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Competitive Innovations in 10th: Twists and Turns pt.1

By James "One_Wing" Grover

Welcome to Competitive Innovations, our weekly feature for a number of game lines across the tabletop wargame space. Each week our army list and tactics experts canvass the top tournaments for their game of specialty, looking at the week’s top match-ups and how they played out on the tabletop to let you know what’s hot, what’s not, and what might be coming next as the competitive meta evolves year-round.

All sorts of stuff going on this week. Aeldari – over-represented on the top tables, but not by masses. Marines – very good still. Chaos – taking some big wins. Orks – Waaaaaagh!

40k is happening, basically. Love it when 40K happens.

Today, we’ll be covering:

  • The Manchester UKTC 40k Super-Major
  • Games of Westeros XIX – 40k
  • Triple Cities GT
  • Warhammer 40K Midtcon Spring 2025

On Friday, bam, more 40k, with Lowest of Men, and it’ll be:

  • Clutch City GT 2025
  • Leoben 40K Spring Sprint Singles – Alpine Cup
  • East Anglian Grand Tournament 2025 March
  • CAGBASH XVIII 40k Event

Showdowns? We’ve got ’em. Patrons, voting, you know the drill, they picked:

The Manchester UKTC 40k Super-Major

327-player, 7-round Supermajor in Urmston, England, United Kingdom on March 01 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Alex Harrison – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 1st Place

Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Go-wide Bloodless Angels

Thoughts

The logical endpoint of the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Blood Angels trend here, essentially identifying the cheapest units in the Space Marine book that will still do something when helped by the Liberator detachment rule, cramming three of as many of them as possible into a list, then calling it a day. You end up with just way too much redundancy and board presence for most foes to deal with, and adding in the Invictors to punish them for trying to carve through Incursors is extra mean. No one could quite punch through the sheer volume of stuff here, and Alex was able to pilot it to the trophy.

Josh Roberts – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 2nd Place

Blood Angels Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer
Blood Angels Deimos Vindicator Laser Destroyer. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Shooty Liberator

Thoughts

It’s was a bloodless mirror match in the final, with Josh’s shootier version of Liberator narrowly losing out to Alex’s Infantry version. Most of this is business as usual for dakka Marines with some melee backup, but the VanVets feel worth noting if you’re gunning for Aeldari. The invulnerable save makes it harder for nefarious elves to plan around them, and volume AP-1 melee is perfect for punting Aspect MSUs out of your way. Good addition to the recipe, and well done Josh on second place.

Bruce Duffy – Chaos Space Marines (Creations of Bile) – 3rd Place

Credit: PierreTheMime

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Brawler Bile

Thoughts

Chaotic melee up next with a very aggressive Creations of Bile build, adding additional Transports filled with melee nasties to the normal double Possessed/single big Chosen recipe. Staging transports are, as always, particularly strong on UKTC terrain, and I imagine the threat projection of a Nemesis Claw waiting in the wings is especially unpleasant for opponents to try and deal with. The two Huntsman are neat too, providing big OC flips in a pinch if you don’t want to commit a melee unit or have run out of bodies on a flank. Eventually fell to the raw killing power Josh was packing in the semi-finals, but a great run to a third place finish from Bruce.

Innes Wilson – Genestealer Cult (Host of Ascension) – 4th Place

Neophytes. Credit: Rockfish
Neophytes. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Horde Host

Thoughts

Friend of the column Innes returns to his spiritual home here, bringing glory to the star children by unleashing a spectacular Neophyte horde, with maximum killing power via Beneficti, and some skirmishing Genestealers to carve out drop zones. This style of list is still a nightmare to deal with thanks to Return to the Shadows, and feels like it’s especially strong into Aeldari since it can largely just roll with their punches, especially with the ability to guarantee the return of a full Neophyte brick at a key moment. Well done to Innes for making the top cut yet again.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 5-0 records after the Swiss. They were:

  • 5th – Michael Hooper – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess): Ultra-heavy Excess with Shalaxi, triple Keeper and a full Fiend squad.
  • 6th – Colin Power – Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead): Aspect MSUs for days and a central Yvraine/Visarch Incubi squad to dominate the field.
  • 7th – Brett Smith – Thousand Sons (Cult of Magic): Double Mutalith, lots of Characters, Cultists and Tzaangors to make sure you’ve still go the ground coverage.
  • 8th – Aiden Smalley – Death Guard (Plague Company): Mortarion and hulls.
  • 9th – Fernando Soriano – T’au Empire (Mont’ka): Go-wide Mont’ka hulls with Hammerheads, Riptides and one Breacherfish.
  • 10th – Adam Wass – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): A shooty Gladius build using Calgar, a pair of RepExes and a full Inceptor block as the main threats.

Games of Westeros XIX – 40k

118-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Västmanlands län, Sverige on March 01 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jesper Unander-Scharin – Chaos Space Marines (Creations of Bile) – 1st Place

Chaos Space Marines Obliterators
Chaos Space Marines Obliterators. Credits: That Gobbo

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Obliterator Bile

Thoughts

Most of what’s here is the brawler Bile standard, but what if you decided you just couldn’t stand +1BS being a complete waste for one game more? Take some Obliterators! They’re generically pretty good on rate, benefit from every Bile option, can create a hilarious gut punch with Diabolic Regeneration and even give you access to emergency volume indirect if you really need to plink off some skulking elves. All good fun, and clearly worked very well alongside the normal tools here, taking Jesper to the top!

Dag Samuelsson – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Genestealers
Genestealers. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Genestealer Invasion Mash

Thoughts

A shooty and skirmish combo in an undefeated second place, with two full Genestealer/Broodlord units and a Norn running interference for lots of dakka bugs. Genestealers are super good in Invasion Fleet now you can guarantee Synapse for the boosted Feel No Pain from Rapid Regeneration, and are great in a metagame where being able to clear out T3 elite Infantry is suddenly more reelvant. The setup here should buy plenty of time for foes to be fully dissolved, and Dag was able to carve through a broad range of foes on the way to the podium.

Magnus Bjerke – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance) – 3rd  Place (4.5-0.5)

War Dog - Stalker. Credit: Rockfish
War Dog – Stalker. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Whoops all War Dogs

Thoughts

It never stops, and it’s never going to stop. Definitely not while Bridgehead and Aeldari reward you for getting 13 indirect guns for basically free, anyway. Good job to Magnus on third place.

Kalle Abrahamsson – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet) – 4th Place (4.5-0.5)

Maleceptor. Credit: Rockfish
Maleceptor. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Genestealer Maleceptor Mash

Thoughts

Another double Genestealer Invasion build to complete our second top four, this time teaming them up with triple Maleceptors for additional vice-like pressure. Seems to have worked, and after four victories was able to fight the War Dog horde above to a draw. Great work from Kalle unleashing the brainiest bugs.

The Best of the Rest

There were 13 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

  • 5th – Axel Rydén – Aeldari (Devoted of Ynnead): Aspect MSUs backed up by Windriders and Wraithlords.
  • 6th – Martin Hultgren – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess): Triple Keeper with surprise shooting backup from triple Brigand.
  • 7th – Emil Söderholm – Deathwatch (Black Spear Task Force): Crunchy Deathwatch with Terminator MSUs and double Indomitor team.
  • 8th – Rikard Tröger – Ultramarines (Vanguard Spearhead): Bobby G and teleporting Centurions.
  • 9th – Joel Larsson – Astra Militarum (Bridgehead Strike): Transport-heavy Bridgehead, adding lots of Kasrkin and combat engineers in Tauroxes to the usual mix.
  • 10th – Stefan Love – Orks (Taktikal Brigade): Mechanised Taktikal with shooty Infantry and Breaka Boyz.
  • 11th – Frank Kummel – Imperial Agents (Veiled Blade Elimination Force): An absolute legend here, landing a 4-1 finish with one of each buffed Assassin, backed up by a Kill Team, some cheap Infantry and Warglaives for extra pressure.
  • 12th – David Klang – Blood Angels (Angelic Inheritors):  Sanguinary Guard MSUs with Characters plus both Epic Lone Operatives for violent herohammer, one big Inceptor unit to max on shooting stratagems, and some Vindicators because they’re generically great.
  • 13th – Sebastian Larsson – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Whoops all War Dogs.
  • 14th – Jeppa Resmark – Astra Militarum (Hammer of the Emperor): Triple Dorn Commander, three supporting Russes (two Vanquishers and a Punisher) and some Kasrkin in Transports.
  • 15th – Christian Olofsson – Chaos Daemons (Legion of Excess): The slightly more go-wide end of Excess, taking one Keepr and Shalaxi then using small Fiend units, Chariots and a few other bits and bobs to contest the table.
  • 16th – Daniel Fröberg – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Big dog and his squires.
  • 17th – Sami Sjolander – Chaos Knights (Traitoris Lance): Whoops all War Dogs.

Triple Cities GT

37-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Binghamton, NY, United States on March 01 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Take and Hold – Raise Banners – Tipping Point

Chris Martens – Aeldari (Aspect Host)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Clarence Ellsworth – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ)

Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

I mean on the one hand, the Aeldari get their wish – no Indirect. On the other – wolves. Big ones. With teeth. Wolf Jail isn’t an insurmountable matchup for Aeldari, especially not the high threat Aspect Host, but it’s certainly not ideal either. Taking a swing and a miss at big ThunderCav brick can be fairly instantly terminal, and their defensive statlines are annoying to boot. 4W with T6 is perfectly pitched such that neither Dark Reaper profile is great into them, and the terrain is also going to make it fairly tough for Reapers to line up a full volley. This event was using very heavy WTC layouts, which significantly reduce the effectiveness of the Dark Reaper Wave Serpent thrust compared to GW or UKTC terrain (especially on the map for this mission which has flanks that are fully impassable to a hull). Given the Fire Dragons also don’t have Fuegan with them, it’s quite likely that the Aeldari will have to take their big swings from much closer than they’d like.

The elves have plenty of other cool toys, but it’s a lot of mid-impact stuff that isn’t going to be able to engage the nastiest wolf threats, and some of it suffers from key targets not being Infantry. I’d worry as the Aeldari here that it’s quite difficult for them to force positive trades without getting dangerously close, and against Marines that’s a recipe for getting ground out. Their biggest asset is triple Scorpions, as these are great for move blocking Thunderwolves on these tables, and as the Aeldari here I’m looking to delay the dogs, and give them a choice between catching a big volley or being boxed in, especially as I have good ways of reaching and clearing mid-field objectives. I’d probably even consider not sticking Jain Zar with a unit of Banshess to just give me +1 threat that can zip out and murder a 5-model Marine unit, slightly reduce eggs in each basket and so on.

It’s winnable for both sides here, but the Aeldari are definitely on the nastier knife edge of “mess up and get mauled”. Literally. Wolves want to use their Scouts to try and carve out a movement channel for the ThunderCav so that the pesty Elves can’t screw about scoring for a turn or two before its wolf time, and if they get first drop they can make life very annoying for the Aeldari indeed. No certain outcomes here, but I think the ball is somewhat in the Space Wolves court overall, and they were able to convert in style.

Result

Space Wolves (Champions of Russ) Victory – 87 – 64

Clarence Ellsworth – Space Wolves (Champions of Russ) – 1st Place

Credit: “Contemptor” Kevin Stillman

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Wolf Jail

Thoughts

Wolf Jail abolition continues to fail as a political project, and the sons of Russ romp to a trophy here. You could certainly argue whether double ThunderCav is true Wolf Jail, but on WTC terrain running three bricks would have been suicidal, and building with Infiltrators to secure key channels of advance is by far the smarter move. Great work from Clarence.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Joseph Sault – Imperial Agents (Imperialis Fleet): Extreme board control Infantry spam with quite a few Inquisitors and Assassins scattered about.
  • 3rd – Chris martens – Aeldari (Aspect Host): See Showdown.
  • 4th – Gregory Hunter – T’au Empire (Mont’ka): Mont’ka with four Broadsides and a couple of Fireknife teams, plus triple Breacherfish.
  • 5th – Alex Miller – Death Guard (Plague Company): A full-bore Poxwalker and Nurgling horde with Mortarion in charge.
  • 6th – Connor Reynolds – Astra Militarum (Bridgehead Strike): Infantry spam Bridgehead with Field Ordnance batteries.
  • 7th – Carson Jones – Leagues of Votann (Oathband): Double Land Fortress with a Hearthguard squad in each, backed by two full bike squads.

Warhammer 40K Midtcon Spring 2025

34-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Viborg, Denmark on March 01 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Simon Darre – Dark Angels (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Deathwing GTF

Thoughts

Speaking of lists that just keep on trucking, we’ve got Deathwing GTF to round out part 1 this week. Throwing lots of Deathwing Knights at the foe – it’s good. The presence of a full Sternguard unit with Azrael is also notable. These have been creeping out of skew lists like Librarius into seeing more general play because of how versatile they are into a diverse metagame, and the synergy with the Grand Master of the Dark Angels is especially strong in both directions. Nice addition to the standard recipe here, and rewarded with a first place finish – well done Simon.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd (4.5-0.5) – Martin Bræmer Nielsen – Adeptus Custodes (Solar Spearhead): A super Telemon, six other Dreadnoughts of various flavours, and a couple of Caladius tanks.
  • 3rd – Killi Paaske – Aeldari (Warhost): Aspect MSUs, Asurmen and Fuegan as power pieces, and a Storm Guardian/Eldrad/Conclave unit to maximise the value of Stratagems and roast stuff.
  • 4th – Anujan Selvarajah – Necrons (Starshatter Arsenal): Silent King triple Doomsday with a Catacomb Barge for the double buff action.
  • 5th – Max Hannibal – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): Bobby G gun club.
  • 6th – Tim Verbeek – Ultramarines (Stormlance Task Force): Bobby G gunship club.

Wrap Up

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