More events = more content. I can’t imagine there will be many complaints.

Today, we’ll be covering:

• Matthammer
• FactoruM September GT
• Carnage – ‘Ere We Go Again Ladz
• A bonus look at the Polish Team Championships

If you’re looking for the writeups of the following, go take a look at yesterday‘s part 1:

• Iron Halo (Major)
• The Normal Blokes GT
• Twisted Onslaught: Devastation

Matthammer

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings. This event was using 20-0 scoring. With 30 players, I would normally only expect 4 players on X-1 or better, so no Best of the Rest section.

Karl Abrahamsson – Grey Knights – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• An all-rounder list from the Blades of Victory

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

More Grey Knights, and largely more of the same, but in a rather more balanced shell rather than just going all-in on Dreadknights again. Adding in a unit of Purifiers and a Purgation squad gives you one unit that can sit durably in a position at a key moment (thanks to Untained and Unbowed) from the former and a little extra spike of Psycannon shots from the latter, far from the worst thing to have around. I am a bit surprised that this build isn’t running Vanguard Aggression, which means that the Blades are solely bringing charge re-rolls from Inescapable Pursuit to the table, but that does combine nicely with First to the Fray to substantially up reliability, which hey, maybe that’s all Grey Knights really need! Ultimately, seeing such a relatively balanced suite of units still doing well is encouraging, as if the army degenerates into people just spamming Dreadknights all the time there’s a real risk of them getting overnerfed then the entire army going back to the drawing board. Seeing that you can flex in a wider range of tools and still perform indicates that there are more depths to explore. Another early notch on the scoreboard for the Knights of Titan, and an impressive performance from Karl.

Oscar Lemming – Drukhari – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Cronos Drukhari

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

It’s Cronos Drukhari – you know it, you either love (and play) it or you hate it, but it remains a metagame force and in a 20-0 format the fact that it’s a strong list that’s a bit grindier than the Drukhari average is probably an upside, as you’ve got a better chance of absorbing one minor loss and still coming out near the top (not that Oscar needed that backstop, since he got four wins and a draw).

Rickard Nilsson – Adeptus Mechanicus – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Full on Lucius horde reminds us once again that it’s still a very real threat.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

No rest for Rickard’s Skitarii, bouncing straight off their top-four finish at last week’s Alliance Open supermajor to a podium finish. Skitarii don’t need rest anyway. Famous for it. If anything, I would say this list is even nastier in a 20-0 scoring format, as bodying 120 Lucius Skitarii off the table without them racking up a very strong score is going to be near-impossible. Congratulations once again to Rickard.

Jonathan Sleigh-Johnson – Adepta Sororitas – 4th Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Optimised melee and shooting Orders create an ultra-high threat Sisters list.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Jonathan returns with a tweaked version of the army he ran to a top four finish at the West Coast GT. Since that iteration, he’s cut down the size of the Repentia units slightly in favour of packing in even more melta, adding a whole extra unit of Retributors. That makes sense with the increasing number of powerful vehicles out there in the metagame, and ensures that this list is ready to continue doing what it does best – hitting the opponent hard and fast, and claiming the table in the name of the Emperor.

FactoruM – September GT

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings. With 28 players, there were no further players on X-1.

Michael Costello – Deathwatch – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Ultra-pressure Deathwatch that hits opponents like a truck.
• Aggresssive, durable kill teams and the tools to get them into the opponent’s face.
• Plasma death ready to burst down a few key targets.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Michael is known for playing creative, unique lists (you might remember his Daemon Engine spam build from waaay back) and this tournament-winning Deathwatch build is definitely a fine addition to that canon. Many Deathwatch lists focus on either spamming Dreadnoughts around the Dominus Aegis or using Kill Teams designed to combat squad into tricksy five model units that you can’t get any other way, but not this one. This army is bringing back some 8th Edition energy by running three massive Kill Teams designed to roll around the board fully intact and utterly crush the opponent. They’re set up for durability, speed and extremely broad melee threat, and what the army wants to do is slam them into the opponent as quickly as possible. There are a few options for doing that – the Beacon Angelis into a Canticle of Hate aura is the obvious one, but Brotherhood of Veterans to become White Scars also gives them pretty huge charge reach, as with Advance/Charge and a biker to move as far to the front of the unit as possible they’re going to go way further than an opponent is likely anticipating, and potentially catch them right out of the gate if they were unwary.

Once in combat, the squads can mince almost anything. Lightning claw-wielding black shields and plenty of Chainswords will mow down hordes, while Thunder Hammers will make short work of more elite targets. Thanks to the sergeants carrying heavy thunder hammers, even stuff with damage reduction is pretty likely to get pounded into dust, meaning that an opponent who wants to survive the game has to be keeping outside the considerable reach of all three of these. They’re also very tough to kill – they’ve got lots of storm shields, lots of three wound models, and whichever is most vital in a given moment is going to be packing Fortified with Contempt for 5+ ignore wound goodness, while one striding into a melee dangerzone can have Premorphic Resonance up for Fight First. However durable you reckon these are I guarantee that they’re tougher than that – and because of having ObSec and how deadly they are, that makes them super strong for dominating the primary (especially as The Ties that Bind can boost one up to counting double for holding objectives).

Backing them up for neutralising key targets that don’t want to come play in melee are some plasma units, both Inceptors and the surprisingly efficient assault Hellblasters. Both can deep strike if needed (the latter via Teleportarium), and the presence of Ties that Bind and Optimised Priority lets them pull double duty between killing and objective play, helping mitigate the fact that this list has relatively few units. Finishing stuff up, you’ve got a Whirlwind to sit on a home objective and drop Suppression Fire against anything that you can’t afford to have interrupting, and an Ironclad Dreadnought as a mixture of a weird flex, another durable unit that can look after itself, and a hilarious punish for anyone who doesn’t look too closely at its statline and lets it touch a vehicle. Chainfist go brrr. It can also act as a Lieutenant in a list that doesn’t otherwise have one thanks to Wisdom of the Ancients, or spread hit RR1s out so that the plasma units can operate in multiple parts of the board.

I have watched this list in action on the tabletop and it’s a real sight to behold just how mobile and hard to shift it is – it’s very easy to look at it, see lots of Marine bodies, and assume you’ve got some breathing room at the start of the game. You don’t. The Deathwatch are merciless hunters of their foes, and this list really epitomises that – a great win from Michael.

Matthew Chinn – Necrons – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Eternal Expansionists, but with some actual damage output. Controversial.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

It’s a tough time to be a robot skeleton, as the metagame is increasingly hostile and the codex looks a bit dated. Eternal Expansionists is the main tool the dynasties have to hold on in this harsh world, as army-wide ObSec gives them a unique ability to dominate the primary by just spamming durable units, but even that has been looking ever dicier with the arrival or Orks and Grey Knights, neither of which are armies you can really play against if you can’t scratch their powerful mid-board threats.

With that in mind, I quite like this rather unique take on the theme, which trades out endless swarms of Scarabs for a few more units that can actually kill something, with the Silent King’s hefty threat hanging over it all. Skorpekh Destroyers are no slouch in melee, while Triarch Praetorians are excellent at pushing back against Grey Knights in particular thanks to their strong D2 melee. It’s still going to struggle against armies with lots of damage reduction (I’d reckon this build is still largely a non-starter against Freebooterz) but it does at least have an actual plan going into the new Grey Knight hotness, especially as it’s a bit better at disrupting their Stranglehold plans than most armies. Speaking of objectives, To the Last looks very good here, as it goes on the Silent King, Catacomb Command Barge and one unit of Lychguard (who can sit in cover on a home objective), none of which are trivial to remove.

This list is going to be very reliant on good terrain to operate, as plenty of its units will melt when exposed to shooting, but the FactoruM terrain is extremely good which made the build a good pick for the event. I should also highlight that the only loss Matthew picked up was against Michael’s Deathwatch, and that was incredibly close (92-87), indicating that there really is something here in the right hands. Is it the magical salvation of the faction? No – but it certainly looks like a spin that’s worth a go. Great stuff from Matthew.

Sam Nash – Space Wolves – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• A Space Wolf list that lands a powerful alpha strike then segues to mid-table domination.
• Great objective support from multiple Phobos units and the Fenrisian Wolves.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

For the first time in ages I get to write about a list that I, personally, got thoroughly kicked in by at this event. Wolves have been putting in the work recently thanks to their supplement bring full of real highlights, and this unit makes great use of several of them. Foremost among your opponent’s considerations early on are likely to be the Long Fangs, who are literally just better Devastators, and who are extremely strong when deployed from a drop pod thanks to Keen Senses switching off hit penalties. Sam’s list is using the current hot tech of mixing grav cannons and multi-melta weaponry to maximise the range of targets these are a threat against and that definitely feels like the right call – double shooting a BS2+ MM while ignoring hit penalties is going to be enough to spike out targets without an invuln, and having the option to instead go big with grav is great if you’re staring down Skitarii or Interceptors instead of hulls. Further adding to the early fusillade is a VolCon (why leave home without one) and a few extra melta shots from Bjorn (who can also be a combination Lieutenant and Captain when needed thanks to Wisdom of the Ancients).

That’s a pretty brutal first swing, and is very likely to leave the opponent significantly bruised. At that point the next strength of the list comes to the fore – board control. It can start lots of Phobos mid-board, and with 6″ heroic interventions from Counter Charge they can make it extremely difficult to take control of objectives. It’s also got the Wolf Guard as an extremely hard hitting counterattack unit, especially with a power fist on the sergeant and the ability to switch on the Assault doctrine early if needed or pick up +1 to wound from Savage Strike, at which point there’s very, very few things that don’t just die – high volume, reliable D1 attacks are the closest thing 40K has to a universal answer. The opponent will also have to factor in the Wulfen Dreadnought, a unit I’m a big fan of and who in our game just went into Strategic Reserves. Thanks to a 4+ invuln from their shield they’re absurdly tough for their cost and can murder most things they touch, so even if they miss their charge when they arrive from reserves the opponent still has to do something about them, and will often need to overcommit to be sure.

The final asset Wolves have is their exceptional objective play – quite apart from how much the heroic and Counter Charge let them dominate objectives, this list has plenty of stuff to achieve Warrior Pride with and a couple of Fenrisian Wolves that are great for any of Oaths, Engage or just sitting quietly on a home objective. Good alpha, good board control and good objective play – this list (like many Wolves armies) is the full package, and the only mild concern going forward is that their matchup into Grey Knights looks a bit dodgy, as they’re unusually reliant on 2W models and unusually likely to pack a Psyker thanks to their strong discipline. With such a deep well of tools in the book we’ll see if they can adapt, but for this event that didn’t hold them back. Congratulations and a hearty “I’ll get you next time” to Sam.

Cad Jeal – Imperial Knights – 4th Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Ultra aggressive Knights ready to crush enemy vehicles underfoot.
• The Imperialis Oath helps the list get into combat fast.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Another unique (and very cool) build to round things out for this event, with a rare sighting of pure Questor Imperialis on the tabletop, and a Knight army that is unusually focused on bodying the opponent in melee. While losing access to Machine Spirit Resurgent is always a blow, there are some genuine draws to the Imperialis side of things, including a generally better “superfaction” oath (+1″ to Advance and Charge) and a couple of strong stratagems of their own. Sally Forth gives the army the option of putting either a big Knight or the Warglaives into Deep Strike, constraining opposing options early, while the extra round of shooting provided by Valiant Last Stand, especially from either the Styrix or Magaera with their rad cleansers, can really punish an opponent who’s fallen a bit behind and is trying to muster a route back into the game.

Fall behind they might, because this list is coming straight at them, and will be leaning on the other big draw of Imperialis (the Banner of Macharius Triumphant) to make a big play for mid board control, which will put many opponents on the back foot. Further to that, one of the normal things you’d do against this army (tie up the Helverins) is vastly less effective thanks to their ability to fall back and still shoot thanks to Hounds of War, ensuring that the only real way to stop the bleeding is to blow stuff up – and there’s going to be a queue.

Overwhelming the opponent with pressure is one of the ways that Knights win games, so I can definitely respect the choice to go for an all-out aggression with them – it maximises the chance of leveraging that strength while minimising the window for opponents packing lots of guns to take you the big targets. As we’ll further see in a second, bringing tools for board control seems to be vital to the Knight lists that are succeeding in the current environment, so well done to Cad for hitting on a strong build and piloting it to a top four.

Carnage – Ere We Go Again Ladz

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Brian Jones – Imperial Knights – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• The glorious saga of the Freeblade master continues.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Brian is having a hell of a few months, having top-foured his very first event with this Freeblade build a few months back, made it into the top cut at the GW Orlando open, and now taking down a GT with his unique and powerful list. The build continues to be a masterstroke of maximising what the Knight book and Army of Renown can give you, mixing up Mechanicus and Imperialis relics and an eye-watering spreadsheet of Qualities and Burdens to ensure that all three big Knights are running round with ObSec, two have 6″ heroics, and all are stacked up with defensive boosts. Brian has also not been resting on his laurels – the Lancer that the list used to sport has been swapped out for a Preceptor, freeing the points to upgrade a Warglaive to a fourth Moirax and making the Armigers even more deadly. I’ve generally been of the opinion that the Preceptor has been a bit underrated since its points first got a big cut, and this list makes extremely good use of one, as RR1s combos very well with the exploding 6s on lightning locks, and the list loves being able to clear out enemy hordes so that it can get max value from its ObSec big boys. I am delighted to see such a completely different list continue to slam out strong performances like it’s no big deal, so huge congratulations to Brian.

Quinton Johnson – Drukhari – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• A Drukhari list that’s cottoned on to my writing shortcuts.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

With the number of events firing right now, getting this column out for Wednesday is very reliant on me being able to just write “Drukhari Goodstuff” or “Cronos Drukhari” next to like half the lists, so I consider it extremely rude for a player to show up and top four with a build that’s kind of trying to squeeze the best out of both worlds (reasonably close to what our own Corrode is running at the LGT, as it happens). By dialing back the level of investment in the Cronos, the army can’t really use them as a plan A, but frees up enough points to invest in other things that the army can plan to pick off some key targets out the gate and make some trades, then rely on the inevitability of floating Cronos towards badly brused enemy forces to carry the day. It also makes it a very real prospect to chuck both units into Strategic Reserves for a couple of CP in games where you’re worried about losing them out of the gate, and four of them coming in from a board edge and letting loose is a fantastic way to put the boot in where you’ve started strong. Overall, not quite as good as the dedicated lists of either flavour at playing their plan A, but a flexible and adaptable game plan that can be super valuable in an increasingly diverse metagame, especially as small units of Cronos coming in from strat reserves looks fantastic against Grey Knights. Strong stuff from Quinton.

Garrett Befera – Orks – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• More Freebooterz

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Triple Dakkajet Freebooterz take yet another podium finish, this time forgoing the Deffkilla Trike to pay for even more buggies, and bringing along the tech of a Nitro Squigs Squigbuggy as a tool to kick off the Competitive Streak buff.

Pablo Pradas – Dark Angels – 4th Place

The List

No list logged in BCP. RIP.

Jeff Biery – Deathwatch – 5th ✪ Place

Since the 5th place player was the table 1 game from the final and we’re missing the 4th place list – sure why not!

The List

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Adeptus Astartes – Deathwatch) [116 PL, 2,000pts, 6CP] ++

+ Configuration +

Chapter Selection: Deathwatch

+ Stratagems +

Relics of the Chapter [-1CP]: Number of Extra Relics

+ HQ +

Captain on Bike [6 PL, 115pts, -1CP]: 3. Nowhere to Hide (Aura), Dominus Aegis, Frag & Krak grenades, Rites of War, Storm bolter, Storm shield, Stratagem: A Vigil Unmatched, Twin boltgun, Warlord

Primaris Techmarine [5 PL, 100pts, -1CP]: Chapter Command: Master of the Forge, Forge bolter, Frag & Krak grenades, Grav-pistol, Mechadendrite, Omnissian power axe, Servo-arm, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter, The Tome of Ectoclades
. 2. Paragon of their Chapter: Dark Angels: Brilliant Strategist

+ Troops +

Proteus Kill Team [18 PL, 260pts]: Jump Packs
. Deathwatch Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades
. Deathwatch Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades
. Deathwatch Veteran: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield
. Deathwatch Veteran: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield
. Vanguard Veteran: Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Vanguard Veteran: Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Watch Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades

Proteus Kill Team [18 PL, 260pts]: Jump Packs
. Deathwatch Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades
. Deathwatch Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades
. Deathwatch Veteran: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield
. Deathwatch Veteran: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield
. Vanguard Veteran: Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Vanguard Veteran: Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Watch Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades

Proteus Kill Team [18 PL, 260pts]: Jump Packs
. Deathwatch Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades
. Deathwatch Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades
. Deathwatch Veteran: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield
. Deathwatch Veteran: Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Storm shield
. Vanguard Veteran: Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Vanguard Veteran: Frag & Krak grenades, Lightning Claw, Storm shield
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Veteran Biker: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Twin boltgun
. Watch Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Deathwatch Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades

+ Elites +

Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 185pts]: 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Redemptor Fist

Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 185pts]: 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Redemptor Fist

Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 185pts]: 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Redemptor Fist

Relic Contemptor Dreadnought [8 PL, 150pts, -1CP]: 2x Twin volkite culverin

Relic Contemptor Dreadnought [8 PL, 150pts, -1CP]: 2x Twin volkite culverin

Relic Contemptor Dreadnought [8 PL, 150pts, -1CP]: 2x Twin volkite culverin

++ Total: [116 PL, 2,000pts, 6CP] ++

The Standout Features

• Dreads and split Kill Teams take Deathwatch to a strong finish.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

We saw in Michael’s list earlier that there are some unusual ways you can take Deathwatch and succeed, but this list here also hammers home that their “conventional” build is extremely strong. Redemptors and VolCons are some of the best units in the Marine codex, and Deathwatch substantially boost both. The 5+ invulnerable save aura from the Dominus Aegis is a phenomenal boost to Redemptors in a dark lance world, while Nowhere to Hide and the Tome of the Ectoclades amp up the already considerable capabilities of the VolCon, giving you an exceptional spike turn against any opponent running multiples of the same unit. Add in the natural toughness of damage reduction and these represent a phenomenal firebase.

This is then complemented by the kill teams, here using classic “split” setups. Each Combat Squads into a cheap, durable unit for holding home objectives and a fast, tougher ObSec contingent made of two VanVets and three Bikes. These can cheerfully wallhack around the table fighting for the primary while the shooting of the dreads gets things done and/or the Redemptors can take over (also ObSec thanks to Rites of War). It’s not a wildly complicated plan but it’s an extremely effective one, as evidenced by its success here. Great work from Jeff.

Bonus – 40K Polish Team Championships

That’s right kids – Team week has snuck up on us again, with another massive 120 player event firing at the weekend. Just like last week, let’s take a look at the compositions that made up the top four finishing teams to see how the various factions are performing undering the differing pressures of this format.

As a reminder for what we’re generally interested in when looking at team events, the controlled pairing formats and variable terrain across tables within around generally encourages teams to try:

• The very best all-rounder lists, and if they’re ones that have some particularly good matchups all the better.
• Lists with a very linear plan that needs specific tools to disrupt.
• Lists that are particularly good at countering some other types of build.
• Lists that are good at holding on to some points in a game they lose, no matter what they’re up against.
• Lists that are particularly strong on very heavy or very light terrain.

The placings and lists for this event can be found in Tourneykeeper. You can also find the standings for individuals on there, and notable shoutout to Danny Porter for managing to go undefeated despite spending more than half his points on Genestealer Cult units..

1st Place – Wujaszki

• Patryk Maik – Adeptus Mechaicus: Lucius/Mars with a 2/2 plane setup, 60 Skitarii, 4 Ironstriders and a bunch of utility units.
• Jakub Vladdi Podruczny – Chaos Space Marines: Jakub’s very unusual board-control focused Emperor’s Children/Chaos Knight list. It looked like a team list when we reviewed it before, and sure enough here it is!
• Michał Niewiadomski – Drukhari: Drukhari goodstuff.
• Michał “Wiśnia” Wiśniewski – Adepta Sororitas: An extremely melee-focused, with loads of Sacresants, Repentia and Zephyrim as Bloody Rose, and a small Argent Shroud backup patrol with a modicum of shooting.
• Gyto – Necrons: Extra shooty Eternal Expansionists (who are extremely good in team formats because of how difficult it is to stop them scoring at least decently) with lots of Tomb Blades and the additional clever tech of a small Sautekh detachment for Zandrekh and a flayer warrior block. That gives the list an angle to shut down a big swing an opponent tries to make (via Counter Tactics to stop a key strat), further enhancing the list’s ability to play Defender.

The first thing to note here is that there are a couple of very consistent themes in the top four team compositions here – all of them are running both Drukhari and Adeptus Mechanicus, and all the AdMech lists are Mars/Lucius with four planes. That’s not wholly surprising – I think it’s the best “all-rounder” AdMech list anyway, and in a team format it’s particularly desireable as if it starts strong it will take the opponent clean off the table at high speeds, bringing the big wins that you’re looking for in a differentially scored format. Drukhari are also pretty consistently configured, with the build in this team being the only one of the four not on double Trueborn. The list here is a strong goodstuff spin with plenty of trade tools and a Court of the Archon, clearly positioned as an all-comers list, but the rest of the teams seem to value shooting out of Transports and the speedy melee counterpunch as the biggest things Drukhari bring to the table in a team format. Perhaps that’s again not surprising – some armies struggle to deal with Transports effectively, so leaning on that is likely to ensure there are some particularly good matchups for the Drukhari, and they’re also harder to take off the board fast.

Both of these factions were universal over in Australia as well, but beyond that the European metagame mixes things up a bit, with a particular focus on Necrons and lists designed to dominate in melee on heavy tables. Eternal Expansionists is even better than normal in a team format, as it plays very well as a defender list, and across the top teams here there are a couple of unique spins on it. Gyto’s list here looks tooled to push back against the kind of Skitarii horde that might try and out ObSec it – it’s got loads of tomb blades to throw down some powerful anti-horde shooting, and the neat tech of a big block of Sautekh warriors with Zandrekh leading them up. Normally Warriors can be a bit of a liability, as there are ever increasing numbers of threats that can erase a block in one round, but Counter Tactics from Zandrekh substantially mitigates that, turning off things like Galvanic Volley Fire for a key turn if the opponent tries to punk the warriors, or perhaps shutting down crucial movement tricks in other matchups. It’s a very cool twist on the archetype.

Last up, as mentioned, tricksy melee lists, here present in both “annoy the opponent till they give up” form from the Chaos and “brutally punch stuff” from the Bloody Rose Sisters. Both look pretty strong at pulling those plans off, and while melee tilted the Sisters list has enough all-rounder tools to play a normal game if that’s what the team comp needs from it.

A strong spread from the first team – some great all-rounders, some focused killers and one incredible mind-boggler that will steal wins from opponents who can’t work out what’s going on.

2nd Place – Cracow’s Smog Brigade

• Maciej ‘Pumba’ Guziec – Space Marines: A very unusual (and completely wild) Marine build here, mixing Ultramarine (Artisans/Fusillades) and Raven Guard (Whirlwind/Tactical Withdrawal) Successors. The goal? Apply maximum boot to the neck, immediately. WIth three Invictors, drop Devs and a bunch of Land Speeders in the Ultramarine detachment then a Master of Ambush murder captain and a full unit of VanVets in the Raven Guard, this list threatens to dump its entire damage output straight on the opponent from the very first turn, making it an excellent counter to builds that haven’t brought enough screening, and a way for the team to try swinging for the fences against an otherwise unwinnable matchup.
• Syraf – Necrons: Eternal Expansionists with a couple of C’tan Shards and a Catacomb Command Barge as To The Last targets – a classic Defender list.
• Mateusz Synal – Imperium: An ultra-mobile melee build that combines Venatari Custodians and Vertus Praetors as Shadowkeepers with some Bloody Rose melee tools. Looks like an absolute screaming nightmare to play against on a heavy table, which is almost certainly what it’s designed for. The ObSec from the Custodes tools makes it particularly hard to counter in that context.
• Grzesiek “Cranmer” Wróbel – Adeptus Mechanicus: Mars/Lucius, four planes – next!
• Maciej Ptasiński – Drukhari: double Trueborn, double Hellion Drukhari goodstuff.

I’m largely not going to talk abour Drukhari and AdMech further, as they’re much of a muchness, but there’s some real spice in the remaining three builds here. The Marines list looks to be the result of another classic team event move – working out how you can leverage a book to hit the opponent as hard as humanly possible in turn one, creating a build that you either point at matchups that can’t handle it for an easy max points win, or use to throw a hail mary at a matchup that isn’t conventionally winable, but you might just be able to crush out of the game with an army this brutal. Exactly the sort of thing that makes covering team events interesting!

Next up, we have a different spin on Eternal Expansionists, this one going with the more classic option of running some C’tan as To The Last targets. These are incredibly difficult for lists without serious reach to kill, and help give an already pretty reliable Defender build an even higher score ceiling.

Finally, another attempt at constructing a mid-board melee nightmare, and I think this might be one of my favourite lists from the whole set. Venatari and Vertus Custodians are great durable, mobile ObSec units, while Bloody Rose Repentia are phenomenal trade pieces to throw into anything trying to push back the golden boys, making this combo look super strong and like it would be a massive uphill struggle to try and prise out of the mid-board. Very cool.

3rd Place – Wesoły Autobus

• Ur-Bakuarzan – Drukhari: More double Trueborn goodstuff, dropping a few more points on other utility units.
• Michu – Orks: Blood Axe Squigbuggies  and Deffkoptas team up with Stormboyz and Squighog Boyz from the Deathskulls for early objective play. Thanks to the natural deep strike on the koptas and I’ve got a Plan Ladz for the buggies, can make an extremely minimal deployment that can still pick up enough points early not to tank the game, a good way to counteract any opposing lists that want to stand still and shoot, and also unusually adaptable to being forced onto the wrong level of terrain compared to most shooty builds.
• Jakub Falkowski – Adeptus Mechanicus: Mars Lucius, four planes – next!
• Typhus – Harlequins: Frozen Stars with a bunch of boats and some big foot troupes as well – another list that’s an utter nightmare to deal with on heavy terrain setups.
• Michal Duda – Craftworlds: A full-sized Warlock Skyrunner Conclave (as Children of Prophecy for ultra reliable casts) backed up by twl full blocks of Shining Spears as Hunters of Ancient Relics, with other Aspect Warrors providing objective backup and some extra shooting punch. A classic teams list, in that its matchups tend to be extremely good where the opponent has the wrong answers or disastrous where they have the correct tools. In teams, you can just aim to dodge straight past the latter!

Our third place team brings a macro-composition consideration into play – with all three types of Aeldari represented, it’s got three different builds that can run rings around slower lists, making it much harder for the opponents to avoid handing at least one good matchup to them. Both the non-Drukhari lists are also tuned to the team format – the Harlequins are particularly focused on punishing opponents with melee pressure via the use of Frozen Stars and foot Troupes, while the Craftworld build is one which has very polar matchups – it’s a total nightmare for some opponents and a breeze for others, something that’s much more valid in a team format than singles play (though we did see a good performance with Skyrunner Conclave recently).

The last list here is Orks, making what is surprisingly their only showing in the top four. I’m not massively surprised to see Blood Axe buggies as the list here, as it combines two things you want in a teams build – an extremely unique capability (the null deploy option) and the ability to put up super high scores (we’ve seen it take 100s in over half its games in the hands of multiple players). That’s a compelling reason to give it the node over Freebooterz, especially as their ability to just body opponents off the table isn’t as unique in this format, and AdMech planes is already covering it. On the other hand, being able to null deploy against heavy shooting lists, then come onto the table with the numbers to plausibly push back is something only really Orks can do, and it’s a cool addition to the setup here.

4th Place – Skarkowi czasem można wiecej

• Krzysztof Morzyc – Adepta Sororitas: Another Bloody Rose/Argent Shroud combo, again with a whole bunch of melee threats in the former and some quality spike damage shooting in the latter.
• Cyryl Wojewodzki – Grey Knights: Pure Rapiers with max Interceptors and some hefty characters (inlcuing the standard ultra-tooled GMDK).
• Skark – Adeptus Mechanicus: Mars/Lucius, four planes – next!
• Dawid Niewęgłowski – Thousand Sons: Cult of Duplicity with all the hot toys – Ahriman, the ultra-tanky Daemon Prince, a bunch of Rubrics and VolCons, a big brick of Scarabs
• Łukasz Leszkiewicz – Drukhari: Double Trueborn goodstuff.

Our final top four team gets into the spirit of this week’s column title by bringing both Thousand Sons and Grey Knights along. Like with the previous team, that makes it much harder for opponents to avoid playing a matchup against Mortal Wound spam with an army weak to it, and both have other capabilities they bring to the table as well. Grey Knights excel at pressure and melee damage dealing (though I think if I was loading them for teams I’d bring Blades of Victory to go hard on the former), while Thousand Sons durable ObSec and Cult of Duplicity powered board control. Bringing in a normal-ish Adepta Sororitas list as well, this team comp is probably the most all-rounder of those we’ve looked at – none of these builds would look out of place in a singles top four. With that in mind, I imagine their focus in pairing is to try and get each of their builds into at least acceptable matchups, spike something that really doesn’t want it with one of the Psychic builds, then ride to victory on a few strong results and lots of OK ones.

Takeaways

Mostly already covered – Drukhari and AdMech are super strong, with Lucius/Mars planes and double Trueborn appearing to provide their most uniquely powerful spins for teams, but there’s still plenty of other ways you can construct cool and powerful lists to try and win in this challenging, strategic format.

Wrap Up

That’s it for another big week – next week we will, of course, have some results from the London Grand Tournament to talk about, and I’m sure plenty more besides. Catch you then, and in the meantime send comments, questions and suggestions to contact@goonhammer.com as usual.