It’s going to be the biggest tournament ever held in Scotland. So big, that Games Workshop are offering the winner a golden ticket to the Atlanta Open! 72 Players are registered to fight it out this weekend as Scotland’s top dog.
We’ve been kindly given a run down of all the lists for this years events (of those submitted anyway), and we can now start going through them and comparing this to the Meta. We’ll also look at the players and their performances over the last year to try and get an idea who’ll finish top dog.
Broken Realms have also shared some of their own stats!
Six Lumineth Lists with four containing Teccy! Two players feeling particularly confident there! Alongside Teccy, across five of the six lists, there are a total of 180 Sentinels. Yes, someone didn’t take Sentinels and has gone heavy on the Angus!
Three Daughters of Khaine players and only one Morathi among them? What’s going on?!
Four Gloomspite Gitz lists with two of those going for the Cream of Mushroom Soup – Jaws of Mork. Three of these lists also contain Skaggy.
Faction Popularity
The Broken Realms player split, doesn’t at all follow the current worldwide meta trend. Slaves to Darkness are the most popular faction still, but this is followed by Lumineth Realm-Lords and Fyreslayers rather than Stormcast Eternals or Ogor Mawtribes.
Seraphon also have a large representation of 5 armies, where when using the worldwide trend, we’d have only expected 1 army.
Grand Strategies
Most players chose either a Strategy from their factions Battletome or Take What’s Theirs (More units than the opponent, inside opponent’s territory).
And, understandably, no one went for Tame the Land (control all the objectives on the battlefield wholly outside your territory).
Triumphs
Players that have lists with 1,980 points or less are more likely to be able to use their triumph
Drops
The average amount of drops for an army at Broken Realms is 5.7. If you’re attending and you have less than this, you’re more likely to have the choice of priority in turn 1.
Player Rankings
Here is our full run down of everyone’s stats that is attending since July 2022, and has previously attended at least one GT (that we’re aware of), sorted by their win rates,
So, JJ (Stormcast) is probably the odds on favourite with a huge win rate of 83% this year that can’t be ignored. Trev Moffat (Big Waaagh!) and Hogg Euan (Bonereapers) are close behind with 80% but have only attended a single GT each this year, I also think Boneboyz will struggle in a larger GT. My pick for 2nd would go to David Jack (Lumineth), another seasoned veteran with a win rate of 79% and a meta leading faction as his army choice. Nathan Watson (Gloomspite) – vice captain of the Scottish AoS Team is my choice for third, who also has the experience and another meta leading faction choice to possibly see him though to four or five wins.
Exciting event, I’m looking forward to seeing the results and talking to the top three about their lists. Good luck to everyone taking part a
The primarch of the first legion has awoken from his slumber and returned to our tabletops. His rules are the latest Warhammer Community reveal. Let’s take a look at what he offers.
His stat line is very comparable to Guilliman’s, which makes sense as he could be argued as the ‘vanilla’ primarch. However there are some improvements including number of attacks and, most surprisingly, an additional leadership point.
The Lion does not come across as being especially tough either. With only toughness 6 and 9 wounds it would not take much for heavy weaponry to remove him from the field. There is currently no mention of a resurrection rule for him either so once he’s gone that’s it! He does have a couple of tricks up his sleeves though…
As with most Space Marine characters the Lion comes with a 4+ invulnerable save in the form of his shield. Whilst this is pretty solid it wouldn’t take many unsaved shots from heavy damage weapons (or a certain faction that can ignore invulnerable saves…) to put him back into his slumber.
This also has the ability to reflect melee attacks, dealing mortal wounds (to a maximum of 3) on any unmodified save rolls of 6. So coupled with his sword, Fealty, he is a definite melee threat.
The sweep profile will give him a total of 20 attacks into a single unit so, at strength 6 and AP of -3, that is most standard units sliced up in quick succession even without the 2 damage each wound causes. Then there is also a strike profile that gives him strength 10 attacks at AP -5 and 4 damage apiece. With a potential 40 damage output (averaging about 5.5 successful wounds, or 20- 22 damage, against most targets up to toughness 9 before saving throws) he has the potential to deal with most large foes.
The most interesting reveal is his ability to deep strike using the Forestwalk ability.This is a particularly good deep strike as it allows you to re-roll a charge roll. As the Lion appears to be fairly fragile against shooting this would be a game-changing roll.
As is the current issue with the existing edition, I see the Lion being another high value model that will either be snuffed out before he finishes his morning coffee or an absolute machine that will decimate an army as he moves from engagement to engagement. We have, however, not been shown his entire ruleset yet and there is no mention of a firearm. There is definitely one on the model and I doubt somehow that it will just be a heavy bolt pistol.
What are your thoughts on the Lion? Are his rules even worth looking at with the imminent re-write coming with 10th edition? Let me know!
This is the top three AoS lists for War Under the Mountain that took place in Australia on the 25th and 26th of March. It involved 19 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
As this event had less than 20 players attending there won’t be any list comments here as the guys will be concentrating on the larger events of the week.
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: Kharadron Overlords – Sky Port: Barak Zon – Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies – Triumphs: Inspired
Kharadron Code – Artycle: Honour Is Everything – Amendment: Prosecute Wars With All Haste – Footnote: There’s No Reward Without Risk
Leaders Arkanaut Admiral (125)* – General – Command Trait: Stormcaller – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha Aetheric Navigator (85)** – Artefact: Voidstone Orb
Battleline 6 x Skywardens (260)** – Reinforced x 1 6 x Skywardens (260)** – Reinforced x 1 6 x Skywardens (260)* – Reinforced x 1
Other Units 1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)** – Main Gun: Sky Cannon – Gunhauler Modifications: Coalbeard’s Collapsible Compartments 3 x Endrinriggers (120)** 3 x Endrinriggers (120)*
Behemoths Arkanaut Frigate (300)* – Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon Arkanaut Frigate (300)** – Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness – Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – The Lore of the Damned: Chaotic Conduit – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Battleline 6 x Varanguard (580)* – 6x Fellspear – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Reinforced x 1 6 x Varanguard (580)* – 6x Fellspear – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Reinforced x 1 6 x Varanguard (580)* – 6x Fellspear – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Reinforced x 1
Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine – Temple: Zainthar Kai – Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Hag Queen (120)* – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master – Prayers of Khainite Cult: Crimson Rejuvenation Anointed on Frostheart Phoenix (320) – Allies Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood (300)* – General – Command Trait: Zealous Orator – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Shadows: Mindrazor – Prayers of Khainite Cult: Sacrament of Blood
Battleline 15 x Blood Sisters (450)* – Reinforced x 2 10 x Blood Stalkers (360)* – Reinforced x 1 5 x Blood Sisters (150)*
Units 5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (100)* 5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (100)*
Leaders Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (260)* Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290) – Artefact: Mork’s Eye Pebble – Mount Trait: Mean ‘Un Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (130)* – General – Command Trait: Supa Sneaky – Artefact: Eye-biter Ash Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Nasty Hex Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Murknob with Belcha-banna (80)*** – Aspect of the Champion: TunnelMaster
Battleline 20 x Gutrippaz (300)*** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Gutrippaz (150)* 20 x Hobgrot Slittaz (160)** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)**
Units 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)** – Reinforced x 1
One of the major announcements for 40k’s Tenth Edition was the changes to the datasheets and the production of data cards with all the unit information included. One of my favourite parts of Age of Sigmar, and other similar games, is having as much information on the table top in front of you as possible, so you don’t have to constantly look at apps and books. So this is a very welcome addition!
Let’s take a closer look at what is included on the cards:
The unit stats appear to stay mostly the same in regards to Movement, Toughness, Save, and Wounds. Leadership is still present, but there is talk of a new way of applying Battleshock, which will be revealed in the coming weeks. What we know so far is that it will be included in the command phase and will affect how the unit acts rather than killing models.
There is also a brand new stat included, which is listed as “OC”. According to the FAQ article, on the Warhammer Community site, this stands for Objective Control and is ‘a measure of how good a unit is at holding a contested objective’. Now, will this be a measure per model? As a unit of 20 termagants could have an OC score of up to 40 if they sit around an objective (to be fair, not much else will get on the objective if that is the case!). We shall see!
Interestingly, the Strength, Ballistic and Weapons Skills and the Attacks characteristics have been moved to the specific weapons instead of being in the unit stats. I imagine this is to remove the weapon modifiers and instead have the given characteristic in the weapon information. For example – a marine with a thunder hammer currently has a WS of 3+, and the hammer’s weapon abilities state “Subtract 1 from the attack’s hit roll”. I can see this instead of just saying WS 4+ on the weapons stat line. This can also apply with weapons like the Astartes Chainsword (+1 attack) and the Power Sword (+1 strength). I personally welcome having these modifiers included in the stat line as it will be easier to apply stat changes to help balance weapon profiles.
I have also noticed that there doesn’t appear to be a space for specific weapon abilities outside of the keywords listed alongside the weapon name. This must mean they are going to make full use of their new “Universal Special Rules” application to simplify this. I am intrigued to see more on these moving forward!
The abilities section is also useful as having all the unit abilities listed for reference will make it much easier to remember everything that is going on.
Apparently, a lot of the abilties and stratagems are going to become reactive. The example given on the Termagant card, “Skulking Horror”, appears to be a good example of this as it allows you to move the termagants, once per turn, up to D6 inches away from an approaching enemy.
I like this approach as it will make you feel a lot less helpless when you see that a mistake you made, or perhaps an advance roll that didn’t quite get you enough movement, is about to cause you a lot of pain. This particular rule also requires some thought on your opponents side. Let’s say those Termagants are not quite on an objective, your opponent moving a unit within 9” of them could give you the extra few inches to take control and gain some valuable victory points in your next command phase (assuming scoring works the same way).
The last section is the Key Words, split into unit and faction specific. This appears to work in the same way as the current edition.
I, personally, am quietly hopeful that these changes will make the game much more playable with less time flicking through books and less of a heavy reliance on remembering all these stats. My only concern is the frequency at which GW amend rules with FAQs, will it make those shiny datasheet cards you purchased obsolete quickly (I am thinking of the existing datacard packs and how often the wording is changed). There are ways around this such as FAQ sticker packs that could allow you to stick the new wording or stat line over the existing printed card but I see this as being more of a third party item than something GW will produce. But we shall see!
Let me know your thoughts, are you excited for this, cautiously optimistic or do you have a slight feeling of dread for these changes?
This is the top three AoS lists for the Dazmaul Wargaming Tournament that took place in the UK on the 18th and 19th of March. It involved 29 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.
Leaders 1 x Necromancer (130)* – General – Command Trait: Pack Alpha – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Deathmages: Decrepify – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha 1 x Radukar the Beast (310)* 1 x Vampire Lord (140)* – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions
Battleline 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (240)* – Reinforced x 1 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (240)* – Reinforced x 1 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (240)* – Reinforced x 1
Units 1 x Corpse Cart with Balefire Brazier (80)* 20 x Grave Guard (280)* – Great Wight Blades – Reinforced x 1
Behemoths Zombie Dragon (270)*
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment
I can’t in good faith make any more jokes about Soulblight rising back up, so I’ll just jump right into it.
What we’ve got here is a Vyrkos list that gleefully flips off the last season and screams ‘RIP BOUNTY HUNTERS’ while pushing 120 zombies up the board and, presumably, cackling gleefully. They’re all backed up by the usual buff pieces allowing them to get extra attack (Radukar, if he makes a charge) and fight twice (Necromancer, with danse macabre) – and remember they do MWs on 6s to hit and bring back models killed as zombies on a 2+. So it’s not like they can’t spike a few rolls and do a surprise bunch of mortals to whatever tries to chew through them or pull from the front and rally back up.
On top of that, they’re backed up by a Corpse Cart, which projects a -1 to wound aura, making those zombos even more infuriating to kill, and the pretty standard 20 Graveguard – who also make an excellent target for the hero buffs – who always have and still absolutely slap. A newly bargain-priced Zombie Dragon provides access to monstrous rampages and some nice targeted damage, while fitting neatly into the battle regiment!
5 wins for Soulblight at the moment is a great result, and it seems like loads and loads of meat is well and truly back on the menu, boys (and girls).
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Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts – Army Subfaction: Hollowmourne – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450) – Spells: Flaming Weapon 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)* – General – Command Traits: Grave Robber – Artefacts: Corpsefane Gauntlet – Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite – Spells: Spectral Host 1 x Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Artefacts: The Dermal Robe – Spells: Deranged Transformation – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King (170)* – Spells: Blood Feast 1 x Varghulf Courtier (160)*
BATTLELINE 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)** 6 x Crypt Horrors (220)** 6 x Crypt Horrors (220)**
Having just called a list with 9 x Flayers “the list” we’ve got one of the best variations. I say that because I played against a version of this a lot. 2 Dragons and 2 blocks of Crypt Horrors is a smart way to play the faction. It gives you more threats to push an opponent. You still have the ability to bring 9 x Crypt Flayers/Horrors (Flayers are probably better) on through summoning. You might have to do it earlier if the Terrorgheist are in combat though.
Still no Cogs, taking the risk that a spell will fail, and only one of the Crypt Horror units will have all of the buffs. The 6 strong units are a risk as well, against a Rend -2 attack even with a 5+ ward (and only one should have it), it’s only 36 effective wounds. A block of fulminators can overcome that on the charge easily. Still, they have fight twice near one of the Dragons on top of rerolls to hit. And additional attacks – they are very nasty threat.
Tunnel Master on the Archregent is surprisingly useful. He can grab an unattended objective easily and then summon friends. But just as easily, it lets him stay within range of either the dragons or Crypt Horrors. Lots of mobility and stacks of board control, it’s a very effective way to control your opponents’ scoring opportunities and really terrify them.
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Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: Jaws of Mork – Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS 1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (160)** – Spells: The Hand of Gork 1 x Squigboss (80)** – Artefacts of Power: Gryph-feather Charm 1 x Squigboss (80)** 1 x Grinkrak the Great (190)*** 1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*** – General – Command Traits: The Clammy Hand – Artefacts of Power: Moonface Mommet – Spells: The Hand of Gork – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
BATTLELINE 20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)* – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – 3 Barbed Nets 20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)* – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – 3 Barbed Nets 36 x Squig Herd (360)*** 36 x Squig Herd (360)***
OTHER 1 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (190)* 1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)** 1 x Gobbapalooza (145)*** – Spells: Itchy Nuisance 6 x Sneaky Snufflers (110)***
Our latest boogey man (for all of a month and then more demons arrived this week). Simon was keen to see a horde on the table and took over 100 models. Beyond that, though there is so much going on, it’s hard to know where to start. We’ve got a couple of sources of Hand of Gork (for teleports), and Grinkrak’s Looncourt can teleport themselves (if you don’t want the bodyguard). Fungoid Cave Shaman as General? Not sure I’ve seen that before, he’s a sneaky Tunnel Master as well, not sure you’d want to use that too early but he has a nasty Mortal Wound spell with a range of only 6″.
Squigboss’s for both Squigg units, of course, Skragrott (is he mandatory, certainly see him a lot) and a Sloggoth for monster action. The point, of course, is the heroes buff the Squiga (or Shootas), and you let loose the Squig’s. Individually, it’s not really an issue. The 30 Squiggs (and 6 herders) in each of the Squigg herds can hit, from the charge, 120 times. And if you kill some on the crack back, they do a mortal as they flee. With a 3 for bravery, there is a lot of fleeing. Their version of rally is once a game (2+ from each Squigherd) and kills the squiherd but unless you can clear the unit in a turn (difficult) you’ve probably got 2 turns of this from each unit.
That’s the name of the game for the squig build. Wear your opponent down in rounds 1 through 3 and then crack back. With the heroes handing out ‘shrooms granting wards or bonuses to the Shoota (only target) and the Sloggoth giving +1 to hit the Shootas start to be an issue. Sloggoth’s affect is an aura and will apply in any phase – charging the Shootas will be painful. Goes first, winds the squiggs up and unleashes them into your key units. Goes 2nd, hold the squiggs back at let’s the Shootas blunt your attack. If you try to hide, then the Shootas can even be teleported to punish you. If you injure them but don’t clear the unit, it can be rallied 3 times. If you do kill it, there is a 50% chance of them returning via the moon shrine.
I’ve only scratched the surface, but despite weak looking warscrolls, this is a very competitive army. 140+ wounds that can have multiple models or units returned is bad. Their overwhelming you with buckets of dice, which is worse. It’s probably a bit cheap with a lot of sources of mortal wounds. It’s an army that you have to try to outlast or watch them run away with things in the turn 4 and 5. Losing to Flesh Eater courts probably reflects the amount of damage even 3 Crypt Flayers (or 6 Crypt Horrors) can do with buffs and fight twice. They can kill anything in this list in a turn. Otherwise, more elite armies will struggle.
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Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs:
Leaders 1 x Gordrakk the Fist of Gork (500)* 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork 1 x Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (260)** 1 x Orruk Megaboss (140)** – General – Command Trait: Skilled Leader – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion) – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Wurrgog Prophet (170)** – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
Battleline 10 x Orruk Brutes (300)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 5 x Orruk Brutes (150)*** – Pair of Brute Choppas 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)*** 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)**
Tom & I spent much of late 2021 and 2022 battling each other for top Ironjawz and top Big Waaagh in the UK… and whilst he always beat me, my fun run last year got me the Big Waaagh title…! Woot. Since then Big Waaagh has suffered with the new General’s Handbooks and it’s great to see Tom bucking the trend with a 4-1 result (and top table game 5 match.
Tom’s taken a mostly traditional Big Waagh list with Ironjawz as the base, but he’s gone with Gordrakk and Gobsprakk. Two big flying models in the era of Gallatian Champions is a brave decision but it does allow Tom to stop spells with Gobsprakk and kill characters with Gordrakk.
It’s a great call to bring a model that can cause mortal wounds to Galatian Champions and has the reach to get them. Being able to avoid shooting doesn’t help when a Maw Krusha gets within 1″.
The rest of the army is standard Big Waaagh… but I like all the pieces and it’s made me consider actually painting my Gobsprakk – so a great double result. Well done Tom!
The data contained inside this article is only Woehammer’s interpretation. There are differing methods and analyses of the data available from Games Workshop and Honest Wargamer, whose methodology differs slightly from our own.
All of these sources should be viewed as a collective whole to allow you to gather a larger picture of the Age of Sigmar meta. The win rates, while accurate for events we have on record so far, are likely to change in the coming weeks and shouldn’t be the single point of reference for a factions strength.
How Win Rates are Calculated
All of our data is pulled from two day single events. We split all draws between the wins and losses of a faction evenly, as we believe this provides a fair reflection of a factions win rate. For example, as a player, you may achieve 2 wins, 2 losses, and a draw at an event. Some sites will only count the wins towards the faction rate, so in this case, 40% (2/5=0.4). Woehammer includes half of the draws, so our result would be 50% (2.5/5=0.5).
We have also included a confidence interval based on the sample size and their results. This interval has a 95% confidence rate. What does this mean? Essentially, we’re 95% sure that the win rate of the faction will fall inside this band at the release of the next battlescroll.
We have decided to include this as each factions win rates can (and will) fluctuate as more and more players post their results. While the faction win rate may be that specified right now, it is more than likely to change in the future. So when looking at a win rate, take into account the number of players who have posted results, as well as the upper and lower limit of that 95% confidence interval. This will give a good indication of the future win rate of that faction.
Event Submission
If you have organised an event that doesn’t appear in our database and has the following minimum requirements to be included:
Two Day Event
Singles Event
Minimum of 8 players
Then why not complete the form attached and send the results to thewoehammer@gmail.com? We’ll include them the next time we produce the stats.
As we have now included a confidence interval within our data based on the sample size and results, we have now included all factions within the below tables regardless of their player base.
Win Rates
You’ll see in the chart above that each faction shows its current win rate as a % inside a text box. The paler green and yellow segments show the margin of error of that win rate. We predict with 95% confidence that the win rate will be within the paler bars upon the release of the next battlescroll.
Our first takeaway is that at the present win rates, Big Waaagh and Lumineth Real-Lords both have current win rates of over 55%. However, bear in mind that the player base for Big Waaagh is extremely small at just 16 players. This could mean that those players who are dedicated to a faction in this way are more knowledgeable about the tricks to get the most out of their models. On top of that, factions with a large sample size such as Stormcast Eternals or Slaves to Darkness will have players with varying skill levels playing them, as a result this can drag down their win rate compared to a faction with a smaller sample size.
If you wish to view our traditional win rate chart without the margin of confidence:
Player Results by Wins
This graph has at least two purposes. Firstly, it shows the faction popularity by the number of players, and secondly, it breaks down those players’ results in terms of the number of wins they achieve.
Here, we’ve included all the factions that have been played to date, as there is no benefit in removing those with a small sample size.
For once Stormcast have been knocked off their perch as the most popular faction, with Slaves to Darkness now taking the top spot.
Faction Popularity
Looking further into this, let’s compare some of these factions current popularity to their past results.
I’ve chosen seven factions, all of which have been affected by either new Battletomes or rules changes in some way over the last few months.
Ogor Mawtribes saw a large jump in their player base from December onwards as the players started seeing the potential of their new battletome.
We can also see straight away the effect of the Slaves to Darkness new Battletone in January/February with time. Their share of the player base jumped from roughly 2.5% in the previous months to well over 5% in January onwards. With 9.4% of all the players in February choosing Slaves to Darkness. Likewise, we see a drop in the percentage of Seraphon, Sons of Behemat,and Idoneth Deepkin players for the same time periods.
With the recent release of the Gloomspite Gitz tome, we’re also seeing a large number of players jump to the revamped destruction faction.
The full list month-by-month is below:
When looking at the above table, bear in mind that this is the worldwide meta, and region to region or even city to city may differ. So while this gives us a general idea of the meta worldwide it may not be representative of your local meta.
Players Achieving 5-0 Wins, Tournaments in Winning Positions and 3 Wins from 3
Out of all the players using that faction (shown in brackets next to the faction name), this graph shows the number achieving a whitewash at a GT with 5 wins from 5. Those achieving 4 wins from 4 after the fourth round and those achieving 3 wins from 3 after the 3rd round. Take into account that those who achieve 5-0 are included in the numbers of 4 wins from 4 and 3 wins from 3. Likewise, those achieving 4 from 4 are included with the 3 from 3 data.
We can see here that the graph is sorted left to right by the number of 5-0s. Lumineth Realm-Lords have achieved the most with 6 players going 5-0. When looking at this graph, bear in mind the player base size shown in brackets.
Results Split
This chart tells you which factions are more capable of achieving positive results at tournaments. Here we can see for example that the new Gloomspite Gitz have 61% of their players achieving 3 or more wins at a 5 game tournament, while at the other end of the table only 31% of Ironjawz players are achieving a positive result at GT’s.
Conclusions
If you’re planning your list for a GT, look at the data as a whole. Think about which armies are popular, as you’ll likely face at least one or two of these armies at some point during an event, especially in the earlier rounds.
Look at those factions that are regularly in a tournament winning position and winning GTs, as these are likely to be your opponents in the later rounds. I believe you should look at building a list that is able to cope with playing the following factions at some point in a GT if you’re looking to compete;
Slaves to Darkness
Stormcast Eternals
Sylvaneth
Ogor Mawtribes
Gloomspite Gitz
Lumineth Realm-Lords
But also, if you’re playing a local GT with your club, then bear in mind that meta may be completely different to those given in the stats above. All of what is presented here, should be taken with a pinch of salt, but hopefully it gives you some guidance when it comes to list construction, or even army choice if you’re looking to play Age of Sigmar.
With all the excitement around the new edition of 40k coming soon I thought I would do a bit of a sift of the glorious cinematic they released and try to find any little glimmers of what kind of models to expect in the new box. As we know from the last editions release they do like to tease us with small details.
This is all obviously speculation and entirely my own opinion as to what we may have seen. Please feel free to point out my errors or anything I missed. I am hoping to start conversations about the game I love!
So let us delve into the grim darkness and see what we find.
Let’s start with the Tyranids and, with what is likely the most obvious, the screamer-killer.
Now we already have a screamer-killer variant of the existing carnifex model, from 2005, but this looks more like the old-school 1992 version to me, with less of a hunchback and less armour around the head. We also see the bio-plasmic scream in action, so it seems unlikely to be anything else. Perhaps a new dedicated model influenced by the original?
We have already had the new termagant model revealed, so we know that is coming. The last little tidbit I spotted for Tyranids was in this image…
Now, bear with my (hopeful) flight of fancy here but this coupled with a few more still looks like a possible Lictor? It is being displayed as a stealthy-boi with two giant appendages so…maybe? The existing model is from 2005, and in dire need of a refresh, so it is not beyond belief. There is also another image that helps add evidence to this.
Okay, so that last one is as clear as mud, like any good conspiracy photo, but when you watch those few frames, the bioform that grabs the apothecary and slings it around like a dog with a chew-toy very much resembles a Lictor. Again, this may be hope driving me to find connections that don’t exist but you never know…
Moving onto the marines, things are a little clearer here.
Yep, that’s another Redemptor Dreadnaught variant called the Gunslinger. I think that just about covers all the vairants the original Dreadnaught kit could built (ranged, hybrid and close combat) so should we start the retirement party now?
Not much else on new models here.. oh wait, there was something.
..
Terminators are back! Well, they never really left but they have a new sculpt. I am hoping the assault terminators will not be far behind (love me a thunder hammer and storm shield!) but at least we know the reliable old guard are not going anywhere. Including a new Terminator Librarian (who looks badass!)
I also spied some possible new weapon options for Primaris marines…
I believe that Reiver is holding a combi-flamer? And is that a Primaris Intercessor with a flamer? (Don’t roast me too hard if it’s not an intercessor, power armour variants were never my strong point!) I don’t think I have seen those weapons on any existing models so perhaps they are teasing at new weapons for these kits?
Let me know if you have seen anything different? Or if I missed anything entirely, or am living in a fantasy land. As always, this is for the fun of speculation and discussion!
But, what you may not have noticed is Games Workshop basically announced an entirely new as yet to be revealed book. What am I talking about? Take a look at this image:
You probably all saw this during the announcement. But let’s have a look at the current factions without 3rd Edition Tomes;
Blades of Khorne
Hedonites of Slaanesh
Ossiarch Bonereapers
Soulblight Gravelords
Seraphon
Flesh-eater Courts
Cities of Sigmar
7 factions, right? The trouble is that the picture above has 6 revealed factions and 2 unannounced books. One of those could be Flesh-eater Courts, so that accounts for the full AoS faction listing as it stands now. But what’s the eighth?
In all liklihood, as pointed out in the comments below and on our Discord, this book will likely be a Season of War book. In the same vein as Thondia last year. Rob, of Honest Wargamer fame claims it will also include a new Spider Incarnate as well. Could it include the long talked about update to Path to Glory as well?
If it was a faction, and I was a betting man….
Yup, I think we’ll see Chaos Dwarfs Duardin return to AoS. I say return, as Forgeworld produced a whole range for the diminutive dudes only to pull them back in 2020.
But, its just a guess. What do you think the mystery 8th book holds? Let us know in the comments below.
This is the top three AoS lists for Stockholm Slaughter 9 took place in Sweden on the 18th and 19th of March. It involved 18 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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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: Fyreslayers – Lodge: Vostarg – Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Auric Runefather (120)* – General – Command Trait: Fury of the Fyreslayers Auric Runemaster (130)*** – Artefact: Volatile Brazier – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal Auric Flamekeeper (90)*** Auric Flamekeeper (90)*** Battlesmith (150) – Artefact: Nulsidian Icon – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Auric Runesmiter (120) – Forge Key – Prayer: Ember Storm
UNITS 15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (450)* – Poleaxes 30 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (480)** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)**
Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Cabalists – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)** – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Daemonic Speed Exalted Hero of Chaos (100)** – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Rune-etched Blade and Chaos Runeshield – Spells: Binding Damnation – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (195)** – General – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Command Traits: Not to be Denied – Daemonic Axe – Wings – Artefacts of Power: Helm of the Oppressor – Spells: Daemonic Speed
BATTLELINE Corvus Cabal (80)* Corvus Cabal (80)* Chaos Knights (460)** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Doom Knight – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Cursed Flail – Ensorcelled banner: The Eroding Icon
OTHER Chaos Chosen (480)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Exalted Champion – 2 x Icon Bearer – 2 x Skull Drummer – Ensorcelled banner: The Banner of Screaming Flesh Ogroid Theridons (380)** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Thorakon – Goroan Great Axe – 2 x Banner Bearer – 2 x Charge-caller
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Soulscream Bridge (80)
Leaders Orruk Megaboss (140)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion) – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeat: Killa Beat
Battleline 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Jagged Gore-hackas 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas 5 x Spider Riders (90)* 5 x Spider Riders (90)
This is a particularly good deep strike as it allows you to re-roll a charge roll. As the Lion appears to be fairly fragile against shooting this would be a game-changing roll.
