Four events to cover this week! Apologies if I’m a little loopy at times during today’s article, I’m writing this at 4am because my daughter decided she wanted nothing more than to party in the middle of the night. Let’s rock.

GT ŁÓDŹ 2

69-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Poland on August 06 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Tabletop.to. There’s some madness here with a *ton* of draws, which I assume is down to Lurkers Below being one of the battleplans, though I can’t confirm.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Close to the Chest

Robert Rupert Rajkowski – Beasts of Chaos: Dragon Ogors and Incarnate make for a beefy front line.

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vs.

Łukasz Sas Sasuła – Sons of Behemat: Kragnos & 2 Gatebreakers.

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Thoughts

It’s a pretty lop sided matchup here for a few reasons. Gargants tend to excel when they can face off against armies that struggle to have the damage output to take down a single Mega Gargant each of their turns. The basic game plan is to outlast them and hold onto objectives in the process, accumulating a sizable primary score lead before they give way to typically more efficient lists. The problem here is that Dragon Ogors have the output to chew apart a Mega pretty easily, and as they lack command models the Idiots with Flags fierce loathing never actually triggers, so those Gatebreakers are hitting on 4s unless they use All out Attack, which then means they can’t have All out Defence active on the responding activation. Kragnos could potentially blow a level off the Incarnate on the charge alone, so a double turn followed by some fortunate rolling could help somewhat, but this is a nightmare matchup for Łukasz.

Result

Beasts of Chaos Victory – 0 – 4

Robert Rupert Rajkowski – Beasts of Chaos – 1st Place

The List

See showdown.

Archetype

Gavespawn Drogors

Thoughts

Dragon Ogors were all over AoS worlds a few months back due to their raw effiency, and that was before the new season of the GHB gave a greater incentive to use cavalry style models due to them ignoring the Bounty Hunter craze that’s sweeping the metagame at the moment. Robert’s list (and BoC in general) excel at being brutally efficient, trading units well and accumulating further value from subsequent summons making the battle feel progressively more uphill for their opponent. Couple of other things to note here that are fun – Doombulls become dangerous lone operators in Gavespawn, as they’re likely to do d3 mortal wounds on the charge, kill something significant in combat and when they die leave behind a Chaos Spawn thanks to the Gift of Morghur battle trait. Hailstorm is a fun spell that halves movement, run rolls and charge rolls that somehow get’s even better with Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws, due to the way the damage inflicted by the Jaws is calculated – it effectively makes it incredibly lethal to anything that isn’t base 12″ movement or greater.

Mariusz Dotka – Maggotkin of Nurgle – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Drowned Men Fly Spam

Thoughts

Not a ton really to talk about here – two of the smaller units of flies go in Bounty Hunters here, likely because otherwise they’re going to overkill most things you would send them after, and with relatively few units it’s important to be able to allocate resources efficiently. Be’lakor is a novel inclusion that helps give an out against death star units capable of blowing a large chunk of Mariusz’ army on the first turn thanks to the Dark Master ability.

The Best of the Rest

One player went 4-1 and finished 3rd, with the rest falling into a horrible pile of similar records, so…

• 3rd – Mateusz Eljasz – Sylvaneth: Herohammer at it’s finest with Alarielle, Durthu and a Warsong Revenant backed up by a battlemage.

Season of War Grand Tournament

65-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Mississauga, Ontario, CA on August 06 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Prize of Gallet

Paul Paul – Sylvaneth: Heartwood: Tanky trees! Seriously, 5+ ward, 3+ ethereal TLA that endlessly regenerates tanky.

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vs.

Ridge Hanna – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek: Starborne Seraphon hurtles down from the heavens to apply Salamanders generously to problems.

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Thoughts

Man it’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen Salamanders around huh? As Prime Targets, they disappeared for a while due to their relative fragility compared to Bastiladons, but now it’s a whole different ball game. Gone perhaps a little un-noticed for a while is the fact that Salamanders are horrifying to face off against when they can teleport all over the board in Starborne, killing one unit at range and then charging another. That said, they’re going to struggle for effective targets against this Sylvaneth list. Why? Well they’re going to struggle to see them for starters, as the Wyldwood rules will help provide LOS blocking shenanigans that the Tree Lord Ancient and Lady of Vines only enhance further. The TLA in particular has a rather nasty combo, as the Vesperal Gem means he can cast Throne of Vines automatically every turn, and heal 1 wound at the end of each phase until his next hero phase. It’s good, and becomes even greater with the Gnarled Warrior command trait, making him effectively ethereal. This combo would get even stronger if the Lady of Vines could cast her Aspect of the Everqueen spell for a 5+ ward, but it’s unlikely to succeed against a Starborne Slann. The battleplan favours mobility in order to reach each Objective that gets activated, but both lists have got mobility for days so it’s likely going to be a grindy affair that lends itself well to Starborne summoning. That said, if the Kurnoth can take out the Skink blobs early this could get scrappy.

Result

Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek Victory – 28 – 6

Ridge Hanna – Seraphon: Fangs of Sotek – 1st Place

The List

See showdown.

Archetype

Starborne Spells, Skinks and Salamanders spam. Silly and successful.

Thoughts

The Seraphon community had planted their flag firmly in the Thunder Lizards camp for so long that I think people can forget just how good Starborne armies are too, for very different reasons. In the metagame we’re seeing more damage 1 units prevalent in Nurgle and Nighthaunt lists, and with the recent nerf to Scaly Skin there’s an argument to be made for Starborne if you’re a man/woman who loves their skinks. Let’s face it, Salamanders are an insanely good unit and get even better when teleporting them around can help you maximise their efficiency every turn. We’ve not even touched on how this list can *very* easily cast Purple Sun and Jaws thanks to Arcane Might and the Astrolith Bearer, who even gives them extra range!

Reuben Parker – Sons of Behemat: Taker Tribe – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Bounty Hunter Mancrushers!

Thoughts

6 whole units in a Sons of Behemat army! What a lofty number. I’ll be honest readers I hate reading Battlescribe list output so much I almost want to skip over this list in principle, but let’s be real you already know what the deal is with Sons of Behemat armies in general anyway. That said, mini gargants are sneaky good in Bounty Hunters, as a single one of them throws out 12 attacks, so getting a bonus damage point on each of them can help improve the damage floor of this unit when fighting against Galletian Veterans, and can help upgrade them from ‘unit you begrudgingly include to have a cheapish unit to hold backfield points with’ to ‘unit you begrudgingly include to have a cheapish unit to hold backfield points with AND trade well against Galletian Veterans’.

The Best of the Rest

There were 8 more players on X-1 records. They were:

• 3rd – Nate Trentanelli – Nighthaunt: 40 Scarlet doom BGR that are kept on their feet (…ghost feet?) by two Spirit Torments, who are in turn kept on their feet (wispy cloth?) by 9 Spirit Hosts.
• 4th – Anthony Trentanelli – Slaanesh: Incarnate and Blissbarb spam. Siblings ending next to one another in the standings is fun, I bet that’s a fun rivalry.
• 5th – Olivier Gandouet – Idoneth Deepkin: Nautilar means a turtle, Idoneth Deepkin means 30 Reavers!
• 6th – Oliver Dempsey – Sons of Behemat: More Bounty Hunters Gargants! Neat.
• 7th – Carl Ong – Kharadron Overlords: Incarnate + Ironclad combo goes 4-1 again, with the requisite Spell in a Bottle Purple Sun for that ‘blow up the planet’ turn.
• 8th – Mitch Khwaja – Nurgle: Let’s do the fly spam agaaaaaaaain, let’s do the fly spam agaaaaaaaain.
• 9th – Paul Paul – Sylvaneth: See showdown.
• 10th – Andrew Lach – Ironjawz: 20 Expert Conquerors Brutes in Ironsunz for counter charge shenanigans.

Quest of Champions Heat 4

38-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in England, GB on August 06 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Realmstone Cache

Stephen Mitchell – Seraphon: Thunder Lizard: Gotrek!

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vs.

Andrew Hughes – Nighthaunt: The Scarlet Doom: Nagash!

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Thoughts

It’s probably pretty unusual for both players to enter this matchup *not* as the dominant Spellcasting army, as the Slann versus Nagash almost becomes neutral, though I’d give the slight edge to Nagash simply due to weight of spells. Gotrek typically blows through whatever unit he gets into combat with, and if he touches anything in Andrew’s army he’s likely to outright kill it… …Unless Nagash does Nagash things. In this army he could technically get that unit of 20 BGR on a 4+ Ward (Seal of Shyish + Death Magic Incarnate) with -1 to wound (Shademist) which is starting to get to the territory of toughness that even the Godslayer would struggle to shift. The Spirit Torment will ensure that 4 models will get put back every battleshock phase (if Nagash is nearby and alive), and Nagash will also be putting back 3 models each turn. Let’s put it another way – If Stephen doesn’t finish a unit off, it’s likely to be back at full fighting effectiveness very quickly. Helping Stephen finish things off is the standard slate of Thunder Lizards good stuff. The Bastiladon and EOTG will likely be trying to kill off the Spirit Torment to mitigate some of the recursion mechanics at play here, but those Skinks will have a hard time staying on the board long enough to screen them for long against the god of Death.

Result

Nighthaunt: The Scarlet Doom Victory – 23 – 10

Andrew Hughes – Nighthaunt: The Scarlet Doom – 1st Place

The List

See showdown.

Archetype

Nagash recursion

Thoughts

You don’t often get a lot of *stuff* in your army once you’ve spent half your points on Nagash, and in this list this is very keenly felt: A total of 6 units and 2 endless spells. This leads to needing Nagash to go very far into the game, a risky proposition if there’s a lot of shooting going around… but if you can weather the storm, the sheer amount of recursion at play here means that unit of 20 BGR can systematically dismantle anything that Nagash himself will have trouble with.

Toby Meadows – Slaves to Darkness – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

KOTET save spam

Thoughts

This army does one thing and it does it very well – put things on ludicrously good saves: Varanguard can be on a 1+ save rerolling 1s thanks to Mark of Tzeentch and the many save stacking buffs in this list. Iron Golems can do the same thing but cap out at a 3+ save rerolling 1s, which is still very good for a freaking 75 point screen unit! That Varanguard unit with the Grasping Plate/Inescapable Doom combo? It can activate and pile in from 6″ away and move 6″, and units engaged with it can’t retreat. What does this mean in practice? This unit is going to tie up half your army (with it’s once per game second combat activation baked into the warscroll) and lock it down while the rest of the army establishes board control. This list will hate mortal wound spam, but it’s going to make quick work of many other meta darlings. Beautiful stuff.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 3rd – Tom Parry – Seraphon: Thunder Lizard: Lord Kroak TL goodstuff with Saurus Knights serving as screens.
• 4th – Simon Burdett – Nurgle: Filthbringers: I had to look up Filthbringers, and so did you probably. It’s the Rotcoven one. This list excels at pumping out Purple Sun and Horrorghast, but the rest is typical fly spam.
• 5th – William Holley – Idoneth Deepkin: Mor’Phann: Combined arms Idoneth list.
• 6th – Thomas Waller – Flesh Eater Courts: Hollowmourne: Crypt Horrors and Crypt Flayers! Lot’s of them!
• 7th – Stephen Mitchell – Seraphon: Thunder Lizards: See showdown.

Harambe’s Heroes and Goldmine Games Rumble In The Jungle.

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Richmond, TX, US on August 06 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – Silksteel Nests

Gavin Grigar – Daughters of Khaine: Morathi and the Bow Snakes.

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vs.

JTJ – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Drowned Men: Fly Spam.

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Thoughts

Not the most inspiring of matchups but let’s see what we can squeeze from this stone. Gavin’s using Zainthar Kai so those Snakes will be fighting on death, making trades more profitable when facing down that wall of rotting flesh that is the Pusgoyle Blightlords. Morathi will do Morathi things but is likely to get bogged down against any of the 4 man units of flies because she just lacks the damage output (tbf most units do). Silksteel nests is a pretty good draw in terms of matchup here, as the flies will be living in Gavin’s backlines and burning objectives. Luckily he has two of his own units of flying skirmishers in the Heartrenders, which will force JTJ to play at least somewhat conservatively in order to deal with the harpies once they drop down from reserves. But does JTJ have the units to spare? He has a single Pusgoyle as his cheapest unit, but that’s much more easily dealt with and can help equal things out due to better objective play potential.

Result

Daughters of Khaine Victory – 26 – 23

Gavin Grigar – Daughters of Khaine – 1st Place

The List

See showdown.

Archetype

Morathi and the Bow snakes.

Thoughts

Gavin’s list is one step ahead of the competition, as many lists are so focused on Bounty Hunters efficiency that they end up losing priority to this rather mean alpha strike list. Controlling priority is great when you have a death star unit in the 15 bow snakes, and while he lacks the pieces to trade forever in melee, the Heartrenders give him a nice little edge in battle tactics and objective scoring. It might struggle a bit against ‘blob in the middle’ style battleplans, but then that’s what Morathi excels at so…?

Kel Pigg – Nighthaunt – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Quicksilver dead Harridan spam

Thoughts

Wards are very fashionable at the moment, with many popular armies (Nighthaunt, Nurgle, Idoneth, DoK) relying on ward saves for their units’ resiliency. QSD shuts off those wards if it’s the Harridans attacking, and as they’re battleline they also get the GV keyword, meaning fighting in two ranks. I’m not sure if you’ve ever fought against Harridans in the new book, but they’re absolutely terrifying in terms of raw damage output. Then you stick them in Bounty Hunters and the whole thing get’s rather silly. Oh and you cast Purple Sun so they’ve got rend on top of whatever save debuffs you’ve applied by charging.

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 more players on X-1 records. They were:

• 3rd – The JTJ – Maggotkin of Nurgle: Drowned Men: See showdown.
• 4th – Christopher Schelling – Sons of Behemat: Stomper Tribe: 2 Warstompers 2 Gatebreakers.
• 5th – Andrew Fornea – Seraphon: Thunder Lizard: Typical good stuff list with some interesting adjustments: 3 Kroxigor and 10 Saurus Knights in bounty hunters!

Wrap Up

Well we were missing Seraphon and Nurgle last week so it figures they’d be back with a vengeance this week huh? Still, a healthy mix at the top, and I do wonder how many armies will pivot towards one drop lists in order to gain an edge against all these bounty hunter lists running around. See you next week!

Ellarr also has his own Youtube channel to cover other aspects of competitive Age of Sigmar which you can find here. If you have any questions or comments leave one down below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com.