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Competitive Innovations in 10th: The Meta Adepts pt.2

By Lowest of Men and Jeremy "Curie" Atkinson

More Warhammer? You want more? Well good, because there’s more. Lowest of Men is in charge today, joined for one event by special guest Curie, who has made the classic error of getting into a Showdown, and thus being forced to write about it at the point of a sharpened Discord @.

Today they’ll be covering:

  • UKTC Manchester Supermajor
  • All is Dust
  • OP March Madness GT
  • Void War GT

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

  • Adepticon Champs 2024
  • Firebug Open 2024
  • Rosehammer 2
  • CoCo’s March Madness GT
  • OTT 2024

The MANCHESTER 40k SUPER-MAJOR

260-player, 7-round Supermajor in Urmston, England, United Kingdom on March 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Josh Roberts – Necrons (Canoptek Court) – 1st Place

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

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

The Inevitable

Thoughts

Josh Roberts is pretty good at Warhammer. This streak is getting very silly now, as the Canoptek Court claim another big win at Manchester. The core of the list is very straightforward, with a big slab of Wraiths demanding attention lest they win the Primary singlehanded, and some amped up Doomstalker shooting benefitting from the rerolls of the detachment bonus. Acanthrites offer force multiplying tech and some cheeky forward deploy and I am very confused we haven’t seen more following Josh’s example – likewise the absence of C’tan, who Necrons players seem unwilling to quit (I understand guys). Very well done on another triumph Josh!

David Gaylard – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment) – 2nd Place

Kasrkin Combat Medic. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Astra Militarum Indirect List

Thoughts

Subtle alterations from David here, but the same old Astra Militarum goodness at the heart of things. Manticores and Basilisks are great, 9 Bullgryn make up the ‘spoiler’ slab here, and a single Chimera gives you  a little bit more cheap give and go for the early exchanges. This thing shoots hard and puts you in a headlock with cheap disposable infantry until the bloody work is done – very much on theme. But are they even GOOD, David? Well done on another top placing at a Supermajor!

Tony Chew – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 3rd Place

Credit: Greg Narro

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Aeldari MSU

Thoughts

God bless you Tony, for giving me an interesting Aeldari list to write about, it feels like stumbling upon an Oasis amidst a bleak desert plain. This list dials up the ‘Elf Nonsense’ to 11, and I am 100% here for it. Baharroth is the latest Eldar unit to suddenly reappear, getting the boys back together for one last hurrah after seemingly going on hiatus at the end of 9th Edition. His ability – a 6 inch fire and fade for his whole unit (10 Hawks baby), has become extremely valuable to Elf players who can no longer answer any question with ‘lol, Phantasm’. This, coupled with the big brick of Warp Spiders, means you can be hitting the opponent hard with two excellent damage dealers whilst dancing away from retaliation for substantial portions of the game. You also have the option of simply chucking assets away merrily to block the opponent up repeatedly, and this list has truckloads of MSU with that in mind. Skyweavers and Fire Dragons / Fuegan shore up hard target removal with Haywire and Melta. This list rocks, very well done Tony.

Wings: Oh hey, Baharroth is back. I’ve been wondering when he’d show up – the combination of his ability with the Hawk datasheet rule means they’re not a million miles away from working like Hawks did in 9th which was, I’m hearing, pretty good.

Richard Grint – Adeptus Mechanicus (Skitarii Hunter Cohort) – 4th Place

Pteraxii Sterylizor
Pteraxii Sterylizor. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Ad Mech Sales Rotation

Thoughts

A fantastic placing from Richard here to find a way for the Ad Mech. It involves an absolute truckload of throwaway nonsense units, the in-store price of which would bankrupt most small nations. Vanguard are exceptional primary denial pieces, Pteraxii bring endless move shoot moving shenanigans, Inquisitor plug ins add some trouble-shooting, and tiny packs of Doggos screen and block as required. It will win ugly, but it can win. I don’t think this is the future Ad Mech players hoped for (see Richard’s list name), and it speaks to a need to adjust things down the line – maybe they deserve a bit of damage after all G Dubs. Incredible showing to get this to the top of a Supermajor Richard!

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 5-0 records after the swiss. They were:

  • 5th – Kyle Grundy – T’au Empire: Triptide, Breacherfish, Hammerhead / Longstrike goodness – here come the guns!
  • 6th – Innes Wilson – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Transport rush Sons of Sanguinius with big Death Company bricks and some cheepy Baal Predators.
  • 7th – Markus Hinson – T’au Empire: Double Riptide, double Crisis and Hammerheads, as Tau continue to make hay on UKTC.
  • 8th – James McGlough – Black Templars (Firestorm Assault Force): A Firestorm spin on the Black Templars car park, with some cheeky ATVs for flavour.

All is Dust

54-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Petawawa, Ontario, CA on March 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Sites of Power – Supply Lines – Sweeping Engagement

Jeremy Atkinson – Ravenwing (Ironstorm Spearhead)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Chris Hanes – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Jeremy (Curie) here – bringing the report from the skies above the battle. Dark Angels Ironstorm against Adeptus Custodes – a battle of guns and spears!

On the Adeptus Custodes side we have a fairly traditional list – Trajann, two Blade Champions, a Shield Captain and Kyria Draxus leading three units of Custodian Guard and three units of Custodian Wardens. Rounding out the list are 4 Prosecutors. Lots of chonk, this list has gone for (nearly) maximum bodies with the necessary characters to keep them working efficiently. Blade Champions leading Wardens have become the bane of existence for many players with their far threat range (owing to the Blade Champion’s Martial Examplar allowing once per game advance and charge for their unit), and incredible durability (-1 to wound when being lead, once per game 4+ Feel No Pain for a phase).

On the other side of the board, we’re presented with a Dark Angels list running the Ironstorm Spearhead detachment featuring Azrael, three Techmarines (each one with an enhancement), a Callidus, and then the meat of the list: three Redemptor Dreadnoughts backed up by two Stormraven Gunships. Adding a little additional spice to the list is a Ravenwing Darkshroud, two units of Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs, and a Storm Speeder Thunderstrike.

This matchup is a very interesting one – the Custodes list doesn’t really have the ability to easily power through all the -1 damage hulls presented by the Dark Angels, and the Dark Angels have an eye-watering amount of high-AP 3+ damage attacks to chew through Custodes bodies. I approached this game with a fair amount of confidence – my list had all the answers to Custodes, though they would definitely still score points. Turn 1 little happened, with myself tossing Azrael on a centre objective as bait, which Chris took with his Shield Captain Wardens unit. Turn 2 I was able to kill two Warden units with their characters and establish firm control of the middle of the board. From here it was me repositioning my army to address Chris’ stranglehold on the bottom of the board and trying to hold his Primary low.

This game very much came down to Chris’ ability to reliably score primary while holding my (Jeremy’s) primary somewhat low. End game scoring played a role in this as well – Chris was able to leave his home objective to prevent a unit from being charged then secure it at the end of his turn Round 5.

Result

DRAW – 10 – 10

(for those who care, the final result was 81-79 in favour of the Dark Angels, but this event used differential, so a minimum of 6 points was required to win the game)

Chris Hanes – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host) – 1st Place

Blade Champion
Blade Champion. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Golden Horde

Thoughts

See the Showdown.

A solid Custodes list, offers a lot of units for playing the mission while also having decent damage into most armies. Can struggle into massive damage reduction (as only Trajann’s unit can ignore modifiers), as was somewhat highlighted in this game.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4.5-1.5+ records. They were:

  • 2nd – Jeremy Atkinson – Ravenwing (Ironstorm Spearhead): See Showdown
  • 3rd – Éric Marcoux – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Oops all Dreadknights with a Land Raider Redeemer and 3 Armiger Helverins.
  • 4th – Ridvan Martinez – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): The Archon himself! Skysplinter MSU.
  • 5th – Matt Schuchman – Aeldari: Double Avatar + Skathach Wraithknight. Absolutely Disgusting.
  • 6th – Josh Crowe- Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): OOE + Carnifexes and as many Monsters as you can stuff into a list.
  • 7th – John Winter Russell – Astra Militarum: Guard good stuff. No Bullgryn, with 2 Manticores & 1 Basilisk form a healthy backfield shooting force with Roughriders and Kasrkin to apply early game pressure.

OP March Madness GT

39-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Santa Rosa, CA, US on March 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Forrest Phanton – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force) – 1st Place

Credit: “Contemptor” Kevin Stillman

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Space Wolves Thunderstruck

Thoughts

Space Wolves are having a quiet resurgence, thanks to the brutal synergy of shoving the Thunderwolves units they can mass into Stormlance where they combo really well with many of the tricks on offer there. Early reserves drop-in, out of phase movements, and advance and charges go down a TREAT on Wulfen and Thunderwolf Cavalry, and the raw stat check of this list is also no joke, presenting an awful lot of wounds with invulns and feel no pains to chew through. It’s going to become more common and it is a real headache to deal with, and it’s awesome to see the Wolves resurgent once again. You have to wonder how the White Scars players are feeling though… Very well done on the win!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Owen Bissell – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): Massed Death Company in Sons, with some tanks and transports in support. The BA are coming!
  • 3rd – Marshall Krock – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs): No Arcos here, but lots of Tanks instead and a big cohort of Battle Sisters. Vahl Paragons lead the charge.
  • 4th – Nick Farmer – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): The Silent King leads Triple Doomscythes to war – absolutely epic.
  • 5th – Scott Toebe – Death Guard: Mortarion plugs in to a VSL style PBC / Drones / Brigands DG list.
  • 6th – Joe Bisgaard – Chaos Daemons: Big boy time Deamons with some Bloodcrushers and utility in support.
  • 7th – Jason McArthur – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Canoptek Court Goodstuff.
  • 8th – Clint Ozbirn – Black Templars (Righteous Crusaders): Mixed arms Templars with lots of melee and a Redeemer.

Void War GT

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Dublin, County Dublin, IE on March 23 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Astra Militarum versus Adepta Sororitas on Vital Ground

Ben Keogh – Death Korps (Combined Regiment):
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Peter Dunlea – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs):
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Peter got in touch with this players-eye view account of a battle between two heavyweights, both packing disposable T3 heroes of the Imperium and deadly battle tanks! It seems sneaky positioning, blocking and attacks in behind from the Sisters were crucial in diverting Guard resources to outmuscle them on the generous midboard Primary for Vital Ground…

Peter: So the mission was Vital Ground with secret Intel. He went tactical and frankly scored excellently on it as a result, while I went fixed to get at the pile of characters and vehicles. Obviously with those big Krieg bricks and Bullgryn he was very durable so my gameplay mostly came down to slowing down the Bullgryn to protect my no man’s land objective while I threw Arcos, Repentia and Seraphim at his no man’s land to keep him off primary for most the game.

On turn 3 however the Paragons were able to strat reserve into the backfield and while they didn’t actually kill anything except the Earthshaker they tied up the Rogal Dorn and Command Squad and Leontus on this home objective. This forced the Tank Commanders and Bullgryn back to deal with them – which they did but it left my trading pieces who had removed the second brick of Krieg turn 2 free reign to attack his home objective. Celestine then cleared out his home objective while the rest of my army tried to score secondaries and swarmed forward.

Result

Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) Victory – 77 – 61

Peter Dunlea – Adepta Sororitas (Hallowed Martyrs) – 1st Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Sisters Mixed Arms

Thoughts

Another triumph for the Sisters of Battle, who have gone about their business as one of the underrated stars of the meta the last few months. Plenty of melta here, as Retributors and Paragons with Vahl get ready to cut open tanks as required. Repentia and Arcos can tustle for the Primary, and there are lots of little jump pack squads to drop into exposed spaces and pressure or score. Sisters are hard to pilot well and getting this to a GT win takes some skill, so very well done Peter!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Patrick Kerr – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): Thunderwolf / Wulfen spam.
  • 3rd – Jake Ward – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Canis Rex, a Cerastus Knight, my heart sings! supporting Armigers and chaff.
  • 4th – Sam Nash – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment): Guard artillery with Kasrkin and Bullgryn for the frontlines.

Wrap Up

That’s all for this week folks! Nobody can ever definitively win Warhammer, but I reckon if anyone could it would probably be Josh Roberts. Somebody stop that smiling monster! With new books on the horizon it’ll be interesting to see if Orks / Custodes / Tau start to shake things up, but the overall game continues to thrive. Get out there and enjoy it.

Lowest of Men, out.

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