This week gives us a brief reminder which Grand Alliance is large and in charge, before descending into madness with a flurry of appearances from an army near and dear to my heart. Oh and you’ll get to see me wearing a Wurgogg mask made from paper mache so look forward to that.

Nova Open Age of Sigmar GT

165-player, 8-round Supermajor in Washington, DC, United States on September 01 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Limited Resources

Dean Bilz – Petrifex Elite:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Leo Rautonen – Legion of Night:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Dean has a build that’s better suited to dealing with the number of melee armies running around with the combination of Petrifex Elite as his subfaction for that all important -1 to wound, as well as Diversionary Tactics to make completing charges anywhere near his general a very difficult proposition.

That said, against Nagash and Zombies that count as two on objectives, Dean will wish that he had brought along Null Myriad instead, as suddenly Nagash’s spells go from a “amusing sideshow” to “very scary” quite quickly – making those Immortis Guard strikes-last, or -1 to wound and damage, or perhaps both at the same time with -1 attacks if they get Fading Vigour off successfully too.

It’s quite amusing to see one of the metagames big bads go slightly off the beaten path in order to shore up it’s more common matchups (including the mirror against Null Myriad), only to meet the final boss at the end of a grueling 3 days of tournament games and find yourself wishing you had just taken Null Myriad yourself.

Result

Legion of Night Victory – 14 – 6

Leo Rautonen – Legion of Night – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Zombies charging on your turn

Thoughts

Leo’s impressively dominant run took the following path through the rounds:

1. Walter Brock and a Mortis Praetorians OBR list
2. Jason Acosta with Sons of Behemat
3. Nik Grimnir running a pig heavy Bloodtoofs list
4. Jeremy Hauck on Stonehorn/monster spam Ogors
5. Christopher Schelling leading King Brodd, the Gits RoR and 2 other big megas
6. Anthony Trentanelli gave him a very tight fight (ending 11-9) pushing Hollowmourne Horror-heavy FEC
7. Anthony Lawrence and a mad amalgam of Hedonites of Slaanesh with some Furies/Splintered fang allied in
8. Dean Bilz in this very showdown

Nagash has an impressive spell toolkit in Soulblight Gravelords, and the very cheap Zombies give the army substantial bodies to play the primary objectives while Nagash returns all to dust. Huge congratulations to Leo for taking home the prize!

Jacob Brandon – Grinnin’ Blades – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

…Kruleboyz?

Thoughts

Honestly going 7-1 with Kruleboyz to secure second in a mega event like this could almost be seen as more impressive than winning the whole event with Nagash and zombies. Jacob is squeezing every ounce of blood from the stone in this list, taking advantage of every price drop that’s come along to stuff this list with about as many tricks as you can imagine that exist within Kruleboyz.

12 Boltboyz obviously anchor the list, with Mork’s Eye Pebble giving the list an even better matchup against one of the army’s typical counters in enemy long range shooting. The Vulcha is a bargain basement roar on a stick that can fly around and score battle tactics but largely exists to a) not die, and b) help trigger the Kruleboyz waaagh turn for 3 combat activations on a pivotal turn.

Gobsprakk does Gobby things and flourishes with primal dice here, with perhaps the only questionable inclusion in this army list really being a killbow over 10 more hobgrots… but it’s hard to argue with the results. Well done Jacob!

The Best of the Rest

The remaining top 8 after eight rounds were:

• Position – Player Name – Faction:
• 3rd – Dean Bilz – Petrifex Elite: See showdown
• 4th – Anthony Lawrence – Pretenders Host: 33 Blissbarb archers, some Slickblades and Blissbarbs and an Epitome is where the sanity stops – there’s a Great Bray-Shaman, 12 Furies and 20 Splintered Fang to confuse the senses and addle the mind
• 5th – Gavin Grigar – Null Myriad: Kata Cookie Cutter, swapping 3 Stalkers for Deathriders (ending up with 15) in order to fit in a Bone-tithe Shrieker
• 6th – Anthony Trentanelli – Hollowmourne: You know what loves Hoarfrost? Crypt Horrors, 18 of em
• 7th – Kaleb Walters – Guild of Summoners: Chicken factory with the Rupture Incarnate combo
• 8th – Jiwan Noah Singh – Darkwalkers: Big ol’ Be’lakor, 9 Bullgors and 40 Ungor Raiders headline

Mancunian Carnage Summer 2023

54-player, 5-round Grand Tournament at Element Games, Stockport, UK on September 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Stats & Ladders.

A quick note before we continue: There may be some oddities in how I present the standings in this article versus what you see on S&L – this is because the TO has put heavy soft scoring into the pack, as well as a set of bespoke secondaries for the event that contribute up to 10 extra points per round. With round scoring using the 20-0 differential system, this meant a total of 30 points were up for grabs and players could technically lose their round and end up with more points than their opponent. I am presenting the results here as the TO ordered them – if you want results ordered by pure game results then S&L will get you most of the way there.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Geomantic Pulse

Phil Marshall – Big Waaagh!: Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Freddie Leggett – Goretide: Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

I had the pleasure of playing Freddie round 4 so got to see the full impact of all those Wrathmongers – and it is a sight to see. With the metagame being as combat heavy as it is, a cheap melee hammer that (between Murder Rolls and Bloodfury) often weakens and kills off enemy models even when it’s done little more than be attacked and killed on the opponent’s turn is quite spicy. You’ll want to kill them before they can activate too, as they put out a very scary amount of damage when they’re able to force saves from their opponent on 2s and 2s (Goretide bonus + Ritualist’s ability). Other oddballs like Korghos Khul and Valkia help in the activation wars and achieving battle tactics respectively.

In this Team England final, Freddie must face down his good friend and rival Big Phil Marshall, taking the BW out for a spin with a list that takes some of the best elements the allegiance has to offer, then shores up it’s weaknesses with some allied Shootas to help with primary scoring. Phil’s spells won’t be at their best here, but those Gore Gruntas can lay down a savage beating on the bigger bricks of Wrathmongers and Blood Warriors… he just needs to make sure he doesn’t fall behind on primary scoring or get tabled quickly.

Result

Blades of Khorne Victory 16-4 (Note: Including secondary scores this was instead 21-9)

Phil Marshall – Big WAAAGH! – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Spells & Pigs

Thoughts

Wait what? Yeah this is where the soft scoring comes in. Freddie wins on pure gaming scores, but Phil won the Cleanest Gamer award and those added TP pushed him up the results and into first place.

The list has a ton of fun tricks like the Maniak Weirdnob with Blizzard and Fast Un’ for an effective 24″ range blizzard (or when combined with the teleport spell, potentially ~9″ beyond your screens you’re trying to hide your precious slann behind). Ardboys rallying on 4+ help the army grind out primary points, and the two units of pigs help keep your opponent honest due to their incredible efficiency in combat when pumped up with BW bonuses and Violent Fury.

Mike Chadderton – Big WAAAGH! – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Orcs & Goblins, 2023 edition

Thoughts

So yeah… it me. If you ignore secondary scoring in the pack I technically only went 3-2, but edging my round 4 and 5 opponents on overall points thanks to secondary points, as well as a best painted nomination helped me jump up the ladder to podium.

Feels a bit weird talking about myself, so I’ll just touch on the major changes between mine and Phil’s list and awkwardly move on. I wanted to try Loonsmasha Fanatics out as they can help road block a unit an extra turn, as well as their innate strikes-first ability giving an army that can struggle in the activation wars another tool to help get an edge in combat. I also really like brutes for their cost, bringing 10 for a bargain 280 points and a hammer unit that can beat the piss out of most units in the game when fully buffed.

The killbow though? That was just because I was really happy with how I painted it and wanted to bring it to a tournament before it languished on my paint shelf.

I repainted the base rim after taking this photo, don’t worry.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top 8 were:

• Position – Player Name – Faction:
• 3rd – Tom Mawsdley – Sons of Behemat: Fellow MAD club member and Team England stalwart podiums once again with 3 Gatebreakers and the Gits regiment to help with battle tactics and juicy access to run and charge
• 4th – Craig Bayton – Null Myriad: Mostly cookie cutter from one of England’s friendliest AoS players, but with 6 Stalkers for a more aggressive tilt
• 5th – Ritchie McAlley – Legion of Night: Night-time Nagash from yet another team England squad member. 60 Zombies, MSU Fellbats for battleline requirements and then some cheeky tech pieces like the Morbheg’s Claw Blizzard Vampire Lord and some Myrmourn Banshees
• 6th – Tom Marshall – Heartwood: Feels kind of wrong to be running Gotrek in a tree elf list of all things, but it’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of the ginger lad, 6 Greatsword Kurnoths and the Warsong bomb
• 7th – Samuel Kimbley – Cabalists: A list that reminds me of initial lists being ran when the book first came out – a block of Chaos Chosen (Slaanesh with a banner and a Warshrine to give them 3d6″ charges), 6 Nurgle Varanguard to pin them in and some CSL to buff the hell out of em
• 8th – Freddie Leggett – Goretide: Yeah it’s weird to see him down here, but poor Freddie struggled on secondary scoring and that hurt him when combined with soft scores

Lord of the Mounds 7

40-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Uppsala län, Sverige on September 02 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Geomantic Pulse

Danny Elvestad – Big WAAAGH!:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Tomasz Mucha – Vyrkos Dynasty:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Danny’s back on CI with a list much like what he had success with a few months back when the last battlescroll first hit – it’s essentially Big Ironjawz, running a mostly honest IJ list with a cheeky Gobsprakk and a Wurgogg to take advantage of two powerhouses IJ otherwise does not have access too.

The big advantage this style of list has is that it can run a tooled up Maw-Krusha, a unit all those zombies will really struggle to put a dent in if the Gore Gruntas do their job in pinning Tomasz’ forces in place turn one – a feat managle thanks to access to 3*Mighty Destroyers coming from the battle cabbage.

Tomasz’ list is put in the unfortunate position where it wants to take second because of the mission favouring the player who goes second (as they can break ties on the priority roll going into round two and thus pick where the pulse starts), but if he gives the first turn away to Danny, that pinning strat from highly aggressive pigs might mean they never get the opportunity to even get out of their deployment zone.

Result

Big WAAAGH! Victory

Danny Elvestad – Big WAAAGH! – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Big Ironjawz

Thoughts

It’s a beautifully streamlined list that doesn’t worry about things like ‘holding objectives in a grindy matchup’ or taking advantage of some of the wilder tech that BW has access too – it wants to pin you in turn 1 and grind you into a fine paste over the course of the mid game with a Maw-krusha that continuously gains momentum as it rampages its way across Danny’s opponent’s deployment zone.

This style of list opens up it’s own set of weaknesses thanks to the aforementioned poor primary objective control capabilities in grindier matchups, but it also helps the list sing at what it does best – inflicting incredible violence and leveraging just enough magical might to tip the scales.

The Best of the Rest

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

• Position – Player Name – Faction: 
• 2nd – Tomasz Mucha – Vyrkos Dynasty: See showdown
• 3rd – Stylianos Mamagkakis – Big Waaagh!: They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery – this is much the same as Danny’s list
• 4th – Karl Ejnar – Big Waaagh!: There’s a lot of BW fans in Sweden at the minute, though Karl’s list crucially drops the Cabbage and uses the points afforded to include a Gnashtoof, more Ardboys and 10 Brutes for a more diversified threat portfolio
• 5th – Jesper Melander – Legion of Night: Night-time Nagash, running less zombies than normal and instead bringing 20 Grave Guard and some Skeletons
• 6th – Albin Glaumann – Skullfiend Tribe: A unique feeling mortal khorne list whose main aim is to leverage a death star unit of Skullreapers and Skullcrushers, pushing them down the board with Killer Instinct and the Unfettered Fury BT
• 7th – Stian Engebretsen – Knights of the Empty Throne: Be’lakor and a mix of cavalry (Knights + Varanguard) as well as the cheap and cheerful hammer unit the Ogroid Theridons
• 8th – Benjamin Hyvönen – Hollowmourne Grand Court: No army list uploaded sadly 🙁

Wrap Up

I don’t think we’ve got too much left to say about the metagame at this point – we know there’s a Battlescroll right around the corner and a fairly good sense of what top dogs will get addressed, as well as a sense of what armies sorely need a bit of lift (thinking off the top of my head of armies like Bonesplitters, Lumineth, Stormcast, Skaven, Fyreslayers etc).

So instead I’ll end on a personal note. I came into competitive play about three years ago, hoping only to claim trophies for besting my opponents in battle, interested mostly in coming away with the top prize. Said results mostly evaded me, and to this day I’ve not done better than a 4-1 record.

In the past year however, a combination of an ADHD diagnosis (after several years), the associated medicine to help with focus/problematic behaviours caused by said ADHD, and a renewed excitement for the simple act of painting have rewritten my wargaming narrative. Recently, I have managed to not only pick up a Best Sports award, but last weekend I got a painting nomination for the very first time! Up until very recently, I was nothing more than a Contrast painter, who sloshed on some technical paint and a few tufts for basing before calling it a day. It was only recently that I’ve really embraced all aspects of the hobby, and it’s made me a much happier wargamer and put me in a much better mindset come tournament weekend – it’s not about your final score, it’s about the experience you take home and the memories you make with the people you meet and share this wonderful hobby with. It’s a celebration and getting to see all the energy everyone has put into their own army is a perfect embodiment of that.

I’m not here to demand everyone level up their hobby game like I did. I understand that time, energy and countless other factors play a part in everyone’s approach, and the hobby is to be enjoyed by everyone in their own way – I’m certainly not an arbiter of what is right and wrong on that front. I will say however that for those obsessed with results above all else and have found themself getting burned out by what is ‘top tier’ and ‘trash’, that it has been helpful for me to shift my priorities a smidge and look for enjoyment in a broader sense. Maybe those people might find themselves happier by adopting a similar approach.