction specialist reaping the rewards here. Congratulations.

The Best of the Rest

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

2nd – Adam Gill – Aeldari (Battle Host): When I say triple Nightspinner, you say ‘with ten Wraithguard and the Yncarne’!
3rd – Mickey Baird-Parker – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): Face wrecking WE with Angron, loads of Eightbound, and two Rhinos of Bezerkers led by Kharn and the super Master of Executions.
4th – Jack Chapman – T’au Empire (Kauyon): A real toolkit list from 6++’s own Jack, with double Riptide and Devilfish Breachers supporting Broadside and Crisis heavy lifters. Well done on making the final buddy.
5th – Luke Townsend – World Eaters: World Eaters with EVEN MORE Eightbound and slightly less Rhino / Bezerker support.

Warpstorm Over Cyprus

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Wings is covering this.

Leonid Popov – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ironstormraven

Final Round Matchup

20-0 Victory vs Marios Kontopyrgos – Votann.

Thoughts

So like, you might laugh but I think the Stormraven has, low key, been underexplored thus far in 10th. -1D on something that chunky is no joke, and Ironstorm is a great place to put it. Mercy is Weakness into Power of the Machine Spirit into Vengeful Animus is no joke as a series of unfortunate events for the opponent, and can put them massively on the back foot, particularly once the full unit of flamestorm Aggressors inside have done their work. Winning a damage race against Ironstorm is already challenging, and doing so after being put that had on the back foot is going to be a reach. Absolutely love this, real champion moves from Leonid.

The Best of the Rest

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

2nd – Alexander Kondakov – Chaos Space Marines: Brawler Goodstuff with an extra Character as a flex/utility piece.
3rd – Dimitar Donev – Death Guard: Mortarion, mechanised Plague Marines and nasty Terminator MSUs with deadly Leaders.
4th – Marios Kontopyrgos – Leagues of Votann: Sagitaur/Hearthguard spam.
5th – Yoan Trendafilov – Chaos Space Marines: Brawler Goodstuff with a particularly scary gunline

Wrap Up

More than ever, you’re not going to want to miss part 2 this week as we unpack the WCW top eight. Make sure to check back on Friday!

Competitive Innovations in 10th: Chaos Champions pt.1

Renegade Open 2023 – Warhammer 40K Major

James “Boon” Kelling – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Final Round Matchup

Thoughts

Devin Orchard – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Mark Weiss – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 3rd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Alex Vian – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 4th Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

DaBoyz GT Rochester 2023 40K 1v1

Adam Dye – Chaos Space Marines (Slaves to Darkness) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Final Round Matchup

Thoughts

Ken Knox – Deathwatch (Gladius Task Force) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

Scott Ferguson – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 3rd Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

David Koszka – Cult Mechanicus (Rad-Cohort) – 4th Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Maui Fundraiser 40k GT by Dicehammer

The Showdown

Sites of Power – Chilling Rain – Hammer and Anvil

Thoughts

Result

Daniel Reddehase – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

K E I N L Y – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 2nd Place

The List

Archetype

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Heroes Of The Mid Table 3

JT McDowell – Ynnari (Battle Host) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Final Round Matchup

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Peterborough Slam GT 4!

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

The List

Archetype

Final Round Matchup

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Warpstorm Over Cyprus

Leonid Popov – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 1st Place

The List

Archetype

Final Round Matchup

Thoughts

The Best of the Rest

Wrap Up

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