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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Double Trouble pt.2

By Lowest of Men

Part 2, with fewer Goonhammer opens but plenty of carnage. Today Lowest of Men is looking at:

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

If you’re looking for any of the following, check out Part 1:

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

Dark Sphere July 40k GT

59-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Samuel Smith – Chaos Space Marines (Pactbound Zealots) – 1st Place

That Gobbo

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Pactbound Mixed Arms

Thoughts

CSM lifer Sam claims a storming GT win here, with an excellent combined arms Pactbound list. I still rate this detachment over the newer shinier options in codex CSM, dull as that may be, for it’s sheer output potential and wider toolkit. Fight on Death and Lone Op are not tools to be given up lightly and Pactbound is capable of finding a way through a considerable range of match ups. This list goes HARD on the amped up shooting of Vindicators and Predators, complimenting those with Accursed for mission play. I really like it! Very well done Sam.

Lewis Smith – T’au Empire (Kauyon) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

TIGERSHARK

Thoughts

Tigershark, Tigershark. Does whatever a Tigershark does. Can it shoot, really hard? Probably, tonnes of guns. Look out! Here comes the Tigershark! A traditional cast of players accompany this enormous Forgeworld killer plane to battle, with Riptides and Stealthsuits and some Devilfish Breachers. Kauyon kicks in late game and finishes the job after the plane ruins hopes and dreams upon it’s arrival. A very potent list piloted to a top placing, well done Lewis!

Wings: I have heard credible rumours that the amount of destruction caused by the winged resin menace on Overwatch was so unprecedented that it’s spawned at least one house rule at a nearby event. Incredible.

Tom Lewis – Leagues of Votann (Oathband) – 3rd Place

Trans-Hyperion Alliance Kahl – Leagues of Votann. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Votann Wheel Rush

Thoughts

Votann are back, baby. All it took was a cheap, janky little Infiltrator unit to open up the big can of worms that is a lot of scout moves and forward pressure coupled with durable, consistent profiles. Mounted rush Votann really like the new missions and secondaries, which don’t stretch them quite as badly as the previous iteration. They can roll up, start blasting, and set up shop midboard for the foreseeable. Really cool to see them revitalised, very well done on the top placing!

Niklas Ek – Genestealer Cult (Host of Ascension) – 4th Place

Credit: BuffaloChicken

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

GSC Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Nicholas says ‘no’ to the GSC haters and cracks out a top placing. Host of Ascension is the detachment best suited to a combined arms approach, which allows for this list packing both Aberrant and Purestrain combat alongside plenty of drop Neophytes. Ridgerunners dole out extra AP from afar, making the whole ensemble hit a lot harder than you’d expect. If stuff starts recycling at the right times the opponent can find themselves really up against it. Nice to see two of the new Benefictus getting a run out to provide some anti-tank as well! Very well done on the placing.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Andrew Hope – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Invasion Fleet monsters with a swarm of Lictors and Neurolictors out in front.
  • 6th – Samuel Martin – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort): Mixed arms Hunter Cohort with lots of MSU combat units ahead of plenty of heavy shooting.
  • 7th – Vincent Stein – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): MSU Venetari and double Caladius Custodes.
  • 8th – Miriam Hall- Grey Knights: Loads of Strikes for Pariah scoring alongside the more typical Terminators and Dreadknights.
  • 9th – Giulio Cesare Ghermandi – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Go-wide MSU Skysplinter with plenty of scoring pieces.
  • 10th – Alexandre Harnisch – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Venom heavy MSU Skysplinter.

Central Island Open

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Nanaimo, BC, Canada on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Ian Harris – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 1st Place

Lord of Virulence
Lord of Virulence. That Gobbo

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Good Grief

Thoughts

Ok, this is a serious flex. Triple Defiler Death Guard?! Utterly amazing. There are some sneaky synergies here with the Lord of Virulence, and now that the PBC is more expensive and less effective at indirect shooting I can understand the pivot to something that also wrecks in combat. Positioning and placement are the obvious challenges for enormous murder crabs but this vehicle skew can put the opponent in a horrific position if they don’t start picking off hulls quickly. A really unique list, well done on the top showing.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Kevin Hamilton – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders): Crusader spam Templars with some Gladiators in support.
  • 3rd – Brendan McKenzie – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): Mixed Arms Hallowed Martyrs with Vahl and the gang. Note the solitary Cannonesses…
  • 4th – Sonny Govus – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre): Glorious Ret Cadre Tau with Farsight and tonnes of Crisis teams.
  • 5th – Aaron Guest – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): Old School silver tide Necron Warriors in Awakened Dynasty.
  • 6th – Idavoll Heimdall – Necrons (Obeisance Phalanx): Triple Annihilation Barge and thirty Lychguard in a very novel Necron build!
  • 7th – Jesse Baker – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Shooty Skysplinter with lots of Talos, Ravagers and Scourge behind the forward line.

Bembel Clash #10

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hirzenhain, HE, DE on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Pau “Conejo Malo” Poensgen – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

Drazhar, the Master of Blades. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Forward Pressure Skysplinter

Thoughts

The Drukhari continue their excellent early Pariah form, and I really like this go-turn build. Drazhar and triple Archon plus Incubi and a Court gives you a LOT of forward pressure pieces that can punch well above their weight, and can then safely retreat into venoms to do it all again next turn. There is enough supporting shooting to clear up transports and vehicles in a less vehicle heavy meta- the move to double Haywire, single Dark Lances is interesting too! All in all an innovative build that adapts the faction for the new ruleset, great work.

The Best of the Rest

There were 2 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Ben Hackländer – Death Guard (Plague Company): Classic Plague Marine Rhino rush with Brigand support.
  • 3rd – Tobias Pohl – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Massed characters and Rubric Marines.

Winchester 40K GT – July 2024

27-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on July 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Take and Hold – Swift Action – Dawn of War

Rayne Avery – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Aidan Brocklehurst – Adepta Sororitas (Penitent Host)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

A quite brutal mismatch of approaches here, as the stagey, missile trading of the Penitent Host (in my personal opinion the coolest detachment of the new book) goes up against the ‘Gotcha!’ drop shooting of the Retaliation Cadre. On paper this is a rough one for the Sisters. They have incredible reach and damage flying forth from vehicles with Repentia souped up by the Triumph to go faster and hit harder, but they are vulnerable a) to an army with sufficient cheap screening and trading to buy itself time to grow into the game and b) targeted deep striking that can hit them in their fragile areas.

Retaliation Cadre packs both these things, making it an excellent counter to the rising forces of Sisters and Drukhari doing the rounds in the meta in particular. It has enough Crisis teams to be dropping down early to de-mech the opponent before subsequent drops clean out the fragile infantry that dares to be out on foot. Meanwhile Kroot, Ghostkeels and other throwaway pieces keep the Sisters busy out front long enough for their backlines and flanks to collapse. Very much an uphill slog for the Penitent Host here, and the Tau came out on top.

Result

T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre) Victory – 85 – 54

Rayne Avery – T’au Empire (Retaliation Cadre) – 1st Place

XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team. Credit: Rockfish
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Ret Cadre Crisis Drops

Thoughts

Retaliation Cadre is enjoying some success after recent nudges on the points for Crisis Teams, and I am here for it!  Loads of drop turn potential, a variety of suit units for taking out different targets, and access to Fire and Fade shenanigans all combine to make this very effective at catching the opponent out and shutting off their score whilst ticking off the cards very happily. Ghostkeels are amazing and I really rate shoving a bunch of them out in force here to get the party started. Really well done on the event win!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Joshua Cowlard – Orks (War Horde): War Horde Trukk rush Orks make a comeback with Ghaz leading the charge.
  • 3rd – Dom Maidlow – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): A Techy Renegade Raiders build with some Blue Horror forward deploy alongside Predators, Warp Talons and Legios.
  • 4th – Tom Green – Leagues of Votann (Oathband): Chunky Sagitaur rush Votann with some Thunderkyn and a drop turn of Hearthguard.
  • 5th – Aidan Brocklehurst –  Adepta Sororitas (Penitent Host): The extremely cool Repentia Penitent Host / Castigators build from the showdown. Rock on Aidan.

Wrap Up

It’s Pariah Season!! Loads of interesting lists out in force now and it’s great watching established meta forces starting to adapt for the challenges the new pack poses. What awaits us over the next few weeks? Will WTC throw up some interesting new builds for us peasants to adopt? Here’s hoping! Have fun out there.

Lowest of Men, out.

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