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Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Barak Urbaz, Befouling Host, Bloodtoofs, Chaos, Destruction, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Ironjawz, Kharadron Overlords, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Order, Orruk Warclans, Skaventide, The Woehammer Crew, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for SAGT 23

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This is the top three AoS lists for the South Australia Grand Tournament that took place in Australia on the 20th and 21st of May. It involved 31 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


Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Urbaz
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumphs: Inspired

Kharadron Code
– Artycle: Settle The Grudges
-Additional Artycle From Barak-Urbaz : Honour Is Everything
– Amendment: Trust to Your Guns
– Footnote: Without Our Ships We Are Naught

Leaders
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
– General
– Command Trait: Ex-Grundstok
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Aether-Khemist (80)*
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
Aether-Khemist (80)*

Battleline
15 x Grundstok Thunderers (405)*
– 3x Aetheric Fumigators
– 3x Decksweepers
– 3x Aethercannons
– 3x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 2
15 x Grundstok Thunderers (405)*
– 3x Aetheric Fumigators
– 3x Decksweepers
– 3x Aethercannons
– 3x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 2
5 x Grundstok Thunderers (135)*
– 1x Aetheric Fumigators
– 1x Decksweepers
– 1x Aethercannons
– 1x Grundstok Mortars
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)*
– Main Gun: Sky Cannon
– Gunhauler Modifications: Coalbeard’s Collapsible Compartments
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)*
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns

Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (500)*
– Main Gun: Great Volley Cannon
– The Admirals Flagship

Endless Spells & Invocations
Spell in a Bottle: Soulscream Bridge (0)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000

Today, we have the great Mark Nodge with Kharadron Overlords list who decided to choose violence. And guns, lots of guns… To hell with it, all the guns. In a trial run of the list, he is taking the Age of Sigmar World Teams Tournament representing Team Australia in early June. He blasted his way through SAGT like Michael Bay blasts through a blockbuster movie.

This list features Grundstock Thunderers, thirty-five Grundstock Thunderers, all packing special weapons for that extra sauce. Thunderers have been the go-to unit for Kharadron devastation of late, and this list skews about as hard into them as possible. The upgrades to their range and consistency with the new Battletome combined with the rend buff from the Khemist makes them deadly at eighteen inches and devastating at twelve. Furthermore, they have the ability for them to give a minus one to hit if they fail to kill something, or unleash hell, from suppressing fire, and finally if someone does tag them in combat if they survive, they get to dump up to 3d6 mortal wounds on their attacker.
The biggest issue with the unit overall is its slow speed, which Mark has offset with multiple ways of getting them where they need to be. First off, we have the traditional Ironclad, which is an excellent shooting platform in its own right. The ability teleport, and once per game, dump its cargo, making it the precision piece of this equation. Next up, we have a Soulscream bridge in a spell in a bottle attached to a Khemist. This is a unique endless spell that has two massive bases that must be set up within twenty-four inches of the caster, then at the start of the movement phase, a single unit wholly within six inches may teleport. Even though this can only be cast once per game and is easy to dispel, the utility beyond the teleport itself is amazing. The bases are massive, so you can use them to screen pieces or even lane blockers against armies like Gargants.

Lastly, we have a Gunhauler with a very cheeky “Coalbeards Collapsable Compartments” Endrinwork. This rarely seen contraption gives the Gunhauler the Transport Vessel keyword and a six-man capacity. This is perfect for the unit of five Thunderers to roam around in, and when combined with the Gunhaulers unparalleled movement in the army it can go camp out on an objective while still presenting enough of a threat that chaff units cannot easily shift them off.

Overall, this is an outstanding skew list that presents multiple tough units that are a must kill with just enough support redundancy to keep it all afloat. It should dominate the horde based undead that are currently running rampant, such as Soulblight Gravelords and Ossiarch Bonereapers. It might have some difficulty with armies like Beasts of Chaos and Slannesh, who can pressure the heroes outside of combat. I look forward to seeing how Mark does with it at Worlds.

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Allegiance: Skaven
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Verminlord Warbringer (400)***
– General
– Command Trait: Devious Adversary
– Artefact: Rustcursed Armour
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Thanquol on Boneripper (430)*
– 4 Warpfire Projectors
– Lore of Ruin: Skitterleap
Grey Seer (120)*
– Lore of Ruin: Death Frenzy
Grey Seer (120)*
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Warlock Bombardier (110)**
– Artefact: Vial of the Fulminator
– Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power!
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage

Battleline
20 x Clanrats (100)*
– Rusty Blade
20 x Clanrats (100)**
– Rusty Blade
20 x Clanrats (100)**
– Rusty Blade

Units
1 x Doomwheel (160)***
1 x Doomwheel (160)***

Endless Spells & Invocations
Warp Lightning Vortex (80)
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)
Lauchon the Soulseeker (50)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Vanguard
***Linebreaker

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 118
Drops: 10

Kieren Coates: The list was inspired by IronBlaze – a mad man who has been running doomwheels competitive rain hail or shine.

It’s designed to be a castle buster with still a strong core to finish out the game

Thanquol and verminlord make the base of the list, with thanquol being the key piece into magic dom and horde lists, and the verminlord being the primary physical damage output – if these two pieces are protected over 5 turns they can lift almost any army

Surrounding them to keep them safe is 3 sets of 20 clanrats acting as barriers and forcing the enemy to trade high value units into them, only to have them countered off and the lines rebuilt

For long-range damage, we have two grey seers who can be skitterleaped up the board to drop endless spells before taking gnawholes back.

Further to this, the doomwheels (or better known Zoomwheels) can have their movement doubled by the engineer, combined with 2 sources of death frenzy, levitate and MMWP they become a killing machine with an average movement of 28 inches.

Lob those doomwheels over the top to kill off key pieces that could threaten the life of the warbringer and thanquol, then keep them protected as they lift 2 units per turn and repeat for 5 turns to win the game.

The list is surprisingly concentrated with low health, so it’s best not to get too greedy and take it slow, killing 1-2 units per turn, but staying protected from the enemy counter is a must

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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
– Army Type: Ironjawz
– Subfaction: Bloodtoofs
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line

LEADERS
Megaboss on Maw-krusha (480)
– General
– Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist
– Mount Traits: Fast ’Un
– Bash ‘Em Ladz
– Arcane Tome
– Touched by the Waaagh!
Orruk Megaboss (140)
– Artefacts of Power: Destroyer
– Tunnel Master
Orruk Warchanter (120)
– Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat
Orruk Warchanter (120)
– Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat
Orruk Warchanter (120)
– Warbeats: Killa Beat

BATTLELINE
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka

Core Battalions
– Vanguard
– Battle Regiment
– Command Entourage: Magnificent

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

At first glance, this list looks typical for Bloodtoofs, Ironjawz with a Mawcrusha, Megaboss, and 18 Gore gruntas. But there is a little more depth to it. Kyle has tried to address the dismal output of Gore gruntas (Jagged Gore-hackas are 1 damage weapons) with Bash ’em lads and Killa beat. The Mawcrusha has Arcane Tome with Bash ’em ladz and Touched by the Waagh, pick a unit with 6″ and cause D3 wounds to them, the caster gets the number of wounds added to their casting roll. Now, the 8 is at least a 7 and more often than not a 6 casting roll. It grants +1 to wound rolls. Killa Beat (not often seen either) grants +1 to hit. With so many units spreading, the buffs will help, especially with Skull Shaking Bellow, to apply 3 commands for the cost of one (all out attack, for instance). 4 units can have +1 to attack.

The other benefit is that the 3 model units are much easier to move and pile in. It can make a difference to both mortals on the charge and just getting your attacks into the right unit. Shot off the board once by Kharadron it was otherwise an effective approach. The whole list is mobil (except the Warchanters) and can get up in your grill quickly. If the dice are hot, they are a real menance still, especially when you can buff the Jagged Gore-hackas.

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Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Subfaction: Befouling Host
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Great Unclean One (480)
– General
– Command Traits: Nurgling Infestation
– Doomsday Bell and Plague Flail
– Artefacts of Power: The Witherstave
– Spells: Stream of Corruption
Bloab Rotspawned (320)*
– Spells: Gift of Disease
Lord of Blights (150)*
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage

BATTLELINE
Putrid Blightkings (250)*
Putrid Blightkings (250)*
Putrid Blightkings (250)*

OTHER
Nurglings (100)*
Rotmire Creed (130)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Quicksilver Swords (60)

TERRAIN
1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0)
1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000

Roland Santiago: Here, we have a spicy Nurgle list that successfully executed the submarine (lose Round 1, win the rest of the way to clinch the 4-1). The Befouling Host subfaction lets Nurgle focus more on summoning by letting them place 2 Feculent Gnarlmaws instead of 1 at the start of the game, thus generating more Contagion Points and hitting their summoning benchmarks a bit faster. This is important because (as we will see below), most of the combat blocks in this list are rather lacking in foot speed, and summoning will be necessary to complement your board presence.

In order to get an extra Gnarlmaw, Befouling Host demands a Daemon General, and that is where we see the rather uncommon inclusion of a Great Unclean One. While the big fella is a bit slow, he packs some utility with his chosen artefact in the Witherstave, which makes the mortal wounds from disease points go off on 3+ instead of 4+. It also provides even more summoning points via the Doomsday Bell. Last but not least, Stream of Corruption gives you a potent short-range horde clearing spell that can line up very well into armies with lots of foot troops.

Another interesting inclusion is the Lord of Blights, along with the 3 units of Putrid Blightkings. Blightkings are efficient volume attackers that are very good at chewing up weaker troops, and the Lord of Blights is a durable foot Hero (especially with Fuelled by Ghurish Rage acting as a backstop) that gives you a bit of shooting.

These interesting inclusions are rounded out with some mainstays in Bloab, Nurglings, and the Rotmire Creed. All in all, this is a very interesting list featuring some uncommon choices, but it has the result to back it up.

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For the full tournament break-down, visit Stats and Ladders.

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Beasts of chaos, Chaos, Darkwalkerz, Death, Disciples of Tzeentch, Drowned Men, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Guild of Summoners, Legion of Blood, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Soulblight Gravelords, The Woehammer Crew, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for the Wartilyo GT

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This is the top three AoS lists for the Wartilyo GT that took place in the Philippines on the 13th and 14th of May. It involved 24 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.

Wartilyo Top Table

If you get a few minutes, have a look at the making of the Wartilyo GT Top table. It’s a thing of beauty!

The Top Three AoS Lists

Kieron: And the crown for one of the first, if not the first Philippines GT goes to Tzeentch with another Krondspine/Guild of Summoners combo. There are a few interesting choices here compared to other similar lists, the first of which is the Shards of Valagharr. What all of the Guild of Summoners lists want more than anything is time to get the big birds on the board and an Endless Spell that halves the movement of models and prevents units from flying or being removed from the board and set back up again are always going to be good value. It’s also an easy spell for the Krondspine to eat after killing your own Magister and making the Krondspine go wild with a casting value of only 5. Staying with the theme of slowing your opponent down, nothing puts a unit off making a charge more than having one of its members turn into a gibbering chaos spawn via the Burning Sigil.

Unit wise, two units of pinks is a great start to the list as there’s only summoning of Lords of Change in Guild of Summoners and, alongside the Krondspine, and good use of terrain, it’s going to be difficult to get to the casters for several turns. The Magister is a mainstay of these lists – giving you two potential casts, with the Krondspine giving an additional +1 on top of the +1 from Kairos as well. The other caster is a Thaumaturge, with the Gryph Feather Charm adding a 5+ ward save to this model – really key as if there are no Arcanite heroes alive (i.e. the Magister and the Ogroid) then there’s no summoning in Guild of Summoners.

In terms of how Carlo probably planned each battle to go, it would be to either Cunning Manoeuvre or Tide of Anarchy (take an objective with 9+ models) while building up to 8 summoning points. T2, Call for Change by earning one more summoning point through your opponent’s hero phase or simply through one of your own and then dropping in your first bird. T3, potentially finish off a 9 model unit or 9 wound hero/monster for Ninefold Dismantlement. T4 could easily be whichever of Cunning Manoeuvre or Tide wasn’t done in T1 and then, assuming you have at least two big birds and Kairos on the board and in range of each other, getting Kairos to cast 3 spells with +3 to cast is very straightforward or, just use Destiny Dice to cast them. Make sure you’ve got 9 on Destiny Dice at the end and that’s the Grand Strat as well. You may not even have had to use Desecrate Land or Eye for an Eye, two of the easier tactics to score, with This One’s Mine with the Ogroid being very viable too. And this is how Tzeentch wins – 13 points on the battle tactics and Grand Strategy meaning that even if you only score 10 points on the primary, you still have a very healthy score of 23. If your opponent doesn’t quite finish off enough Horrors to take an objective on a turn they chose Gaining Momentum…a one or two point turn is probably game over against this kind of list.

Congrats Carlo on the result and congrats to the Filipino AoS community!

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After a couple of seasons in the shadows, their hunger building, Soulblight are finally back for blood – Legion of Blood, to be precise. And it’s a list archetype you’re going to see a lot of for a while.

The core of the list revolves around a vampire lord on dragon (VloZD) with the Cloak of Mists and Shadows to make it ethereal, aka a 3+ save that can’t be modified either way. Combined with the Doomed Minion trait, allowing it to apply the following effect to d3 enemy units that aren’t heroes/monsters they into engagement with: ANY friendly unit hits that enemy unit on unmodified 2+s. With the new hunger ability – healing up to 6 wounds of damage done – this makes the VloZD a terrifying utility piece that is insanely hard to kill and can make killing key units trivially easy.

Neferata brings up the rear, bringing two key pieces of utility to bear – the ability for her and 3 units to redeploy before the first battle round begins and her spell to make something _unrendable_, i.e. it can still benefit from positive save modifiers. The 10 blood knights are obviously a great receiver for that spell, but it works well on herself too, or the giant blob of Deathrattle to make them an absolute nightmare to fully deal with, especially given the new timing on their ability – essentially a free 4+ rally at the start of the combat phase.

All told, it’s a list with huge utillity, super anvils and fantastic board control – which as you might expect was only dealt with successfully by DoT and their sheer MW output being able to bypass all that tankiness and access to horrors etc to compete with the chaff hordes on objectives. This is a great result for John Paul and certainly not the last we’ve seen of this list.

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We’ve a new commentator who joins us this week, and boy, does he love his Chaos armies! Roland Santiago is a US player who’s big into his Khorne, Nurgle, and Slaves to Darkness. As well as that, he also plays Ironjawz, Ogors, and Stormcast. So we’ll probably be hearing a lot from him going forward!

Roland Santiago: Ah, Nurgle. The more things change, the more they stay the same. We’ve been seeing lists built around Pusgoyle Blightlords and the Drowned Men subfaction place well for over a year now, and this is the latest entry in that file. The pregame move Drowned Men provides is very powerful, as it can help you position the Blightlords to engage in midboard attrition scenarios (where they excel) ahead of schedule, or otherwise adjust to your opponent’s deployment and counter the disadvantage of being a 1-drop. Once in combat, Pusgoyle Blightlords can be very hard to deal with, because of their high wound count, solid saves, 5+ Ward, and multiple mortal wound generation abilities. The Blightlords are also paired with the customary Lord of Afflictions General with the Overpowering Stench command trait, which turns off the ability to issue and receive commands. This ability has only gotten stronger as the edition has progressed, as more and more powerful command abilities enter the game. The list also has Bloab as an efficiently costed Hero Monster with a powerful warscroll spell. A unit of Nurglings rounds things out by providing backfield pressure, which in Nurgle also translates to faster generation of Contagion Points you can then use for summoning more Daemons. An interesting bit of tech here is the inclusion of a Plague Priest. This Priest plays multiple roles in this list – he helps interact with Invocations (which Nurgle cannot do with its main roster), he is a Galletian Champion with Tunnel Master for sneaky objective capturing, and he can chant a high-upside prayer in Curse. The Pusgoyle Blightlords have lots of attacks but lack Rend, so Curse provides a nice source of extra damage. Do note that mortal wounds generated from Curse will not stack with disease points – you’ll have to pick one. Overall, this list is very good at what it does – it’s an attrition meatgrinder that can shove tough, elite units in its opponent’s face and pin them down.

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Brett: Bullgors centre stage in a list that focuses on board control as much as power with Ungors and Raiders for days. With summoning going away there is more play in Ambush (starting unit, up to the whole army off the board). That pairs well with the Herdstone which increases Rend from Round 2. Combined here with Darkwalkers to let a unit within 9″ of a board edge to leave the board and teleport back on;

4 Ungor and Ungor Raider units to take advantage of that mobility. The raiders being in Galletian Sharpshooters is surprising – their shooting isn’t strong but it does give them more utility. With the Doombull and Bullgors to hold the centre and be buffed by the Sharman this is a durable list with some punch especially later. However both of the Bullgor units only have 5+ saves which might have hurt them (although they can have a ward save). The Ungors (all of them) are free to score points and just be annoying all over the place. Unfortunately, even with their new book, their output can be disappointing since they mostly hit on a 4+. Combined with initially low rend they don’t hit hard until the later part of the game. The Bullgors are loaded for maximum damage but are also vunerable to being roared. If they are removed then the rest of the list lacks punch.

Looks like the Sons of Behemet used that against them and inflicted enough damage early enough to force a loss. Very respectible effort beating Soulblight, Seraphon and Slaves (Nurgle Knights?).

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Final Tournament Placings

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Blades of Khorne, Bloodlords, Chaos, Destruction, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Gloomspite Gitz, Hedonites of Slaanesh, Jaws of Mork, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Petrifex Elite, Pretenders, The Woehammer Crew, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for TRS Torneo Regio Sabaudo 2° Edition

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This is the top three AoS lists for the TRS Torneo Regio Sabaudo 2° Edition that took place in Italy on the 6th and 7th of May. It involved 68 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

Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Subfaction: Bloodlords
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Bloodsecrator (110)*
Realmgore Ritualist (100)*
– Prayers: Killer Instinct, Unholy Flames
Bloodmaster (110)**
– General
– Prayers: Blood Sacrifice, Bloodbind
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)**
– Artefacts of Power: Ar’gath, the King of Blades
Slaughterpriest (110)**
– Bloodbathed Axe
– Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Killer Instinct

BATTLELINE
Claws of Karanak (100)*
Claws of Karanak (100)*
Blood Warriors (190)***
– Blood Champion
– Icon Bearer
– Paired Goreaxes
– Goreglaive
Bloodletters (360)***
– Bloodreaper
– 2 x Icon Bearer
– 2 x Hornblower

OTHER
Mighty Skullcrushers (200)*
– Skullhunter
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Ensorcelled Axe
Garrek’s Reavers (70)*
Bloodcrushers (180)**
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Bloodhunter

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Bleeding Icon (40)

TERRAIN
1 x Skull Altar (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Warlord
***Galletian Veterans

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

Alice: Still feels weird to see Khorne in the top spot and a nice mix of mortals and daemons to boot. Claws of Karnak go up front to create some early momentum, capturing center points (or desecrate in the right battle maps), and get merced early for cheap and easy blood tithes. Then most of the army comes up the rear to kill what just got stuck in.

Bloodsecrator, Bloodmaster, Slaughterpriest, and Realmgore Ritualist are all support characters. Bloodsecrator granting +1 attack once per game and a 4+ rally for mortals. Bloodmaster teams up with the Bloodletters to give them +1 to wound. Slaughterpriest is the anti-magic choice and Realmgore Ritualist helps them secure ground on objectives.

Most of the rest of the units exist to murder, as Khorne Approves. Garrek’s Reavers exist to grant blood tithes when they kill a model, great for swinging for chaff. Everything else basically hits like a hammer, and Skullcrushers are pretty durable all the same, too. Last but not least, of course, is the Bloodthirster when you absolutely need something dead. His Artefact lets him cut through wards for any would-be Nurgle hosts who might try and hold him back.

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Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Army Subfaction: Jaws of Mork
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable
– Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADER
1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (210)*
1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)**
– Artefacts: Moonface Mommet
– Spells: Squig Lure
1 x Squigboss (100)**
– General
– Command Traits: The Clammy Hand
1 x Squigboss (100)**
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master

BATTLELINE
20 x Squig Hoppers (360)*
– Squig Hopper Boss
– Reinforced x 1
24 x Squig Herd (260)*
– Reinforced x 1
24 x Squig Herd (260)*
– Reinforced x 1
24 x Squig Herd (260)*
– Reinforced x 1

TERRAIN
1 x Bad Moon Loonshrine (0)

OTHER
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (130)*
1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)*
– Allies

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage
– (Magnificent: Additional Triumph)
***Galletian Veterans

TOTAL POINTS: (1920/2000)

ALL the Squigs! This list is still very effective, as proven by Robert guiding it to 2nd place. What’s hard to believe is that the list would have cost around 165 points less before the last Battlescroll. Gitz have maintained their 55% win rate, so I can see herds going up by perhaps another 5-10 points next time around….

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Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Pretenders
– Grand Strategy: Glutton for Depravity
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Keeper of Secrets (400)*
– General
– Command Trait: Strength of Goodhood
– Shining Aegis
– Artefact: The Crown of Dark Secrets
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
The Masque (140)*
Contorted Epitome (190)*
– Lore of the Magnificent: Phantasmagoria
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage

UNITS
22 x Blissbarb Archers (300)*
11 x Blissbarb Archers (150)*
11 x Blissbarb Archers (150)*
5 x Blissbarb Seekers (200)*
10 x Slickblade Seekers (400)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Mesmerising Mirror (60)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 1990/2000

Alice: Honestly, it is comforting how Hedonites lists havent’s changed a ton – they just got better. Blissbarb Archers launch a ton of suppressing fire, and the Seekers tag them with a -1 to saves for the turn before the Slickblades charge in.

The Keeper of Secrets remains a terror in combat, should you need something bigger. With Strength of Godhood, the Crown of Dark Secrets and Flaming weapon we’re looking at 3 Rend -3, Damage 7 claw attacks if near the target of the Crown of Dark Secrets. And that’s if they weren’t tagged by the Seekers.

The Contorted Epitome and Masque round things out with some solid utility pieces. The Epitome can cast its warscroll spell for +1 to wound against an enemy unit, and Phantasmagoria to pull out anything that gets into combat too early. Or it can cast Mesmerising Mirror to help control the enemy’s movement to a place it finds more beneficial.

The Masque operates as a better replacement for tunnel master, able to pop up almost anywhere it wants within 3″ of the enemy, and its pretty damn good in combat too, able to take down most medium hammers and chaff and secure the point for itself.

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Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Army Subfaction: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADER
1 x Katakros (440)*
1 x Mortisan Ossifector (120)*
– General
– Command Traits: Aura of Sterility
– Artefacts: Gothizzar Cartouche
– Spells: Reinforce Constructs
– Aspects of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
1 x Mortisan Boneshaper (120)*
– Spells: Drain Vitality

BATTLELINE
3 x Necropolis Stalkers (220)*
– Dread Falchions
3 x Necropolis Stalkers (220)*
– Dread Falchions
6 x Immortis Guard (400)*

TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)

OTHER
2 x Morghast Archai (240)*
– Spirit Halberd
2 x Morghast Archai (240)*
– Spirit Halberd

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Alice: A powerful elite list, chaff and screens need not apply. Katakros works as the mobile command center, handing out buffs like candy and debuffing the enemy. The Boneshaper offers healing to keep the Immortis Guard protecting it alive (while casting Drain Vitality on the enemy), while the Ossifector buffs the Morghasts with -1 Rend.

Stalkers do Stalker things, they absolutely cut stuff up with their Rend -2 Damage 2 and 3 attacks in precision stance. Slap Bludgeon on there if that’s not enough rend. The Immortis Guard help body guard the delicate mages, and if they get into combat they can fight twice to good effect.

The Archai are like the glue holding this together, not quite as many attacks as the stalkers or immortis guard they are almost as lethal. They have a 5+ ward and block command abilities, making them a great escort for the stalkers. With the Ossifector thats 6 Rend -3 Damage 3 attacks. Which goes further when your opponent can’t use all out defence. Ouch!

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Top Three AoS Lists for Spring Rubicon 2023 GT

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This is the top three AoS lists for the Spring Rubicon 2023 GT that took place in Wisconsin, USA on the 29th and 30th of April. It involved 40 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament. The event was organised by The Die is Cast crew from Youtube.

Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.

If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?

Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.

The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumphs: Inspired
Kharadron Code
– Artycle: Settle The Grudges
– Amendment: Prosecute Wars With All Haste
– Footnote: There’s No Reward Without Risk

LEADERS

Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
– General
– Command Trait: Ex-Grundstok
– Artefact: Celestium Burst-grenade
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Aether-Khemist (80)*
Brokk Grungsson Lord-Magnate of Barak-Nar (220)*

BATTLELINE

15 x Grundstok Thunderers (405)*
– 3x Aetheric Fumigators
– 3x Decksweepers
– 3x Aethercannons
– 3x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)*
– 1x Light Skyhooks
Arkanaut Frigate (300)*
– Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
– Frigate Regittings: Magnificent Omniscope

UNITS

3 x Endrinriggers (120)*
3 x Endrinriggers (120)*

BEHEMOTHS

Arkanaut Ironclad (500)*
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Major Installation: The Last Word

CORE BATTALIONS

*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS 1970 / 2000

Today we have another Kharadron Overlords list, this time from Nicholas True who ran a very interesting Barak Zilfin list. A lot of the usual suspects are present here, with his Kharadron Code being +1 to wound, extra movement from runs, and a once per game 3d6 charge. Then we have our Admiral with Ex-Grundstock to make Thunderers battleline and a Celestium Burst-Grenade to turn off ward saves. There is also the requisite Thunderer buff machine we all know and love that goes by the name Aether-Khemist, who will be handing out -1 rend candy all game long. But the really interesting part of this hero lineup is a cheeky Brokk Grungsson Lord-Magnate of Barak-Nar, in a Barak-Zilfin list.
Brokk deserves special mention here because at first glance it looks off since his best ability, +1 to attack profiles in melee, only applies to Barak-Nar units. However, his Command the Fleet ability works just like the Admiral’s similar ability, but he can target up to three boats with this command which can really spread out the board. Kharadron Overlords lost its great positioning gameplay with the new Battletome, even if it kept its mobility, but Brokk’s command ability the army can overcome that and really take advantage of raw speed to get into position and still shoot. Unfortunately, the ability does not let the guys inside the boat shoot since the boat has already received the command it cannot use Combat Landing in the same movement phase. Combine all that utility with a powerful shooting and melee profile and Brokk can easily be an unexpected menace on the board especially in the mid-game when things tend to bog down.

The rest of the list is again what we would expect with a Battleline Frigate, an Arkanaut Company, and the monster nastiness of double reinforced Thunderers with Special Weapons. Woe be the opponent who thinks they can tank the output from this unit, especially when you add in the Khemist -1 to rend buff, and the Admirals once per game -1 rend ability. The sheer volume of rend -2/-4 ranged attacks will drop almost anything. Watch out, it slaps. Rounding out the troops are a couple of Endrinrigger squads to give a little frontline pressure and heal the boats.

Speaking of boats, Nicholas brought along an Ironclad to finish off his list with the curious addition of The Last Word which has been unpopular compared to the Battle Ram in other KO lists. This does create something of a deterrent if an opponent correctly assesses the Thunderers as the real threat in the list and if the boat properly backs them up it means in addition to eating an Unleash Hell from the Thunderers, there is also a Great Sky Cannon. An interesting choice that makes the idea of charging Thunderers even less appealing.

Nicholas brought a great list with some unexpected threats in an army that already excels at keeping opponents unbalanced and on the back foot. Outstanding job and well played.

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Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Subfaction: The Flayed
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumph: Indomitable

LEADERS

Bloodsecrator (110)*
– Artefact: The Crimson Plate
Dromm (180)*
– Prayers: Bloodbind, Curse
Realmgore Ritualist (100)*
– Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Unholy Flames
Slaughterpriest (110)**
– Bloodbathed Axe
– Prayers: Blood Sacrifice, Bloodbind
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Skarr Bloodwrath (100)**
Slaughterpriest (110)**
– General
– Command Traits: High-priest of Khorne
– Bloodbathed Axe
– Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Killer Instinct
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage

BATTLELINE

Blood Warriors (570)***
– Blood Champion
– Paired Goreaxes
– 3 x Icon Bearer
– 3 x Goreglaive
Claws of Karanak (100)***
Claws of Karanak (100)***

BEHEMOTH

Chaos Gargant (145)

ARTILLERY

Skull Cannon (140)

OTHER

Magore’s Fiends (120)*
Gorechosen of Dromm (180)**

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS

1 x Bleeding Icon (40)
1 x Wrath-Axe (70)

CORE BATTALIONS

*Warlord
**Warlord
***Galletian Veterans

TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000

Amusingly losing only to another Khorne list, this is an interesting set up.

At first glance, it looks like a mad grab bag, but I think I see the logic. Claws of Karanak are obscenely useful pre-game movers for their points, and following on their heels is a triple reinforced unit of Blood Warriors, who I’m sure were hilarious to try and kill, all the while bouncing mortals back and putting out a non-trivial weight of attacks that could be buffed to rend 2 with Unholy Flames, and after activating – thanks to the Flayed sub-faction – capable of a 5 up ward.

Meanwhile, you have 4 priests, who’re the not-so-secret sauce to Khorne mortal lists. I mean, the entire Prayer lore is utterly banging, and with High-priest of Khorne on one of them, this list is praying out 5 (including the two excellent Invocations) per round.

The other tech on display is Skarr (who deep-strikes back alive on an 8+ when killed) for blood tithe farming, a Chaos Gargant who for the -1 save aura, who I imagine was kinda wrapped in Blood Warriors to make them really nasty to charge – and a skull cannon for a cheap way to pick off a few screens where necessary.

A really fun looking list, and I’m jealous of his Claws of Karanak, can’t buy those bastards for love nor money at the moment!

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Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Army Subfaction: Bloodlords
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!

LEADER

1 x Bloodmaster (110)**
– Artefacts: Ar’gath, the King of Blades
– Prayers: Killer Instinct
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
1 x Bloodsecrator (110)**
– Artefacts: Banner of Blood
1 x Aspiring Deathbringer (80)**
1 x Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)***
– General
– Command Traits: Embodiment of Wrath
1 x Bloodmaster (110)***
– Prayers: Blood Sacrifice
1 x Bloodmaster (110)***
– Artefacts: Halo of Blood
– Prayers: Unholy Flames

BATTLELINE

20 x Bloodletters (360)*
20 x Bloodletters (360)*
10 x Bloodletters (180)*
10 x Bloodletters (180)***

OTHER

5 x Garrek’s Reavers (70)**

CORE BATTALIONS:

*Galletian Veterans
**Warlord
***Warlord

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

A more traditional Khorne Daemon list here, following the ‘loads of bloodletters in Bloodlords for MWs on 5+ to hit, supported by Bloodmasters and Bloodthirsters’ which I’m henceforth going to call the ‘Bloody Blood Bloods‘ archetype.

There’s not a huge amount more to it than that – but of note is the Grand Strat – have more GCs alive than opponent at end – which should be fairly locked in with 5 of them and a large swathe of horny bastards running at you in the meantime.

Another bit of tech to note is the Halo of Blood on the Bloodmaster – this allows him to strike first, and with his war-scroll ability to allow a unit of Bloodletters to fight immediately after him, when positioned correctly can mean charging him/them is essentially suicide. Nasty stuff and took down some savage opponents for a great result.

Peter: Danny failed his challenge. He had to mention Blood 10 times in the comment. 9 = Not acceptable.

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Army Faction: Skaven
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADER

1 x Warpgnaw Verminlord (275)*
– General
– Command Traits: Devious Adversary
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Deathmaster (140)*
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
1 x Verminlord Deceiver (420)**
– Artefacts: Shadow Magnet Trinket
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Slynk Skittershank (220)**
1 x Deathmaster (140)**

BATTLELINE

5 x Gutter Runners (100)**
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**

OTHER

5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
4 x Skittershank’s Clawpack (220)**
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**

CORE BATTALIONS:

*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)

Brett: How do you describe this list? 8 Gutter Runner units, 8. Is this a secret Khorne list? No it’s Clan Eshin with poisoned weapons and a very rare Warpgnaw Verminlord (Forgeworld) – who also happens to be Eshin. That makes the Gutter Runners battleline, important to make this work. Teamed with the Deceiver this is a very nasty pair of hammers. Lots of Flaming Weapons to maximise their potential. Add a pair of Deathmasters and Slynk Skittershank, with his Clawpack (fights first) and there are so many threats. All with ranged and melee attacks and poison damage on 6s.

This list lets you be everywhere, you can easily hold objectives and most turns you will have a Battle Tactic available. With the Verminlord’s to capture your opponents attention or remove threats. The Deathmaster’s , Gutter Runners and Slynk all run and shoot making it easy to get with in 12″ for some throwing star magic. You’d expect this list to score very well, and it did, scoring better than the winners through to the last round. It’s weakness? Anything that can split fire and remove Gutter Runner’s quickly – like a shooting heavy army. KO’s combination of speed and shooting was too much in this case with both an Ironclad and Frigate with loads of Arkanauts. A great skew list but with Seraphon getting a new book it mightn’t be long lived.

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Top Three AoS Lists for Welsh Open

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This is the top three AoS lists for Welsh Open that took place in the Cardiff, Wales on the 29th and 30th of April. It involved 51 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

Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes
– Mawtribe: Boulderhead
– Grand Strategy: Ready for Plunder
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Big Chungus (450)*
Frostlord on Stonehorn
– General
– Command Trait: Voice of the Avalanche
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder
Queen Divine (330)**
Huskard on Thundertusk
– Blood Vulture
– Mount Trait: Rimefrost Hide
– Prayer: Keening Gale

BATTLELINE
Netflix Comedy Special (310)*
Stonehorn Beastriders
– Weapon: Blood Vulture
Lesbian Bed Death (310)*
Stonehorn Beastriders
– Weapon: Blood Vulture
The TERF Eater (310)*
Stonehorn Beastriders
– Weapon: Blood Vulture
White Male Privilege (270)**
Thundertusk Beastriders
– Weapon: Blood Vulture

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Torrbad

TOTAL: 1980 / 2000

Taking down the Welsh Open in a SPICY meta (it’s the stomping ground of the Team Lit folks, among many other reputable gaming clubs around the greater area) is this Monster truck list from competitive stalwart, Hazel Moon.

vroom vroom! Aside from the galaxy-brain race-horse style names, there’s not a tonne unusual about this list. Big Stonehorns never really go out of style – but one thing that makes them especially interesting in this season is their vulture attacks – it’s 1 MW on a 2+ per stonehorn but it doesn’t actually count as a shooting attack and can therefore target those lovely squishy GCs with, on average, 5 MWs per shooting phase.

Other than being strong on objectives, having fantastic charge mortals (especially helpful in this -1/2 hit meta we’re seeing), this is a super reliable list with all the tools to do well – the fact Hazel took down BoC, KO and Fyreslayers twice is testament to the that. Keep on truckin’ Hazel!

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

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

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

ENDLESS SPELLS AND INVOCATIONS
Molten Infernoth (40)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Galletian Veterans
**Warlord
***Command Entourage – Magnificent

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Artefact
Artefact

TOTAL: 1990 / 2000

Kevin Lathers: Now you may ask yourself, have I seen this list before? Well, sort of.

Slight permutations of this list have been making the rounds. Sometimes it’s Greyfyrd, but I think Vostarg has taken over a bit: it’s easy to see why with its huge bonus to vulkites (+1 to hit and wound on charge). That usually trumps two extra artefacts.

Pulling the previous summary of the list: it relies on blocks of infantry holding objectives and looking for openings to run + charge (ember storm prayer) into important units. The 10-man Vulkite units are both screens and hammers while the Hearthguard are immovable block that can strike first into anyone thinking charging it is a good idea.

The smaller Vulkites and HGB feed into the 30-man Vulkite unit which can pick anything in the game up off the board with dual-flamekeeper buffs. Between 90 and 120 attacks (if Runefather buff is active) on that 30-man black at 3-damage each means even if an opponent is saving on a 2+ they are going to get toasted.

Once the engine of the flamekeepers gets going it’s hard to stop unless opponents can somehow take them out. But they can be well protected behind the infantry and focus on them means Vulkites are staying alive. And with how many Vulkite and Hearthguard Berserkers there are, this is a lot of wounds to chew through.

It’s notable that Alex had to play against not one, but two, Helon LRL lists. LRL usually can give FS a tough time with their AoE spellcasting and precision MWs, but Alex managed to massage that Nulsidian Icon (4+ spell ignore) to a win against both opponents. Further, this list has the benefit of high wound amounts which can sometimes thwart LRL attempts at unit removal.

His other three opponents used combat armies (Khorne, Ogors, and NH) which always struggle into FS lists like this. Once they get stuck in and start killing vulkites it only makes the next combat even worse for them and they quickly getting burned to the ground by the incredible damage stacking of flamekeepers.

As long as we remain in this GHB I will expect to continue seeing this list, or ones very similar to it, show up.

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Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Heartwood
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Alarielle the Everqueen (820)*
Arch-Revenant (120)*
– General
– Command Trait: Warsinger
– Artefact: Seed of Rebirth (Universal Artefact)
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha

BATTLELINE
6 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (460)*
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (230)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*

UNITS
5 x Gossamid Archers (210)*

ENDLESS SPELL AND INVOCATIONS
Spiteswarm Hive (40)
Season: Dwindling

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 1990 / 2000

The Mathmallow version of the current Sylvaneth hotness adds a unit of Gossamid archers as an additional, incredibly mobile, screen to prevent opponents from interfering with the backline artillery station of 9 Kurnoth hunters.

This style of list has only gotten more popular as the way Sylvaneth is built in GTs has been honed to a fine edge, Alarielle creates a terrible problem for an opponent with her self-recursion and enormous wound count demanding answers, and quickly, to prevent Sylvaneth stabilising on board state and achieving enough positive trades to begin to take over in the late game when Alarielle returns. This long-game style of play, combined with enormous range of influence, excellent mobility and uninteractive trading make sylvaneth more than capable of taking all comers – an absolute must for a GT.

This list is relatively well-spoken about so I’ll avoid going into it too much but in this humble writer’s opinion the Gossamid archers are the most interesting inclusion in this list, an obvious answer to alpha-strike style combat armies, the gossamids are intended to give an extra layer of screening to objectives and provide time for the relatively medium output of the kurnoths to do their work. They do decent damage on their own but strike me as a tech piece aiming to address one of the major flaws of the list: it being so light on bodies. I’d be interested to hear what Mathmallow thinks of them after using them consistently in a few GTs.

A man that needs no introductions, posting another truly LIT performance, well done Mathew

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Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine
– Temple: Hagg Nar
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADERS
Hag Queen on Cauldron of Blood (280)*
– General
– Command Trait: Zealous Orator
– Prayer: Sacrament of Blood
High Gladiatrix (90)**
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
High Gladiatrix (90)**
Bloodwrack Medusa (140)**
– Artefact: Crystal Heart
– Lore of Shadows: Mindrazor

BATTLELINE
20 x Witch Aelves (240)**
– Pairs of Sacrificial Knives
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Witch Aelves (240)**
– Pairs of Sacrificial Knives
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Witch Aelves (120)**
– Pairs of Sacrificial Knives
10 x Witch Aelves (120)**
– Pairs of Sacrificial Knives

UNITS
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (100)*
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (100)*

BEHEMOTHS
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)**
– Allies

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 2000 / 2000

DoK have seen a fairly dramatic fall from grace this season since their points hikes, a shallow book and a number of strong new tomes, but they’re still fundamentally a good army – especially, for my money, when they focus on Aelf swarms.

Those scantily glad murder-vixens don’t look like much on paper – but buffed with +1 to wound by the Gladiatrix, +1 to save by proximity to the Blood Wagon, and starting at Blood Rites 2 in Hagg Nar, they can really perform. If Mindrazor goes off on them too, which the Krondspine’s +1 to cast will help with, they can reach silly level of output, with 3 attacks at 2/3/-2/2 on the charge.

Speaking of Spinedog, we haven’t seen him around these parts for a while, but here he acts as a Morathi-proxy who is, under some scenarios, actually harder to kill and can really allow the Aelf hordes to get into position and choose favourable engagements.

A smart list which I don’t envy having to push around – dems a lorra liddle bases! Makes me wonder – are DoK in line for some new units (and I don’t mean useless Underworlds warbands etc) – perhaps with the Dawnbringer books? That little extra depth could be what they need to shine/bathe in blood again!

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Top Three AoS Lists for Border War 2023

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This is the top three AoS lists for Border War 2023 that took place in the Albury, Australia on the 29th and 30th of April. It involved 43 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

Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumphs: Inspired

Kharadron Code
– Artycle: Settle The Grudges
– Amendment: Prosecute Wars With All Haste
– Footnote: There’s No Reward Without Risk

LEADERS
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
– General
– Command Trait: Stormcaller
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Aetheric Navigator (85)*
– Artefact: Voidstone Orb
Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90)*

BATTLELINE
9 x Endrinriggers (360)*
– 1x Grapnel Launchers
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)*
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
Arkanaut Frigate (300)*
– Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)*
– 2x Aetheric Fumigators
– 2x Decksweepers
– 2x Aethercannons
– 2x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 1

UNITS
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)*
– Main Gun: Sky Cannon
– Gunhauler Modifications: Zonbarcorp ‘Debtsettler’ Spar Torpedo

BEHEMOTHS
Arkanaut Ironclad (500)*
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Major Installation: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram

CORE BATTALION
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000

Sometimes, it pays off to lean into the highlights of a new Battletome, and Luca Foerster’s Barak Zilfin Kharadron Overlords list does this perfectly. One of the biggest loses to Kharadron Overlords was the loss of Aethergold in the new book, which was often used for an on-demand +1 to wound, Luca offsets this by taking the new Settle The Grudges Artycle which gives all Kharadron Overlords units a static +1 to wound against a target chosen at the start of the game. Less versatile, for sure, but often more impactful when multiple units are needed to ensure that something is made dead.

Luca starts things off with a classic Admiral taking Stormcaller and Leadership of the Alpha. Stormcaller allows for the rerolling of dice from the Navigator’s Read the Winds ability, which I will talk about in a moment. He follows that up with an Endrinmaster with Endrinharness, which pays the tax of allowing Endrinriggers to be battleline. Lastly, for heroes, he has taken a Navigator who gets an unbind/dispel and is carrying a Voidstone Orb, which is a once per game Artefact that will auto-unbind a spell. A powerful deterrent against trying to snipe heroes with spells or setting up crippling -1 to hit/wound auras. However, the real power of the Navigator is its Read the Winds ability, which allows it to roll six dice and then choose an effect. It can choose to either pick an enemy unit for each “one” it rolls to deal d3 mortal wounds and half movement until its next hero phase or for each “six” pick a friendly Boat and immediately normal move it D3+3 inches. The extra movement is great, but the real value is crippling fast enemy units, and combined with the reroll from the Admiral’s Stormcaller ability it can flat out win games by crippling the opponent’s ability to advance up the board to contest objectives or complete battle tactics. Sometimes, the best way to win is to not allow your opponent to play, and I especially feel for the poor Sons of Behemat player who ran afoul of this.

Moving onto his troop selection, Luca has taken a sample of the Kharadron mainstays. He has a double reinforced unit of Endrinriggers, which brings a bucket of rend -2 to the game both at range and in melee. They can also heal the boats, but that is just a bonus. The native rend -2 is the real benefit here. Next up, we have a common theme within Kharadron in this edition, the extremely efficient reinforced Thunderers with Special Weapons. They bring a massive amount of firepower at shotgun range, but back that up with a native 3+ save, 20 wounds, debuffs, and even mortal wounds in melee. They are a classic, “Move Me” objective holder with just enough range that they can not be ignored. A unit of Arkanauts rounds out the troop selection.

To finish off the list, Luca brought one of each of the Kharadron boats. An Ironclad toting around the Battle Ram to combo with the once per game 3d6 charge from his Footnote, a battleline Frigate courtesy of Barak Zilfin, and a cheeky Gunhauler to give the larger boats a 6+ ward save and a fast mover to cap objectives later in the game. He packages all of this into a one-drop Battle Regiment at an even 2000 points.

This is a classic list that can do well at range and in melee. It presents a difficult challenge for opponents as the Battletome Battle Tactics allow it to avoid interaction but greatly punishes opponents who spread out to score their own. Combined with Luca’s outstanding play, I pity the poor souls who had to face it.

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Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes
– Mawtribe: Boulderhead
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Frostlord on Stonehorn (450)
– Artefact: Vial of Manticore Venom (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder
Frostlord on Thundertusk (400)
– Mount Trait: Matriarch
Huskard on Thundertusk (330)*
– Blood Vulture
– Mount Trait: Rimefrost Hide
– Prayer: Keening Gale
Icebrow Hunter (120)*
– General
– Command Trait: Touched by the Everwinter
– Prayer: Pulverising Hailstorm
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha

BATTLELINE
6 x Mournfang Pack (510)*
– Gargant Hackers
– Reinforced x 2
2 x Frost Sabres (80)*
2 x Frost Sabres (80)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 99
Drops: 3

We’ve an absolute legend joining our team for the top three comments this week.

Peter Atkinson (AKA Plastic Craic) has recently made a return with a revamped website and a crack team of top AoS gamers to help him!

Peter Atkinson: Thanks for having me on gents – long time listener, first time caller.

“It’s gotta be Little Lisa Simpson, Springfield’s answer to a question NOBODY ASKED!”

– Ned Flanders

Well he’s pulled one out of the bag here, hasn’t he? The Thundertusk answers the question nobody asked, namely “how can I do chip damage to a chaff unit in the shooting phase?”. The whole point of shooting is that you get to pick where the damage goes, but the limitations around where (and how much) the Thundertusk can apply its output are usually seen as crippling in the hands of most players.

Well, up steps The Mayor to show he’s not most players.

The Factory-standard Frostlord is of course present, with the Manticore Venom artefact being a slightly unorthodox pick, but all Stonehorns will take consistency of output where they can get it. I like it. In fact, I might just copy it.

Then Mat goes off script with the double Tusks: one as a Frostlord for the 3+ save and at least some kind of melee output, and the other packing the 5++ ward Trait. Coupled with the Boulderhead extra wounds and neg -1 to wound on the big lad, Mat has layered up the durability buffs in this army, but he’s done the same with his charge bonuses too. Both Frostlords add stacking +1s to charge in an aura, and the 3rd Mount Trait does the same (for Thundertusks only), so they’re all supporting each other to charge at +2” or +3”. It won’t boost the charge mortals, but it can blow the game wide open with some unexpected long bombs.

And how about those Mournfang? He has the prayer for extra movement on them, so with dual Frosties nearby and their native plus 1” to charge, they’re often gonna be zipping around at +3” to move and +3” to charge. This unit is a ride-on lawnmower, and your army is the mole poking its head out of the ground.

They give zero fucks about overwatch too, so with all their charge mortals added in, KO might not be as scary as you think; and speaking of KO, those Thunderers make a prime target for Thundertusk shooting. You don’t want the pricks rallying back, but bringing them into combat means they can’t use Rally anyway.

In fact, expensive combat units with good saves are where Thundertusks want to be generally, and there’s a lot of that in the meta right now; so if they will ever have a time to shine this is it. They won’t go too badly into Khorne’s Mighty Skullcrushers for example, with a double-tap putting enough mortals into them that a decent charge or two could clean them up without even worrying about that stupid 0+ save. OBR springs to mind too.

In practice though, I think I’d use the Thundertusks just as often to bludgeon through a support hero. 2 mortals, another 2 mortals, Blood Vulture, bam. That’s a 5-wound hero gone. The chances of spiking off a 6-wound hero are not trivial, and across two turns of shooting it’s very likely they’re toast. Efficient sniping? No, but sometime’s a Tyrant’s gotta do what a Tyrant’s gotta do. And something like a Krulghast or Death Frenzy can just switch off your win condition, so efficiency goes out the window at that point and you just do what you have to.

The kitty cats are an ace in the hole, popping up to secure Desecrate and then (because they can’t be shot in cover) usually forcing a far-more-expensive combat unit to hit reverse gear and clear them up. They’re not half bad at soaking up a mortal-wound overwatch too.

I know Mat has owned this army for aeons but it rarely sees the tabletop in competitive play. So I’ll be honest, I looked at this list and thought Mat was bringing a palette-cleanser pick for his hometown GT, so he could relax into his games with no pressure.

Well the more you look at it, the better it gets. It’s surprisingly strong into a couple of dominant new books and you write it off at your peril. Strutting onto the podium with such a unique list is a great achievement – well done mate.

If you found this write-up informative, check out our site over at Plastic Craic where we’re smashing out regular, high-quality Age of Sigmar coverage. See you there.

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Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness
– Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADERS
Archaon the Everchosen (860)*
– The Lore of the Damned: Daemonic Speed
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Chaos Familiar
– Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– The Lore of the Damned: Daemonic Speed
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
– The Lore of the Damned: Chaotic Conduit

BATTLELINE
6 x Varanguard (580)*
– 5x Fellspear
– 1x Daemonforged Blade
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Reinforced x 1
9 x Corvus Cabal (80)*
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
5 x Chaos Knights (220)*
– Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Ensorcelled Banner: The Blasted Standard

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 89
Drops: 1

Ok folks, we’ve reached the Slaves sass threshold. What that means is we’ve now seen enough good results, with similar-enough lists, in a short enough time period, that I get to be a little bitch about them.

So what we have here is lots of the two good units in the book (cavalry) in the sub-faction that makes cavalry able to run and charge, with Archaon slapped on top for good measure. Archaon does offer a lot of tactical flexibility thanks to his picking a mark before deployment and not in the list building stage, and even though he’s always been frustratingly easy to kill and frustratingly bad at killing when I’ve run him, when he inevitably gets the Nurgle mark he’s definitely an annoying man-mountain that can stomp an objective while the 6 Varanguard do their thing.

I’ve also spotted that the Chaos Knights have been marked Tzeentch so that they can be yoinked around a bit by the Tzeentch Sorceror Lord. I wonder if that ever actually went off? At least it’s new!

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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
– Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm)
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADERS
Karazai, The Scarred (550)*
Lord-Castellant (160)*
– Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion)
Lord-Relictor (150)*
– General
– Command Trait: High Priest
– Prayer: Translocation
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

BATTLELINE
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)*
– Reinforced x 1
5 x Liberators (120)*
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
10 x Vanquishers (220)*
– Reinforced x 1

UNITS
6 x Praetors (280)*
– Reinforced x 1

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Holy Command: Call for Aid

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 104
Drops: 1

Joel’s a really knowledgeable Stormcast Player and has been running a version of this list for most of the edition. You can check out the development of the list and how it plays on his channel Measured Gaming. Some of the most entertaining Battle Reps you’ll watch, but I warn you, it’s very definitely NSFW.

The concept is simple, go first and jam Karazai into something. He is either going to be a wrecking ball or serve as a fantastic distraction (you can’t let him run around). There are still 2 Galetian Champions for battle tactics, the Lord Castellant is one of the strongest here, with a 5+ ward to make him harder to shift. Scions of the Storm lets you get him where you want him if you keep him off the board. There is the choice of either the Vanquishers or the Fulminators to accompany him. 7 Units, only half are allowed in the storm chamber, giving a few options. The Praetors are along to provide their bodyguard to Karazai. Staying close to Karazai is the trick though.

The Praetors are probably a surprise for anyone who hasn’t played against them. With 3 attacks and 2 damage, they have solid output, especially into 4+ and 5+ saves. If your army relies on a big block of something or a couple of models, Karazai is your worst nightmare. Most of the lists Joel faced suffered from that issue or would struggle to affect Karazai as MSU (Bladegheists). If you have a lot of threats and enough units though, you can overwhelm this list and score where they aren’t. I’ll let Kieron cover how the Skaven list worked against Karazai. I’m predicting disposable clan rats helped clog up the works.

If you have the chance it’s worth watching how Joel plays this list, it’s fun if nothing else. He’s also one of the few people that seem to be perfectly fine with the standard Liberator.

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Top Three AoS Lists for The Icebreaker GT 2023

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This is the top three AoS lists for the The Icebreaker GT by Renegade Gaming that took place in the USA on the 15th and 16th of April. It involved 39 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

Army Faction: Skaven
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADER
1 x Verminlord Deceiver (420)*
– General
– Command Traits: Devious Adversary
– Artefacts: Shadow Magnet Trinket
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Slynk Skittershank (220)*
1 x Deathmaster (140)*
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
1 x Deathmaster (140)**
1 x Deathmaster (140)**
1 x Deathmaster (140)**

BATTLELINE
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**

OTHER
5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
4 x Skittershank’s Clawpack (220)*
5 x Gutter Runners (100)*
5 x Gutter Runners (100)**

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Kieren Coates:This is the skaven list you get to point to when someone tries to tell you that clan eshin isn’t viable, the deathmaster is the worst warscroll in the book and mono-clan skavens is no longer viable

You now finally get to show them that you can indeed go 5-0 with your favourite ninja rats, but you might just need to be positioning like a madman to do so

With triple clan eshin the army gets board wide +1 to hit and wound in melle against heroes, and everything but your deceiver and 4 assasins can start off the board – sadly assasins can’t hide in gutter runners for whatever reason, GW fix this now!

Gutter runners have surprising mortal output at 3 shots per model with 6’s doing mortals, leading to a higher output per point than sentinels – and with 40 of them you’re looking at 120 shots with an average of 20 mortals per turn – before accounting for the extra 9 average mortals from assasins or slynk shooting in addition

Combine that with deepstrike and MSU positioning to clog the board and you’ve got a mean alpha to block the opponent in while slynk and the deceiver can surgically remove key pieces with a 6 inch deepstrike or teleport respectively

It takes a madman to pilot most skaven lists, and it takes one especially insane to run full eshin – well done on the 5-0 and for showing the naysayers everywhere just how viable off meta skaven builds can be.

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Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz
– Gittish Horde: Glogg’s Megamob
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon
– Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADERS
Dankhold Troggboss (200)*
– General
– Command Trait: Loonskin
– Artefact: Glowy Howzit
Skragrott, The Loonking (210)*
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*
– Artefact: Moonface Mommet
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

BATTLELINE
60 x Moonclan Shootas (375)**
– Reinforced x 2
20 x Moonclan Stabbas (125)***
3 x Fellwater Troggoths (160)**
3 x Fellwater Troggoths (160)**
6 x Rockgut Troggoths (320)***
– Reinforced x 1

UNITS
10 x Loonsmasha Fanatics (220)*
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (130)***

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Loonskin Malevolent Moon (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Galletian Sharpshooters
***Galletian Veterans

Total: 1990 / 2000

I’m going to start by saying I’m happy I wasn’t facing this from across the table. The core is the Troggoths, of course, regenerating as soon as they’ve fought (Glogg’s Megamob). You need to carefully manage your activations, but each turn 2 units will regenerate each turn before you can hit them. After the Troggoths, your eye is drawn to the Shootas – 120 attacks, only half will hit, but even with low quality attacks, you are probably rolling against 20 wounds. Into a 3+ save that’s still an average of 7 wounds. They threaten any GC, and you can’t hide your GCs ( Galletian Sharpshooters).

The smart play is to remove them of course, from Turn 3, they are a serious threat to damaged units. With a 4+ l that’s a tall ask, 50% of everything you kill is going to return (on average) up to a maximum of 10. That means without very serious effort, they will be a problem for 2 or 3 turns at a minimum. Their probably hiding some Loonsmashas as well making charging and combat no sure thing. The Stabbas can control an objective from 9″ away unless you weaken them. And both Skragrott and the Fungoid have teleport to drop them somewhere annoying.

An annoying, sticky list with the ability to be everywhere you aren’t as well as out stay and out score you. No surprise it’s gone 5/0/0, it’s a little more of a surprise that the Skaven outscored him but both lists are just good at the game. They play the missions really well without needing to destroy the opponent.

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Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Nar
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumphs: Inspired

KHARADRON CODE
– Artycle: Settle The Grudges
– Amendment: Prosecute Wars With All Haste
– Footnote: There’s No Reward Without Risk

LEADERS
Runelord (100)*
– Allies
Arkanaut Admiral (125)**
– General
– Command Trait: Stormcaller
– Artefact: Celestium Burst-grenade
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90)
Brokk Grungsson Lord-Magnate of Barak-Nar (220)*
Aetheric Navigator (85)*
– Artefact: Voidstone Orb

BATTLELINE
6 x Endrinriggers (240)***
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)***
– 2x Aetheric Fumigators
– 2x Decksweepers
– 2x Aethercannons
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)***
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)*
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns

BEHEMOTHS
Flagship (300)**
– Arkanaut Frigate
– Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
– Frigate Regittings: Magnificent Omniscope
Arkanaut Frigate (300)**
– Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Linebreaker
***Galletian Sharpshooters

Total: 1930 / 2000

We’re lucky in that we have developed a number of relationships with top players around the globe. Some names that comment on here fairly regularly, such as Kieren Coates, Joshua Bennett, Kel Pigg, and Kevin Lathers, to name but a few. Jeremy Veysseire can now be added to this select crowd, and for those who are unaware, Jeremy has his own YouTube channel where he breaks down tactics in Age of Sigmar. Go subscribe!

Jeremy Veysseire: Hello everyone, thanks for Woehammer for letting me break down this KO army for you all. Let’s jump right into it. This Barak-Nar packs a mixture of punch and shooting, some core highlights:


• 4 Rolls of a 4+ for extra CP during their turn. (KO can be CP hungry)
• +1 to Wound (Melee and Shooting) against 1 enemy unit for the entire game
• 2D6 Run on 1 Unit a turn.
• Once per game 3D6 Charge.
• +1 Attack to all Barak-Nar units in combat within 12” of Brokk if he charges. (Massive buff to the Endrinriggers)
• Runelord is granting you an additional unbind at +2 and Blessing a unit for 6+ ward.
• Rerolling Navigator Reading the Winds (Stormcaller, Huge Value!)
• Once per game, Autounbind (Voidstone)
• Oncer per game on a 2+ remove Wards from an enemy unit during that shooting phase (Celestium Burst-Grenades)
• 70-point deficit for a near guarantee of +1 to Wound Triumph and prevent Indomitable Gitz builds.

Now, with those core concepts explained, let’s go over some overall packages. You have 1 Melee Frigate and 1 Shootey Frigate; the melee frigate is built around the 14” movement frigate (Magnificent Omniscope) with the Endrinriggers (no special weapons for more melee), Brokk, the Endrinmaster and the Admiral since the Boat is the Flagship thus the Admiral can give that boat a free CA per turn. The Shooty Frigate is built around the 10 Sharpshooting Thunderers and the Navigator as a great support platform to the melee one as it can effectively assist in clearing screens or pressuring heroes that provide some form of force multiplier. With the Celestium Burst-Grenade in the pack pocket, you can really have an effective take down turn of a specific target, especially with the +1 to Wound Artycle. One of the biggest highlights in this list is that while there are only 2 frigates, Brokk’s shooting profile is basically another frigate worth, so that melee frigate is very multiphase functional. There is a lot of magic defence between the Runelord, the Navigator, and the Voidstone, helping that KO power shut down key powers. The Runelord provides another low risk GC for some of the GHB battle tactics and provides a potential 6+ ward on a frigate early in the game. The Arkanaut make great screens and deckchair backfield units while able to move forward as the Frigate clear pressure upfront.

Thomas had an interesting path to 3rd place with a loss starting against Corey Anderson’s STD Host of the Everchosen with Be’Lakor, Eternus and Chosens. My guess is that perhaps Be’Lakor’s once per game shutdown mechanic was able to shut down the Thunderers long enough while the Cockatrice were able to debuff the Endrinriggers hitting on 6’s. He even perhaps suffered a double turn from his opponent since he had the choice of turn order. His second round opponent was a classic Hallowed knights list with a mixture of Dragons and some shooting piloted by Colin Jarrell, it honestly looked like an ideal list for Thomas to face as the majority of the SCE army has a hard time to set tempo against his superior shooting and melee. His third round opponent was a Kruelboyz list with Kragnos piloted by Isaac Kangas, and I can only imagine that this game was like shooting fish in a barrel (no offiense to Isaac). His round 4 opponent was a Hedonites army packed with Heroes, Slickblade Seekers and some Blissbard Archer piloted by Hugh Cunningham, I am curious to know how the game went personally but looking at the unit selection and not knowing the mission, either Hugh ran out of pressure early in the game or couldn’t catch the boats as they were raining death from above since it would appear very hard for that specific hedonite build to generate depravity in that match up to counter some of the teeth of that KO list. His final round opponent was an Ogor Boulderhead build piloted by Logan Wendt with 4 Stonehorns (1 Frostlord, 1 Huskard, 2 Normal) and 3 packs of Mournfang. I can only imagine that the removal of the Stornehorn and halving movement speed to various units made it easy for Thomas to control the tempo of the game early on. It would take a serious gungho approach by Logan to oversaturate his shooting targets and bank for a double to catch the boats.Ov

erall Thomas had a 4-1 record with a very good all comers KO list that plays multiple phases of the game. Congrats to him, and I wish the best of luck for the next event!

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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness
– Subfaction: Knights of the Empty Throne
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (200)*
– General
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Warp Reality
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
– Spells: Daemonic Speed, Warp Reality
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master

BATTLELINE
Chaos Knights (440)*
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
– Doom Knight
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Cursed Flail
– Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon
Varanguard (580)*
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
– 6 x Ensorcelled Weapon
Varanguard (580)*
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– 6 x Fellspear

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (50)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000

Loyal readers of this column may be starting to notice certain trends with successful Slaves lists. At this point to be frank, we should probably rename them ‘Slaves to Varanguard’. But what’s a competitive player to do when faced with a super efficient cavalry unit that can fight twice and be battleline in a sub-faction that allows them to run and charge?

I mean, literally the only unusual pick here is the Geminids, a cute little ploy to turn off commands to stop those pesky redeploys and whatnot while the Varanguard bear down on them.

Solutions to list variety? I don’t think Varanguard need or deserve a nerf – they’re already expensive and fairly vulnerable to any decent amount of attacks with any kind of rend – soon as they lose a few models, and their own low volume of attacks starts to tell. I think the rest of the book just needs a better reason to be taken to be honest, but with the warscrolls and lack of synergies the way they are, I’m not sure pure points adjustments will do the job…

Either way, well done to Daniel here for wins over some super strong factions!

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Top Three AoS Lists for the London Open

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This is the top three AoS lists for the London Open that took place in the UK on the 14th and 15th of April. It involved 23 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

Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumphs: Inspired

Kharadron Code
– Artycle: Honour Is Everything
– Amendment: Trust to Your Guns
– Footnote: Without Our Ships We Are Naught

Leaders
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
– General
– Command Trait: Ex-Grundstok
Aether-Khemist (80)*
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Aether-Khemist (80)*

Battleline
15 x Grundstok Thunderers (405)*
– 3x Aetheric Fumigators
– 3x Decksweepers
– 3x Aethercannons
– 3x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)*
– 2x Aetheric Fumigators
– 2x Decksweepers
– 2x Aethercannons
– 2x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)*
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
Arkanaut Frigate (300)*
– Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon
– Frigate Regittings: Magnificent Omniscope

Units
3 x Endrinriggers (120)*
– 1x Grapnel Launchers

Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (500)*
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Major Installation: The Last Word

Endless Spells & Invocations
Soulscream Bridge (0)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 117
Drops: 1

Russell Taylor: My list is designed around the ability to have one big turn so when I decide it’s the time to go which is usually turn 1 but can be delayed then I can devastate state my opponent’s army.

The key to this is being able to move my ships and get the thunderers out afterwards this is why I have included the soulscream bridge because it allows me to disembark the units inside the ironclad after bridging them meaning I can apply the extra rend from the khemist to my thunderers and also meaning that my 12 inch range guns are also in better range, I took the footnote that allows two commands to be given to a ship so I can fly high my frigate and disembark using two command abilities mirroring the use of the soulscream bridge. The admiral allows me to give another additional rend once per game which can also be used without disembarking if I don’t need to stack all the rend at once.

The combination of these tactics mean I can deploy in the corner out of range of my opponent and then strike with easy killing priority targets and then clearing up in the next few turns.

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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals
– Army Type: Scions of the Storm
– Army Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
– Holy Command: Call for Aid

LEADER
1 x Knight-Zephyros (100)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
1 x Aventis Firestrike (270)*
– Spells: Thundershock

BATTLELINE
4 x Dracothian Guard Tempestors (440)*
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)*
5 x Drakespawn Knights (110)*
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Dread Knight
10 x Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows (380)*
– 2 x Thunderbolt Crossbow
5 x Sequitors (120)*
– Sequitor-Prime
– Stormsmite Greatmace (Sequitor-Prime)
– 2 x Stormsmite Greatmace

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Everblaze Comet (90)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)

Dan Sidders: The One with the Goat
The list is built with 3 things in mind: it needed to be 1 drop because of the battle pack, it needed to unlock some tome tactics & I wanted it to be a combined arms force that had melee & ranged damage.

The fulminators are battleline in Hammers of Sigmar and delete anything they hit but need a delivery mechanism. That’s where the Drakespawn Knights come in. 10 wounds on a 3+ save for 110 points on cavalry bases. Turned sideways they can screen enough ground to cover a block of 4 large dracoth bases. They also have 10” move the same as the Fulminators so can move up at speed and maintain the screen. They unlock the Pioneers of the Realm battle tactic to contest enemy home objectives with a Cities unit which I completed in 3/5 games. There’s no requirement to control the objective and often one lone survivor would just sneak in during the late game to score the points.

I wanted to get away from the Wildform, Translocate option I had been running because i was throwing the Fulminators forward too early and recently I’ve been trying to slow my gameplay down slightly to force myself to make better decisions.

The shooting hammer came from 10 Crossbow Judicators who have the Rapid Fire rule giving them exploding hits, which when buffed to hit on 2’s provides the highest output shooting available to Stormcast into anything but a 2+ save. It also provides 10 models to stand on an objective and fills a battleline slot. The downside being that they only have 18” range; so I needed something to screen them in order to deepstrike within range.

So my third battleline slot was filled with 4 Tempestors who, like the Judicators have crossbows with exploding hits and the benefit of some rend and mortal wound breath attacks. These guys were deployed out of scions 9” away from my opponents front line – the Judicators sat behind. Lots and lots of shots poured into the enemy. The Tempestors could then risk a charge or simply stand there – the unleash hell they put out is like getting a free fight first! Averaging 10 wounds into any target without a ward. With 24 wounds on a 3+ they generally took up my opponents attention for a couple of turns while the fulminators closed in.

The utility pieces in the list were provided by the heroes; the Zephyros innately teleports and counts as 10 on objectives with Stubborn as a Rhinox but always started the game right on the back line. The comet has 36” range so can be deployed outside of unbind range turn 1 due to the Arcane Tome. The Goat, Aventis Firestrike who dropped to 270 points in the recent battlescroll gives me a 2 cast wizard allowing for a mystic shield and Thunderstrike for a -1 to wound aura within 18” boosting the survivability of the fairly elite force. The fact that he’s a 14” flying monster means he can get into the action to supply a well placed roar and also shift from deployment up behind the shooting units to hand out +1 to hit which solves the need for AOA on both units to maximise the damage potential.

The MVP’s were the 5 sequitors who were a second screen for deployment and an objective holder in the early game. Activating their 5+ ward helped to make them stubborn when needed and then when they went down I used Call for aid to resurrect them further up the field and hunt a hero for the No Challenge too Great tome tactic using their exploding 6’s to hit. Perfect now there are lots of Galetian champions running around!

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Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords
– Great Nation: Helon
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (720)
– General
Scinari Cathallar (120)
– Artefact: Silver Wand
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

Battleline
5 x Hurakan Windchargers (140)
10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)*
– Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Overwhelming Heat
20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (320)*
– Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Reinforced x 1

Units
20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (320)*
– Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Reinforced x 1

Endless Spells & Invocations
Horrorghast (70)
Umbral Spellportal (80)
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)

Core Battalions
*Galletian Sharpshooters

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 81
Drops: 6

Mo Ashraf:It’s a fairly standard Teclis castle build with 2×20 sentinels doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The changes to the standard list were taking only one unit of Windchargers and also taking Gnashing Jaws/Horrorghast as endless spells.

The biggest change is that I took sharpshooters on the sentinels, which meant I wasn’t a 1 drop and instead a 6 drop. Throughout the event, I was out dropped by everyone bar 1 player, so didn’t get the choice often to choose 1st or 2nd. I realised this was a mistake though, and in the future, I will go for the 1 drop as the one game I lost could have potentially been avoided if I chose to make them go first.

The extra endless spell meant that one of the book battle tactics of having 2 endless spells on the field was fairly easy to achieve, especially in the late game when opponent wizards were killed off. But the lack of extra units of windchargers/screen meant that the army did feel fairly small.

The list starts really starts to excel later turns of the game when it can start moving up out of the castle to score more objectives, so early game is about killing from a distance as much as possible.

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Allegiance: Fyreslayers
– Lodge: Greyfyrd
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Gotrek Gurnisson (480)
– Allies
Auric Runefather (120)*
– General
– Command Trait: Leader of the Duardrazhal
– Artefact: Axe of Grimnir
Auric Runeson (80)**
– Ancestral War-axe
Auric Runemaster (130)**
– Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Auric Flamekeeper (90)**
– Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion)
Grimwrath Berzerker (110)***
– Artefact: Draught of Magmalt Ale
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage

Battleline
10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (300)*
– Poleaxes
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (300)**
– Poleaxes
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (320)***
– Reinforced x 1

Endless Spells & Invocations
Molten Infernoth (40)

Core Battalions
*Galletian Command
**Warlord
***Galletian Veterans

Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 480 / 400
Wounds: 116
Drops: 9

Kevin Lathers: A rare Gotrek list hits the upper ranks of a GT. Gotrek seems like a natural fit for Fyreslayers: he’s a duardin, they’re a duardin, etc. But he doesn’t really provide much FS don’t already have, such as the ability to kill things in the combat phase. So it’s uncommon to see him.

This list leans hard into him with the Runefather taking Leader of the Daurdrazhal, a CT which allows Gotrek to benefit from the Fyreslayers’ runes (most importantly the movement rune).

He also has a natural buddy in the Grimwrath Berserker, who is basically a mini-me for Gotrek. Between the two of them there’s basically nothing in the game that can stand up to them in the combat phase.

The rest of the list is two units of HGB, brick walls to both screen and hold objectives and Vulkite Berserkers, another objective holder and infantry with a little more mobility. These are supported by a flamekeeper to add a little utility and/or damage to them depending on the situation.

What’s conspicuously missing from the list is a Battlesmith, so this army will be without 4+ Rally, a 5+ ward once per game, and the very helpful Nulsidian Icon which can block offensive/endless spells on a 4+ (almost needed vs. Tzeentch, Seraphon, or LRL). Instead, this list is going to really rely on the 4+ wards from the HGB and Gotrek’s ability to soak up damage as a distraction carnifex.

Oh, and the Molten Infernoth, which does the thing it always does: knock MWs into anything and everything for 40 points.

Overall, this list will take some skilled piloting, but if done right the infantry can hold objectives while Gotrek and Mini-Gotrek clean the board of pests.

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Top Three AoS Lists for Smash & Bash 2023

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This is the top three AoS lists for Smash & Bash that took place in the USA on the 22nd and 23rd of April. It involved 62 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

Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz
– Gittish Horde: King’s Gitz
– Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Dankhold Troggboss (200)**
– General
– Command Trait: Loonskin
– Artefact: Glowy Howzit
Skragrott, The Loonking (210)*
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*
– Artefact: Moonface Mommet
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

Battleline
9 x Rockgut Troggoths (480)*
– Reinforced x 2
6 x Rockgut Troggoths (320)*
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Rockgut Troggoths (320)*
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Fellwater Troggoths (160)*

Units
1 x Dankhold Troggoths (180)**

Terrain
Bad Moon Loonshrine

Endless Spells & Invocations
Loonskin Scuttletide (0)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Troggherd Heavies

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 129
Drops: 3

Well, there’s no doubt that the new Gloomspite Gitz book is better than the original, but I must admit that I’m still suprised to see Troggs smashing their way to a 5-0. Christopher didn’t have an easy route either ending on the other Destruction go-to army – Ogor Mawtribes.

The Troggs don’t have the bodies that you might expect in a Gitz list, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have sneaky tricks in abundance, and Christopher has brought along some Gobbos to help his Rockguts. The Fungoid can Hand of Gork – a great threat to his opponent – whilst Skragrott can do that, and can keep the moon where you need it to be – as well as giving a little ranged damage with his scroll spell.

Games Workshop via Wahapedia

A spell that wouldn’t be out of place in an Aelf book. Glorious stuff.

Meanwhile the Rockguts are healing in both turns, and if you can kill nine of them – 5 can come back! That’s a hell of a hammer piece appearing within 12″ of the Loonshrine near the end of game (because you’re not killing them early). It’s great to see the list do so well, and a list mostly unchanged from the Trogg lists before the new book (with the notably addition of Skragrott). Goes to to show what a few well placed warscroll re-writes can do.

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Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Army Subfaction: Bloodlords
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)
– General
– Command Traits: Firebrand
– Artefacts: Ar’gath, the King of Blades
– Prayers: Killer Instinct, Blood Sacrifice
1 x Skarbrand (380)**
1 x Realmgore Ritualist (100)**
– Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Bloodbind
– Aspect Tunnel master
1 x Bloodmaster (110)**
– Prayers: Unholy Flames, Blood Sacrifice

BATTLELINE
20 x Bloodletters (360)*
– Bloodreaper
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
5 x Flesh Hounds (100)*
5 x Flesh Hounds (100)*

INVOCATION
1 x Bleeding Icon (40)
1 x Hexgorger Skulls (50)

TERRAIN
1 x Skull Altar (0)

OTHER
5 x Garrek’s Reavers (70)*
6 x Bloodcrushers (360)**
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Bloodhunter

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Galletian Veterans
**Warlord

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Khorne’s new book is having a rush of blood to the head and starting to post results! This here is a forerunner for a very solid competitive archetype, and here’s how it works.

The big, daemonic blob of core synergy here is the Thirster of Unfettered Fury projecting a -1 to hit aura, and taking the command trait ‘FIrebrand’ that makes him into a priest. Because of the warlord battalion, each priest in the list knows two prayers – and the Khorne scripture is SO GOOD. With him is 20 Bloodletters, who in Bloodlords, are doing MWs on 5s to hit instead of 6s. The Thirster also has the ability to give a unit a 3d6 charge – meaning this blob is suddenly annoyingly hard to kill with the Thirster parked beyond, but also capable of long-bombing and handing you a whole bunch of MWs on a bronze platter.

Skarbrand is simply another very scary beatstick that can’t be ignored, meaning the other priests – the Ritualist and Bloodmaster, whose warscroll spell can give daemons +1 to wound vs a target – are probably free to do their thing, unmolested. Factor in two key Invocations, the Bleeding Icon to turn off inspiring presence in an aura and the Hexgorgers to absolutely lock down casting – and you have a very difficult equation to solve.

There are more moving parts to this list and a whole lot of strategy and further synergy based around Blood Tithe use that is all acts as a force multiplier but would take an essay to explain – but that gives you the core idea. A nasty, ‘everything is scary’ list full of movement shenanigans and board control. A great result and a sure sign of Khorne lists to come.

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Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Urbaz
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumphs: Inspired

Kharadron Code
– Artycle: Master The Skies
– Urbaz Artycle: Settle the Grudges – Amendment: Trust to Your Guns
– Footnote: There’s No Reward Without Risk

Leaders
Aetheric Navigator (85)***
– Artefact: Voidstone Orb
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
– General
– Command Trait: Stormcaller
– Artefact: Celestium Burst-grenade
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90)***
Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90)***

Battleline
3 x Endrinriggers (120)*
3 x Endrinriggers (120)**
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)**
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)**
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)***
– Main Gun: Sky Cannon

Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (500)
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Major Installation: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram
Arkanaut Ironclad (500)
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon

Core Battalions
*Galletian Command
**Galletian Sharpshooters
***Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 105
Drops: 11

Kharadron and I have a love/hate relationship, I love the concept and like to see them do well, but I don’t love their play style or look. Jame’s list is brilliant, no attempt to outdrop you – he isn’t going to deploy near you anyway. 2 x Ironclads and a Gunhauler all with Sky Cannons is no joke, 50/50 to hit at long range (but all out attack can help) with only 2 shots but D3+3 damage. And through the artycles, amendments, and footnotes, those boats have +2″ movement, +1 to wound against a unit, a reroll of a 1 and once per battle 3D6 charge. Guess which Ironclad that’s going to go on (battleram rolls for mortals with a number of dice equal to the charge roll).

On top of the boats shooting, their embarked Akanaut’s are Galletian Sharpshooters. Very difficult to use their disembarked ability to give them +1 to hit to anything contesting objectives. But there is no reason they can’t target a GC from the boat with All Out Attack after a fly high command. The Galletian Command is an unusual choice for a non combat army but a decent way of accessing the season’s Battle Tactics. It might leave you open to the Bodyguard being killed, but the Admiral could contest an objective effectively particularly late game. But wait, there’s more – this is not just a shooting army. There are a lot of moving parts and buffs. From the Navigators reading the winds to the Admiral granting rerolls to the reading the winds, drops, movements, and profiles. It’s a lot to keep track of. Essentially, though, if they shoot, they will lift most units in the game.

They would have the drop on most of the armies James faced, the loss to Ogors is interesting – Ogors do have tricks to get close and if they do they can dominate. They are hard to put down as well. Poor Fyreslayers though, slow, forced into the open and gunned down.

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Allegiance: Skaven
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Thanquol on Boneripper (430)
– 4 Warpfire Projectors
– Lore of Ruin: Skitterleap
Verminlord Warbringer (400)*
– General
– Command Trait: Devious Adversary
– Artefact: Warpstone Charm
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Warlock Engineer (100)*
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Clawlord (110)*
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Aspect of the Champion: Fueled by Ghurish Rage

Battleline
20 x Clanrats (100)*
– Rusty Blade
20 x Clanrats (100)
– Rusty Blade
20 x Clanrats (100)
– Rusty Blade
20 x Clanrats (100)
– Rusty Blade

Behemoths
Hell Pit Abomination (210)

Artillery
Warp Lightning Cannon (150)
Warp Lightning Cannon (150)

Endless Spells & Invocations
Lauchon the Soulseeker (50)

Core Battalions
*Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 147
Drops: 11

80 clanrats and 2 warp lightning cannons, who cares how you go, this army is going to be a laugh with lots of death. There is no special list tech here, just some really hard-hitting hammers (Thanquol, Warbringer, and even the Hellpit) with deep deep screens. Thanquol has his skateboard (Lauchon) and is built for maximum melee. He’ll hit harder than a Mawcrusher. The Warbringer will, with this build, hit as hard a Thanquol (8 x 3 damage attacks) with his melee weapons. It’s a great list for killing, but maybe not for scoring. That’s an issue for Skaven their heroes are either massive or very small (5 wounds), and season 3 battle tactics are hard work for them.

At that’s how Smash and Bash went down; 4/0/1 and finishing in 9th with a few close battles. The only one he didn’t overcome was 2nd place, Blades of Khorne. And when your army is all about trading bodies to maintain position and killing your opponent, your worst nightmare is an opponent that wants exactly that. The more you kill, the more bloodtithe, and Khorne isn’t fussy who died. Bloodthirster/Skarbrand on Thanquol is going to depend on who goes first and the dice. Brilliant to see on the tabletop. Fantastic list to see, maybe hindered by the new season, but it is still a very effective and bloody machine that will grind out wins.

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Top Three AoS Lists for Valleycon 2023

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This is the top three AoS lists for Valleycon 2023 that took place in New Zealand on the 22nd and 23rd of April. It involved 26 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

Allegiance: Khorne
– Slaughterhost: The Bloodlords
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
-Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADERS
Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)**
– General
– Command Trat: Firebrand
– Artefact: Argath the King of Blades
Skarbrand (380)
Realmgore Ritualist (100)*
– Prayer: Blood Sacrifice
Herald of Khorne on Blood Throne (160)*
Bloodsecrator (110)*
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne (110)**
– Artefact: Halo of Blood

UNITS
30 x Bloodletters (540)**
– Gore Drenched icon
10 x Bloodreavers (80**
– Reaver Blades
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
– Reaver Blades
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
–Reaver Blades

CORE BATTALIONS
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 1970/2000

Peter: We’ve corrected this article to say that Bloodlords can be buffed to cause mortals on 5+ and not 4+ as previously stated.

Hero-hammer is alive and well in the land of Khorne. While I think their book was initially overlooked due to the insane rules from Slaanesh, there is a lot of potential in the new Blades of Khorne battletome. They remain a very tech-y army with a moderate to high skill level, but in the right hands they can get a lot of work done.

In this case, Shaun has packed more than half the points for his army in heroes, and a further quarter of his points in a single, massive unit of Bloodletters.

Working from the top of the list, we’ll start with the Fury Thirster. I think you’ll see this unit + command trait combination a lot. The Thirster starts as a great force mulitplier, allowing one unit per round the chance to roll 3D6 for a charge, as well as providing a -1 to hit debuff for enemies within 8″. Giving him Firebrand allows him the ability to chant prayers as well, and Khorne’s Prayer Scriptures are good enough that you’ll want to pack as many priests as possible. He’s also taken Argath, which will cut ward from nearby units, allowing those aura mortals to go through more easily.

He’s followed up by Skarbrand. Skarbrand’s role in the army didn’t change from the last tome. He’s still a massive beatstick character that suffers from some durability issues. Luckily he’s one of the few bracketing units in the game that gets better as he takes damage, so if your opponent happens to leave him standing with only 1 or 2 wounds they are in huge trouble. His damage output became more reliable in this tome, but he lost the ability to increase the number of attacks for Carnage, so you’re banking on that single die. At his bottom bracket that’s a guaranteed 8 mortal wounds, with a potential 16 mortal wound spike, so that one attack can still be very effective if aimed correctly.

I’ll lump the Realmgore Ritualist and Bloodsecrator in the same bucket, as they both have the same goal: time their once-per-game ability well, then die. The blood tithe points gained from their deaths will be 1 shy of summoning an extra GC to the field, and since their attack increases are once per game, it means they can be effective in death. If you don’t have the opportunity to have them killed, you still have two priests running around the field, both of which are GCs, so scoring some late-game battle tactics should be well within your reach.

The Bloodmaster and Herald are both Daemon priests (5 priests in this list!), and serve different purposes. The Herald can move quickly around the battlefield, and carries a healing prayer that can bring back a few of those bloodthirsters as they die, while the bloodmaster buffs them by giving them +1 to wound against an enemy unit. Tie the bloodletters unit near enough to the Bloodthirster to get a 3D6 charge and they’ll fling themselves across the field lightning-fast while setting off the Bloodlords army trait. Give them All-out Attack and you now have a 30-strong unit fighting in two ranks (thanks to their shiny new 2″ weapon range), hitting on 2s, wounding on 2s, with mortal wounds happening on hit rolls of 5+! A large enough squad can reasonably survive most enemy’s Unleash Hell, so you’ve got a very powerful mobile unit that can dish out a ton of damage.

Past there you have three units of Reavers. They are decently cheap battleline, and work well for screens and blood tithe points. Shaun has also taken a Magnificent Command Entourage, bringing an extra artefact on the Bloodmaster, giving it permanent fight-first (note that this also gives the bloodletters fight first due to The Blood Must Flow in a roundabout way).

Congratulations, Shaun, on your first place win! I love to see Khorne come out strong, and I’m sure we will see more Khorne lists in the near future.

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Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Heartwood
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Warsong Revenant (300)*
– General
– Command Trait: Spellsinger
– Lore of the Deepwood: The Dwellers Below
Treelord Ancient (330)*
– Artefact: The Vesperal Gem
– Lore of the Deepwood: Treesong
Arch-Revenant (120)*
– Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox

UNITS
6 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes (500)*
3 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (230)*
3 x Revenant Seekers (240)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
10 x Shadow Warriors (120)*
– Allies

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Spiteswarm Hive (40)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 1990/2000

Not the first, nor likely the last time I’ll find myself writing about Lee Wilmot’s Sylvaneth play, I feel it’s worth commenting on a thread of consistency between his Sylvaneth lists that is often glossed over in favour of unit to unit analysis: The kind of list Lee runs, and the reason he is so successful with Sylvaneth vs top factions such as Gitz, KotET, LRL and so forth, is that the lists he makes score well. Lee’s use of things such as the Vesperal Gem on the TLA (automatically cast once per round), tech choices like the Dweller’s below (Sylvaneth’s generic anti-horde spell) and frankly, the inclusion of a TLA at all (to create a tree 3″ away where-ever he wants, once per game) combine to form a picture of consistency. If piloted well, this kind of list will consistently flip objectives each turn and score Battle tactics, building to a trading advantage that allows Take What’s Theirs (the GS) to be scored at the end of the game.

I do have some questions about how this style of list handles some of the new fast – or spell dominant – books like Seraphon, Slaanesh and KO (always KO) so if you see this Lee, please reach out! That said, this list style allows a base formula to be applied each game, with little room to interact for the opponent (unironically a massive positive for tournament play, and the pillar of LRL’s general success) and provides great scope for adjustment on the fly based on battlefield conditions, Revenant Seekers provide mobility and improve consistency by resurrecting Kurnoths that are killed off by Fight On Death or long range chip damage effects while the combination of the pet Shadow Warriors unit and the Tree Revenants allow for objective sitting once the combination of spell damage, ranged damage and Strike and Fading Kurnoth Hunters clear the way. It’s an extremely well structured way to approach list building for the GT environment where a broad range of matchups will be played and a great show of Lee’s system mastery.

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Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz
– Gittish Horde: King’s Gitz
– Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADERS
Skragrott, The Loonking (210)***
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
Dankhold Troggboss (200)**
– General
– Command Trait: Loonskin
– Artefact: Glowy Howzit
Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (100)*
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)***
– Artefact: Staff of Sneaky Stealin’
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
Webspinner Shaman (65)***
– Lore of the Spiderfang: Curse of da Spider God

UNITS
40 x Moonclan Shootas (250)**
3 x Fellwater Troggoths (160)**
3 x Rockgut Troggoths (160)**
6 x Rockgut Troggoths (320)***
24 x Squig Herd (260)*
5 x Gobbapalooza (160)**
– Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Loonskin Scuttletide (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Galletian Command
**Battle Regiment
***Warlord

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Artefact

TOTAL: 1975/2000

Gitz are back baby… although its perhaps more accurate to say that they have arrived for the first time. Sam has brought a ‘soup’ list to 4-1 here and snagged 3rd place. (A soup list in Gitz is one with a few keywords, so in this case Troggs, Squigs, Spiders and Gitz (in the form of the Gobbapalooza))

It’s great to see the Gobbapalooza popping up in lists now that it’s been made into a single warscroll which makes it much easier to understand and – more importantly – stop ‘gotcha’ moments because an opponents forgot which of the 5 scrolls the little green guy was in the last book!

The Webspinner is a fun addition in this list to also represent the Spiderfang, and he’s brought along a free scuttletide (well the Dankhold has!) This makes these three models very good value and we’ll definitely see it in a few more lists before the book has run it’s course.

The main backbone is the Troggs though – hitting like a freight train you’ll need to hit first and hit hard – and then kill them again when they come back from the Loonshrine. It’s a lot of muscle with a small number of attacks but good damage on the Rockguts.

Games Workshop via Wahapedia

They have the ‘elite infantry’ profile of 3+/3+ which routinely means 2+/3+ and have rend 2, damage 3. Sure you don’t get many attacks, but it makes your opponent sweat when they have to take those saving throws. Even Annihilators have cause for (some) concern.

It’s great to see the Gitz getting near the top now and to have so many players dust off their collections after 3 years in the attics. Hopefully I’ll get a game or two in with them soon… getting serious FOMO watching all my fellow Gitz get in the reps!

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Final Tournament Placings