AoS Meta Stats (w/e 24th July 2022)

A change is afoot for the Woehammer stats. We’re going more in depth. You’ll still find the tournament results for GT’s in the last week below along with links. Then there is statistic sections for the rolling four weeks stats and the current Age of Sigmar version (i.e. since the most recent update in terms of GHB or Battletome release).

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Grand Tournaments

Ranked from largest to smallest.

BWG: Summer Slaughter Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament (Major) – Pennsylvania/USA
102 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stHedonites of SlaaneshLurid Haze5-0-0
2ndKharadron OverlordsBarak-Zilfin5-0-0
3rdSeraphonThunder Lizard5-0-0
4thKharadron OverlordsNone4-0-1
5thDisciples of TzeentchHosts Duplicitous4-0-1
6thSkavenNone4-0-1
7thNighthauntScarlet Doom4-0-1
8thSkavenNone4-0-1
9thSylvaneth Heartwood4-0-1
10thSkavenNone4-0-1
BWP: Summer Slaughter Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament (Major)

Outlaw Open at LSO – Texas/USA
46 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stDaughters of KhaineZainthar Kai5-0-0
2ndSons of BehematBreaker Tribe4-1-0
3rdOgor MawtribesBloodgullet4-1-0
4thKharadron OverlordsBarak-Mhornar4-0-1
5thNighthauntQuicksilver Dead4-0-1
6thSons of BehematStomper Tribe4-0-1
7thOssiarch BonereapersPetrifex Elite4-0-1
8thDisciples of TzeentchHosts Arcanum3-1-1
9thIronjawzBloodtoofs3-1-1
10thBlades of KhorneReapers of Vengeance3-0-2
The Outlaw Open at LSO

The Salt City GT Age of Sigmar – New York/USA
31 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stMaggotkin of NurgleFilthbringers5-0-0
2ndFyreslayersGreyfyrd4-0-1
3rdIronjawzBloodtoofs4-0-1
4thNighthauntScarlet Doom4-0-1
5thKruleboyzBig Yellers4-0-1
6thMaggotkin of NurgleMunificent Wanderers4-0-1
7thHedonites of SlaaneshLurid Haze3-0-2
8thHedonites pf SlaaneshLurid Haze3-0-2
9thOssiarch BonereapersPetrifex Elite3-0-2
10thStormcast EternalsHallowed Knights3-0-2
The Salt City GT Age of Sigmar

Miniparadice Anniverary Tournament – Germany
38 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stDisciples of TzeentchHosts Arcanum4-1-0
2ndMaggotkin of NurgleFilthbringers4-1-0
3rdMaggotkin of NurgleDrowned Men4-0-1
4thStormcast EternalsHammers of Sigmar4-0-1
5thSylvanethHeartwood4-0-1
6thLumineth Realm-LordsZaitrec4-0-1
7thStormcast EternalsHallowed Knights4-0-1
8thFyreslayersVostarg3-0-2
9thIdoneth DeepkinBriomdar3-0-2
10thSeraphonDracothion’s Tail3-0-2
Miniparadice Anniversary Tournament

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This Weeks Stats

The following stats are for the week ending 24th July only, essentially GT’s that took place on the 23rd and 24th July.

Rolling 4 Week Stats

The rolling stats includes all GT’s since the weekend of 2nd/3rd July to the 23rd/24th July. This covers a total of 603 players (+151 players) across 18 Grand Tournaments (+2 GT’s).

Alliance Win Rates for a Rolling Four Week Period

As the new release of the GHB takes hold it looks as though the overall effect is a positive one on the overall win rates for each Grand Alliance as they all get close to that 50.0% mark.

Faction win rates over the last four weeks

Here are the rolling four weeks win rates since we began tracking this information:

Faction Stats (Version)

The below stats are for every match in a grand tournament since the release of the new General’s Handbook.

Factions that have achieved 5-0 wins

Under this new General’s Handbook we can see a number of factions have achieved 5-0 wins, but currently Seraphon and Kharadron Overlords lead the way with 2 a piece.

Factions with 4-0-1 or 4-1-0

Looking at factions with four wins and the table opens out vastly with only Legion of the First Prince, Big Waaagh! and Legion of Azorgh (Hey, someone played them so I’m including them ok!?) yet to achieve a 4 win result over a weekend.

Meanwhile at the lower end of the tables factions who have gone a whole tournament with five losses…

Factions with 5 losses at a GT

And as for each factions current win rate under the new handbook:

Bonesplitterz, Disciples of Tzeentch and Seraphon lead the way at present while Legion of the First Prince, Flesh-eater Courts and Ossiarch Bonereapers prop every one else up.

If you don’t like graphs, here’s their win rates in a table format:

Faction in Green are considered to have a healthy win rate, those in Red are considered (by me) to be unbalanced

But who do Bonesplitterz struggle against?

Skaven and Ironjawz seem to have the most success against Bonesplitterz, though whether these particular matches were against the Drakkfoot Big Stabba spam, I’m not sure.

Meanwhile a revitalised Disciples of Tzeentch is struggling in their matches against Idoneth Deepkin, Cities of Sigmar, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Daughters of Khaine and surprisingly Fyreslayers!

Results by Faction

In terms of faction popularity:

Faction Popularity

By rights, each faction should have an equal share of the player base, however we know this will not be the case due to either the appeal of the miniatures or the rules for the factions. Here we can see the most popular factions are Stormcast Eternals, Nighthaunt, Daughters of Khaine, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Sylvaneth, Ironjawz and Skaven.

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Faction Breakdown

After only a week, I’ve removed the faction breakdown, but this is becuase we’ll start a new series called ‘Faction Focus’ where each day we’ll analyse a specific factions results for the previous month and lists that performed well.

Remember we need all the support we can get at present, so why not join our Discord and join the chat? Or we would be eternally grateful if you’d consider becoming a Discord member!

Faction Focus – Kharadron Overlords

Win Rate

The Kharadron Overlords are another faction that appear to be in the midst of a resurgence. Barak-Zilfin, the most popular faction has a win rate of 61.4%, even the less popular Barak-Mhornar has a win rate of 53.3%. Barak-Urbaz and Barak-Thryng both have low rates, but also have a low player count. But is their count low because those factions are considered poor or have players not found the right synergies yet?

5 wins Results

DateTournamentName
10th July 2022Summer on the Coast GTJeremy Veysseire (USA)
24th July 2022BWG: Summer SlaughterCarl Ong (USA)
Players who achieved 5 wins at a GT

4 wins Results

DateTournamentName
24th July 2022BWG: Summer SlaughterJoe Shoemaker (USA)
24th July 2022The Outlaw Open at LSORandal Brasher (USA)
Players who achieved 4 wins at a GT

Other Results

Results Breakdown by Subfaction

The results breakdown show that perhaps Barak-Zilfin players can go into a tournament hoping to achieve 3-2, while Barak-Mhornar and Barak-Thryng players should aim for 2-3 results. Barak-Urbaz players should have a target of achieving at least one win at a tournament.

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Top Lists

Top Three AoS Lists - 1st Place, Maggotkin of Nurgle
Jeremy Veysseire’s results from Summer on the Coast

Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs (Literally!)
– Triumphs: Inspired

Kharadron Code
– Artycle: Master The Skies
– Amendment: Always Take What You Are Owed
– Footnote: There’s No Trading With Some People

Leaders
Aether-Khemist (90)*
General
– Command Trait: Collector
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
Aetheric Navigator (85)*
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)

Battleline
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns

Units
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (155)*
Main Gun: Drill Cannon
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (155)*
Main Gun: Drill Cannon

Behemoths
Arkanaut Frigate (250)
Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
Arkanaut Frigate (250)
Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
Arkanaut Ironclad (490)*
Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram

Endless Spells & Invocations
The Burning Head (20)
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 112
Drops: 3

Brett: Great to see a top 3 with 2 of our weaker factions here and a larger event taken out by Kharadron Overlords (KO), a great counter meta move. 3 small heroes, 3 mandatory battleline (KO only has the one available) and 5 fast moving gunships hailing from Barak-Zilfin, this could be a 2nd edition list. Except it is very new list that is playing hard into the new season and the improved Endless Spells. One drop, can choose who is going first, and Spell in a Bottle guarantees that Purple sun is coming out when you want it to. That reduces saves by -1 one in the face of an army with a lot of ranged attacks most of which are Rend -1 or -2. That’s if it doesn’t eat something important. That immediately makes saves of 4 or 5 (or worse) likely on key units. For key armies like DoK that leaves them with no saves on almost all of their non hero units. The Burning Head and second wizard is pretty clever as well, casting value of 6 makes it easy to bring out dealing consistent mortal wounds. It also makes it hard to concentrate force or close with the KO boats, one of their biggest weaknesses. Does KO offer a way to mitigate DoK Blood Sister lists as happened here in Round 4? Either way a really amazing effort going 5/0 with KO.

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Carl Ong’s results from BWG: Summer Slaughter

Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Mortal Realm: Chamon
– Grand Strategy: Masters of the High Airs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Aether-Khemist (90)*
General
– Command Trait: Collector
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
Aetheric Navigator (85)*
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon

Battleline
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns

Units
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)*
Reinforced x 1
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (155)
Main Gun: Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Zonbarcorp ‘Debtsettler’ Spar Torpedo

Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (490)
Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram
Admiral’s Krondspine (400)
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur

Endless Spells & Invocations
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Expert Conquerors

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1955 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 94
Drops: 10

Brett: It’s been a while since Kharadron Overlords have climbed to the top of the tree. Coming off a recent buff from both the mid year points (only 2 units) and White Dwarf revision Carl is one of 3 to go 5/0 in the event. He does have both the Purple Sun and Krondspine and 2 wizards to bind them thanks to the Arcane Tome. I wonder if we will see anything about the Purple Sun and Krondspine before the next Battlescroll is due in September.The general, the Aether-Khemist is an obvious choice, one of 3 Khemist only artefacts guarantees an endless spell can be cast once per game. The Purple Sun has a casting value of 8 so if there is anyway to make it a sure thing take it.

Slow moving he also hands out a re-roll wound rolls of 1 to a unit within 12″ and reduces to-hit rolls within 3″ (himself and another character typically) unless garrisoned, so he has to be on foot. His own attacks are much riskier, 3D6 with rend -2 sound great but only 9″ range make it a risky proposition. Of course he can garrison a vessel. The Navigator is here for his dispel and reroll run and charges for vessels if they are visible to him. Lastly the Admiral, who was the most changed by White Dwarf here. He lost 3 of his 4 unique command abilities, keeping the ability to allow a unit to fire even if it had run (Master of the Skies). Flaming Weapon is an interesting choice, he has reroll hits and wounds against monsters and heroes.

He is a small beatstick with only 3 attacks, -2 rend, 2 damage. He can divert wounds to the Arkanaut Companies (Skyfarers). Otherwise 3 battle line Arkanauts with minimal upgrades, Thunderers for some punch. With limited capacity in the flying units I would garrison the Thunderers and forgo the hero buffs to minimise their exposure. All of the KO shooting units have quite short ranges, typically 18″ or less except for the boats. The addition of the Purple Sun to increase saving throws for adjacent units with the number of shots from even the Arkanauts is a great combo. The Krondspine is pure distraction and menace, it takes a lot to deal with but can’t easily be ignored. In melee he can delete weaker units and at least bracket most bigger heroes in a single turn.

His highest ranked opponent was 11th, so it’s not clear how much we can take from his matchups. Most of the armies this went against were a bit short on shooting with the exception of his 2nd opponent. 5/0 is no small accomplishment and the list is quite different with so few boats and mostly footsloggers who aren’t riding.

Performance Against Other Factions

How Kharadron Overlords perform against other factions

Kharadron Overlords appear to have good success against Stormcast Eternals with an 85.7% win rate against them. They appear to struggle against Nighthaunt (35.7%), Sons of Behemat (33.33%) and Ironjawz (16.7%).

Top 10 Players

Age of Sigmar Player Ratings w/e 24th July 2022

The Age of Sigmar Player Ratings are calculated using the Elo System, most known for creating the Chess Rankings. Players begin with a rating of 1,000 then gain or lose points based on their opponents rating.

The ratings are awarded according to your opponents rating. Beating an opponent with a rating of 1,030 will give you more points than beating an opponent with a rating of 1,010.

Ratings will be given to players who attend a two day event with at least 8 players. Those players must be using 2,000 point armies.

This Week’s Ratings

This wee we had an additional four GT’s with one of those involving 102 players!

The top three have all played at least nine games now with Josh Bennett and Thomas Guan winning every game they’ve played.

This week as an example I thought it may help to explain the rankings by looking at one players matches since I started this project.

The Ratings of Josh Bennett

Josh took part in two events in two weeks, the first was the ATC (American Team Championship) Age of Sigmar Team Event where he played four games. This was followed by the Outlaw Open at LSO.

Josh’s Rating (Pre-Game)Opponents NameOpponents Rating ResultJosh’s Rating Change
1,000.0Will Reyes989.4Win+9.7
1,009.7Stuart Gately990.0Win+9.4
1,019.1John Pawak1,000.0Win+9.5
1,028.6Eric Urbas970.6Win+8.3
1,036.9Vince Ptacek990.0Win+8.7
1,045.6Eugene Kahle1,010.0Win+9.0
1,054.6Matt Nguyen 1,020.0Win+9.0
1,063.6Adam Camenisch 1,030.0Win+9.0
1,072.6Dalton Kahle1,030.6Win+8.8
Josh Bennett’s Matches to Date

That gives Josh his final rating of 1,081.4.

Hopefully that explains clearly how the ratings work. Taking Josh’s example, if he’d have lost any of those later games, as his rating is a lot higher he would lose more points than he can be seen gaining. This is because his opponent would benefit from beating a high ranking player.

Formula

Here’s how the formula works for the maths geeks among you.

For those wanting to check my maths, the k factor we are using is 20.

Here’s my file:

Top Three AoS Lists for the Outlaw Open at LSO

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Outlaw Open at LSO that took place in Texas, USA on 23rd and 24th July. It involved 46 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament. A return to the correct order with a Daughters of Khaine (DoK) taking the event pushed hard by the Sons of Behemet. Ogor Mawtribes make a welcome showing at the top table as well, just underlining how open the meta is.

Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, 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.

If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?

Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.

The Top Three AoS Lists

Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine
Army Subfaction: Zainthar Kai
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x The Shadow Queen (680)*
1 x Morathi-Khaine (680)*
1 x Bloodwrack Medusa (130)*
General
– Command Traits: Zealous Orator
– Artefacts: Shadow Stone
– Spells: Mindrazor

BATTLELINE
10 x Witch Aelves (115)*
Paired Sciansá
10 x Witch Aelves (115)*
Paired Sciansá
15 x Blood Sisters (420)**

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Chronomantic Cogs (40)

OTHER
1 x Gotrek Gurnisson (485)**

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: (1985/2000)

Brett: Morathi and Gotrek together feels wrong somehow, like shouldn’t Gotrek be after Morathi. Not in this army though, they’ve worked together to go 5/0 and take the event. Elves are fragile and die easily – not this army, that’s 1165 points of the nigh on impossible to kill. We saw a lot of Gotrek early in 3rd edition but he has faded as people have learnt to play around his slow movement. Including him here is a great idea because your opponent really wants to get at the Shadow Queen. You really need to be in combat with her to max your wounds against her. She only takes 3 a turn, so you need to be able to shoot or attack her in your turn and fight back in her players turn to get more than 3 wounds a round. Now you have to go through Gotrek.

Until you kill the Shadow Queen you can’t kill Morathi who is both casting spells and working as a blender in combat. A 3 cast wizard with a special command to make a unit shoot or fight in the hero phase (it’s eligible to fight again in the shooting or fight phases). She knows the full spell lore, includes a mortal wound and has 3 casts. All up the army has 4 casts and 4 unbinds available. The Bloodwrack Medusa has Zealous Orator for a boosted rally (models return on a 4+), Shadow Stone for +1 to cast and is casting Mindrazor. Mindrazor has a CV of ,8 hence the stone, but provides (additional rend and +1 damage to a unit within 18) . On the Blood Sisters that adds to 46 attacks on 3s with -2 rend and potentially 3 damage (into Galletian Veterans).

The Medusa lets a single unit advance the Blood Rites table for that phase and her warscroll spell lets you subtract 1 from wound rolls for 1 unit. Blood Rites is a Battle Trait for DoK that gives an army wide buff starting with add 1 to run rolls and ending with a 5+ ward. Advancing the table might let you surprise your opponent with getting something into combat or being more lethal. This is a combat army with next to no range attacks (the Shadow Queen has some). It doubles down on the combat with Gotrek, Reducing incoming attacks to 1 damage, 3+ ward, as long as something is within 3″ fighting again (and again). Unfortunately most of the buffs in the army are keyworded to the elf units and Gotrek isn’t sharing them.

Choosing Blood Sisters and Witch Aelves with no Heartenders or Blood Stalkers is interesting. This list is either going to come at you hard (first 2 Blood Rite abilities) or force you to come to them through some heavy damage dealers. Which way you take it would depend on your opponent, as a 3 drop army it will choose priority much of the time. In this event 2 armies had strong shooting, although SCE have fallen off with the change to holy command. Really though that strong combat, particularly with the ever popular Blood Sisters, is going to let you dictate battle around the objectives you choose. Good solid on meta army that without specific experience is hard to counter. Well done.

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Allegiance: Sons of Behemat
Tribe: Breaker Tribe (Fierce Loathing: Idiots with Flags)
– Grand Strategy: Stomping Order
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (525)*
General
– Command Trait: Monstrously Tough
– Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)
Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (525)*
Warstomper Mega-Gargant (470)*
Warstomper Mega-Gargant (470)*

Core Battalions
*Bosses of the Stomp – Unified

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 140
Drops: 1

Brett: Did the Sons ever go away? Or did they just sleep for a little while. For a while they were taking less events but they are still a good army and difficult to play into. Using a faction Grand Strategy has attracted some attention lately with some of the Battle Traits and Grand Strategies being easier than the new Season 1 choices. Stomping Order means that they are going to run or charge every turn, it may be one of the less interactive ones. Bosses of the Stomp gives either one drop or an additional Enhancement. Christopher has chosen to go for a one drop, giving the opportunity of a 1st/2nd round double, very very frightening.

2 Gatebreakers, 2 Warstompers, no casting, the general has 40 wounds (up from 35) and a 6+ ward for that little extra something. The Fierce Loathing is a solid choice, any unit with a Totem or a Command Model gives up a +1 to hit. There are a lot of units with Command Models baked in particularly Stormcast but pretty much all of the troops with higher wound counts have the ability. A bit of extra work for players. Limited ranged attacks – Gatebreakers – and horrific melee. The Warstomper’s Titanic Boulderclub shouldn’t surprise anyone now with it’s attacks characteristic of however many models are within 3″, +4 for monsters and +* (for the warscroll table) to a maximum of 10.

His matchups for the most part were pretty favourable, although pulling KO twice must be pretty rare. The melee SCE list would suffer horrible clap back, interestingly those are shield Annihilators with much lower damage. The KO lists concentrate their shooting in Ironclads and use a “super hero” either the Incarnate or Gotrek. Gotrek is a bit slow to chase Gargants (but is effective into them since they struggle to kill him) and Sons are one army that can deal with the Incarnate quickly. The Kragnos/Ogor and Sons match up that ended in a draw would have been very interesting to watch live. Can Kragnos out stomp Gargants?

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Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes
Mawtribe: Bloodgullet
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Frostlord on Stonehorn (430)*
General
– Command Trait: Nice Drop of the Red Stuff!
– Artefact: Splatter-cleaver
– Mount Trait: Metalcruncher
Butcher (135)*
Tenderiser
– Bloodgullet 2nd Spell: Ribcracker
– Lore of Gutmagic: Greasy Deluge
Butcher (135)*
Tenderiser
– Artefact: Bloodrock Talisman
– Bloodgullet 2nd Spell: Molten Entrails
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Kragnos, The End of Empires (720)

Battleline
2 x Mournfang Pack (160)**
Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists
2 x Mournfang Pack (160)**
– Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists
2 x Mournfang Pack (160)**
Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists

Endless Spells & Invocations
Chronomantic Cogs (40)
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)

Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Bounty Hunters

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 81
Drops: 7

Brett: An army that does extra damage on the charge with Kragnos who grants an 18″ charge to units within 12″. What could go wrong with that? A very clever army that probably shows the struggle for Destruction at the moment. Really strong units but it’s difficult to survive, score and hit back however Jacob scored well during the weekend.

Bloodgullet grants an extra spell (and cast but not dispel) to the Butchers. Both of the chosen spells are offensive (very – these are Ogors) – Ribcraker taking 1 from a unit and Molten Entrails for +1 to damage for a unit. As we are seeing a lot of there are 2 Endless Spells, Chronomatic Cogs (rerolls) and Gnashing Jaws. Bloodrock Talisman adds +2 to the roll for an Endless Spell so we know who is most likely to cast the 2 Endless Spells. Levitate is a useful spell, letting you grant flying to a unit. Flying Kranos anyone? Certainly doable, meaning you could easily prevent early rounds shooting but you probably want to get him out early to buff charges.

The Frostlord brings the mandatory trait and artefact on top of his ward and ability to command a unit to reroll their charge. Everything does mortal wounds on the charge (except the Butchers of course) and the Mournfang can do (really occasionally) MW on 6s with their range attack for just a little more sting. Good quality attacks punish MSU hurting several of his opponents. Short range shooting is very vunerable to the long charges Kragnos brings. The Frostlord and even more Kragnos could hit the Incarnate hard enough to slow it’s growth (but are vunerable to it’s type of attacks). And of course there is no battleline infantry for Bounty Hunters to worry at. All up a very well rounded army for the current meta. Coming 3rd by 1 pt with Mawtribes, not one of the stronger factions, is a great achievement.

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Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers
Legion: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: Unrelenting efficiency
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament (340)***
Mortisan Boneshaper (115)***
General
– Command Trait: Mighty Archaeossian
– Artefact: Godbone Armour
– Lore of Mortisans: Empower Nadirite Weapons
Mortisan Soulmason (115)***
Artefact: Gothizzar Cartouche
– Lore of Mortisans: Drain Vitality

Battleline
20 x Mortek Guard (280)*
Nadirite Blade and Shield
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Mortek Guard (280)*
Nadirite Blade and Shield
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Mortek Guard (140)**
Nadirite Blade and Shield
10 x Mortek Guard (140)**
Nadirite Blade and Shield

Artillery
Mortek Crawler (215)
Mortek Crawler (215)

Endless Spells & Invocations
Chronomantic Cogs (40)
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Bone-tithe Shrieker (50)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Expert Conquerors
***Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 106
Drops: 9

Brett: This is the first time I’ve seen the same unit in both Bounty Hunters and Expert Conquerors, do they get on or is the squabbling in the ranks? Petrifix Elite, which grants -1 rend to all units and lets you increase rend by 1 for a unit per phase (so it can have +1 rend in both yours and your opponents combat phases). A better Armour of Contempt for the 40k players. Like most older books this has mandatory items, an artefact and command trait. Both are very good – +2 wounds and melee weapon set to rend -3 so they aren’t a burden. Command Entourage was taken as the battalion for the leaders to access an additional artefact, Gothizzar Cartouche, +1 to wound rolls is the target does not have the DEATH keyword. Particularly good with the crawlers.

For non DEATH targets that means hitting and wounding on 2s doing 5 damage. Nice. The army has very strong magic as we are seeing a lot in Season 1, with all up 6 casts covering 2 Lore of Mortisans spells, 3 endless spells and 3 solid warscroll spells. Arkhan’s +2 to casts/dispells is clutch for getting Purple Sun out, the play being Chronomatic Cogs then Purple Sun so you have a reroll. Bone-tithe can be cast by anyone that is close enough to make sure one of the Mortek Guard units gets +1 to hit. Arkhan’s Curse of Years from his warscroll sounds nasty but on average is slightly better than Arcane Bolt. If it spikes though, it could be a lot worse.

You’d also want the Soulmason to cast his Soul-Guide most turns, re-roll 1s to hit on a larger block of Guard. That’s worth 6 hits (if they have Empower Weapon) from the average 6 x 1s you roll in 41 attacks. Hopefully you’ve gotten the idea of what this list is like, other than Arkhan everything is only moving 4″ or 5″. Move a block to the centre or better yet stay back and make the opponent walk through your Endless Spells, spells and Crawler fire causing chip damage. Then fall on them with your Bounty Hunters Mortek Guard. The worst case is you attacked them with Galetian Veteran’s into a unit with empowered weapons and soul-guide. That averages 23.5 hits at rend -1, 2 damage before saves.

While not extremely hard hitting elite armies will struggle to field enough units in later turns and Bonereapers can start to dictate. You have to close with them because you need to shut the catapults down but that opens you up to the spells. Looking at his path to 4/1 his one loss was to a Skaven list with decent shooting from Stormfiends and melee from Thanquol. While short range they are beyond the threat range of Guard (or just inside it) and Stormfield are pretty fighty as well. Otherwise a lot of bodies to kill that all move a bit faster so a good counter. Watching Morathi against this army would have been interesting, that was Jonathan’s highest scoring round.

Final Tournament Placings

Faction Focus – Ironjawz

Win Rate

Bloodtoofs is currently the faction of choice within the Ironjawz. 22 players chose it in July and together managed a win rate of 55.7%. That’s slightly higher than the ideal bracket of 45-55%. Also just inside this bracket are the Ironsunz with 46.7%. With only three players choosing them it’s hard to judge whether this is an accurate representation or not. Also finding low representation are Da Choppas, also with three players. But this time their win rate is in the gutter with only 30%. But again, this should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt.

5 wins Results

None

4 wins Results

DateTournamentName
17th July 2022The ATC (American Team Championship) Age of Sigmar Team EventCody Saults (USA)
24th July 2022Salt City GT Age of SigmarTyler Bushey (USA)
Players who achieved 4 wins at a GT

Other Results

Results Breakdown by Subfaction

4 wins at an event is currently the best result, and that has only been achieved with Bloodtoofs. If playing with Bloodtoofs, you can consider a result of 3-2 to be your target for a good performance. If playing Ironsunz, set your sights a little lower with a 2-3. Da Choppas players are in a bad place so at present any result with more than one win is a good result.

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Top Lists

Top Three AoS Lists - 3rd place, Legion of the First Prince
Tyler Bushey’s Results from the Salt City Open GT

Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
Army Type: Ironjawz
– Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)*
General
– Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh!
– Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth Fist
– Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
– Spell: Bash ‘Em Ladz
1 x Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Get ‘Em Beat
1 x Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Get Fixin’ Beat

BATTLELINE
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)**
Jagged Gore-Hackas
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)**
Jagged Gore-Hackas
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-Hackas
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-Hackas

INVOCATIONS & ENDLESS SPELLS
Purple Sun of Hysh (70)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)

Brett: What is there to say, Ironjawz are awesome, but this is a Mawcrusha and 18 piggies. There is no subtlety here – these are coming across the board as fast as they can. Both of the big blocks are in Bounty Hunters to boost their damage against GV. The inclusion of an Arcane Tome on the Mawcrusher is interesting, presumably for the Purple Sun. The Purple Sun and Bash ‘Em Ladz have the same casting value (8). Get the Sun out as soon as possible and then try and get the +1 to wounds from Bash em ladz?

First turn (or any turn really, but only one) that Mawcrusha can move 36″ with Fast ‘un and Mighty Destroyer’s. While Tyler would like you to go first and move closer, he really doesn’t need it on most AoS boards. At least one of the big Gore-grunta units will also have a 3D6 from Get ’em ladz. However this is a 3 drop army, we are seeing a lot of larger drops at the moment which might give Tyler an edge.

This is a massive alpha strke army that you want to avoid until you can wear them down. It’s important to remember not only Mighty Destroyers but Touched by the Waagh. The Megaboss can call his Waagh any time and then everything is rerolling their charges, a wall of charging Gore Gruntas. His only loss was to the eventual winner, those Blightkings being just the thing to weather a massive charge.

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Performance Against Other Factions

Ironjawz have performed very well against old meta leaders Maggotkin of Nurgle, the focus on troops obviously giving Ironjawz some advantages here.

At present the Daughters of Khaine appear to be the bogey opponent for Ironjawz, only winning 41.7% of their matches against them.

Top 10 Players

Woehammer’s 1st Birthday Giveaway

Woehammer has turned 1 this week. We therefore thought it would be nice to give a gift to one of our fantastic Patrons.

The gift? £50 of Games Workshop vouchers. Worth the £1 subscription surely?

To decide the winner we had a little race…

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Thank you to all our Patrons and viewers for your fantastic support over the last year, it means a lot to all of us at Woehammer!


Our amazing Patrons (In date joined order)

  • Stuart Disbury
  • Gennaro D’Avino
  • Daniel Hochradel
  • Jason Sanders
  • Graeme Bradbury
  • Owen
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  • Kieron Bailey

Faction Focus – Fyreslayers

Win Rate

Fyreslayers have had a dramatic improvement to their results since the new General’s Handbook was released. Before the release they could be found in the sub 40% win bracket, now they have a very healthy 53.5% win rate. This is led by Lofnir with a rate of 62.8%, but even Greyfyrd and Vostarg are nothing to be sniffed at either. Hermdar seems to be the overlooked faction here, with no players deciding to use that particular lodge’s abilities.

5 wins Results

None

4 wins Results

DateTournamentName
17th July 2022Southern Fried OpenKevin Lathers (USA)
24th July 2022BWG: Summer Slaughter Bill Souza (USA)
24th July 2022The Salt City GTGarth Scannell (USA)
Players who achieved 4 wins at a GT

Other Results

3-2 or 2-3 seems to be par for the course with Fyreslayers, but Greyfyrd and Lofnir do have a few players who have achieved 4 wins at a tournament weekend with them. As a tournament player a good achievement would be looking to achieve a 3-2 result.

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Top Lists

Kevin’s results from the Southern Fried Open

Allegiance: Fyreslayers
Lodge: Lofnir
– Grand Strategy: Masters of the Forge
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Auric Runemaster (125)*
General
– Command Trait: Master Priest
– Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Auric Runesmiter (135)*
Runic Iron
– Prayer: Prayer of Ash
Battlesmith (150)
Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
Auric Runesmiter on Magmadroth (340)
Runic Iron
– Magmadroth Trait: Lava-tongue Adult
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)**
Ancestral War-axe
– Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)**
Wyrmslayer Javelins
– Magmadroth Trait: Flame-scale Youngblood
Runelord (95)*
Allies

Battleline
15 x Auric Hearthguard (375)**
Reinforced x 2

Endless Spells & Invocations
Molten Infernoth (40)
Runic Fyrewall (40)
Zharrgron Flame-spitter (50)

Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Bounty Hunters

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 95 / 400
Wounds: 105
Drops: 8

Brett: Really great to have a Fyreslayers list on the podium. It’s been a bit of a surprise that the new book didn’t lead to more podiums but for a range of reasons they seem to have been held back. Kevin has chosen the Magmadroth lodge (Lofnir) that makes Runeson on Magmadroth battleline. It also gives them an extra 2 wounds and up to 3 may have mount traits. No accident that this army has 3 Magmadroths all with mount traits. Magmadroths are the books strongest unit with 18W and 12″ movement giving Fyreslayers much needed mobility. I should mention that Kevin has been restrained, there are Fyreslayers armies with 5 Magmadroths.

That isn’t all though, the prayers, traits and artefacts all combine to make this a very hard to kill army. It’s a great army for frustrating high damage but fragile opponents (DoK). They want to lure you in and then hit back hard. Even the Runelord is a good inclusion bringing an

Looking at his journey through the competition it’s difficult to see a good counter to the magma lizards. The Incarnate would on the surface seem to be a solid choice but if you don’t feed it endless spells then it will struggle to level. Morathi would have been an obstacle but again she would struggle to clear the Hearthguard with Battlesmith support and the Magmadroths will clear the Blood Sisters quickly. We have 3 Priests and the Battlesmith to provide buffs (wards) and heals as well as denies. In Fyreslayers endless spells are actually invocations and summoned by the priests. The army has all 3 pumping out mortal wounds or making nearby units very tanky. All of the top armies went 4/1 and this army scored very well throughout.

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Garth’s results from the Salt City GT

Allegiance: Fyreslayers
Lodge: Greyfyrd
– Mortal Realm: Aqshy
– Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)**
General
– Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker
– Artefact: Axe of Grimnir
– Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient
Auric Runemaster (125)**
Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Battlesmith (150)**
Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
Auric Runesmiter (135)**
Forge Key
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
– Prayer: Prayer of Ash

Battleline
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)*
Broadaxes
– Reinforced x 2
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)*
Broadaxes
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Molten Infernoth (40)
Runic Fyrewall (40)

Core Battalions
*Expert Conquerors
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 112
Drops: 7

Brett: A great result with Fyreslayers 4/1 with 4 rounds of maximum scoring (separated from 3rd by two points). This army is based around the hidden power of Hearthguard, with two big blocks being powered up by their small heroes and particularly the influence of the Battlesmith and his 4+ rally on them. The Battlesmith can grant a 4+ ward as well with his artefact which is very good for the Vulkite. The list has a lot of artefacts but that is a result of the lodge (Greyfyrd) which gives an additional 2 and grants +1 wound to foot heroes; it’s the obvious choice for this army. The Command Entourage provided another artefact. This makes a tooled up Auric Runefather with a pet who is fighting twice in one turn and has Axe of Grimnir making his main attack -2 Rend and 4 damage. A mobile and threatening monster killer.

Two Priests with an Arcane Tome to increase the casts/denies to 3. Fyreslayers don’t have a spell lore so a generic spell is listed. The Runemaster has the Volatile Brazier to reroll an invocation (prayer). Prayer of Ash is a defensive spell that reduces incoming wound rolls by 1. Very useful to keep those big blocks of Hearthguard around. The Hearthguard have the Broadaxe, in my opinion the more consistent and better weapon although they are hampered by their 5+ save. Near any Fyreslayers hero they also have a 4+ save though. To top off the list there is a Runic Firewall to block paths and maybe grant wards and a Molten Infernoth for some chip MW.

Solid performance with the army only dropping the round to Luke whose Maggotkin are more mobile. With the exception of one army they are all pretty tough armies, some with a lot of shooting, typically an area of weakness for Fyreslayers. They are a slow moving army and avoiding those Hearthguard would be the best option for trying to defeat them, but that’s easier said than done with those large blocks.

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Performance Against Other Factions

It looks like Fyreslayers armies love munching through Daughters of Khaine, Skaven and the expected lower tier factions. Meanwhile they struggle against Maggotkin of Nurgle and Sylvaneth.

Top 10 Players

Faction Focus – Stormcast Eternals

This article is a pilot (so to speak), if there’s enough interest and people find this informative then I’ll continue this with other factions. Let me know what you think!

Win Rate

While the most popular subfaction inside the Stormcast Eternals appears to be the Hammers of Sigmar, Hallowed Knights have the (ever so slightly) higher win rate. Both of these subfactions are inside the ideal 45-55% win range, although I’m sure some SCE players would rather that be on the other side of the 50% mark.

While Celestial Vindicators do have a 60% win rate, that’s only been driven by two players in the last month (two 3-0-2 results) and so is to early to judge.

The same goes for the Astral Templars, Tempest Lords and Anvils of Heldenhammer. There’s not enough data to draw conclusions from this, only that perhaps the fact they’re not being chosen would suggest that players believe they’ll have a higher chance of winning with the other subfactions.

However, players do appear to be struggling to get the wins with Knights Excelsior even though it is one of the more popular factions.

5 wins Results

DateTournamentName
17th July 2022Midwest Bash Tyler Emerson (USA)

4 wins Results

DateTournamentName
17th July 2022Midwest Bash John Lindsey (USA)
17th July 2022Midwest Bash Zano Korellio (USA)
24th July 2022BWG: Summer SlaughterRyan Lavoie (USA)
24th July 2022BWG: Summer SlaughterDavid Klamm (USA)
24th July 2022Miniparadice Anniversary TournamentAndreas Hölter (Germany)
24th July 2022Miniparadice Anniversary TournamentBastian Gerstner (Germany)
Players who achieved 4 wins at a GT

Other Results

Only the Hammers of Sigmar have achieved five wins at tournament so far, while Celestial Vindicators, Knights Excelsior and Hallowed Knights have all also achieved 4 wins.

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Top Lists

Top Three AoS Lists - 1st Place, Maggotkin of Nurgle

Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm)
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs

Leaders
Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (325)*
Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos (300)*
Knight-Relictor (140)*
General
– Command Trait: High Priest
– Prayer: Translocation
Lord-Castellant (155)*
Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Spell: Celestial Blades

Battleline
10 x Judicators with Skybolt Bows (400)**
Reinforced x 1
5 x Liberators (115)**
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1x Grandweapons
5 x Liberators (115)***
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1x Grandweapons

Units
10 x Protectors (450)***
– 4x Starsoul Maces
– Reinforced x 1

Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Expert Conquerors
***Bounty Hunters

Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Call for Aid
Holy Command: Unleash Thy Hatred

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 100
Drops: 8

Brett: A strong return to hero hammer, and after a year of experimenting it’s probably the best way to play Stormcast Eternals (SCE), with a very hero heavy list taking first. The list isn’t without it’s tricks however. Using a Knight Relictor vs a Lord Relictor, an uncommon choice, but when you are staying close to a particular unit – the judicators – the 6″ prayer range isn’t important. The model is more available and importantly saved the 5 points needed to make the list work. Bastian hits very hard (D4) and once per turn can inflict mortal wounds on a unit by rolling D6 against their wound characteristic, on a 6 inflicting a mortal wound. Into a Mega Gargant that’s an average of 6MW per turn. Anyone that plays 40k will recognise the Terminator block at the heart of the list, 10 Protectors. With half the models having Glaives they have +1 to save and can easily receive +1 to hit. As bounty hunters they receive a +1 to damage (D2 against Galletian Veterans). They are also inflicting 4D3 mortal wounds 80% of the time.

The Lord Castellan either stays with the Protectors (+1 to hit and +1 to Save) or the Liberators making the Liberators save on 2s with a 6+ ward near objectives. And Call for Aid means that there are 15 Liberators not 10 in this list. Even placing the judicators into Eternal Conquerors plays a roll, they will count as 30 models on objectives and attacking them exposes you to Unleash Hell. Usually they have the Relictor to translocate them to the rear, a real late game objective threat. The Celestant-Prime is a hero deleter, the trickiest part is whether to use him Turn 2 or 3. Usually in that turn Orrery will guarantee a successful charge. Without his shooting and arriving turn 3 that’s an average of 12wounds into the hero of his choice. Like Bastian he has a 4+ ward.

A very balanced list that deserves to go 5/0 it’s only real weakness is mobility. The combination of Scions and Steadfast March help a lot there as well. It was a very low scoring victory (65) indicating that board control and forcing the opponent off their game was a major part of the victory. In other words a very good general won using this list.

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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals
Army Type: Scions of the Storm
– Army Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
Krondys (600)*
Spells: Thundershock
Lord-Relictor (145)*
General
– Command Traits: High Priest
– Artefacts: Mirrorshield
– Prayers: Translocation

BATTLELINE
1 x Dracothian Guard Tempestors (440)*
Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows (190)*
Thunderbolt Crossbow
Dracothian Guard Desolators (220)**

ENDLESS SPELL
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

OTHER
Stormstrike Chariot (165)*
Stormstrike Axe and Tempestuous Spear
Stormstrike Chariot (165)**
Stormstrike Axe and Tempestuous Spear

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)

Brett: Another SCE list doing well, it’s only loss was to the eventual winner. In contrast to our first list this has brought some needed mobility. Interesting choices of Dracothian’s here; Tempestor’s (ranged) and Desolators (axe murderers). Tempestor’s will have an average of 4 hits from their 3 ranged attacks on top of their Dracothian’s breath attack. On top of that by using a unit of 2 for the Desolators they will almost always have an extra 2 attacks. Stormstrike Chariots are very mobile, hard to kill and their impact mortals make them dangerous to most opponents. Along with the Dracothian’s we have the Purple Sun and Krondys. The Purple sun is difficult to cast but Krondys gets a +3 to cast at his top profile making the Sun a CV of 5 and probably on the board from Turn 1. Importantly this list has 4 denies which is a big part of the current meta.

No Holy Command is included on the list but Thunderbolt Volley is likely, given the unreinforced unit of Judicators. All up a very different list to the winner with a lot of mobility but few units so a focus on killing your opponents. The lists he faced in this run up were interesting but ultimately until the last round very exposed to this combination of mobility and Mortal Wounds. Wound output into that Protector brisk wouldn’t have been enough. Well done on the 4/1 result.

Performance Against Other Factions

Stormcast success rates against other factions since the new GHB (Draws are considered 50% win and 50% loss)

Stormcast armies appear to have a great time against armies such as Cities of Sigmar, Hedonites of Slaanesh and Ironjawz. While they suffer against Disciples of Tzeentch, Kharadron Overlords and Slaves to Darkness.

Top 10 Players

Top Three AoS Lists for the Salt City GT

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Salt City GT that took place in New York, USA on 23rd and 24th July. It involved 31 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, 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.

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The Top Three AoS Lists

Top Three AoS Lists - 1st Place, Maggotkin of Nurgle

Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
Subfaction: Filthbringers
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Morbidex Twiceborn (320)
Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)***
General
– Command Trait: Grandfather’s Blessing
– Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)***
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Malignance: Magnificent Buboes
Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)***
Artefact: Rustfang
– Lore of Malignance: Cloying Quagmire

Battleline
10 x Putrid Blightkings (500)*
Reinforced x 1
10 x Plaguebearers (150)**
10 x Plaguebearers (150)**

Units
3 x Nurglings (105)***
3 x Plague Drones (200)**

Endless Spells & Invocations
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)
Quicksilver Swords (60)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Expert Conquerors
***Warlord

Total: 1975 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 137
Drops: 9

Brett: The sorcerous arm of Nurgle comes out to play and dominates the field going five wins, with all five Battle Tactics and his Grand Strategy for a full 35 points in each round. Three wizards here to take full advantage of the Filthbringers ability. Standing in a group (3″ of each other) they have a +3 to casts, unbinds and dispelling rolls. No coincidence then that there are 3 Endless Spells in the army. Purple Sun is casting on a 5+ (67% chance). Gnashing Jaws and Swords deal direct Mortal Wounds (CV3 with the buff), but they are a bit spicier here because they have the Nurgle keyword if cast by a Rotbringer; applying disease points from their presence and if they do damage.

Morbidex is a little more unusual but gives solid combat punch to the army that might lack that (Rend -1, -2 and -3 on different weapons) while still naturally very tanky. 12 wounds, 3+ save and 5+ ward who heals half the wounds taken every round. That’s 54 damage at 0 rend to bring him down in a single round. And as the king of the Nurglings, he can return one unit of Nurglings per turn, the army has a swarm of them to keep him company.

The army plays into the Season 1 battalions but I don’t think the list correctly marks them, because Plague Drones are mounted (and not Galletian Veterans). Plaguebearers are in Eternal Conquerors so they count as 3 models each on objectives.

Blightkings in Bounty Hunters is a good move for such a big investment. The combination of Blightkings as the hammer with the Plague Drones and Endless Spells makes this a very mobile (for Nurgle) army. Alternatively park the Blightkings in the middle and dare your opponent to remove their 240 effective wounds. The Command Trait gives a little bit more control to the Cycle of Corruption and Arcane Tome gives an extra cast to a Rotbringer (4 total). There’s also the cheeky inclusion of Rustfang to scare off enemy heroes if they attack the Rotbringers.

Beyond the Endless Spells we also have Gift of Disease (spread disease points), Magnificent Buboes (debuff enemy hero) and Cloying Quagmire to slow an enemy and reduce the potential for charges.

A successful and innovative army that shows the depths of the Nurgle book. We haven’t even delved into the Cycle of Corruption and summoning (teleporting for fun) but the mixture of de-buffs, resilience, movement and multiple casts would make this both fun to play and difficult to play against.

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Allegiance: Fyreslayers
Lodge: Greyfyrd
– Mortal Realm: Aqshy
– Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)**
General
– Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker
– Artefact: Axe of Grimnir
– Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient
Auric Runemaster (125)**
Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Battlesmith (150)**
Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
Auric Runesmiter (135)**
Forge Key
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
– Prayer: Prayer of Ash

Battleline
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)*
Broadaxes
– Reinforced x 2
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)*
Broadaxes
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Molten Infernoth (40)
Runic Fyrewall (40)

Core Battalions
*Expert Conquerors
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 112
Drops: 7

Brett: A great result with Fyreslayers 4/1 with 4 rounds of maximum scoring (separated from 3rd by two points). This army is based around the hidden power of Hearthguard, with two big blocks being powered up by their small heroes and particularly the influence of the Battlesmith and his 4+ rally on them. The Battlesmith can grant a 4+ ward as well with his artefact which is very good for the Vulkite. The list has a lot of artefacts but that is a result of the lodge (Greyfyrd) which gives an additional 2 and grants +1 wound to foot heroes; it’s the obvious choice for this army. The Command Entourage provided another artefact. This makes a tooled up Auric Runefather with a pet who is fighting twice in one turn and has Axe of Grimnir making his main attack -2 Rend and 4 damage. A mobile and threatening monster killer.

Two Priests with an Arcane Tome to increase the casts/denies to 3. Fyreslayers don’t have a spell lore so a generic spell is listed. The Runemaster has the Volatile Brazier to reroll an invocation (prayer). Prayer of Ash is a defensive spell that reduces incoming wound rolls by 1. Very useful to keep those big blocks of Hearthguard around. The Hearthguard have the Broadaxe, in my opinion the more consistent and better weapon although they are hampered by their 5+ save. Near any Fyreslayers hero they also have a 4+ save though. To top off the list there is a Runic Firewall to block paths and maybe grant wards and a Molten Infernoth for some chip MW.

Solid performance with the army only dropping the round to Luke whose Maggotkin are more mobile. With the exception of one army they are all pretty tough armies, some with a lot of shooting, typically an area of weakness for Fyreslayers. They are a slow moving army and avoiding those Hearthguard would be the best option for trying to defeat them, but that’s easier said than done with those large blocks.

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Top Three AoS Lists - 3rd place, Legion of the First Prince

Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
Army Type: Ironjawz
– Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)*
General
– Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh!
– Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth Fist
– Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
– Spell: Bash ‘Em Ladz
1 x Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Get ‘Em Beat
1 x Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Get Fixin’ Beat

BATTLELINE
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)**
Jagged Gore-Hackas
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)**
Jagged Gore-Hackas
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-Hackas
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-Hackas

INVOCATIONS & ENDLESS SPELLS
Purple Sun of Hysh (70)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)

Brett: What is there to say, Ironjawz are awesome, but this is a Mawcrusha and 18 piggies. There is no subtlety here – these are coming across the board as fast as they can. Both of the big blocks are in Bounty Hunters to boost their damage against GV. The inclusion of an Arcane Tome on the Mawcrusher is interesting, presumably for the Purple Sun. The Purple Sun and Bash ‘Em Ladz have the same casting value (8). Get the Sun out as soon as possible and then try and get the +1 to wounds from Bash em ladz?

First turn (or any turn really, but only one) that Mawcrusha can move 36″ with Fast ‘un and Mighty Destroyer’s. While Tyler would like you to go first and move closer, he really doesn’t need it on most AoS boards. At least one of the big Gore-grunta units will also have a 3D6 from Get ’em ladz. However this is a 3 drop army, we are seeing a lot of larger drops at the moment which might give Tyler an edge.

This is a massive alpha strke army that you want to avoid until you can wear them down. It’s important to remember not only Mighty Destroyers but Touched by the Waagh. The Megaboss can call his Waagh any time and then everything is rerolling their charges, a wall of charging Gore Gruntas. His only loss was to the eventual winner, those Blightkings being just the thing to weather a massive charge.

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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
Army Type: Kruleboyz
– Army Subfaction: Big Yellers
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x One-eyed Grunnock (470)
1 x Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (315)*
General
– Command Traits: Supa Sneaky
– Artefacts: Vial of Manticore Venom
– Mount Traits: Weird ’Un
1 x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)*
Spells: Da Black Pit
1 x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)*
Spells: Levitate

BATTLELINE
6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)*
Boltboy Boss
6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)*
Boltboy Boss
10 x Gutrippaz (180)*
Gutrippa Banner Bearer
– Gutrippa Drummer
– Wicked Stikka
6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)*
Boltboy Boss

OTHER
10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1975/2000)

Brett: For our extra list today we’ve chosen the 5th place, another Ork list, Kruleboyz going 4/1. Mass ork shooting with a Giant friend. And some Hobgrots. Again it’s a pretty straight forward list, you have the choice of either closing with the infantry and being shot. Or you can focus on the Giant (Sons of Behemat) so it can’t rampage, and be shot. It all fits in a Battle Regiment and is one drop.

Including Grunnock is interesting, a 35 wound stomping model will take a lot of focus for most armies. As a monster with a vicious stomp attack, the ability to ignore screens or engagement to an extent and mortal wounds (MW) on the charge it’s a lot to deal with. Keep it within 15″ of at least one Bolt Boyz unit and a Shaman and they’ll be able to pepper whatever is trying to deal with it with MW (on a 5+). The challenge is to use the bows without exposing them, Big Yellers helps by extending their range by 3″ (to 27″). This means Sentinels, Judicators or Raptors will still outrange them but a lot of armies only have 18″ on their archers. Even with the Hobgrots there don’t seem to be enough screens, and small units of Gutripperaz seem to melt quickly.

I’d be tempted to increase one of the Boltboyz to a 9 and drop one of the 6s. If you drop the grots you would have enough for another Gutrippaz unit. They won’t have poison unless they are within 12″ of the Sludgeraker but it feels more robust and still very damaging. That said this army as written went 4/1 so Jeff knows what he’s doing. The Sludgeraker is a great unit to anchor the lines against to make use of it’s Sludgeraker Venom and it’s attacks, you want to keep it healed up to maximise the number of 2 damage attacks. As included he allows a redeploy (Supa Sneaky), Manticore Venom is straight damage increase and Weird ‘un gives a 4+ ward against spells, with the buffed Endless Spells that’s a good idea.

Super solid performance and a good showing with Kruleboyz bringing their sneaky shenanigans – especially a big smelly mercenary (what do you pay a giant anyway?)

Final Tournament Placings

Woehammer’s 1st Birthday – Declan!

It’s been a roller-coaster of a year for me and Woehammer, and we’ve decided to look back at the highs, the lows, and perhaps a glance at the next year. Peter will of course be leading the celebrations, but I wanted to bring in my own thoughts as well.

Where It Started

Last year, as COVID restrictions were being lifted across the UK, Peter invited me to do an article or two for Woehammer. I was just looking at getting back into the Age of Sigmar tournament scene which had woken up from its enforced hibernation, and welcomed the chance to throw down a few words and thoughts! Who knew that the readers of the blog would want to listen to them.

The Start of the Journey

My first set of articles were about my beloved Gloomspite Gitz. With a new edition just released I had to give them a go and see if I could make them work. From the title, you may be able to guess the outcome of my first one-dayer at the Honest Wargamer‘s location in Nottingham.

That’s a Rippa!

My first article that really took off was a review of Rippa’s Snarlfangs warscroll. These little Grots were making their way into loads of my armies – mostly Ironjawz at that point – and they were a great little addition. So I decided to let you all know.

It was great to chat in real life at tournaments about them, and seeing them appear in people’s Destruction lists in the UK. It’s a sporadic series, that I could do with doing more often, but the warscroll reviews are always popular articles.

A 5-0 for the site!

At the beginning of the year I set myself some Hobby Goals, one of which was to get two 4-1 results during the year. Well I smashed it out of the park with a 5-0 at Dazmaul in March. I had been on an amazing run with my Big Waaagh and a Wurgogg who wouldn’t stop killing enemies, and refused to die. It was definitely a highlight for me, and it was great to be able to share it with the community.

Not Just Age of Sigmar

As Peter and I have been wargaming for a long time, we don’t of course only play Age of Sigmar, and I play as much Warmaster as I can – though not enough for my liking! Fortunately, Iain Standing has produced some great videos over on the YouTube to explain the game and get new people back into the Hobby!

Books, Books, Books!

The great thing about Woehammer is that Peter will let me post whatever I want! He’s even given my admin access in an attack of carelessness… so I’ve done articles that I would like to read. And as a reader this is book reviews! There’s already a good selection and most of the Siege of Terra – so go searching and hopefully you’ll find your next Warhammer read.

What about Year 2

Well, there’ll be fewer tournament reviews from me, as I’ve spent a few too many weekends away from home and have a got a new job that involves travelling each day. So, with fewer tournaments what can our readers expect? Well more Hobby, and more armchair analysis! I intend to keep posting and hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it.

Thanks for being with us throughout the year! Happy Woehammer anniversary.