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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Liminal Space Marines pt.2

By Lowest of Men

We have now, all of us, glimpsed the future – but how do things stand in the last legs of Leviathan?

If you’ve somehow missed all the big news about the Dataslate from yesterday, check out our coverage at the links below:

Today we’ll have Lowest of Men is looking at:

  • Frontline Gaming ACO 2024 Warhammer 40K Champs
  • Risky Rollers – Calling the Banners 40k GT
  • GT Sevilla Individual – Híspalis Imperium
  • ForgeFire Open 2
  • Black Tower Summer Edition – Warmaster GT
  • TORNEO CLASIFICATORIO ARTHOBBIES

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

  • THE BRISTOL 40K SUPER MAJOR
  • 1. A1 eSports Super Major 24
  • YHP- “Road to the NOVA Open” 40K GT
  • The Epic Summer Splash Charity GT
  • Chuchichästli Rumble 1.0
  • Critical Fail 40k Major

Frontline Gaming ACO 2024 Warhammer 40K Champs

209-player, 8-round Supermajor in Atlantic City, NJ, US on June 14 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Shaun Reynolds – Necrons (Canoptek Court) – 1st Place

Canoptek Wraiths. Credit: Rockfish
Canoptek Wraiths. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Canoptek Court Silent King

Thoughts

Quite unusual to see the Silent King running around with Canoptek Court, but it’s a powerful plug in that helps Doomstalkers in particular to get around some of the defensive tricks that might nullify their output. Another triumph for one of the most successful detachments of recent times, very well done on the placing!

Sascha Alexander Edelkraut – Black Templars (Gladius Task Force) – 2nd Place

Kitbashed Black Templars Judiciar. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Black Templars MSU

Thoughts

Glorious tradey / stagey Templars here with plenty of transports, units that punch up nicely when the right buffs are applied and a tonne of assets to contest the mission with. Templars have had a whole host of ways to build and play over the past months, and it’s nice to see yet another different take doing well. Congratulations on the top placing!

Jesper Unander-Scharin – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius) – 3rd Place

The Sanguinor. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

BA Goodstuff

Thoughts

BA Goodstuff quietly haunts the nightmares of a great many armies in the game, and gets another podium here. It isn’t easy to use all of the tricks well and CP management in particular is a challenge for the army, but if you can conserve and build up resources for the ‘go’ moment, you can put many lists in a totally unrecoverable position. Really well done on the top placing.

Derek Apsche – Chaos Space Marines (Chaos Cult) – 4th Place

That Gobbo

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Chaos Cult Horde

Thoughts

This is the list everyone was talking about as it soared up the rankings, so we asked Derek for his thoughts on what made it work so well. If you want to hear more from Derek, check out 40K Dirtbags on Youtube. He has also done a video recap of this event here.

“My thoughts on ACO

  • Going into it, if I do well then I’ma mad genious, if I do poor I can blame the detatchment.
  • After a bunch of practice games against top armies I felt confident this was the best form of the list. I tried Abaddon, Vashtorr, Beastmen… this was the best one I came up with
  • The list is INSANELY fast, and it catches people off guard every game. Stacking all the buffs on your Scout unit means that you can reach the opponent in their Deployment if you go first.
  • You can use Charge positioning with your Accursed to slingshot your big models into key targets by blocking space for them with the small ones, then piling in to your true target.
  • They punch up! With the full rerolls to hit/wound when passing your Pact for 1 cp, I’ve killed entire units of Vanguard Vets with a 5++ FNP. They also brought down Magnus in 2 rounds of combat with his -1dmg up.
  • I was impressed with the 5+ Ld on the Dark Apostle. Once per game making another unit not battleshocked can help hold objectives and unlock Stratagems, and his two little bodyguards get the 4+ Invulnerable save, and can absorb big damage hits for you.
  • I played fixed each game besides Vital Ground (and still won that on Tactical).
  • Make sure to use Cultists to tie up the majority of the threat from big enemy units by stringing them out. As an example, in my games into Blood angels and Death guard, I used a unit of 50 point Cultists to tag each model in their units, then charge my Accursed at one end of the squad, ready to pile in. This works even better if the enemy Fights First, as they can wipe the Cultists then leave lots of space for the Accursed to pile in.
  • This is also where Cypher comes into play. He sits behind the Accursed units, usually in a building till you are ready to use his 12″ bubble of extra cp Strats.
  • Bile was great to test and see what he can do. He gets back up on a 2+ and can be very annoying to take down between that, blanking an attack and his Feel No Pain. He adds some nice damage sniping from a Rhino, and a big threat when he gets out.
  • The daemonettes are the seekers tax, which I played them very cagey compared to before. They were set up to either do secondaries, or Deep Strike behind building to make an 8″ charge. The seekers are there for either a game changing turn one move block or for a great turn one cleanse/deploy. With the Scout of them and Accursed I threatened the 75% of the board turn one.
  • Clock is 100% needed with this list. I practiced before aco with 1:10 on the clock each game, so I was confident each match for time. Each game came down to either under 3 MIN for my opponent or they clocked on turn 4-5. I would have 5-18 min left. This is particularly true as they have to think about how to play around Howling Horde or your bodyguard Stratagem.

Editor’s Note: this was written pre-dataslate, so list changes might be different!

The changes I will make to the list are take out 2 units of Nurglings. Keep one for infiltrate to have your scouts actually move up. I would turn also my 2 20mans into 10 mans to stop the new Cull the Horde secondary, and maybe add more Guardsmen

Thanks man, really well done on such an innovative list! Maybe Chaos Cults is a sleeper after all?!

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 more players on 7-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Cory White – Thousand Sons: Character / Rubric spam.
  • 6th – Malaki Fowler – Thousand Sons: Glorious triple Forgefiend / Mutaliths here!
  • 7th – David Adelman – Chaos Daemons: Monster mash with some Rendmaster / Khorne Daemons action.

Risky Rollers – Calling the Banners 40k GT

49-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Coburg North, VIC, Australia on June 14 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jason Horne – Necrons (Canoptek Court) – 1st Place

C'tan Shard of the Void Dragon. Credit: Rockfish
C’tan Shard of the Void Dragon. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Canoptek Court Goodstuff

Thoughts

Another big win for the Court, just after I was starting to write the Necrons off! This list is very much in the style of earlier builds with C’tan plugging in to Wraith / Doomstalker goodness. Durable, sneaky, and very good at the primary. Will it be an army to beat in Pariah Nexus?! Well done on the top placing.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Dylan Cowan – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Sons Goodstuff.
  • 3rd – Ben Coubrough – Chaos Space Marines (Chaos Cult): Chaos Cult with Abaddon, Vindicators and plenty of Accursed.
  • 4th – Boyd Morrall – Orks (Dread Mob): Triple Shokk Attack Gun Mek, Double Gorkanauts, a glorious list.
  • 5th – Kyle Mackenzie – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Triple Beastmaster / Venom spam Skysplinter.
  • 6th – Hugh Phuktomi- World Eaters: Invocatus rush with THIRTY TERMINATORS. Baller.
  • 7th – Nic Burrows – Thousand Sons: Wizard spam with a cheeky flying Daemon Prince.
  • 8th – Matthew Thomas – T’au Empire (Mont’ka): Mont’ka pressure with a Tiger Shark.
  • 9th – Euan Reid – Death Guard: Bloat Drones and PBCs supporting plenty of Terminators.

GT Sevilla Individual – Híspalis Imperium

44-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Montequinto, AN, España on June 15 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Borja FM – Blood Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

Apothecary Biologis. Credit: Craig “MasterSlowPoke” Sniffen

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Angry Little Guys

Thoughts

Blood Angels have been doing very well on a competitive front but less so on an innovation front of late, so it is AMAZING to see such a bonkers list taking a win. Triple Death Company Dreadnoughts is brilliant and creates an absolute nightmare once they are engaged. I like juicing up the shooting support by going for Gladius rather than Sons, which also enhances your reach, and the Libby Dread teleporting shenanigans also make it in here which is great to see. A very cool, very different take on BA, well done!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Luis González Hernández – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Libbies, GK, Terminators, a Redeemer. A nice blend.
  • 3rd – Antonio Castro Luque – Space Marines (Astartes) (Vanguard Spearhead): Lennon style Vanguard Ultras.
  • 4th – Teniente Lechuga  – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Triple Librarian / Paladin / Dreadknight GK.
  • 5th – Caparock – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Double C’tan / Monolith Hypercrypt.
  • 6th – Obacne Javi – Imperial Knights: Canis Rex and all his little friends.
  • 7th – Salvador Prados Pérez – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): Dangels Ironstorm, Storm Raven edition.

ForgeFire Open 2

42-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Niles, IL, US on June 15 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Tyler White – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Sisters Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Lovely balance to this Sisters list, which packs in good ranged threat via Castigators, nasty brawler melee in the Arcos and has the Vahl / Suit combo ready to annihilate those nasty hard targets. Sisters have shone in this quarter, what impact is their book going to have? It won’t be dull, that’s for sure… Very well done on the top placing.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Michael Schietinger – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): Storm Raven Dangels Ironstorm.
  • 3rd – Borden Smith – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Rubric spam with a nice little Vortex Beast.
  • 4th – Jimmy B – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): A big Draigo Terminator brick and plenty of Dreadknights.
  • 5th – Elliott Levy – Orks (Green Tide): Boyz spam with Weirdboyz and such.
  • 6th – Gary Frank – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Wolf Jail with the full 30 Wulfen!
  • 7th – Justin Logsdon – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Non C’tan Canoptek Court Goodstuff.

Black Tower Summer Edition – Warmaster GT

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Crema, Lombardia, IT on June 15 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Giorgio castelli – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Awakened Dynasty Wraith Spam

Thoughts

Yet another Necron smash here, as Awakened Dynasty flexes it’s muscles. This detachment still has some great tools for output and reanimation, and the jam style Wraiths build works well in it. Silent King and Szeras wander about helping it all to do its thing, and I really like the smash potential that this has. Excellent work on the win.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Marco Santopadre – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Massed Terminator GK.
  • 3rd – Riccardo Ghio – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Mixed Arms GK with some Paladins.
  • 4th – Simone Agrave – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Khorne heavy Bloodcrusher spam with minimal big monsters.
  • 5th – Fabio Minopoli- Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): Massed Dangels tanks in Ironstorm with a couple of Repulsor Executioners. Ouch.

TORNEO CLASIFICATORIO ARTHOBBIES

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Mérida, Yuc., MX on June 15 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Xavier Barrera – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Sisters Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Another Sisters ‘triumph’ (tehehe), this list slams the yes button on Battle Sisters and leaves the Arcos home in favour of more Paragons for heavy lifting. The Culexus provides some sneaky witch-hunting tech that feels flavourful AND useful, love to see it. Very well done on the event win!!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Roberto Ernesto Treviño Garza – Orks (Bully Boyz): Massed Meganobz and Nobz in Bully Boyz.
  • 3rd – Amador Perez – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Sanguinius goodstuff with two big bricks of Vanguard Veterans.
  • 4th – Luis German Giles – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Rubric and Character spam with Cultists for screening.
  • 5th – Gustavo Martinez – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Massed Breachers, Riptides and Skyrays in Kauyon.
  • 6th – Carlos Moreno – Dark Angels (Ironstorm Spearhead): Double Storm Raven Dangels Ironstorm.

Wrap Up

There we have it! Meta that was. Loads of different winners, a really healthy mix of shooting and combat armies doing well, and Necrons just bossing it on a regular basis. Loads of shake up to come and I think the new pack and slate is going to create absolute chaos on the results front for several weeks now, bring it on. Have fun out there!

Lowest of Men, out.

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