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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Resigned to Our Fate Dice pt. 1

By James "One_Wing" Grover

Look, people often say things get worse before they get better, and week after week it feels like the Aeldari are reaching new heights of depravity. This has never gone wrong for them before, pride being commonly known to come before enduring and lasting success.

Our biggest event this week has helped them along the hubris to nemesis pipeline by adding a house rule to reign in the power of the Wraithknight somewhat, so we do get a small glimpse of what the future could look like if GW nail the balance update, but otherwise it’s a fairly elf-tastic metagame out there. Let’s hope Slaanesh’s agents are even now in GW HQ whispering sinister guidance to the 40K team, and get on with another week of results.

Today we’ll be looking at:

  • Huxley’s Open (Major)
  • Wasteland Wars GT 2023
  • Seasons Of WAAAGH!!! The GT
  • Oxford Onslaught 2
  • ELBCOAST CUP VI – GT

On Friday Lowest of Men will be taking the wheel while I sort out the final prep for the GHO UK, and he’ll be covering:

  • CARNAGE at the COSSIE
  • Hellstorm All-Stars Heat 4
  • Abyss Supernova
  • Darksphere GT
  • HWP Salty Classic
  • ECDC Presents: The Big Sky Open

This week’s showdowns, voted for as usual by our Patrons, are:

  • Thousand Sons vs Necrons at Huxley’s Open
  • Orks vs Aeldari at the Big Sky Open

Huxley’s Open 2023

64-player, 6-round GT in Berlin, Germany.

We’ve been contacted by the TO to let us know that this event ran with an experimental house rule (designed to weaken Wraithknights) that prevented Devastating Wounds spilling over past the first model.

The Showdown

Scorched Earth – Chosen Battlefield – Search and Destroy

Arne Zerndt: Rubric and Character heavy Thousand Sons.

Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

David Szymanski: Double Warrior brick with the super C’tan and lots of Characters supporting.

Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

A glimpse of a potentially glorious future here – if you like Necron Warriors, that is. Which I do. Very much so, in fact. Warriors are fantastic, and the durability when you combine them with Szeras and -1 to hit (from a Chronomancer in one unit and the Hypermaterial Ablator in the other) but have been held back from true greatness by how hard they fold to Wraithknights and D-Cannons. Take those away, and consider how many times they can reanimate in this build, and surely nothing will stand in the way of the endless legions!

Well, except the Thousand Sons, which is potentially a bit of an issue here. This Necron build is very durable except against Mortal Wounds that do spill over and 1D Devastating, and while the ability of Magnus to flatten blobs by going re-roll mode is curbed by the Devastating Wounds house rule, Doombolt is still very much a thing, as is the Grenades stratagem off Infernal Masters, and there’s plenty of single-damage MW weaponry on show in the Tsons across the various Characters and from the soulreapers. Also, the non-Orikan unit can get Twist of Fate dropped on it, which is extremely bad news (though top tip Necron players, don’t forget that in that situation you can pop Go To Ground for a 6+ invulnerable save if you think it might pull you through).

From my experience running Warriors, it looks like David has gambled for teching towards one of the other major predators in a low-calorie Aeldari environment, which is GSC. Against them, -1 to hit on the big blobs is absolutely vital to give them a fighting chance of soaking the demolition charge combos, and a 4+ invulnerable save from Orikan helps even more. Against Tsons, conversely, you really want the Technomancers for the 5+ Feel No Pain, as it does way more to mitigate the chip damage. I do wonder if this suggests you should tool one unit for each matchup in this kind of build, and send whichever one is more suitable out as your advance guard.

Food for thought for the future, but right here right now it feels likely that this Necron build is going to get ground out here. Unless it gets very lucky with Cryptothrall rolls, double Doombolt into double Grenades should largely neutralise the Orikan unit as a threat, then Twist of Fate should set up a turn that crushes the other unit. The Necrons have some fancy toys beyond that, and Tsons aren’t great at killing the super C’tan when they need Mortals for other things, but I don’t think it’ll matter – Necrons rely on their big units soaking up at least one big swing at them without folding, and here I’m not convinced they can. Sure enough, the Thousand Sons won this comfortably.

Result

Thousand Sons Victory – 90-30

Arne Zerndt – Thousand Sons – 1st Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

See showdown.

Archetype

(Anti)Herohammer Thousand Sons

Thoughts

Characters and Rubricae galore, frolicing in an environment where there’s less risk of a whole squad of the latter just vanishing. That frees this build up to not invest in the big, durable Scarab unit, and instead pack in as many delivery mechanisms for Mortal Wounds and small arms as possible, with lots of Cabal points to boot. Magnus and the Mutalith provide some big hammers when it still needs them, and a Rhino helps ensure against enemy Towering alpha strikes. This build has an incredible pool of powerful tools up its sleeve, and confounded opponents left and right to take a big victory.

David Szymanski – Necrons – 2nd Place

Necron Warriors
Necron Warriors. Credit: Pendulin

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Warrior Spam

Thoughts

While the Thousand Sons defeated it at the last, David’s build here is very much one after my own heart, hitting plenty of the beats I’ve been really enjoying in Necrons. Taking both Szeras and the Super C’tan in the same list is a great way to make opponents weep, and huge carpets of Warriors with the Illuminor in support are fantastic. Also, if you’re wondering why exactly one Warrior out of forty has the flayer, it’s so that the unit can trigger the Chronomancer’s Fire and Fade at a longer distance.

Hopefully this is a sign that in a hypothetical future where the Wraithknight isn’t dominant, it’s steel tide time. Well done to David.

Valentin Schefter – Necrons – 3rd Place

Canoptek Spyder. Credit: Rockfish
Canoptek Spyder. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Crunchy Necrons

Thoughts

More Necrons in third place, here going a bit less deep on Warriors and taking two big Lychguard blocks as secondary threats alongside them. Technomancers on these, plus a Canoptek Spyder with a Gloom Prism in support, mean that there’s quite a bit more game here against Psyker-heavy armies, at a cost of being a bit less capable of dealing chip damage till battle is fully joined. Another list I very much love to see, congratulations Valentin.

Sami Amr – Chaos Space Marines – 4th Place

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Abaddon Gunline

Thoughts

Another powerful faction in fourth here, utilising the extreme potency of Forgefiends (still apparently good even with the Dev Wounds house rule) with Abaddon alongside some nasty Advance/Charge units to whittle the enemy away at range then lash out with a counterattack if they get too close. Nurglings as speed bumps and Lone Operatives to handle objectives help further with this, giving a pleasingly layered plan overall. Also love the use of Huron with some of the Chosen, making an already mobile unit even more techy. Chaos Space Marines are a dark horse to do some serious stuff if the tall poppies get the chop, as Sami’s success here shows.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 5th – Marco Feldrapp – Chaos Knights: War Dogs galore with a few allied Daemons for board control.
  • 6th – Max Kanter – Aeldari: Double Avatar Aeldari.
  • 7th – Paul Ziesche – Ynnari: Go-wide Ynnari shooting adding Ravagers and Mandrakes.

Wasteland Wars GT 2023

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

Matthew Gaddy – Necrons – 1st Place

Lychguard. Credit: Rockfish
Lychguard. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Lychguard and Doomsdays

Final Round Matchup

91-89 victory vs Derrick Ramsey – Genestealer Cult

Thoughts

One more morsel before we descend into Aeldari hell, with Matthew taking a trophy using the more conventional Lychguard + Doomsdays plan, which you need for a fighting change into an on-board Wraithknight. He’s also invested in lots of extra utility/objective units, which I imagine helped get over the line in the knife-edge finale against Genestealers, where every additional screening unit is worth its weight in gold. Great stuff from Matthew.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd (4W, 1D) – Josh Archer – Necrons: The Sautekh’s finest lead a bunch of Warriors and Immortals into battle, with Imotekh, Zandrekh and Orikan all getting involved.
  • 3rd – Patrick M – T’au Empire: Ghostkeels, Crisis and Broadsides to deal damage, Tetras to set up, and loads of Commanders (including Shadowsun) to add impact. Aun’va watches ineffably and indestructably from an objective somewhere.
  • 4th – Derrick Ramsey – Genestealer Cult: Horde with Aberrants, including an Abominant.
  • 5th – Matthew Casey – Aeldari: Wraithknight with a bunch of hulls, plus some Storm Guardians to babysit the Farseer.
  • 6th – Christopher Thomson – Chaos Knights: Some extra melee threat over the Chaos Knights standard in the form of a Rampager with the Panoply leading two Karnivores into the fray. Stalkers and Brigands provide backup as usual.
  • 7th – Greg Harris – Adeptus Custodes: A big Custodian unit as the core backed by two Warden squads and two Caladius tanks.

Seasons Of WAAAGH!!! The GT

33-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Durham, NC, US on August 26 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Michael McCaffrey – Aeldari – 1st Place

Wraithknight. Credit: Rockfish
Wraithknight. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Wraithknight and Hulls

Final Round Matchup

85 – 50 Victory against Alex Ramsey – Aeldari.

Thoughts

The heavy wraithcannon goes…I actually don’t know. Presumably it’s either eerily silent or somehow the most horrifying sound you’ve ever heard, just mercifully brief. Let’s go with “whumph” Congratulations Michael.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. You’re uh, not going to like it. They were:

  • 2nd – Spencer Mullett  – Aeldari: Wraithknight and hulls.
  • 3rd – Riley Morris  – Aeldari: Wraithknight and indirect.
  • 4th – Alex Ramsey  – Aeldari: Double Wraithknight and Wraithguard.
  • 5th – Joshua Henderson  – Aeldari: Wraithknight and Wraithguard.
  • 6th – Matthew Macneil  – Aeldari: Wraithknight and Prisms. Also a Wraithlord, for some reason. Tick that off the burndown of units that need to feature in an X-1 list.
  • 7th – Luke Henderson  – Adeptus Custodes: What the hell, where’s the Wraithknight? I assumed this was Wraithknights only, no Enhancements, Planet Bowling Ball. Two big Custodes bricks, two Warden bricks.

Oxford Onslaught 2

31-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Drayton, England, GB on August 26 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Just wanted to give a big shoutout to this event – I got to go along, and the standard of terrain and organisation was exceptionally good for an event organised by a local club. Highly recommended!

Martyn Cooper – Aeldari – 1st Place

Credit: Greg Narro

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Go-wide Aeldari

Final Round Matchup

90 – 70 Victory against Paulie Wallis – Drukhari.

Thoughts

No Wraithknights here, just tonnes of speedy go-wide units, which Martyn used very effectively on the terrain to dance in and out of danger. Also worth highlighting is the use of Fuegan as a solo beater, something I’ve been considering for a while and looked extremely legit on the table. Because of his Feel No Pain, dropping him is almost never a sure thing, and because he gets back up an opponent will often need to devote considerable attention to him over multiple phases to ensure the job gets done, and he’s very dangerous (if swingy) until that happens. Not something you need, but always nice to have something new to talk about, well done Martyn!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Tom Spicer – Thousand Sons: Magnus and the boys, featuring two big Rubric units and a full Scarab block.
  • 3rd – Paulie Wallis – Drukhari: Loads of powerful shooting from Ravagers, Scourgest and a Voidraven, plus Kabalites in Raiders. Uses Lelith as a solo assassin-style unit, which seems decent as she hits very hard.
  • 4th – Sam Nash  – Adeptus Custodes: A massive Custodian squad, two Warden units and some Allarus, with Imperial Agent backup. Cruelly defeated me by a single point in round five, despite me pulling off a gambit for the first time.
  • 5th – Stewart Bull – Aeldari: Wraithknight and Wraithguard.
  • 6th – Craig Connley  – Chaos Knights: Hefty Chaos Knights, using a Cerastus Lancer and a Desecrator to lead Brigands and a Karnivore to dark glory.

ELBCOAST CUP VI – GT

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hamburg, HH, DE on August 26 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Leif Westermann – Aeldari – 1st Place

Biel Tan Farseer with Witchblade
Credit: Alfredo Ramirez

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Wraithknight and Hulls

Final Round Matchup

20 – 0 Victory against Frank Voss – Blood Angels.

Thoughts

For six years I begged GW to make Wraithknights good again, and now like Hans Moleman in a bird-bedevilled phonebooth, I am feebly saying “no, that’s too good”.

Well done Leif.

The Best of the Rest

There were N more players on X-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Frank Stüdemann – Imperial Knights: The duality of gigantic robots on show – a Crusader for shooting, a Gallant for punching.
  • 3rd – Martin Noack – Chaos Daemons: Monster mash with all the big hits, plus some Horrors and Flamers.
  • 4th – Thomas Brutscher – Orks: Heavily mechanised Orks, and I mean heavily mechanised, because a bunch are riding to battle on a Gargantuan Squiggoth.

Wrap Up

That’s it from me this week, though you still have plenty of events to look forward to in Lowest of Men’s capable hands on Friday. We’ve got the Nova Open, GHO UK and a tonne of other big events this weekend, so hopefully that’ll provide whatever final data is required to once again slam the big button that banishes Wraithknights to meme lists for six years, which has gotten a bit dusty since the end of 7th. See you next week!

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