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[40k] Competitive Innovations in 10th: Cold Steel pt.3

By James "One_Wing" Grover

Welcome to Competitive Innovations, our weekly feature for a number of game lines across the tabletop wargame space. Each week our army list and tactics experts canvass the top tournaments for their game of specialty, looking at the week’s top match-ups and how they played out on the tabletop to let you know what’s hot, what’s not, and what might be coming next as the competitive meta evolves year-round.

We’re back for the final stretch of another massive week of 40K. As you read this, I’ll be diping my toes into the scary world of Team events, so if the column mysteriously vanishes next week, I guess that Teams must have been as fun as everyone says. Given I’m our team’s designated sacrifice to More Dakka on its last weekend of full power, we’ll see.

Back to singles, where today we’re covering:

  • Fools Errand 2025
  • WarZone: Tucker Brewing
  • Dragon’s Hoard 40K GT Event Hosted by Away Game
  • Bash at the Beach April Grand Tournament
  • Pachuca Punch Out Round 3

On Wednesday we looked at:

  • THE SHEFFIELD 40K SUPER MAJOR
  • SALT III (St. Louis Annual Last Minute Tournament)
  • Gem Wargaming GT By the Bay
  • USA Charity Cup
  • ITA 40K SINGLES FOOLCON GT 2025

Then yesterday (Friday) we had Lowest of Men covering:

  • OPEN IBERIAN BARCELONA 2025
  • THE PHUKET OPEN
  • Vanquish 2025
  • Courage & Honour X
  • East Anglian Grand Tournament 2025 April

Fools Errand 2025

62-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, CA on April 05 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Anthony Dalla Lana – Chaos Space Marines (Creations of Bile) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mechanised Bile

Thoughts

First out the gate we have the Creations of Bile, sporting a slightly more Transport-heavy build than normal. That helps ensure they have good depth in a very murderous metagame, and against something like full strength Dakka, it creates lots of opportunities for their target priority to go slightly wrong. It’s also great into hit-and-run melee threats, of which there are a fair few currently, and just in general “three Rhinos with dudes” has basically been a fool-proof CSM strategy for the entire Edition. Not totally sure how I feel about the single Predator Annihilator, for my money I’d spend the same points on a Warglaive for better emergency Objective play, but it’s much of a muchness – this clearly worked extremely effectively, and well done to Anthony on the win!

Kass Kielly-burke – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Death Guard Goodstuff

Thoughts

Yeah that’s right Goodstuff haters, it’s been a while but there’s really not much else I can call this list – it has a bit of all the different things that make Death Guard strong, and it went undefeated. That’s what Goodstuff is! I am not a crank! Anyway congratulations to Kass.

Adam Green – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 3rd Place

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

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mechanised Votann

Thoughts

The current big split in Votann builds seems to be wehther or not they’re going in on Hearthguard, and this is an example of the non-Hearthguard option, instead projecting tremendous melee threat by cramming a bunch of hammer-wielding beefcakes into two Land Fortresses. The other big upside this gets over the Hearthguard option is that it alpha strikes very effectively – between Sagitaurs with the good halves of Hearthguard units and two full Bike squads, you can push a lot of Scout pressure in a game where you’re worried you can’t go the distance (or want to box the foe in like with Ynnari). My suspicion is that the upcoming unleashing of Emperor’s Children will push things back towards Heathguard a bit, as you want to be able to constrain their movement options, but we’ll have to see. For now, great work Adam.

Brynn Holdstock – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband) – 4th Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

The one true World Eaters build

Thoughts

Notch up another one for perhaps the single most “solved” list that 10th Edition has seen. About 1800pts of this is the World Eaters build, and your flex is pretty much solely around whether you have the second 5-model Berzerker unit or some more spawn. It’s very effective, as Brynn demonstrated by adding skulls to the skull throne here.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Frasier Parry – Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead): Yncarne only out of the Triumverate, supported by Aspect MSUs for days, a couple of Wraithlords and some Windriders.
  • 6th – David Coren – Grey Knights (Warpbane Task Force): Four Dreadknights, a big Crowe Purifier unit, plus Draigo and some Brotherhood Termies as a teleport threat.
  • 7th – Benjamin Hauser – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Canis, Armigers and an Immolator.
  • 8th – Evan Paterson – Chaos Daemons (Shadow Legion): Big aggro Shadow Legion with double Enhanced Bloodthirster and double Khorne Soul Grinder.
  • 9th – Brandon Powell – Chaos Space Marines (Pactbound Zealots): Mostly Infantry Pactbound with a big squad each of Chosen and Terminators.
  • 10th – Andrew Taylor – Adeptus Custodes (Talons of the Emperor): Triple Wardens with two Blade Champs and Trajann, Caladius tanks for blasting enemy heavy stuff, and a Captain-led Bike squad to finish.

WarZone: Tucker Brewing

60-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Tucker, GA, United States on April 05 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Stephen Mitchell – Chaos Daemons (Plague Legion) – 1st Place

Great Unclean One
Great Unclean One – Credit: RichyP

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Plague Legion Monster Mash

Thoughts

Nurgle Daemons on the march here, deploying all their fancy buffs to grind foes out of the game. The basic game here, as far as I’m concerned, is that this is a Monster Mash list where the monsters are  a bit less out-and-out nasty than some other factions field, but where entire avenues of counterplay are neutralised by all the Battle-shock nonsense going on, plus the fact that trying to spike down one of the big beasts to clear some space is wildly unreliable. I legitimately think that people have been badly sleeping on this plan since the Dataslate dropped, so I’m glad to see someone making it work. You even get a bargain-bin Be’lakor via Droning Shroud to avoid getting alpha struck, I cannot stress enough that this is the real deal now (and it arguably was before the boosts). Well done to Stephen for racking up an impressive tally.

Walter Langendorf – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Necron Psychomancer
Necron Psychomancer. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Anvil Awakened

Thoughts

Also getting in on the Battle-shock action is another spin on “one very durable Awakened unit”, this time a brick of Wraiths with the Nether-realm Casket (for when you really don’t want to die). Around them you’ve got the standard-issue Skorpekh units with some shooting support, but also the slightly more unusual choice of a couple of Lychguard units to bodyguard Imotekh and an Overlord. That gives some mid-weight melee threats that are relatively reasonably priced (though very fragile into the wrong targets), and they’ll be especially valuable on heavier terrain, as they’re quite annoying to prise out of ruins. No idea if that’s what this event was using, but it seems to have worked, firing Walter to an undefeated second place.

Noah Neundorfer – Blood Angels (Angelic Inheritors) – 3rd Place

Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Go-wide Inheritors

Thoughts

Bloodless Angels being dead and gone means that people can get back to experimenting with all the other cool stuff you can do with Blood Angels, in this case an interation on some of the tools that Jack Harpster took to third place at the LVO. In brief, you still have the big upside from this detachment that every small Sanguinary Guard unit is a huge threat, having uppy-downy available on a big Inceptor unit is dynamite, and the option of embedding a Character in a shooty Infantry unit to unlock In The Shadow of Great Wings lets you use them uniquely aggressively.

Rather than the Devastators Jack used, Noah goes for a more hybrid option of sticking an Apothecary with some Desolation Marines, meaning they can rack up value if you don’t have the CP to spare, but if you do then they can step forward and unleash the full fury of their superkrak launchers. An Apothecary is a particularly cute choice for this, because it can potentially bait an opponent into wasting a few shots; if the first thing they point at the Desolation Marines is going to kill one or two max, you just let it happen, then pop the Stratagem against the second thing that targets them, and with the Apothecary reviving a model you’ve essentially bled off some firepower for free. Obviously not safe against something like Sustained Hits Lootas, but definitely something to be wary of here (I’ve done similar many times with my Canoptek Court). Nice to see the shiniest Space Marines thriving, great work from Noah.

Ken Edwards – T’au Empire (Kauyon) – 4th Place

Shadowsun. Credit: Rockfish
Shadowsun. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Kauyon Triptide

Thoughts

“Say the line Wings.”

“Triptide is inevitable, Triptide is eternal.”

Anyway – go wide, lots of threats, great early interference, huge power boost as soon as you hit the mid game, you know all this. Congratulations to Ken for rounding out our final major top four this week.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Brett Buckstaff – Adeptus Custodes (Lions of the Emperor): Infantry-heavy with Wardens and Custodians galore, supported by two Caladius.
  • 6th – Chris Dailey – Astra Militarum (Combined Arms): Double Dorn Commanders plus some Russes and various supporting tools.
  • 7th – Seth Piper – Adeptus Mechanicus (Haloscreed Battle Clade): Cawl leading up a Mechanicus goodstuff build with a big Breacher squad as a centrepiece.
  • 8th – David Purcell – Astra Militarum (Combined Arms): Many, many Leman Russes and two big Infantry units.
  • 9th – Robert Birmingham – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Bobby G, Calgar, guns, you know the deal.
  • 10th – Spencer Feuerstein – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Whoops all dogs.
  • 11th – Thomas Byrd – Ultramarines (Vanguard Spearhead): Teleporting guns 2025 edition, using Centurion MSUs and one big Inceptor unit.

Dragon’s Hoard 40K GT Event Hosted by Away Games

45-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Greensboro, NC, United States on April 05 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Riley Morris – Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead) – 1st Place

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

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Wraithlord Ynnari

Thoughts

Lots of Aspects, three Wraithlords, big Incubi unit, all pretty standard-issue right now. For my money I probably would favour a Scatterbike unit over one Wraithlord (which you can pay for by bumping a Scorpion squad down to Rangers), but that’s very much nitpicking – this is shortly going to be close to the build to beat as it stops being able to hide behind More Dakka, and I for one welcome our new elf overlords. Great stuff from Riley.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd (4.5-0.5) – Frank Viruet – Astra Militarum (Hammer of the Emperor): Dorn Commanders, Russes and Kasrkin in Tauroxes.
  • 3rd – Steven Saroka – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): Your standard-issue World Eaters mix, putting a small Berzerker unit in alongside the main 10-model/Executioner one as a flex pick.
  • 4th – Tivi Piechocki – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Triple Sacresants, triple Castigators, lots of Characters to farm dice and revive.
  • 5th – Clark Welch – Space Wolves (Ironstorm Spearhead): Mostly hulls, one big unit each of Bladeguard and ThunderCav for melee munching.
  • 6th – Justin Yun – Orks (More Dakka): Triple Lootas, triple Tankbustas, you know the deal.
  • 7th – Jerad Berhow – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Whoops I say, all dogs.

Bash at the Beach April Grand Tournament

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Pensacola, FL, United States on April 05 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Linchpin – Raise Banners – Dawn of War

Jason Hooper – Chaos Daemons (Shadow Legion)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Garrett Camilleri – World Eaters (Vessels of Wrath)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Clearly there are some disagreements in Khorne’s part of the warp this week, because this definitely seems like some workplace friction that has gotten badly out of hand. In the red corner – Bloodthirsters, Be’lakor, and various Daemonic hangers on. In the other red corner; Angron and a bunch of burly, angry men. Garrett has admirably leaned in on Vessels, building a small number of high-powered units so that he can maximise the number benefitting from the Vessels buff, and in this matchup that pays off by forcing the Daemonic threats to be way more cautious than they’d like to. One mis-step is going to result in whatever lunged forward getting murdered by Angron, and with two Fight First blocks, guaranteed Feel No Pain, and option on Brazen Contempt, there are really not that may safe fights to pick.

There is a flip side to that, of course, which is that building tall gives the World Eaters fewer scoring units, whereas the Daemons have lots of throwaway chaff to work with. That’s a big upside on a Dawn of War mission against an army with limited screening, and gives the Daemons a distinct Secondary advantage to work with. Realistically, I think both armies have a chance of walking away triumphant here – the World Eaters can pull ahead on Primary, but have a bunch of dud card draws (and the Daemons can probably mitigate most Fixed plans), so the Daemons maybe edge it on Secondary. I think if the Daemons go second they should definitely take it – a big final turn Primary swing should combine with Secondary advantage to lock in a win, and I think I would narrowly favour them even going first, as they’ve got the mixture of indirect and better redundancy that should provide an edge. The World Eaters defied my projections, however (predicting things is for dumb nerd Tzeentch worshippers), and narrowly claimed triumph.

Result

World Eaters (Vessels of Wrath) Victory – 77 – 75

Garrett Camilleri – World Eaters (Vessels of Wrath) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Top-heavy Vessels

Thoughts

This list is so cool man. I really, really like it when someone leans into a strategy hard and it pays off, and that’s what we’ve got here. There aren’t many units, but what units are there are hyper-powered by the Detachment, and you can also throw lots of them forwards with Invocatus, providing you a route to win even against stuff that can shoot this off the table if you go first (some “poor” Dakka Orks got a nasty surprise in round four, presumably on that plan). It’s also just the biggest nightmare for any enemy melee build; one big Fight First Berzerker brick is bad enough, two is just rude. As discussed above, Berzerker Warband is solved so a bit boring, so it’s super cool to see a completely different spin on the army succeed – great stuff from Garrett.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Mark Perry – Chaos Daemons (Shadow Legion): Be’lakor, the Fade Bloodthirster, and a big bird, plus various supporting small Daemon units, and teleporting Havocs (which yeah seems like a cool choice here, why has no one else tried that?).
  • 3rd – Andrew Dennis – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Whoops all dogs, whoops all dogs, everyone knows to say whoops all dogs.
  • 4th – Jason Hooper – Chaos Daemons (Shadow Legion): Double Bloodthister, double Soulgrinder (Nurgle this time).
  • 5th – Anthony Carter – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Big Bugs and a big squad of Genestealers with a Broodlord.
  • 6th – Greg Vento – Orks (War Horde): Mechanised Infantry horde with lots of Snagga and Boyz MSUs, lots of Trukks, and a few nastier threats like Ghaz and Nobz.
  • 7th – Milton Ponce – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group): Blood Angel heroes with big units each of Sanguinary Guard and Death Company.

Pachuca Punch Out Round 3

29-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Pachuca de Soto, Hgo., México on April 05 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Xavier Barrera – Astra Militarum (Hammer of the Emperor) – 1st Place

Rogal Dorn Tank Commander. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Tanks!

Thoughts

Tank lovers rejoice, because Hammer of the Emperor seems to be the real deal. Dorn Commanders are one of the best units in the Guard book, and this detachment pushes them to the max with speed, durability (powered by Leontus at the back) and extra power, creating a build that can grind most foes beneath its tracks. Supporting them you’ve got Kasrkin in Tauroxes, and those are proving to be that most valuable thing in the 10th model; a unit that needs no support from Stratagems or Detachment Rules to be good at their job. That lets you pick a Detachment like Hammer that’s fairly narrowly focused without sacrificing versatility, and is a key part of the glue making this work. Well done to Xavier, our final champion of the week!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Joseph Walsh – Necrons (Starshatter Arsenal): A Starshatter spin on the one big Warrior unit plan, supporting them with Doomsdays and Triarch Stalkers.
  • 3rd – Ari Baez – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): Double Possessed block and supporting tanks as Raiders.
  • 4th – Jaime Cruz – Necrons (Canoptek Court): One big Warrior unit as Court, and hello, I think I just found my next Necron list.
  • 5th – Amador Perez – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Bobby G gun club.
  • 6th – Aldo Ayala – Adeptus Custodes (Lions of the Emperor): Triple Custodian squad, some Caladius, and two three-model Bike units.

Wrap Up

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