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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Double Trouble pt.1

By James "One_Wing" Grover

Two Goonhammer Opens? Two? At this time of year? In two different latitudes? Incredible stuff. It also saw our terrain partner Bandua Wargames kits make it over to the US GHO for the first time, debuting some of their new sets designed to combine with their area mats for GW terrain layouts, which will be available for purchase soon (stay tuned for a review in the near future, and check out the link below for the area mats).

This is an affiliate link. Goonhammer will receive a proportion of sales made via it.

Also, plenty of other events, though mercifully not quite as many as last week. The metagame is very much still in flux too, with strong performances from quite a few factions but no definitive leader just yet.

Let’s see what’s going on, starting today with:

  • Goonhammer Open GT US
  • Goonhammer Open GT Canada
  • II GT Tormenta de Hostias
  • Geelong 40k Town Open
  • Geekfest – Summer Heat – Warhammer 40K GT

On Friday Lowest of Men will be in charge, looking at:

  • Dark Sphere July 40k GT
  • Central Island Open
  • Bembel Clash #10
  • Winchester 40K GT – July 2024

We’ll also have showdowns from both GHOs, plus one more voted for by our patrons, which is:

  • T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre) vs Adepta Sororitas (Penitent Host) at the Winchester GT

2024 US Goonhammer Open GT

29-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Linthicum Heights, MD, United States on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

This game was streamed, you can watch it on our YouTube channel, starting at around 4:02.

The Showdown

Terraform – Swift Action – Sweeping Engagement

Joshua Campbell – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Tony Phillips – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Two recently empowered factions clash on the top tables here. On one side we have turbo-charged Daemons, with Skarbrand hurling Rendmaster-empowered Flesh Hounds at the foe and the Everstave Lord and Gift Unclean One able to do their thing with total impunity. The GuO creates a great anvil for the list to work around, while the rest of the tools create a nice mix of hammer and speed.

The Sisters, meanwhile, have brought fire. Lots of Immolators with various split squads provide a great mix of board control and firepower, Vahl’s unit is an absurdly nasty hammer, and we’ve also got the new tech of the full Seraphim flamer unit with a Fire and Fury. This setup lets you unleash 8d6+8 S5 flamer hits at the speed of an Advancing Seraphim unit, then slink away with impunity. Also, you can have Devastating Wounds if you want, which gives you a cool six Mortals on average (plus one if you throw a Miracle dice). Incredibly nasty into anything with toughness less than ten, great on Overwatch, and still dangerous into big targets thanks to access to the Stratagem.

How do we stack up here on Terraform? This is quickly emerging as both a final-round favourite and fairly skewing mission, and I think some of that is at play here – if you can terraform multiple objectives early you end up with a big advantage, so being able to either force that or stop the opponent is really good. Both armies here feel like they have a good line on Terraforming their near objective, but reaching out further and staying there will be tough for either, and I think this probably turns into a bloodbath battle over Primary. While Khorne obviously loves those, I think the Daemons do have a problem of being stretched on resources – they don’t have as many units as the Sisters, and the Sororitas force is very good at locking in a few kills at speed. With the mission wanting Actions, and the Sisters also having an easier time dodging some Secondaries (e.g. Assassinate), I think they can probably out-score the Daemons in the end, especially with the Immolators providing layered defences that the mostly melee build will struggle to crack. Skarbrand does have some shot of blowing that wide open if he can trap things in combat, and being very pushy with him seems like the best bet to try and flip the script, but it looks like the Sisters were able to hold on for the win.

Result

Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame) Victory – 66 – 43

Tony Phillips – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame) – 1st Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mechanised Flame Sisters

Thoughts

The title says it all – this build is brutally fast and extremely angry, and the big Seraphim squad with the Enhancement feels like a uniquely powerful tool across the entire game right now. Congratulations to Tony on joining the esteemed ranks of GHO winners!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Joshua Campbell – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): See showdown
  • 3rd – Steven Fitch – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Ultra-aggro Blood Angels with a bunch of jump Characters and some nasty footslogging killers (Bladeguard and a full Death Company unit) to boot.
  • 4th – Zach Point – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Boat-heavy Skysplinter with three Raiders and three Ravagers.
  • 5th – Michael Roberts – Imperial Knights: Triple bigs with a shooty Crusader to go with Canis and a Lancer out front.
  • 6th – JC Watts – Salamanders (Gladius Task Force): Triple Land Raider (two Redeemers and a Crusader) with Bladeguard, Aggressors and Eradicators stashed inside for lethal pushes.

2024 Canada Goonhammer Open GT

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

The Showdown

Scorched Earth – Stalwarts – Search and Destroy

Justin Signer-Delorme – Death Guard

Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Logan Antonation – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ)

Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Our second final pits the improved Champions of Russ against some defiant Death Guard, holding firm to the plan of stacking a couple of big Plague Marine units in Rhinos. That is, to be fair, pretty great in this matchup, as the Fights First Plague Marines are a somewhat daunting threat for the Wolves to get their teeth into, though plausibly not scary enough to fully disuade one of the bigger units having a go, especially if they’ve started with Saga of the Bear up (which they almost certainly do here). In addition to that, there’s not really anything else here that one of the big ThunderCav units doesn’t maul brutally, and the fact that Logan’s namesake is in charge reduces the impact of one of Death Guard’s answers to that, as a turn of hit re-rolls is going to mitigate the impact of -1WS.

Once that’s factored in, I think the big issue is that the Death Guard don’t really have enough shooting to try and flip to a backup plan – there’s enough investment in the melee core that an army being able to trump it is probably terminal. Were I on the Death Guard side, I think I’d be hoping to go first, then get the Plague Marines out of the Rhino and send those off to move block, trying to buy enough time to soften some of the Thunderwolf bricks enough that they can’t confidently push into the Plague Marines. I think that’s far easier said than done though, and there’s the extra challenge here that the Wolves have far better troubleshooters for going out and preventing a Scorch. All things considered, this is going to be tough for the Death Guard, and in the event they weren’t able to match the fury of Russ.

Result

Space Wolves Victory – 80-57

Logan Antonation – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ) – 1st Place

Logan Grimnar Santa Mode
Logan Grimnar as Santa Claus. Credit: Kevin Stillman

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Champion ThunderCav

Thoughts

The Champions upgrade is legit, I repeat, the Champions upgrade is legit. Now that you can either add an army-wide Feel No Pain or keep access to Advance/Charge from the get-go, Champions is a legit competitor to Stormlance, particularly because it spices up the ThunderCav units with powerful upgrades, and has incidental access to an ultra-powerful counter into Thousand Sons via the Runic Wards stratagem. Great to see the Index finally getting airtime, and well done to Logan on the win!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Justin Signer-Delorme – Death Guard: See showdown.
  • 3rd – Ryan Block – Salamanders (Firestorm Assault Force): A shooting pressure build, using Vindicators alongside Firestorm favourites to blast straight through the enemy.
  • 4th – Corey Trumbley – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame): Shooty Sisters with a unit of Paragons and some Retributors, including Aestred for Devastating Wounds in one unit. Also packs a surprisingly heavy Infiltration team in the form of a Rogue Trade Entourage and some Voidsmen.
  • 5th – Jason Wells – Astra Militarum: Loads of Scions in Tauroxes, some Russes and a Bullgryn brick, with Armiger Warglaives adding extra pressure.

II GT Tormenta de Hostias

62-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Lliçà d’Amunt, CT, España on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Garsa Garseta – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

Drukhari Raider. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Skysplinter

Thoughts

The classic 2/4 Raider/Venom Skysplinter takes the trophy at our biggest major of the week, making great use of the mobility and relatively flexible damage dealers of the Drukhari to take down all comers. Of note in this particular build is the Court of the Archon – anything that lets you build an unusually impressive Battleline unit gets considerably better in Pariah, particularly in lists fast enough to potentially take advantage of the War of Attrition Secret Mission. In fact, if you put a non-Warlord Archon with the Court, this build is unusually good at keeping the opponent guessing as to which mission you’re going for, as Command Insertion is also very plausible. It’s a neat extra angle, and particularly good for Drukhari as it lets them sacrifice early primary to focus on clean trades if they need to. Congratulations to Garsa for soaring to the top!

Usukane RR – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Heavy World Eaters

Thoughts

Pariah looks to have had a surprisingly big impact on World Eaters, despite their small roster, as this is a second top finish for a build that leans much more towards the heavy hitters than the classic mix. Cheaper Eightbound let you throw big hammer blows, while Forgefiends give you an out against enemy heavy infantry that can potentially trump them. The popularity of Blood Angels and Thousand Sons means that people will be teching pretty hard for killing 2W Marines, so avoiding Berzerkers can plausibly negate the opponents tricks some of the time, and it’s cool to see some novelty in a faction that was pretty “solved” at one point. Great stuff from Usukane, tsking undefeated second!

David Necron Anducas – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) – 3rd Place

Monolith with Death Rays. Credit: Rockfish
Monolith with Death Rays. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

All-rounder Hypercrypt

Thoughts

Hats off to David in third – rather than fleeing to haymaker shooting builds he’s put together a relatively “normal” looking all-rounder Hypercrypt army and performed excellently with it. You’ve got Destroyers and Immortals for various shooty targets, and Lychguard to do a precision push at a key moment, creating an enjoyably flexible build overall. It’s another one with great flexibility at scoring Secret Missions as well, so if it needs to it can prioritise Secondaries early on. Great work David!

Manel Tulla – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius) – 4th Place

Sanguinary Priest with jump pack. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Jump Pack Spam

Thoughts

Sons of Sanguinius round out the top four here, sporting a build that really doubles down on the overwhelmingness of the list. Full units with Sanguinary Priests are a nightmare to clear, and going for Vanguard Veterans with shields minimises the list of threats that clear them efficiently, while also taking top-tier advantage of the AP boost. Elsewhere, the list packs in unit after unit instead of investing in Characters, ensuring there’s always more stuff for another push. Congratulations to Manel!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Tkila Grey – Grey Knights: Quad Dreadknight and a big unit of Paladins.
  • 6th – Aarron Wilson – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Go-wide Infantry with lots of small Allarus and Venatari units, plus some Caladius tanks.
  • 7th – Dekkers – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Shooty Szarekh Hypercrypt that adds a big unit of Warriors to zap around.
  • 8th – Xavo Melenero L’Escamarlà – Tyranids (Synaptic Nexus): Monster mash, taking advantage of the improvement to Hive Tyrants’ interaction with most Stratagems.
  • 9th – Ferran Bayerri – Black Templars (Gladius Task Force): Mechanised melee Templars, using lots of Sword Brethren and Assault Intercessors in Transports.
  • 10th – Curro La Orden – Aeldari: The Rhana Dandra special, packing all six Phoenix Lords and an Avatar, with Wave Serpents to finish off the setup.
  • 11th – hector sola arroyo – Death Guard: Melee crunch, going for Mortarion, Rhino Plague Marines, a big unit of Deathshroud and three Karnivores.
  • 12th – Luis González Hernández – Grey Knights: Five Dreadknights and Crowe’s Purifiers.

Geelong 40k Town Open

52-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in North Shore, VIC, Australia on July 05 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jerome El’Dussey – Adepta Sororitas (Bringers of Flame) – 1st Place

Credit: Evan “Felime” Siefring

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mechanised Flame Sisters

Thoughts

Sisters take their second trophy of the week here via another Bringers of Flame build. This version goes hard on the value of Dominions in Immolators, and also sports two big units of Seraphim. A mix of boosted melta and flamers, all operating at extreme speeds, ensures that no one is safe from the Emperor’s toasty wrath, and Jerome’s win here helps cement flame Sisters as a list to beat.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Dylan Cowan – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Lots of Death Company of both flavours, plus some shooting from Baal Predators.
  • 3rd – Michael Hamilton – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Big blocks of Death Company and a Vanguard Veteran unit.
  • 4th – Jason Horne – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Triple Wraiths, double Doomstalker, double C’tan. Somehow. Still.
  • 5th – Terence Drew – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Max ThunderCav, some Jump Intercessors and the unusual choice of Heavy Intercessors, perhaps to take advantage of Battleline rules.
  • 6th – Patrick Burns – World Eaters: Eightbound galore with a couple of Forgefiends.
  • 7th – Liam Stephens – World Eaters: A more standard World Eaters mix with a bit of everything.
  • 8th – Anthony Marshall – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Bobby G strides back onto the battlefield, adding heft and free Stratagems to a bunch of Marine favourites.
  • 9th – Samuel Collins – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Destroyer-heavy Awakened with a lot of Lokhusts.

Geekfest – Summer Heat – Warhammer 40K GT

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Shearwater, NS, CA on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Blair Macdonald – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Aggro Daemons

Thoughts

It’s not all going the Imperium’s way of course, and the newly empowered Daemons are also flexing their muscles. This build uses the extreme power of the new Shadow auras on Greater Daemons to create pressure and flexibility, able to surgically unleash a Bloodcrusher stampede, Plaguebearers for scoring or Skulltaker to ruin the day of a troublesome Character. The end product will really keep a foe guessing, and looks like a tonne of fun to boot – well done Blair!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Darren Thomas – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Triple Mutalith Tsons.
  • 3rd – Keenan Elliot – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Various Infantry blocks, a couple of Venatari units and a solo Bike Captain.
  • 4th – Jonathon Betteridge – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Infantry blocks and double Monolith.
  • 5th – Stefan Samson – World Eaters: Angron-free World Eaters with a bunch of Eightbound instead.
  • 6th – Adrian Collings – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Terrifyingly over the top Sons with 30 Jump Death Company and a full VanVet unit.

Wrap Up

That’s it for part one, check back in on Friday for more exciting clashes from across the 40k world!

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