Hello again! This past weekend was the world famous Adepticon in Schaumberg, Illinois, one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions in the world. There were multiple Age of Sigmar events, including the Championship GT.
This week we’re trying something a little different with our format. The only major GT this weekend is and due to the format there are a ton of perfect scores and 4-1s. Since there were 170 entrants and no cutoff, we’re going to focus on the 5 lists that got a perfect score instead.
The Showdown
The Mission – Lines of Communication
Jack Cawood – Hedonites of Slaanesh (Pretenders)
vs.
Michael Caldwell – Ossiarch Bonereapers (Null Myriad)
Thoughts
On paper, Lines of Communication seems a shoe-in for Ossiarch Bonereapers. With only 3 objectives, OBR can turtle on two and they care a lot less about command points costing more. However, with Pretenders this list also can kind of skirt by that problem, even if they can’t avert it quite as much. The Slaanesh list also has a lot more bodies to poke at the fence and find openings in order to charge in.
The Slaanesh list ends up taking an upset, and wins the whole dang thing.
Slaanesh Victory – 12 – 0
Jack Cawood – Slaanesh – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown.
Archetype
Fiends and archers working in tandem
Thoughts
I had the pleasure to fight this list round two at Adepticon so I must say I was pleasant surprised by the list. I let my guard down when I saw it only had two units of archers – which seemed perfectly manageable.
The real killer of the list is the Fiends. With their recent points drop, Jack took two blocks of 6 and reader they do work. With their -1 to be hit and wound, and -1 to casting within 12″ they basically function as a general purpose debuff machine. Once they accumulate 12 depravity points (Very easy to do with the Born from Damnation spell) they are -2 to hit and it becomes an absolute pain in the ass to do any damage to them while they grind you out. Their damage is highly variable but when it hits it hits.
The Blissbarbs do their usual job of weeding out chaff and softening up bigger stuff while the Keeper of Secrets is another hammer to throw in to the enemy once they have a good opening.
Nicholas Walters – Ironjawz – 2nd Place
The List
Archetype
Gore-grunta spam
Thoughts
The typical archetype of Ironjawz that Nick has taken pretty much consistently and he shows he can still get on that podium with it. The goal is simple, get the two units of pigs and the Warboss buffed up as much as you can, then let ‘er rip. The Warchanters use their Violent Fury on one unit per model, the Warboss moves them up with Mighty Destroyers, let loose that Waaagh and charge. With the extra rend and damage stacked on the pigs and Warboss, Smashin and Bashin will let you cleave several units before they even get to move. Once the dust settles, remain the victor.
This list includes a bit of utility on top, with a Weirdnob Shaman with Great Green Hand of Gork if extra mobility is needed and a surprising inclusion of Skragrott for a free command each turn and some decent mortal wounds to soften up screens that might try and intercept your charge.
Michael Grzejka – Sons of Behemat – 3rd Place
The List
Archetype
King Brodd and two Gatebreakers
Thoughts
It’s Sons of Behemat so you’re not here for the list variety. King Brodd’s Stomp remains a very strong way to play with the options it gives you, and the way it makes Brodd much more formidable. His prayers offer some useful utility and in his own Army of Renown he receives a Ward, making killing him an extremely difficult proposition.
The Gatebreakers remain the best damage dealers pound for pound, despite their poor Hit rolls. The Warstomper rounds things off not only by being the cheapest option but the best for clearing out hordes before the Gatebreakers and Brodd get where they need to go.
Michael Rausch – Gloomspite Gitz – 4th Place
The List
Archetype
Squig focused Gitz
Thoughts
The Boingrot Bounders do the bulk of the work here, charging in to do impact wounds on a 4+, and then getting -1 to Rend and +1 damage to clear out whatever survived. The Sneaky Snufflers can hand them a 5+ ward (And potentially +1 to attacks) before they charge in.
Skragrott exists to do his thing, granting a free command, manipulate the movement of the moon and cast a variety of utility spells. The Madcap shaman can inflict a -1 to hit with his artefact and cast blizzard for anyone foolish enough to get close and the Stabbaz can hold backline objectives or be teleported by the Gobbapalooza’s Great Green Hand of Gork if they need to sneak up behind.
Brian Sayman – Nighthaunt – 5th Place
The List
Archetype
Bladegheist Spam
Thoughts
The recent buffs to Nighthaunt took what worked for the faction and just made it better. With the 2″ reach added to Bladegheist Revenant the strategy of “send several units in and roll hot” persists. The Cruciator, Spirit Torment and Guardian of Souls exist to support these units. The Cruciator grants -1 to damage, while the Spirit Torment and Guardian of Souls both heal any injured units (And the Guardians grants a very important +1 to wound). The Spirit Hosts take any hits for these characters, since losing even one can be crippling.
Awlrach is not as common but an excellent utility piece. He can teleport a unit to a more convienant location, such as a backline objective and do some decent (if swingy) damage. The Krondspine grants access to Roar, something Nighthaunt otherwise lack, and some powerful damage output.
Conclusion
Adepticon’s competitive GT went very well this year and as we can see from the results the meta is a healthy place. Many the top 5 were very unexpected inclusions and show a possible shift in the meta, or at least that we’re not limited to the same 3-4 armies winning every event.
I attended adepticon myself this year and will give my (far less impressive) 3-2 writeup later this week. Until then, keep playing!
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments feel free to drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. That’s also the best way to suggest topics for future articles. And if you want regular updates in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.
