Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Chaos, Fantasy, Fyreslayers, Games Workshop, Order, Skaventide, Stormcast Eternals, Sylvaneth, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for the Norsehammer Open

March 11, 2023 Top 3 Lists Leave a comment

This is the top three AoS lists for the Norseshammer Open that took place in Norway on the 4th and 5th of March. It involved 36 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: Skaven
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:

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 Bombardier (110)*
– Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power!
Clawlord (110)*
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage

Battleline
20 x Clanrats (100)**
– Rusty Blade
– 1x Standard Bearers
– 1x Standard Bell Ringers
20 x Clanrats (100)**
– Rusty Blade
– 1x Standard Bearers
– 1x Standard Bell Ringers
6 x Stormfiends (640)**
– 2x Windlaunchers
– 2x Ratling Cannons
– 2x Doomflayer Gauntlets
– Reinforced x 1

Units
1 x Warp-Grinder (60)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Lauchon the Soulseeker (50)

Terrain
3 x Gnawholes

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 116
Drops: 5

Peter: Luckily, one of our Discord members had seen that Ben had discussed his list on the AoS Coach Discord channel. We reached out and asked if we could use the comments on Woehammer. Ben kindly agreed.

Benjamin Flodda: This was my list this weekend testing the rats for upcoming teams tournaments mostly. Nice bonus to go through the weekend undefeated! I think the list is pretty strong and has play into most things, although it’s pretty fragile and it doesn’t take too much poor positioning for things to start to fall apart. But played carefully, I think it has legs.

So, the warpgrinder is basically to give yourself some deployment flexibility. It gives one-drop opponents something to worry about in their deployment if they plan to give away first, and it requires them to always zone out the rattling cannons. Once the fiends are on the table, they are way too easy to play around imo. So they mostly go in deep strike regardless, although deepstriking clanrats is definitely valid in some cases. And if you place the grinder close to a gnawhole it’s amazing how many points it can score you late-game.

The most fun thing in the list is definitely the clawlord combined with arcane tome and launchon. Everybody expects the boat to be for thanquol (which it certainly can be), but early game you can sling the clawlord into the opponent with the boat (taking a mortal which gives him an extra attack) and with double death frenzy, flaming weapon and with +2 attacks from devious adversary. You can shoot down a screen and often get into fun stuff, turn 1, and with +1 to hit and wound from the warbringer, he can really do work! If you then position him within 3 of something after he fought, if he dies he can fight (this time with 13 attacks on 2+ 2+ and damage 3) or he rolls a 3+ and survives, at which point he can fight in the following hero phase AND when he dies. That little dude took down a megagargant on his own this weekend.

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

Leaders
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)**
– General
– Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker
– Artefact: Draught of Magmalt Ale
– Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient
Auric Runesmiter (120)**
– Forge Key
– Artefact: Ash-cloud Rune
– Prayer: Prayer of Ash
Auric Runemaster (130)**
– Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Auric Flamekeeper (90)***
Battlesmith (150)***
– Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
– Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
Doomseeker (80)**
Knight-Incantor (120)***
– Allies

Battleline
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (450)*
– Broadaxes
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (300)*
– Poleaxes
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (150)***

Endless Spells & Invocations
Runic Fyrewall (40)

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

Additional Enhancements
Artefact – Greyfyrd
Artefact – Greyfyrd
Artefact – Warlord**
Aspect of the Champion – Warlord ***

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 120 / 400
Wounds: 117
Drops: 10

Kevin Lathers: The current GHB is starting to hit its stride and has allowed Greyfyrd to finally shine. This subfaction was always popular, but seldom winning, and now that’s changed. It gives Galletian Champions one extra wound and also two extra artefacts. That’s hard to pass up in the current GHN and Duardin glimmerlust always shines for more treasures.

Ole’s list has some interesting inclusions, particularly a Knight-Incantor and a Doomseeker. The Doomseeker is a cheap GC that can occasionally slap something hard if it can get near its “target.” The Knight-Incantor is a utility piece: he provides an automatic unbind for those pesky Lumineth, Skaven (and indeed, he saw two), and Sylvaneth matches while also giving the army a spellcaster for mystic shield. The biggest oddity here is the “Ash-Cloud Rune” which can block spell casting from targeting units wholly within 12” of the user for a turn. A very situational item that means he was very worried about spellcasting.

But the main crux of his list is the Hearthguard Berserkers and Runefather on Magmadroth. While the Hearthguard Berserkers can hold points and shred anything charging them, the DadDroth is the ultimate in Hammer Technology and with Blood of the Berserker can remove any one threat almost guaranteed. A common setup for the Droth is to use the rend rune, enhance it with the heroic action (or finest hour if the rune enhanced or you don’t need more rend), pray for +1 to wound rolls from the Runesmiter, and send him in as a missile of death.

The Hearthguard Berserkers see the common mix of one unit of poleaxes and one of broad. The broadaxes being buffed by a flamekeeper and benefitting from runes while Poleaxes provide much needed mortal wounds into matchups like Nighthaunt. The flamekeeper can really make Broadaxes shine giving them 3 damage swings, charge in their opponent’s combat phase, or fight on death.

The rest of the list reads as the usual suspects: Runemaster for prayers and fyrewall; Runesmiter for deepstrike and/or Runic Empowerment; and a Nulsidian Battlesmith for spell blocking and wards on the non-HGB.

Overall, the list is going to be a brick on objectives with a dangerous hammer inside.

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

Leaders
Knight-Incantor (120)*
– Spell: Celestial Blades
Lord-Relictor (150)*
– General
– Command Trait: High Priest
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Spell: Thundershock
– Prayer: Translocation
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battlemage (100)*
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Allies

Battleline
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)*
– Reinforced x 1
5 x Liberators (120)*
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
5 x Vanquishers (110)*

Units
6 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (480)*
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Protectors (440)*
– 4x Starsoul Maces
– Reinforced x 1

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Call for Aid

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 100 / 400
Wounds: 102
Drops: 1

Brett; Classic, at least in this meta, Stormcast (SCE) list giving probably the best combined arms approach in the current game. Except artillery of course but a combination of hammers from Cavalry (Fulminators), Fire support (Raptors – since artillery really isn’t an AoS “thing”) and Infantry (Protectors). Fulminators going up 10 points have made a lot of people look to Desolators and Tempestors but Fulminators on the charge are still the most consistent high damage hammer around. With Celestial Blades from the Knight Incantor and all out defence they are still hitting on 2s and wounding on 2s with -2 rend and 3 damage. Slightly down with the loss of Bounty Hunters they are good enough to make your opponent either tar pit them (looking at you Gitz) or try to manoeuvre around them.

The Protectors have similar tech piece and are another target for the same buffs. They really benefit from the Battlemage (+2 to movement/charge) and Lord Relictor giving them teleport with an effective 7″ charge. And Starsoul maces, mortals on a 2+. They are a great defensive unit as well with 2+ saves. The problem is that both the Fulminators and the Protectors need to charge and are vulnerable to Unleash Hell. And that brings the Raptors out to play. Their long range shooting could remove screens or, just as easily most other ranged units. Scions of the Storm so they can be kept in reserve, Liberators and even Protectors for screens if they are on the board and really only Sentinels to outrange them.

Has to be said that the Lord Relictor is a very busy fellow, what with prayers, spells and Tunnel Master as well as being the general. That’s a weakness of this list in the Galletian Champion era, all of these heroes are needed elsewhere and none are stellar in combat. Losing only to Lumineth in the second round and coming in a very respectable 3rd Simen proves there is still some life in SCE. Can they get a 2nd book this edition already please?

Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Winterleaf
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Seasons of war: The Dwindling

Leaders
Warsong Revenant (300)*
– General
– Command Trait: Spellsinger
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of the Deepwood: Verdurous Harmony
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battlemage (100)*
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Allies

Battleline
20 x Dryads (200)*
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Dryads (100)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*

Units
6 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes (500)*
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Gossamid Archers (420)*
– Reinforced x 1

Behemoths
Treelord (230)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Spiteswarm Hive (40)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 100 / 400
Wounds: 116
Drops: 1

A nice ‘sampling platter’ list here from Thomas. As ever, the core threats are a big blob of Scythe-noth and a Warsong Rev to handle the arcane side of things. Now, traditionally, Kurnoth are pretty ponderous, but with +3 to normal moves *and* charges from the Spiteswarm Hive, and an additional +3 from the Ghurish Battlemage, they now have an average threat range of 21″ – which is somewhat scarier. Of course, because of when both these spells proc, it means the Hunters also retain their charge bonuses if they choose to teleport – so really, very little of the board is safe, and if you don’t have adequate screens or a way to delete the Kurnoth (much more easily said than done given their durability), then you can expect these things to reap the rewards.

The rest of the list is basically supporting tech – a lone Treelord to fill the behemoth slot of the batreg while also offering Rampage access and the sneaky ‘enemy can’t pile in’ tech – Gossamids (reinforced no less!!) to potentially force melee armies to curl up and cry every time they want to charge something useful, or threaten a fair chance of some nasty spike damage – and plenty of dryads for board control and further screening. Never understimate how powerful -1 to hit and wound is by the way – doesn’t matter if you have a rubbish save if you don’t have to roll any dice.

Well done to Thomas for the 4-1 with a balanced list.

Final Tournament Placings

Age of Sigmar, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Meta Analysis, Peter Holland

Our Stats – The Methodology and a Comparison

March 10, 2023 Peter Holland 2 Comments

Over the last few weeks, I’ve received a number of enquiries as to why our stats differ to those of TSN or GW Metawatch. So, to try and answer those questions, I thought what better way, than to go in-depth in how we put our stats together and the data that builds those stats.

A Note About Data Analysis

Firstly, let me point out that when analysing data, there is no single correct way of doing it. While methods may differ slightly between analysts, it does not mean one set of data is any less valuable than another. Completely the opposite, in fact. Having another method/analyst that then corroborates your own data is only ever a good thing. Having only one set of data or analysis opens that data set up to even more questions about its validity.

With that’s out the way, let’s jump in.

What’s Included in the Data?

The data we’re looking at is for all ‘singles’ tournaments under the new GHB. Teams tournaments, doubles, and single day events are not included in either our own data or that of TSN. Simple because we both look at the cutting edge, competitive side of Age of Sigmar. If you include one dayers (often referred to as RTT’s), then you may skew your data. This is due to RTT’s being treated by many players as more of a casual tournament or a way to test a list to see if it requires tweaking for a bigger GT event.

GW’s Data Set

GW Metawatch use all the data they are able to scrape from tournament websites such as Best Coast Pairing (BCP), Punpun.nl, and others. They have stated that they include 35,000 individual games recorded in their database and that 200 events are added each month.

An Excerpt from the Warhammer Community Metawatch article published on 29th September 2022

The number of events added can only mean that the data they are gathering includes RTT’s and also any other events such as Teams, doubles, and even single matches.

As I said before, there’s no incorrect method. Games Workshop is trying to balance a game system. This balancing should be for everyone and not the minority that attends Grand Tournaments. Therefore, it makes sense for GW to gather as much data as possible.

However, what this does mean is that our data and that of TSN are not really comparable to GW. So, let’s focus on ourselves and TSN.

The TSN Data Set

The latest stats from Ziggy and his team state they have included the following 19 tournaments in February:

And the folllowing in January:

Bear in mind that not all of these events in January are under the new GHB. In fact, on the next slide of the TSN stats, we can see they include 23 tournaments as of the date we are looking at as a cut-off:

Where Ziggy and the team at TSN really shine is giving a totally indepth analysis of matches and battleplans used. Looking at each factions performance against any of the other factions, as well as calculating who would have priority in the first battle round based on the drop counts of the lists. We simply can’t do that due to time constraints, so this is a fantastic source of information if you want a truly deep dive into a factions performance against other factions and on each battle plan.

The Woehammer Data Set

Up until the cut-off supplied about (3rd March), we have gathered information on 26 tournaments. These are:

GT Wargame Garrison Madrid
AoS Ironman
Østjysk Mesterskab I terningehøjdekast
Rise of the Champions
Quest of Champions – Heat 1
Bloodshed in the Shires – 2023
CaptainCon 2023
Columbus Brewhammer ’23
DaBoyz Golden Sprue GT 2023
War of the Ospreys
Realm of Geddon 2023
Gods of War 3
Great South Waaagh 2023
War of the Spider God
Midwest Bash 2 AoS GT
AoS Alliance Open Masters GT
Battle at the Brook
Sydney Salt Smash
Sheffield Slaughter
Colonial Carnage
The Lone Star Grand Tournament
Battle of Copenhagen
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Matched Play Event
Cherokee Open
Small Town Throwdown: Smoke on the Water
AOSFF Solo 2022-2023 – Finale

As such, our dataset is slightly larger than that of TSN. As such, this alone will cause a slight discrepancy in the stats between the two sites. The tournaments that aren’t included in TSN are:

Battle of Copenhagen
Sydney Salt Smash
AOSFF Solo 2022-2023 – Finale

These events involved an additional 94 player entries. However, to truly compare our data set, I will remove these from our data temporarily.

TSN Methodolody and Example

TSN methodology is to count wins as a % of the factions results. (We ourselves include 0.5 of draws/ties as well). This gives them the following win rates for the factions over those 23 tournaments:

Let’s take one faction and test the methodology. In this case, we’ll take Idoneth Deepkin, who TSN has at 53% in the table above. Across those 23 tournaments, there were a total of 25 players, playing Idoneth:

Those players totalled 123 results between them. Of those 123 results, 65 were victories, and 6 were ties. To get to TSN’s 53%, we’ll take those 65 victories and divide them by the total number of results (123).

65 / 123 = 0.5285

To get our percentage, simply multiply this value and stick a percentage sign on the end:

0.5285 x 100 = 52.85%

You’ll notice that they’ve rounded up to 53%. So perfect, our maths match!

Now let’s look at the same results, calculated using the Woehammer method:

Woehammer Methodology and Example

The way we calculate our win rates is to split draws between wins and losses. So a single draw (or Tie if you’re across the pond) would be 0.5 of a win and 0.5 of a loss.

So our win rates for the same period and the same data set are as follows:

So, going back to our Idoneth data set, we have 65 wins and 6 ties. These 6 ties will be split evenly between the wins and losses:

6 / 2 = 3

We’ll add that 3 to the 65 victories giving us a total of 68 positive results for the Idoneth.

We then use the same maths, this time taking 68 as our value and dividing it by the 123 results:

68 / 123 = 0.5528

Again, multiply this by 100 and stick a % sign on the end:

0.5528 x 100 = 55.28%

The effect of adding those draws to the faction result is a total of 2.43% added to the win rate.

Which Method is Correct?

Both. Simples. An argument can be made that draws aren’t victories. But the counterargument to that is that they’re also not losses.

Basically, I (and I’m sure Ziggy and his team would agree) would urge you to look at both data sets and draw your own conclusions as to where yu believe the faction to lie in terms of win rates.

Hopefully, this has gone some way to explaining the variations you can find between different stat providers.

If you want to know more, then please feel free to contact me either on Discord, Twitter, or email (thewoehammer@gmail.com), and I’ll be more than happy to discuss statistical analysis all day long.

My future task is to include a statistical discrepancy within our stats. Which, when I do, I will show how this is calculated.

But why not have a play with the data yourself? The file is below. If you have Excel, open it up and have a play. Maybe you’ll create yet another methodology to use!

GHB Season 2 Data up to 3rd March 2023 Download

Either, way I hop you’ve enjoyed this war and peace analysis of datasets! Peace Out!

Age of Sigmar, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Sci-Fi, Warhammer 40k

A Tale of Wargamers – Part 6

March 9, 2023 Tale of Wargamers 2 Comments

If you’re not UK based then use the below as a guide for your monthly budget:

Euro – €35
US Dollar – $35
Australian Dollar – $75

The above has been calculated using a box of Cadian Infantry as the marker:

Costs at time of writing (27th October 2022)

Quick Jump Menu

Declan (UK) – Astra Militarum (40K)
Peter (UK) – Warhammer Fantasy (Dwarfs)
Brett (AUS) – Traitor Guard (40K)
Dave (UK) – Age of Sigmar (Ogor Mawtribes)

Declan

BUDGET – United Kingdom – £25 for February

Item	Cost	Remaining
Carried Forward	+29.54	£29.54
Feb Budget	+25.00	£54.54
2 x Cadian Upgrade Sprues	-17.85 ea	£18.84

A hobby supply month

I have waited a long time for the Upgrade Sprues to be available separately, so it’s off to my FLGS to pick up 2 of them. I hope these will breath life into my troops and actually get them on the painting table ahead of my ~~prevarication units~~ Warmaster Dire Wolves – more on them in a Hobby Update coming soon!

I’m struggling with new arrival to paint anything more complicated than a wolf, or a Hobgrot though so there may be more delays ahead.

Peter

BUDGET – United Kingdom – £25 for February

I said I had a surprise last month, so here it is. With no spending last month, it means I’m able to afford the Greywater Fastness Start Collecting box!

The Thane is also the old Dwarf special Character Belegar Ironhammer. So this could feasibly be a Karak eight peaks force.

So all in all, our 8th Edition Fantasy army now looks like:

HEROES
Belegar Ironhammer (305)
Runesmith (60)

CORE
20x Dwarf Warriors (190)
– Full Command
10x Thunderers (150)
– Full Command

SPECIAL
1x Gyrocopter (80)
10x Ironbreakers (170)
– Full Command

Total Points: 955/1,000

With upgrades, etc, this should round out to a nice 1,000-point army. Now I’ve got my first cohort collected I need to get building and painting!

Item	Cost	Remaining
Carried Forward	+27.20	£27.20
Feb Budget	+25.00	£52.20
Greywater Fastness: Start Collecting!	-52.00	£0.20

Brett

BUDGET – Australia – $75 for February

After last’s months slowdown I’ve chosen to come roaring back in February completing both the Heavy Weapons Team and building the first of 2 vehicle, a Chimera, so now our squads have some more mobility. In the end the Heavy Weapons Squad was easy, just carrying forward the paint scheme established on the Infantry Squads. Grey with some black on boots and helmets. I’ve tried to give the mortar a Parkerised type finish, the result is a little more green than I wanted but the variety is important. I used Vallejo 70.924 Russian Uniform WW2 in the model colour range. I’ve also picked up some Zandri Dust, a very useful beige which I frequently mix with greens and sometimes reds for different effects (a lot of even lightish browns have a red pigment in them, Zandri doesn’t and tones down the warmth).

I mentioned before Christmas that I would explain my colour scheme, such as it is. I was inspired by Midwinter Mini’s Blackstone fortress series and the Traitor Guard he paints in it. They make use of their prime coat (a Halfords Grey I think) as the basic uniform. I thought that was a great idea. It fits really well with my concept of the army. After millennia of supplying regiments to the aspirations of the empire another call to arms has arrived, this time several broken regiments are combined and new recruits added. There are questions, some unspoken, there are gods but they are made to fight against them. They can rise to glory and bask in the benevolence of these gods but they must cast of the shackles of the Ecclesiarchy. And so it began, Imperial symbols torn off, equipment left undyed and still issued.

That gives us grey uniforms, with black helmets and boots (minimum of paint required to blacken the helmets). Equipment is left in natural metal or blackened (anodised). The lasguns are fiberglass (I’ve used a dark grey) with metal collimators (maybe the batteries should be metal as well). Heavy equipment Parkerized and tanks painted grey. I’m trying to avoid significant gradient steps on the tanks which would be aiming points. In general there should be no bright points either. It turns out is a little bit of a struggle and we’ve had to get a few extra paints this month. After priming I’ve gone back over the hull stippling with a blended grey.

I then used Agrax Earthshade on the sides and underbelly (stippled) and Basilicum Grey Contrast on the tracks and upper sides before picking details with Leadbelcher and some Frostheart on the glass blocks. Basilicum Grey cut 50/50 with water has become my go to in place of Nuln Oil in a lot of cases. For someone with over 5000 pts of Necron I never thought I’d move on from Nuln Oil. I’ll add I’m not happy with the bases on the mortar teams and will have to think about basing.

I’m aware that there is a similarity with WW1 and early WW2 German uniforms, it’s not deliberate but it’s there. Early in WW2 Germany had amassed a military from mostly civilian factories to hide their preparation. Making a lot of camoflage paint would have been a bit obvious. And it was early days for camoflage. My army is doing the same, moving from Imperial stocks to local manufacture without the Imperium. Their units mostly fought in space and there’s not a lot of greenery in a ship.. I hope that gives some context to the scheme, next month onto the Command Squad and then. Before that I’ll leave you with an image of my small traitor Guard regiment.

Item	Cost	Remaining
Carried Forward	+105.01	$105.01
February Budget	+75.00	$180.01
Chimera	-52.14	$127.86
Frostheart	-9.09	$118.77
Basilicum Grey	-9.09	$109.68
Zandri Dust	-5.06	$104.62
Vallejo Russian Uniform	-5.69	$98.93
Agrax Earthshade	-9.09	$89.84
Astra Militarum Codex	-66.36	$23.48

Dave

BUDGET – United Kingdom – £25 for February

I’m afraid the project has been on hiatus this month. While I still love Ogors, my AoS hype well has run very dry indeed and I’ve been working on other projects. Mainly these have been Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elves and making a start on some terrain for Warmaster. So, no painting or purchases this week but I may come back to this next time. Cheers!

Item	Cost	Remaining
Sep & Oct Budget	+£50.00	£50.00
Paints & Tools	-£31.61	£18.39
Ogor Gluttons	-£9.00	£9.39

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

Top Three AoS Lists for Realmgate Rampage II

March 9, 2023 Top 3 Lists 1 Comment

This is the top three AoS lists for Realmgate Rampage II that took place in the USA on the 4th and 5th of March. It involved 37 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.

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: Slaves to Darkness
– Subfaction: Cabalists
– Grand Strategy: Follow the Path to Glory
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– General
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Daemonic Speed
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
– Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Daemonic Speed

BATTLELINE
Chaos Knights (460)*
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
– Doom Knight
– 2 x Standard Bearer
– 2 x Hornblower
– Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon
The Unmade (80)*
Corvus Cabal (80)*

OTHER
Chaos Chosen (480)*
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Exalted Champion
– 2 x Icon Bearer
– 2 x Skull Drummer
Varanguard (580)*
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– 6 x Fellspear

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Soulscream Bridge (80)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

Peter: I reached out to Anthony to see if he would be able to give us some info on how this list works. The legend kindly responded:

Anthony: So I mostly just lifted the list from Big Phil Marshall, with a few tweaks to marks. The army has 3 key pieces, with a bit of utility to support them. First, the block of 10 Nurgle-marked Knights with the Eroding Icon is incredibly tough to shift, while also able to do a fair bit of damage on the charge. Next are two hammer units: 10 Khorne Chosen, and 6 Khorne Varanguard with spears. I chose to go with Khorne on both units because, for the most part, these units perform threat removal duty, and I want those threats gone immediately. Plus, it means you get even more value if you use the ability to activate a second time in the combat phase on the turn that they charged. All three units are 30 wounds on a 3+ save, but have drastically different roles, and you can further enhance with the 2 Sorcerer Lords. There are quite a few spells that you want to get off, hence the choice of adding Arcane Tome, Master of Magic, and being in Cabalists. Lastly, Corvus Cabal is a nice piece to be able to save and snag an objective after the battlelines shift, the Unmade help ensure that the units you want to charge cannot redeploy away and make the charge harder, and the bridge increases your threat range immensely.

Being one drop means you decide first turn in most cases. A typical game sees you giving away the turn, although you do have the speed to rush across the board to hit your opponent before they can set up any of their buffs if they misdeploy in an egregious way. The other advantage of going second is that it allows your Sorcerer Lord to use both the heroic action for 3d6 cast and 3d6 for rolling on the Eye of the Gods table. You want to be rolling for that early and often. Getting an 11-12 on 3d6, rerolling one die isn’t too unlikely, but it’s still something that relies on rolling, and all it takes is your sorcerer lords getting killed off to remove your ability to achieve your Grand Strategy. I typically use the Knights to block areas of the board off from my opponent and initiate trades. It will cost most armies more value to remove this unit than the 460 points that the knights cost, and the Chosen and Varanguard hit hard enough that most things will struggle to survive contact with them. You’re looking to value trade more efficiently than your opponent, which is what the Slaves to Darkness do incredibly well.

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

Leaders
Karazai, The Scarred (550)*
Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (330)*
Lord-Imperatant (170)*
– General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Spell: Celestial Blades
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

Battleline
3 x Annihilators (180)*
3 x Annihilators (180)*
3 x Annihilators (180)*

Units
3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)*
3 x Praetors (140)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley

Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 75
Drops: 1

Peter: We reached out to Joseph, who kindly offered a quick synopsis on how his list works.

Joseph: Use the longstrikes the aoe mortals and the charge mortals from the annilators to punch large holes in their army’s screens and key buff pieces. Then go for the kill with the prime and Karazai.

Brett: Joseph undersells his list a bit, there is a bit of tech in how he has set up the list to do exactly what he says it will. There is a Lord Imperatant to make sure those Annihilators only have a 7″ charge. Best case that’s 3 turns of skyfalling. The list is Knights Excelsior to give a Paladin unit +1 to hit and wound on top of being battline. The Annihilators don’t have Grandhammers so cheaper (by 60pts) and more durable. Rerollable 7″ charge that does D3 mortals on arrival, more mortals on the charge (on a 4+) and then hits on 2+, wounds on 2+, saves on 2+. Even if they don’t wipe a screen some will probably survive the counter attack. It also makes dropping 2 units in a turn more palatable, even if the second fails it’s 9″ charge it may survive to try again.

The Longstrikes have Thunderbolt Volley (and aren’t reinforced) to give a turn of double shooting. Praetors to bodyguard Karazi in the early game (he out paces them) wraps up the troops. After that the Lord Imperatant has Tunnel Master for a sneaky teleport and celestial blades just in case something needs help with wounding (melee weapons only). And lastly the Celestant Prime for another hammer mid to late game (when Karazai is normally running out of steam).

Not without it’s risks, in the end there are only 75 wounds in the list and it needs to dictate the engagement. Karazai is more rarely chosen because he is vulnerable to mortal wounds generally. Being a one drop army helps, Joseph will dictate the first round activation in most games. Competing well against combat armies, Joseph faced down a Tzeetch army which is a tall order for an army with almost no denies.

Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Army Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Skarbrand (390)
1 x Archaon (860)*
1 x Bloodsecrator (130)*
– General
– Command Traits: Mage Eater
– Artefacts: Skullshard Mantle
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
1 x Slaughterpriest (100)*
– Bloodbathed Axe
– Prayers: Blood Sacrifice

BATTLELINE
10 x Blood Warriors (160)*
– Icon Bearer
– Chaos Champion
– Goreglaive
– Goreaxe and Gorefist
10 x Bloodreavers (80)*
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Chieftain
– Reaver Blades
10 x Bloodreavers (80)*
– Chieftain
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Meatripper Axe
10 x Bloodreavers (80)*
– Chieftain
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Meatripper Axe

TERRAIN
1 x Skull Altar (0)

OTHER
1 x Cockatrice (105)*

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1985/2000)

A lot of armies in Age of Sigmar can be broken down into units of hammers and anvils. This is a useful distinction, since it gives a quick idea of what role a unit needs to play, why you would include them in your list, and what to expect from your opponent’s force. Blades of Khorne do not work this way.

Blades can be better broken into three categories: independent operators, tech pieces, and drones. In Samuel’s case, he has brought a balance of the three, with a skew towards independent operators.

In this list, the idependents are Archaeon and Skarbrand. Both are meant to be beatstick intimidation pieces with minor buffs to other units. Archaeon is the only wizard in Samuel’s list, and he will see some benefit from Mystic Shield, but the known spell are limited since Khorne does not have a spell lore (for obvious reasons). Skarbrand is an excellent intimidating force, and only opponents that have never faced him before will risk damaging him without being positive that he will die. At his lowest bracket (his best) he can guarantee 8 mortal wounds with his axe, Carnage. While he can’t score VP from killing a Galletian Champion, he can certainly deny his opponent a few battle tactics through the use of the rare rule: “you can just pick that one up.”

The Bloodsecrator, Slaughterpriest, and Cockatrice are Samuel’s tech pieces. The first provides two useful auras (forcing Wizards to re-roll successful casting attempts and providing Blades of Khorne units +1 attack). The second gives access to prayers (Blood Sacrifice in this case, allowing early blood tithe gains) and invocations (which Samuel has elected to leave at home). The Cockatrice brings a particularly interesting ability that is one of the few in this list that will benefit Archaeon. If the Cockatrice manages to ping some mortal wounds on an opponent, that unit can only hit on 6s in that combat phase. This can be used to either protect Archaeon and Skarbrand from the beatings Samuel’s opponents are surely going to throw at them, or can be used to add some additional protection for his drones.

A note for the above units: Skarbrand, the Bloodsecrator, and the Slaughterpriest can all be used at summoning points for daemon units. Khorne is in a great spot right now, partially because the summoning mechanic allows them to pull a GC out of thin air onto an objective for the measly cost of 2 blood tithe points. This allows for some seriously flexible scoring, ecen into the late game, assuming you have a hero or skull alter and some blood tithe points burning a hole in your pocket.

Back on the subject of drones, Samuel has chosen to take the mortal flavor of drone: 10 blood warriors and 30 blood reavers. The blood warriors’ 2 wounds and 4+ somehow make them one of the most durable units in the book (about equal with Mighty Skullcrushers), which is saying something. The blood reavers are fast and will die as soon as they connect with something, providing some early blood tithe points.

All around a deceptively technical list, and one that was piloted to a great 4-1.

Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts
– Grand Court: Blisterskin
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:

LEADERS
Abhorrant Archregent (240)*
– Artefact: The Dermal Robe
– Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)*
– General
– Command Trait: Hellish Orator
– Artefact: Eye of Hysh
– Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite
– Lore of Madness: Spectral Host
Crypt Infernal Courtier (130)*

UNITS
9 x Crypt Flayers (540)**
10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)**
10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)*

BEHEMOTHS
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)
– Allies

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Galletian Veterans

TOTAL: 2000/2000
WOUNDS: 83
DROPS: 7

Declan: Well I’m the first to admit that I’m not an expert in Flesh Eater Courts, but I have fought them a few times and this one has a Incarnate of Ghur – so there’s that. Frederic has gone for the 4-1 that’s difficult to pull off known as the submarine (LWWWW); and it’s a great result with a difficult army to use. This one is all about close assault, the Krondspine, Terrorgheist and Crypt Flayers.

Despite the increase in cost (480 points from 400 points in the latest balance update), the Krondspine is still good, and as he doesn’t die until the end of the turn so when it’s in combat you can guarantee it will dish out damage.

This allows teleporting Ghouls and gives the Terrorghiest a useful -1 to be hit with the Eye of Hysh, not to mention his warscroll ability to summon more Crypt Flayers. The Archregent can do the same, but also comes with a great utility spell:

It’s easy to cast and – crucially – lasts to the next hero phase. This means Frederic can make one awesome unit a turn with additional D3 attacks in combat. Sure, he may roll a 1, but you’ll never forget it if you’re on the other end of a 3 on a Terrorgheist or Crypt Flayers.

The army certainly has potential, but Frederic must have commanded it well to get a 4-1; they’re still not common with FEC.

Final Tournament Placings

Age of Sigmar, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Meta Analysis, Peter Holland, Tournaments

AoS Meta Stats W/Ending 5th March 2023

March 8, 2023 Peter Holland Leave a comment

How Win Rates are Calculated

There have been inquiries regarding the calculation of our win rates. The key difference between us and Honest Wargamer is that we take into account draws, whereas Honest Wargamer/TSN only considers wins.
Our calculation method involves counting draws as a 0.5 win and 0.5 loss. This can lead to slight differences in our rates compared to those of HWG/TSN. For instance:

A player with 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses would have a 40% win rate using the HWG/TSN method (2 divided by 5 = 40%). In our method, we would count 2 wins and half a win from the draw, which equals 2.5 wins. Divided by 5, the player would have a 50% win rate.

The Honest Wargamer/TSN also have access to many more tournament results than ourselves via their large fan base. This does mean that we may not have the same amount of tournament data as HWG/TSN. However, we will try and source the information if we’re aware a tournament exists.

We believe that having multiple perspectives on win rates is beneficial, and both methods have their own merits. If you want to view the great work by Ziggy and Rob’s team, visit the Honest Wargamer website.

Event Submission

If you have organised an event that doesn’t appear in our database and has the following minimum requirements to be included:

Two Day Event
Singles Event
Minimum of 8 players

Then why not complete the form attached and send the results to thewoehammer@gmail.com? We’ll include them the next time we produce the stats.

Event Submission Template Download

Faction Win Rates

We’ve now had 22 factions reach our marker of 20 players at GT’s so far, all others will be added over the coming weeks as they cross this threshold.

Win Rates

We’ve two new entries this week with the new Beasts of Chaos reaching the 20+ player marker to be included in the above graph. Entering at 54.03% shows that perhaps the book is not as awful as has been led to believe by many of the previous Beasts players.

Joining Beasts of Chaos is Blades of Blades (Blades), sorry I mean Blade of Khorne. They enter at 46.91% having performed really well at the cutting edge of the tables with two 4-1’s and a single 5-0 in the last two weeks alone.

Interestingly, the additional weeks results has seen both Skaven and Kruleboyz finally climb out of the sub 45% zone. Whether this will maintain in the future weeks will be interesting to see.

Remember that more often than not, factions with a smaller sample size will have a dedicated player base who very knowledgeable about their faction book and capabilities. Likewise, factions with a large sample size will have players of all skill level representing them, such as Stormcast or Slaves to Darkness. This can mean that their win rate is being pulled down a little more than in other factions.

Subfaction Win Rates

A new table this week for you. We’ve made the decision to show all subfactions that have reached our 20+ player threshold and where they stand in terms of win rates. While a faction win rate can tell you so much, the subfactions win rates can only add to this picture. Telling us the most popular subfactions as well as they’re win rates. This can also show that while an individual subfaction may be incredibly strong, some of the subfactions within that book may be vastly underpowered.

A good example of this is shown in the table above with two Slaves to Darkness subfactions. Host of the Everchosen is sitting pretty dismally with a win rate of 42.78% from 53 players. While at the upper end of the table Cabalists (represented by 28 players), has achieved a win rate of 52.96%.

Player Results by Wins

This graph has at least two purposes. Firstly it shows the faction popularity by the number of players and secondly it breaks down those players results in terms of the number of wins they achieve.

Here, we’ve included all the factions that have been played to date, as there is no benefit in removing those with a small sample size.

For once Stormcast have been knocked off their perch as the most popular faction, with Slaves to Darkness now taking the top spot.

Players Achieving 5-0 Wins and Tournaments in Winning Positions

This graph has two purposes. Firstly, it shows the number of players that have been on the brink of reaching the elusive 5-0 (essentially four wins in the first four games of a GT). This figure is shown by the grey columns. As you can see there have been some factions that have so nearly claimed that 5-0 only to fall short at the final game.

There are factions capable of achieving four wins from four, but are unable to convert that last game to a win. This can occur when a faction simply comes up against another which has too many tools in its toolbox to deal with them.

What this can tell you is, to perform well you would need to create an army that can cope with those factions that are regularly reaching four wins from four, Lumineth, Gitz, Fyreslayers and Sylvaneth. As you’ll often be facing these in the later rounds. But you would also account for faction popularity in the earlier rounds, so you may find in the first two or three rounds you’ll be facing of against factions like Stormcast or Slaves to Darkness.

Win Chance

This graph can tell you which factions are more capable of achieving 5-0 results. But bear in mind those factions with smaller sample sizes such as Big Waaagh or Cities of Sigmar will have a dedicated player base who know their time very well. It does show that Fyreslayers, while being relatively popular, also have a fair number of their players achieve 5-0.

When including players achieve 4 wins, as well as those who achieve 5-0. Almost a third of all Lumineth players are achieving 4 wins or more at GT’s. That’s a huge amount taking into account their sample size of 74 players.

Meanwhile Gitz and Flesh-eater Courts, see a quarter of their player base reaching four wins or more.

Interestingly, Flesh-eater Courts have a quarter of their players achieving 4 wins or more, but looking back at our TiWP and 5-0 graph earlier in the article. Not many of them are achieving this in the first four games of a GT, meaning they’ll often lose a game in the first few rounds and then have a strong run of wins.

And finally the chance of going 3+ wins (including 5-0 and 4+). Showing the percentage of players achieving a positive result at a GT. Again, bear in mind the small sample size for some of these factions.

Having said that over 60% of Lumineth players are achieving a positive result at GT’s, as are Gitz and Disciples of Tzeentch. Sons of Behemat and Big Waaagh! are also racking up over 60% of their players achieving a positive result, but their sample sizes are much smaller and suggest dedicated player bases.

Conclusions

If you’re planning your list for a GT look at the data as whole. Think about which armies are popular, as you’ll likely face at least one or two of these armies at some point during an event, especially in the earlier rounds.

Look at those factions that are regularly in a tournament winning position and winning GT’s, as these are likely to be your opponents in the later rounds. I believe you should look at building a list that is able to cope with playing the following factions at some point in a GT if you’re looking to compete;

Slaves to Darkness
Stormcast Eternals
Sylvaneth
Ogor Mawtribes
Gloomspite Gitz
Lumineth Realm-Lords

But also, if you’re playing a local GT with your club then bear in mind that meta may be completely different to those given in the stats above. All of what is presented here, should be taken with a pinch of salt, but hopefully it gives you some guidance when it comes to list construction, or even army choice if you’re looking to play Age of Sigmar.

Our Database

This is our most copy of our database.

Woehammer GT Database 5th March 2023 Download

Black Library, Book Reviews, Declan Waters, Games Workshop

Book Review – The End and the Death (Vol 1)

March 7, 2023 Declan and Eeyore 1 Comment

Book 8, volume 1, of Siege of Terra by Dan Abnett

Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.

But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it. Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)

Dan Abnett returns for the Epic conclusion to the Horus Heresy and the Siege of Terra… well sort of, this is volume 1 of that epic ending…!

From the book:

The arch-traitor Horus Lupercal’s forces have bombarded Terra and the Imperial Palace lies in ruins. With the Emperor’s dream in tatters, he seeks only to rob Chaos of its ultimate victory…
It’s the beginning of the ultimate conclusion to the Horus Heresy, and hope still remains for the Loyalists! The Emperor plans a gambit that could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat – but at what cost?

There is no way out. The walls have fallen, the gates are breached, and the defenders are slain. It is the end and the death. After seven brutal years of civil war, the Warmaster stands on the verge of victory. Horus Lupercal, once beloved son, has come to murder his father. The Emperor, a shining beacon of hope to many, an unscrupulous tyrant to others, must die. The lives of uncountable numbers have been extinguished and even primarchs, once thought immortal, have been laid low. The Emperor’s dream lies in tatters, but there remains a sliver of hope. Now, at the final hour of the final day, the Emperor rises. With him come his Angel, his Praetorian, and his Captain, all determined to enact terrible vengeance. Yet the hope is slim, for the Warmaster sees all and knows all, and the ultimate victory of Chaos is at hand.

Review

The book starts much as the rest of the Siege with vignettes from the fighting on Terra which is a great way to demonstrate the global nature of the conflict. Abnett interspersed these stories with discussions from Horus on his father and brothers a Malcador talking about the Emperor. Both include great further snippets from the past and how the Emperor got to where he finds himself. Sure, it doesn’t all make sense especially when they discuss pre 21st century history, but its fun watching Malcador and Horus separately talk of the weaving of the fates!

As the battle on the surface continues Ol and John Gramiticus work their own plans with the mysterious help of Alpharius and the Sons of Horus eventually call on their father to lead them in the final battle… but he’s not the man he was… he has fallen! Meanwhile the White Scars have control of the ground batteries and are targeting the fleet and a force from the 1st Legion – The Dark Angels – have taken over the Astronomican – but with the edict of Nikaea in place can they do anything to bring it back?

The Primarchs are starting to prepare for the final battle as well. Sanguinius and Dorn approach the Emperor whilst the Khan is at death’s door and Vulkan makes his way back through the webway after dealing with Magnus.

It’s fair to say there is a lot going on, and this wouldn’t be the book you would start with, but it’s got some great things to recommend it. I really like the way that Malcador is in the first person – and Horus Lupercal in the second… with all other stories being in the third person. It takes a bit of time to get used to, but its a great way of telling the reader which protagonist is currently centre stage.

As mentioned above the vignettes or ‘fragments’ also aid the reader in understanding the scale of the war with some fragments being returned to and others ending in death or defeat. Many of them are outside the eternity gate where Sanguinius has locked out loyalist and traitor alike and there are individual battles and heroism and evil!

The End and the Death also continues the Horus Heresy series in not have too much action from the point of view of the Primarchs or the Emperor. It is not possible to have nothing from them, but the reader is firmly given the impression that the Siege of Terra is being won (and lost) by the unnumbered masses; and not by the Primarchs. It’s a great way to make the book easier to ‘get into’ and emphasise with the protagonists.

Conclusion

It is difficult to recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t read the rest of the Siege of Terra but it is a great start to the final series in the Horus Heresy / Siege of Terra series and – whilst we don’t know how many volumes it is – I eagerly look forward to the next installment.

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

— Declan & Eeyore

Age of Sigmar, Army Lists, Beasts of chaos, Chaos, Destruction, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Ogor Mawtribes, Peter Holland, Slaves to Darkness, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three AoS Lists for G&T GT

March 7, 2023 Peter Holland Leave a comment

This is the top three AoS lists for the G&T GT that took place in the UK on the 4th and 5th of March. It involved 8 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.

As this was a small event, with less than 20 players, there will be no comments on the lists from Woehammer writers as they concentrate on the larger events.

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
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Ready for Plunder
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Bloodpelt Hunter (140)*
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Huskard on Thundertusk (330)*
– Blood Vulture
– Mount Trait: Rimefrost Hide
– Prayer: Pulverising Hailstorm
Slaughtermaster (140)*
– Lore of Gutmagic: Molten Entrails
Frostlord on Stonehorn (450)
– General
– Command Trait: Touched by the Everwinter – Heal
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon

Battleline
Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
– Weapon: Blood Vulture
Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
– Weapon: Blood Vulture
Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
– Weapon: Blood Vulture

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 86
Drops: 2

Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos
– Greatfray: Quakefray
– Grand Strategy: Protect the Herdstone
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Doombull (160)*
– General
– Command Trait: Bestial Cunning
Great Bray-Shaman (95)*
: The Knowing Eye
– Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Tendrils of Atrophy
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Great Bray-Shaman (95)*
– Artefact: Brayblast Trumpet
– Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Primal Dominance

Battleline
9 x Bullgors (585)***
– Axes & Bullshields
– Reinforced x 2
Quakefray Cygor (210)*
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Quakefray Cygor (210)*
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal

Units
10 x Ungor Raiders (115)***
10 x Ungor Raiders (115)**
10 x Ungor Raiders (115)**
10 x Ungor Raiders (115)**

Behemoths
Chaos Gargant (145)

Endless Spells & Invocations
Ravening Direflock (40)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Galletian Sharpshooters
***Galletian Veterans

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 138
Drops: 11

Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness
– Subfaction: Cabalists
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs

Leaders
Chaos Sorceror Lord (120)**
– General
– Master of Magic
– Arcane Tome
– Chaotic Conduit
– Binding Damnation
– Undivided
Chaos Sorceror Lord (120)*
– Daemonic Speed
– Chaotic Conduit
– Undivided

Battleline
Chaos Knights (460)*
– Nurgle
– Eroding Icon
Chaos Chosen (480)**
– Undivided
Corvus Cabal (80)*
– Undivided
Corvus Cabal (80)*
– Undivided

Other
Varanguard (290)*
– Khorne
– 3x Fellspear
Varanguard (290)*
– Khorne
– 3x Fellspear

Endless Spells & Invocations
Soulscream Bridge (80)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Galletian Command

Points: 2000/2000

Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Subfaction: Filthbringers
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)*
– General
– Infernal Conduit
– Lore of Malignance: Cloying Quagmire
– Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations
Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)*
– Lore of Malignance: Magnificent Buboes
– Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations
Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)*
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
– Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
Great Unclean One (480)**
– Plague Flail & Doomsday Bell
– Artefact: The Witherstave
– Lore of Virulence: Fleshy Abundance
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Sickvald (210)**
Sigvald, Prince of Slaanesh
– Allies
Spoilpox Scrivener, Herald of Nurgle (100)**
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Virulence: Fleshy Abundance
– Lore of Virulence: Favoured Poxes
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

Battleline
10 x Plaguebearers (150)**
10 x Plaguebearers (150)***
10 x Plaguebearers (150)***

Artillery
Plagueclaw (120)
– Coalition
Plagueclaw (120)
– Coalition

Endless Spells and Invocations
Soulscream Bridge (80)
Umbral Spellportal (80)

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

Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Spell

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 210 / 400
Wounds: 119
Drops: 11

Final Tournament Placings

Age of Sigmar, Blades of Khorne, Chaos, Destruction, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Idoneth Deepkin, Order, Orruk Warclans, Slaves to Darkness, Top three lists, Tournaments

Top Three Aos Lists for Small Town Throwdown: Smoke on the Water

March 6, 2023 Top 3 Lists 1 Comment

Tournament that took place in the USA on 25th and 26th February. It involved 30 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.

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

Small Town Throwdown: Smoke on the Water (US) – 30 Players

Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
– Army Type: Big Waaagh!
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Orruk Warchanter (120)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
– Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat
Orruk Warchanter (120)*
– Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat
Skragrott, the Loonking (160)*
Orruk Megaboss (140)**
Wurrgog Prophet (170)**
– Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz
– Spells: Gorkamorka’s War Cry
Wurrgog Prophet (170)**
– Artefacts of Power: Gryph-feather Charm
– Spells: Gorkamorka’s War Cry
– Aspects of the Champion: Abhorrant Ghoul King

BATTLELINE
Moonclan Stabbas (125)*
– Moonclan Boss
– Bad Moon Icon Bearer
– Gong Basher
– Stabba
– 3 Barbed Nets
Orruk Ardboys (80)**
Orruk Ardboys (240)***
– Ardboy Boss
– 3 x Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer
– 3 x Waaagh! Drummer
– 6 x Orruk-forged Shield
Orruk Brutes (450)***
– Brute Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
Orruk Brutes (150)***
– Brute Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)

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

TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000

Big Waaagh have been taking a bit of a back seat recently, with not many people playing it; but it’s great to see Gregory still repping it and grabbing the elusive 5-0 here. Big Waaagh is great, and often taken by people with Ironjawz armies who want to run a Wurgogg Prophet… and what has Gregory done? He’s taken 2! Great work here.

He’s also taken Skragrott which is interesting as he loses his access to the Gloomspite magic lore, and his Warmaster ability. However his spell (Fangs of Da Bad Moon) still has the potential to cause damage. I wouldn’t have considered it myself… but its an interesting shout.

The rest of the army is an Ironjawz core, with 15 Ardboyz and 15 Orruk Brutes as the reinforced units. They hit hard and the Brutes can cause great damage with the +1/+1 to hit/wound and extra damage from the Orruk Warchanter. Interestingly there’s no MawKrusha here, but that’s likely because of Galletian Champions – its good to see a GHB make some changes to army selection.

Allegiance: Khorne
– Slaughterhost: Reapers of Vengeance
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Charge

Leaders
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280)*
– Artefact: Armour of Scorn
Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (300)***
– General
– Command Trait: Mage Eater
– Artefact: Skullshard Mantle
Skarbrand (390)
Slaughterpriest (100)*
– Prayer: Blood Sacrifice
Skarr Bloodwrath (110)*
Slaughterpriest (100)**
– Prayer: +1 to hit
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

Battleline
5 x Flesh Hounds (100)***
5 x Flesh Hounds (100)***
5 x Flesh Hounds (100)**

Units
9 x The Unmade (80)*

Behemoths
Cygor (210)***

Endless Spells & Invocations
Wrath-Axe (70)
Skulls (50)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Vanguard
***Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Drops: 8

Peter: We’re lucky that for such a small site, we’re followed by some of the competitive players in the US and UK. As such, Gareth agree to share how his list worked for the event (though remember, this won’t apply for long with the release of the new book imminently).

Gareth: I’ve been running the same variation of this list for a few years now. I don’t play many tournaments and don’t have the brain power to change lists too much, so I just tinker around the edges. This latest iteration was a change from the list I was running last season. I removed a Khorne Daemon Prince and an Incarnate, and put in a Cygor, a second Slaughterpriest, Skarr, the Unmade, and the incantations.

The list is built primarily around the idea of giving your opponent headaches and making them doubt every move they make. Khorne has possibly more tricks than any other army right now, and this list is built to take advantage of all of them.

First let’s start with the anti-magic element, which, as with any Khorne army, is extremely strong. First off, the list has 8 unbinds; 1 from each Slaughterpriest, 1 from each unit of Flesh Hounds, 2 from the Cygor, and 1 from the Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury wearing the Skullshard Mantle. Although none of these unbinds have any bonuses to unbind the Skullshard Mantle does have the neat little rule that an unmodified roll of an 8 automatically unbinds the spell, and the caster suffers D6 MW. If you save that unbind for a wizard who has one or two wounds left, it can throw doubt into your opponent over whether they want to chance it. Rolling an 8 is only a 14% chance, but in their mind, it is much higher.

Secondly, we have the Skull Altar, which causes any miscast to do D6 MW instead of D3 MW to the caster. Came in particularly handy this weekend in one of my games: a Master of Magic rerolled a miscast into a miscast, and then promptly died!

Thirdly, we have the use of 2 blood tithe points to auto stop a spell. Note that this is not an unbind, so even if the caster has a rule that says their cast can not be unbound, we can still use 2 blood tithe to say NO!

Fourthly, we have the Hexgorger Skulls. A handy incantation that has two nice rules – wizards within 12” get a -2 to cast debuff, plus if they’re within 8” and they roll an unmodified 8 to cast, the spell is unsuccessful, the caster, and any other wizards within 12” suffer D6 MW, and the wizard can no longer cast that spell for the rest of the game! Again, that 8 is only 14%, but in their mind, it is much larger.

Fifth, we have the ignore-magic on a 6. Any time any of your units are affected by a spell or endless spell, you can ignore its effects on a 6 (and you gain a blood tithe!). In one famous game against a Teclis-Sentinel list a few months back, Teclis managed to put Searing White Light through a portal to cause D3/D6 MW to my whole army during turn 1. I rolled well, and he caused a total of 4 MW across my whole army, and I gained 5 blood tithe. Thanks!

Finally, there is the Cygor’s ability. Any time a spell is successfully cast by a wizard within 30” of the Cygor, that wizard suffers 1 MW. Now that isn’t going to dent a huge monster-hero-wizard like, say Teclis, but I faced both Gitz and Skaven this weekend, and both had 5 wound wizards with two casts a turn. Quite a few times, I was willing to not even attempt an unbind, preferring to chip off 20% of their health for free. Again, it puts doubt into your opponent’s mind – “How much do I really need to cast this spell?”

The next trick we have is the use of blood tithe. Prior to this GHB, I almost exclusively used blood tithe for hero phase move and hero phase fight. That’s changed a little now that Galletian Champions are important – our ability to summon one for just 2 blood tithe is pretty great, so I’ve been doing that a lot.
Before going into detail on blood tithe, let’s talk about Skarr. He’s in the list for one reason and one reason only – to die. He has an amazing ability that once he is dead, at the end of any movement phase (including your opponents) you can roll two dice and, on an 8,+ he comes back alive, anywhere on the board, 9” away from enemy units. That’s an amazing tech piece. I try to kill him as early as possible, and then during each of my opponent’s movement phases just take out my 9” stick and start measuring things, just to put doubt into their mind about where they can or cannot move safely.

Of course, to make sure he dies early, you need ways to kill him. That’s where he ties into blood tithe. One of my Slaughterpriests has the Blood Sacrifice prayer, which allows you to target a friendly BoK unit and cause them D3 MW in return for a blood tithe point. I was lucky that in four of my five games over the weekend, I had mystical in my deployment zone.

I placed the Skull Altar (which allows priests to re-roll prayers) within 8” of the mystical terrain, placed Skarr inside the Altar, and the Priest on the mystical. Turn 1 sacrifice Skarr, gain a tithe, and give him D3 MW. Then, since he is in the Skull Altar he can chant to bring out the Wrath-Axe, I use the Axe to cause another D3 MW on Skarr, and possibly another D3 with its secondary damage ability. Generally, this killsthis kills him, meaning I get 2 blood tithe (1 from his death, 1 from the sacrifice) in my first hero phase.

The blood tithe are then used later in the game as either a threat – using 3 to move the Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage or Skarbrand in my hero phase, giving them a much larger threat range, or, more commonly, to deny battle tactics. In your opponent’s hero phase they declare a battle tactic that involves killing something , and so you counter that by moving the thing they need to kill, out of range or behind a screen. Or, if you’re in combat in their hero phase, you spend 4 blood tithe to fight and generally cause carnage to their carefully laid out plans.
Finally, there’s the summoning aspect. Many of the new GHB battleplans or battle tactics require GCs to be on an objective for extra points or to score the tactic. Rarely are they “starting army” GCs. The ability to just summon one onto an objective for just 2 blood tithe (a Blood Master) is fantastic. Particularly if you pair it with Skarr’s revival. End of your movement phase, you revive him on to one objective, and then use him to summon a GC on to either the same objective or sometimes a second one!

Now let’s talk about the actual units that do stuff during the game. The Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury is there for one reason and one reason only – his command ability. At the start of the combat phase he can issue his command and all friendly BoK daemon units can pile-in 6”, and it’s the good 6” pile-in, meaning they can do it even if they’re outside of 3”. Note that this is an aura, but since the book is so old, none of the affected daemon units count as receiving a command ability, so are able to use other abilities at the same time. This is huge. Having, essentially, your whole army able to pile-in 6” is bonkers good. I very rarely charge any of my daemons during a game. Just move them to 3.1” away from their target unit, and then pile-in 6”.
This has multiple benefits. First if you’re going against a monster, they cannot roar you (although the reverse is also true – you cannot perform a monstrous rampage). Second, you avoid any unleash hell. Third you can play activation games – although you’re going to fight with every single one of your units, your opponent is only able to activate their units which are within 3”, which is very often none (you activate first, put in a Bloodthirster, it kills the unit, it’s your opponent’s activation, they have nothing within 3”, so then you activate with your next 6” pile-in, and so on).

The 6” pile-in also interacts with the other tech piece in a Reapers of Vengeance list – all daemons have the start-of-combat-phase command ability to fight twice, and it’s an immediate fight twice. Note this command ability can only be used if you are within 3” of an enemy. The general idea is that you pile-in 6” with a Rage thirster or Skarbrand into two units, kill a bunch of stuff in one unit on the first fight, and then activate a second time, again going 6” to kill another unit. That second 6” pile-in often allows you to jump over a screen to target something more juicy.
The Fury thirster is not that great in combat itself, typically doing only 5 or so wounds. But it does have a neat shooting attack – 4 attacks 3s/3s/-1/D3dmg that can kill a solo support hero or chip off some wounds from a screen etc.

Skarbrand is there to kill big monsters/heroes. It is relatively easy to keep Skarbrand at maximum rage for rounds 2-5. When at maximum rage, he does a guaranteed 8 MW per activation with his Carnage axe, and then has 9 attacks with Slaughter that are 4s/3s/-2/3dmg. That 4s to hit is horrible, even with the Locus of Fury ability that allows re-rolls of 1s to hit. We can mitigate that somewhat with either an All-Out-Attack (with the 6” pile-in he won’t have been roared), or earlier in the turn by using the Killing Frenzy prayer on him to give him +1 to hit. Skarbrand generally kills most heroes or does enough damage to seriously wound. If you’re going against multiple units, or a tough monster, you can use the double activate ability on him to cause a guaranteed 16 MW (with the potential of 24 or 32), and have 18 attacks.

Most seasoned Khorne players are surprised to see I don’t have a Bloodsecrator or Wrathmongers in my list. Either of these units give Skarbrand an extra attack, which works on Carnage, causing him to do a guaranteed 16 MW per activation instead of 8. That’s obviously a very nice buff, but I find Skarbrand generally kills everything he touches anyway, or is scary enough that people avoid him. Plus I hate the aesthetic of Khorne Mortals, so try to have as few mortals in my list as possible. Even my priests and Skarr are converted to look more daemon-like!

The Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage is the real scary piece in the army. His job is to clear hordes and support heroes. Particularly useful in this season where both are common. His basic attack profile is 5 attacks, 4s/2s/-2/D6dmg. That D6 damage is painful, as is the 4s to hit. But, he has this one little rule that changes everything. Any 6s to wound cause 4 MW (at top bracket) to all enemy units within 8” of him. That’s bonkers. If you roll two 6s, you’re doing 8 MW. That’s enough to kill most support heroes. And 8” with a largeish base is a big area. Couple it with the 6” pile-in and a double activation, and you can wreak havoc. I tend to use Killing Frenzy (+1 to hit prayer) and the double activation on him more than on Skarbrand. 3s to hit RR1s is actually fairly consistent to get enough hits through to then get one or two 6s to wound per activation.
In my first game this weekend I faced the dreaded squig heavy Gitz list. Gitz have lots of over-lapping buffs, so tend to want to castle. They also have lots of support heroes. My Rage thirster killed 60 models in one combat phase.

Next is the Cygor. Although I’ve already spoken about his great anti-magic potential, he’s also a pretty handy monster. I tend to like monster-mash lists, so when I knew I had to include more GC in my list this season, I was looking for a non-leader monster to throw in. Cygor is the perfect match. 16 wounds means he’s tanky (even with the 5+ save). His flat 5dmg shooting attack is pretty good at finishing off a unit or solo support hero. He’s also decent in combat. For magic heavy armies he’s a good distraction. He usually is the first thing to die in my army (other than Skarr), but that means that my ‘Thirsters are not being targeted, which is fine by me!
The Unmade are included for their debuff aura. Any enemy units within 12” (which is a crazy range for a unit of 9 models) can not redeploy or rally. Redeploy is the bane of the 6” pile-in. If you run your Bloodthirsters up the table, counting on the 6” pile-in to get into combat, a 4” redeploy kills you. Unmade for 80 points is a bargain to stop that. Also, with so many 4+ rallies in the game now, stopping that is handy, too!

The only remaining piece to describe is the Wrath-Axe. As well as being there to potentially first turn kill Skarr, it is handy to just have around all game doing chip damage and move blocking. Although incantations can be moved through as if they aren’t there, you still can not end a move on top of them. The Wrath-Axe has a large base, and being able to put it on one side of your army to prevent anyone charging from that side is pretty handy.

My choice of 2nd artefact is probably worth some discussion. Many Khorne players swear by Ar’gath, the King of Blades, as the artefact of choice on a Rage Thirster. This weapon gives changes the to-hit profile on the Rage Thirster from 4s to hit to 2s to hit. But only when targeting heroes. Since I generally use Skarbrand to hit big heroes and use Rage to target hordes (hoping to kill support heroes with the booms), I don’t like this choice.
Harvester of Skulls is another choice – increase the number of attacks from 5 to 6 per activation. That’s a decent choice. An extra attack means more chances to get that 6 to wound. There’s also The Crimson Crown. This army is very command point dependent, so being able to use a command for free once per round is very useful. I can definitely see the attraction of that on the Fury Thirster. But I go for Armour of Scorn on my Rage. This gives him a 6+ ward, but 4+ wards against magic MW. I want my Rage thirster to live, and that 6+ ward is the nice little extra toughness to keep him alive a little longer. I’m very sympathetic to those who prefer Crimson Crown or Harvester of Skulls though.I’m pretty happy with this list at the moment, although with a new book on the horizon I think last weekend was probably my last competitive outing with it. Across two RTTs and the GT, I’m 10-1 with the list, which is pretty decent!

Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin
– Enclave: Nautilar
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: The Creeping Gloomtide
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Akhelian King (250)*
– General
– Bladed Polearm
– Command Trait: Unstoppable Fury
– Artefact: Potion of Hateful Frenzy
– Mount Trait: Voidchill Darkness
Lotann, Warden of the Soul Ledgers (110)*
Battlemage (100)*
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
– Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
– Allies

Battleline
6 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Namarti Reavers (340)**
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Namarti Reavers (170)**
10 x Namarti Reavers (170)**
Akhelian Leviadon (460)*
– Mount Trait: Ancient

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Galletian Sharpshooters

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 100 / 400
Wounds: 97
Drops: 4

Lotann + Leviadon + Big Namarti Parties are the soup of the day for Idoneth. The combination is a great way to improve the Namarti (Reavers or Thralls) in both offense and defense. The Leviadon provides an aura giving Namarti +1 to hit so long as the target is within 12″ of the Leviadon. With the Leviadon’s large base size, that 12″ is generous. He also provides a +1 to save aura in the same zone, meaning that the Namarti may be able to hold back and reap the benefits of the save and hit bonuses from the turtle while enjoying a bonus to wound from Lotann. Ultimately, a squad of 20 will be firing 40 arrows hitting on 2s, wounding on 2s, with rend -1 and 1 damage.

The King and Morsarr Guard are here to do King and Morsarr Guard things. Both like to move fast to get in their opponents’ faces. Both like to hit insanely hard for their cost. Both like to die if you sneeze near them while unsupported. a 6-strong unit of Morsarr can blend large blobs of chaff units using their once-per-game mortal wound bomb, and the king is one of the best duellists in the game. Careful positioning can lead to a blistering number of attacks, and on-demand strike first is nothing to sniff at.

Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness
– Army Subfaction: Legion of the First Prince
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Centaurion Marshal (145)*
– Artefacts: The Conqueror’s Crown
1 x Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Chaotic Conduit
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
– Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
1 x Eternus, Blade of the First Prince (235)*
1 x Be’lakor (355)***
– Spells: Daemonic Speed

BATTLELINE
24 x Chaos Legionnaires (330)**
6 x Furies (90)**
6 x Furies (90)***

BEHEMOTH
1 x Chaos Warshrine (185)***
– Prayers: Curse
– Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh

OTHER
1 x Cockatrice (105)*
3 x Gorebeast Chariots (345)***
– Exalted Charioteer
– 3 x Chaos Greatblade and Lashing Whip
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided

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

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Legion of the First prince is starting to establish itself as ‘the third way’, after Cabalists and KOTET, and for good reason – it’s a much harder and more subtle sub-faction to get your head around. It does some offer some baked in synergy – and Kyle here (for the first time in this column that I’ve seen) has leant all the way into the fluffy, synergistic version.

The core fluff of a Legion list is the overlapping benefits to taking Be’Lakor, the Centaurion, Eternus, Legionnaires (double reinforced in this instance) and plenty of furies. The synergies are thus: Legionnaires gain +1 to wound while near Be’Lakor (making them a pretty respectable sub-hammer while relatively durable for their points); Eternus gets +1 to his ‘comes back from the dead’ roll while Be’lakor is still alive – and he gains a free CP while near either Legionnaires or Furies – the latter being more likely to keep up with him while Legionnaires guard Be’lakor; lastly, the Marshal allows the big blob of Legionnaires to rally on a 5+.

The rest of the list is worth commenting on to – it’s an early example of allying in the Cockatrice from the new Beasts book, for ability on a 4+ after one of its shots connects to make the enemy unit hit on 6s – which as you can imagine, could wildly swing the outcome of a key engagement – and at only 105 pts, it’s not a hugely risky gamble.

Ths list lost only to a no-doubt more traditional Slaves list, and again to Khorne – who love lists like this without ranged threats – with the most notable win being the on-form Sylvaneth for a 3-2, which is a good result with both a highly thematic and off-meta list. Gratz Kyle!

Age of Sigmar, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Meta Analysis, Peter Holland, Tournaments

AoS Meta Stats W/Ending 26th February 2023

March 5, 2023 Peter Holland Leave a comment

How Win Rates are Calculated

Event Submission

If you have organised an event that doesn’t appear in our database and has the following minimum requirements to be included:

Two Day Event
Singles Event
Minimum of 8 players

Then why not complete the form attached and send the results to thewoehammer@gmail.com? We’ll include them the next time we produce the stats.

Event Submission Template Download

View the Stat Discussion on Stormkeep

The guys from Stormkeep will be talking through the stats today (Sunday 3rd March) at 2pm EST. Why not join the discussion?

Faction Win Rates

We’ve now had 20 factions reach our marker of 20 players at GT’s so far, all others will be added over the coming weeks as they cross this threshold.

Win Rates

Player Results by Wins

This graph has at least two purposes. Firstly it shows the faction popularity by the number of players and secondly it breaks down those players results in terms of the number of wins they achieve.

For once Stormcast have been knocked off their perch as the most popular faction, with Slaves to Darkness now taking the top spot.

Players Achieving 5-0 Wins and Tournaments in Winning Positions

Lumineth Realm-Lords are early leaders with 6 players managing to get that elusive 5-0.

Win Chance

Although Lumineth have the highest number of 5-0 wins, if you want to be a true meta chaser, the best chance you currently have of going for five wins based on the current stats is with Fyreslayers with 11% of their players achieving 5-0.!

Like above, this show the chance of getting 4 or more wins (including 5-0).

And finally the chance of going 3+ wins (including 5-0 and 4+).

Our Database

This is our most copy of our database.

Woehammer-GT-Database-26th-Feb-2023 Download

Age of Sigmar, Blades of Khorne, Chaos, Death, Destruction, Fyreslayers, Games Workshop, Gloomspite Gitz, Idoneth Deepkin, Lumineth Realm-Lords, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Order, Orruk Warclans, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Peter Holland, Skaventide, Slaves to Darkness, Stormcast Eternals

Top 3 Lists BCP Megapost 26th February 2023

March 4, 2023 Peter Holland Leave a comment

I thought as Woehammer often struggles to get all the event results out for any given week, it may be a good idea to do one post with all of the lists we intended to cover.

Below, you’ll find all the top three lists this week (that we’re aware of), along with my wildcard choices. We will post individual event results as well, and I will link them to the results below where possible.

Events

Warhammer World: Matched Play Event Top 3 Article: Here
- 1st – Fyreslayers (Greyfyrd)
- 2nd – Gloomspite Gitz (Jaws of Mork)
- 3rd – Maggotkin of Nurgle (Blessed Sons)
- Wildcard – Ossiarch Bonereapers (Petrifex Elite)
Cherokee Open Top 3 Article: Here
- 1st – Gloomspite Gitz (Jaws of Mork)
- 2nd – Stormcast Eternals (Hammers of Sigmar)
- 3rd – Lumineth Realm-Lords (Helon)
- Wildcard – Skaven
Small Town Throwdown: Smoke on the Water Top 3 Article: Here
- 1st – Big Waaagh!
- 2nd – Blades of Khorne (Reapers of Vengeance)
- 3rd – Idoneth Deepkin (Nautilar)
- Wildcard – Slaves to Darkness (Legion of the First Prince)

Warhammer World: Matched Play Event (UK) – 74 Players

Allegiance: Fyreslayers
– Lodge: Greyfyrd
– Mortal Realm: Aqshy
– Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Auric Runefather (120)*
– General
– Command Trait: Spirit of Grimnir
– Artefact: Axe of Grimnir
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Auric Flamekeeper (90)***
Auric Flamekeeper (90)***
Battlesmith (150)***
– Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Auric Runemaster (130)***
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse
Auric Runesmiter (120)***
– Runic Iron
– Prayer: Ember Storm

Battleline
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (450)*
– Poleaxes
– Reinforced x 2
30 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (480)**
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)**
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (150)***

Endless Spells & Invocations
Runic Fyrewall (40)

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

Additional Enhancements
Aspect of the Champion

Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 162
Drops: 10

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

Leaders
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*
– General
– Command Trait: The Clammy Hand
– Artefact: Moonface Mommet
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Grinkrak The Great (190)*
Skragrott, The Loonking (160)*
– Lore of the Moonclans: Nikkit!Nikkit!
Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (80)**
Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (80)**

Battleline
20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)*
20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)*
36 x Squig Herd (360)**
– Reinforced x 2
36 x Squig Herd (360)**
– Reinforced x 2

Units
1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)*
6 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (0)*
5 x Gobbapalooza (145)**
– Spell1: Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (110)**

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

Total: 1975 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 250
Drops: 2

Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Army Subfaction: Blessed Sons
– Grand Strategy: Blessed Desecration
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Be’lakor (355)
1 x Lord of Plagues (140)*
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Gift of Disease
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
1 x Bloab Rotspawned (320)*
– Spells: Blades of Putrefaction
1 x Lord of Afflictions (230)*
– General
– Command Traits: Overpowering Stench
– Incubatch
– Dolorous Tocsin
– Artefacts: The Splithorn Helm
1 x Orghotts Daemonspew (320)**

BATTLELINE
5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)**
– Blightlord
– Icon Bearer
– Sonorous Tocsin Bearer
5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)**
– Blightlord
– Icon Bearer
– Sonorous Tocsin Bearer
10 x Rotmire Creed (130)**

TERRAIN
1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)

Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Legion: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Liege-Kavalos (160)*
– General
– Command Trait: Mighty Archaeossian
– Artefact: Helm of the Ordained
Mortisan Soulmason (120)*
– Lore of Mortisans: Arcane Command
Mortisan Boneshaper (110)*
– Artefact: Godbone Armour
– Lore of Mortisans: Drain Vitality
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master

UNITS
6 x Necropolis Stalkers (340)**
– 2 x Dread Falchions
6 x Necropolis Stalkers (340)**
– 2 x Dread Falchions
10 x Mortek Guard (140)
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
10 x Mortek Guard (140)*
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
5 x Kavalos Deathriders (180)
– Nadirite Blade and Shield

ARTILLERY
Mortek Crawler (200)
Mortek Crawler (200)

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Bone-tithe Shrieker (50)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Galletian Veterans

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Artefact

TOTAL: 1980/2000

Cherokee Open (US) – 79 Players

Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Army Subfaction: Jaws of Mork
– Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon
– Triumphs: Indomitable

LEADER
1 x Squigboss (80)*
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (160)*
– Spells: Itchy Nuisance
1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*
– General
– Command Traits: The Clammy Hand
– Artefacts: Staff of Sneaky Stealin’
– Spells: The Hand of Gork

BATTLELINE
10 x Boingrot Bounderz (280)
– Bounder Boss
10 x Boingrot Bounderz (280)*
– Bounder Boss
36 x Squig Herd (360)**
12 x Squig Herd (120)**

BEHEMOTH
1 x Mangler Squigs (260)

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Scrapskuttle’s Arachnacauldron (50)

TERRAIN
1 x Bad Moon Loonshrine (0)

OTHER
1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (110)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Warlord
**Galletian Veterans

TOTAL POINTS: (1940/2000)

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

LEADER
1 x Bastian Carthalos (300)**
1 x Lord-Relictor (150)**
– Prayers: Translocation
1 x Lord-Castellant (160)**
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Thundershock
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master

BATTLELINE
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)**
5 x Liberators (120)***
– Liberator-Prime
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield
– Grandweapon
5 x Liberators (120)***
– Liberator-Prime
– Grandweapon
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield
5 x Liberators (120)***
– Liberator-Prime
– Grandweapon
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield

OTHER
3 x Aetherwings (70)*
3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)*
– Raptor-Prime
3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)*
– Raptor-Prime

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

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords
– Army Subfaction: Helon
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Archmage Teclis (700)*
1 x Scinari Calligrave (110)*
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat
– Aspects of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
1 x Scinari Cathallar (110)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts: Silver Wand
– Spells: Total Eclipse

BATTLELINE
5 x Hurakan Windchargers (130)*
– Windspeaker Seneschal
– Standard Bearer
5 x Hurakan Windchargers (130)*
– Windspeaker Seneschal
– Standard Bearer
20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)*
– High Sentinel
– Spells: Protection of Hysh
10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)*
– High Warden
– Spells: Etheral Blessings
10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)*
– High Warden
– Spells: Solar Flare

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)
1 x Rune of Petrification (60)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)

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

LEADER
1 x Verminlord Deceiver (420)
– Artefacts: Shadow Magnet Trinket
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Verminlord Warbringer (400)*
– General
– Command Traits: Devious Adversary
– Artefacts: Warpstone Charm
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Grey Seer (120)**
– Spells: Skitterleap
1 x Grey Seer (120)**
– Spells: Skitterleap
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
1 x Thanquol (430)**
– 4 x Warpfire Projectors
– Spells: Skitterleap

BATTLELINE
10 x Night Runners (90)*
– Nightleader
20 x Clanrats (100)*
– Clawleader
– 2 x Clanrat Standard Bearer
– 2 x Clanrat Bell-ringer
– Rusty Blade
20 x Clanrats (100)*
– Clawleader
– 2 x Clanrat Standard Bearer
– 2 x Clanrat Bell-ringer
– Rusty Blade

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Warp Lightning Vortex (80)
1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)
1 x Lauchon the Soulseeker (50)

TERRAIN
1 x Gnawhole (0)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

TOTAL POINTS: (1980/2000)

The Top Three AoS Lists

Final Tournament Placings

A Note About Data Analysis

What’s Included in the Data?

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Final Tournament Placings

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Small Town Throwdown: Smoke on the Water (US) – 30 Players

How Win Rates are Calculated

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Player Results by Wins

Players Achieving 5-0 Wins and Tournaments in Winning Positions

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Events

Warhammer World: Matched Play Event (UK) – 74 Players

Cherokee Open (US) – 79 Players

Small Town Throwdown: Smoke on the Water (US) – 30 Players

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