This is the top three AoS lists for the Warhammer Open Newport that took place in the UK between the 14th and 16th of August 2026. It saw 58 players vying to be crowned champion in a 8-game tournament.
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The Top Three AoS Lists
Fyreslayers
Warrior Kinband
Points: 2000/2000 points
Drops: 4 drops
Battle Tactics: Siege of Ashes / Burning for Vengeance
Prayer Lore: Vulkyn Gifts (SoA)
Manifestation Lore: Magmic Invocations
Faction Terrain: Magmic Battleforge
General’s Regiment
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (320)
• General
• Thickened Scales (20 pts)
9x SoA Vulkyn Flameseekers (160)
Regiment 1
Auric Runesmiter (90)
• Ash-cloud Rune
10x Auric Hearthguard (200)
• Reinforced
10x Hearthguard Berzerkers with Flamestrike Poleaxes (220)
• Reinforced
9x SoA Vulkyn Flameseekers (160)
Regiment 2
Auric Runesmiter (90)
10x Auric Hearthguard (200)
• Reinforced
10x Hearthguard Berzerkers with Flamestrike Poleaxes (220)
• Reinforced
9x SoA Vulkyn Flameseekers (160)
Regiment 3
Auric Runemaster (160)
• Ash-Beard
Kevin Lathers: Known Runefather and cool dude, Philip Springall, has managed notch quite an impressive 8-0 at this GW Open while playing against 8 different armies! Congratulations!
His list doesn’t use the usual SoA Runeson on Magmadroths and instead leans hard into infantry, including the newer SoA Flameseekers. This is supported by the subfaction ability encouraging charging infantry for the +1 to wound rolls.
The Runesmiter’s now-changed ability to take the entire regiment into deepstrike shines here because at the start of the game Philip can have the vast majority of his points in the tunnels leaving his opponent both little counter-deployment options and himself many possibilities on where to place these large regiments after the game has already begun.
The Runefather on Magmadroth exists as a support piece here, his thickened scales letting him tank more while he uses his rampage for save reduction on enemies and his once per game attack boost to buff nearby infantry units.
A Runemaster does its normal role of being a double-prayer priest and a battle trait buff piece: enhancing the runes can often alter the course of a battle, particularly for infantry where an additional boardwide +1 save (on the 5++ ward rune) or 1 rend (on the Crit(Mortal) rune) can make or break a fight.
The story here is the two large regiments in deepstrike though. Auric Hearthguard remain and incredibly swingy shooting hammer that often does 2 damage or 20 damage and you don’t know what you’ll get; their low range (12″) mitigated by being in deepstrike.
The Hearthguard Berserkers do their normal schtick of beating the hell out of anything they touch while the SoA Flameseekers have the ability to increase their movement by their fury level going a whopping 11″ of base movement, acting as a speedy threat in place of a magmadroth — plus they aren’t too bad on the attack and with the enhanced Crit(mortal) rune can reach 3 rend against monsters.
An important piece of this list is the ash-cloud rune on one of the Runesmiters. This allows for the entire regiment to be plopped down right in front of a murderers row of shooting units and be completely invulnerable to them. That sort of threat is ruinous to armies that rely on shooting for damage or support of their melee.
Thus the list is highly flexible through mobility and deepstrikes, hits very hard in both shooting and melee, tanks decently well with higher wound counts and potential 5+ wards, and gives the opponent no real ways to hide from it or get into it.
A big downside is that the list relies on synergy between pieces, including runes and priests, and knowing the perfect place to deepstrike the regiments. A single mistake on the deepstrike can leave the entire list falling apart without surrounding support and threats. Clearly Philip didn’t make any major errors for his part.
Disciples of Tzeentch
Mutants and Mad Things
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 3
Spell Lore – Lore of Fate
Manifestation Lore – Manifestations of Tzeentch
Battle Tactics Cards: Burning for Vengeance and Flanking Firestorm
General’s Regiment
Lord of Change (390)
• General
• Fate Slicer
Blue Horrors and Brimstone Horrors (240)
• Reinforced
Chaos Spawn of Tzeentch (60)
Chaos Spawn of Tzeentch (60)
Fatemaster (150)
• Silver Summoner
Regiment 1
Fateskimmer, Herald of Tzeentch on Burning Chariot (140)
Burning Chariot of Tzeentch (140)
• Vision of Arcane Sacrifice
Scourge of Aqshy: Screamers of Tzeentch (110)
Scourge of Aqshy: Screamers of Tzeentch (110)
Regiment 2
Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (170)
Kairic Acolytes (90)
Tzaangors (340)
• Reinforced
Faction Terrain
Argent Shard
Erich: Simon brought out the Mutants and Mad Things with this Tzeentch Daemon list. Central to the army is the Lord of Change that can recur Horrors, Screamers, and the odd Burning Chariot while providing -1 hit to protect those daemons. A Silver Summoner brings back heroes and the Kairics, with the latter able to use their Driven By Destiny to move surprisingly fast by mid game.
The pair of Spawn provide an opportunity to score Flanking Firestorm with relative ease while also holding up movement or swapping in to protect a key pieces. The real hammer in this list are Tzaangors, who can be buffed up via the Burning Sigil, Shield of Fate, and Screamers to become deadly attackers that disappear for one of the aforementioned spawn in between turns.
All these pieces taken together provide a resilient list that debuffs attacks, disappears from the board, and delivers damage at decisive points. Its speed and recursion also provide reliable scoring with mobile and disposable pieces for Flanking Firestorm and the ability to spread into Burning for Vengeance before converging with magic or a precision strike to remove an offending hero. Congratulations to Simon, the mental fortitude to take Tzeentch 5 rounds is impeessive and even more so with a complex movement and recursion based build.
Flesh-eater Courts
Royal Menagerie
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 2
Spell Lore – Lore of Madness
Prayer Lore – Rites of Delusion
Manifestation Lore – Manifested Insanity
Battle Tactics Cards: Burning for Vengeance and Siege of Ashes
General’s Regiment
Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion (450)
* General
Royal Terrorgheist (240)
Royal Terrorgheist (240)
Royal Terrorgheist (240)
Royal Zombie Dragon (260)
Regiment 1
Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (430)
* Stronger in Madness
* Charnel Vestments
Royal Beastflayers (110)
* Defenders of Chivalry
Woehammer Peter: Phil has taken Royal Menagerie very literally. Ushoran is accompanied by three Terrorgheists, a Zombie Dragon and a Ghoul King riding yet another Terrorgheist, leaving the Royal Beastflayers as the only unit in the army that couldn’t resonably be described as a very large problem.
The key is that these monsters are more than a collection of individual hammers. Royal Menagerie rewards the non-Hero beasts for remaining close to the court’s heroes, each can use the Rampage on its own warscroll even if another friendly Monster has already used that same Rampage that turn. An unmodified charge of 9+ also gives those monsters Strike-First. With three Royal Terrorgheists and a Zombie Dragon, Phil create several disruptive combats at once rather than relying on one monster to do all the work.
The Terrorgheists are particularly unpleasant once they get into combat. Shriek of Terror rolls against every model in an enemy Infantry unit and can also leave that unit at -1 to hit if enough damage gets through, while Wicked Predator increases their Skeletal Talon attacks against units containing champions, mussicians and standard bearers. The Zombie Dragon gives a different kind of pressure. On Rotten Wings can redeploy it more than 9″ from the enemy, while its Soaring Terror Rampage lets it surge through enemy combat ranges after charging and carry mortal damage into another engagement.
The Ghoul King is where several of the list’s support layers meet. Stronger in Madness ignores the first damage allocated to him in each phase and switches off most weapon abilities used against him, making an already substantial mounted Hero awkward to remove. Charnel Vestments then makes him a Priest alongside being a Wizard, giving Phil access to Rites of Delusion when prayer support is more valuable than another spell. Charnel Conviction can supply a 5+ ward, while The Summerking’s Favour can increase a Hero’s melee damage or, with a strong enough chant, offer a second Fight.
There’s also a potentially brutal “go turn” hidden in the faction rules. The Ghoul King’s A Majestic Menagerie Delusion adds an attack to nearby Companion melee weapons, while Feeding Frenzy can once per battle add another attack to melee weapons, including Companions, around a Flesh-eater Courts Hero. Meanwhile Ushoran’s Shroudcage Fragment can inflict Strike-last on up to three enemy units if the rolls beat their Control. Put that together with Royal Menagerie’s potential Strike-first charges and Phil can exert serious control over who gets to swing, and when.
The solitary Beastflayers provide something the monsters don’t want to spend their time doing: screening, trading and completing positional jobs, with Defenders of Chivalry giving their melee weapons additional Rend when fury reaches 7.
The pressure is keeping this enormous royal procession coordinated. Royal Menagerie wants the non-Hero monsters wholly within 12″ of a Flesh-eater Courts Hero, so opponents who can stretch the army apart, screen the large bases or force awkward engagements can reduce the value of those overlapping abilities.
That’s easier written than done, though. Phil deserves the praise for taking his mobile petting zoo 3rd place from 58 players at the Newport Open.
Idoneth Deepkin
Isharann Council
Points: 2000/2000 points
Drops: 4 drops
Battle Tactics: Blazing Onslaught / Siege of Ashes
Spell Lore: Lore of the Deeps
Manifestation Lore: Krondspine Incarnate
Faction Terrain: Gloomtide Shipwreck
General’s Regiment
Eidolon of Mathlann, Aspect of the Sea (340)
• General
Akhelian Leviadon (450)
20x Namarti Reavers (220)
• Reinforced
• Ironshell Barnacles (20 pts)
20x Namarti Thralls (180)
• Reinforced
20x Namarti Thralls (180)
• Reinforced
Regiment 1
Eidolon of Mathlann, Aspect of the Storm (280)
• Hunter of Souls
• Armour of the Cythai
Isharann Soulrender (90)
Regiment 2
Isharann Tidecaster
Regiment 3
Akhelian King (140)
Stuart Angleton: It’s time to party! Namarti party specifically. I miss the old Mor’phann builds…and when it was called Mor’phann, but I digress. You don’t see many Namarti lists do particularly well. Between their t-shirt saves, generally lack luster damage, and the need to be babysat by buff pieces, there’s just so many more efficient options in the book. The advantage Namarti have is that they can receive a majority of the buffs the army offers as their main damage does not come from companion weapons. So you have a conundrum; Namarti are cool (the models have held up very well over the editions), but you need a ton of points tied up in buff pieces to make them viable. Well apparently the answer to this problem was just make sure most of your buff pieces damage dealers.
Double Eidolon gives you a two-caster with a native +1 to casting rolls and a -1 to save spell, and a 100mm base with an aura of +1 to wound and strike-last debuff against an enemy hero. Eidolon of the Storm is a great target for Eruption of Fury.
The Akhelian King, lost to the whirlways since the passing of the Age of Smash King, can put up some respectable scalpel damage when supported by the Storm’s aura. In return, he can give the storm extra rend on the charge. Between the King and the Sea-delon, that’s potentially an effective rend 4.
The turtle’s damage suffers a bit as this list does not run Akhelian Beastmasters (there’s actually three whole other formations in the book!!!), but he can still provide a ward save to the King.
Speaking of formations, Ishrann council is a smart pick here. As long as the Soulrender and Tidecaster stay near each other, the Soulrender always returns Namarti to all three blocks (range permitting), and the Tidecaster’s rituals go from a 3+ to a 2+. With the reduction of obscuring terrain, the meta is shifting toward more shooting in many areas. Being able to turn that off outside of twelve inches is a game changer.
Lastly, two big bricks of Thralls and one brick of Reavers. Unfortunately, the reinforced units have a hard time getting into the turtle ward bubble, but they are hardly the most tantalizing target at first glance. Into a large enough target, Thralls are dishing out 41 attacks on 3s to hit (base), 3s to wound (+1 from Storm), potentially rend 4 (1 base + Sea’s spell + King + anti-infantry/monster) 1 damage. That’s just one reinforced unit.
Reavers have a good, albeit short ranged, shooting profile. Range isn’t so much of an issue when the rest of your army wants to be up close.
All-in-all, great list, great performance, and super fun to dive into (as a Deepkin fan I am bound by law to make at least one water/fish related pun. There is no escaping the puns).
Final Tournament Placings
