Monthly Archives: January 2025

Dwarfen Mountain Holds, Fantasy, Forces of Fantasy, Games Workshop, Narrative Play, Peter Holland, The Old World, Tournaments

List Planning for the Old World Narrative Event

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I’ve exactly four weeks now until the Woehammer Old World Narrative Event – Shadows Over the Border Princes, kicks off.

Firstly, a blurb on the event and what I need to include in my list. The event takes place over two days at Battlefield Hobbies in Daventry, UK. They’ll be five games, three on the first day and two on the second. The first game will see players use a 1,000 point list as a soft intro to the campaign. For the remaining rounds players will use a 1,500 point list, but that list needs to include the models that were in their 1,000 point list.

There’s a few other important points during this campaign. The first, being that it is essentially good versus evil. Players will still be competing to have as any wins as they can to be crowned the best general but they also have to complete tasks within each game in order for their side to earn an overall victory in that round. For example the number of enemy characters killed by each side in the third scenario will determine the alliance winner, but the game itself is still coming down to victory points as in a normal game of Old World.

The second point, is that I have to include at least two characters in my list as there is a possibility that if the alliance I’m on loses that third scenario I’ll need to give up one of my characters in the following round as a hostage.

Finally, in the last round, there’s a doubles game. So I’ll need to team up with another player from my alliance to take on two of the opposing alliance players.

So that already has some key things that will affect my list building:

  • At least 2 characters, one of them being fairly cheap that’s not going to put me at a massive disadvantage if I lose them for one game.
  • I’ve got to have a 1k list inside my 1.5k list.
  • My list will need to be fairly well-rounded for the final game when I’m paired up with another player.

What about the other scenarios? If I want my alliance to do well and achieve overall victory in the campaign, what do I need to do?

Scenario 1
This is a fairly simple 1k pitched battle scenario at 1,000 points. However, I need infantry or monstrous infantry in my list to take and hold three objectives spread across the middle of the battlefield. Holding the most objectives will give the alliance the win.

  • I need enough infantry units to hold three objectives, but they also need to be able to get there. Being Dwarfs, that will be a hard task.

Scenario 2
If the alliance wins scenario 1, then they are the defender in scenario 2, which is an ambush scenario. If the defender’s general is slain then the battle ends in a decisive victory for the attacker. Otherwise it continues until turn 6 where it will be decided by victory points.

  • So I’ll need a tough general and guard unit to try and make his survival a little easier.

Scenario 3
The winner of the previous scenario will be the attacker in the 3rd scenario. This is another pitched battle scenario but here I’ll need to kill as many opposing characters as possible for the alliance to claim victory, while the game itself will come down to victory points. Everyone will need at least two characters in case they give one up at the end of this battle. But you don’t want to give away to many opportunities for the opposing alliance to claim points.

  • Keep the number of characters to a minimum.

Scenario 4
This is a rescue mission. Whichever alliance lost the previous battle will need to give up a character as a hostage. The other side has to attack and release them (them being placed at the back of one of the opposing units as a hostage marker). If the majority of the hostages are released across all the games that weekend then the attacking alliance is the victor. But on a personal level, this game will come down to victory points for the individual win.

  • I’ll need a unit or two which can chase down an enemy unit and defeat them in combat. That’s a hard one with Dwarfs….

Scenario 5
This is the doubles game. 3,000 points a side over six rounds and it all comes down to teamwork and victory points at the end. Well-rounded teams will win this out.

List Building

Just a quick review of the points I need to think about when building this list:

  • At least 2 characters, one of them being fairly cheap that’s not going to put me at a massive disadvantage if I lose them for one game.
  • I’ve got to have a 1k list inside my 1.5k list.
  • My list will need to be fairly well-rounded for the final game when I’m paired up with another player.
  • I need enough infantry units to hold three objectives, but they also need to be able to get there. Being Dwarfs, that will be a hard task.
  • So I’ll need a tough general and guard unit to try and make his survival a little easier.
  • Keep the number of characters to a minimum.
  • I’ll need a unit or two which can chase down an enemy unit and defeat them in combat. That’s a hard one with Dwarfs….

So two characters, one General that’s fairly beefy and another that I’m not afraid to give up. But really with enemies having access to Wizards, I’ll need one of those to be a Runesmith at the minimum. With 1k in the first game and a demand for infantry, I’m thinking the main general will be present at this battle.

So let me introduce to you Harek Whitebeard a Dwarf King who has mustered his troops to counter the evil threat encroaching on the Border Princes south of his hold.

Harek Stonebrow (Dwarf King) – 237 Points
– Hand weapon
– Full plate armour
– Oathstone
– Shield
– Master Rune of Skalf Blackhammer
– 2x Rune of Shielding

My thinking being, that I want him to be fairly tanky, hence the shield and 2x Rune of Shielding. I’ve also given him an Oathstone, so that he and the unit he is with automatically pass any panic tests. This should make them good for claiming those objectives in the first scenario.

But who should he go with? Luckily, as he’s a King, I can include a nice big unit of Longbeards in the core choice. With Strollaz rune on the standard, I’ll be able to give those short stumpy legs of theirs a little running start as well. I’ve chosen to take 19 of them as I’m a firm believer in an army looking like an army, and I want a slot for my King to fit in nicely.

Harek’s Hearthguard (Dwarf Longbeards) – 309 Points
– 19 Dwarf Longbeards
– Elder (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Strollaz’ Rune
– Musician
– Hand Weapons
– Shields
– Drilled

But I need something else that can get up the field on that first scenario and hold objectives. Rangers are perfect for this! Leaving them as is and equipping them with shields should mean they can put up a fight for those centre objectives as well.

The Deepcrag Stalkers (Dwarf Rangers) – 120 Points
– 10 Dwarf Rangers
– Heavy Armour
– Shields
– Hand Weapons

But I need at least one other infantry unit if I’m to try and claim three of these objectives. Ironbreakers hold the line well and are hard to shift in a fight, so these would be great for the third objective. I’ll go for 10 models here, as then I can fit in some additional fun stuff as well (by fun, see artillery).

The Blackrock Bulwark (Dwarf Ironbreakers) – 171 Points
– 10 Dwarf Ironbreakers
– Ironbeard (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
– Full Plate Armour
– Shields
– Hand Weapons

Finally I always like to include a little artillery. We’ll go with the tried and tested Cannon here, so in it goes.

Helga (Dwarf Cannon) – 100 Points
– Cannon
– Hand Weapons
– Light Armour

Rather than some runes on the Cannon, I thought here, may be a good opportunity to add in the cheap hero that can be given away as a hostage for the fourth scenario. So meet Gottri Cogthane a Dwarf Engineer with a handgun who’ll be babysitting the cannon.

Gottir Cogthane (Dwarf Engineer) – 58 Points
– Handgun
– Hand Weapon
– Heavy Armour

That gives me my first 1,000 point list for the first game and what will make up the bulk of my army for the other scenarios:

===
Harek’s Expedition [995 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Dwarfen Mountain Holds
===

CHARACTERS [295 pts]

Harek Stonebrow (Dwarf King) – 237 Points
– Hand weapon
– Full plate armour
– Oathstone
– Shield
– Master Rune of Skalf Blackhammer
– 2x Rune of Shielding

Gottir Cogthane (Dwarf Engineer) – 58 Points
– Handgun
– Hand Weapon
– Heavy Armour

CORE [309 pts]

Harek’s Hearthguard (Dwarf Longbeards) – 309 Points
– 19 Dwarf Longbeards
– Elder (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Strollaz’ Rune
– Musician
– Hand Weapons
– Shields
– Drilled

SPECIAL [271 pts]

The Blackrock Bulwark (Dwarf Ironbreakers) – 171 Points
– 10 Dwarf Ironbreakers
– Ironbeard (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
– Full Plate Armour
– Shields
– Hand Weapons

Helga (Dwarf Cannon) – 100 Points
– Cannon
– Hand Weapons
– Light Armour

RARE [120 pts]

The Deepcrag Stalkers (Dwarf Rangers) – 120 Points
– 10 Dwarf Rangers
– Heavy Armour
– Shields
– Hand Weapons

Only just for the three units to claim the three objectives in the first scenario, but they’re backed up by a little fire power to try and clear those objectives first. As for getting this list up to 1.5k there’s a few things I want to include. Namely a Runesmith as a minimum for some ant-magic.

Thorri Doreksson (Dwarf Runesmith) – 65 Points
– Hand Weapon
– Heavy Armour

He’s fairly bare bones, and is only in the list to dispel and possibly give up points in scenario three. Which means I need to give him some body guards, but a unit that isn’t going to get into trouble. As we’ll be increasing the core limit as well it gives me the perfect opportunity to include some Thunderers.

Doreksson’s Wardens (Dwarf Thunderers) – 121 Points
– 11 Dwarf Thunderers
– Hand Weapons
– Heavy Armour
– Shields

I love excuses to play new units that I’ve not included before. This will be no exception. A unit of Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries.

The Grimwall Phalanx (Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries) – 195 Points
– 18 Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries
– Veteran (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
– Thrusting Spears
– Heavy Armour

We’ve also got to include another artillery piece in there, its the law. I love the Organ Gun, so that’s the last piece of the puzzle.

Bertha (Organ Gun) – 120 Points
– Organ Gun
– Hand Weapons
– Light Armour

With that my list for the narrative event is complete. I’ll be doing awful, but having fun while I do it.

The Full List

===
Harek’s Expedition [1496 pts]
Warhammer: The Old World, Dwarfen Mountain Holds
===

CHARACTERS [360 pts]

Harek Stonebrow (Dwarf King) ❖ – 237 Points
– Hand weapon
– Full plate armour
– Oathstone
– Shield
– Master Rune of Skalf Blackhammer
– 2x Rune of Shielding

Gottir Cogthane (Dwarf Engineer) ❖ – 58 Points (1k List)
– Handgun
– Hand Weapon
– Heavy Armour

Thorri Doreksson (Dwarf Runesmith) – 65 Points
– Hand Weapon
– Heavy Armour

CORE [430 pts]

Harek’s Hearthguard (Dwarf Longbeards) ❖ – 309 Points (1k List)
– 19 Dwarf Longbeards
– Elder (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Strollaz’ Rune
– Musician
– Hand Weapons
– Shields
– Drilled

Doreksson’s Wardens (Dwarf Thunderers) – 121 Points
– 11 Dwarf Thunderers
– Hand Weapons
– Heavy Armour
– Shields

SPECIAL [271 pts]

The Blackrock Bulwark (Dwarf Ironbreakers) ❖ – 171 Points (1k List)
– 10 Dwarf Ironbreakers
– Ironbeard (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
– Full Plate Armour
– Shields
– Hand Weapons

Helga (Dwarf Cannon) ❖ – 100 Points (1k List)
– Cannon
– Hand Weapons
– Light Armour

RARE [240 pts]

The Deepcrag Stalkers (Dwarf Rangers) ❖ – 120 Points (1k List)
– 10 Dwarf Rangers
– Heavy Armour
– Shields
– Hand Weapons

Bertha (Organ Gun) – 120 Points
– Organ Gun
– Hand Weapons
– Light Armour

MERCENARIES [195 pts]

The Grimwall Phalanx (Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries) – 195 Points
– 18 Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries
– Veteran (Champion)
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
– Thrusting Spears
– Heavy Armour

❖ – Denotes units inside the 1k list for the first scenario

Now the trouble is painting it. Out of that lot, I’ve got paint:

  • Engineer
  • 10 more Longbeards
  • Cannon crew
  • 18 Imperial Dwarf Mercenaries….

Wish me luck!

Here are all the scenarios for the weekend:

Black Library, Declan Waters, Games Workshop

Book Review – Scars

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Horus Heresy #28 by Chris Wraight

Book 28 of the Horus Heresy joins the White Scars and Jaghatai Khan in their fights against aliens and heretics.

From the book:

Fresh from their conquest of Chondax and the discovery of Horus’s rebellion, Jaghatai Khan’s warriors stand divided. Long considered one of the less trustworthy Legions, many of the White Scars claim to owe their loyalty exclusively to Terra, and others still to the Warmaster and his warrior lodges. But when a distress call from Leman Russ of the Space Wolves brings the wrath of the Alpha Legion to Chondax, the Khan’s hand is forced and the decision must be made – in the great war for the Imperium, will he side with the Emperor or Horus?

Chris Wraight is the go-to author for writing about the White Scars and so this story was going to be told by no-one else. Sent to the far corners of the galaxy to expand the domain of the Emperor the White Scars are an enigma even amongst their fellow Space Marines. Their tactics stretch supply lines and out distance their support and allies… and their ships are designed to capitalise on this.

But the legion is torn between Horus and the Emperor. Hearing of the Burning of Prospero by Leman Russ, they are told by Horus that Russ has gone rogue and that he needs the White Scars to join him (Horus) to combat this. Some of the Legion can’t contact the Great Khan and must make their own decision about how to proceed.

And so, the White Scars are ripped apart whilst Jaghatai Khan returns and attempts to discover the truth about Prospero, and about the Warmaster.

It’s a fast paced book, with lots of movement over the galaxy as it burns… and dilemmas the likes of which we have not seen from other legions. I really liked it, and it felt like the White Scars I’ve read in other books – as Chris Wraight keeps it consistent. Hopefully fans of the White Scars will like it as well.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Check out the full list of Book Reviews we’ve done on Woehammer here

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

— Declan & Eeyore

4th Edition, Age of Sigmar, Aida Puciek, Beasts of chaos, Blades of Khorne, Chaos, Cities of Sigmar, Daughters of Khaine, Death, Destruction, Disciples of Tzeentch, Fantasy, Flesh-Eater Courts, Fyreslayers, Games Workshop, Gloomspite Gitz, Hedonites of Slaanesh, Idoneth Deepkin, Ironjawz, Kharadron Overlords, Kruleboyz, Lumineth Realm-Lords, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Meta Analysis, Nighthaunt, Ogor Mawtribes, Order, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Peter Holland, Player Ratings, Seraphon, Skaventide, Slaves to Darkness, Sons of Behemat, Soulblight Gravelords, Stormcast Eternals, Sylvaneth, Tournaments

Age of Sigmar: 4th Edition Meta Stats (26th January 2025)

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We’ve incorporated player Elo ratings into our Age of Sigmar stats, so you can now see what affect the elite players have on those pesky win rates.

All of the results in this article are taken from Best Coast Pairings, Stats and Ladders and Ecksen. They include GT (Two day events) or GT+ (6 or more rounds) only.

N.B. We’re still having some technical issues with Everwinter, but these should be updated and included in our next stats update.

As always, if you’re struggling to read a chart, you should be able to right click and then either view or download the image.

Tournaments Included (Using December Battlescroll)

  • 2D6 OsloHammer #9 X-Mas!
  • Akron Brew Brawl-AoS GT
  • Call to Glory 2025
  • Cataclysmic Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Q1
  • Crossroads Carnage – LVCan’tgO
  • Dice of Destiny GT 2025
  • Gasts Hjaltar
  • Hamburg Major 2025
  • Haus of Heroes GT
  • II GT PETREO (Memorial Enric Medina)
  • LVO 2025 Age of Sigmar Champs
  • Macao Sigmar Tournament
  • North China Open IV
  • Norwegian Masters 2024
  • Sigmar Calls
  • The Forge GT: Year 2
  • The Nottingham AoS GT
  • Trandermaster
  • Weekend Warlord 8 – Endless War

GT Win Rates

Interestingly, the dying faction of Beast of Chaos have the highest Elo average of all the factions currently playable in Age of Sigmar, this will primarily be because of experienced players having them in their collection and possibly trying to make the most out of them before they are no longer tournament legal.

Disregarding both Beasts of Chaos and Bonesplitterz, our Age of Sigmar stats currently has four over achieving factions with the highest at of these at 59% – that’s not bad. While at the other end of the table we’ve three factions under achieving with the lowest at 42%. All of these factions are only a few percentile outside of the 45-55% green zone (balanced). Fyreslayers appears to be currently run by players with a lower than average Elo which could suggest that if they are picked up by more experienced players their win rate could go up further, this would be my only concern currently. Flesh-eater Courts, Maggotkin of Nurgle and Stormcast Eternals have a slightly higher than average Elo rating for their players, which could be marginally inflating their win rates.

Estimated Win Rates if the Player Skill Levels were Equal

That’s a mouthful of title isn’t it!?

Essentially, what I’m trying to do here is work out what the win rates would be if the skill levels of all the players were the same (Yes, I realise this is nearly impossible to calculate – But I’m playing around here).

How it works is by calculating the average Elo of all the players that have had matches since the December battlescroll dropped. This worked out as 432.6. I then calculated how much difference there was between a factions average Elo shown in our original win rate graph to this overall average. The difference between these two figures was then turned into a percentage difference over/under the 432.6 elo. I then increased or decreased their win rate by this percentage (But this isn’t as simple as deducting or adding the percentage different to the win rate – you have to work out for instance what 4% may be of say 53% and then apply that. For Example – 10% of 40% is 4%)

The results suggest that rather than being the top dog, Beasts of Chaos would be dawdling at the bottom. While Fyreslayers would be top dog after Bonesplitterz. Interestingly though, almost all the other factions under this estimate would fall within the 45-55% tolerance zone.

This is just for fun however, and is just my own estimate and is probably entirely wrong!

Battle Formation GT Win Rates

This chart only shows the Battle Formations that have achieved 100 games or more in GT play (the number of games shown in brackets).

Flesh-eater Courts have 240+ games in tournament play at GTs and we can see nearly half of those games are under the Lords of the Manor (allowing an additional slain model to be returned to their unit on top of whatever the usual ability allows) battle formation. While it’s probably no surprise to many of you that Vanguard Wing for Stormcast Eternals is their top choice – allowing one Vanguard Chamber unit per turn that doesn’t move to teleport anywhere on the battlefield 9″ away from all enemy units on a dice roll of 3+. Sentinels of the Bleak Citadels is also a strong choice for Stormcast Eternal players allowing the players to pick one Ruination Chamber unit each turn to have Ward (5+) for that whole turn.

At the bottom of the table, Bacchanal of Blood isn’t too hot for the Soulblight Gravelords, though it is their most popular option – allowing them to add 1 to casting rolls for friendly Vampire units that are not in combat and adding 1 to wound rolls for combat attacks made by friendly Vampire units that charged in the same turn (see Blood Knights).

Faction Popularity (Broken Down by Player Elo Rating)

This is perhaps the most interesting chart to me personally. Here you can see the spread of the player skill levels for each faction according to our Elo rating system (updated each week in line with the Age of Sigmar stats).

The dark blue shows the really elite players of 700+ Elo. Interestingly, they don’t seem to give a damn about which faction is performing well in the meta and rely on their own skill (as they should!). Neither to 600-699 rated players. Where we start to see the swell in players possibly chasing the factions with more favourable rules is in players rated less than 600 Elo.

Elite and Rookie Players by Faction

The blue section shows the percentage of a factions players which have an Elo rating of 500 or greater. While the Orange shows the number of new players to the faction where they have yet to attend a tournament (based on our database history).

As we can see, the player base for Beasts of Chaos is largely made up of Elite players, which is adding to their win rate in the charts at the beginning of this article.

Faction Win Rates for Players with sub-400 Elo

The aim of the above chart is to show how the lower rated players of between 300 and 399 elo are performing with the various factions. The figure in brackets denotes the number of games the data is based on.

Sons of Behemat, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Ossiarch Bonereapers and Fyreslayers seem to be the more forgiving factions to play in Age of Sigmar at the moment.

Faction Popularity (Broken Down by Number of Wins)

The above chart breaks down the faction popularity by the number of wins each player achieved in the first 5 rounds of games at GT’s or GT+’s.

This merely shows that Stormcast and Slaves are by far the most popular factions in the game at present.

Number of GT Wins as Percentage

This chart shows the % breakdown for the number of wins players are achieving in the first 5 rounds at GT and GT+ events.

The perfect split for each faction, if everything was perfectly balanced across factions would like:

The only faction anywhere near this ideal stat are Ogor Mawtribes and with a win rate of 52%, this is the kind of balance you would look for in the other factions in the game.

The Fabien Chart

Fabien Barbusse is a top player in the AoS scene and a member of the Woehammer Discord who is one of many who points out any mistakes in the charts before we publish them. He recently stated he felt the most valuable chart would be a version of the one above, which shows the % of 4+ win results in a 5 game event compared to the other results.

Consecutive Wins

This chart shows firstly the % of players with a negative result from 5 games at GT’s or GT+ in light blue for each faction.

Dark blue shows the percentage of players who achieved 5 wins from 5 in the first five rounds of a GT or GT+.

Orange shows the players who achieved four wins from the first four rounds of a GT or GT+ but were unable to achieve the full house and lost their round 5 match.

Grey shows the players who achieved three wins from three wins but were unable to win in their fourth round match.

Yellow shows all other players aside from those shown in the first three categories, who were able to achieve a positive result at a GT or GT+ i.e. 3 or more wins.

The light blue shows the percentage of players unable to achieve a positive result with the faction at a GT or GT+.

Woehammer Database

To download out Age of Sigmar stats database, click on the button below.

Woehammer DatabaseDownload

Community FAQ, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Peter Holland, The Old World

Old World: An Unofficial Community FAQ

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Over the last few months, I’ve been privileged to be part of a group of contributors who have been developing an Unofficial Community FAQ for Old World.

This document aims to be a tool for interested Tournament Organisers (TOs) and players. Our goal is to provide missing rules, clarify unclear rulings, and explain rules where we believe clarification is needed.

The questions answered in this document are sampled by contributing members and are based on questions from their player base.

This FAQ does not aim to be binding or official in any way and is made with the sole purpose of improving the flow of games. Everyone interested is welcome to participate in our work. If you’re interested in taking part, please join the FAQ Discord server.

To make it easier for everyone, the structure of this document follows the individual phases of the turn. Within the phases, the given FAQs are again ordered by categories (Keywords).7

Remember, the document is searchable via PDF.

How Decisions are Reached

When a question is submitted, contributors will consider whether the question needs an FAQ, or whether Games Workshop has a clear written rule, or an FAQ themselves that answers the question.

If the question is considered ambiguous the contributors will discuss the rule and the possible answers. These are then put to a vote.

If a Games Workshop FAQ is released at a later date which answers the question, the FAQ for this will be removed to avoid any potential confusion.

The PDF is laid out in a clear manner, with sections corresponding to the main rule book. Each question has a voting ID, which the committee can review in case it either needs to revisit the question or remove it from the Unofficial FAQ. References to relevant rules are also included below the question to allow the reader a reference check.

The Unofficial FAQ (Download)

Unofficial FAQ (Link)

4th Edition, Age of Sigmar, Battle Report, Fantasy, Fittsy, Games Workshop, Kharadron Overlords, Order, Tournament Preview, Tournaments

Raccoon Rumble Tournament Report – (ToOO part 4)

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Author’s note: Oh man, I wrote this back in December and I’m only just getting it out to you now… so it’s a bit out of date, the meta has shifted and so have I, for the better. This tournament was a bit of a bummer for me and that’s one of the reasons it took me so long to get this out and I even thought about skipping it. You’ll see it touched on in the article but it was all on me really. A bit of reflection has helped thinking about how I want to play and the type of opponent I want to be. I figure sharing this is still good though as we should address not just the good times but also sometimes the bad (that sounds overly dramatic but here goes nothing).

Finally, I’m back again! My avid fan will be happy (cheers to you Dirk)! Crap, I just realised this is my first one since start of 4th… well I haven’t been getting as many games in as I thought (life ya know) but I have been enjoying 4th with KO in general although I’m still finding myself adjusting to their playstyle.

Drekki just got finished the week beforehand… he looks as grumpy as I felt afterwards

I was touch and go whether I’d make it in the end after getting sick the weekend before… come Wednesday I thought I was feeling well enough and I didn’t want to miss out on my first big event ever! I could tell it was going to be a bit of a tough slog though with all the travel and battling through 6 games in 3 days. Luckily for you, dear reader, I pulled myself together got my things packed up and headed on down to Hof which turns out was way further from where I live than I’d realised.

This was only my second GT (I’ve racked up quite a few one-dayers but it’s hard for me to get a weekend free)… and I wanted to set myself a realistic aim of winning 2 games out of 6 😊 in my heart of hearts though I really wanted 3 and 3 or 4 and 2… I’m playing an off meta mixed arms KO list which I’m not doing too badly with in general but it’s been a bit of a shock to the system after really good success with my crazy Nighthaunt list at the end of 3rd.

A little pre tournament deployment practice against the evil forces of fruits… Banana for scale

What it was

Raccoon Rumble is “the big one” here in Germany and the roster was full of the big AoS names from all across Germany and quite a few visitors from nearby countries and some from afar. The room was split 50/50 AoS and 40k. I didn’t check out much of the 40k action but from the few chats I had with some of the players, I heard things went well over there too. There were 192 players for 6 games over 2 days 9-11 November 2025.

Webpage here: https://raccoonrumble.de/

Top three lists here: https://woehammer.com/2024/11/26/top-three-aos-lists-for-raccoon-rumble-2024/

The good

The tables looked fantastic with some really meaty pieces of scenery on the tables. The forests were done with Perspex bases and that really helped to make it clear when you were on the terrain or not. Some of the terrain was a bit too big for the small terrain pieces. After realising that this could have a big effect during my second game, I talked it through with my opponents and we placed them to make sure they weren’t stopping big bases from passing on the sides of the table. I don’t think this actually made any difference to any of my games though and I was happy to be playing on nice looking tables!

The organisation of the event seemed from an outsider’s perspective really solid. Things were almost all of the time really clear and they were very communicative in advance of the tournament too. The people who had to help me out from time to time were really nice and patient too. Hats off to the people running around in the giant Racoon costume, it must have been hot in there!

I was generally happy with the judging… it was always quick to get a call or a clarification, I reckon they did a really good job in a tough environment!

Even though it was a German event, all of my opponents agreed to play in English until the last when I tried to play in German again (my choice). I really noticed the impact of that especially after 5 other games. So thanks to all my opponents again for playing in English, that made a big difference for me! Oh yeah, that hardly makes sense without context, I’m not a native German speaker, I think I wanted to point this out for all you fellas out there playing AoS even if English isn’t your first language, kudos mates! Edit: reading this last sentence back makes me understand why people tease me saying I’m not a native speaker either.

The bad (nah, I’m just calling it that because I couldn’t think of better titles)

Could have done with some more reminders about time during play, my army often needs a good 1:30 to play through to turn 5 and I know it’s a tricky list to play against. Even though the clock was up most of the time I happened to have my back to it 5 out of 6 games which was trickier for me to keep track. What I did was set a timer on my phone for some of the games… that also gave me a good indication that I was still playing quickly enough. In hindsight, I wished I’d just used my chess clock. I know KO can be a bit of a feel bad to play against from a time perspective because of the long move, shoot, fight first chain which tends to happen so I’m also conscious of making sure I am moving the game along quickly enough. Little update: This is part of what made the tournament hard for me, there’s a lot if thinking to be done with KO, and now a lot of pre-measuring and moving too, coupled with time pressure, that’s a big old drain on the old brain.

The ugly

Oh wait, I have to criticise something… the food sucked! It’s not a cheap tournament to head to and I honestly expected better from the food. I’ve got some dietary restrictions which does makes it harder but I wasn’t hearing anything much nice said about the other food either. Luckily for me, on the day when the food did have something I’m allergic to in it, the server double checked after the manager said there wasn’t any in there and I avoided what could have been a really unpleasant afternoon! Honestly, fuck you whoever that manager dude was. It wasn’t the fault of the organisers but I hope they make some changes there (one of the organisers was there and helped out from a moral support perspective but wasn’t much she could do either at the time).

A lovely sunrise over the sewage plant near our hotel

My List – a boring heading for a boringly named list

KO Double Trouble 1990/2000 pts

Kharadron Overlords | Aether-runners
Drops: 2

General’s Regiment
Aetheric Navigator (130)
• General
• Endrinmaestro
• Voidstone Orb
Arkanaut Company (200)
• Reinforced
• 2x Light Skyhook
• 2x Aethermatic Volley Gun
• 2x Skypike
Arkanaut Company (100)
• 1x Light Skyhook
• 1x Aethermatic Volley Gun
• 1x Skypike
Arkanaut Frigate (320)
• 1x Heavy Sky Cannon
Grundstok Thunderers (280)
• Reinforced
• 4x Grundstok Mortar or Aethercannon
• 4x Aetheric Fumigator or Decksweeper

Regiment 1
Drekki Flynt (160)
Arkanaut Frigate (320)
• 1x Heavy Sky Cannon
Endrinriggers (240)
• Reinforced
Endrinriggers (240)
• Reinforced

Games Recap

This may well be the bit you were actually here for… I don’t know, this is my first tournament report so if you’d like more of one bit or another, let me know!

1st up, Mirko with Beasts of Chaos

Oh, how I wish I could play this one again. I could see that Mirko was a strong player, BoC is a rough matchup for my list, and I haven’t played BoC since 1st edition. Ok, look I’m just trying to make my loss look better with all those excuses. He was rocking a unit of Centigors, Shamans, 2 x full Bestigors and Phulgoth’s. I went in with two options. Take 1st and go hard and try to fight in the middle of the battlefield or give up 1st and stay back using my counter charge as a deterrent. I went for the exciting option straight up the middle and unleashed practically every gun I had… and the game was decided before we even got to the 2nd turn after an absolutely miserable round of shooting into Phulgoth’s Shudderhood and some other targets. I had a good chat with the PATAP discord about this matchup in the week before but in the end, I’m a sucker for taking a big chance when I think the other option might be a slow death.

My lovingly painted army getting CRUSHED in the first game

So yeah, start of the tournament was a 20:0 on the matrix. Nowhere to go but up from there!

2nd game, the nicest cheeriest Pawel I’ve ever met with Flesh Eaters

Good solid game for my KO, was a good scenario and I could use my strengths to take out quite a lot of his troops, this is a bad matchup for FEC. I started with my two frigates split apart to whittle his forces down and then brought them together in the middle to try and push my scoring up a bit earlier and that helped me in this game.

Pawel was such a nice guy and I enjoyed this game so much that how the game played out really didn’t matter much

Pawel wins my award for Best Opponent. We had a great game, I got a bit chatty which didn’t help us to finish on time but even when things weren’t going his way, he always had a charming smile on and I hope he had a good game too!

14:6 for KO

Game 3: Florian with Stormcast

I was dreading this game… the Vice is really tough for my list and going into Stormcast, I wasn’t sure if I could do enough damage to the army. He was rocking an Annihalators heavy list with Ionus, Bastian, and Stormdrakes.

The one game where I actually did what I should be doing with my army… could split his forces and take them out bit by bit, got some silly good luck on the shooting too. Played one Frigate with the 20 Arkanauts and Thunderers on one flank and the other with my Riggers on the other side. Of course, I accidentally killed the dragons in shooting when I was meant to be charging for Do Not Waver because I misunderstood how many wounds they had left.

This is me about to fuck up Do Not Waver… it didn’t matter much but this is about principles

This dude was super nice and he had a supporter with him who was also super nice. I hope they both had a really nice weekend. This was the best painted army that I played against and he even had a sweet as display board to go with it!

16:4 this time for me

Game 4: Markus with Tzeentch

Could have easily gone my way if we could’ve played through 5 rounds but that’s one of the downsides to what I’m playing. It’s not a quick army although I know I can knock out my 5 rounds in under 1:30… but because it is hard to see where my army is going and a lot of different shooting attacks, there is a lot of back and forth for the opponent’s saves as well. I did manage to take Kairos down pretty quickly… the Tzaangors were slowly grinding towards me though. This was my first taste of Tzeentch annoyingly teleporting about in my turn… and I didn’t like it. I was feeling pretty tired at game 4 on the 2nd day.

Kairos trying to play hide and seek

9:11 for Markus

Game 5: Michael with Tzeentch

Again! After a drop caused a re-pairing, I’d just met my friendly Seraphon opponent and was looking forward to that game.

Michael was really tired but played a solid game, even if I managed to put him on the back foot, he kept in the scoring game and knew how to stop me from scoring too. With double chicken and all those -1s to hit.

This was the one game where I really screwed myself over… did a classic redeploy to take my Thunderers out of threat but I didn’t take them as far away as I could which left open the charge from the Tzaangors into my Arkanauts and then let them pile straight in and wipe the Thunderers off the board. If I had had the Thunderers, the game would have looked very different from there onwards. Fought a good fight and just couldn’t crack through all the -1 to hits and I found tactics really tough with the constant potential teleporting in either turn. I did the right thing I think after that and kept playing a cat and mouse game on one side with Kairos whilst threatening his castle with the Riggers and Frigate but when I did go in, it wasn’t enough and Markus took the win here with a series of teleports.

This would be ok if it wasn’t the 4th time I’ve made this mistake with KO. Shame on me!

8:12 for Tzeentch but the moral loss was all mine for the lazy redploy

Game 6: Tobi with Blades of Khorne

Oh come on lady luck… paired into my teammate, Tobi, for the last round with Blades of Khorne. I was absolutely zonked at this point and I couldn’t grasp the impacts of the redploy and blood tithe move. He was running two big blocks of letters, hounds for tactics, a priest on the altar and a “Blood”thirster. Although I decimated his army early on, he kept up the scoring turn and turn again. The Bloodthirster was more like a Pointhirster and boy did he do that well! We ended up on a bang on draw which I wasn’t expecting but even in the last turn (after realising that the terrain he’d been setting up to take was half in his territory) he managed to eke out as many points as possible. Tobi is a good player and he’s got a good eye for the board state and really knew what he could do with his list.

Doesn’t matter what the board state looks like. Points win games.

10:10 and 10/10 for Tobi being a great fella

How did things go for me?

Shit, this article is getting really long. Thanks for sticking it all the way through to here! I’d say something about wrapping it up quickly but I’ve still got a few words to throw out to finish this one off.

6 games was tough for me mentally… impacted by the army I chose and those I had to play up against. Honestly, it felt too tough and it left me feeling so drained by the end of it and this impacted how happy I was with the tournament overall.

I didn’t come out of this tournament happy with how I played. At times I felt salty and was becoming a bit of a grump. My sincerest apologies to all my opponents for not being the best opponent I could be which is a really important aspect of my game for me. For myself, I set the bar really highly in this regard and perhaps I should just relax and throw dice a little more. Luckily, I was propped up by a bunch of friendly faces there who I know from past events and I did meet some really nice new people too.

Looking forwards…

I’m now at a bit of a point where I was really bummed out about how it felt and I might have bought some Mancrushers (I always wanted to take a crack at converting some) and am at the same time really thinking about getting my Nighthaunt back out for the next GT I’m planning to head to in January. I did listen to an episode of PATAP the other day where they had a really good discussion about losing and how to deal with it and I’m ready to get out there and lose better again now. It’s taken a couple of weeks of reflection (and Necromunda) to really feel ready to throw dice for AoS again but I’ve got the bug and I’m finally excited for a couple of games before Christmas. I guess that’s why I’ve finally gotten around to finishing off this article too.

Edit: since it took me so long to get this out, I’ve gotten back into things by switching back over to Nighthaunt for a bit which I’m enjoying a lot more… so I’ll be back soon with a quick update of what playing NH after two nerfs is like (it’s in a much better place than before)

We’ll just have to see how it goes from here! I hope you’re doing all well in the new edition and I wish you all the best of luck in your games (unless you’re playing against me… then roll some more 1s please)!

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Brett Martin, Chaos, Death, Fantasy, Flesh-Eater Courts, Games Workshop, Order, Peter Holland, Slaves to Darkness, Stormcast Eternals, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for the Dice of Destiny GT 2025

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This is the top three AoS lists for the Dice of Destiny GT 2025 that took place in Finland on the 18th and 19th of January 2025. It saw 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.

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

Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
[Lore of the Damned]
[Forbidden Power]

Gaunt Summoner (170)
[General]
[Infernal Puppet]
[Radiance of Dark Glory]
– 10 x Chaos Chosen (520)
– The Banner of Screaming Flesh
– 10 x Chaos Chosen (520)
– 6 x Chaos Furies (120)
– 6 x Varanguard (660)

Nexus Chaotica

Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Forbidden Power

General’s Regiment
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (440)
• General
Chaos Chosen (520)
• Reinforced
• The Banner of Screaming Flesh
Ogroid Myrmidon (150)
• Radiance of Dark Glory
• The Conqueror’s Crown
Ogroid Theridons (360)
• Reinforced

Regiment 1
Gaunt Summoner on Disc of Tzeentch (210)
Chaos Furies (120)
Mutalith Vortex Beast (180)

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Flesh-eater Courts
Lords of the Manor
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of Madness
Prayer Lore – Rites of Delusion
Manifestation Lore – Twilit Sorceries

General’s Regiment
Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion (440)
• General
Marrowscroll Herald (120)
• Charnel Vestments
• Cruel Taskmaster
Morbheg Knights (320)
• Reinforced
Morbheg Knights (160)
Morbheg Knights (160)

Regiment 1
Grand Justice Gormayne (110)
Crypt Ghouls (160)
Cryptguard (200)
• Reinforced
Morbheg Knights (320)
• Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Charnel Throne

[ppp_patron_only level=1]

Stormcast Eternals
Lightning Echelon
Drops: 2
Manifestation Lore – Morbid Conjuration

General’s Regiment
Knight-Draconis (240)
• General
• Quicksilver Draught
• Envoy of the Heavens
Stormdrake Guard (640)
• Reinforced
• 4 Swords
Stormdrake Guard (320)
• 2 Swords

Regiment 1
Neave Blacktalon (340)
Lorai, Child of the Abyss (0)
Neave’s Companions (0)
Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (400)
• Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Stormreach Portal

[/ppp_patron_only]

Final Tournament Placings

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Brett Martin, Chaos, Destruction, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Order, Peter Holland, Seraphon, Slaves to Darkness, Sons of Behemat, Stormcast Eternals, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for the North China Open IV

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This is the top three AoS lists for the North China Open IV that took place in China on the 18th and 19th of January 2025. It saw 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

Seraphon
Sunclaw Starhost
Drops: 4
Spell Lore – Lore of Primal Jungles
Manifestation Lore – Morbid Conjuration

General’s Regiment
Lord Kroak (430)
• General
Saurus Guard (120)

Regiment 1
Saurus Oldblood (110)
• Reptilian Cunning
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (130)
Saurus Warriors (320)
• Reinforced
Saurus Warriors (320)
• Reinforced

Regiment 2
Skink Starseer (170)
• Coatl Familiar
Terrawings (70)

Regiment 3
Skink Starpriest (100)
Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (230)

Faction Terrain
Realmshaper Engine

Huguang 2000/2000 pts
Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Morbid Conjuration

General’s Regiment
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (440)
• General
Chaos Chariot (80)
• 1x Chaos Greatblade
Chaos Knights (250)
• The Banner of Screaming Flesh
Eternus, Blade of the First Prince (200)

Regiment 1
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)
• Favoured of the Pantheon
• Infernal Puppet
Chaos Knights (250)
Varanguard (660)
• Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Sons of Behemat
Boss Tribe
Drops: 2
Manifestation Lore – Aetherwrought Machineries

General’s Regiment
Kragnos, the End of Empires (580)
• General
Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (500)
• Furious Temper
• Amberstone Totem
Mancrusher Mob (390)

Regiments of Renown
Braggit’s Bottle-Snatchaz (490)
Gobbapalooza
Rabble-Rowza
Squig Herd
Squig Hoppers

[ppp_patron_only level=1]

Stormcast Eternals
Sentinels of the Bleak Citadels
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Storm
Prayer Lore – Prayers of the Stormhosts
Manifestation Lore – Morbid Conjuration

General’s Regiment
Krondys, Son of Dracothion (560)
• General
Praetors (150)
Vanguard-Palladors with Starstrike Javelins (480)
• Reinforced
Vigilors (130)

Regiment 1
Ionus Cryptborn, Warden of Lost Souls (400)
Prosecutors (280)
• Reinforced

[/ppp_patron_only]

Final Tournament Placings

Fallout: Factions, Hobby Update, Modiphius, Peter Holland, Sci-Fi

Sunday Hobby Update 4

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To try and keep myself painting regularly, I’ve decided to post a weekly hobby. Update of my work from the last week.

This week, I’ve been furiously painting the models from Fallout: Factions. Hopefully, I’ll have the other half of the starter set ready in the next couple of weeks.

That’s it, really. It’s been a quiet week. On the site, I’ve been organising our Woehammer TTS leagues for Age of Sigmar, which kicked off yesterday.

Laters!

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Brett Martin, Chaos, Death, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Kharadron Overlords, Order, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Peter Holland, Skaventide, Slaves to Darkness, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for Haus of Heroes GT

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This is the top three AoS lists for Haus of Heroes GT that took place in Australia on the 18th and 19th of January 2025. It saw 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

Slaves to Darkness
Godswrath Warband
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Morbid Conjuration

General’s Regiment
Be’lakor, the Dark Master (440)
• General
Chaos Chosen (520)
• Reinforced
Chaos Furies (120)
Chaos Furies (120)
Exalted Hero of Chaos (110)
• Infernal Puppet
• Radiance of Dark Glory

Regiment 1
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)
Chaos Chosen (520)
• Reinforced
• The Banner of Rage

Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica

Kharadron Overlords
Aether-runners
Drops: 2

General’s Regiment
Brokk Grungsson, Lord-Magnate of Barak-Nar (250)
• General
Arkanaut Frigate (320)
• 1x Heavy Sky Cannon
Endrinriggers (240)
• Reinforced
Skywardens (260)
• Reinforced

Regiment 1
Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (130)
• Endrinmaestro
• Celestium Burst-grenade
Arkanaut Ironclad (500)
• 1x Great Sky Cannon
Grundstok Thunderers (280)
• Reinforced
• 4x Aetheric Fumigator or Decksweeper
• 4x Grundstok Mortar or Aethercannon

Skaven
Thanquol’s Mutated Menagerie
Drops: 4
Spell Lore – Thanquol’s Mutated Menagerie Spell Lore
Manifestation Lore – Primal Energy

General’s Regiment
Thanquol on Boneripper (360)
• General
Stormfiends (520)
• Reinforced
• 2 Grinderfists
• 2 Doomflayer Gauntlets
• 2 Clubbing Blows and Warpfire Projectors

Regiment 1
Master Moulder (100)
• Warpstone Innards
Brood Terror (260)

Regiment 2
Master Moulder (100)
• Pack Tactics
Stormfiends (520)
• Reinforced
• 2 Grinderfists
• 2 Doomflayer Gauntlets
• 2 Clubbing Blows and Warpfire Projectors

Regiment 3
Master Moulder (100)

[ppp_patron_only level=1]

Ossiarch Bonereapers
Mortisan Council
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of Ossian Sorcery
Manifestation Lore – Horrors of the Necropolis

General’s Regiment
Mortisan Soulmason (160)
• General
• Helm of Tyranny
• Aura of Sterility
Gothizzar Harvester (200)
Morghast Archai (540)
• Reinforced
Morghast Archai (540)
• Reinforced

Regiment 1
Mortisan Boneshaper (120)
Gothizzar Harvester (200)
Mortek Guard (240)
• Reinforced

Faction Terrain
Bone-tithe Nexus

[/ppp_patron_only]

Final Tournament Placings