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Competitive Innovations in 10th: The Imperium Strikes Back pt.2

By Lowest of Men

Wings update – still sick. That means no pithy intro, straight into the content. You love content.

Today you will have Lowest of Men as normal, covering:

  • OPEN “ATLAVERA” 2024 (IBERIAN OPEN)
  • Talvisota – Winter Assault 2024
  • JP CUP
  • Toys of Mass Destruction – Hertfordshire Spring GT
  • Last Of The Summer Winehammer 6
  • BFS Grand Tournament

Part 1 on Wednesday had the team covering:

  • Frontline Gaming RMO 2024 40k Champs
  • Battlefield Birmingham 22
  • CQ Exterminatus 2024
  • Bastion Games Warlords GT 3.0: Unforgiven
  • Free state GT 2024
  • Lords of War GT – March 2024
  • The Ides of March 40K GT

OPEN “ATLAVERA” 2024 (IBERIAN OPEN)

107-player, 7-round Major in Talavera de la Reina, CM, España on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Manue – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force) – 1st Place

Grey Knights Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight. Credit: Colin Ward

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Grey Knights 2+ Club

Thoughts

Brace yourself, the GK are coming. This lovely build from Manue highlights some of the assets they can call upon as they begin to take hold of the current meta, with loads of 2+ saves and durable blocks to stash away, redeploy on a whim and wear down the opponent. The Land Raider Redeemer slots right into this plan, giving you a credible overwatch threat for the centre and something to force enemy commitment onto, which sets you up very nicely to counter punch. Librarians bring crucial precision mortals, and the buff / heal stacking of the GK Techmarine is going to be infamous in approximately three days time, so get ready for it! Very well done on the win.

Alejandro Mancuso Serrano – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force) – 2nd Place

Grey Knight - Justicar
Grey Knight – Justicar
Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Grey Knights 2+ Club

Thoughts

Well well well! Here it is again! The same set of tools piloted to a very similar success here, confirming if you had any doubts that the Grey Knights are back and here to make trouble. Really well done on the top placing.

Javier Peigneux – Space Wolves (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 3rd Place

Blood Ravens Ballistus Dreadnought. Credit – Soggy

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Space Wolves Ironstorm

Thoughts

The Space Wolves haven’t enjoyed quite the same success as the other ‘who’s a special boy’ chapters post dataslate, but they have plenty going for them, and this spin on Ironstorm shows us why. Fenrisian Wolves are a dream in a Marines list, offering you something dirt cheap to block, screen and do actions with. Ragnar Blackmane provides a little combat blender, and the Hounds of Morkai provide some cute anti-Psyker action too. Otherwise, this is about big guns and I cannot lie. A very punchy build with some nice slivers of tech, really well done on the top placing.

OuX ™ – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance) – 4th Place

Imperial Knights - Armiger Helverins
Imperial Knights – Armiger Helverins
Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Imperial Knight Armiger Spam

Thoughts

Imperial Knights nab a top placing by leaning hard into Armiger shooting. In a meta with a fair few armies asking ‘can you kill me’, it makes sense that a heavy shooting take on Knights can find some good match ups and thrive despite all the changes the faction has had to weather. Assassin / Henchmen combo help to shore up hard to reach places and scoring, and Canis Rex is a very scary shooting threat. Fail to clear Armigers quickly and you can find yourself outbodied on Primary by all the OC and blown away by all of the guns! Excellent work on the top placing.

The Best of the Rest

There were 15 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Roger Boira- T’au Empire: Breachers, Riptides, and a Crisis death brick.
  • 6th – Gonzalo “Raven” 🦭🦭🦭- Death Guard: Plague Marines and PBCs get a nice bit of help from Rotigus himself!
  • 7th – Alfred Phobos- Adeptus Custodes: Massed Custodes infantry and a couple of Assassins.
  • 8th – Borja FM- Blood Angels: An epic Gladius Blood Angels build with three Death Company Dreadnoughts, a Libby Dread, and two Baal Predators.
  • 9th – Gabriel Fernandez- Aeldari: An Yvraine 10 Troupe, the Avatar of Khaine, and plenty of Warp Spiders.
  • 10th – Juan Manuel Galán Recio- Aeldari: Nightspinners, D Cannons, and plenty of shoot and scoot MSU.
  • 11th – Caparock- Necrons: Canoptek Court Goodstuff.
  • 12th – Keko 🙂 – Adeptus Custodes: Massed Custodes infantry.
  • 13th – Angel C4KILLER – Drukhari: Oooo, 6 Heat Lance Talos and supporting MSU. Very spicy.
  • 14th – Leónidas #Tuneleo# – Orks: Ghaz, Battlewagon Boyz, and lots of MSU with Flash Gitz in tow.
  • 15th – Arcuos – Black Templars: A horde of Templars infantry with Land Raider transportation.
  • 16th – Dekkers 🦭👾- Necrons: Canoptek Court Goodstuff.
  • 17th – Terroxer El Rojo- Thousand Sons: Massed Wizards, Magnus, Rubrics, Vortex Beast.
  • 18th – Alex Valin- Necrons: Canoptek Court Goodstuff.
  • 19th – Prados Javi- World Eaters: World Eaters Rhino Rush.

[40k] Talvisota – Winter Assault 2024

49-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Helsinki, Suomi on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Eero Saukkonen – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 1st Place

Lord Solar. Credit: Rockfish
Lord Solar. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Guard Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Ooo goody! Another Astra Militarum event win. Look at it, look how very above average it must be to have made it this far. Manticores are great, Bullgryn are great, Kasrkin are really nifty and THEY COME BAAACK, and Tank Commanders shoot on death too! You need to pilot it well, but the guard have a very powerful build here and it keeps coming back for more. It may be time to call the debate closed at this stage. Really well done on the top placing!

The Best of the Rest

There were 7 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Juha Ottelin – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead): Ironstorm Tank Carpark.
  • 3rd – Pekka Koskivirta – Death Guard (Plague Company): Full send Rhinos / Plague Marines / Drones / PBCs.
  • 4th – Aleksi Lehtiö – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Sorcerors, Rubrics, a Forgefiend, Magnus, and a cheeky Vortex Beast.
  • 5th – Jouni Haavisto – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Invasion Fleet monster mash.
  • 6th – Samppa Orhanen – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Massed Genestealers and Gargoyles with some Maleceptors.
  • 7th – Kaarle Tukia – Leagues of Votann: The full six Sagitaurs and thirty Warriors dream.
  • 8th – Jussi Koskimäki – Adepta Sororitas: Vahl Paragons, massed Arcos, and some Exorcists.

JP Cup

46-player GT in Poland. All the lists for this event can be found in TourneyKeeper.

This event was using true 20-0 scoring, with placing entirely decided by points.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Orks versus Custodes

Danny Porter – Orks

Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Walchuck Kustiodianczewski – Adeptus Custodes

Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Our very own Danny Porter was in the driving seat for the Orks at this event, so I decided to let him tell his heroic tale…

Danny:

On paper Orks vs Custodes looks like a simple combat vs combat match up, however in reality it’s far from it. The Orks themselves bring a solid mix of harder-to-kill units like Mozrog, the Defkilla and Ghaz, with some speedy melee punch that can utilise Trukks to control the board, as well as absurd firepower from Flash Gitz. The Custodes have an army wide 4++ and fight first.

Who should win? Custodes. However, that was not the case here.

The main challenge for Orks is to play around the Custodes access to fight first, by fighting them away from objectives – not an easy feat but doable when sacrificing units to body block and prevent movement. Additionally they need to pick the right battles in key areas of the board whilst saving CP to either fight on death or interupt, to trade efficiently. Custodes can tackle Orks quite well thanks to the wardens 4+++, access to-1D and fight first, as well as their relatively tanky stat line. This match up is very much about patience and picking the right conflicts, if either one commits too far they could find themselves overwhelmed. A waagh-saw victory for Orks.

Result

Greenskins 19 – 1 Golden Boys

Danny Porter – Orks (Waaagh Tribe) – 1st Place

Trukk. Credit: Rockfish
Trukk. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Ork Trukk Rush

Thoughts

A GT win for the Orks, who’ve been struggling a little bit of late but have also lacked for top tier pilots to really see where they sit in the new meta. No such issues here, as Poland stalwart Danny WAAAGHs his way to the top. The build is typical of the Trukk rush builds we saw doing well a couple of months ago, with Nobz, Meganobz and Flash Gitz in Trukks to cover the ground and trade / swamp the opponent as required. Ghaz provides his Lethal hits aura and another wrecking piece in his own right, and in skilled hands this list can do serious damage- as indeed it did! Congratulations on the win Danny.

The Best of the Rest

There were 8 more players who either scored 4-1+ records, or beat the lowest ranked 4-1 player:

  • 2nd (4.5-0.5) – Grzesław Darkendzelowicz – Dark Angels: Vanguard Dark Angels with a bunch of big tanks and Inceptors.
  • 3rd – Bartłomiej „Kaskader” Lubiatowski – World Eaters: World Eaters Eightbound, Berserkers and Angron with a couple of Brigands in support.
  • 4th – ZoZo – Necrons: Full Hypercrypt shenanigans with a Monolith and 40 Warriors.
  • 5th – Alexander Kowalski – Death Guard: Lots of Plague Marines, PBCs, and a Predator.
  • 6th – Krzysztof “Peszek” Gołaszewski – Necrons: Canoptek Court Goodstuff.
  • 7th – Niltag Nekronowski – Necrons: More Canotpek Court Goodstuff.
  • 8th – Filip – Necrons: Hypercrypt C’tan and Destroyer spam.
  • 9th – Walchuck Kustiodianczewski – Adeptus Custodes: Massed Custodes infantry.

Toys of Mass Destruction – Hertfordshire Spring GT

33-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown – Drukhari versus Black Templars (Ironstorm)

Priority Targets – Sweep and Clear – Hammer and Anvil

Tom Lowman – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Aidan Brocklehurst – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Another final into a meta menace for myself and the Drukhari! My list was more or less the same as the one from my last couple of events, with a heavy focus on Incubi and a good supporting platform of Scourge and Ravager shooting with plenty of mission play and utility. I have good guns and weapons for killing tanks, but I’m also very fragile and can’t afford any slip ups (spoilers: I do make some).

In the Black Templars corner we have the… joy that is the Gladiator car park. Aiden’s list has a nice forward line of Rhino – driven Crusaders to force engagement, some sneaky double shooting nonsense with an Impulsor and some Infiltrators, and then an AWFUL lot of gun to back it up. It will simply body most things in the game with raw output but the mission play is a little clumsy.

Deployment slightly favoured the car park, with enormous open space behind our home objectives that I was less able to screen without getting shot to pieces, and a lot of ground to cover if my Incubi wanted to get involved in the ruckus. Priority Targets typically favours whoever has end of turn, and in this case the Templars got it. That threw my favoured plan of ‘hide, shoot and wait’ in this match up, forcing me to ask questions and make problems if I wanted primary. A few slips early game were costly – I lost a Scourge squad and Ravager too cheaply firing at non essential tanks (killing the Reapers in particular I learned was something I really needed to do T2-3 to have a chance here, they commit obscene crimes against light infantry), and needed to use reserves a bit more than I did to get stuff into better positions as staging mid-board proved very dangerous indeed.

With Beastpack, Wych and MSU shenanigans I was able to carve out 10s on the Primary whilst denying the Templars for several turns before the sheer weight of fire outmuscled me, creating an end game collapse and a big swing for the Templars, who made up the ground on the Primary in turn five to take the game. Very well played to Aiden, who resisted the urge to be too aggressive early and risk my counter-attack, and instead patiently defanged the Dark Elves at range before making his push.

Result

Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) Victory – 94 – 79

Aidan Brocklehurst – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 1st Place

Black Templars Gladiator Lancer. Credit: SRM

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Black Templars Car Park

Thoughts

Black Templars tank spam is a known entity at this point, but I will draw attention to the little Impulsor / Eliminator combo as I hadn’t seen this used before. The Elims can disembark, shoot, re-embark, and then effectively shoot again via the FIRING DECK on the Impulsor – pretty damn cool! Not many surprises here otherwise, the knack to this build is using the smaller trading assets like the Crusaders to force the enemy out and on to the guns, a bit like Tau in that sense. Very well played Aiden and congratulations on the first place finish!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Mathew Putney – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Silent King, a Doomsday Ark, Destroyers and a Monolith.
  • 3rd – Tom Lowman – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): My Incubi heavy Skysplinter build from the showdown.
  • 4th – Tom Redgate – T’au Empire (Kauyon): A Crisis death brick, several solo Commanders and some Devilfish / infantry antics in support.
  • 5th – Alec Pearce – Adeptus Custodes: Massed Custodes infantry with double Caladius.

Last Of The Summer Winehammer 6

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Thongsbridge, England, GB on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Mike Porter – Black Templars (Ironstorm Spearhead) – 1st Place

Black Templars Techmarine. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Black Templars Car Park – Storm Raven Edition

Thoughts

This particular car park has a Storm Raven in it! That’s pretty sweet. The Eliminators combo pops up here again, and there are multiple Techmarine to lean in to more of the sweet Ironstorm enhancements. So much gun, so little time. Very well done on the win Mike.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Markus Hinson – T’au Empire (Kauyon): Double Riptide, double Crisis, double Hammerhead- sweet symmetry.
  • 3rd – Joseph Grant – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Massed Custodes infantry.
  • 4th – Stephen Platten – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Triple Soul Grinder and a Great Unclean One in a very cool Daemons list.
  • 5th – Simon Weise – Necrons: FIVE C’tan with lots of Destroyers and Tomb-blades in support.

BFS Grand Tournament

27-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Lee Hall – Necrons (Canoptek Court) – 1st Place

Necron Technomancer
Necron Technomancer. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Canoptek Court Goodstuff

Thoughts

A delightful combat centric spin on Canoptek Court here, which takes a whole host of the usual suspects (Wraiths, Doomstalkers) but also muscles in two big bricks of Skorpekh Destroyers. Necrons can sometimes feel like they lack teeth in the counter punch, especially if C’tan get bogged down, but these guys are very choppy indeed and make going toe to toe on the objectives with CC a lot scarier than it can sometimes be. A refreshing alteration that really ups the threat of this already very scary detachment- awesome innovation. Well done on the top place finish.

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 2nd – Jack Sayer – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): SO many Great Unclean Ones – I love it Jack!
  • 3rd – Harley Scully – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Grey Knight Mixed Arms with Dreadknights and Terminators.
  • 4th – Giulio Cesare Ghermandi – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Lots of MSU elves in boats with a cheeky Death Jester for some Lone Op loving.

Wrap Up

That’s it for this week folks! Spring is in the air, and with it the promise of being a bit too warm in a church hall whilst playing Warhammer with your mates. I can’t wait. Get out there and enjoy yourselves, and may all your Battleshock tests fail (I need the Pain Tokens).

Lowest of Men, out.

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