This is the top three AoS lists for Broken Realms and Minis for War 3 that took place in Scotland on the 1st and 2nd of April. It involved 72 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.

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The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Oakenbrow
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Season of War: The Dwindling

Leaders
Drycha Hamadreth (320)**
– Lore of the Deepwood: The Dwellers Below
Spirit of Durthu (350)*
– Artefact: Greenwood Gladius
Treelord Ancient (330)
– Lore of the Deepwood: Regrowth
Warsong Revenant (300)**
– General
– Command Trait: Spellsinger
– Artefact: The Vesperal Gem
– Lore of the Deepwood: Treesong
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Battlemage (100)**
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Allies

Battleline
10 x Dryads (100)*
Treelord (230)*
Treelord (230)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Spiteswarm Hive (40)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 100 / 400
Wounds: 88
Drops: 5

Scotland has a strong and friendly AoS community. Their Discord has many members, and I was lucky enough to be invited to join. All of our lists have player comments today after, and I want to thank the Scottish AoS community and all the players mentioned in the article for helping us out.

Reece Fraser: I was playing oakenbrow, which allowed my treelords to become battleline. This is good on its own, but the real benefit was that it allowed all the treelords / ancient / durthu to fight at their top bracket when you look at the damage table on the warscroll until they are reduced one wound, but there are various ways to heal in Sylvaneth.

The general combo in the list is to get plus 5 to charge through the spiteswarm hive endless spell, which gives plus 3 on a 2+ once the spell is successfully cast. This is followed by plus 2 from the battlemage of ghur. The bonuses went on Durthu 9 times out of 10. The combo start with the Greenwood Gladius combined with the ancient’s once per game ability to place a tree anywhere on the table. Then the warsong revenant, who can cast through trees thanks to the spellsinger command trait, casts treesong, guaranteed from the use of the vesperal gem. All this combined can really catch opponents out.

The list was also built around the idea that every major threat piece in the army can teleport. All treelords, including Durthu, have this ability on the warscroll, allowing them to teleport through woods and overgrown terrain 9” away. In addition to this, they have access to the once per turn teleport which allowed Drycha to follow.

This allows you to create a treelord castle for Drycha, which I found quite effective. You put Drycha in her shooting mode at the start of each turn which gives her 20 shots instead of the base 10 (3+/3+/-1/1, 6s to hit are a mortal wound). I would then cast mystic shield on a treelord to help him go to a 2+ save and teleport him and another treelord 9” away from enemies. Drycha would then teleport behind them, but still within her 12” shooting range.

This allows you to shoot into what is needed, 20 shots with drycha and 3 each with the treelords. When it is the opponents turn and tney try to charge into this castle you can unleash hell for another 20 shots. Then in the monsterous rampage phase, if positioned correctly, you can attempt to make one charging unit fight last on a 3+ with a treelord and either roar or stomp with the other two monsters. Combined with treesong on that tree they are huddled around, this gives them all extra rend (-2 and -3) on all of their attacks.

The general of the army was the warsong revenant which, as explained earlier, casts through trees. The general plan was to just sit in a corner near a tree or overgrown to get the bonus +1 to cast.

Turn one he casts spiteswarm most times. After that, unless it needed to be recast, he would use his artifact for the rend spell that can’t be unbound and his built-in spell Unleash Spites, which causes mortals on 5+ with a 9” range. The number of models in the target unit determines how many dice you roll.

The dryads where there mostly because I had to fill battleline, but still can be quite tanky with minus 1 to hit and wound

Allegiance: Fyreslayers
– Lodge: Vostarg
– Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Auric Runefather (120)**
– General
– Command Trait: Spirit of Grimnir
Auric Runemaster (130)**
– Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Battlesmith (150)*
– Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Auric Runesmiter (120)***
– Forge Key
– Prayer: Ember Storm
Auric Flamekeeper (90)***
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Auric Flamekeeper (90)***

Battleline
30 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (480)*
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)*
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)*
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (450)**
– Poleaxes
– Reinforced x 2

Endless Spells & Invocations
Molten Infernoth (40)

Core Battalions
*Galletian Veterans
**Warlord
***Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Artefact

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 162
Drops: 10

Alex travelled all the way up from Wales to the part in Broken Realms and we’re lucky enough that Alex agreed to give us a breakdown on how his list worked.

Alex Bruce: The list relies on two main bricks of the army, the unit of 30 Vulkites with Fyresteel Handaxes and the unit of 15 Hearthguard Berzerkers with Poleaxes who act as a strong brick and counter punch to the army. Being in Vostarg, the units of Vulkites get +1 to Hit and +1 to Wound on the charge along with the +1 Attack from the weapon option chosen. This means that they become 2+/2+/-/1 with 3 attacks per model on the charge. In the Galletian Veterans battalion, this lets the first two ranks fight, which makes both the big unit of 30 as well as the two units of 10 dangerous threats for your opponent.

Whilst these units work well on their own merits, the runes that you can use compliment the base profiles with a number of buffs. Additional Rend and Mortal Wounds on 6s to Wound are the most frequently used however rolling the enhanced effect of the +1 to Hit rune gives the Vulkites another +1 Attack taking them to 4 attacks each on the charge. 6+ Ward (or 5+ for the enhanced effect) as well as +2 Move (with +2 Charge for the enhanced effect) board wide are both really useful utility runes. On top of this, each of the units of Vulkites can fight on death once per game, which can really boost the output of these units even when they aren’t on the charge.

Backing this up is a good number of unique buff heroes. The Runefather allows the runes to be enhanced on a 5+ rather than a 6+ and can give another +1 Attack to all units wholly within 12″ once per game. The Runemaster has the Volatile Brazier artefact to make sure that your Molten Infernoth is reliably on the board and in the opponents army causing damage (which your Grand Strategy is also to have this on the board at the end of the game!). The Battlesmith provides a 4+ Spell Ignore and 6+ Ward, which can be pushed to a 5+ Ward once per game, both wholly within 12″ as well as Rally on a 4+ for any units wholly within 18″ thanks to him being a totem. The Runesmiter provides that backboard pressure with the deep strike ability, which he can take one unit with him and backup prayer for run and charge, which both the Runemaster and Runesmiter know. Finally, the two Flamekeepers provide the army with further flexibility and buffs either providing more fighting on death to any of the units, +1 Damage to their attacks for that phase (which can stack!), or allowing units to charge at the start of either player’s combat phase.

Overall, the army is very resiliant and controls the board space very well. Any opponent who dares come close to this army is quickly overwhelmed by the amount of output it can dish out. There are layers of flexibility and redundancy in the list even down to the fact that the terrain piece provides a bonus +1 to pray for all priests within 18″.

Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz
– Gittish Horde: Jaws of Mork
– Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Dankhold Troggboss (200)***
– General
– Command Trait: Alpha Trogg
– Artefact: Glowy Howzit
Madcap Shaman (70)***
– Artefact: Moonface Mommet
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (80)**
Skragrott, The Loonking (160)***
Grinkrak The Great (190)**

Battleline
20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)*
40 x Moonclan Shootas (250)*
– Reinforced x 1
30 x Squig Hoppers (540)**
– Reinforced x 2

Units
6 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (0)*
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (110)**
10 x Loonsmasha Fanatics (220)**
– Reinforced x 1

Core Battalions
*Galletian Sharpshooters
**Battle Regiment
***Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1945 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 186
Drops: 7

Nathan is starting to become somewhat of a regular on the Top Three’s now! Following up on his Brewdog result a couple of weeks back, he’s at it again, I asked him for a few words about his list:

Nathan Watson: It’s very much the same as my Brewdog list in how it plays, but I wanted to take the fanatics in a unit of 10 to better benefit from the all out attack to make them more consistent. I also swapped the loonboss to a Dankhold Troggboss to try and have the option to play for a guaranteed grand strategy. Chasing the moon involves keeping your general alive to the end of the battle, and the Troggboss is very survivable with a 4+ spell ignore and a 4+ ward.

Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords
– Lineage: Legion of Blood
– Grand Strategy: Vampiric Conquerors
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Vampire Lord (140)*
– General
– Command Trait: Sanguine Blur
– Expertise: Arcane
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Vampire Lord (140)*
– Artefact: Oubliette Arcana
– Expertise: Arcane
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Radukar the Wolf (140)*
– Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions
Necromancer (130)**
– Lore of the Deathmages: Decrepify
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Necromancer (130)**
– Lore of the Deathmages: Fading Vigour
Gorslav the Gravekeeper (80)**

Battleline
60 x Deadwalker Zombies (360)***
– Reinforced x 2
60 x Deadwalker Zombies (360)***
– Reinforced x 2
20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)*
20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)*
20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)**
20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)**

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment
***Galletian Veterans

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 234
Drops: 4

I saw this lost with 200 Zombies and couldn’t resist including it as out wildcard!

William Cruickshanks: Alright, 200 Zombies.

So when I first saw this list, my first thought was that it’d be a stupid idiot spam list. That said, after looking at the list a bit more, there’s actually quite a bit to it.

I will say, any idiot can play this list vs. LRL or something. You just need to box them in and have bodies for the most part. But vs melee matchups, there is so much nuance to having 200 bodies with 6″ pile in, access to flight / 9″ pile in and fight twice that you can actually pull off some pretty astonishing things.

Your general win condition is to just flood the board with Zombies, and make it so that even if your opponent kills stuff they’re only really denting screens of Zombies, and then a unit of 2-3 attack fight twice zombies punches back and takes zones back off them. Fight twice with a 9″ pile in is often used more for movement / leapfrogging off units than it is for anything else. My biggest tip would be to try and conserve models as long as possible, and never let your opponent kill your stuff on their turn if you don’t have to. Also, 6″ pile in has SO MUCH you can do with it, so learn it! It’s fall back and retreat, it’s free movement every combat phase even if you don’t end within 3″, it makes you a super useful movement blocker as you can end 3.01″ away, the applications are endless.

You don’t have to do anything crazy vs. guns, but vs. melee the skill ceiling is pretty high 😀

Oh, and zombies are really good in the new book too. Very different, but very good. Three games in and can’t wait til it comes out!

Final Tournament Placings