It’s an interesting week here for Competitive Innovations in the Mortal Realms. We got 3 events of modest size, about 35 a piece. 1 in Australia and 2 in the US. In it we see a really solid variety of lists, a continued testimony to what has been a pretty healthy meta. Let’s take a look shall we?

MAITHAMMER AOS GT

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Maitland, NSW, Australia on April 05 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Fountains of Frost

Liam Burnett-Blue – Pretenders Host:
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vs.

Thomas Oliver – Drowned Men:
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Thoughts

Neither player has a distinct advantage on Fountains of Frost here, since Andtorian Locus count as 10 on objectives and neither have any. So it ultimately comes down to who can make the better push.

Given the Nurgle’s list far better emphasis on doing just that they can push up and take one objective, and likely weather any mortal wounds that come their way from overcrowding. That said, Slaanesh will need to outflank them with better mobility, something they certainly can do though it seems they lack the numbers to do so. The fight comes down pretty decidedly to Nurgle.

Result

Drowned Men Victory – 19 – 11

Thomas Oliver – Maggotkin of Nurgle (Drowned Men) – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Pusgoyle Spam

Thoughts

It’s been a bit since Pusgoyle spam ruled the roost as their point cost steadily rose, so it’s nice to see it like an old friend. The star of the show here is of course the Pusgoyle Blightlords, who move at a decent click (for Nurgle) and can fly. They do impact wounds on the charge and an ability to help clear out any hordes after combat, on top of the disease points. In short they’re very mobile, can do a lot of damage on a charge, are resilient if they do get stuck in and usually win out in an extended battle.

Alongside them, the Rotmire Creed can sprinkle some disease from a distance (something Nurgle traditionally struggles with) and can help clear out some chaff units before charging in. The two leader choices allow a lot of flexibility in deployment. While Drowned Men allows a pre-game move, the Lord of Afflictions can put two Pusgoyles in reserve with him and Guttrot Spume can put the other 2 or 1 and the Rotmire Creed off board. This creates an almost total Null deployment and allows you to design your own deployment zone however you please.

Be’lakor rounds off the list quite well. His -1 to wound spell pairs well with the Pusgoyle’s resilience and potentially shutting off the biggest threat for a turn is a huge upside.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4and -1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Bob Van emmerik – Soulblight Gravelords (Legion of Blood): Dual Mortarch and Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon with minimal chaff.
• 3rd – Liam Burnett-Blue – Hedonites of Slaanesh (Pretenders): See showdown.
• 4th – James Landis – Stormcast Eternals (Hammers of Sigmar): Stormcast good stuff, with an emphasis on Dracothian riders.
• 5th – Chris Murphy Sylvaneth (Heartwood): Belthanos and both kinds of Revenants leading Kurnoth and chaff.
• 6th – Tim Porter – Sylvaneth (Heartwood): Very similar to the above list but brings Namarti reavers to the table for some ranged chaff.

Scorched Earth Open 2024 – Age of Sigmar GT

35-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Phoenix, AZ, United States on April 06 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Spring the Trap

Matthew Barker – Kharadron Overlords:
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vs.

Aaron Elias Newbom – Hedonites of Slaanesh:
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Thoughts

Spring the Trap puts the Hedonites in a better position than usual. They can put some of their units off the board, safe from being bombarded by the Kharadron Overlords. KO don’t benefit quite as much, since they usually put everything in their boat then can fly away should they need to redeploy successfully.

As a result, KO tend to do better in missions that let them spread out and be harder to lock down. Missions that require them to skirmish in the middle can be a serious problem since they cannot avoid the high rend attacks of Slaanesh here. The fight ends up being close, with a narrow victory toward Slaanesh

Result

Invaders Host Victory – 520 – 16

Aaron Elias Newbom – Hedonites of Slaanesh (Invaders Host) – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Herohammer with Twinsoul Infantry

Thoughts

This is a very interesting Slaanesh list, no Blissbarbs to speak of! The main power duo of this list is the Keeper of Secrets and Shalaxi Hellbane. With the Keeper of Secret’s kit they can pick a particular problem unit out of the crowd, debuff it so the Keeper hit on 2s and improve rend by 1 and shred it up. Shalaxi is really only good if they can isolate a hero into one on one combat, as most of their abilities improve their fighting against Heroes, but should they get there they can often decimate them with little effort.

Invaders build toward a “Herohammer” playstyle, by giving an additional Heroic action each turn and a Heroic action that gives a non-unique Hero their own command trait for the turn. So the Masque and Lord of Pain can contribute by tying up enemy units so the bigger Monsters can come in to play, alongside Sigvald.

The Twinsouls make admirable tarpits, by reducing the attack characteristics of enemy and pack a respectable 5+ Ward while the Fiendbloods can punch pretty good to soften up chaff lines. The daemonettes mostly exist to screen for threats or hold an objective.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Matthew Barker – Kharadron Overlords (Barak-Nar): See showdown.
• 3rd – Colt Hegardt – Slaves to Darkness (Cabalists): Holy shit that is a lot of Theridons.
• 4th – Kyle Calip – Flesh Eater Courts (Hollowmourne): Mostly FEC good stuff, notable two double reinforced Knight units.
• 5th – Jed Spears – Fyreslayers (Vostarg): Vulkite Berzerker spam, as is the style now.
• 6th – Nate Danko – Skaven: A mix of Clan Skryre, Moulder and Grey Seers led by a Verminlord Warbringer.

Broken Ranks Q1 2024

31-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Roselle, Illinois, US on April 05 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Andrew Kerkstra – Beasts of Chaos:
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vs.

Jake Cachey Muhr – Ossiarch Bonereapers:
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Thoughts

Would you look at that, a timely Beasts of Chaos list.

Unfortunately we don’t know the mission to this one as that would have a big influence on this game. Beasts of Chaos frequently struggle to take on Ossiarchs in a straight up fight but are experts at board control. So if the mission demands spreading out, the Beasts of Chaos could be real contenders here. It appears that either the mission had few objectives closer together or the player attempted to brute force the problem as the Ossiarchs get a crushing win.

Result

Mortis Praetorians Victory – 32 – 22

Jake Cachey Muhr – Ossiarch Bonereapers – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Off brand unit grab bag.

Thoughts

This is a hell of a grab bag of a list, using some stuff that rarely sees play (let alone at the top table) so let’s break it down starting with the more obvious picks. Katakros is the obvious centerpiece here, granting +1 to hit and to saves table wide, among the other neat utility things he does. The Boneshaper with it’s artefact is also a staple, letting you heal 3 wounds off 2 units on a 3+. You can bring back an Immortis Guard and potentially heal it to full with Katakros’s help, or spread it around as you need to. It also has blizzard, if anyone would foolishly get too close to your castle.

After that it gets interesting. Vokmortian has a straightforward version of Nagash’s hand of dust, 4+ instead of playing a cup game, but you cannot extend the range. Potentially good if you have a way of getting him in with something. His real value is more in that he is the cheapest way to get a caster who knows all the spells, your budget Arkhan. Mir Kainan has a spell to force an enemy unit to attack him if able, and with sufficient defensive buffs this can be quite powerful since he has a 2+ bodyguard with his own warband. This can be used to draw attacks away from more important units, such as Vokmortian if hes going in for the kill.

Two units of Deathriders are quite powerful in Mortis Praetorians, doing impact wounds and being able to respond to an incoming charge. The Immortis guard take wounds for the heroes, and the Morghast help shut down incoming attacks.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Patrick Dugan – Slaves to Darkness (Hosts of the Everchosen): Be’lakor with 2 groups of Chosen and Theradons to lead the beat down with tons of chaff to hold the line.
• 3rd – Andrew Kerkstra – Beasts of Chaos (Allherd): See showdown.
• 4th – Trevor Gieser – Kharadron Overlords (Barak-Urbaz): Ironclad and 2 Gunhaulers with Thunderers and Endrinriggers
• 5th – Timothy Cornstubble – Sons of Behemat (Stomper Tribe): Kragnos, Gatebreaker, Warstomper with 2 mancrushers
• 6th – Ross Wuestenfeld – Nighthaunt (The Scarlet Doom): The usual suspects for leaders, with Olynder and Reikanor, with 40 Bladegheists.

Wrap Up

Thanks again for coming by. As this edition winds down we may see fewer events (or more, as people get their last few in) before we wipe the slate clean and start over. As stated above the meta is in a very healthy position with no real faction dominating week to week. So if we’re on a time line, we might as well have it be interesting. Thanks a bunch!

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