To cap off this edition, AoS worlds in the Netherlands came very close to the end of 3rd. In addition to the Teams event it is known for, there is also the Singles event which we’ll be looking at here.
In addition we also have the Texas Masters and a good bye event to third in Quebec!
AoS Worlds Singles
156-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hoofddorp, NH, Netherlands on June 26 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
Due to the size of the event there were 5 undefeated players so instead of a Best of the Rest we will focus on the attendees that went 5-0. No shame to you 4-1 players, but there were 23 of you!
The Showdown
Matchup & Mission – Every Step is Forward
Vincenzo Nacca – Boulderhead:
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vs.
Ronya Andersson – Nighthaunt: The Quicksilver Dead:
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Thoughts
This mission is really hard for Nighthaunt, so it’s a bad start for them. The mission punishes retreating, and Nighthaunt want to constantly fall back and charge again in hopes of rolling hot on rolls and inflicting debuffs. Meanwhile, their opponent Beastclaw Raiders also wants to charge in early. The difference is that Beastclaw Raiders are pretty resilient and don’t mind sticking around a bit to camp the objective.
That said, Nighthaunt aren’t completely without power here. Even on the first charge they can be quite powerful, especially the Dreadscythe Harridans dotting this list. With precision charges it’s possible to take out a Stonehorn per turn, and keep them tied up as their ethereal saves mean the actual melee attacks for the Stonehorn are quite weak.
The Nighthaunt crush this one.
Result
Nighthaunt Victory – 18 – 2
Ronya Andersson – Nighthaunt: The Quicksilver Dead – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Dreadscythe Harridan spam
Thoughts
This is indicative of most Nighthaunt lists through the edition. Olynder is one of the better casters in the army, with Shademist and her warscroll spell she can give an enemy unit -1 to hit and would and be +1 to be hit, allowing it to pick a unit she wants dead and focus all their energy on killing it while the Guardian of Souls gives a unit +1 to wound.
The Cruciator gives a -1 to damage incoming (Crucial for the Nighthaunt’s survival) and all the heroes can help bring back dead models, meaning if you don’t put the unit down you’re in for a nightmare. The Spirit Hosts bodyguard for all of them, making sure none of the crucial pieces of this castle are dismantled.
The majority of the action is in the Dreadscythes as long as as an enemy unit has 1 wound on them or a model died this turn they’re hitting and wounding on 3s, and it’s a lot of attacks. The Black Coach rounds out the list, able to drop a ton of mortal wounds (something Nighthaunt lack) each time a bunch of enemy models die.
Lukas Wagner – Seraphon – 2nd Place (Undefeated)
The List
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Archetype
Seraphon Good Stuff
Thoughts
The standard Seraphon list in most of the edition. Kroak and a Slann, supported with a +1 to cast from an Astrolith Bearer and Saurus Knights to bodyguard any stray hits in their direction.
Seraphon want to just castle up, cast as many spells as they can to summon more stuff, send out scouts to grab objectives and if they die well, there’s more where that came from. If an enemy tries to get too close, they will get bogged down in the 20 Saurus and possibly take a Blizzard from the skink. Bad times.
Phi-Alix Nguyen – Ossiarch Bonereapers – 3rd Place
The List
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Archetype
Elite OBR
Thoughts
An interesting take on the elite OBR scheme. The Immortis Guard and the Archai are the things to watch here, as their attack profile is off the charts. Arkhan can cast any spell, so he tends to focus on Empower Nadirite Weapons and Reinforce Constructs to buff those units and Drain Vitality to weak an enemy unit. The Ossifector can buff up the rend on the Archai, and cast Blizzard if something gets too close.
The Deathriders fulfill a slam dunk battle tactic, while the Harvester is an odd choice but certainly has utility. It can cap off any wounds the Immortis Guard have so Arkhan can bring another back, and can fulfill a battle tactic if it mercs a Hero.
Darren Watson – Lumineth Realm-lords – 4th Place
The List
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Archetype
Foxes!
Thoughts
Oh boy, this is an archtype we haven’t seen in a while. Once their move and shoot got nerfed down to only in your own turn, it was basically moved to the dustbin. I guess someone decided to bring it back for the end of the edition and it worked!
The jist of this list is that it wants to shoot you as much as possible and be impossible to lock down. The Spirits of the Wind (and Sevireth) can fire their bows then move or retreat 12″, making them painfully annoying to lock down. It’s not nearly as bad as it was, but they can definitely keep their distance with skilled play. Even if you do manage to get close with them, they can pile-in away from you if they charged this turn, which isn’t even a retreat.
The Hurakan Windchargers can fly and peg units, ignoring Ward saves. Not a bad warmup before the Spirits of the Wind charge in.
Freddie Leggett – Slaves to Darkness – 5th Place
The List
Army List - Click to Expand
Archetype
Cultists!
Thoughts
What a…strange list. Some of the warcry warbands were quite usable, but were generally a side show for the brutes in big metal armor. But what if we took all the good ones and made that the list?
The big show here is the Splintered fang, you probably noticed there were 2 blocks of 20 and a block of 30. That’s a whopping 91 attacks on the 30 man unit, with 6s doing mortals. So on average youre doing somewhere around 15 mortal wounds if you can get them all in there, and with the Ravager subfaction even if you put them down they’re just going to come back.
The two nurgle Daemon Princes can shut off wards, so those mortals cut through anything they damn well please. The tzeentch one can fish for spells, casting Binding Damnation for the most part, to inflict Strike Last on a dangerous target. This frees the Sorcerer Lords up to do Hoarfrost and Blizzard, allowing them to make the army fight better and hit anything that gets too close with mortals.
Given the cultists are going away next edition this is not a bad way for them to go out.
La classique d’été – Bye bye V3
32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Sherbrooke, Québec, CA on June 29 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.
The Showdown
Romain Gosselin-Delort – Mor’phann:
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vs.
Justin Lapointe – Blades of Khorne:
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Thoughts
Two very aggressive armies which both are trying to rely on Strike-Last and Strike-First to get the first good hit in.
Khorne has more consistent Damage output of the two, in short they can get the party started much sooner than Idoneth can, who want to try and delay the melee round until Round 3 when they get to strike first. Khorne meanwhile can start early, cause Strike-Last with their subfaction and hopefully finish it before then.
The advantage of Idoneth lies in maneuverability, and hoping to keep Khorne chasing them, which is going to be heavily contingent on deployment. In the end Khorne pull off a strong victory.
Result
Blades of Khorne Victory – 28 – 8
Justin Lapointe – Blades of Khorne – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Khorne good stuff
Thoughts
This is pretty standard for Khorne at this point. Take Skarbrand and a boomthirster, a retinue of support priests to buff your guys and wreck face while your chaff either contribute to the fight or die ignominiously for the blood tithe. The Skullfiend tribe lets your chaff contribute by fishing for 8+ on the charge to give Strike last, while the Bloodthirsters and Skullreapers get to do the real work.
The interesting addition here is the Khorne Daemon Prince which probably is actually more useful here than Slaves to Darkness, where using its heroic action won’t cripple the army quite as much. For it’s point cost it’s a pretty solid assassin, flying over chaff to hit the soft heroes within.
The Best of the Rest
There were N more players on X-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Loic Gosselin Delort – Lumineth Realm-lords (Ymetrica): Two battle cattle and Stoneguard focused infantry.
- 3rd – Michael Grenon – Blades of Khorne (Blades of Vengeance): Triple Bloodthirsters and good stuff.
- 4th – Romain Gosselin-Delort – Idoneth Deepkin (Mor’phann): See Showdown.
- 5th – Martin Matte – Kharadron Overlords (Barak-zon): KO Good stuff.
Texas Masters GT 2024 at Dragon’s Lair
32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Houston, TX, United States on June 29 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings. This mission uses a mix of missions from GHBs past, and 1 custom mission, taken from past major events in Texas.
The Showdown
Mission – Focal Points (From GHB 2018)
Ryan Rutherford – Seraphon:
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vs.
Randal Brasher – Ogor Mawtribes:
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Thoughts
Going back to a much earlier mission this is an interesting battle indeed. Ogors have some advantages here: As the objectives are close together foot Ogors can wedge themselves pretty well, to score 3 points in a triangle, but they have to stretch out a bit more to grab 2 opposite objectives.
This Seraphon list is very different from the usual, not a Slann in sight and instead a focus on Saurus. If it was more Magic focused, Kragnos might have more use in the Ogor list, but instead it’s 2 beat sticks wailing on each other. The Seraphon have the slight edge here, giving them the victory.
Result
Seraphon Victory – 29 – 27
Ryan Rutherford – Koatl’s Claw (Seraphon) – 1st Place
The List
See Showdown
Archetype
Melee focused dinos
Thoughts
It’s a nice change of pace to not say this is two slann and the usual retinue of Heroes guarding them. This is the other form of Seraphon in the book, the Coalesced. The hammers here are the 20 Saurus Warriors, the 6 Aggradon Lancers and the 9 Kroxigors. The goal is to buff these guys up and charge them in ASAP, to benefit from Koatl’s Claw’s +1 to wound on the charge. The Ark of Sotek Bastiladon can also help out with its impressive 20 attacks with mortal 6s.
One skink casts Hoarfrost to buff their Wound (or rend, depending on the roll) while the other casts Heavenly Frenzy to grant run and charge. The skinks can screen out anyone trying to charge them first and use their blowpipes to try and plink some chaff out of the way trying to likewise screen them out.
The Best of the Rest
There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:
- 2nd – Kel Pigg – Flesh-eater Courts (Hollowmourne Grand Court): Knights, Horrors and Beastflayers supported by Wizard and Priest heroes.
- 3rd – Bryan Loften – Kruleboyz (Grinnin Blades): Kruleboyz good stuff.
- 4th – Randall Brasher – Ogor Mawtribes (Meatfist): See Showdown.
- 5th – Dillon Rieger – Sylvaneth (Heartwood): Belthanos, Durthu, Drycha with 6 Kurnoth Hunters.
- 6th – Jack Ratley – Cities of Sigmar (Misthåvn): Witchhunter bonanza.
Wrap Up
What a way to go out! This week is another set of preorders for 4th edition and then it won’t be long until we have a brand new edition and a brand new meta to go through. Thank you again for following on this journey to wrap up 3rd!
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