Good grief. The scene tends to start winding down a bit after the first weekend of December, but boy oh boy has the community decided to close the year with a bang – fourteen events, five of them majors, and one of the highest player counts we’ve seen outside of an LVO/LGT weekend. The list of winners tells a big part of the story why – the top of the metagame continues to be pretty open, with plenty of contenders nipping at the heels of Aeldari and Chaos Space Marines, who do still stand out from the pack, but not by that much.
That is, honestly, more than enough preamble – we’ve got a tonne to cover and we’re going to get right into it.
Today we’ll start with Wings looking at:
The Leicester UKTC Super-Major (Supermajor)
Feliz Exterminatus (Major)
Merry Slaaneshmass 2023 (Major)
Obsec presents the 9th annual Perth GT, 40k Masters 2023
Waisted Potential Presents: YYC LVO PREP Ogres Den December GT
Évzáró Gálatorna 2023
Eye of Terror Fall ’23 GT
Friday will see Lowest of Men investigating:
Warzone: Atlanta 2023 Warhammer 40k Major Tournament (Major)
Warhound GT in December at Game Grid (Major)
Iron Cage GT: Winter Whammy
HEROCON
Team arKCanite Presents: Winter Slaughter
Sword and Board Warhammer 40K Tournament
Winter War Zone 2023
This week’s Showdowns are going to be:
Dark Angels vs. Emperor’s Children at the Iron Cage GT
Thousand Sons vs. Chaos Knights at the Team arKCanite Winter Slaughter
The Leicester Super-Major
194-player, 7-round Supermajor in England, GB on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
As ever, this was great fun – the Leicester venue is my favourite of the ones the UKTC uses. I also got to indulge in a minor reign of terror, unleashing my Aeldari for the first time this edition. Night Spinners man. They sure are a thing.
Will Whitaker – Chaos Space Marines (Slaves to Darkness) – 1st Place
Credit: Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
++ Army Roster (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [1,800pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Detachment Choice: Slaves to Darkness
+ Character +
Chaos Lord [75pts]: Chaos Undivided, Daemon hammer, Plasma pistol
Chaos Lord [75pts]: Chaos Undivided, Daemon hammer, Plasma pistol
Chaos Lord [75pts]: Chaos Undivided, Daemon hammer, Plasma pistol
Dark Commune [55pts]: Chaos Undivided
. 2x Blessed Blades: 2x Commune blade
Dark Commune [55pts]: Nurgle, Warlord
. 2x Blessed Blades: 2x Commune blade
Dark Commune [55pts]: Chaos Undivided
. 2x Blessed Blades: 2x Commune blade
Sitting atop a throne of skulls after the dust cleared from seven rounds of Warhammer, we have Will’s version of the Chaos Space Marine brawler builds. Going hard on Communes lets you completely body some armies through weight of pressure, and is also going to reliably lock in high scores to help lock in a top cut spot with a 5-0. This variant also looks particularly well suited to World Eaters, who are a definite rising force in the UK, and that came in clutch in the final. Communes are big and wound-dense enough that they can sometimes bounce some of the World Eater units, Forgefiends are the better shooting threat when you’re hunting Eightbound, and Syll’Esske getting back up is super annoying to a one-phase army. Extremely well aimed at the metagame, therefore, and thus a deserved victory from Will!
Nassim Fouchane – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband) – 2nd Place
Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
I’m going first 7 times (1975 Points)
World Eaters
Berzerker Warband
Strike Force (2000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Angron (415 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Samni’arius and Spinegrinder
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (23), Data Version: v304
Archetype
The Vanella 1975
Thoughts
Hot on Will’s heels we have Nassim, running the precise World Eaters 1975pts that’s been perfected by their elite players, and slicing through a host of powerful foes before finally getting ground out by the Cultist horde. Adding Kharn and the MoE in Berserker units gives this list such a saturation of units that can evaporate anything they touch that it’s really hard to stop. Our own Corrode played against Nas in an earlier round, deployed defensively and killed a third of the World Eaters army turn one – and still got bodied off the table in short order. Not quite sure how I feel about an army being “solved” down to an exact list, but it’s worth saying that Nassim pulled off this performance despite borrowing the list and it being his first event with it, so big congratulations on taking the runner up spot.
Daniel Whitaker – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 3rd Place
One brother in the top four with Aeldari, the other with (some) Slaanesh. Definitely something mythic going on here. Anyway, Dan’s Aeldari build has some genuinely unusual choices that I really like – it goes much harder on Indirect Fire than the standard, and hedges its bets against Ironstorm Spearhead with an extra unit of Fire Dragons. He also makes the choice to only bring five Wraithguard, which I honestly think is pretty defensible – in the mirror, it means you’ve got less stuff tied up if the opponent Spinners them, five will still handily waste any tank without an invulnerable save, and splitting threats across more activations is also handy in a metagame that’s very heavy on Transports. Sharp tweaks to the formula, and once again some precision metagame targeting pays off – great work from Dan.
Kriton Tsintaris – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 4th Place
Credit: Evan “Felime” Siefring
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Sisters – Triumph (2000 points)
Adepta Sororitas
Strike Force (2000 points)
Hallowed Martyrs
CHARACTERS
Canoness (60 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Brazier of holy fire
1x Chainsword
1x Condemnor boltgun
• Enhancement: Saintly Example
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (29), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Arco-flagellants and Indirect
Thoughts
The rise of the Sororitas continues, here leveraging the powerful combination of Arco-flagellants to flood the table at a bargain price and Exorcists to obliterate foes that are stuck dealing with them. The Triumph lets the miracle dice flow at speed, making all of this super reliable, and Battle Sisters with some Leaders provide a good all-round mid rank. Eventually fell to Nas, as World Eaters going first do, unfortunately, go through this like a hot knife, but outside that matchup this army has tools for most games, and it really hammers home how much the Sisters’ star has risen. Kriton is definitely out here doing the Emperor’s work.
The Best of the Rest
There were 2 more players on 5-0 records after the swiss. They were:
5th – Rafael Harbinson – World Eaters: The exact same 1975pts as Nassim.
6th – Jack Tite – Adepta Sororitas: Arco-flagellent and hull spam, also running multiple Dialoguses (Dialogi?) for Act of Faith spike turns.
Merry Slaaneshmass 2023
94-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Ocean Shores, WA, US on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Timothy Grant – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 1st Place
Credit: PierreTheMime
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
poop (2000 points)
Death Guard
Strike Force (2000 points)
Plague Company
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (29), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Plague Marine Spam
Thoughts
Yeah so speaking of a Transport-heavy metagame, here’s five Rhinos. What a time to be alive. This list’s plan isn’t super complicated, but it is extremely effective – it can absolutely bury the opponent in a mixture of bodies and Mortal Wounds from Grenades, and is super tricky for other melee-heavy armies to engage with because of how much of its stuff is shielded in Transports, and being able to hand out -1WS up close. The combination of the speed to pressure shooting armies and sticky ceremite Rhino walls to bounce melee lists makes this a very strong spin on the faction, but also one that goes harder on the plan than any other recent variant, something that’s always fun to see rewarded – awesome work from Timothy.
Hank Adams – Ultramarines (Vanguard Spearhead) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
This is a spin on John Lennon’s WCW build, cutting out a few all-rounder pieces like the Company Heroes in lieu of even more Deep Strike death. The plan is pretty simple – Calgar’s murder brick of Aggressors can Infiltrate, thanks to the Biologis, while the Centurions and Inceptors can all be poised to come in from Deep Strike (the Cents thanks to Ventris) and annihilate things. Because the Centurions have Deep Strike, they can use that for deployment any time they arrive, meaning that their normal lack of mobility can be mitigated by popping them back into reserves with Guerrilla Tactics. The army’s generally durable infantry bodies also just work well in general with the Detachment Ability, massively stacking the deck in favour of this list in the shooting race. Finally, the good volume of Infiltrate, coupled with Calculated Feintto dodge early charges, helps the list prevent the opponent from screening its big drops out, shutting down a potential way to attack it.
Can’t say I’m thrilled to look forward to being tabled out of Deep Strike like it’s 8th Edition all over again, but the power here is undeniable, and it definitely requires careful planning of deployment and target priority to play well, so congratulations to Hank on taking it to an undefeated second.
Steve Trimble – Chaos Space Marines (Slaves to Darkness) – 3rd Place
Credit: Swiftblade
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Imagine running Oblits (2000 Points)
Chaos Space Marines
Slaves to Darkness
Strike Force (2000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Chaos Lord (75 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Daemon hammer
1x Plasma pistol
Chaos Lord (75 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Daemon hammer
1x Plasma pistol
Chaos Lord (75 Points)
• Warlord
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Daemon hammer
1x Plasma pistol
Dark Commune (55 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Cult Demagogue
• 1x Autopistol
1x Commune stave
• 1x Mindwitch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Warp Curse
• 1x Iconarch
• 1x Autopistol
1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Blessed Blade
• 2x Commune blade
Dark Commune (55 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Cult Demagogue
• 1x Autopistol
1x Commune stave
• 1x Mindwitch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Warp Curse
• 1x Iconarch
• 1x Autopistol
1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Blessed Blade
• 2x Commune blade
Dark Commune (55 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Cult Demagogue
• 1x Autopistol
1x Commune stave
• 1x Mindwitch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Warp Curse
• 1x Iconarch
• 1x Autopistol
1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Blessed Blade
• 2x Commune blade
BATTLELINE
Legionaries (90 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Aspiring Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Legionary
• 3x Astartes chainsword
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
Legionaries (90 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Aspiring Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Legionary
• 3x Astartes chainsword
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
Legionaries (90 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Aspiring Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Legionary
• 3x Astartes chainsword
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Chaos Rhino (75 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino (75 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino (75 Points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (23), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Commune Brawlers
Thoughts
Another showing for the triple Commune plan here, with Steve’s version going even harder on bodying the enemy via the addition of some Legionaries to fill out each Rhinos. This is another choice that seems good in a metagame that’s seeing more and more Transport Brawler vs. Transport Brawler games at the top, as it gives you something less precious than the Chosen with a lot of reach that you can use to force the opponent’s hand. Beyond that, all business as usual, just an avalanche of powerful melee and mutated flesh to smash into foes, and another great showing for it in Steve’s hands!
Joel Rodgers – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force) – 4th Place
Logan Grimnar as Santa Claus. Credit: Kevin Stillman
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Sons of Russ (2000 points)
Space Marines
Space Wolves
Strike Force (2000 points)
Stormlance Task Force
CHARACTERS
Librarian in Terminator Armour (75 points)
• 1x Combi-weapon
1x Force weapon
1x Smite
Logan Grimnar on Stormrider (180 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Flurry of teeth and claws
1x Storm bolter
1x The Axe Morkai
Wolf Guard Battle Leader on Thunderwolf (95 points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Crushing teeth and claws
1x Storm Shield
1x Thunder hammer
• Enhancement: Portents of Wisdom
Wolf Guard Battle Leader on Thunderwolf (80 points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Crushing teeth and claws
1x Storm Shield
1x Thunder hammer
Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf (100 points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Crushing teeth and claws
1x Relic Shield
1x Thunder hammer
Wolf Guard Terminators (195 points)
• 1x Wolf Guard Terminator Pack Leader
• 1x Chainfist
1x Combi-weapon
• 4x Wolf Guard Terminator
• 4x Chainfist
4x Combi-weapon
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (29), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Stormlance Spectacular
Thoughts
I have to hand it to Space Wolves players – they’ve collectively taken one look at a detachment that makes ThunderCav good, and near universally decided that this and only this is what they’re doing now. Logan and his boys are incredibly hard tough to handle with Ride Fast, Ride Hard available, and adding Portents of Wisdom to one unit lets the army launch a reliable multi-front charge early (since the other can just pop Full Throttle for a guaranteed Advance). Even Vindicators can get in on the speedy action, Advancing and shooting with Blitzing Fusillade, and then ramming into combat to tie stuff up in a way that would neuter most tanks, but isn’t an issue for them thanks to the Siege Shield. A Land Raider Redeemer finishes stuff off, and this is basically just a great unit in general in Marines, but has some nifty synergy here with using Wind Swift Evasion to either body-block stuff with it or move it into a better Overwatch position when the enemy thought they were safe. Super cool to see this build play out as effectively as it has, strong show of Warrior Pride from Joel.
The Best of the Rest
There were 4 more players on 5-1 records. They were:
5th – David Bierek – Chaos Space Marines: Extreme Abaddon gunline, adding Predators to the normal recipe.
7th – Kolby Hopkins – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Max ThunderCav with a Lord and Battle Leader in every unit, plus Logan, a couple of Lancers and some Lone Op Lieutenants to provide objective play and re-rolls.
8th – Edgar Armida Camargo – Thousand Sons: Lots of Characters and a Scarab Occult brick.
Feliz Exterminatus
59-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Saint Robert, Missouri, US on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Ryan Verbeck – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet) – 1st Place
Neurolictor. Credit: Wings
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
abhor the witch, destroy the witch (2000 points)
Tyranids
Strike Force (2000 points)
Invasion Fleet
CHARACTERS
Broodlord (90 points)
• 1x Broodlord claws and talons
Deathleaper (70 points)
• 1x Lictor claws and talons
Exported with App Version: v1.6.0 (27), Data Version: v299
Archetype
Board Presence Bugs
Thoughts
Tyranids definitely feel like they need a little bit of help on the killing power front, but as Ryan shows here they can make up for that with absolute premium levels of board control The mixture of speedy infantry, cheap Lone Operatives, cost-effective durable bugs as anchors and good all-rounder units like the One Eye/Dakkafex block make it incredibly challenging to stymie this build’s scoring, and while it’s threats aren’t up to clearing hull-heavy shooting builds, they are pretty good into elite infantry brawler lists, which would probably be the best placed to try and counter the scoring plans. That helps ensure that the army has a plan for either flavour of matchup, and it’s clearly worked out here with an impressive victory for Ryan!
Kyle McCord – Black Templars (Gladius Task Force) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
Black Templars High Marshal Helbrecht. Credit: Jack Hunter
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Jack Templars Now With More Flame! (2000 points)
Space Marines
Black Templars
Strike Force (2000 points)
Gladius Task Force
CHARACTERS
Apothecary Biologis (85 points)
• 1x Absolvor bolt pistol
1x Close combat weapon
• Enhancement: Fire Discipline
Captain (95 points)
• 1x Bolt Pistol
1x Master-crafted bolter
1x Power fist
• Enhancement: The Honour Vehement
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (29), Data Version: v304
Archetype
One Punch Crusade
Thoughts
This list is hilarious, feeling like it’s tuned to ensure that it can pick a point in the battle then hit the enemy as hard has (trans)humanely possible. Sword Brethren, the Aggressor brick and two Redeemers is a truly astonishing hammer turn, and having plenty of the tools safely encased in Land Raiders till it’s time to strike maximises the chance of the Templars getting to dictate the terms of battle (as does access to Assault Doctrine for a go-fast turn). The Land Raiders also mean you don’t have to go for a knockout turn, and the army is more than capable of metering out its threats while gradually toasting stuff, all the while threatening to go absolutely ham if the time is right. That seems to be a capability that’s provided a leg up on the competition, as Kyle took it all the way to a spectacular undefeated second place.
Scourges (110 Points)
• 1x Solarite
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Shardcarbine
• 4x Scourge
• 4x Close combat weapon
4x Dark lance
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (23), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Go-wide Ynnari
Thoughts
The shootiest, most go-widey Aeldari list you can get, with the uncomplicated but effective plan of tangling the foe up in Spinner nets while volleys of lance and haywire fire sweep stuff up, and Mandrakes/speedy Aspects score points. The Yncarne and Fate’s Messenger) Death Jester provide some extra potent troubleshooters to assail anything that’s threatening the seamless execution of the plan, and this list looks like a complete nightmare to take down unless you’ve got the speed to just roll it over, or the sheer levels of board control required to beat it at its own game (which is presumably how Ryan took it down in the finals). Definitely strong work from Peyton here.
Kyle Lamperez – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 4th Place
Azrael. Credit: Rockfish
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
iron angels (2000 points)
Space Marines
Dark Angels
Strike Force (2000 points)
Ironstorm Spearhead
CHARACTERS
Azrael (105 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Lion’s Wrath
1x The Lion Helm
1x The Sword of Secrets
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (29), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Ironstorm Dark Angels
Thoughts
Fundamentally this is the standard Ironstorm plan of “tanks that shoot good” with the added CP battery of Azrael to power their juicy Stratagems, and the nice addition of a Redeemer full of Assault Intercessors to discourage opponents who might be considering attemting to roll the firebase with a horde. Not massive tweaks to the normal formula, but when a list archetype is a known good one small optimisations like this are what you expect to see, so good work Kyle for identifying and deploying them.
The Best of the Rest
There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
5th – BamBam Hunter – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Two tooled-up ThunderCav units supported by Lancers, a Redemptor and Inceptors/Infiltrators to play objectives.
6th – Treynor Wolfe – World Eaters: An extremely familiar 1975pts.
8th – Cory Schulz – Necrons: Comedy big box bonanza with two Monoliths and a Tesseract Vault.
9th – David Clark – T’au Empire: Combined arms Tau with a big Crisis team and two Breacherfish as the centrepieces.
10th – Lucas Shubert – Space Marines (Ironstorm Spearhead): Redemptors, a Repex, lots of Gravis and a big block of Hellblasters, presumably aiming for Mercy is Weakness.
Obsec presents the 9th annual Perth GT, 40k Masters 2023
50-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Kelmscott, WA, AU on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Lachlan Rigg – Chaos Space Marines (Slaves to Darkness) – 1st Place
Syll’Esske. Credit: Brin
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
The Wheels on the Rhinos Go Round and Round (2000 points)
Chaos Space Marines
Strike Force (2000 points)
Slaves to Darkness
CHARACTERS
Chaos Lord (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• Warlord
• 1x Daemon hammer
1x Plasma pistol
Chaos Lord (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Daemon hammer
1x Plasma pistol
Chaos Lord (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Daemon hammer
1x Plasma pistol
Dark Commune (55 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Cult Demagogue
• 1x Autopistol
1x Commune stave
• 1x Mindwitch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Warp Curse
• 1x Iconarch
• 1x Autopistol
1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Blessed Blade
• 2x Commune blade
BATTLELINE
Cultist Mob (55 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Cultist Champion
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Cultist firearm
• 9x Chaos Cultist
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Close combat weapon
6x Close combat weapon
6x Cultist firearm
1x Cultist grenade launcher
1x Flamer
1x Heavy stubber
Legionaries (90 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Aspiring Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Legionary
• 2x Astartes chainsword
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Lascannon
Legionaries (90 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Aspiring Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Legionary
• 2x Astartes chainsword
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Lascannon
Legionaries (90 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Aspiring Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Legionary
• 2x Astartes chainsword
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy melee weapon
1x Lascannon
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Chaos Rhino (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Slightly less Commune-heavy than some of the other builds doing well this week, but very much a known quantity here – all this stuff is just real good, it’s ultra-adaptable to whatever it needs to fight, and it’s got the speed to bowl Aeldari over, something that’s a major contributor to them now sharing the metagame top spot. Congratulations to Lachlan for putting these tools to work and taking a trophy.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 5-1 records. They were:
2nd – Alex Fritzsch – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): A Knight Lancer leads a bunch of Karnivores and Brigands to war, with Daemons adding some objective play.
3rd – Mathew Crosbie – Night Lords (Slaves to Darkness): Double Commune Brawler CSM.
4th – Matthew Dean – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): All-rounder Sisters with lots of tooled-up Battle Sister squads, lots of Arco-flagellants and some Castigators, with Vahl at the head leading some Warsuits.
5th – Harrison Darge – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders): High pressure Templars, sporting a full Primaris Crusader brick and lots of Sword Brethren in a Land Raider and Impulsors.
6th – Thomas Wulff – Astra Militarum: Double Death Korps tarpit to hold ground, double Dorn to start blasting.
Waisted Potential Presents: YYC LVO PREP Ogres Den December GT
42-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, CA on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Ozzie Meloche – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 1st Place
Credit: Alfredo Ramirez
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
We are in a Grouse Simulation (2000 points)
Aeldari
Strike Force (2000 points)
Battle Host
Yet another way of putting together Aeldari tools and having a tournament-winning list fall out here. Eschewing any heavy targets except the Wraithguard anchor provides good resilience against opponents teching for Ironstorm or hull-heavy Aeldari, and having plenty of Infantry also gives opponents even more possible Phantasm moves to worry about than normal. This build also crosses yet another datasheet off my list of Aeldari units that have made it into a winning list thanks to the presence of some Banshees, and that’s something I always enjoy doing. Well done to Ozzie for putting his own spin on the faction in style.
Alex Li – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
Credit: Greg Narro
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
I still don’t know how to play the game (2000 points)
Exported with App Version: v1.7.0 (29), Data Version: v304
Archetype
Go-wide Aeldari
Thoughts
…and now I’m forced to conclude that Howling Banshees hit different in Canada or something. Anyway, this is another go-wide Aeldari build, albeit packing a slightly more (though not entirely, see above re: Banshees) conventional suite of units. These units are, and I’m going to shock you here, extremely good. Well done to Alex for helping Aeldari invoke the spectre of a few months ago with a full podium sweep.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
3rd – Zach Hansen – Aeldari (Battle Host): Double Avatar and extra Herohammer, filling out with Spinners and speedy Aspects.
4th – Anthony Dalla Lana – Alpha Legion (Slaves to Darkness): Triple Commune Brawlers.
5th – Darren Jac – Genestealer Cult: …Horde and Aberrants. Haven’t written that one for a while.
6th – Byron Livingstone – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Shooty Monster Mash with a Norn Emissary to exert pressure on a key point.
7th – Matthew Secter – T’au Empire: Loads of suits, packing four Broadsides alongside a big and small Crisis team, plus Breacherfish.
Team arKCanite Presents: Winter Slaughter
34-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Kansas City, MO, United States on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Sites of Power – Chilling Rain – Hammer and Anvil
Tom Deane – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Rubric-heavy Thousand Sons. Army List - Click to Expand
Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (2Cabal Points, 135pts): Umbraelific Crystal,Arcane Fire, Force weapon, Warpflame pistol, Prosperine khopesh
Aaron Hermstedt – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Rampager and Dogs Army List - Click to Expand
++ Army Roster (Chaos – Chaos Knights) [1,995pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size: 2. Strike Force (2000 Point limit)
Detachment Choice: Traitoris Lance
Show/Hide Options: Nurgle Daemons are visible, Tzeentch Daemons are visible
+ Character +
Knight Rampager [420pts]: Panoply of the Cursed Knights, Warlord
+ Battleline +
War Dog Brigand [160pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Brigand [160pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Brigand [160pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Brigand [160pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Brigand [160pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Brigand [160pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Karnivore [140pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Karnivore [140pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
War Dog Karnivore [140pts]: Havoc multi-launcher
+ Allied Units +
Nurglings [35pts]
. 3x Nurgling Swarm: 3x Diseased claws and teeth
Nurglings [35pts]
. 3x Nurgling Swarm: 3x Diseased claws and teeth
Nurglings [35pts]
. 3x Nurgling Swarm: 3x Diseased claws and teeth
The Changeling [90pts]
++ Total: [1,995pts] ++
Thoughts
That is a big oof on the mission right there. I usually spin up these articles while Showdown voting is ongoing, so I’ll often see the scoreline before I’ve gone and found out what the mission is (side note – TOs like this one who put the mission list in the BCP event info are true community heroes) and here I was a little baffled by what I was seeing, because on lists along I think this should be a really close run thing. The Thousand Sons certainly have the ability to pick off War Dogs (or even the Rampager if it goes out too far on a limb), but they don’t have that many units on the board, are vulnerable to massed Chaincannons, and have to be pretty careful how they’re using Magnus and the Beast to avoid getting punked by massed melta. The Knights are more than happy to lose a few Brigands in order to smash a couple Karnivores into Tsons units, and while I’d say the Tsons probably have a slight edge just from their assembly of tricks, there’s not normally much in it.
On Sites of Power there is, because it’s going to be incredibly hard for the Chaos Knights to score highly on the Primary. If the Rampager comes to the mid-board it is going to die, and Doombolt also provides one of the most reliable ways to remove The Changeling from the equation. This means that the Tsons can fairly quickly and brutally hard cap the Knights Primary if they bring the Rampager out, while they themselves can play extremely cautiously on one flank and still expect to hit 9VP a turn on Primary (very Tzeentchian). If the Knights try to counter that they’re going to spread thin and get picked off one by one, without concentrating enough killing power to out-damage the Thousand Sons.
I think if you’re the Knights player here, all-out aggro has to be the plan, albeit with the Rampager in the second wave. If the Tsons have a rough turn of invulns I think it’s possible that the robots can inflict enough damage early on that they can take a low-scoring win. I don’t think it’s likely but it’s a “play-to-your-outs” situation. As it happened, the Tsons didn’t end on a blowout score, suggesting that some serious damage was done to them, but they were able to tank the Chaos Knight score low enough that this didn’t matter.
Result
Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) Victory – 74 – 40
Tom Deane – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic) – 1st Place
Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Rubric-heavy Tsons
Thoughts
Plenty of familiar toys here, even bringing back the Mutalith Vortex Beast, who is pretty tasty for sowing havoc amongst enemy pressure pushes that might otherwise barrel through the precious Rubricae. Business as usual beyond that – great quality Battleline Infantry and a gigantic pile of shooting and Mortal tricks from all those Sorcerors. Good work from Tom!
The Best of the Rest
There were 3 more players on 5-1 records. They were:
2nd – Aaron Hermstedt – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): A Rampager leading a lot of Dogs, plus Nurglings and the Changeling.
3rd – John Indellicate – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Ultra-hefty Monster Mash with a Barbed Hierodule and double Norns.
4th – Justin Comstock – Chaos Space Marines (Slaves to Darkness): An unusual spin on the brawler recipe, adding Fabius Bile and some bikers, plus a squad of Seekers of Slaanesh for early board control.
Eye of Terror Fall ’23 GT
30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Ottawa, ON, CA on December 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Thomas Cowan – Iron Warriors (Slaves to Darkness) – 1st Place
Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Characters
Chaos Lord (75 points)
Mark of chaos: undivided
1x plasma pistol
1x daemon hammer
Chaos Lord (75 points)
Mark of chaos: undivided
1x plasma pistol
1x daemon hammer
Master of Possession (80 points)
Mark of chaos: Slanesh
1x rite of possession
1x bolt pistol
1x staff of possession
Battleline
Legionaries (90 points)
Mark of chaos: undivided
– 1x aspiring champion
1x plasma pistol
1x heavy melee weapon
– 4x legionaries
1x lascannon
4x bolt pistol
2x chainswords
1x heavy melee weapon
1x chaos icon
Cultist mob (55 points)
Mark of chaos: Nurgle
– 1x cultist champion
1x cultist firearm
1x close combat weapon
– 9x cultist champion
6x cultist firearm
9x close combat weapon
1x cultist grenade launcher
1x flamer
1x heavy stubber
Cultist mob (55 points)
Mark of chaos: Nurgle
– 1x cultist champion
1x cultist firearm
1x close combat weapon
– 9x cultist champion
6x cultist firearm
9x close combat weapon
1x cultist grenade launcher
1x flamer
1x heavy stubber
Other data sheets
chosen (220 points)
Mark of chaos: undivided
– 1x chosen champion
1x bolt pistol
1x bolt gun
1x power fist
– 9x chosen
1x bolt pistol
1x bolt gun
4x combi-weapon
4x plasma pistol
1x power fist
6x accursed weapon
2x paired accursed weapon
1x chaos icon
chosen (110 points)
Mark of chaos: undivided
– 1x chosen champion
1x bolt pistol
1x bolt gun
1x power fist
– 4x chosen
2x combi-weapon
2x plasma pistol
3x accursed weapon
1x paired accursed weapon
1x chaos icon
Possessed (280 points)
Mark of chaos: Slanesh
– 1x possessed champion
1x hideous mutation
– 9x possessed
9x hideous mutation
1x chaos icon
Obliterators (340 points)
Mark of chaos: undivided
4x fleshmetal guns
4x crushing fists
Obliterators (170 points)
Mark of chaos: Nurgle
2x fleshmetal guns
2x crushing fists
Warp talons (100 points)
Mark of chaos: Slanesh
– 1x warp talon champion
1x warp claws
– 4x warp talons
4x warp claws
Chaos Vindicator (190 points)
Mark of chaos: Nurgle
1x Demolisher cannon
1x armoured tracks
1x combi-weapon
1x havoc launcher
Rhino (75 points)
Mark of chaos: Nurgle
1x armoured tracks
1x combi-weapon
1x havoc launcher
Rhino (75 points)
Mark of chaos: Nurgle
1x armoured tracks
1x combi-weapon
1x havoc launcher
Archetype
Brawler Goodstuff with Possessed
Thoughts
Plenty of the normal toys plus a few unusual ones – you’ve got the full Possessed brick, ready to provide an absolutely devastating counter-charge against any opponent that over commits, and a Vindicator. I’m going to level that I’m not super convinced that the tank is bringing anything to the table that a Forgefiend would not, but they are an iconic part of the Iron Warriors, and when you’re playing with one of the top factions there’s always something to be said for aiming for some style points, which Thomas has pulled off here.
The Best of the Rest
There were 3 more players on 4-1+ records. They were:
2nd (4.5-0.5) – François Lalonde – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband): Matty Healy gonna sue somebody.
3rd – Jeremy Atkinson – Leagues of Votann (Oathband): Sagitaur spam.
4th – Nick Blackburn – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Lots of Rubricae, plus a big Cultist brick and some Enlightened for board presence.
Wrap Up
That’s so much Warhammer. There’s still so much Warhammer. How does this keep happening? Anyway, check back on on Friday when Lowest of Men will also be contemplating the concept of Too Much Warhammer.
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