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Competitive Innovations in 10th: You Can’t Keep an Elf Down pt.2

By Lowest of Men

And now presented for your delectation – elves. They’re back. In many ways they never left.

Lowest of Men will have the full gory details in a moment, but before that one final plug in this column for the Goonhammer Open UK on the 2nd of March, your chance to win a Golden Ticket. We’ve just finalised our map & mission pack and list submission is two weeks away, so get signed up now if you’re on the fence!

The Goonhammer Open UK

Now on to the events that have already happened. Today we’ll be looking at:

  • CaptainCon 40K GT
  • Cross-Swords PAW 2024
  • I GT ACUPHAMMER
  • FWC Grand Tournament Warhammer 40K GT

If you’re looking for any of the following, go check out part 1 from Wednesday.

  • The Great Game – Gongaii GT Winter 2024
  • German Major Hamburg
  • Level Up Games Feb 2024 GT
  • Winter Donut 2024
  • Wettcon Vinter 2024 40k

CaptainCon 40K GT (Post-Dataslate)

53-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Warwick, RI, United States on February 03 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Cullen Burns – Aeldari (Battle Host) – 1st Place

Fire Dragons. Credit: James “Boon” Kelling

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Aeldari Fire Fragons

Thoughts

The Elf menace retools for the new age, leaning into a number of units that escaped the dataslate untouched. Fire Dragons in Falcons are exceptional hard target removal, with full wound rerolls when the infantry target the same unit the transport fired at. MSU Infantry are best placed to exploit new Phantasm with careful positioning near walls for both offensive and defensive options. Swooping Hawks provide very cheap scoring, and Shroudrunners are here in two big bricks to scout forwards and cause trouble. They can snipe enemy characters, they boast a lot of cover-removing shooting through their scatter lasers, and they are still very cost effective. Eldar won’t have it all their own way now but they remain phenomenal at playing the game and making life miserable for their opponents. Very well done on the first place finish!

Casey Glynn – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Monolith with Death Rays. Credit: Rockfish
Monolith with Death Rays. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Hypercrypt Goodstuff

Thoughts

The Monolith continues its surprise rise to stardom, at the heart of a Hypercrypt list that can boop around the board outscoring the foe whilst annihilating them at crucial moments. Immortals with Chronomancers can drop down and fire and fade onto objectives, which combined with the 3 inch Deepstrike available in HC means the opponent spends the game standing in weird places trying to stop you, opening themselves up to being blasted or charged. Imotekh makes an appearance here to keep the CP flowing – HC is very CP thirsty so being able to keep fuelling all the tricks all game long is crucial. Very well done on the second place finish Casey.

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 3rd – James Watkins – Orks (Waaagh! Tribe):  Lots of Nobz, Trukks, and MSU Squighogz.
  • 4th – Tony Phillips – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Big slabs of Wardens, Guard, and Allarus with the usual characters.
  • 5th – Drew Salzborn – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault): Massed Raiders and Scourge with Ravager support and 20 Incubi in two hammer units.
  • 6th – David Adelman – Ynnari: Appropriately named ‘what slate?’ Ynnari with lots of Dark Lances supporting Aeldari MSU.
  • 7th – Alex Ing – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): Another Monolith / C’tan / Immortals take on Hypercrypt.
  • 8th – Matthew Wood – Adeptus Custodes: More golden slabs, with triple Warden bricks on display here.

FWC Grand Tournament (Post-Dataslate)

All the lists for this event can be found in MiniHeadQuarters.

The Showdown

Vanguard Ultramarines versus Skysplinter Assault Drukhari

Khaldrogo – Ultramarines (Vanguard Spearhead)

Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Aimée – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault)

Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

An intriguing match up here pitching the newly released Skysplinter Assault against one of the powerhouses of the past couple of months, John Lennon style Vanguard Ultramarines. One list in ascendance, the other perhaps a little on the down. On the Vanguard side, Khaldrogo is packing several huge hammer units, Eradicators, Inceptors, and the Centurion Devastator brick of doom. These can pick their moments to drop in and cause havoc, the Cent Devs especially able to keep away and pick off the foe at a long range thanks to Deep Strike bestowed upon them from Ventris. It likes the enemy at arms length and it can control engagements exceptionally well.

On the Drukhari side, Skysplinter gets a run out, with this build from Aimee blending some incision melee that benefits from the new detachment (Lelith, Incubi hammer units with Archons leading them) with lots of utility, screening and scoring support. Reavers are very flexible as a fast mission play option, able to steal objectives, tick off cards and also screen out space on the board to make enemy deep striking harder. That may be the challenge for Vanguard here, as the Drukhari have a lot of assets, and plenty of Dark Lance via the Ravager and Scourge to slay any Marine bodies that make themselves visible. The go-turn potential of Vanguard is massive, but actually demeching the entire Drukhari army AND dealing with the units that fall out is a big ask. The Drukhari also have the speed to catch the Vanguard forces on the ground and don’t have to trade every time thanks to Wraithlike Retreat (which let’s their melee units retreat to the safety of a transport). In the end it looks like the width of assets carried the Dark Kin home to a first event win of the new meta.

Result: 90-75 Drukhari Win.

 Aimée – Drukhari (Skysplinter Assault) – 1st Place

Credit: Keewa

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Skysplinter Mixed Arms

Thoughts

New Drukhari make out like bandits here with a GT win! Great to see. Skysplinter has a lot of finesse tools for dancing around opponents, and many are on display here. The Incubi brick with The Nightmare Shroud can simply ignore enemy overwatch, giving you a very potent hammer to bring down as required. Lelith is a massive infantry killer in the new detachment with her Wyches now able to chip in on doing damage as well, and whilst you don’t want to over commit resources in Dark Lances now, bringing some 15-18 as this list does ensures that enemy armour has to be very careful at all times. Getting that balance between the exciting new tools and the best shooting options in the army is key now, as is managing your Pain token generation, but it’s great to see it piloted to success here, very well done!

The Best of the Rest

  • 2nd – Wyllow – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Triple C’tan Triple Wraiths Canoptek Court.
  • 3rd – Ashord – Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion): An intriguing Hypercrypt build with a big brick of Tomblades and two Doomscythes alongside the usual C’tan.
  • 4th – Père_Kstor – Blood Angels (Sons of Sanguinius): A Heroic Sons of Sanguinius effort with lots of Death Company and Assault Intercessors ferried in Impulsors and Land Raiders.
  • 5th – Alturys – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): IV Tyranids with triple Exocrine, scoring chaff and a newly restored Tyrannofex!

I GT ACUPHAMMER

50-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Villamuriel de Cerrato, CL, España on February 03 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Alvaro Perez – Black Templars (Gladius Task Force) – 1st Place

Primaris Sword Brethren. Credit: SRM

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Black Templars Heroism

Thoughts

You’re going to hear a lot of things about Black Templars over the next couple of months, much of it revolving around how the best way to play them is a joyless car park of gun tanks clustered around Iron Hands buffing enhancements. Reject the tedious, tedious heresy, and come and join in with the heroism on display in this list from Alvaro, which leans into everything that make the Templars what they are. We’ve got glorious combat troops carried forwards in blazing Land Raider Redeemers, Impulsors spewing further melee death into the heart of the foe, and Helbrecht leading from the front. Gladius gives this some greater flexibility in how it engages, and just that little bit more reliable reach on the key ‘go turn’, so I will allow it. Templars are a combat army, don’t embarrass yourselves. Very well done Alvaro.

Gonzalo “Raven” de La Moneda González – Death Guard (Plague Company) – 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Death Guard Plague Marine. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Pre-slate Death Guard

Thoughts

A triumph for the Liam VSL go-wide version of Death Guard. It has amazing cheap trading pieces in Plague Marines, it has great supporting artillery and precision shooting from the Brigands, and it has Nurglings because of course it does! The Little Lords aren’t staying home when there’s fun to be had… DG Are going to be in a solid spot post-slate, as many of their competitors took a hit and they got away very lightly, but this pre-slate triumph is a reminder that they were already a force to be reckoned with. Very well done Gonzalo!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 3rd – Antonio Rico – Ultramarines (Gladius Task Force): A more MSU take on Vanguard Ultramarines with a couple of supporting tanks (ooo, a Predator!)
  • 4th – Pedro Bollaín de la Sota – Sautekh (Awakened Dynasty): Awakened Dynasty with a brick of Skorpekh, lots of Destroyers and plenty of utility pieces.
  • 5th – Jesús Ángel Diez – Asuryani: Triple Spinner Wraightguard gets a last run out.
  • 6th – Alejandro López Morangues – Blood Angels (Gladius Task Force): Glorious Blood Angels Gladius with a big brick of Cent Devs to be teleported by a Librarian Dreadnought. This is amazing.
  • 7th – Alberto Vacas – Ynnari: Intriguing Ynnari with lots of Dark Lance and Haywire via Skyweavers and Scourge.
  • 8th – Pablo Aguera – Orks: Ork Trukk rush with lots of Nobz and Meganobz in vehicles.
  • 9th – Pedro Cbrr – Aeldari: Avatar of Khaine / MSU Aeldari.

Cross-Swords PAW 2024

40-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on February 03 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

George McCoulough – Drukhari (Realspace Raiders) – 1st Place

Drukhari Archon. Credit: Corrode

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Realspace Raid Beastpack Rush

Thoughts

Drukhari nab a GT win to end the pre-slate era as well! What a weekend for the Dark Kin. George goes to the bad place and shoves three Beastpacks in the opponents face to buy time for all his other units to get into position and go to work. Beastpack are incredible, with a very cheap, deceptively durable unit boasting a 9 inch scout and a 12 inch move to really get involved quickly and push the opponent back. I think Drukhari lists will continue to exploit at least one of these going forwards, but its good to see the general belief amongst Dark Eldar players that three is probably very good vindicated. Excellent work as always George!

The Best of the Rest

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

  • 2nd – Gareth Purchon – Grey Knights (Teleport Strike Force): Triple Librarian Triple Terminator MSU GK.
  • 3rd – Jack West – Adeptus Custodes (Shield Host): Double Caladius with several big bricks of infantry.
  • 4th – Simon Laxton – Aeldari (Battle Host): Go-wide MSU Ynnari with Dark Lances and sneaky fast infantry.
  • 5th – Cameron Giles – Adeptus Custodes: More double Caladius infantry brick Custodes action.
  • 6th – Tom Godfrey – Orks: Vehicle rush MSU Orks with Nobz, Squighogz and the usual supporting characters. Flash Gitz because of course!
  • 7th – Dale Isherwood – Orks: A Battlewagon and lots of Ork MSU including triple Squighog squads.
  • 8th – Matthew Jarvis – Necrons (Canoptek Court): Double C’tan Canoptek Court with 12 Wraiths and plenty of small units for scoring.

Wrap Up

That rounds things out for another week – join us next time for the results from Beachhead Brawl and (I’m sure) many more events!

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