We’ve covered a lot of Top 3 lists over the last month, so I thought it would be good to look at some of the stats surrounding them.
Be wary those, these are for all the one day and two day events that we’ve covered plus two or three more. All armies are at 2,000 points and using the current rules and FAQ’s.
The below list are the tournaments that have been used to populate this data.
Golden Sprue AoS GT 2022 Clash of Swords Tempest Coliseum of Sigmar PSU: March to War Norwegian Masters Kirwans Game Store Monthly AoS Tournament January 8th Metagames 2k Tournament Grudge Hammer LVO Prep Event Atomic Dallas Defenders New Year New Player TTWG Sigmar Bash MOX Age of Sigmar Tournament Forge & Fire 2k Age of Sigmar Viking Games RTT: Realm of Viking Part I Gitmob Charity Brawl 2022
Most Selected Grand Alliance
Order tops the table with almost half of all armies being from an Order Battletome.
Grand Alliance Win Rates
The win rate for each Grand Alliance tells a difference story though with Destruction being the most successful and Chaos the least.
Most Selected Faction
Out of those 280 armies that we’ve focused on it’ll be no surprise that the Stormcast Eternals are the most played faction with nearly 20% of the field playing Stormcast. This would mean on average at a five day event you’re likely to play at least one Stormcast army.
Faction Win Rates
Idoneth Deepkin lead the table here with a massive 72.7% win rate over 22 games. However, let’s narrow this down to the more popular factions who have played at least 50 games:
This leaves the five most popular factions, with Ironjawz heading this mini-league with a 57.7% win rate.
Top 10 Most Selected Sub-Faction
It’ll probably come as no surprise that the Hammers of Sigmar lead the table in the most played sub-faction. The appeal of Dragons and Dracothian units is just too great possibly.
Surprisingly for me, Skaventide is in fourth despite having possibly once of the most outdated books?
Top 10 Win rates for Sub-Factions with 20+ Games
Idoneth Deepkin/Fuethan top the charts showing that perhaps they’re the easiest faction to pick up and play? My own beloved Kruleboyz/Big Yellers prop up the rest of the table with a measly 30.3% win rate.
Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar Analysis
So who’s their bogey enemy? Who do they lose to most often?
The data set is too small to have a any reliability at the moment, but Legion of the First Prince and Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe have had the most success against them.
If we reduce the opposition to Sub-Factions who have played them at least ten times then only the Ironjaws/Bloodtoofs have a favourable win ratio against them.
Ironjaws/Bloodtoofs Analysis
Again, the data set is to small to have any significance.
This event saw a total of 24 players take part over three games.
Gitmob Gaming are proud to announce their 1st one day event, which is also in support of the brilliant charity CALM, the campaign for living miserably. The charity seeks to break taboos around mental health, offer support for mental health issues and prevent cases of Suicide. This Age of Sigmar matched play event is open to 30 players and will consist of 3 games, held at the Bowlers Arms, Newbury.
Tournament Description
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
For the first time since we’ve covered the top three lists in 2022 the Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty are the most played faction in a tournament. The lack of an Ironjawz list is also quite surprising.
Win Rate
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The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from Gitmob Charity Brawl 2022.
James won all of his games and beat Disciples of Tzeentch/Hosts Arcanum in Round 1, Ogor Mawtribes/Bloodgullet in Round 2 and Soulblight Gravelords/Vrykos Dynasty in Round 3.
Allegiance: Sons of Behemat – Subfaction: Breaker Tribe – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumph:
Leaders ———- Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (525)* – Artefact: Vial of Manticore Venom Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (General)(525)* – Command Trait: Louder than Words – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Flaming Weapon
Core Battalions ———- *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent **Hunters of the Heartland
Additional Enhancement ———- Artefact
Total Points: 2000 pts
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Mark Paddon – Soulblight Gravelords
Mark won all three games beating Beasts of Chaos in Round 1, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 2 and losing to Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in Round 3.
Leaders ———- Coven Throne (290)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Vile Transference Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos (200)* – Spell: Soulpike Radukar the Wolf (150)* – Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (General)(435)* – Command Trait: The Hunter’s Snare – Artefact: Sangsyron – Spell: Flaming Weapon – Mount Trait: Foetid Miasma
Battleline ———- 10x Dire Wolves (135)** 10x Dire Wolves (135)** 10x Dire Wolves (135)**
Units ———- 5x Blood Knights (195)** 5x Blood Knights (195)**
Steve won two of their three games and beat Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty in Round 1, Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty in Round 2 and lost against Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe in Round 3.
Leaders ———- Gravestride Corpse Eater (Drogg) (525) – Allies Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos(200)* – Spell: Spirit Gale Necromancer (125)* – Spell: Fading Vigour Wight King on Skeletal Steed (General)(130)* – Command Trait: Kin of the Wolf
As with everything I would like this to be community driven, so if you see any typo’s or think paragraphs need rephrasing or moving then please let me know in the form at the end of this article.
Last Weeks Poll Results for Orders
Here are the results from last weeks polls.
Based on these results, the following section will be added to our living rules:
ORDER GENERATION
At the start of a turn each player will roll 2D6 and add the number of Generals they have on the table to that roll; this is their ORDER POOL.
WHO GOES FIRST?
Who gets to use an order first in the turn is determined by bidding. Once the ORDER POOL has been generated, each player should say how many orders they wish to use to bid for the FIRSTACTIVATION of that turn. Any orders that have been used to bid for the FIRST ACTIVATION are lost from the ORDER POOL regardless of whether the bid was successful or not.
For example, Player A rolls 9 for their ORDER POOL, and decides to use 4 orders to bid for the FIRSTACTIVATION of the turn. If they bid more than the opposing player, they can activate a unit first that turn. If they bid less than their opponent then they will have the SECOND ACTIVATION that turn. Regardless of whether the player wins the bid or not, they lose the number of orders that they used to try and claim the FIRST ACTIVATION that turn. In the case above Player A will have 5 orders remaining in their ORDER POOL which they can use to attempt to order their units with in the coming turn.
ORDERS
When an order is being issued, the player must first determine the score needed in order for the target unit to activate. To do so add the COMMAND RATING of the unit to that of the nearest friendly General on the table. This combined rating will then be used as a score which the player must equal or beat on a roll of 2D6 in order for the order to be effective. If the player does not achieve the score needed then an order is lost from their ORDER POOL and the next player then attempts an activation.
For Example, Player A wants to activate an elite unit on their left flank that has the possibility of claiming an objective. The units COMMAND RATING is 2, and the nearest General’s COMMAND RATING is 4, giving a combined total of 6. Player A rolls a 7 on 2D6 and so is able to issue an order to that unit.
THIS WEEKS POLLS
There are two further poll it has been suggested to me to add in regards to Orders.
Firstly, if a unit has been successfully given an order, does it carry out any actions the player wishes OR should it be a specific order such as move or shoot.
Secondly, if a unit has been issued an order can you then issue another order to the same unit? If so, should there be a limit on the number of orders any one unit can receive?
Next week we’ll begin to look at the stats of a unit.
–Peter
Suggestions?
Do you have any rules suggestions, or a topic you would like us to focus on next. Or perhaps you would like us to reword something in the main document. Anything you want, let us know below.
Warlord Games have released their Epic Waterloo miniatures and game system this weekend after just over a month on pre-order. I was lucky enough to pick mine up from SCN Hobby World yesterday and having returned from a one-day AoS tournament I was desperate to look inside my British Starter Set and see what treasures await!
It’s a big box… of Warlord goodness!
it is competitively priced at £90 and I’m sure your FLGS will look after you, or you can give Sarah at SCN Hobby World a call if you’re in the UK.
First Impressions
There’s a lot in here…!
Lots of red plastic, so you can play without painting the toys, but there’s definitely more in there, so let’s dig deeper.
Sprue 1– Light Cavalry
3 Sprues
There enough here for 11 bases of Lighter Cavalry, as well as 3 artillery – both key elements to the Allies’ success at Waterloo. They are very detailed models, with a number of different poses to add variety to the bases of cavalry as they sweep towards the French cannon!
Sprue 2– Heavy Cavalry
3 Sprues
These are the other 11 bases of Cavalry, but these make heavier versions of the Cavalry regiments at Waterloo on the British side. Again, great detail and strong plastic and the swords seem to be reasonably strong.. although no doubt I’ll break a few from being clumsy!
Sprue 3– Foot
11 Sprues for Infantry!
There’s loads of infantry… at 10 men a strip and 2 strips a base there’s a lot of paint here… and they look great. At the bottom of the picture you can also see some of the soldiers without they’re bayonets – these are the Riflemen, and each sprue comes with a command strip, a Cavalry commander, and an artillery piece to add to the ones from the cavalry bases. Again great detail at this scale and I’ll certainly enjoy trying to paint them!
Bases
Bases… lots of them!
Of course, none of these would play well without the basic addition of bases… just look at that pile! It’s huge.
Dice
And some dice… as if wargamers don’t have enough to build their own fort! Still a good inclusion for a starter set.
Yes… I took a picture of the dice for completeness… don’t judge me!
La Belle Alliance – Building
Warlord games have teamed up with Sarissa Precision to bring some scenery with the boxset. And it’s a great large piece of scenery to play around. Having played Warmaster large terrain that effects movement is critical in this scale of game.
Flags & Painting Guide
Flags and advice
A great addition is a full colour sheet of British flags for the regiments at Waterloo. This will really add to the colour and make the regiments individual on the tabletop. Well done to Warlord games for this inclusion.
There is also a guide to painting the little chaps… and I’ll definitely need to follow this and see how I get on – inside the pamphlet there’s also a guide to the various regiments and their colours. I have some Osprey books to help, but this is a another great addition.
Rulesbook
The full rules book for the Waterloo Campaign in Epic Battles. This appears to be a full rulebook at 260 pages. It’s in glorious full colour as well and means you don’t need a separate copy of any of the existing Black Powder rule books.
Colour… and pictures!
Warlord Games have raided their catalogue of pictures to provide visual inspiration for the game.
Summary
This is a great box, and I’ve no doubt that the equivalent French box is just as jam packed with goodness. Now all I need to do is paint it all and get it on the table… this may take a while!
The Nameless King was a 1 day, 3 game AoS tournament run by Speccles of Twitter fame! I wrote about the Big Waaagh army I took to the event here.
Here’s the list for those who missed the original article.
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)* – General – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist – Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh! – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Weird ‘Un – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Wurrgog Prophet (150)* – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of the Savage Beast: Power of the Were-boar
Battleline 10 x Orruk Brutes (320)** – Jagged Gore-hackas – 2x Gore Choppas – Reinforced x 1 10 x Orruk Brutes (320)** – Jagged Gore-hackas – 2x Gore Choppas – Reinforced x 1 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
Units 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Pig-iron Choppas 2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)* 2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)*
Core Battalions *Warlord **Hunters of the Heartlands ***Ironjawz Fist
Game one was against Stormcast with 6 Longstrikes, teleporting on a 2+… but this had a twist. A Stardrake! You don’t often see these around because they are not a top tier warscroll for their points so it was great to see it on the table.
I was given the first turn, slightly advanced, and didn’t take any of the objectives as I didn’t want my heroes shot off the board. In response he shot at some Ardboyz and moved his Stardrake onto the centre objective.
Second turn, and I took Monstrous Takeover to take the right most objective, whilst my Brutes charged off his Aetherwing screen and a unit of Liberators. They were joined by a unit of Big Stabbas to increase the Waaagh points, whilst my Wurrgog moved up to bring the Stardrake into 12″ for next turn… hidden behind a screen of Ardboyz.
My Brutes were then shot to shreds, whilst the Stardrake charged into the Ardboyz – and so stayed within 12″ of the Wurrgog.
I got the third priority, he destroyed the objective with my MawKrusha on it… so I triggered the Mask on the StarDrake and did 14 wounds before the Wurrgogg died, this was enough for the MawKrusha to come barelling in, killing the Stardrake and getting the objective!
Wurrgog after the staring!
This gave the Longstrikes too much to shoot at and I ended up with a small 12-8 victory.
Game 2 vs Sons of Behemat – Feral Foray
A 3 Mega-Gargant, 3 mini-gargant list which ran at me… quickly! He smashed into the screens and the Gatebreaker hit the Orruk Brutes. I swung back, stared at the Gatebreaker doing 16 wounds before dying, but it was enough for the Brutes to finish him off.
They are big…!
The MawKrusha charged the mini-Gargants and killed them all with the significant help of the second unit of Brutes… they nearly killed the Maw-Krusha in return… but he survivied… just!
This meant I could then fight the Kraken & Stomper killing them all by the top of turn 4… a win and a big one (19-1) in a game that is very difficult for the Gargants because of the number of objectives.
Game 3 v Stormcast – Techtonic Inteference
This was another shooting list, with 3 Longstrikes, 6 Crossbows and 5 of the bow chaps… so I needed to Alpha Strike. I do however tend to follow a rule that the Maw Krusha doesn’t charge turn 1 – this is because he fluffs … a lot! But I had my Triumph and command points and needed to do damage so I broke my rule, and the Gore Gruntas and Maw Krusha went in. I killed 2 Judicators on the stomp, and then swung with the MawKrusha with All Out Attack and Inspired Triumph (+1 to wound)… and did nothing! Only 7 wounds which were all saved on 4+ and 5+… oh very dear!
An embarassing attack!!
I had moved up the entire army though and gained 6 points in turn 1.
My opponent then shot off the Maw Krusha… just – but because it was in combat with most of the shooting there was limited moves towards the objectives.
In Turn 2 I racked up the max 6 point again, and cleared the judicators off the central objective, gaining Waagh points as the Bodyguard stayed alive. In response he failed to shift my army, but did kill 10 Brutes… this was now about survival!
Turn 3 saw the Wurrgog stare off the Bodyguard and rack up 4 points… but I forgot my Furious Advance and cost myself 2 points! I haven’t do that in a while …! His turn 3 killed most of the Ardboyz, and captured one of the objectives.
Turn 4 and I took 2 objectives and tried for Slay the Warlord with my Wurrgog… but this time he failed; rolled a 1; 6 wounds and only save 1 of them. I couldn’t keep going because he was holding an objective. So I couldn’t do much damage so over to him… to kill most of my army.
Priority 5 was still important as it would get me a vital few points if I got it… I rolled a 4; but he finally got the 6 he needed, took it and tabled my army – winning by 1 point!!! Such a close game and I still think the Maw Krusha move was right – no damage was so unlikely! Still it will make me think twice as the last time he charged turn 1 I lost as well (into Paul Scott’s Nurgle at March to War!)
So I finished 2-1 and 4th, only 1 point behind 3rd, and only 2 points behind 2nd (who got a 20-0 in his last game)… so close!
There is no time for peace. No forgiveness. No respite. There is only war.
Thegalaxy writhes in the mailed fist of all-consuming conflict. The Imperium of Mankind teeters on the brink of annihilation, beset upon all sides by heretic warlords, daemon-summoning witches and rapacious alien empires. In every star system and upon every planet, fierce battle rages as loyalists, heretics and aliens tear reality itself apart in their war for dominance. Every day the flames rise higher.
This is a more terrible era than ever before, and there is no peace amongst the stars…
It had been given a rating of 7.8 on BoardGameGeek from 200+ ratings
StrikingScorpion82 has produced an excellent Guide and Playthrough of Warhammer 40k. Striking Scorpion is a fantastic channel with no end of tactics videos, battle reports and reviews. Give them a Sub!
As this is a Games Workshop game there are tonnes of resources to expand your game and your gaming experience of Warhammer 40k. It even has its own App on the iStore and PlayStore.
Fancy having a go? Why not pick up a Combat Patrol box from SCN Hobby World at 20% off.
I’ll often paint a single test model before batch painting the rest. It lets me take my time on making sure I’m selecting the right colours.
In the case of Napoleonic miniatures I find this is also useful as I will refer to images on my phone about the uniform of the unit I’m painting. Then, once the model is done, I can just keep it in view while I paint the remainder. This prevents me having to keep turning the old phone on and off while I paint.
So here’s the model, this is a phone picture so apologies.
It had been given a rating of 7.6 on BoardGameGeek from 50+ ratings.
Beyond the Gates of Antares invites us to a time when mankind has evolved into new and diverse species: the strangely powerful NuHumans, masters of the Panhuman Concord; the ape-like Pansimians, the greatest warriors in the whole Galactic Spill; and feral Revers primitive Humans driven by a irrepressible lust for adventure and danger. It is a universe where technology and humanity intermix indistinguishably, where human knowledge and endeavour has long since been supplanted by integrated machine intelligence IMTel. Where humans go their technology goes also, protectors, workers, and fighting machines in the form of WarDrones armed with deadly weapons and shielded by energy fields a thousand times more resilient than steel.
Warlord Games’ YouTube channel has produced a series of excellent videos explaining Gates of Antares.
1. Introduction
2. Order Dice
3. Shooting
4. Pinning
5. The Assault Phase
6. Leaders
7. Q&A
If you’re interested in getting into Beyond the Gates of Antares, I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.
Over a year on since the release of the Broken Realms books are they good and essential, or pretty eye candy for the completionist… read on!
Morathi, High Oracle of Khaine, sets her sights upon the greatest prize of all – the power of a goddess! As furious war consumes the Mortal Realms, the shadow-wreathed empire of Hagg Nar makes its ambitious play for power. The cruel and boundlessly cunning Morathi, ruler of the Daughters of Khaine, desires to claim her rightful place as a goddess – but to do so she must sacrifice her past, forge bitter new foes, and spill the blood of rivals and allies alike!
The Mortal Realms will never be the same again. In Broken Realms: Morathi, a new era begins for Warhammer Age of Sigmar, bringing with it seismic shifts in the status quo, epic stories, and new rules for your army however you prefer to play. Part narrative supplement, part rulebook, this first Broken Realms book allows you to immerse yourself in the Mortal Realms fiercest conflict yet.
The first in the Broken Realms series begins with the Story of Morathi, the Herald of Khaine, and includes a number of other related stories.
As a gaming book this had enabled the authors to add narrative battle plans, and the rules writers to change some warscrolls, and update points. It’s a well put together book with – as you might expect – lovely artwork, which advances the story significantly. Indeed this is one of the advantages of the these books – they can advance the overall narrative of the Age of Sigmar in a way that Black Library novels are rarely permitted to do.
Unfortunately, I can’t get past the price, which if you buy all 4 books in the series will be £100 – a significant investment if you want to keep up with the lore (as I do), and a reason why many people won’t be able to. GW do need to consider how to release the narrative elements of these books at a much more reasonable price.
A good book, and probably essential to those using Morathi, but for others it’s difficult to recommend just for the lore advancement – especially as the plot has probably been spoilt for you by now – especially if you watch the Warhammer+ Loremaster series.
Tomorrow (January 29th 2022) I’ll be going to my first 1 dayer event this year. I love one dayer events – I get to try out new stuff have a bit of fun and still have Sunday available to be at home and spend some time with my family.
The Nameless King is and event being run by Boards and Swords which is a gaming store based in Derby. They run regular one day events and are only 75 minutes away from me… so a great local tournament.
I have said previously that I would bring Gloomspite Gitz to a one-dayer, but after my success at March to War with the Big Waaagh I want to see whether I can do well in a 20-0 system with them. At March to War I went 4-1 but took a ‘sit-back’ approach, which doesn’t always work for a 20-0 system. Sure, I can win, but can I win by enough?
Without any further ado, the army:
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)* – General – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist – Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh! – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Weird ‘Un – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Wurrgog Prophet (150)* – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of the Savage Beast: Power of the Were-boar
Battleline 10 x Orruk Brutes (320)** – Jagged Gore-hackas – 2x Gore Choppas – Reinforced x 1 10 x Orruk Brutes (320)** – Jagged Gore-hackas – 2x Gore Choppas – Reinforced x 1 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
Units 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Pig-iron Choppas 2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)* 2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)*
Core Battalions *Warlord **Hunters of the Heartlands ***Ironjawz Fist
This is almost the same army as I took to March to War so to get an idea of how it works look here!
All Change…
… or not! The only change here is dropping the Marshcrawler Sloggoth for 2 x 2 Big Stabbas.
2 x 2 Big Stabbas… with a couple of conversions in there!
I raided my Gargants Bitz Box to find two big weapons for my second set of Big Stabbas and I think they work a treat. But… why Big Stabbas? During March to War I found that I reached the +1 to hit threshold a lot earlier than I had anticipated (by turn 2 most of the time). And so I have decided to replace him. I still have only a few Kruleboyz painted and I haven’t settled on a scheme so it was either 2 x 5 Ardboyz, or 2 x 2 Big Stabbas… as it gave me an excuse to get painting I’ve picked the Big Stabbas.
8 wounds for 80 points, 6+/6++ save means that an opponent will need to dedicate resources to killing them, and they can be teleported by Hand of Gork if required. At bravery six, they are unlikely to die to battleshock – they’ll either die or be alive!
During March to War I found my lack of rend a bit of an issue, so 3 attacks, 3+/3+/-2/2 is not a bad damage profile. With a 3″ range they can also hide behind units and still attack if the front unit is charged. Da Final Fling is also a great bonus few damage especially if I have to play a Seraphon monster list or the Sons of Behemat.
My only two other changes were switching out Smelly Un for Weird Un (4+ mortal wound save vs spells) and giving the Wurgogg a spell to slightly boost the movement and charge of the Big Stabbas.
