This wrap-up covers five events, but the only thing you need to do is ctlr+f for bonesplitterz.
Rocky Mountain Open AoS Championship
75-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Brighton, CO, US on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Mission – Limited Resources
Dalton Kahle – Mortis Praetorians:
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vs.
Maldad Puto – Fyreslayers:
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Thoughts
Despite having one of the lower winrates, this is a good matchup for a Fyreslayers list that is loaded up on warlord battalions to take advantage extra nullstone icons. By using the block of Vulkites to power up the Flamekeepers, even OBR can see entire units lifted if the mortal wound or rend rune is fully powered up. Additionally, the Volatile Brazier allows the Molten Infernoth to basically have unlimited turn one range to reach out and drop mortal wounds to a bunched-up army.
The downside of being so footslogger heavy on this battleplan is that moving between objectives is extremely difficult and even if Arkan the Black isn’t casting as effectively due to the Fyreslayers anti-magic tools, he is the fastest model on the board by far.
One interesting wrinkle is that both armies have similar, if also extremely different, charge abilities. Fyreslayers can completely prevent the Mortis Praetorians countercharge by just not charging and fighting. Conversely, some dwarves need to die to allow the Flamekeeper to activate the combat phase charge, often with a second Flamekeeper providing a damage buff, allowing each side to control how the other uses a key ability.
Result
Fyreslayers Victory – 28 – 27
Maldad Puto – Fyreslayers – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Foot Dwarves using “one per game” abilities and the unstoppable power of prayer.
Thoughts
The addition of the nullstone icons and wizard finders (providing a 5+ spell ignore outside of the little bubble and A LOT of attacks against any wizard they fight) squeaked out a close win. I’m not sure if this was due to the Molten Infernoth getting lucky and killing a key unit or getting lucky on a few movement and charge rolls to max out primary points.
Chris Daugherty – Sons of Behemat – 9th Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Sons Army of Renown.
Thoughts
Using four littles is a choice that likely played out well over six games. Note that due to the way that pairings and the cut were presented this list was undefeated and in 9th place.
The Best of the Rest
There were three more players on 5-1 records. Due to the bracket system they didn’t place higher than somebody in another rankings They were:
- Dalton Kahle – Ossiarch Bonereapers – Mortis Praetorians – See showdown above.
- 3rd – Gareth Thomas – Blades of Khorne – Reapers of Vengeance: A fun list with minimum flesh hounds as battleline, a skull cannon, and a Daemon Prince.
- 17th – Thomas Burgett- Hedonites of Slaanesh- Pretenders: Glutos, Dexcessa, and a Keeper of Secrets with three units of Blissbarb Archers.
Battle to End Alzheimers 2024 AoS GT
60-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Westminster, MD, United States on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Mission – No Risk without Reward
Jacob Brandon – Kruleboyz:
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vs.
Bill Hennessey – Hollowmourne Grand Court:
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Thoughts
Flesh-eater Courts have been doing extremely well and this list brings a ton of bodies that just keep coming back. On a six-objective mission that requires movement this might be a route for our crazed knights. However, this battleplan is one that minimizes Kruleboyz lack of speed and allows them to create a strong castle that protects of 18 boltboys that can easily cover all three objectives.
Result
Kruleboyz Victory – 12 – 8
Jacob Brandon – Kruleboyz – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
John Cena (U can’t C me) running around with 18 boltboyz.
Thoughts
Kruleboyz might have had a difficult experience in 3.0 but are in the best place they’ve been in a long time. Jacob didn’t have a single spare point and used the newest unit, the 70 point Stab-ladz, to get more wounds than a unit of hobgrots with a great utility ability that reduce melee attacks (stacking with choking mist).
Jeremy Veysseire – Alumnia – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Lumineth without Teclis standing on circles extremely well.
Thoughts
Alumnia lists are popular as they make standing on circles much easier. By sacrificing drops, this list breaks Teclis into several smaller wizards allowing for more bodies on points. There are some really great choices such as nearly every unit counting as a wizard allowing Control The Nexus as a grand strategy. Most armies still need to pick Spellcasting Savant and make sure a single wizard stays alive the entire game. This list allows for more late game flexibility and less reliance on keeping a specific unit alive.
The Best of the Rest
There were 8 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 3rd – Matthew Obringer – Slaves to Darkness – Host of the Everchosen: Archaon in a one drop warriors, Chosen, and Khorne.
- 4th – Thomas Ling – Sylvaneth – Heartwood: Belthanos and a Warsong Revenant go on a hunt in a one drop.
- 5th- Bill Hennessey – Flesh-eater Courts – Hollowmourne: See Showdown Above.
- 6th- Basil Inferrera – Seraphon – Koatl’s Claw : Lord Kroak is missing his Slann Starmaster wingman in a list that has Kroxigor and more bodies compared to what we normally see.
- 7th- Joe Shoemaker – Kruleboyz – Grinnin’ Blades : This list is similar to the one in the showdown except Joe wasn’t able to paint his Stab-lads in time. Weird ‘Un is a really interesting mount choice.
- 8th- Connor Sell- Cities of Sigmar – Hallowheart : Ionus joins some elves in a list that puts a lot of bodies on the board and doesn’t feature the command corps.
- 9th- Scott Huber – Skaven: Let’s have The Great Horned Rat bless two screaming bells, bless a plague furnace, bless the Hell Pit Abomination, and ladies and gentlemen, cast Warp Lighting Vortex.
Dazmaul Wargaming Tournament 2024
36-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
Jack Morton – Glogg’s Megamob:
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vs.
James Lake – Legion of Night:
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Thoughts
Gloomspite Gitz using Arachnarok Spider with Spiderfang Warparty is an inspired choice that mitigates trolls’ lack of objective control and provides access to monstrous actions. Unfortunately, the rend that trolls have is almost negated by soulblight just having poor saves and coming back over and over again. Mannfred is always a menace and having Hoarfrost allows nearly any of the summonable units to become a blender through sheer weight of dice.
Result
Legion of Night Victory – 54 – 24
James Lake – Soulblight Gravelords – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Mannfred in Legion of Night
Thoughts
Pretty standard Legion of Night list. Mannfred basically holds the whole thing together by being a wizard who can fight, and also drop a surprise charge on the opponent, potentially disrupting any bait and trap or Led into the Maelstrom they might try. Similarly, Black Knights can do a counter charge to prevent multiple incoming charges from going off. Otherwise Grave Guard are a solid hammer while the battleline holds objectives.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Jack Morton – Glogg’s Megamob: See above
- 3rd – Toby Thomas – Flesh-eater Courts – Hollowmourne: Ushoran and Grrand Justice Gormayne rule that the recursion of ghouls and horrors is a good onto itself.
- 4th – Seb Ducker -Cities of Sigmar – Excelsis: 26 horses, an Alchemite Warforger, and a Pontifex walk into a bar.
- 5th – Paul Hart -Skaven: An throwback list with Thanquol, Night Runners, Warp Lighting, and not a bell in sight.
- 6th – Adam Hargrave -Bonesplitterz – Icebone: Kragnos, a bunch of boarboys, and Shaman of the Chilled Lands gives access to some really interesting spell combinations.
Talvisota ’24: Age of Sigmar: Winter War
34-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Matchup & Mission – Spring the Trap
Anttu – Lumineth Realm-Lords:
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vs.
Pietari Jukarainen – Fangs of Sotek:
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Thoughts
Spring the Trap’s twist only hurts Seraphon as it’s possible to hide a key unit for up to two hero phases while a list with Kroak and a Slann need every body on the board to grab objectives. Additionally, the Lumineth list is set up with multiple anti-magic abilities such as eater of magic and wizard-finders that likely helped squeak out a victory.
Result
Lumineth Realm-Lords Victory – 12 – 8
Anttu – Lumineth Realm-Lords – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Antimagic Bannerlords
Thoughts
Allowing a magical army to have a 5+ spell ignore is a potent combo and proved to be too much for Kroak and a Slann Starmaster. Being able to swap between attacking any bodyguard unit with flurry of blows and then getting the additional attack for perfect strike on a wizard takes advantage of all the rules.
The Best of the Rest
There were 3 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Pietari Jukarainen – Fangs of Sotek: See showdown.
- 3rd – Oleg Morozov – Daughters of Khaine – Zainthar Kai: Morathi and the bow and the stabby snakes in a one drop that can teleport.
- 4th – Taras Liush – Seraphon – Fangs of Sotek: If I told you a Seraphon list had Kroak and a Slann Starmaster would you go into shock? Fewer Saurus, more Raptadon Chargers.
- 5th – Kimmo Kokkarinen – Beasts of Chaos- Allherd: 9 Bullgors and 6 Tzaangor on disk are part of this list but what we really want to see is One-eyed Grunnock getting a 4-1 with Beast of Chaos.
The Ides of March Age of Sigmar GT
28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Rockport, ME, United States on March 16 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Mission – Every Step is Forward
Dylan Therriault – Cities of Sigmar:
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vs.
Benjamin Mohlie – Reapers of Vengeance:
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Thoughts
This is an interesting cities list that completely forgoes wizards in favor of a pouch of nullstone dust. Unfortunately they are fighting a Khorne list with lots of daemons and the Wrath-Axe instead of the Hexgorger Skull. Even with orders that would allow you to charge in your opponents turn to count as additional bodies on the point this matchup feels like an uphill climb for the Dawnbringers.
Result
Reapers of Vengeance Victory – 525 – 9
Benjamin Mohlie – Blades of Khorne – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Dual Bloodthirsters plus Khorne good stuff
Thoughts
Pretty standard Khorne list, two blood thirsters as the primary hammer while the Heroes play support an the troops bog down the enemy or die as the need demands. Since it’s a Reaper’s of Vengeance list the big old block of Bloodletters adds a very nasty threat that needs to be avoided or dealt with.
The Best of the Rest
There were three more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Derrek Perham – Fangs of Sotek: A casting heavy list with Kroak and a Slann Starmaster.
- 3rd Zach Boyce – Skaven: An endless number of clanrats to chew through were supported by some plague furnaces and, yes, screaming bells.
- 4th Corey Begley – Ironjawz: An honest to goodness Bloodtoofs list is something that could have come out of 2021. He does include a reinforced unit of Ragerz to modernize an old classic.
- 5th Dylan Therriault– Cities of Sigmar: See Showdown
Wrap Up
Khorne, Skaven, and Seraphon continue to pop up at events but the trend of match-ups and showdowns rarely being the same continues. The meta continues to be in an interesting place now that all of the 3.0 army books are out and the changes from the latest balance patch are in. While many people wanted an adjustment to blizzard top players are using tools such as nullstone adornments and Wizard-finders of Antor as an adjustment to a meta defining spell. icon It was interesting to see two Excelsis and two bannerlord Luminth lists pop up near the top.
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