Weekend Warlords took place Milan, Italy on 7th and 8th May. It involved 44 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

Before I jump into the Top Three, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.

1st Place – Luca Quinale

Luca won all five games over the weekend. Along the way he beat Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 1, Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 2, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in round 3, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 4 and Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 5.

Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Army Subfaction: Drowned Men
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADER
Lord of Afflictions (210)*
– General
– Command Traits: Overpowering Stench
– Artefacts: The Splithorn Helm
Lord of Afflictions (210)*

BATTLELINE
1 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)*
1 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)*
Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Rotbringer Cyst

TOTAL POINTS: (1960/2000)

Danny: It’s ‘woops all flies’ time! I don’t expect this list to survive the next points rebalancing, honestly – GW don’t love spam lists and this is one of the best. If you’re not familiar with how it works – Drowned Men allows a pre-game move, and those pesky flies are fast (for Nurgle – 8″) – meaning they establish board control instantly. The ‘Rotbringer Cyst’ is a unique Nurgle battalion which is basically a better Battle Regiment, allowing for 3 leaders and 6 troops to constitute a 1 drop – again, frankly over-powered as a combination. So game starts, they control most of the objectives, and then they charge you – doing mortals as they do so, pinning you down, and probably killing you too – you can see how it’s hard to come back from that!

2nd Place – Tommaso Mariani

Tommaso also managed five wins over the two days. Along the way they beat Maggotkin of Nurgle/Droning Guard in round 1, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 2, Legion of the First Prince in round 3, Lumineth Realm-Lords/Zaitrec in round 4 and Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in the final round.

Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Army Subfaction: Drowned Men
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADER
Orghotts Daemonspew (300)
Lord of Afflictions (210)*
– General
– Command Traits: Overpowering Stench
– Artefacts: The Splithorn Helm
Be’lakor (360)*

BATTLELINE
1 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)*
Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)

Danny: And in 2nd place…more or less the same! But with a few flies traded for a big walking rot-stick and Be’lakor to try and shut down your best counter to the rest of the list. A frankly horrible amount of control and oppression, and no surprise it went 5-0. As it stands, Nurgle are fast becoming the most successful faction in the game at a high level (we’ll crunch the numbers in the near future to back this up) – but anecdotally, the writing (and the fly) is on the wall…

3rd Place – Lorenzo Baccifava

Lorenzo finished the weekend with one loss and four wins. His path saw him beat Idoneth Deepkin/mor’Phann in round 1, Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 2, Beasts of Chaos/Allherd in round 3, followed by Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in round 4 before losing to eventual winner Luca in round 5.

Allegiance: Seraphon
– Constellation: Thunder Lizard
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Beast Master
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Engine of the Gods (265)**
– Artefact: Fusil of Conflaguration
– Mount Trait: Beastmaster
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Skink Priest (80)*
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Skink Starseer (145)*
– Spell: Hand of Glory
Slann Starmaster (265)**
– Spell: Stellar Tempest
Stegadon with Skink Chief (305)*
– General
– Command Trait: Prime Warbeast
– Artefact: Cloak of Feathers
– Weapon: Skystreak Bow

Battleline
30 x Skinks (225)**
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Skinks (75)*
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
10 x Skinks (75)**
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers

Behemoths
Bastiladon with Solar Engine (250)**
Bastiladon with Solar Engine (250)

Endless Spells & Invocations
Emerald Lifeswarm (60)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 108
Drops: 6

Danny: It’s a good old Thunder Lizard list, of the ‘beat-stick skink chief’ variety. Interestingly, even though Seraphon are still super strong, and Bastiladons even get bonus damage against daemons – they don’t seem to be able to cope with the sheer turn 1 pressure of Drowned Men Nurgle. Seraphon have been relatively dominant for a while – and while they’re not exactly irrelevant now, the fact Nurgle is pipping them to the post says a lot about just how strong the stinkers are. Seraphon themselves could do with a hefty internal balancing – even though they have plenty of tools, there are many units that never see a look in competitively these days – obviously other factions need the leg up beforehand, but it will be refreshing to see a deeper book that unlocks some more creativity!

Wildcard – Simone Panigati

Simone won two games and lost three. Along the way they lost to Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 1, Daughters of Khaine/Khailebron in round 2. Beat Maggotkin of Nurgle/Befouling Host in round 3. Lost against Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in round 4 and beat Maggotkin of Nurgle/Droning Guard in round 5.

Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
Kragnos (720)
Dankhold Troggboss (240)*
– General
– Command Traits: Loonskin
Madcap Shamans (80)*
– Artefacts: Moonface Mommet
– Spells: The Hand of Gork

BATTLELINE
1 x Rockgut Troggoths (290)*
1 x Rockgut Troggoths (290)*
Rockgut Troggoths (145)*
Shootas (140)*

ENDLESS SPELL
Scrapskuttle’s Arachnacauldron (50)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1955/2000)

Danny: It’s always delightful to see Gitz doing well – they’re the scrappy underdog that everyone loves to love – and with Kragnos in tow, they can still take a few scalps. Troggoths are one of those workhorse units that are just good – backed up by a Madcap shaman (who has a great spell for defending against early ranged threats, a -1 to hit for missile attacks to one unit) and shootas, who are fairly useless but one of the most efficient points per wound units in the game. Props to Simone for bringing along Scrapscuttle’s Arachnacauldron, not only one of the best named units in the entire game, but a fun and creative tech piece that offers re-rolls for casting/unbinding.

Final Tournament Placings