This is the top three AoS lists for the Northern Masters that took place in Scotland on 21st and 22nd January. It involved 16 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.

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

Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes
– Mawtribe: Underguts
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Bloodpelt Hunter (140)**
Butcher (140)**
– General
– Cleaver
– Command Trait: Reluctant Rabble-rouser
– Artefact: Gruesome Trophy Rack
– Lore of Gutmagic: Blubbergrub Stench
Huskard on Stonehorn (400)**
– Blood Vulture
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate

Battleline
4 x Leadbelchers (170)*
4 x Leadbelchers (170)*
6 x Ogor Gluttons (260)*
– Paired Ogor Clubs or Bluntblades

Units
20 x Gnoblars (120)**

Artillery
Ironblaster (200)
Ironblaster (200)
Ironblaster (200)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 132
Drops: 10

Regular readers of this column (and if you’re not – why??) may remember some previous 1st place Ogor lists – and they may also recall that my response to them is, at kindest, best called ‘sassy’.

Well, dear reader, I hope you like your sass piled high. Because even after the recent minor points hikes, we’re still looking down the meaty barrel of three giant shooting platforms with a 30″ 2x 4/2/-2 for D3+3 dmg (and +1 rend for 3 total in Underguts) profile and an arguably even scarier ‘short range’ (i.e. 12″ with a 9″ move factoring in the new Hungry rule) profile for 10 attacks at 3/3/-2/2 (that’s inc. Underguts bonus). Sass is my coping mechanism.

They’re supported by the typical 20 Gnoblar blob that do mortals (even post-FAQ…) each time you end any kind of move near them, 2 units of rend 2 Leadbelchers and a blob of Gluttons so greedy they’re prepared to literally eat lead – at least that’s my head-canon for why missile attacks are -1 to wound into them.

Rounding things off are a sneaky Bloodpelt Hunter, a support Butcher and the typical enhancement stacked Stonehorn – in this instance a lesser known Huskard, who enjoys a -1 to hit in melee ability, a healing prayer a +1 to wound prayer and the perennial Rockmane Elder mount trait for -1 to wound – good luck killing him, you’re going to need it.

Andrew’s route to 5-0 included the famously weak in melee Idoneth, that Kruleboyz faction with the rubbish rule that you can’t see them beyond 12″, a newly-extremely-expensive Thunder Lizard list, some Stormcast (who I imagine the Ogors opening like tin-cans) and the notoriously easy to kill Nurgle.

In all seriousness, gratz to Andrew as those were likely some tough opponents to beat out with such an elite army, but Ogors definitely still have the tools to continue their ravenous rampage it seems.

Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Indominatable

Leaders
Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)*
– General
– Command Trait: Father of the Storm
– Artefact: Horn of the Tempest
– Lore of Dark Storms: Hailstorm
Great Bray-Shaman (100)*
– Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Wild Rampage
Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)*
– Axe
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Allies

Battleline
10 x Ungors (65)**
– Mauls & Half-Shields
10 x Ungors (65)**
– Mauls & Half-Shields
9 x Dragon Ogors (435)***
– 6x Paired Ancient Weapons
– Reinforced x 2
6 x Dragon Ogors (290)***
– 6x Paired Ancient Weapons
– Reinforced x 1

Units
6 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Disc of Beasts of Chaos (360)***
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Disc of Beasts of Chaos (180)*
1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*
– Allies

Endless Spells & Invocations
Ravening Direflock (30)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Expert Conquerors
***Bounty Hunters
Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 305 / 400
Wounds: 164
Drops: 6

It’s Beasts of Chaos with 9 Enlightened on Disks. What do you want me to say? Their new book is about a month away, which will hopefully give me something new to write about.

It’s just all so old and janky. They get their own stuff, possibly the old Chaos stuff (depending on whether the event was allowing the technically illegal until yesterday Slaves tome) and the best of the new Tzeentch stuff, all propped up by a wildly over-tuned Tome Celestial.

GW are looking down from their ivory tower at these lists and holding their noses while the new book slowly hoofs its way into public existence to shake its wiry mane and proclaim, ‘Beasts are dead! Long live Beasts!’ Only they decided not to update the model range because fugly models are the price you pay for putting lipstick on a pig-monster. Pearls before swine? This metaphor is as broken and mixed up as the Beasts book itself.

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
– Procession: Scarlet Doom
– Grand Strategy: Fright or Flight
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Spirit Torment (120)***
Guardian of Souls (150)***
– General
– Command Trait: Ruler of the Spirit Hosts
– Artefact: Lightshard of the Harvest Moon
– Lore of the Underworlds: Seal of Shyish
Spirit Torment (120)***
Krulghast Cruciator (150)***
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist

Battleline
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Spirit Hosts (130)**
5 x Hexwraiths (170)*
10 x Grimghast Reapers (160)**
10 x Bladegheist Revenants (180)**

Units
4 x Myrmourn Banshees (100)***

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

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 104
Drops: 11

The Scarlet Doom terror strikes again, ticking all of the boxes, 50 Bladegheists, Myrmourn Banshees for spell shenanigans Spirit Hosts for Bodyguards, and Hexwraiths for mobility and a cast of minor, interesting heroes. The Grimghast are rarer, and there are no Chainrasps to the disappointment of true Nighthaunt fans. For anyone who doesn’t know this list, it will flow across the board, ignoring your high quality, high rend attacks, and striking fear into your units. With Hexwraiths to take any exposed objectives. The Guardian of Souls and Spirit Torments will return models (mostly to the Bladegheist) each turn, and Krulghast is an auto include for his damage reduction.

It controls the centre well, holding a back objective as well and ticks off Battle Tactics (or did, Season 2 might be different). However, if an opponent can lift one of Bladegheist units in a turn, then this army will struggle. To do that reliably, you need a lot of relatively low quality attacks (1 damage). Unfortunately, the 2nd (Tempestors and Drakes) and 5th (Dragon Ogres) round opponents had the means to shut down our heroes. Great performance and another army it will be interesting to see how they go in Season 2 after being a clear leader in the last 6 months.

Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals
– Army Type: Stormkeep
– Army Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable
– Holy Command: Pray for Aid

LEADER
1 x Celestant-Prime (330)*
1 x Drakesworn Templar (400)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Tempest Axe
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Mount Traits: Celestial Instincts
– Spells: Celestial Blades
1 x Slann Starmaster (290)*

BATTLELINE
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)*
5 x Liberators (120)*
– Liberator-Prime
– Grandweapon
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield
5 x Liberators (120)*
– Liberator-Prime
– Grandweapon
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Everblaze Comet (90)
1 x The Burning Head (30)

OTHER
3 x The Farstriders (90)*

BATTLE REGIMENT *

TOTAL POINTS: (1950/2000)

Some real surprises here, a magic heavy (for Stormcast) list with 3 big heroes backed by a single big hammer unit and solid screens. There are not a lot of units, but extreme mobility/flexibility, and it does away with the need for a teleport in the list. The Drakesworn Templar works either as a hammer or an anvil for the Fulminators. With his ranged attacks (Unleash Hell) and the Tempest Axe reducing pile-ins, he is a dangerous anvil that takes serious force to move with a 4+ save. With the points drop in the latest GHB, we might see more of him. And if castled near the Slann (18”) he is granting +1 to cast on top of the Slann’s +1. With plenty of ranged Mortal wounds on offer (Comet’s Call, Burning Head and Everblaze Comet), this is a surprisingly deadly ranged army. Celestial Blades to give the Fulminators a well-deserved 2+ to wound.

The tricks don’t end there, Stormkeep making the Liberators effectively Galletian Veterans (count as 3 on objectives) while still in a Battle Regiment – Scions isn’t really useful in this list. Hammers of Sigmar for the blue and gold and a handy 6+ ward on objectives. Along with Call to Aid to return a unit of Liberators if necessary. And finally, there is the Celestant-Prime to remove something important and the equally mobile Farstriders. A very cheap unit with an inbuilt teleport. They aren’t likely to do a lot of damage, but they have a 12” range attack as well as melee, potentially creating a lot of issues for a lightly defended point. All of this is just to say this is a very flexible army that is difficult to counter. Reflecting that approach, Stu had 4 very close games, only losing or winning by a handful of points, tense close fought battles. This list would do well in a teams format, and with a little luck, it could have gone 5 and 0 (the 2 loses were by 1 and 3 pts). With the new GHB here now, it would be interesting to see where this list goes,

Final Tournament Placings