Category Archives: Army Lists

Tournament Preparation – Facehammer 2021

Orange Ben and @rightangle79 (Declan) are both off to the Facehammer Grand Tournament this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I thought it would be a great time to interview them about their tournament lists and their past glories…..


Ok. So you’ve both been to tournaments before, what do you enjoy the most about them?

Ben: For me it’s mainly seeing friends and looking at cool armies. But mainly this:

Declan: Seeing friends, having a beer and chatting about Warhammer. It also means I have a deadline for painting toys… which I almost always need. For most tournaments I include something new to paint.

So which armies are you taking to Facehammer this year? Care to share your lists?

Ben’s Kharadron Overlords (Ghostlords)

Declan’s List

  • Loonboss – Clammy Hand
  • Fungoid Cave Shaman – Hand of Gork
  • Madcap Shaman – Hand of Gork & Moonface Mommet
  • Webspinner on Arachnarok Spider – Curse of da Spider God & Amulet of Destiny
  • 60 Shootas
  • 20 Shootas
  • 40 Stabbas
  • 2 x 20 Stabbas
  • 2 x Sneaky Snufflers
  • Rippa’s Snarlfangs
  • Scuttletide
  • Scrapskuttle’s Arachacauldron
  • Emerald Lifeswarm
  • 2120 points; 214 wounds; Warlord; Hunters of the Heartlands; Vanguard

This is my favourite at the moment. Other option is full squigs.

Do you have battle plans or tactics in mind for when you make it to the tournaments?

Ben: To a certain extent, you know you need to claim objectives so you need units that can do that.

Declan: Gloomspite outside Troggs can struggle to kill things so I need to play like Gargants – get on objectives early and start scoring. Hand of Gork (movement spell) is critical in the list as it means people can’t leave objectives unguarded. I have the Spider to get Monstrous Takeover early and get the option of broken ranks with him. Although I need to protect him or lose him on my turn to prevent him giving 1 point away. 2nd turn is normally Ferocious Advance with Loonboss and both Fungoids (who spend most of their time hiding behind the Loonshrine). Finally I don’t mind losing units because I want as many opportunities as possible to get them back – hence Clammy Hand (Roll twice for reinforcements from Loonshrine).

Ben’s Ghostrek

Ben, I notice you have the dreaded Gotrek! Facehammer have slightly adjusted rules for him now, how do you think he’ll do?

Ben: He is still super smashy, he is there to kill gargants!

Declan, Sounds like a thorough plan. I love the Arachnarok unit, I’ve seen people include more than one, you weren’t tempted to do this?

Declan: I want to try a horde army because its my normal playstyle and is against the meta with reinforcement points and no horde discount. Unfortunately points are too high normally, but with an extra 150 it’s worth a go. I also want GW to see that people will take armies which are rubbish if they get small boosts. GG effectively have c8% reaction in points at facehammer which is what they need before the book. Unfortunately 60 Grots went from 360 to 450 which is criminal for a low power level book.

Have you ever crossed swords with each other in a tournament, if so how did that go?

Declan: I think we played Ogor v GG didn’t we? On the way in people were complaining about your list being too good and I said it was fine… then gummed you up with Grots?

Ben: Yeah it was the cows Throwing snowball list, I told everybody it was rubbish but no one believed me and then I got grotted!

Declan: Ah yes… you forgot the Stonehorns!! I did have 180 Grots in your defense.

Ben: 2+ I do six mortal wounds, cool, there are 54 left.

Declan: Yeah… no where near enough damage.

Whats your most memorable moment at a tournament?

Ben: Played a chap called Laurie who Declan will know, with a shooty stormcast list, and turn one took off his archaon off turn one, was crazy good.

Declan: I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!

Ben’s Ghostlords Army

For someone looking to go to their first tournament, what advice would you give?

Declan: Definitely take the plunge. Let the TO and your opponents know it’s your first tournament. Take an army you know (don’t go for LRL net-list). Limit your warscrolls where possible. If you can bring 6 or fewer it gives you a chance of remembering the rules. Play the objectives!

Ben: Agreed

Looking at each others list, how would you try and defeat them?

Ben: You can’t ask us that we might play each other! But the short answer is throw Gotrek at him and shoot him a lot.

Declan: I think I probably have the advantage due to numbers here. If I can get on the objectives early it’s difficult to get me off them. Especially as Ben’s units flying in the boats don’t count as on the objective. I also just played Will with his KO and the grots can actually damage the units with shooting, and in combat. That said no doubt we’ll play now and Ben will rightly beat me!

Thanks for your time, good luck at Facehammer!

Combat Patrol: Adeptus Sororitas – Beginners 1,000 Point Army

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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!!)

Following Dave and I reviewing the Sisters of Battle Codex on our YouTube channel earlier this year, I decided that with the release of the Sisters Combat Patrol box, I thought it may be an idea to go through whats in the box and then select some units to expand the force to 1,000 points.


The combat patrol box is packed with goodies and like the other factions they’re a fantastic way to start a new army as they often give you a wide range of units.

The Sisters of Battle Combat Patrol Contents


In the Sisters Combat Patrol box you’re given;

  • Canoness
  • 10x Battle Sisters
  • 5x Seraphim
  • 4x Sisters Repentia
  • Repentia Superior
  • Penitent Engine
  • 3x Arco-flagellents
  • Rhino

All of that for £85, which is bought separately would cost roughly £170.

On top of this we’ll add the following units;

  • Palatine £21
  • Preacher £10
  • Castigator £52.50
  • Dominion Squad £35 (this will also buy you a unit of Celestians)
  • Retributor Squad £32.50

This will cost you an additional £151, alongside the cost of the Codex for £30 the entire army will set you back £266!

However! If you sign up for SCN Hobbies mailing list you’ll receive 25% off Games Workshops recommended retail price and 15% off web only miniatures. Meaning including postage the army and codex would cost £200.50! That’s a saving of £66!

To sign up to the SCN Hobbies mailing list, email Sarah on scnhobbyworld@outlook.com.

The list above brings us with upgrades to 1,000 points and the list will be as follows;

Vanguard Detachment (3CP)
Order Convictions: Order of the Bloody Rose

Canoness
1x Canoness – Blessed Blade, Bolt pistol, Relic: Wrath of The Emperor, Warlord
Warlord Trait – Righteous Rage
Blessings – Divine Deliverance

Battle Sister Squad
1x Sister Superior – Bolt Pistol & Boltgun
4x Battle Sister – Bolt Pistol & Boltgun

Battle Sister Squad
1x Sister Superior – Bolt Pistol & Boltgun
4x Battle Sister – Bolt Pistol & Boltgun

Arco-Flagellants
3x Arco Flagellant – Arco-flails

Repentia Superior
1x Repentia Superior – Neural Whips

Sisters Repentia
4x Sisters Repentia – Penitent Eviscerator

Dominion Squad
1x Dominion Superior – Bolt Pistol & Boltgun
4x Dominion – Artificer-crafted storm bolter

Seraphim Squad
1x Seraphim Superior – 2x Bolt Pistols
2x Seraphim – 2x Bolt pistols
2x Seraphim – 2x Ministorum Hand Flamers

Sororitas Rhino
Sororitas Rhino

Spearhead Detachment (3CP)
Order Convictions: Order of the Bloody Rose

Palatine
Palatine – Bolt pistol & Power Sword

Preacher
1x Preacher – Zealot’s Vindicator

Castigator
1x Castigator – Autocannons

Penitent Engines
1x Penitent Engine – 2x Penitent buzz-blades

Retributor Squad
1x Retributor Superior – Bolt Pistol & Boltgun
4x Retributor – Multi-melta

++ Total: [52 PL, 1,000pts] ++

CANONESS

Canoness

For your Canoness I would make her the Warlord and make the whole detachment part of the Order of the Bloody Rose. This allows you add 1 to the attack characteristics of models with this conviction when they Charge, are charged or make a heroic intervention. Extra attacks are always nice! So let’s lean in to this slightly and give the canoness the Blessed Blade and the Wrath of the Emperor Relic.

The Blessed Blade gives the Canoness a +2 strength, -3 AP Damage 2 close combat weapon, while the Wrath of the Emperor replaces her Bolt Pistol with an 18” range pistol able to fire 4 shots per round with strength 5, -1 AP and 2 damage. That packs quite the punch, especially considering the Canoness can now make 5 attacks instead of 4 when they’ve charged or have been charged.

Don’t forget that CORE units within 6” of the Canoness will be allowed to re-roll 1’s on their to hit rolls when making attacks as well. This means she’ll be handy next to your Arco-Flagellants when they make it into combat.

I would also give the Canoness the Warlord Trait Righteous Rage, which will allow her to re-roll hit rolls and wound rolls when in melee.

We’ll also give her Blessing as her Divine Deliverance, this negates one enemy units aura ability that is within 6” of the Canoness, however this is only done if after rolling 3D6 and the resulting roll being equal to or higher than the enemies Leadership characteristic.

PALATINE

Palatine

This lovely woman is the ying to your Canoness’s yang, allowing CORE units within 6” to re-roll wound rolls of 1. Having her with the Canoness next to a unit dishing out a lot of attacks is always a good move. Having a bubble of our Canoness, palatine and Arco-Flagellants will make an opponent think twice. Once you look to expand beyond 1,000 points my next thought would be adding more models to your Arco-Flagellants.

Take her as is.

PREACHER

Son of a Preacher Man!

Having one of these guys in your list allows nearby units to benefit from his War Hymns, which grants them another attack. Which when combined with the conviction of the Order of the Bloody Rose will allow some of your units with the CORE keyword to make two additional attacks on top of what they would normally make (looking at you Arco-Flagellants). As well as this, he also has access to the Battle Hymns. Very squishy though so make sure you keep him towards the back of you Flagellant bubble.

BATTLE SISTERS

Battle Sisters

Battle Sisters I’m inclined to leave as Bolter only and split into two units of five sisters each. These can then be used as objective cappers, they’ll have the ability to deal with the small unimportant elements of your opponent’s army but their primary use should be holding objectives or vital points of the battlefield. If the enemy shoots and focuses on these units then that frees up your heavy hitters and close combat specialists for the counter punch.

ARCO-FLAGELLANTS

Arco-Flagellants

I would leave these as standard with their Arco-Flails, and try and make sure that they’re within 6” of the Canoness when they make it into combat so that they can re-roll 1’s for there to hit rolls.

There’s only three of these so the enemies fire will need to be drawn elsewhere for them to be effective, perhaps having some mean looking Castigator on the field may do the trick?

REPENTIA SUPERIOR AND SISTERS REPENTIA

Sisters Repentia

I would also leave these as the basic set up. Again, like with the Arco-Flagellants you do not have many of these so try and entice your opponent into shooting some other more sturdy unit that can take the punishment until these lovely women make it into combat. Both these and the Arco-Flagellants are a great counter punch to enemy CC and also make great objective clearers which can be followed up by the Battle Sisters, who can lend some light fire support to these units.

SERAPHIM

Seraphim

These are your true fast attack and are great even equipped with the hand flamers. These are perfect for dealing hit and run attacks on larger horde units such as Ork Boyz, Imperial Guard Infantry and the like. Keep them in cover and make sure they get to their intended target to deal their damage. I would equip two Seraphim carrying two hand flamers each kicking out D6 shots which automatically hit their targets. That gives you on average 12 hits from flamers with on average 6 of those causing wounds on toughness 4 targets.

PENITENT ENGINE

Penitent Engines

Although classed as heavy support this unit is ideal for taking on units in close support with its twin buzz blades and double Heavy flamers. With five wounds and toughness five it’ll also take some punishment before it falls down. Plus, with the Penitent Engine, Sisters Repentia and Arco-Flagellants you have redundancy in your close combat and your opponent won’t be certain what to choose first, meaning at least one of them will reach enemy lines.

CASTIGATOR

Castigator Battle Tank

It’s a predator tank, its got good armour and packs a punch from long range for an army which severely lacks in this area. Don’t expect it to last long though, your opponent is likely to target it from the get go, and that’s okay. Because if they’re focusing on the predator they’re not focusing on your combat heavy units closing in on them.

Make sure while it is on the table that it focuses on trying to remove the high armour targets that your other units will sill struggle with.

DOMINION SQUAD

Dominions

These, alongside your Retributors can almost be considered a secret weapon for the sisters. With their Holy Vanguard rule you can pop these in your rhino and they can make a free normal move before the first turn taking them closer towards the enemy. Why do you want to do this? Because you only have five Dominions in the Rhino, means you can fill out the rest of the transport capacity with Retributors with Heavy Flamers or Multi-Meltas to take out those pesky heavy armour targets or large horde mobs.

Equipping the Dominions with Storm Bolters will mean that they’re kicking out 10 shots a turn as well and can lay down some nice fire on the enemy’s units. Hopefully your opponent will ignore the rhino long enough for them to get close and pop that particularly nasty looking tank or flame that large group of Ork boyz….. Please shoot at my Castigator.

RETRIBUTOR SQUAD

Retributor Squad

As mentioned, pop these in the Rhino and arm them with Multi-Meltas and they’ll pretty much turn anything they shoot into liquid metal once they open up. They may be a one use only unit once your opponent sees what they can do so try and hit them where it hurts on the first time of use.

RHINO

Rhino

You want this to remain alive as long as you have your Dominions and Retributors inside, otherwise it could be used to transport your battle sisters up to objectives further up the field. Use it as the workhorse of the army. Many players will use these as a transport for a single unit, but don’t forget to double back pick up others units and rush them over to other parts of the battlefield.

WHERE NEXT?

As I mentioned earlier, my next steps would be to look at expanding the Arco-Flagellants into possibly a ten strong unit. Beefing up the close combat element of the army is always a good shout, and you know a second Castigator would always be a nice distraction for your opponent.

I would also seriously consider taking some Celestian Sacresants, as with these you’ll find that they make perfect bodyguards for your characters as enemy units are unable to target them. They also come with a 4+ invulnerable save.

I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know in the comments below how you would build a 1,000 point list from the Combat Patrol Box and why not also let me know what you think to my list. There may well be aspects of the codex or units that I have not included that you think should be, so why not let us know in the comments below.

Peter

A Gloomy Outing

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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!!)

An Army for the Ages…!

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!!)

My First AOS3 tournament

Woehammer has asked me to write a few Blog posts for tournaments I go to to give their readers an idea of what tournaments are like in the UK.

TL:DR; They are great fun; take the plunge and buy a ticket for one wherever you are based

Who am I?

That’s all very well, but why should Woehammer ask me – I wasn’t sure either, but I have been attending tournaments for Warhammer Fantasy and AOS since my first Bristol Brawl in 2002. I find the gaming fun, and the preparation of army lists interesting, but the main draw for me is meeting new gamers, and having fun over the table. The tournament scene has given me friends all over the UK; and there are friendly faces at each event.

This isn’t to say its insular and unwelcoming – new players are welcomed into the tournament scene and given help and advice by those of us a little longer in the tooth. Just let the organiser and your opponents know that it’s your first event and they’ll look after you.

THWG – Barbarians Brawl 2 (One Day; Three Games)

For my first event of any new edition I always take my Glooomspite Gitz. I’ve been playing Goblins forever since the Elves invaded the Goblin mountains in 4th Edition; and they are always my go to army.

I did have something a little different though, because the new Kragnos book had given Gloomspite new allegiance abilities and I had been painting a lot of Squigs … so Jaws of Mork (Gloomspite) it was.

I will admit to being concerned about the army as it was ranked in the lower tiers by most players since AOS3, and I knew it would be an uphill struggle, but I wanted to give the new toys an outing.

Army

Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz
– Option: Jaws of Mork
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Loonboss on Mangler Squigs (310) in Warlord
– General
– Command Trait: Envoy of the Overbounder
– Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)
Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig (110) in Vanguard
– Moon-cutta
– Artefact: Syari Screamersquig
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (95) in Warlord
– Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (95) in Warlord
– Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance

Battleline
36 x Squig Herd (480) in Hunters of the Heartlands
– Reinforced x 2
20 x Squig Hoppers (360) in Hunters of the Heartlands
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Squig Hoppers (180) in Vanguard

Units
10 x Boingrot Bounderz (210) in Hunters of the Heartlands
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (75) in Warlord
6 x Sneaky Snufflers (75) in Warlord

Core Battalions
Warlord
Vanguard
Hunters of the Heartlands

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 202

The Plan

There wasn’t a big plan for this; just to see how the new game worked, and whether I could bring the Gitz to a longer format tournament. I really like one dayer tournaments for this as it gives an opportunity to try out new things without waking up on Sunday morning 0-3 down and seeing 2 more games looming ahead.

My biggest concern was with the Squig Hoppers as their mortal wound damage (for moving over units), now only worked on normal moves. So, so run or retreat over units.

Game 1 v Nighthaunt

Nighthaunt are in a similar position to Gloomspite so this was going to be close. My opponent (Chris) had a nice list led by Olynder with Chainrasps and lots of other ghosts. Very thematic.

We both advanced on the objectives, and in the second turn I gave Chris the turn as he was far enough away to do limited damage – he charged the large squig herd and we both did damage to each other. I then set my Mangler Squig Boss on His Finest Hour and went to clear an objective setting him 3″ away. I rolled double 1; command point; rolled double 1 again!

This meant I had to take the third turn, allowed Chris to remove the objective my Mangler was (supposed) to be fighting on. My Hoppers moved onto the middle objective, and bounced onto a support character killing him, but I should have charged Olynder and I was too worried about losing the squigs.

This meant I was the first to drop points as I only held one objective, and the Chris came smashing back making a 10 inch charge roll with his ghosts (allowing an immediate round of combat), and taking back the central objective.

Once behind it was difficult to get back and I couldn’t achieve a fifth battle tactic, leading to the loss. Chris played really well, and I learnt a lot about the new game – lots of time at the beginning of each turn choosing battle tactic and making sure to leave one for the end!

RoundPriorityDeclan (BT)Chris (BT)Points
1C/DExpansion (Y)Advance (Y)5-5
2D/CConquer (Y)Expansion (Y)10-10
3D/DBroken Ranks (Y)Conquer (Y)13-15
4D/DAdvance (Y)Bring it Down (Y)16-21
5C/CNone possibleSpearhead (Y)16-26
ENDHold the Line (Y)Hold the Line (Y)19-29
Scores on the Doors

Game 2 v Soulblight Gravelords

Greg’s army is unashamedly top tier – Nagash, Vengorian Lord, Manfred, 3 x 10 Zombies… ouch! I was in some trouble here but I started with an advance and send off my Boingrots towards some Zombies. I was in a defensive formation around the Shrine with the hope of weathering the storm and then striking with the Hopper’s mortal wound output.

Greg took the objective I had a toe on, won priority turn 2 and charged with everything. My screen was hit badly but with 72 wounds in the unit it weathered it well, and the Shrine ensured no battleshock. I now needed to get out.

I decided that I needed to kill one of the big things, and with Manfred’s ability to disappear and the Vengorian Lord to my right I went for Nagash. Despite retreating the Squig Herd couldn’t leave enough space for my hoppers who only did 2 mortal wounds to Nagash due to space constraints. The Mangler again did Finest Hour, charged Nagash and Manfred (with Sneaky Snufflers on as well), and did no wounds to Nagash…! The 2+ save rerolling 1s was very good.

My gamble over, Greg proceeded to take the Gloomspite apart. We chatted afterwards… perhaps after a little cursing at the different strengths of the books, and struggled to see how I could win!

RoundPriorityDeclan (BT)Greg (BT)Points
1G/DAdvance (Y)Conquer (Y)5-5
2G/GBring it Down (N)M. Takeover (Y)6-10
3G/GConquer (N)Slay Warlord (Y)6-17
4None Possible6-25
5None possible6-29
ENDHold the Line (N)Beast Master (Y)6-32
Breaking down the Doors

Game 3 v Skaventide

Skaventide have been making headlines for the Stormfield build, but George had brought a superb moulder army with 2 Hellpits, 2 Rat Ogre units of 6 and lots (and lots) of battle line Giant Rats… Hold the Line was going to be difficult to stop.

Due to the number of rats, I got to ask George to go first and he moved onto the central objective. I moved my Squig Herd forward, killed a few Giant Rats, and took the objective back. In the second turn George tried to kill the large Squig Herd with his Hell Pit Abominations for Broken Ranks. I don’t think he realised how many wounds they have and the unit survived, and smashed one of the Hell Pits down to a few wounds allowed me to pick up Bring it Down in my turn and go slightly ahead.

I then got the priority roll and a double turn allows my Mangler to kill some more rats (Broken Ranks was easy!), whilst my Boingrots killed most of one of the Rat Ogre units on my right. The smash back killed the Mangler (mostly through shooting), and started to reduce the Hoppers. The Squig Herd also died at this stage.

With little left my Boingrots went after a Master Moulder and got into the Grey Seer killing him and gaining savage spearhead with the Loonboss in turn 5, but on my left the Squig Hoppers (my last battleline) were trying to run away from the undamaged Rat Ogres… unfortunately, they were caught in George’s turn 5 and he stopped my Grand Strategy; giving him the game

RoundPriorityDeclan (BT)George (BT)Points
1D/GConquer (Y)Advance (Y)3-5
2G/GBring it Down (Y)Broken Ranks (N)9-8
3D/DBroken Ranks (Y)Slay Warlord (Y)12-13
4D/DAdvance (Y)Conquer (Y)17-16
5D/DSpearhead (Y)Spearhead (Y)20-20
ENDHold the Line (N)Hold the Line (Y)20-23
Door Left Ajar

What did I Learn?

Not a very destruction concept, but what did I learn?

  • Battle Tactics are very important and you need a plan about which ones you’ll do when.
  • Monster heroes are very good… when the Mangler charged he wiped out what he was fighting (except Nagash) and the finest hour made him great fun. Unfortunately the other armies have better ones – Manfred, Nagash & Arkhan who I played. The ability to do damage at range with these characters is very powerful
  • There’s book keeping – I used the AOS score sheet from thehonestwargamer.com which was essential for keeping track for both me and my opponent
  • Try to kill a monster a turn. I killed both Hell-Pits in the same turn; normally really good, but I could have grabbed an extra point if I’d managed to engineer them dying in different rounds. Difficult to do, but worth watching out for.

Conclusion

After the enforced COVID break, it was great to be back rolling dice, but the Gloomspite just didn’t cut it. I had very close games against Nighthaunt & Skaven but they weren’t top tier armies, and the only game against top tier was a demolition. In 5 game tournaments I like to aim for 3-2 and I couldn’t see how this was possible with the Squigs! Unfortunately the Gloomspite WhatsApp group didn’t provide much solace and so I made the decision to play Sons of Behemat… as luck would have it there was a team tournament the next day at the same venue, so I would be back!

— Declan