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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Pariah Powers Up pt.2

By Lowest of Men

Part 2, and plenty more healthy variety to consider – we’ve even got an AdMech showdown that isn’t Skitarii Hunter Cohort. Wonders may never cease. It’s Lowest of Men in charge today, covering:

  • TGX Warhammer 40,000 Event
  • I Gt Ciudad de Avila
  • Hee Yaw GT 2024
  • J-Town Throwdown

If you’re looking for any of the following, go check out part 1 with Wings:

  • THE SHEFFIELD 40K SUPER MAJOR
  • Denver 40K Fight Club July Open
  • Exterminatus IX: Sosig Party
  • Hometown 40K
  • Midsummer O.P.A. 2024 WH40K

TGX Warhammer 40,000 Event

98-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Mississauga, ON, CA on July 13 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Nick Jagiello – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Leman Russ Demolisher. Credit: Rockfish
Leman Russ Demolisher. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Guard Mixed Arms

Thoughts

A storming victory for the Astra Militarum here, who demonstrate the power of any faction able to marshal a horde of scoring, denial, and offence options in the Pariah pack. The days of shelling from behind a wall are over, but the days of transport rush, precision melee pieces and some serious shooting in support are very much just beginning.

I really like the MSU Bullgrun and Ogryns to give you cheap, durable units that can tick away cards and actions as well as offering output as required. This list feels like it has tools for every situation, very well set up indeed for playing the whole suite of missions and secret missions the new meta asks of it. Really, really well done!

John Henry – Orks (War Horde) – 2nd Place

Credit: Tom Alexander

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ork Trukk Rush

Thoughts

Speaking of ‘having tonnes of stuff’, the Orks are still kicking! I think the greenskins copped harsher nerfs than were warranted in the dataslate, but the fact remains that in skilled hands a go-wide, activation locking Ork list can thrive in Pariah if it can dodge one or two match ups.

War Horde facilitates this best, so I can anticipate a degree of frustration amongst the Ork faithful as they are nudged back towards the index, but this list from John highlights exactly why. Literal trukkloads of trading pieces, scoring pieces, and primary denial options, some Haymakers from Nobz and Ghaz, and plenty of sneaky utility tech as well. Really well done on the top placing.

Sam Procopio – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius) – 3rd Place

Blood Angels Death Company
Blood Angels Death Company. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Blood Angels Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Blood Angels continue their strong start to Pariah here, and this list outlines some of the tools driving this success. The recent emergence of 10 bricks of Van Vets with Sanguinary Priests gives the BA a tool they didn’t previously have – a unit that can keep up with the general ‘flying murder’ theme of the detachment, but is also obnoxiously durable and capable of creating bad trades and / or commitments to deal with it.

This opens up so much space for the deadlier MSU units to work with and means you can reliably force a ‘go turn’ that doesn’t end in you being completely evaporated. Baal Predators offer some overwatch for pesky opposing pushes, making this a really fierce, well balanced take on arguably the strongest army in the game at this moment in time. Really well done!

Daniel Guarnaccia – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 4th Place

Credit: Kevin Stillman

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Gladius Dark Angels

Thoughts

Dark Angels are back, baby. No longer shackled to sticking Azrael behind a joyless wall of tanks, the slate has brought them back in style. Deathwing Knights make out like bandits with their improved offensive profiles, and are particularly potent in Gladius (as, indeed, are the entire chapter frankly), where being able to turn on the advance and charge, or reactive move away from enemy counter offensives makes them considerably more flexible.

This list also doubles down on the recent trend of ‘tonnes of Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs’ – it might, I think, be time to start pondering if these have hit a point of being a bit too cheap and obvious as a plug in now… Plenty of armour and hard target removal is jammed in in support, and I really like the versatility on display in this list, really well done on the top placing!

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 5-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Adrien Mindjimba – Black Templars: Righteous Crusaders melee MSU in transports.
  • 6th – Alex Dunn – Death Guard: VSL-style Plague Marine Rhino / armour rush.
  • 7th – Nicholas Redford – Thousand Sons: Tsons Goodstuff with a Vortex Beast.
  • 8th – Luc Bourdages – Grey Knights: GK hull spam with Redeemer and DK.
  • 9th – Ramy Tawil – Tyranids: Synaptic Nexus ‘Nids with one of each Norn – you absolute hero.
  • 10th – Christian Vavaroutsos – Adeptus Mechanicus: Hunter Cohort with a load of Vanguard, Ironstriders and Dragoons.

I Gt Ciudad de Avila

74-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Ávila, CL, España on July 13 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Cajolín waif – Blood Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

Flesh Tearers Death Company Dreadnoughts. Credit: Drybrush Threepwood

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ain’t no party like a Dreadnaught party

Thoughts

Ok- this list is amazing and leans into a bunch of the more entertaining aspects of the BA index. Libby Dread is there to teleport some Eradicators right into the murder zone and blap an enemy tank, and triple  DC Dreads can cause some absolute havoc if they start chain reacting in the central skirmish. Gladius lets the slightly more diverse range of tools on offer here function logically, and it’s fair to say the suite of units available to Blood Angels at the moment actually work in quite a number of the detachments. Down the line we might see more of this kind of experimentation! Well done on taking down the event win with such an innovative, and frankly, fun list. Great work.

Ruben Bilbao fraile – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Blackstone Fortress Plague Marine by Craig “MasterSlowPoke” Sniffen

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Death Guard Mixed Arms

Thoughts

A podium for the Death Guard, who’ve been a bit quieter of late but remain a potent force in the right hands. In an increasingly combat centric meta sneaking some Plaguecasters in to create perilous charges makes sense, and it seems the Blighthauler has finally arrived at a price point where the plug in logically alongside more commonly seen Daemon Engines. All told a well rounded list capable of setting up shop mid board and making a lot of trouble, very well done.

Sergio Rodríguez – Ultramarines (Vanguard Spearhead) – 3rd Place

Rainbow Warriors Combi-weapon Lieutenant by Craig “MasterSlowPoke” Sniffen

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ultramarines Vanguard

Thoughts

An evolution on the Lennon-style Ultras Vanguard, which remains an exceptionally frustrating list to get to grips with and put away with plenty of output and counterplay of its own. Adding a few solid hard targets in in the form of a Repulsor and Storm Speeder opens up some additional angles of attack, with the powerful but expensive Centurion brick left at home in favour of spreading the threats wider. A very strong build that requires careful play, really well done.

Arcuos – Pedro Delgado – Black Templars (Gladius Task Force) – 4th Place

High Marshal Helbrecht. Credit: Saint

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Gladius Templars and Canis

Thoughts

An MSU trading list coupled up with a Towering, heavy hitting Knight. I love it. Canis locks down the hard target removal at a distance and forces engagement whilst the smaller trade pieces of the Templars yeet out to do battle when called upon. Very flexible, very effective and packing just a bit more forward push potential thanks to the include of Canis, well done on the placing with a build I’ve not seen before!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Capellan Chris – Thousand Sons: Rubrics / Wizards and Vortex Beasts.
  • 6th – Juan Manuel Galán Recio – Aeldari: Bringing it back with the Avatar of Khaine, a Wraithknight and Warp Spiders. Still good?!
  • 7th – Yeray TRABUCODONOSOR – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): All in Raider / Battleline spam with a lesser-seen Haemo / Wrack unit.
  • 8th – David Jiménez Gómez – World Eaters: Angron and triple Maulerfiend, zero chill.
  • 9th – Pedro Cbrr – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Foot infantry and triple Venatari.
  • 10th – Alex Valin – Necrons (Canoptek Court): A rare sighting post-slate, it’s Canoptek Court Goodstuff!!
  • 11th – Gabino León – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Mounted BA infantry with a big slab of Van Vets and Sang Guard (Dante leading, of course).
  • 12th – Antonio Domínguez Lorenzo – Chaos Daemons: All-in Nurgle Daemons with Plague Drones, Rotigus and Great Unclean Ones.
  • 13th – Jose vicente Escobar Romojaro – Imperial Knights: Canis, a Crusader, and plenty of Helverin.

Hee Yaw GT 2024

60-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Killeen, TX, United States on July 13 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Linchpin – Hidden Supplies – Hammer and Anvil

David Villareal – Adeptus Mechanicus (Cohort Cybernetica)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Scott Cairns – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Two ranged heavyweights throw down here, as a field exercise (or heated argument over technology) sees the Ad Mech take on the Guard. Both lists pack a lot of raw shooting output, with the Ad Mech loading up on chickens, sneaking in an Onager Dunecrawler and bringing the newly improved Skorpius out too. I really like the triple Techno-Indiana Jones in this list- a bunch of meta favourites really want space to drop into to function, and shutting out a vast chunk of the board to that option is great. It will play havoc with efforts to exploit the Reinforcements strat in this match up too!

On the Astra Militarum side, the Dorn takes over as the heavy hitter in lists, but there is also a place here for drop Scions and Bullgryn as the anchor. A big brick of Sentinels is interesting and, presumably the Reinforcements target as it gets the absolute most from the stratagem. Much more reliant on direct shooting now, this build nonetheless throws enough mission play and mid board presence in to keep the opponent busy as the guns do the lifting.

In the event this is a really tough match up to call and I suspect getting tempo in the game and connecting into some heavy hitters first was probably crucial. I think I would actually have favoured the Ad Mech here were I a betting man on raw output, so it’s very impressive to see the guard dig deep and grind out a solid win.

Wings: We also have some notes from Scott – thanks for sending these in!

Scott: I knew a 5-0 Ad Mech list must be something special. He had just defeated triple Vindicator Ironstorm, which was ominous for my tanks. He had an onager dunecrawler with access to ignore modifiers, which would stop my Dorns from blanking those D6+2 damage AP4 attacks, along with two Skorpius, seven lascannon ironstriders, three autocannon ironstriders, and three taser lancers. Throughout the tournament, I found that opponents could answer either tanks or bullgryn, but not both. The Ad Mech list had more than enough S12+ firepower to counter my vehicles, but nothing efficient for the bullgryn.

We played Hammer and Anvil, Hidden Supplies, Linchpin. The center objectives split such that each of us had one protected by a small L, and the medium L’s on the side neutral objectives made one safe for me and the other safe for him. I saw the perfect opportunity to go Fixed: Bring It Down and Cleanse. The 3×3 Ironstrider units were worth 6 points each, and I had two safe neutral objectives right outside my home L to cleanse while scoring 13 primary per round. My opponent acknowledged that choice won me the game. He would have to push me back into my deployment zone with his Ironstriders, but losing them would max my BID. Meanwhile, 12 bullgryn and 3 armored sentinels were muscling him off his neutral objectives. When running Lord Solar, always check the matchup and mission for a good Fixed pair. Tactical will only tax CP with New Orders and freeze up your turn planning until after you draw cards.

Wings: Thanks for the insight – definitely a smart play, and something to look out for on 6-objective missions in particular!

Result

Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) Victory – 95 – 70

Scott Cairns – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Scott Cairns Astra Militarum Army
Credit: Scott Cairns

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Double Dorn Guard

Thoughts

Astra continue their rise as a faction that can put up results whilst not really troubling the win rate charts. As alluded to above this build has a great balance of ranged threat and mission play, piloted to perfection here. Really well done on the event win!

David Villareal – Adeptus Mechanicus (Cohort Cybernetica) – 2nd Place

Adeptus Mechanicus - Ironstrider Ballistarii
Adeptus Mechanicus – Ironstrider Ballistarii
Credit: Pendulin

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Cybernetica Cohort Ad Mech

Thoughts

A chunky ranged list with a subtle deep strike shut-out via the Archaeologists. This looks terrifying to face with the sheer volume of fire it puts out, though is perhaps a touch lacking in combat counter-punch if the enemy gets in close. Really well done on the top placing.

Kaleb Hansen – Space Marines (Astartes) (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 3rd Place

Imperial Fists Brutalis Dreadnought. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Brutal Vindication

Thoughts

Ok, you have my attention. I don’t typically root for Ironstorm lists but triple Brutalis AND triple Vindicator is simply too cool to ignore. Massive threat, great counter charge and Inceptors dropping in for those hard to reach places. This will simply dunk on the unwary and I like the smattering of combi-weapon Lieutenants to give you some sneaky reactive move mission play. A  really dynamic, very unique list, well done.

Brandon Lucio – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance) – 4th Place

Imperial Knight Lancer. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Canis and the Lads

Thoughts

Canis Rex- still ruining hopes and dreams! Plenty of Helverins and a Cerastus Knight in support here, this is one of those lists that can just run away with it if you don’t quickly cripple some of the key tools before they all get to start blasting. New Towering isn’t what it was but it plays havoc with the usual logics of hiding assets and preparing to counter attack, as if you don’t get the big knights down early they’re digging you out of hiding spaces that were typically safe. Really cool to see IK back in the hunt after the recent changes, well done.

The Best of the Rest

There was 1 more players on a 5-1 record. They were:

  • 5th – Ethan Nolen – World Eaters: Direct, old school WE with Berzerkers, Eightbound and the usual characters.

J-Town Throwdown

43-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Jonesboro, AR, United States on July 13 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Josh Wilson – World Eaters (Berzerker Warband) – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

World Eaters… Mixed Arms?

Thoughts

World Eaters with guns, eh? The angry lads are very much enjoying Pariah, which has made the scrap for the centre far more important in a lot of missions and slightly adjusted the secondarys in ways which help their game plan (and indeed the game plan of anything that wants to brawl centrally!). Some Forgefiends offer Battleshock tech from a distance- this is actually very big for the World Eaters in specifically the Blood Angels game, where being able to circumnavigate a fight on death or interrupt is HUGE. Beyond that it’s business as usual – it hits like an absolute freight train, and it’s about as fast as one. Watch out. Very well done on the event win!!

Bryce Watson – Dark Angels (Inner Circle Task Force) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Judiciar. Credit: SRM

Look, it’s probably a Black Templar, but the vibes are right.

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Dangels Inner Circle

Thoughts

Inner Circle Taskforce Dark Angels in a podium place. That’s on the list of ‘things I would not have anticipated’ a few weeks ago! Deathwing Knights and Inner Circle Companions are just great for their points now, and the shenanigans in this detachment go a lot further when the targets for them can actually hurt things in combat. Some Destructors bring up the rear, and this is a delicious well rounded list that you don’t want to get in a prolonged scrap with. Very well done!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 3rd – Brent Simon – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): The list is called ‘Wolf Jail’. That is very much what it is!
  • 4th – Zach Mobley – Aeldari (Battle Host): Aspects and the Avatar of Khaine with a big brick of Windriders.
  • 5th – Justin Harris – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): MSU Venatari, bricks of Infantry and two Caladius.
  • 6th – Hayden Harsson – Imperial Knights: Canis, a Castelan, a Gallant, and Helverins.
  • 7th – Peyton Preece – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort): A proper mission play serving platter in Hunter Cohort with a LOT of MSU nonsense.

Wrap Up

That’s it for this week guys! Pariah is honestly looking very exciting, with a couple of standouts but a whole host of armies and archetypes performing well. Whether you like blasting things with guns, or punching people in the head, there is a list out there for you somewhere right now, and that warms my heart so it does. See you again next week!

Lowest of Men, out.

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