This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Nashcon GT that took place in the USA on 20th and 21st August. It involved 32 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

The format for this event was slightly different, in that every player built two lists and chose which of their lists to use based on the opponent before the round began. To keep this article short, we’re analysing their first lists only and the opponent’s first list has been used when showing their path through the tournament.

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The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Seraphon
– Constellation: Fangs of Sotek
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Slann Starmaster (265)***
– General
– Command Trait: Arcane Might
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Spell: Stellar Tempest
Skink Starpriest (130)*
– Spell: Hand of Glory
Skink Priest (90)*
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)*
– Artefact: Serpent God Dagger

Battleline
10 x Skinks (75)**
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
10 x Skinks (75)**
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
30 x Skinks (225)**
– Boltspitters & Moonstone Clubs
– Reinforced x 2
5 x Saurus Guard (115)*

Units
2 x Salamander Hunting Pack (280)***
– Reinforced x 1
2 x Salamander Hunting Pack (280)***
– Reinforced x 1

Behemoths
Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (165)***

Endless Spells & Invocations
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Horrorghast (40)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Expert Conquerors
***Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1950 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 116
Drops: 8

Danny: Who can stop Ridge Hanna? The Season of War vet is a died in the wool Seraphon expert, and his Fangs of Sotek list is the one to beat.

We’ve covered it before, and no doubt we’ll be forced to cover it again… but on the off-chance you’re new to it, here’s how it works.

Unlike Thunder Lizard, who’re all about big beasties and Scaly Skin for the -1 damage, Fangs is all about tricksy movement and summoning. Units are able to come down from reserves near a Slann, and one unit per turn can teleport – this makes the Salamanders – free from giving up extra points since the latest GHB – a tactical nuke who can safely materialise near an enemy threat and nuke them. God forbid if they make the charge too.

Meanwhile, all the skinks have a small pre-game move for grabbing objectives, and can run away after unleashing hell on a 4+ once charged, meaning most of the time they’re incredibly hard to pin down – and with the buffs the various Skink heroes can throw out, they can end up doing serious damage too.

The reason the Slann has Arcane Tome is because of the Coalesced summoning mechanic – using up a spell slot grants an additional d3 summoning points, so the Tome allows him to rack those up and still use his super valuable normal spells into the bargain. On average, Ridge should be able to summon two more salamanders into the fray, or if, for some reason, he’s struggling with objective, a whole load more skinks.

A techy, frustrating to pin down list with some real teeth that proves Seraphon are far from a one trick-dinopony.

Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Subfaction: Blessed Sons
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Lord of Afflictions (210)*
– General
– Command Trait: Overpowering Stench
– Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations
Bloab Rotspawned (300)*
– Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
Orghotts Daemonspew (300)

Battleline
10 x Plaguebearers (150)**
10 x Plaguebearers (150)**
5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)**
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)***
– 1x Dolorous Tocsin

Units
3 x Plague Drones (200)***
1 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (110)*
1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*
– Allies

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Expert Conquerors
***Bounty Hunters

Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 95 / 400
Wounds: 143
Drops: 7

Ethan: Writing analysis of this feels a bit like cheating. For those not in the know, Tyler Emerson is one of the illustrious regular guests of Vince Venturella of Warhammer Weekly and “being considerably better than ok at painting” fame. Tyler spoke about his list on their most recent show, make sure to check it out if you’re after a more in-depth dive!

Getting to it, there are a fair few elements of this list setting it apart from the drone spam we’ve all come over time to know and resent. Blessed sons provides a nice platform for a mixed arms list employing more of Nurgle’s toolkit than we’re perhaps used to. The Lord of afflictions eschews the usual splithorn helm, sacrificing some resilience in exchange for rancid visitations, one of the best anti-horde spells in the game though, without other casting support, this is by no means consistent. The two Maggoth lords are incredibly strong pieces, providing all the usual benefits of behemoth-lords with Nurgle resilience and a small amount of spell-dom play, or great combat play. Combined these two give the list a capacity to play broadly across the map with the core of the list holding one flank while the creatively named heroes hold the other.

Plaguebearers and Blightkings form a durable core for holding objectives and placing them in Expert Conquerors makes retaking objectives a real commitment from the opponent while the Plague drones and Pusgoyles in a Bounty Hunter Battalion provide a mobile cav hammer which hits hard and takes a hit well in return. The two really interesting pieces of tech taken by Tyler in this list are the Mindstealer Sphiranx which has an ability to make enemies fight last, winning him at least one game singlehandedly, per his view. The other is his Battalions, he’s taken an “all the toys” approach to his regular units but has eschewed the usually accompanying Command Entourage/Warlord in favour of a Battle regiment to lower his drops. This isn’t going to give him priority vs anyone taking a Battle Regiment+ setup but does ensure he outdrops anyone taking the abovementioned Entourage or Warlord. Very clever decision making here.

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
– Procession: Scarlet Doom
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Guardian of Souls (150)*
– Artefact: Midnight Tome
– Lore of the Underworlds: Seal of Shyish
Krulghast Cruciator (150)*
Spirit Torment (115)*
Spirit Torment (115)
– General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist

Units
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)**
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)**
– Reinforced x 1
9 x Spirit Hosts (375)***
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Chainrasps (110)***
10 x Chainrasps (110)***
4 x Myrmourn Banshees (105)**

Endless Spells
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

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

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 112
Drops: 10

Ethan: Nate Trentanelli has proven he can win with a variety of armies and so it is only fitting that he see success with current meta darling, Nighthaunt. This list relies on a central castle built around the Krulghast Cruciator and it’s aura of -1 damage. Throw in Shademist (-1 to wound) and Seal of Shyish (5+ ward save) and all of a sudden your charge-heavy, mortal wound spamming Nighthaunt units are a brick that the opponent will struggle to displace. This kind of list sees great success in the current GHB as it has the versatility to play for multiple areas of the board or, as many current battleplans demand, meet your opponent in the middle and win the brawl for objective scoring. Nate has run the increasingly prevalent triple battalion of Expert Conquerors, Bounty Hunters and Command Entourage meaning he’s capturing better than you with his durable units, hitting hard on your units designed to do the same, and has access to the tools required to build and maintain this kind of board presence.

Also worth noting in this list is the Midnight tome – Purple Sun combination, guaranteeing the purple sun will come out for the Nighthaunt. Nighthaunt don’t mind losing a ghost or two when they’re bringing back d6 + d3 per round and their unmodifiable saves form a perfect combination with the sun. Myrmournes provide a brutal capstone on this, giving an additional chance to unbind any spell or endless spell affecting the area nearby. In combination, your opponent is far less likely to affect the board state with their magic while you have utter certainty that your sun is coming out at a crucial moment, creating a brutal momentum swing.

Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords
– Lineage: Kastelai Dynasty
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Coven Throne (290)
– General
– Command Trait: Rousing Commander
– Artefact: Fragment of the Keep
– Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions
Neferata, Mortarch of Blood (365)*
– Lore of the Deathmages: Fading Vigour
Vampire Lord (140)*
– Artefact: Grave-sand Shard
Watch Captain Halgrim (80)*

Battleline
10 x Blood Knights (390)***
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)**
10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)**
10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)**

Units
5 x Black Knights (100)
5 x Black Knights (100)*
20 x Grave Guard (280)***
– Great Wight Blades
– Reinforced x 1

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

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 134
Drops: 11

Danny: Soulblight are slowly settling into their new competitive bracket of ‘close but no cigar’, it seems – the cool thing is, the breadth and relative internal balance of the book means that there’s plenty of variety between contenders.

This list is a nice, thematic looking balance of stuff, wrapped in Kastelai, which is edging out the others as Lineage of choice due to the strong selection of artifacts/command traits, the ability to make the excellent Blood Knights battleline, and the sub-faction trait that gives vampire units permanent, stacking buffs depending on what kind of unit they kill.

The Coven Throne is often a lynchpin of Kastelai lists, mainly due to its command ability, offering one unit +1 hit, wound _and_ save. Pretty bonkers value for 1CP although you are paying a fair whack of points for it, given it doesn’t do a huge amount else. Neferata is also starting to challenge Mannfred as Mortarch of choice due to her spell to make a unit unrendable – dicey in the current magic-dominance meta, but when it does go off, combined with the above…you can imagine the shenanigans. She’s also a decent, mobile beatstick in her own right and has a dagger with a chance to auto-kill a unit if it inflicts wounds that aren’t saved, so she’s an excellent mind-warfare pick.

Watch Captain Halgrim might look like an odd and rare pick, and he is – but he offers up to 3 skellies (and the list takes all 3, conveniently) a 4″ ‘auto-run’ for 1 CP, which is a good way of guaranteeing they get up the board together.

Outside of that is standard but useful fair – the currently ever-present 20 Graveguard brick who are also an excellent recipient of the Coven Throne’s CA, and 2 units of Black Knights who are cheap, fast, and summonable – meaning they can start in grave sites.

A nicely mostly-mounted list with a few tricks up its raggedy sleeves that clearly works!

Final Tournament Placings (Top 32)