I often read non-fiction books on the commute to work (audio books), and until this year rarely reviewed them on Woehammer. But this year I’ve decided to include more non-Warhammer books on the basis that if I find a topic interesting, our readers may do so as well.
From the Book
Callum Wray and his lovers have survived the Vampire War and finally get to live life. That is until events begin to take on a dark edge and spiral. Soon the darkest parts of the Shadow World are coming for the four and it seems the dead do not stay dead. An Urban Fantasy Romance with a polyamorous foursome (Two guys two girls).Magic, Vampires and shapeshifters. Action, humour and spice. There are some scenes which may be triggering.
Review
This is not like my usual reading, with me not really knowing which tags to apply, so I think I’ll call it Urban Fantasy. Despite this and the risk of reading self-published books I enjoyed reading this!
Callum, Catherine, Hannah & Luke are in a group polyamorous relationship… and they happen to be mages and werewolves. In a USA where Vampires and Werewolves are fighting a Shadow War in the background of usual society.
The writing style and approach is not a method I’ve read often as its first person, but rotating through (mostly) the 4 main protagonists. It is mostly done by chapter, with it being very clear who is the narrator in each chapter. This makes it easy to follow and there’s no ambiguity about who is talking or thinking which is great… the reader also gets to delve into the minds of the four main characters as they try to stop Vampires and other makes from bringing the Shadow War into the public domain.
As a self published book there are a few errors which have crept in, but nothing that prevented me rattling through the chapters, although unfortunately the first few chapters have a few more mistakes than later chapters… so if you read this stick with it! Hopefully AJ Brown can get an editor in the future if this does well.
Overall I would recommend this but (perhaps strangely) not to my regular followers… this is definitely different! But sometimes that is a good thing. Read the content warnings before you buy – the book does include some romance and Public Displays of Affection, but I didn’t think it was gratuitous or over-done… this is not a romance novel though!
AJ Brown has released a new book recently in the same world and I’ll try to get to it next year so keep an eye out on my reviews for that.
Verdict
Not the usual fare for Declan (or Eeyore) and a bit of a departure from Woehammer… but it’s got wizards, werewolves and vampires so I’m calling it at least adjacent. I enjoyed the book, it was fun and full of interesting backstory hooks that we are given a glance at, but which we’ll hopefully get more from in the future. Read the content warnings, and it you think it may be for you grab a copy!
We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but with print of demand items, this is more difficult. We have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.
Fittsy’s back at real-life tournaments! It feels good to be back too! I’ve been trying to cover improving my Age of Sigmar skill level… but have been held back a bit by not being able to play much the last 6 months. I’ve been playing a bit online using TTS (table top simulator) and I’ll cover that tournament once the results are ready but with a bit more of a focus on how it feels to play my first tournament on TTS.
I’ve covered the Hamburg Major last year… they made some really good improvements on the Orga side and Dario did a good job of running things in our Age of Sigmar corner of the event. The terrain was all there and prepared for each table. Although they’d emailed us to say it could be a bit tight there was generally enough space to play and plenty of chairs for everyone. Easy access to water. Ticking all of those important tournament boxes. This is only the second year but I don’t have any serious gripes (food is delivery pizza/pasta but you can also bring or order your own). Overall this is an event I’d recommend that you come along to if you get the chance, Hamburg is also pretty easy to train or fly into so if you’ve ever wanted to meet and/or beat me, consider putting this one on your calendar for next year.
What was cool this time is that we there were a bunch of us from Bremen there for the tournament with it being the first AoS GT for 4 of the crew! Some of us arrived on the Friday already and met up for dinner. I slept terribly that night which definitely didn’t help me out going into the next day. So here we go into the interesting bits for Hamburg Major 2026
My List
What it’s meant to do… force the opponent to make decisions about whether they wait or come to me. Lets me play passively for 1-2 rounds shooting whatever isn’t hidden in obscuring. Then it wants to get most of the army into play to cause damage in my go turn but then keep enough of my own pieces alive to score big turns 3-5… easy to say, hard to do. The army can crumble relatively quickly and so it’s punishing in certain matchups and is not very forgiving if a couple of mistakes are made (or sometimes just one). On the other hand, it punishes in certain matchups and can capitalise on any mistakes the opponent makes.
Is it the best list I could write with KO at the moment? I think I’ve got 3 better lists up my sleeve but this one has the Ironclad and I wanted to finish painting it (I didn’t) / wasn’t going to finish painting the other models I’d need for the other lists. It’s also the most similar to the lists I’ve been practicing with.
Game 1: Surging Slaughter against Rene’s Magic Bird Fellas
Not my best battleplan for the tournament and starting into an army that I dread facing up against. There aren’t any local Tzeentch players and I’ve rarely come up against them, this leaves me feeling like I don’t have a good grasp on them as an army. I guess here it was beneficial to have had the pairings in advance and I think I had a good plan in the end for pulling a win out here anyway.
Rene deployed pretty defensively after winning the deployment roll-off. I had to deploy assuming I would be given the 1st turn and the board ended up looking like this (minus the endless spell):
So I guess the image technically spoiled that he actually took first turn! That surprised me a bit… but I was happy for that and I can see why he did it for the chance to get his buffs off and control the flow of the game. The sigil came out early and he took the move buff, this gave him a handy 9 inch charge into the Frigate even after I redeployed… here was an early mistake where I let myself forget the auto 12 inch charges and I’d redeployed the Frigate back which probably ended up letting him get into more of my Skywardens than was necessary. I also forgot that he could just teleport the Soggy Thaumaturge into me. However, alternating activations are a thing and after losing 1 Skywarden (I think) to the Tzaangors, they clapped that hero straight off the board so hard he didn’t even bother with the ward.
I had a focus on clearing things up a bit in my turn and getting myself in position to block the centre up but failed to wipe the Tzaangors who had gotten themselves out of combat after taking mortals and rolling the 4+ they needed to get into Obscuring terrain which was a fucking awesome play from Rene. This meant that not only could I not shoot them I also couldn’t take their ward away.
Moments before that bloody redeploy
Also note my perfect screen of Auto-endrins next to my Ironclad… very important in a moment 😉 In my greed to damage the Tzaangors in the middle and hope he’d take one more model off the objective, I charged one of those Auto-endrins in to do mortal damage.
Rene won the prio and with it the game… he charged those Tzaangors in through the gap I’d left tagging both ships and had moved his Skyfires in behind the ‘Clad on the other side. I counter charged the other unit of Wardens into the Tzaangors in the forest to knock off the ones who were left. Then the 6 remaining Tzaangors spiked and wiped the full unit of Skywardens who had countercharged.
In my turn… I couldn’t even move the Ironclad so it was all about positioning to scrape points on each side using charges with my admiral and the Frigate. I could get a little but he manage to wipe the Frigate out after I rushed and left it within range of Kairos.
Result:
Rene’s 4+ redeploy and my screening error in the middle gave Rene a massive win and left my ego a little bruised too.
30:75
Game 2: Creeping Corruption against Jan’s Vampires and Skeletons
Creeping Corruption is not a great Battleplan for me, I don’t want to spread out until later in the game and need to keep to one side giving my opponent more space to play with and making it harder for me to engage / take that go turn. On the other hand, going into Soulblight isn’t a bad matchup for me and Jan has been playing for about a year (but should not be underestimated). Jan’s an awesome bloke who’s part of the Bremen crew, he’s a nice opponent and a fun guy to hang out with!
I could use my standard deployment here but you see how it stretches me and really forces me onto one side. Jan used this to his advantage and kept his key pieces either in obscuring or far enough away from me (almost). I gave him the first and he really just used the turn to consolidate his positioning. I did more or less the same in the first turn and was watching to see how he would react. I almost shot Radukar off the board with the Ironclad and managed to do 11 damage with him warding the damage to survive.
Jan won the Prio into turn 2 and failed every buff and debuff spell. I decided to take the chance on this turn and pushed up the centre of the board as I thought I could block enough to cripple almost half his army and avoid too much clapback. Here I failed to actually knock Radukar off with shooting after two rallies and this was a mistake on my part. I definitely could have left some more grave guard sitting on the objective even if I’d have ended up losing some points that turn.
This is the moment where I thought I had him… and in hindsight had made a grave error
Consequently, Jan won the Prio (I think with his reroll this turn), charged Radukar and the Vengorian in and wiped both units of Skywardens. This spelt the end of the game for me effectively as even though I could wipe most of his army… Soulblight did what Soulblight do and just kept scoring tactics and on objectives. I really need that damage to clear things out quickly enough.
It doesn’t matter if you have wiped most of their army if they’re still scoring
Result:
It was a narrow loss but Jan simply played better than I did and worked with his strengths to come out 10 points ahead of me. Fuck Vargheists 😛
64:74
Game 3: Lifecycle against nice Ulf’s cool Orks
I paired into Ulf who I met back in 2025 at Raccoon Rumble and who I have a lot of respect for. I guess me calling him nice Ulf goes some way towards decribing my impression of him. A real nice fella who I’ve always got time for a chat with. Going into this game I was pretty sad that I’d already dropped two games and having a sympathetic opponent like Ulf was the perfect remedy for that. Even if I lost, I’d be giving a win to him and I could be happy about that too.
Oh cool, a Kragnos. Kragnos gives Destruction armies the counter they need to play into KO (and many other armies) by allowing them to get across the board in the first turn and starting to tie up my ships or even taking them off the board. Otherwise, this is a pretty good matchup from my perspective. A couple of Monsters to shoot, other slow units to play around. Of the 5 battleplans, this is also the stand-out one for me with KO.
Oh wait… also these pictures don’t do it justice but Green Kragnos looks sick! It pairs him really well with the Ironjawz!
He deployed Kragnos on the back marker and spread across the board so I had a pretty good indication he was going to take first and go for the 10 points, which I was happy to let him do so. You can see I’m centre right, ready to then take Underdog and put the Primary on the right flank.
Then I moved up and took out the pig which had taken the right objective and took the objective so I could score my 9 points for a difference of 1.
Ulf moved up to control the centre of the board and my back objective which was a good play and made a big difference in the score in the end.
I stuck it out where I was clearing Brutes and keeping my positioning for a potential double. I was giving up points but ensuring that I could have the win.
Auto-Endrins and screening making a huge difference to the game
My screening / blocking game was on point here after my first two games and it made a world of difference, I blocked the poor pigs and Kragnos multiple times using the Auto-Endrins who were my MVP this game.
Result:
No need to go for a win big for me in this situation. In the end, he really couldn’t get into my army and I took out unit after unit to score a respectable 60:32 and get my first win for the tournament.
Dinner:
We went back to the same restaurant we’d been to the night before since it was close to the venue and we had a big bunch of us there all together. It was an awesome atmosphere and after going 1-2 for the day I was not taking the tournament as seriously anymore so I had a few Ouzo’s (5ish) and a few cheeky beers too which hadn’t been my plan but I did have a great night! It was great to decompress after 3 challenging games and shoot the shit with a bunch of chill and awesome AoS players.
Game 4: Roiling Roots against Lothar’s stinky Orks
Sorry Lothar but Kruleboyz are stink and they have stinky tricks too. Lothar was practicing with a teams list which helped swing this matchup my way as he didn’t have too many Gutrippaz. Oh but guess what he had a Kragnos so I had the same problem again! I do like Roiling Roots though as I can play to the middle pair of objectives and that can work for me well, I also play pretty well around the strikes last on the objectives. On the other hand, Kruleboyz dirty tricks are a real headache for me doing mortals and removing charge damage as well as giving out that strikes last and teleporting around the place. Oh and why not have every infantry unit doing mortals on 5s or 6s too 😛
Lother slow dropped and also responded to my set up similarly to Jan in game 2. He didn’t expect me to give him first turn but I was set up to make them 12 inch charges (somehow I missed an inch and they were 11s… oops) so that he could only get 1-2 units into me. I shot into the Gutrippaz with the Clad on covering fire. Lothar then tried to get them onto combat but failed the charge even with he reroll. Phew I thought, now I’ll be fine :P. A unit of Monsta-killaz made it in together with the Killaboss with Gnashtoof which I thought would be fine. He then proceeded to rack up 15 damage on the Ironclad! Leaving it with just 3 health.
I healed up just 2 wounds here with the Endrinmaster. Then I forgot the heal from the terrain because it comes into paly so rarely! He had accidentally blocked out my Frigate from jumping over into the middle of his units and killing Kragnos (and probably mostly everything else too). So after a lot of measuring to make sure I couldn’t get in there… I had to take the more conservative protect the Clad and consolidate approach whilst also narrowly taking underdog for the strike last on the objective we were fighting over. So… I didn’t do as much damage as I wanted but was feeling better about it.
Whoever was going to get the Prio had the chance to decide the game
He used his reroll to take the prio into the second turn. Fair call. Big rally of 1 on the Ironclad here. I thought no worries, I’m still safe with the Frigate blocking and a long charge to get into the Ironclad… except they rolled a hot 14 inches on the charge and could get the Gutrippaz all the way in. One activation later and the Ironclad had 1 health left! I won’t forget the terrain heal ever again!
After this, there wasn’t enough to stop me and I had the chance to dominate the board. I stripped Kragnos’ ward cleared the entire left side of Kruleboyz and got to scoring.
Result:
Another day, another Kragnos. Decent win for me 72:34 and bringing me back to 2:2 and raising the stakes again.
Game 5: Bountiful Equinox against Jan’s Giants
Bountiful looks terrible for KO with the 4 forests but the ability to go wherever I want without blocking terrain is a big win… and Jan was not getting anything in obscuring with 3 Gargants and… Kragnos again! As a side note, I somehow ended up on the same table I’d played game 1 and 2 on.
Knowing that the Gargants really only have one chance here which is to knock out a ship in turn 1 I deployed 3-4 inches back from the line. Expecting to be given the first turn and need to just sit tight there. However, Jan took his chance to get at both ships (I would’ve pulled the Frigate back further) and got a Beast Smasher (with a run and charge I hadn’t taken into account) and Kragnos in. Kragnos rolled a hot 6 mortals into the Ironclad and I started to sweat. But then totally failed to get more damage into it and that was really that. I took Kragnos’ ward, easily knocked him off, placed screens, and got another Gargant down to a handful of wounds.
I won the Prio into turn 2… took the double and that was that. Just to add salt to the wound, he charged the Warstomper in killed 2 skywardens and almost died to the clapback!
The entire army getting ready to finish the game off top of turn 2
Jan had taken the chance that he could see to get to a win and it hadn’t worked out for him. Nicely the game was done in under an hour so we had plenty of time to chat. Jan is another great member of the community, it was really cool to play against him and get to know him better. If you speak some German (or want to learn) you can check out their channel here on twitch.
Wrapping the tournament up…
Shout out to the Fairytale of the tournament which was the first thing everyone was talking about at the end of the first day. Benjamin and his Skaven! He’d never won a tournament game before, turned up to his first GT and rocked a 3-0. He’s also one of the nicest opponents I’ve ever faced and I think about his kindness back then on what was a real shitty start of a day surprisingly often.
Fucking also shoutout to Flo who beat Dario by a handful of points to take out the tournament! Flo was amazing to watch on the top table, absolutely cool and calm. He performed amazingly against one of the top players in Germany and got a well deserved win. It was just great to see how happy he was afterwards too!
We had Dario’s Sylvaneth then in 2nd, Hendrik’s Baleful Lords in 3rd, with IDK Lukas’ Idoneth in 4th and Lukas from Kiel’s Legion of the First Prince in 5th.
Mentioning Dario, I think he did a great job of TOing / judging during the event whilst also playing, a hard balance to get. For my German-speaking fanbase, he’s recently launched a Twitch Channel and offers coaching services too. I’ve heard really good things about his coaching (which he can also do in English) so it’s worth a shot to check that out! Also thanks to all the other orga team who will have put in a lot of work to pull off an event like this. I’m really thankful of the effort that people put in to make events like this happen.
A bunch of really awesome and nice people who I’d happily play against at any tournament which really feels like that same would go for anyone at the tournament. I’m constantly somehow surprised by the really nice group of people that I keep meeting at tournaments across Northern Germany. It’s definitely something which makes me want to turn up to tournaments! I think it’s fantastic how supportive people are when things are going a bit shit and we all sort of band together. Just great! I hope all you readers have similar experiences at your tournaments too!
Where do I go from here
Another 3 and 2 which I’m happy with (especially after the first two games)! I still want to turn this into a shot at the 4 and 1s so how am I going to do that.
I’m going to drop Restless and take Intercept as Restless was forcing me to make moves I didn’t want to make on Battleplans that are already harder for me to play (see game 2). Also, I want to see others sweat about their Intercept decisions. This also means I’m going to play around with some different lists leaning a bit more on the Vongrim and/or Gunhaulers.
I’m going to commit to playing KO till the end of the edition because I think that’s how I get better and how I can capitalise best on the experience I’m building at the moment playing them. That’s definitely something I’m going to speak about with my coach in the next month!
I’m going to keep preparing for tournaments like I did for this one, I went through rough plans including deployment and turn 1-2 for each of the battleplans. Wrote it all out and checked against it before each game.
I do have to have a serious think about my mindset about tournaments and what I expect to get out of them. That start really knocked me down a little and definitely pivoted me back to trying to have fun… but maybe that’s part of what I need to focus on now. Time for some self-reflection 🙂
However, even after losing both my first two matches, this was an amazing tournament for me, completely made that way by having a group of people around me who were interested in my results and me in theirs. Its definitely made me excited to get to more tournaments again this year! One last thanks to everyone there who make these events fun!
Fought(s) of the day: Obscuring looks stupid on the Tabletop… and why doesn’t obscuring work for flying units… have you ever tried to find a bird in a tree when you can hear it but can’t see it?
We’ve updated the method of calculating the Elo ratings into our Age of Sigmar stats, this includes an attempt to reflect both the tournament strength and the faction strength.
All of the results in this article are taken from Best Coast Pairings, , Ecksen, New Recruit, ChampionshipHub, Milarki, Mini Headquarters, Tabletop Herald and Longshanks. They include GT (Two day events) or GT+ (6 or more rounds) only.
For patrons, you’ll be able to download and play with the database as well (which includes all the lists and stats for all the factions) as reading this weeks Patreon only analysis of Seraphon.
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)
As always, these are global stats from various sources around the internet.
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 404.7. 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 404.7 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%)
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.
To make it a bit easier to see the effect of higher skilled players, I’ve added the below chart this week which breaks down each factions player base as a percentage.
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).
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 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.
% of Players with a Positive GT Result
Ideally you would want 50% of the players having a positive results for a truly balanced game system.
Consecutive Wins
This chart shows firstly the % of players with a negative result from 5 games at GT’s or GT+ in purple 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.
Green shows the players who achieved three wins from three wins but were unable to win in their fourth round match.
Light blue 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.
For those of you who are counted among our legendary Patreons, you can download the stats database below which now includes warscroll win rates and lists.
On top of this there is some added extras in the form of a faction dive into Seraphon.
Following a successful painting year last year where I completed a Horus Heresy force (Blood Angels) and a Legions Imperialis horde (Solar Auxilia) this year I have challenged myself to get a 2,000 point army of Blood Angels for Warhammer 40k.
Blood Angels
I have always collected Blood Angels. However as I don’t play 40k very often I only had one completed army… And it is all firstborn. So 2026 is the year I finish a more up-to-date Blood Angel Army.
This also forms part of the Woehammer Slow Grow challenge and the Woepoints challenge which is great for keeping me motivated.
So, in January I have finished… 2 Brutalis Dreadnoughts
Pictures
How do they play?
Blood Angels are traditionally a ‘ABC’ (Always Be Charging) Legion. But in 10th Edition they can struggling to destroy vehicles in close assault. And so the Brutalis is a great addition to the legion to fill this gap.
Two of them may be a little excessive for a small force and I would intend to use 1 at 1,000 points and only add the second later to keep the balance of assault versus shooting right in a Blood Angel army.
However, I haven’t played Blood Angels for so long that this is all theory hammer and the wise words of ‘BA Commander’ who knows a lot more than me on the subject.
Paints Used
Blood Angels are red! And so I picked up lots of Colour Forge Sanguine Red for the undercoating and gave both models an even undercoat (on top of Black). I then kept the rest of the model simple with Black Weapons, some gold items picked out and of course transfers… lots of transfers.
I use the Micro Sol & Micro Set for mine and it makes it so much easier.
However, I have been unable to give the models a full Matt Varnish coat due to the cold English weather so there are still a few streaks of varnish showing around the transfers. These will disappear with a coat of varnish in good weather… so roll on July!
The basisng is something I’ve been torn on for a while. Ideally I wanted a Baal red desert base but… it just doesn’t work well on the tabletop for red models. So I’ve stolen borrowed an idea from YouTube!
This takes some more time than I would usually spend on bases, but the contrast to the red is very nice. So that’s Vallejo Rough White Pumice, Zandri Dust, Ushabti Bone, Seraphim Sepia and a Screaming Skull very light highlight. Check out the video for a great explanation of the process.
So that’s How to Paint Blood Angels Brutalis Dreadnoughts — graphic below.
Buying a Box?
These were in the Leviathan box (which is why I have 2), so you may find them cheaper second hand or on Ebay. However the kit is also a permanent fixture in the Games Workshop catalogue. That all means – ask at your local FLGS or use our affiliate link with Element Games. They are £52.00 RRP.
This is the top three TOW lists for Uprising: The Old World that took place in Australia between the 24th and 25th January 2026. It saw 14 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three Old World 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.
20 Gnoblar Fighters (40) – Throwing weapons (Sharp stuff) 2 Sabretusk Pack (34) – Hand weapons (Claws and fangs)
4 Mournfang Cavalry (340) – Monstrous tusks (Mournfang) – Great weapon – Heavy armour – Crusher (champion) [Fistful of Laurels] – Standard bearer [Bull Standard] – Full Command
Ironblaster (185) – Cannon of the Sky-titans
Ironblaster (185) – Cannon of the Sky-titans
=== Beastmen Brayherds [2000 pts] Warhammer: The Old World, Beastmen Brayherds, Open War ===
++ Characters [714 pts] ++ Beastlord [247 pts] – Hand weapon – No armour – Shield – General – On foot – Full Plate Chaos Armour – The Axes of Khorgor – Slug-skin
Great Bray-Shaman [210 pts] – Braystaff – Wizard [Level 4 Wizard] – On foot – Lore Familiar – Dark Magic
Wargor [162 pts] – Hand weapon – No armour – Shield – Battle Standard Bearer [The Beast Banner] – On foot – Full Plate Chaos Armour
++ Core Units [640 pts] ++
19 Bestigor Herd [286 pts] – Hand weapons – Great weapons – Heavy armour – Stubborn – Gouge-horn [Great weapon] – Standard bearer – Musician
10 Gor Herd [92 pts] – Hand weapons – Additional hand weapons – Ambushers – True-horn [Great weapon] – Musician
10 Gor Herd [92 pts] – Hand weapons – Additional hand weapons – Ambushers – True-horn [Great weapon] – Musician
17 Ungor Herd [85 pts] – Shortbows
Tuskgor Chariot [85 pts] – Hand weapons – Great weapons (Bestigor Crew) – Cavalry spears (Gor Crew)
++ Special Units [386 pts] ++
3 Dragon Ogres [220 pts] – Great weapons – Heavy armour – Shartak – Gnarled Hide
Herdstone [100 pts]
6 Harpies [66 pts] – Hand weapons (claws)
++ Rare Units [260 pts] ++
Dragon Ogre Shaggoth [260 pts] – Great weapon – Heavy armour – The Blackened Plate
— Created with “Old World Builder” [https://old-world-builder.com]
=== Warriors of Chaos [1999 pts] Warhammer: The Old World, Warriors of Chaos, Grand Melee ===
++ Characters [688 pts] ++
Chaos Lord [417 pts] – Hand weapon – Full plate armour – Shield – Mark of Chaos [Mark of Chaos Undivided] – General – Manticore – Ogre Blade – Favour of the Gods – Brazen Collar – Waaaghh Opps sorry wrong army
Sorcerer Lord [271 pts] – Hand weapon – Heavy armour – Mark of Chaos [Mark of Tzeentch] – Wizard [Level 3 Wizard] – Chaos Steed – Grimoire of Ogvold – Daemonology
++ Core Units [543 pts] ++
25 Chaos Marauders [227 pts] – Hand weapons – Light armour – Shields – Chaotic Cult [None] – Formation [Close Order] – Marauder Headman (champion) – Standard bearer [War Banner] – Musician – Battle Hunger +1d3 swift stride – Not Again – All marauders get sacrificed so snobby gits don’t have to fight.
5 Chosen Chaos Knights [276 pts] – Lances – Shields – Full plate armour – Barding – Mark of Chaos [Mark of Tzeentch] Fire attacks MR 1 +1 cast – Drilled – Champion – Standard bearer [Icon of Darkness] -1 shooting – Musician – Dark Hearts -1LD vs Non terror/Immune to Psych – Enhanced Reflexes – A bit snobby – Won’t fight you unless they must
18 Chosen Chaos Warriors [492 pts] – Halberds – Full plate armour – Shields – Mark of Chaos [Mark of Chaos Undivided] – Drilled – Champion [Taskmaster’s Scourge] 1d3 M/On succesful LD test – Standard bearer [Monster Hunter’s Tapestry] Immune to stomp attacks – Musician – Battle Hunger +1d3 Swift Stride – Brazen Will MR 1 – It’s all Over – Opponents folds on turn 3
[ppp_patron_only level=1]
249 – Daemon Slayer, Great Weapon, General, Rune of Cleaving, Rune of Fury, Rune of Parrying, Rune of Wrath, Rune of Grit
309 – Daemon Slayer, Great Weapon, Troll Hunter, 3x Rune of Fury, Rune of Endless Battle, Rune of the Dishonoured
239 – Dragon Slayer, Great Weapon, Battle Standard Bearer, Master Rune of Grungni, Rune of Parrying, Rune of Grit
355 – 24 Slayers • 1x Troll Slayer, Standard Bearer, Great Weapon • 1x Troll Slayer, Musician, Great Weapon • 21x Troll Slayer, Great Weapon • 1x Giant Slayer, Great Weapon
147 – 10 Slayers • 9x Troll Slayer, Additional Hand Weapon • 1x Giant Slayer, Additional Hand Weapon, From the Wilds
133 – 5 Brotherhood of Grimnir • 1x Shrine Guard, Great Weapon, Shrine Keeper • 1x Shrine Guard, Great Weapon, Standard Bearer • 1x Shrine Guard, Great Weapon, Musician • 2x Shrine Guard, Great Weapon
Online Age of Sigmar is great, but it can be a nightmare for calendars.
GTs are often spread over weeks with players having to find time within a week or two weeks to arrange one game. Then they may have a long wait until the next pairings are generated. Eventually interest falls off and only a few people are competing near the end.
This will all be run through our Discord channel.
Online League
This league is designed to be structured for people with jobs and families.
It’s not a GT but a ladder league. It has fixed divisions of up to 10 players with promotions and relegations.
How it Works
Players are placed into leagues of 10 players that are arranged into 3 different regions;
Americas
Europe
Pacific
Each season players will play up to 5 games against random opponents in their league. All opponents are generated once lists and battleplans have been locked in.
Those five games can be played in any order in an 8 week period from the start of the league. So you can play them in any order and whenever you like along as you arrange and submit your scores before the league ends.
Rules
Sign ups are currently taking place on our Discord and players have until 30th January to register interest.
This will be the first season and therefore the leagues in each region will have more than 10 players. Finishing positions will determine which division players will fall in for season 2.
Players will be given a week to concoct lists under the current rules. The lists are then locked for those 8 weeks.
Battleplans will then be generated at random and then pairings.
All lists will be kept private until the pairings are published.
Scoring
Scoring is simple. 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss. Victory Points will be used as tie-breakers.
League Structure
Each region will have its league structure. They’ll be a single top division with two second divisions (if necessary)
Two players will be relegated each season and one promoted from each feeder league.
New players or those who have missed a season will start at the bottom division.
Deadlines
Every season has a hard deadline of 8 weeks.
If your opponent doesn’t respond and you can show you tried, you’ll be awarded the win. If neither of you make the effort its a double loss.
Champion
Each season the winner of each top division is awarded a Discord Accolade (e.g. Americas: Season 1 Champion)
Join Up
Come and join us on our Discord, then follow the link to the sign up sheet in our TTS channel. Once you’ve signed up message me on Discord with your army list.
Most Warhammer stats usually live in spreadsheets. Most Warhammer discussions don’t. They happen in Discord, Reddit threads, comment sections, and group chats. Usually fuelled by screenshots taken out of context, and the phrase “the stats says…” doing far more work than it should.
We’ve spent a long time saying the same thing now: win rates are summaries. Useful ones, but only if you’re prepared to ask what’s underneath them.
Recently, we started doing something slightly different. We brought the data into the conversation itself as something you can interrogate in real time.
If you’ve ever tried to have a discussion about balance online, you’ll know how it goes.
Someone posts a faction win rate, then someone else says it’s being “carried by top players.” Another person says “it’s actually fine if you look at usage“.
The conversation staggers because nobody is looking at the same thing.
A spreadsheet is great for analysis, but it’s terrible for conversation, which is where Discord comes in.
Discord Bot
The Discord stats bot we’ve made doesn’t add new data. It uses the same GT data we already publish, with the same filters and assumptions, but makes it accessible instantly.
Instead of saying “I think X is popular”, you can check.
Example: Stormcast Eternals
WoeBot doing WoeBot Things
At first glance, nothing looks unusual. Stormcast at time of publication have a win rate just over 50%.
This is usually where the conversation ends. But there are still questions worth asking:
– Why is the Elo gap so large?
– Why do most results sit in the 2-3 bracket?
– Why are undefeated runs relatively rare?
WoeBot Doing More WoeBot Things
Same faction. Just narrowed down to a specific formation.
The win rate increases and the Elo gap even flips direction.
We’re not saying Sentinels of the Bleak Citadels is “better”. But recognising that Stormcast performance can’t be taken at face value.
When people argue about faction strength, they’re often talking about different sets of players and builds without realising it.
That’s a disagreement about what data you’re actually describing.
Popular Doesn’t Always Mean Powerful
More WoeBot Things
These are the warscrolls Stormcast players use most often.
For example, the Knight-Relictor is currently the 4th most popular warscroll for Stormcast at GTs. But when it’s included it’s currently bringing Stormcast list performance down to 49%. Lists that don’t feature it are winning 57% of the time.
This is where the conversation usually gets more interesting. Here, warscrolls are measured against the faction’s own average, not against each other.
Some units show very high win rates, but only across a very small amount of games. Others show smaller lifts, but across dozens a larger sample size.
This is where questions start to matter: Is this unit genuinely strong? Or being chosen by stronger players?
And some of them, statistically, drag results down.
Can I Use It?
Yes. Just jump on our Discord and head over to the Bot Action channel or call up the info in one of the faction channels.
We’ve further developments on the bot coming soon which will include;
When a warscroll is included, the average number of times its used in a list
Player history across the GHB
List recall for Top 3 lists at events.
There are currently no plans to allow the bot into other Discord servers as I don’t want my job to turn into IT helpline….
Here is my generic intro to article where I say I’m back and sorry for the long break between articles! I didn’t realise quite how long it had been until I sat down to finish this one off and get it ready to publish. Wow, it’s been 4 months and another battlescroll in the meantime since that article. I’m so out of practice I couldn’t even decide on a title so you get two.
2026 was going pretty good from an AoS perspective and I feel like I was legitimately getting better. Then the NH book came out. Only kidding 😛 (at least a bit). Life just got busy, I moved house last year which was great for lifestyle and everything else but not great for getting in enough AoS games to stay at the same level or get better.
Enough about that though… I’m here today to kick the year off here for Fittsy’s Foughts and take a look back at those goals I set in May last year and the methods I planned to use to get there.
Goals? Aims? Targets? Whatever they are did I meet them?
I set them back in this article over here but I’m not going to make you click a link just to check it out. 😛
’ll go through them one by one here anyway. I decided back then to have one main goal for myself and I’m not there yet…
“+ become a consistent 4:1 player with a shot at 5:0”
I’ve still got some way to go before I can call myself that… like getting another 4:1. I think I’m just up to 3 GTs and a teams tournament so far so it’d be good if I could find a way to get more in each year. In the teams tournament, I did go 3-1-1 with the “all rounder” list so that was darn close!
I did have these minor goals to get me towards that.
“+ make less mistakes”
+ be more consistent
+ be the best Australian AoS Player in Germany
+ get another 3-0 or two”
I legitimately think that I’m starting to or have hit most of these. I’ll see how my next proper GT is but I’m definitely starting to see and catch my own mistakes. I’m even catching them sometimes before I make them on the table which is the ideal case!
I’m not as sure if I am being more consistent… some more games would help there. I do feel like I have reached a more consistent level of AoS. In hindsight that goal could have been better written. Placing 2nd, 1st, 7th, 5th, 4th in my last 4 outings feels like I might be headed in the right direction. But most of these are 3-2s or 2-1s.
I’m still the best Aussie in Germany! At least until another Aussie turns up in the scene (and no, the New Zealander doesn’t count).
This was the only New Zealandish model I could find! There are tons of Australian AoS model optionsthough. Sharks, snakes, literal kangaroos, snakes made of blood… so many options!
And hey, I did get one more 3-0 so far… It’d just be nice to play a few more tournaments and get a second one to feel good about that.
So feel like I’ve stepped forwards, coaching has helped but then playing less often has definitely come with a negative impact. I think I’ve played a single game in person since October 😮
Luckily the internet exists! TTS is making a difference and not just in being able to get some games and even a tournament in without travelling. It’s also making a big I’m better prepared than ever before. I’ll definitely put an intro to TTS article up soon because it’s an important tool which I had largely overlooked until now!
“All the roads that lead you there were winding”
So if I got a bit better but not better enough yet, what helped from that stuff in the old article and do I need to change anything from my old approach?
Getting in more games?
That didn’t work… I just ended up playing less, I need to play more and get to more tournaments if I want to get to the next level.
Getting reps with my army / list?
This was my strength before and switching back and forth between Nighthaunt and Kharadron was fun but I need to sit and focus on one army competitively for a while again! I feel like I’m not where I was yet with KO as I was with NH before the new battletome.
Getting in games with other armies?
I’ve managed that a bit with games with Nighthaunt, KO, Gargants, and even one with Helsmiths. I want to keep throwing in a game with my “non-main” army from time to time. I think my aim was 1 in 4 with a different army but I definitely feel I need to focus a bit more with KO still.
Start looking at other armies?
AS much as I want to paint my Helsmiths and finish up my Gargants… I’ve got units I want to have to give my KO lists more options (I’ve already got a file for what I paint next to fill out the army). Yuck, that was a hard sentence. First things first, paint more KO for the next half year, then look at painting one of the other armies (and my Necromunda Ogryns 😉)
Maybe I’ll finish this mysterious model that I started 1.5 years ago 😛
Heading into tournaments to win?
Oof. First thought was “hell yeah”. But then those second thoughts came in and I know I’m planning to get a 3:2 at the GT on the weekend with a shot at a 4:1. I recognise that I need to work on this a little more. I know I go into each game going for the win.
Changing my mindset about scoring?
This is done and dusted. I’m quite sure it’s one of the aspects that is really helping me to change my results.
Coaching?
This has definitely helped. From changing my mindset, to working on cutting down on my mistakes, to specific deployment and battleplan strategies. I’ve been really happy I’ve given this a shot. I’m at the end of my “review” of Onwards AoS and I’ll do some coverage of my experience with coaching over a couple of articles.
And then…
There’s two more things I’m trying to do at the moment.
More games against top opponents! TTS is one of the things making the difference here and trying to see about getting to more GTs is the other. Then it occurs to me I should play against Luca who I think has now taken the crown from me for best player in Bremen… but only because I moved! Sucker! You have to beat me to take the crown!
More prep and more discussion. See how calm and calculated I can be :P. I mentioned Luca in the one above but along with increasing how much I chat with him about games, I’ve also done so with some others and I’m trying to ask questions and get involved in relevant chats.
You’ve done a good job to read this far in this word salad of an article with hardly a picture of video link. As a consolation prize, enjoy this campfire classic 😊
Just in case you didn’t get the quote at the start there!
Looking Ahead
This was super helpful for me reflecting back on how things have gone with a bit more than half a year since deciding to try and be more competitive. I hope it’s at least given you all a thought or two about why you play or how you play.
I didn’t get those gargants finished… then I picked up Helsmiths… started to paint then life really got in the way and now I’m painting KO again. Gah! Positive side is that with the new battletome I’m enjoying KO so much more than before (and I think my opponents are too now that the points dropped).
On the playing front, I actually have good news… I just finished a tts tournament and I’m heading to a GT this weekend. Next up is participating in RTB with the Woehammer based team as well to see what all the fuss is about over there. Tune in next week for the next exciting episode of Fittsy’s Foughts!
One of the most misleading things about faction win rates is how convincing they look when two armies sit next to each other on the chart.
Cities of Sigmar and Gloomspite Gitz are a good example. Across the September Battlescroll both faction finished with almost identical headline win rates of 53%. To many players that reads as balance. Two factions that are equal in strength.
They are not the same, and this article is about why similar win rates can hide very different player experiences, and why relying on that one number can lead players to the wrong conclusions about what a faction is like when being used at a tournament.
The Illusion of Equality
If you only looked at win rates, then Cities and Gitz would be interchangeable. Both win roughly half their games and neither sits at the extremes. Neither faction looks like it is broken.
But win rates, as we’ve mentioned earlier in our series, answers only one question: How often the faction won. It won’t tell you how those wins were achieved, who’s achieving them and how often players walk away from events feeling like they had a decent weekend.
Once you start looking beyond that percentage, the picture changes.
Who is Actually Playing the Faction?
The first difference between the factions is who is taking them to events.
Cities of Sigmar has a relatively high average Elo but lower player numbers. A larger proportion of its games are played by experienced players, though it still has representation across the middle of the skill curve. It has slightly more appeal to competitive players and rewards strong fundamentals.
Gloomspite Gitz’ player base, while still high, is lower rated than Cities overall, with a much larger player base. It’s a faction that would appear to be chosen for its aesthetic and playstyle over being competitive.
That matters because a faction achieving a 53% win rate with a less experienced player base tells us something important. Gitz can generate wins without requiring tight, highly optimised play in every game.
Already we’re describing two different populations producing the same headline percentage.
What Does Success Look Like?
This is where faction win rate really starts to fall apart as player advice.
Cities of Sigmar shows a higher proportion of players finishing events with positive results. Almost 40% of players finished the weekend with 3-2 results, which reflects both consistency and the faction’s experienced player base. Cities doesn’t spike events often, but many players walk away having felt competitive through the weekend.
While Gloomspite Gitz looks different. While its players are more likely than Cities to achieve three wins in the first three rounds of an event, there is a noticeable drop-off in later rounds. The 2-3 bracket is much larger, and far few players convert early success into strong final results.
What this suggests is a a faction that is tactically forgiving (players can win games even without perfect execution), but strategically volatile across a full tournament. As the event progresses Gitz struggle more at the top tables than Cities does.
Tactically Forgiving vs Strategically Forgiving
There is a difference. Gloomspite Gitz are tactically forgiving. Its mechanics and swing potential allow players to win games without flawless play or list optimisation. This helps explain why a lower Elo player base can still produce a strong overall win rate.
Cities of Sigmar is less forgiving on a turn by turn bases. Mistakes can be punished more consistently and clean play matters.
But over the length of a weekend the roles reverse.
Cities is strategically forgiving. It recovers better across five rounds and produces steadier outcomes. Gitz by contrast are prone to late tournament collapse.
Both paths lead to the same win rate and the experience of getting there is very different.
How Fragile is Success?
Another difference lies in how dependent each faction is on certain choices.
Cities of Sigmar has reasonably large roster but would appear to have only a few viable builds. Its performance is spread across a smaller number of warscrolls with a vast amount of its roster being either ignored or experiencing very little play. Warscrolls like the Fusil-Major on Warhulk, Freeguild Cavaliers and Ironweld Great Cannon appear in the majority of lists.
This often happens when a smaller player bases identifies an optimised build and others follow. Success becomes concentrated, which can make the faction feel oppressive at times and fragile at others. Small rules or points changes may dramatically alter the performance even if the headline win rate barely moves.
Gitz shows broader warscroll usage. While not all choices are equally successful, far more of the roster sees meaningful pay. With a larger player base and lower average Elo, success is spread across different list types rather than being driven by a narrow core.
This contributes to both Gitz’ volatility and accessibility.
The Role of the Tournament Organiser and Battleplan Selections
Battleplans matter for each faction, but they matter unevenly.
Cities of Sigmars performs very well on five of the most popular battleplans, where it exceeds a 55% win rates, but struggles significantly on two others where their win rate is well below 45%.
Gits is more consistent across the battleplans with only one proving to be a significant advantage and one a clear problem.
As a result, Cities is more sensitive to the Battleplan selection than Gitz. Identical lists can feel dominant one weekend and underwhelming the next, depending entirely on which Battleplans the Tournament Organiser has chosen.
Again, this is invisible in the headline win rate.
Same Percentage, Different Questions
At this point the headline percentage of 53% becomes almost irrelevant.
Cities and Gitz may win their games at similar rates, but they ask very different things of their players.
Cities rewards experience, precision, and consistency. It performs better into top factions but pays for that with sensitivity to battleplans and narrower competitive cores.
Gloomspite Gitz is more accessible and tactically forgiving, allowing players to win games early and often, but struggles to convert that momentum into consistent late tournament success against top tier opposition.
Choosing between these factions based on the win rate alone, they are choosing blind.
What Players Should Take Away
This is the core of why I wrote the Data Literacy series.
Win rates aren’t lying to you, but they are summaries, and Summaries are dangerous when they’re treated as advice.
Two factions can sit on the same percentage and offer entirely different tournament experiences. One may feel consistent across battleplans but struggle into the top tier of factions. One may feel consistent but constrained. The other may feel explosive but unreliable.
Understanding which experience suits you matters more than the number reading 53%.
Final Thoughts
In our first article we talked about patience. In our second, interpretation. Now we’re talking above perspective.
Statistics don’t tell you what to play but they tell you what questions to ask.
Cities and Gitz look balanced at first glance. In practice, they are telling different stories and that gap is why win rates, taken alone, are such poor guides for players trying to understand their own results.
This is the top three AoS lists for Weekend Warlords IX – The Bad Moon that took place in Italy between the 10th and 11th of January 2026. It saw 66 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
Ossiarch Bonereapers Hekatos Drillmasters General’s Handbook 2025-26 Drops: 4 Spell Lore – Lore of Necrotheurgy Manifestation Lore – Horrors of the Necropolis Battle Tactics Cards: Attuned to Ghyran and Wrathful Cycles
General’s Regiment Scourge of Ghyran Mortisan Boneshaper (100) • General • Helm of Tyranny • Aura of Sterility Immortis Guard (340) • Reinforced Mortek Guard (220) • Reinforced
Boggy: If there is one clear message this list sends, it is this: Necropolis Stalkers are still very much the backbone of competitive Ossiarch Bonereapers. Stalkers, Stalkers, and more Stalkers, three reinforced units forming the core of the army, signal a build that leans hard into what was one of the most dominant warscrolls at the tail end of the Index OBR era, and remains extremely efficient under the current ruleset.
Necropolis Stalkers dominate the battlefield not only through their exceptional damage output, but also through the stacking debuffs they bring to combat. This dual role allows them to function as both hammer and anvil, a rare and extremely valuable combination in the current meta.
Their points cost remains aggressively low for what they deliver: high-volume, high-quality attacks, flexible weapon profiles, and layered debuff potential. Running three reinforced units maximizes these advantages and ensures that even if one block is neutralized, the list still applies relentless pressure across multiple fronts. In the Hekatos Drillmasters formation, their ability to operate outside standard aura ranges while maintaining Relentless Discipline only amplifies their effectiveness.
Immortis Guard provide an excellent complement to the Stalkers. While primarily tasked with protecting the backline and key heroes, they are far from passive. Their damage output closely mirrors that of the Stalkers, meaning opponents cannot afford to ignore them. This duality, durability paired with meaningful offensive threat, forces difficult decisions for the opponent. Push forward and risk punishment from Immortis Guard, or hang back and allow the Stalkers to dictate engagements? Either choice favors the Bonereapers.
The inclusion of two Mortisan Soulreapers is a subtle but powerful choice. Their role is not raw damage, but combat control. By applying additional debuffs and enabling chain activations with Stalkers and Immortis Guard, they significantly increase the army’s overall combat efficiency.
In an army that already excels at grinding fights down over multiple turns, the Soulreapers push engagements firmly into OBR’s favor by ensuring key enemy units fight weakened, outnumbered, and often out-activated.
Mortek Guard fill a classic Ossiarch role: screening, objective control, and recursion. Their synergy with the Mortisan Boneshaper allows them to rally models back consistently, creating an irritatingly resilient unit that refuses to stay dead. While they are not the stars of the list, they provide critical board presence and buy time for the elite elements to do their work. In an army that is already difficult to shift, this added layer of recursion further frustrates opponents.
Arch-Kavalos Zandtos is a quietly excellent inclusion. His larger base size compared to other heroes, combined with solid movement, allows him to project Relentless Discipline to areas that would otherwise be difficult to support. This mobility makes him a reliable lynchpin for the army’s command economy, ensuring that key units receive the discipline they need exactly when they need it, especially as the army fans out across the board.
This list exemplifies what Ossiarch Bonereapers do best in the current season: durable, debuff-heavy elite infantry backed by reliable support and strong command projection. The Hekatos Drillmasters formation further enhances the army’s flexibility, allowing its wandering elite units, chiefly the Necropolis Stalkers, to operate independently without losing efficiency. It may not be flashy, but it is brutally effective. Against an opponent, this list presents a grim reality: you must fight through multiple layers of resilient, hard-hitting units, all while operating under constant debuffs and relentless pressure. For players looking to leverage the strongest elements of the OBR roster, this is a very serious competitive build.
Ossiarch Bonereapers Hekatos Drillmasters General’s Handbook 2025-26 Drops: 3 Spell Lore – Lore of Necrotheurgy Manifestation Lore – Horrors of the Necropolis Battle Tactics Cards: Attuned to Ghyran and Wrathful Cycles
General’s Regiment Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis (520) • General
Regiment 2 Scourge of Ghyran Mortisan Boneshaper (100) • Helm of Tyranny • Aura of Sterility Scourge of Ghyran Mortek Guard (110) Teratic Cohort (140)
Faction Terrain Bone-tithe Nexus
Blades of Khorne Khornate Legion General’s Handbook 2025-26 Drops: 3 Prayer Lore – Blood Blesssings of Khorne Manifestation Lore – Judgements of Khorne Battle Tactic Cards: Intercept and Recover, Restless Energy
General’s Regiment Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (400) • General • Skull Collector • Ar’gath, The King of Blades Bloodletters (160) Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (410) Scourge of Ghyran Bloodcrushers (320) • Reinforced
Nataša: This list has it all: raw oomph and damage output, intimidation tactics, reactability, resiliency, and movement shenanigans. Multiple moving parts need to be taken into consideration when trying to play against it, and heroes beware! The list differs from the usual Bloodletter spam we see, and it is quite refreshing.
First, let’s talk movement. This list has Karanak, the ultimate MVP for his 110pts. His sole purpose is to hunt heroes the opponent may have left alone or unprotected on the backlines. He can pick himself and a unit of Flesh Hounds to teleport to a Hero that he declared as his Quarry. Mind you, at deployment, that Hero does not have to be on the table to be chosen. Karanak can be set up out of 6” from the Quarry and out of 9” of other units, while the Flesh Hounds just need to be wholly within 12” of him. Karanak then gains +2 to charge (!!), while the Flesh Hounds lose the beast keyword, which is so good for snatching up those back objectives! This is all already good, but then comes the fun: he can get additional attacks from the Wrath of Khorne, who just needs to be able to see him, so be careful of true line of sight for your positioning. Also, he can chain-activate from the subfaction, and the options keep piling on. Karanak is really one of the more potent pieces in the list, and not even the main one!
Then, we have movement in the combat phase: both Bloodletters and Bloodcrushers have these abilities, as they can move 3” (always) and 2d6” (on a skill check of a 3up). This gives excellent manoeuvrability, as they can pass through combat range and tag new units. Note – Bloodcrushers can pass through models, too! Quite unusually, this list has only one unit of 10 Bloodletters; we are now used to seeing 2×20 in the current meta, but that is why we have a reinforced unit of soggy Bloodcrushers: 30 wounds, on 4 up saves and 6 up ward, not bad at all. They could pass through your screens and tag you up in combat, and have damage that is not to be dismissed. They are an excellent technical piece in this list.
But enough about movement! Khorne has finally moved away from the ballerina-style movement, techy army… where is our damage? Where is our threat? Well, in the Thirsters for sure. Our General, the Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster, has on him both the artifact and command trait, so he gains an additional attack until the end of battle if he kills a hero, which mediates the fact that he cannot issue the additional attack onto himself in combat. He also turns off wards for enemy heroes, so in addition to his rampage targeting heroes and the anti-hero rend, he really shuts down their ability to survive. His movement is 12”, he is survivable, and is a buff piece to others. I would recommend he go with the other Thirster, the one we love calling Boomthirster, in tandem, and then you have a powerhouse slaughter castle. The Boomthirster, other than just having a swingy but outrageous damage potential, can also boom into targets in 8” (every 6 to hit is a boom in addition to a hit, and then every enemy unit within 8” suffers a d3 per boom). So… Not bad at all for your murderblender core.
Defense? Mind you, do you need it after everything thus far? Yes, yes you do in competitive gameplay, as the name of the game now is waiting for the juicy go-turn. Your Blood Warriors come in here, as they have a 5 up ward when contesting, but not controlling, an objective. This needs some manoeuvrability, but it is very strong.
Finally, let’s talk about the choice of tactics. Intercept is easier to score here than for most lists, as we have teleports, jumping over screens, combat movement, and flying. So no biggie there. And restless is easy when you have tabled your opponent! Joking aside, due to the low drop count, it is easy enough to score the first two out of three on restless. If you are scoring the 3rd one, it is just a win-more condition.
All in all, this list is rounded and very good into most matchups, as it has a bit of everything. Enjoy hunting those heroes down!
[ppp_patron_only level=1]
Helsmiths of Hashut The Bullfather’s Horns General’s Handbook 2025-26 Drops: 2 Spell Lore – Lore of Infernal Power Prayer Lore – Prayers of the Scorched Sect Manifestation Lore – Primal Energy (20 Points) Battle Tactic Cards: Restless Energy, Intercept and Recover
General’s Regiment Urak Taar, the First Daemonsmith (350) • General Bull Centaurs (380) • Reinforced Bull Centaurs (380) • Reinforced Deathshrieker Rocket Battery (140) • Overdrive Switch Tormentor Bombard (130)
Fittsy: Congrats to Flavio for the 4:1 with Helsmiths. HoH haven’t been doing too well on overall win rate so that makes this even more of a feat. There are a few variations on feasible lists going around. For vanilla HoH (no “Army of Renown”s), this looks like a solid path to take. The core of this list is really the 2 units of Bull Centaurs. These dudes absolutely slap and are most likley going to overkill anything they go into. They are unfortunately allergic to receiving any sort of damage and if you can’t protect them they won’t be there when you need them. This is a bit of a driver to go for a 2 drop to help control the turn order and ptoentially enable the double which will be absolutely brutal. Supporting all of this is Uruk Taar who is almost a “must take” as a mobile caster and very importanly being able to shift the buffs around in the opponent’s turn. The Bomard and Rocket Battery are very handy for stopping commands and doing a bit of damage at range. The Cohorts are key to avoiding the Centaurs get too beat up before they can charge themselves. Flavio’s done great with an army that isn’t in a great spot yet (let’s hope we see some points tuning) and is tricky to pilot as well.
