Just two events to cover this week, with some fun showdowns and interesting lists in the top eight. Let’s get stuck in.

Devon Destruction III

58-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Devon England on November 24 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Stats and Ladders.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission

Brook Hirst – Jaws of Mork: 
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Matthew Lyons – Barak-Zon:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

It’s a big ol’ Mix of Squigs having to contend with Gotrek and a bunch of long ranged firepower. Brook has decided that rather than focusing in on one flavour of teeth with legs, he’ll embrace all aspects of Squig culture (except Mangler Squigs but… understandable).

There is however a problem – the triumph bid. All those Squigs with their poor leadership, and Matthew’s even lower bid means that he has no way of preventing battleshock losses for the large unit of Squig herd, and Inspiring Presence can only help one unit a turn, meaning Matthew can split his fire to trigger battleshock losses all over the place and grind things down. Gotrek is surprisingly vulnerable in this matchup due to the weight of dice the Squigs are throwing out, but as long as Matthew is patient before committing him he likely was able to still make profitable trades and big swings with the little man.

Result

Barak-Zon Victory – 24-21

Matthew Lyons – Barak-Zon – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Gunpowder and Gotrek

Thoughts

There’s not a ton to pick apart here – it’s a fairly standard looking 2023 KO list that shaves it’s Thunderers down to 10 in order to afford 6 Endrinriggers to ride alongside them and keep the Ironclad patched up with their extremely efficient repair ability – Once per turn (both player’s) at the end of any phase, provided they are outside of combat they can heal roughly 6 damage to the Ironclad – that adds up pretty quickly.

It’s a varied list that can adapt and overcome more situations than a pure Thunderer list can, simply because stuff like Bomblets (heavy mortal wound damage potentially to one unit), Gotrek, the Endrinriggers and the Nulldust give the list more answers to more questions… even if it means giving up a bit of long-range firepower.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top 8 were:

• Position – Player Name – Faction:
• 2nd – Carl Brewster – Befouling Host (4-1-0): The typical Glottkin plus Plaguebearer list gets a twist, with Be’lakor, and a few daemon foot heroes instead of any Maggoth lords, using the saved points for more Plaguebearers, Plague Drones and Nurglings
• 3rd – Brook Hirst – King’s Gitz: See showdown
• 4th – Michael Wilson – Drachii Ganeth: Double Cauldrons, 70 Witch Aelves, 2 High Gladiatrix!? A murderball of fanatical warrior women
• 5th – Kacper Skibowski – Pretenders: Sigvald, Masque, Epitome and a LoP, with a shooty Blissbarb castle, 20 Daemonettes to screen and an MSU unit each of Bliss Seekers and Slick Seekers
• 6th – Damian Rees – Legion of Night: Mannfred, two Vampire Lords on Zombie Dragons, a foot VL and some summonable chaff
• 7th – Paul Buckler – Draconith Skywing: The new AoR makes an appearance, with Ionus, both Karazai and Krondys, plus 3 Stormdrake Guard
• 8th – Chris Tomlin – Gristlegore: Two GK on Terrorgheist, one on a Zombie Dragon, an Archregent and a bunch of Ghouls with a Chalice

Blood Rite GT 2023

56-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Padstow, NSW, AU on November 24 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission

Tom Rands – Hammers of Sigmar: 
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Chris Murphy – Heartwood:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Tom’s Stormcast list tilts towards scalpel damage, with a trio of Knight-Vexillors and plenty of units capable of putting out damage at range, as well as some fast(ish) bruiser units to bully units off points. For those unaware, Vexillors (with the Meteoric Standard) can OPG do d3 mortal wounds to every unit within 6″ of a point chosen by the player within 24″ inches. 3 of these means 3d3 aoe mortal wounds, with the Longstrikes throwing some extra damage down the field. His Zephyros general seems to have been selected primarily to a) hide and b) score battle tactics – a noble goal.

Going up against it is a Sylvaneth list that similarly wants to do its damage primarily from the safety of great distances, hiding itself behind and amongst Wyldwoods and unleashing a hail of arrows from the 9 Kurnoths with Greatbows. Alarielle is doing the heavy lifting in terms of board presence here, charging in to do some damage, probably take a lot of punishment before dying, only to (hopefully) rise again when the opponent’s resources are worn out by the attrition of a long ranged engagement.

This was a close one, with ultimately the difference being just one point. I think this is true to the lists on paper, because while the Stormcast can’t just apply the pressure as easily as they’d like to from range due to the wyldwoods, neither are the Sylvaneth able to easily crack the Dracothian core of this list, as a base 3+ save is tough for the pricy bow Kurnoth to punch through quickly.

Result

Hammers of Sigmar Victory – 26-25

Tom Rands – Stormcast Eternals – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Dracothian punch with long ranged scalpel damage

Thoughts

One of the things that can sometimes get overlooked when it comes to Stormcast in this late third edition, is that while their warscrolls don’t necessarily excite in their depth of rules and synergistic combos, they’re also just pretty efficient after many rounds of points adjustments and tweaks.

Take the Dracothian Tempestors – 210 for 12 wounds on a 3+ save doesn’t scream “value”, but when you factor in that those crossbows and the mount’s breath attacks contribute a fair amount of damage in a package that can be tucked into deep strike, or sent ahead to take a forward position with Mystic Shield up and weather some damage, all while being able to do respectable melee damage too? Many armies would kill for that sort of versatility of purpose and application.

There are many (too many!) Stormcast heroes to choose from in list design at this point, but that deep roster combined with GW’s disposition towards giving each one a unique role (with mixed success), means that there’s generally a tool for every job. Many army lists won’t want a Knight-Vexillor because it’s an idiot with a flag once he’s used the Meteoric Standard ability, but Tom brings three to hit that crucial breakpoint of ~6 damage, which is enough to kill many support heroes, trigger multiple risky battleshock tests for a castle army, and otherwise fragment and splinter what ideal circumstances look like for the opponent. Well done to Tom for crafting an unusual but compelling list that pulls together many disparate elements into something that just makes sense.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top 8 all went 4-1 and were:

• Position – Player Name – Faction:
• 2nd – Jacob Strachan – Zaitrec: A Bladelord heavy list that leans on the Unique characters Sevireth, Eltharion & the Twins to go the distance, supplemented by Endless spells
• 3rd – Chris Murphy – Heartwood: See showdown
• 4th – Pui Hin Ho – Knights of the Empty Throne: A total of 18 Varanguard (2 CSL & 9 Untamed Beasts) want to punch you in the face and keep punching you
• 5th – Jacob Meers – Reapers of Vengeance: Skarbrand, an Unfettered Fury BT, 4 total Priests and a ton of MSU Reavers, Claws of Karanak and Flesh Hounds to die and generate Blood Tithe
• 6th – Steven Drury – Bloodlords: Another Unfettered Fury BT, Be’lakor, some mortal screens as well as a large Bloodletter package of a Strikes-first Bloodmaster, 20 Bloodletters and 6 Bloodcrushers
• 7th – Samuel Strachan – Null Myriad: Katakros, two units of 20 Mortek Guard, three each of Immortis and Stalkers, two Mortisans and finally a MSU Deathrider unit for their battle tactic
• 8th – Tully Mansfield – Legion of Night: Going against the grain, Tully has a sizable contingent of non Summonable dudes, with a Terrorgheist and 5 Blood Knights, a VLOZD, with then the more typical package of a VL, Necro, smorgasbord of MSU summonable chaff and 20 Grave Guard

Wrap Up

Hope everyone had a great week and at least has a plan on how to deal with their holiday shopping if they haven’t already got it sorted yet. I’d like to say I’ve got things well in hand and under control, but with multiple close family members having just had birthdays I’ve not yet begun to plan, let alone procrastinate, panic and make ill advised purchases to be rapidly gift wrapped in a haze in the last few days before Christmas. Get a move on! Don’t be like me!

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