The old world is dead, the new world struggles to be born, and so forth. With the dataslate only landing on Thursday last week, the struggle is very real, and only one GT+ event adopted it in full (with another taking the dataslate rules but not the points changes). That means we’re going to have another fairly quick tour through stuff this week, as other than the Münsterland GT (which we’re bumping to the front of the queue and looking at the full top four from), most of these armies are yesterday’s news. Hopefully next week we’ll get a full picture of what the post-dataslate world looks like as we head towards the big showcase that is the LGT.
Today we’re looking at:
Münsterland GT4 (full dataslate)
Brewhammer (dataslate rules, no points)
Smite Club Open 2023 (major)
Grenoble Wargame Club Season Opener
Tokyo Tactical World Championship Qualifier
Edit: No idea why this didn’t go out in its normal slot – blame the wordpress scheduler’s arcane whims.
Münsterland GT4
32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Horstmar, NRW, DE on September 09 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
From the scores, I’m assuming this event was using the hybrid 20-0/Path to Victory Scoring that Germany has been adopting.
The Showdown
Vital Ground – Delayed Reserves – Search and Destroy
Thomas Büttelmann – Aeldari: A much more compact Aeldari list than we’re used to, still packing the Yncarne, some hulls and some Wraithguards, but with limited space for anything else.
Florian Schmidt – Raven Guard: List title says it all really – a whole bunch of Gravis Marines, most notably an Aggressor squad with a Bolter Discipline Apothecary, a Land Raider Crusader for them to ride around in, and a big Assault Squad for Shrike to lead.
Army List - Click to Expand
GRAVIS GANG (2000 points)
Space Marines
Raven Guard
Strike Force (2000 points)
Gladius Task Force
The Aeldari menace apparently still have what it takes to hit the top tables, but now there are some Space Marines in hot pursuit – and surely with their new points cuts they’ll have what it takes to crush the elf menace.
Certainly there’s some cool stuff here. I think it’s definitely arguable that people were sleeping on Aggressors with Bolter Disciplinebefore they got a big point cut and now, well – there’s going to be some violence. These are fantastic into anything that looks like a horde (Necron Warriors hate and fear them), and just neat all-rounders because of their good melee. Also recommended with Calgar, but this setup is good too if you want to dip into another Chapter’s tools. Stacking Storm of Fire and the Aggressors own ability pushes them to a healthy AP-2, at which point the nightmare fusilade they unleash threatens many foes. Here, that’s important, because they do actually give the Wraithguard pause, even through their 2+ saves, as with Oaths up, they’ll seriously trouble the squad. Shrike leading up a roving murder band that can’t just be sniped out by Fire Prisms and Night Spinners is very handy too, though they suffer a bit from the mission, as they can’t really engage the Wraithguard and expect to profit.
Let’s talk about the mission. Normally, Vital Ground would feel pretty good for a Marine list with such a strong spearhead to throw forward, but here I think it’s less than helpful. The Aeldari’s main loss from their classic builds is being way shorter on stuff, but on Vital Ground they can focus on slamming one flank and just skirmishing/murdering the stuff on the other, mitigating the advantage the Marines have from having a lot more units. The Aeldari also have some great targets for their weaponry – all those small Marine units are very vulnerable to Night Spinners, and if the Fire Prisms can take down the Land Raider before the Aggressors are in position, then they’re going to be limping only a few inches a turn for the rest of the game. The small units also provide plenty of places for the Yncarne to appear and cause mischief, perhaps taking another unit out.
Still – that’s a lot of stuff, and if the Marines play cagey with the Aggressors, forcing equivalent caution from the Wraithguard, then it could be tricky for the elves to get a scoring foothold. That can matter a bit less on this mission, as building an early lead is tricky, and in the end the elves did take it – but really only just, which is encouraging.
Result
Aeldari Victory – 11-9
Thomas Büttelmann – Aeldari – 1st Place
Wraithguard with Wraithcannons. Credit: Rockfish
The List
See showdown.
Archetype
Wraithguard and Hulls
Thoughts
I see we’re going with “stubbornly use 300pts less of the same units” as the option. Given it won the event, can’t really fault that! All these units are still very strong, and I think Wraithguard in particular dodged a bullet in how little their cost dropped. That big, central tarpit helps mitigate the smaller unit count, and buys time for the tanks to blow stuff apart. Certainly looks much more beatable than it used to, but clearly still very powerful as well, congratulations Thomas.
Artur Güttler – T’au Empire – 2nd Place
Cadre Fireblade. Credit: Jack Hunter
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Tau Münster (1995 points)
T’au Empire
Strike Force (2000 points)
Kauyon
Tau guns are very cheap now, and they get an absolute tonne of units on the board, which this shows off nicely. The big Crisis Suit is a terrifying centrepiece, and now has a massive number of things to screen it and draw the enemy into position. Worth noting the single airburst on one of the suits – this is vital for protection yourself against a situation where the opponent manages to Rapid Ingress a melee threat near them when they have no valid targets, which woul normally prevent them using Strike and Fade. Losing one airburst is extremely worthwhile to protect against that!
The really interesting choice here is the three units of Breachers with a Fireblade each. The damage output on these is considerable for their price, and I’m guessing the units without the buffs are planning to just walk on from the board edge and blast something, which can be a bit of a squeeze with only 10″ range, but mostly doable. It helps add a bit of depth to the list – even if the opponent manages to clear the first wave of chaff, these provide something else that needs to be chased off objectives, and with their Guardian Drone, they’re not even super squishy.
I was honestly expecting Triptide to be the first big Tau thing tried, so it’s nice to see something a bit more unusual, well done Artur.
Matthias Bellmann – Aeldari – 3rd Place
Credit: Wings
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Münsterland GT(1995 points)
Aeldari
Strike Force (2000 points)
Battle Host
War Walkers (110 points)
• 2x Bright lance
1x War Walker feet
War Walkers (110 points)
• 2x Bright lance
1x War Walker feet
War Walkers (110 points)
• 2x Bright lance
1x War Walker feet
Warp Spiders (115 points)
• 1x Warp Spider Exarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Death spinner
1x Death spinner
1x Powerblades
• 4x Warp Spider
• 4x Close combat weapon
4x Death spinner
Warp Spiders (115 points)
• 1x Warp Spider Exarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Death spinner
1x Death spinner
1x Powerblades
• 4x Warp Spider
• 4x Close combat weapon
4x Death spinner
Archetype
Go-wide hulls
Thoughts
I am honestly fascinated to know what the correct price for a Fire Prism would be if this still isn’t enough, because here’s another trio. This build skips the Wraithguard in favour of lots of War Walkers, helping contest the board early at the cost of no tarpit, and that seems to have done just fine (though Florian’s Raven Guard did take this build down in the fourth round). Congratulations to Matthias.
Florian Schmidt – Raven Guard – 4th Place
Kayvaan Shrike infiltrating as a Crimson Fist. Credit: Corrode
The List
See showdown
Archetype
Aggressors and go-wide
Thoughts
Marines now get enough stuff on the table that they can start to seriously compete with the big hitters, and Aggressors are going to be at the forefront of that for a lot of builds. Cheaper units all-round also means more opportunity to dip into the giant toolbox of special Leaders that Marines have access to, and the way that this build uses Shrike definitely highlights the value there. It is morbidly funny that after Vanguard Veterans terrorised most of 9th Edition, you now pick Assault Marines over them even when the latter costs more points. Being able to add all the juicy upgrades and the flexible attack option on the regulars clearly swings it.
Past that? Eliminators are great at 75pts, and adding a Phobos Libby provides loads of flexibility in how you use either them or some Infiltrators (the latter becoming the ultimate backfield screen), Eradicators out of Strategic Reserves keep enemy vehicles on their toes, and it turns out that the Callidus Assassin maybe didn’t need to drop to 90pts, even if one of her abilities is a bit weaker. Lots of cool stuff, and encouraging that it’s now strong enough for people to start properly tinkering.
The Best of the Rest
There were 2 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
5th – Sebastian Meyer – Necrons: Another entry in the canon of “same stuff, less of it”, sticking to double Lychguard, two Doomsdays and the super C’tan.
6th – Andreas Eckle – Chaos Knights: 13 Dogs and some Flamers.
I’ve had very mixed experiences with Lokhust Destroyers, as they can be hard to maneuvre on GW-style terrain maps, but on styles of map where there aren’t lots of area pieces (where their massive bases cause challenges) they can be very strong, and they look like a nasty addition to this build. Because they can turn on full wound re-rolls and have Lethal hits on a 5+ from the Lord, they end up being a very universal ranged killer, something that’s going to be at more of a premium in a world where Devastating Wounds doesn’t murderise hordes as much. Since almost everything else here goes up in cost, expect to see more people trying them, as lists like this will need plenty of re-tuning for cost. Good stuff from Matthew here showing off what that unit can do.
Garron Owen – Space Wolves – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
2k space Wolves v2 (2000 points)
Space Marines
Space Wolves
Strike Force (2000 points)
Gladius Task Force
…and in the complete opposite direction, most of this build gets way easier to take after points changes, and I think Space Wolves have a chance to be pretty legit. Ragner single-handedly makes Bladeguard worth taking, and the Thundercav unit with a Lord and (preferably, somewhere to spend those extra points) a Battle Leader provides a unique pressure threat that other Marine armies lack. Lots of tasty stuff here, keep an eye on the sons of Fenris.
The Best of the Rest
There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
3rd – Gavin Heritage – Chaos Knights: All dog Chaos Knights.
4th – Jamie Ferguson – Aeldari: Ultra chunky Aeldari with Wraithguard, the Avatar and a Wraithknight.
5th – Kenneth Mackenzie – Chaos Knights: Lots of dogs, but also a super-angry Lancer to charge the enemy.
6th – Kris Mills – Aeldari: Wraithguard and Wraithknights backed by Windriders for shooting (a datasheet that didn’t catch any nerfs beyond the Phantasm change, so I guess look forward to the three whole months of those not being a top tier unit coming to an end).
7th – Alfie Richardson – Adeptus Mechanicus: Breachers and Dunecrawlers galore.
8th – Nelly Fuller – Aeldari: An unusual list combining some mobile Harlequin threats with some Wraithguard to anchor. Takes a lot less of a hit than many other Aeldari lists, so worth keeping an eye on.
Smite Club Open 2023 40K Major
88-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Mesa, AZ, US on September 09 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Daniel Olivas – Aeldari – 1st Place
Yncarne: Avatar of Ynnead. Credit: James “Boon” Kelling
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Wraith and seer (1995 points)
Aeldari
Strike Force (2000 points)
Battle Host
100 – 69 Victory against Michael Mann – Chaos Daemons.
Thoughts
One more time for old time’s sake, eh? To be fair to Daniel, there actually is a little innovation here in the form of the Skyrunner Conclave, which is notable as a unit that didn’t go up in price, so worth more of a look going forward. Otherwise, business as has been depressingly usual but at least a long-time Aeldari master is getting the last laugh with it.
This one, I’ll admit, I didn’t have on my bingo card – Adeptus Mechanicus taking a top four before the points changes. The methodology isn’t super surprising, leveraging the two best ways the AdMech have to put down some chunky stuff, which are Kataphrons and Ironstriders. The former are also genuinely dangerous when appropriately buffed, while the latter are at least very tough for the price, and have massive bases and built-in Fall Back/Shoot, making them handy for move blocking. Past that, nasty Characters and tonnes of stuff to do Secondaries, and you have something that can hold its own reasonably well. It is faintly alarming that this list doesn’t get many points added overall, as it has to find some stuff that isn’t the Exaction Squads, and also experiences diminished effectiveness from the Mortal Wound priest, but this gives an encouraging baseline for people to work from – and huge congratulations to Jason for getting ahead of the game.
Jacob Wagner – Necrons – 4th Place
Necron Hexmark Destroyer. Credit: Pendulin
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Double hexmark (2000 Points)
Necrons
Awakened Dynasty
Strike Force (2000 Points)
All the normal Necron toys, but with Warriors instead of one Lychguard brick. Expect to see that way more post update, since they got cheaper and less vulnerable to Wraithknights evaporating them, and also expect Orikan to feature more commonly, as he helps protect against getting bodied by AP-2 Aggressors. Well done to Jacob on the win.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 5-1 records. They were:
5th – Michael Mann – Chaos Daemons: Half regular monster mash, half hilarious horde of Bloodcrushers with a Rendmaster to lead them.
6th – Jake Jacobson – Aeldari: Way too many hulls and a Wraithknight.
7th – Frankie Giampapa – Genestealer Cult: Horde and Aberrants.
8th – Junior Aflleje – Imperial Knights: Crusader/Valiant max brutality.
9th – Donovan Sailo – Grey Knights: Two full Terminator bricks with lots of Librarians, aiming to soak up damage and throw out Mortals. Quite scary with another few hundred points, so definitely keep an eye here.
All sorts of stuff going on here, condensing all the nastiest CSM guns into one army then adding some Brigands, Chaos’s other super nasty shooting unit, as an extra bit of spice. Drawing on the full might of the ruinous powers, Nurglings round stuff out by providing some screening against early charges, potentially tying opponents up somewhere that the Accursed Coven can launch a devastating counter-charge. This build does actually end up losing some points from the changes, as it’s very much using all the current top CSM stuff, but zig’s win here shows off the extent to which the faction was already very capable, and it’s one to watch as we move ahead.
The Best of the Rest
There were three more players on 4-1+ records. They were:
2nd (4.5-0.5) – Trig – Aeldari: Wraithknight and lots of hulls.
3rd – Asclepi0s – Dark Angels (Gladius): Two massive punches from a Land Raider with Aggressors and a full squad of Deathwing Knights.
95-27 Victory vs. Melaic Nivois – Imperial Knights
Thoughts
Another “rip to a real one” here, because big Custodian bricks are more outright dead post-update than pretty much anything else featured here. Caladius Tanks, of course, are quite the opposite story, expect to see those playing a far more consistent part in builds, as without being able to lean on durability from big bricks, some ability to contest ranged threats is vital. Good to get a last reminder of why Custodes have been so metagame-shaping up till now from Terry, and I’ll be interested to see how his build changes next time we cover a Tokyo event.
The Best of the Rest
There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
2nd – Eric Yu – Ynnari: Go-wide Ynnari shooting with Scourges and Ravagers, plus a Voidraven which I think has been a bit of a sleeper all-round, and which has a decent chance of making it into many more Drukhari and Ynnari lists going forward, especially as Aircraft are now going to be the only thing that can see over ruins in a pinch.
3rd – Masataka Ogura – Genestealer Cult: Horde with Aberrants.
4th – Hayden jones – Aeldari: Double Avatar.
5th – Melaic Nivois – Imperial Knights: Crusader and double Gallant for hefty aggro. Look for more Gallants in the near future – the Towering change is pretty much pure upside for them, and they’re cheaper than most Knights.
Wrap Up
The times, they are a changing. Unless Aeldari keep just winning everything, but I really hope that’s not what happens. Tune in next week for when the new metagame really gets motoring, and as we start the countdown to the new metagame’s big showcase at the LGT.
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