Another slow week, reader. We got two small GTs, one in Maryland and one in Wisconsin.

The Really Really Good GT

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Westminster, MD, United States on May 04 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Every Step is Forward

Nate Trentanelli – Nighthaunt:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Michael Vagenos – Beasts of Chaos:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

So on paper you’d think the Nighthaunt were absolutely screwed. They tend to not like this mission, as Nighthaunt tend to want to fall back and charge to stack their debuffs which this mission actively punishes by making them unable to capture objectives. In addition, all the objectives are near the edge of the board, making it quite easy for the Beasts of Chaos to pop in from off the board and capture without needing to actually move. On top of that, if the BOC player Null deploys, it negates the Emerald Host’s faction ability by giving nothing on the field to target.

However, Nate is an extremely good player and with proper planning the Nighthaunt aren’t out of it. Nighthaunt get to put 3 units into deep strike after setup, in addition to being quite fast and flying. They can sit in combat against Beasts of Chaos better than many armies, since they can negate their usually insanely high rend in addition to the -1 to wound from Kruciator. It takes a bit of luck and some knowledge of placement to block off coming in off the board, but it’s doable and Nighthaunt take a pretty crushing victory.

Result

 Nighthaunt (The Emerald Host) Victory – 15 – 5

Nate Trentanelli – Nighthaunt (The Emerald Host) – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Hexwraith focus

Thoughts

Nate runs a list very unlike most Nighthaunt lists. Standard units include Olynder (for her general utility of bringing back models and blocking command abilities), the Cruciator (to reduce damage by 1), Spirit Torment (to bring back lost models) and some Spirit Hosts (to bodyguard them) but after that things change.

Many Nighthaunt lists tend to focus almost entirely, if not exclusively on, Dreadscythe Harridans or Bladegheist Revenants for being simply effective damage dealers. This is a different approach, focusing on Hexwraiths which are by no means a bad unit. They do mortal wounds on the charge and these guys are fast, going the usual cavalry 12″ or up to 24″ if they give up their charge. The Craventhrone seem underwhelming but they are quite cheap and work well as a screen or harassment tool. The Black Coach takes a bit of time to wind up but once it does it can be an unstoppable killing machine.

The Purple Sun makes the entire list simply function better by causing a -1 to saves (which Nighthaunt get to happily ignore), and with the artefact it’s an autocast once per battle so it’s great to cast when setting up for a big turn.

The Best of the Rest

There were 2 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Anthony Trentanelli – Sons of Behemat (Stomper Tribe): Kragnos and Warstomper with Mancrushers and the Rabble-Rowza.
• 3rd – Matthew Obringer – Slaves to Darkness (Hosts of the Everchosen): Archaon and a grab bag of various units.
• 4th – Jacob Brandon – Kruleboyz (Grinnin’ Blades): Kruleboyz good stuff.

2024 Spring Rubicon GT

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in West Bend, WI, United States on May 04 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Carlos Munoz – Boulderhead (Ogor Mawtribes):
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vs.

Matthew Nelson – Sons of Behemat:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

A real Kaiju battle! Unfortunately, the missions were rolled day of, so we don’t know what this mission was but depending on how things shook out this could really go either way.

If the mission had few objectives close together, Sons of Behemat tend to love that. They can turtle on the objectives and wait it out. While Stonehorns can spike a lot of damage, it can be a bit swingy. If they don’t roll hot on the charge, they’ll likely be stuck in a slapfight that favors the Gargants as they will count as more on the objectives.

Otherwise, Beastclaw Raiders lists will like the more spread out opportunities. They can hone in on individual Gargants to take them out while picking up objectives. Either way the strategy is pretty simple for both sides, and the fight became a very close win for the Ogors.

Result

Ogor Mawtribes (Boulderhead) Victory – 18 – 15

Carlos Munoz – Ogor Mawtribes (Boulderhead) – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Beastclaw Raiders

Thoughts

Although there’s minor variations, most Beastclaw Raiders lists work the same. Plink a few Mortal Wounds away with your prayers and Blood Vultures, then push up and charge with everything hoping you clear out most of the enemy list in the process with Mortal impact wounds and some solid rend attacks once you’re engaged.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd – Andrew Kerkstra – Beasts of Chaos (Allherd): Herohammer supported by Hordes of Gors.
• 3rd – Xander Bennett – Gloomspite Gitz (King’s Gitz): Squig focused gitz.
• 4th – Alex Binns – Flesh-Eater Courts (Hollowmourne): Ushorann with ghouls and Horrors.
• 5th – Matthew Nelson – Sons of Behemat (Sons of Behemat): See Showdown.
• 6th – Mitchell Rademan – Stormcast Eternals (Hammers of Sigmar): Ionus and Dracoliths.

Wrap Up

A bit dry I know, but sometimes it’s just like that. Thanks for stopping by and see you next week!

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