Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 13th June and Sunday 19th June 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.
There was a total of 3 Grand Tournaments last week, a quiet week! That being said, one of them was the awesome UK tSports Champions, which our very own Declan was invited to take part in. You can read up on his prep here.
286 players took part in 10 GT’s over the last week.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
64.7%
19
21.59%
3
7
Order
49.2%
49
55.68%
0
5
Destruction
43.8%
8
9.09%
0
1
Death
34.2%
12
13.64%
0
0
Faction Stats
The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.
Faction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Maggotkin of Nurgle
66.0%
10
11.36%
1
4
Cities of Sigmar
58.6%
7
7.95%
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
54.0%
10
11.36%
0
3
Idoneth Deepkin
46.0%
5
5.68%
0
0
Seraphon
43.0%
10
11.36%
0
0
Fyrselayers
40.0%
7
7.95%
0
1
Soulblight Gravelords
33.3%
6
6.82%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle top the charts this week in a very small data set. With a win rate of 66.0% Followed closely by Cities of Sigmar with a win rate of 58.6%. Seraphon, Fyreslayers and Soulblight Gravelords all struggling to make that magical 45% mark with Soulblight Gravelords being the only faction below 40%.
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Subfaction Stats
Only Seraphon/Thunder Lizard and Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men made the requirement for this table (min 5 armies represented). Thunder Lizard managed a win rate of 43% while Drowned Men achieved 72.5%……
Pyrhammer 2022 took place in Poland on 18th and 19th June. It involved 40 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three, 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.
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.
Allegiance: Sons of Behemat – Tribe: Breaker Tribe (Fierce Loathing: Bossy Pants and Clever Clog) – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Kragnos, The End of Empires (720) Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant – kaptur (525)* – General – Command Trait: Old and Gnarly – Artefact: Enchanted Portcullis Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant – Broda (525)* – Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)
Battleline 1 x Mancrusher Gargants (170)
Core Battalions *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent
Additional Enhancements Artefact
Total: 1940 / 2000 Wounds: 100 Drops: 4
Danny: Sons walk again! With Kragnos leading the charge – the 3d6 charge 12″ aura to be precise. Gatebreakers, if you haven’t been keeping up, are the really hitty ones. A ‘little’ Mancrusher fills out the points. If you’ve not played Sons before, they can be surprisingly whiffy – something Kragnos is most definitely not. And now, with the new GHB, they don’t even give up monster points – so I can see them doing even better than usual for quite some time…
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Knight-Draconis (300)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Scintillating Trail – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon Lord-Castellant (155)*
Battleline 4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)* – Drakerider’s Lance – Reinforced x 1 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Drakerider’s Lance 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Drakerider’s Lance
Units 20 x Skinks (150)* – Meteoric Javelins Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers – Allies – Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment
Additional Enhancements Holy Command: Steadfast March
Danny: Many of you will be aware that Dragons just lost their hero-phase move, and many of you will not be happy with it. But it was necessary to slow the roll of lists like this that could pretty much end the game inside of one battle round after their hero-phase move, double shoot from the Knight Draconis, almost guaranteed turn 1 charge and then murder from there. Hilariously, this one also allies in 20 skinks for a fast, cheap objective grabber. So there’s that!
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Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos – Grand Strategy: Predator’s Domain – Triumphs: brak
Leaders Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Lore of Dark Storms: Sundering Blades Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)** – Artefact: Horn of the Tempest – Lore of Dark Storms: Hailstorm Great Bray-Shaman (100)** – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Tendrils of Atrophy
Battleline 9 x Dragon Ogors (375)* – 3x Paired Ancient Weapons – 6x Draconic War glaives – Reinforced x 2 6 x Dragon Ogors (250)* – 3x Paired Ancient Weapons – 3x Draconic War glaives – Reinforced x 1 6 x Dragon Ogors (250)** – 3x Paired Ancient Weapons – 3x Draconic War glaives – Reinforced x 1
Other 1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)** – Allies Ghorgon (155)* Ghorgon (155)** Ghorgon (155) Ghorgon (155)
Danny: Beasts of Chaos are just on a complete rampage after their Tome Celestial, and it’s not even just the one list they have! Dragon Ogors are definitely up there though, with a choice of three weapon loadouts for flexibility – this list has doubled down on the 2″, rend 1 flavour – re-rolling 1s to hit thanks to the Shaggoth heroes. Four Ghorgons that, from now on no longer give up points provide even more punch – for 155 they’re 14 wounds (albeit on a 5+) of fast ‘fishing for 6s to wound for d3 mws’ pain. Scary.
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Allegiance: Blades of Khorne – Slaughterhost: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)* – Axe – Mark of Chaos: Khorne Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (295)* – General – Command Trait: Mage Eater – Artefact: Skullshard Mantle Skarbrand (380) Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280) – Artefact: Harvester of Skulls Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280)** Bloodsecrator (125)*
Battleline 10 x Bloodreavers (80)** – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80)** – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80)** – Meatripper Axes
Danny: Khorne are now officially the worst Chaos faction, so 3-2 is definitely an achievement. That said, ‘worst’ is relative – three Boomthirsters and Skarbrand will still absolutely ruin your day unless you can either screen them out, trade very efficiently up against them or just snipe them from range. Did you know that Bloodthirsters of Insensate Rage do 4 mortals to EVERYTHING IN AN 8″ RADIUS if they roll a 6 to wound? It’s swingy given they only have 5 attacks but…you can see why the blood flows freely when they roll hot.
Final Tournament Placings
For the full tournament details visit: Tabletop.to
The UK tSports Champions 2022 was an inaugural event organised by the wonderful people at Honest Wargamer and TSportsNetwork. It took place in Nottingham, UK on 18th and 19th June. It involved 16 players from around the UK, vying to be crowned the champion of champions in a 5 game tournament.
Tournament Format
The format is a little different to your usual GT, in that players are seeded into groups on day 1, and then play each other person in their group once. Depending on where they finished in their group would determine which ‘final’ route they would be on the next day. (I.e. group winners could finished 1st-4th), runners up in the group would be playing for 5th-8th, and so on).
Our very own Declan is ranked high enough in the UK rankings, and as a result was invited to the event. He chose to play with his Big Waaagh! Which you can read about here.
As a result, I’ve invited Declan to discuss the armies in this article as who better but the man who took part! (Declan – cheers Peter; it was a great event!)
Before I jump into the Top Three, I just 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.
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 from the UK tSports Champions 2022
Dan’s List, courtesy of Ziggy and TSportsNetwork
Declan – I’ve managed to avoid Dan this tournament season, mostly by virtue of not being good enough to compete with him. He has played a lot of different armies to qualify (see above on the left), but following the White Dwarf Article on Beasts of Chaos he has returned to an army he likes playing… and who can blame him with rend improving throughout the game.
In fact this is where this army excels – The incarnate can’t be killed easily, so can take turns 1-3 and the army takes over turn 3-5. And the army is Tzaangors… lots of them. They are the ‘close combat’ ones, and can dish out huge damage especially with their ability Guided by the Past which allows the whole unit to reroll hits and wounds if an enemy unit has already attacked in combat. So if Dan is in combat with weaker units he can let the enemy fight first, or if he’s charged! Then retreat & rally!
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Courtesy of Ziggy & TSports Network
Declan: An army that regular readers of Woehammer will have seen come to the fore from Toby. He qualified with another variety of armies and represented Team England at AoS (as did Dan & Ritchie).
As Dan did he has also brought an Incarnate to survive, add punch, kill monsters and eat Endless Spells. Toby only lost to Dan in the final, and he’s been smashing the tournament scene all season. I was fortunate enough to play him at the start of the season and he (like all the 16 in the final) is a great player and great fun to play against.
The Nurgle are great because they can’t really be debuffed – large number of damage one attacks with minimal rend, but backed up by mortal wounds via disease markers. This is a great army, can do battle tactics in its sleep, and is a great counter to Seraphon Thunder Lizards (because of damage 1) who are at the top of the rankings with Nurgle.
Great result for Toby in his first full season at AoS.
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Courtesy of Ziggy & T Sports Network
Declan: I was fortunate to play Ritchie in a very tight game (only 3 VPs in it), when I grabbed the win. But he qualified top of the group by beating the 2 Seraphon lists in Group 1. This was no easy feat though, and with the pressure on game 2, Ritchie beat Mike Stewart – the number one ranked player in the World! It really does show the importance of not letting an early defeat put you off your game.
Like his fellow top three players, Ritchie is in Team England and qualified for the Top 16 by playing a large variety of armies. He has the same core as Toby with Blightlords, at least one Lord of Affliction and an Incarnate. His optional choices include another monster (Bloab) allowing him to grap additional battle tactic points from making a 3rd unit into a monster, or a second for Savage Spearhead. Making full use of GHB21 and the season of the monsters.
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Courtesy of Ziggy & T-Sports Network
Declan – Peter has chosen the last of the top qualifiers and Alex did very well with a Magmadroth inspired army, only falling at the Nurgle wall of flesh that was Toby & Ritchie. Fyreslayers are good, survivable and the Magmadroths can dish out damage, take damage and use their runes to do exactly what they need to do, when the need to do it.
Being able to put 3 Magmadroths in Hunters of the Heartland is a great touch in GHB21 and obviously this is not repeatable in GHB22, but the army will definitely have play in the new edition. Fyreslayers are here to stay and I’m sure Alex will have a great season for GHB22 as well.
Declan – A huge thank you to Ziggy for running the event, and Rob for hosting. It was amazing and a great end to an incredible season for me! Top marks, and all games were played at a top level, with all players having fun as well.
Full Tournament Results
Thanks to T-Sports Network for the great graphics. Why not visit them on their Twitch channel and watch some of the games back. There is a small charge to join, but for that you get to see the top players playing competitive Age of Sigmar. It is the end of the season, but there’s lots here to learn that’ll help any player in GHB22.
Before I begin, I wanted to clarify that when I discuss anything that involves a dice roll then I will refer to the average dice roll. For example, an average run roll being 3-4″ (average of 3.5 on one die).
This does mean that depending on how lucky your dice rolls are you can achieve more or less than the amount specified. But to keep it simple and for comparison purposes we will always refer to the average.
This fella is your Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker who costs an additional 5 points. As a named character you’ll lose the ability to give him command traits or his mount Mount Traits, but gain an added extras of being able to get you an additional triumph during the game. An expert Snatch and Grab ability, 1 extra wound and his Noisome Bite does D3+4 instead of D3+3.
To take Skummdrekk, you’re kind of forced to take a unit of HobgrotSlittaz (I say forced, but we all know the Hobgrots are the mightiest unit in Age of Sigmar). These Hobgrot units get assigned as the ‘Kountin’ Krew‘. Another friendly unit will be assigned as the ‘Bet‘.
If the ‘Bet‘ is the first unit to be destroyed from your army in the battle you gain an additional Triumph, but this Triumph can only be use on Swampboss Skumdrekk or the Hobgrot Slittaz unit designated as the ‘Kountin’Krew‘.
As you can tell it’s an ok ability, but you’re limited in the reward which is a bit…. nah in my eyes. For the five points expense and at the cost of losing those Command Trait abilities I’d rather take the standard Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast.
Swampboss Skumdrekk has an Expert Snatch and Grab ability which allows him to remove a model with 7 or less wounds if he rolls equal to or more than their wound value on 2D6. This is great as you have a higher chance that with the standard Snatchaboss to remove a hero character on foot, or even wiping a chunk of a unit out through coherency.
Other than that he does everything your Snatchaboss will do, so for that I would look at my Warscroll review on him here.
Combinations
Source
Ability
Description
Kruleboyz Allegiance Abilities
Grinin’ Blades
During the first battle round, friendly GRINNIN’ BLADES units are not visible to enemy models that are more than 12″ away from them.
Kruleboyz Command Trait
Egomaniak
If this general is within 3″ of another friendly unit, roll a dice before you allocate a wound or mortal wound to this general or instead of making a ward roll for this general. On a 4+, pick 1 other friendly unit within 3″ of this general. That wound is allocated to that unit instead and cannot be negated.
Kruleboyz Command Trait
Supa Sneaky
If this general is on the battlefield at the start of the first battle round, before determining who has the first turn, you can pick 1 friendly KRULEBOYZ unit and set it up again anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9″ from all enemy units.
Kruleboyz Command Trait
Slippery Skumbag
This general can retreat and charge in the same turn.
Mount Trait
Tough ’Un
MONSTER only. Unless this model has a number of wounds allocated to it that exceeds half its Wounds characteristic, use the top row on its damage table, regardless of how many wounds it has suffered.
Mount Trait
Fast ’Un
Once per battle, in your hero phase, this model can make a normal move.
Mount Trait
Mean ‘Un
MONSTER only. When you carry out the Stomp monstrous rampage with this model, the enemy unit you pick suffers D6 mortal wounds on a 2+ instead of D3.
Mount Trait
Loud ‘Un
MONSTER only. When you carry out the Roar monstrous rampage with this model, pick all enemy units within 3″ of this model instead of 1.
Mount Trait
Weird ‘Un
This model has a ward of 4+ against mortal wounds caused by spells and the abilities of endless spells.
Mount Trait
Smelly ‘Un
Subtract 1 from hit rolls for attacks made with melee weapons that target this model if it has not made a charge move in the same turn.
Kruleboyz Battle Traits
Venom-encrusted Weapons
If the unmodified hit roll for an attack made by a KRULEBOYZ ORRUK model is 6, that attack causes a number of mortal wounds to the target equal to the weapon’s Damage characteristic and the attack sequence ends (do not make a wound roll or save roll). This ability has no effect on attacks made by a mount unless noted otherwise.
Kruleboyz Battle Traits
Kruleboyz Waaagh!
Once per battle, in the combat phase, when you pick a friendly KRULEBOYZ general to fight, you can say that they are calling a Kruleboyz Waaagh!. If you do so, pick up to 2 other friendly KRULEBOYZ units wholly within 18” of that general and that have not yet fought in that combat phase. That general and the units you picked can fight one after the other in the order of your choice.
Kruleboyz Battle Traits
Dirty Tricks
After the players have received their starting command points but before the start of the first turn, you can pick 1 of the following Dirty Tricks to employ during the battle: Noisy Racket: On the eve of battle, you make sure the enemy receives no respite as your war drums and rattle-skulls ring out into the night. Subtract 1 from wound rolls for attacks made by enemy units in the first battle round. Lethal Surprise: Your scouts have laid cunningly disguised pitfall traps out in no man’s land. Roll 3 dice. For each 4+, you can pick 1 different terrain feature or different objective that is not wholly within enemy territory and secretly note it down. The first time any enemy unit finishes a move within 1″ of that terrain feature or objective, roll a dice. On a 2+, that unit suffers D6 mortal wounds. Disappearin’ Act: You have sent out your grots to lure a band of enemy warriors into the swamp mists until they become utterly lost. Roll 3 dice. For each 4+, you can pick 1 different enemy unit on the battlefield that has not been reinforced. Then, roll a dice for each unit you picked. If the roll is greater than that unit’s Wounds characteristic, your opponent must remove that unit from the battlefield and set it up as a reserve unit. At the end of your opponent’s first movement phase, they must set up that unit on the battlefield wholly within their territory and more than 9″ away from all enemy units. This Dirty Trick cannot be picked if the battleplan has the ‘No Reserves’ rule (for example Tooth and Nail). Covered in Mud: After some ‘hard finkin’, you command a group of warriors to slather themselves in muck and sneak up on the unwitting enemy. Roll 3 dice. For each 4+, pick 1 friendly unit that is not a HERO or MONSTER. While that unit is in cover, it is not visible to enemy units.
Killaboss
All Part of Da Plan
If a friendly KRULEBOYZ unit fails a battleshock test within 3″ of any friendly units with this ability, only 1 model from that unit will flee.
Murknob with Belcha-banna
Power of Kragnos
When a friendly KRULEBOYZ ORRUK unit wholly within 12″ of this unit is affected by a spell or the abilities of an endless spell, you can roll a dice. On a 5+, ignore the effect of that spell or the effects of that endless spell’s abilities on that unit.
Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot
Poisons and Elixirs
At the start of your hero phase, if this unit is more than 3″ from all enemy units, instead of attempting to dispel an endless spell or cast any spells with this unit in that phase, you can say that it is brewing either a poison or an elixir. If you do so, pick 1 friendly KRULEBOYZ ORRUK unit wholly within 12″ of this unit, more than 3″ from all enemy units and that has at least 1 model within 3″ of this unit to be given that poison or elixir. A unit that has been given a poison or elixir cannot be given another poison or elixir in the same hero phase. If that unit is given a poison, until your next hero phase, when you use the Venom-encrusted Weapons battle trait for that unit, mortal wounds are caused on an unmodified hit roll of 5+ instead of 6. If that unit is given an elixir, add 1 to save rolls for attacks that target that unit until your next hero phase.
Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot / Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork
Summon Boggy Mist
Summon Boggy Mist is a spell that has a casting value of 7. If successfully cast, until your next hero phase, add 1 to charge rolls for friendly KRULEBOYZ ORRUK units on the battlefield and subtract 1 from charge rolls for other units on the battlefield.
Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork
Mouth of Mork
If this unit issues the Redeploy command to a KRULEBOYZ unit, you can re-roll the dice that determines the distance the unit that receives the command can move. If this unit issues the Unleash Hell command to a KRULEBOYZ unit, you do not have to subtract 1 from the hit rolls for the attacks made by the unit that receives the command.
Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast Swampboss Skumdrekk
Sludgeraker Venom
Add 1 to the number of mortal wounds caused by the Venom-encrusted Weapons battle trait if the unmodified hit roll was 6 and the attacking unit is wholly within 12″ of any friendly units with this ability.
Kragnos, the End of Empires
The End of Empires
If a friendly DESTRUCTION unit is wholly within 12″ of this unit, you can attempt a charge with that unit if it is within 18″ of an enemy unit instead of 12″. In addition, when making a charge roll for a friendly DESTRUCTION unit wholly within 12″ of this unit, roll 3D6 instead of 2D6.
Rogue Idol
Livin’ Idol
Add 1 to casting rolls for friendly ORRUK WIZARDS while they are within 6″ of any friendly models with this ability. In addition, add 1 to the Bravery characteristic of friendly ORRUK units while they are wholly within 18″ of any friendly models with this ability.
Kruleboyz Wizard
Sneaky Miasma
Sneaky Miasma is a spell that has a casting value of 6 and a range of 18″. If successfully cast, pick 1 friendly KRULEBOYZ MONSTER within range and visible to the caster. That MONSTER can make a normal move.
Missile Attacks
This unit has no missile attacks.
Melee Attacks
This model has weapon profiles for the boss and for his mount, and while only Kruleboyz Orruks benefit from the Venom-encrusted Weapons, the Warscroll specifies that this also applies to the Sludgerakers Noisome Bite and Grasping Talons as well.
Attack
Av Threat Range
Av # of Attacks
Av # of Hits
Av # of Wounds
Damage Output (Pre-save)
Chain-linked Grappling Hook
15″
3
2.0
1.3
3.9
Grasping Talons
15″
5
1.7 +2mw
1.1 +2mw
2.2 +2mw
Noisome Bite
15″
1
0.6
0.5
2.5
Thrashing Tail
15″
2
1.3
1.1
2.2
Based on average dice rolls
Looking at the damage after saves:
Save
Chain-linked Grappling Hook
Grasping Talons
Noisome Bite
Thrashing Tail
–
3.9
2.2 +2mw
2.5
2.2
6+
3.9
2.2 +2mw
2.5
2.2
5+
3.2
1.8 +2mw
2.1
2.2
4+
2.6
1.5 +2mw
1.7
1.8
3+
2.0
1.1 +2mw
1.3
1.5
Amount of damage after saves based on average dice rolls
The chance of this units charge connecting:
Distance
Chance
11″
97%
12″
92%
13″
83%
14″
72%
15″
58%
16″
42%
17″
28%
18″
17%
19″
8%
20″
3%
Chance of making a charge (including movement)
Resilience
With 15 wounds and a 4+ save this model is surprisingly tough. It’ll need on average 30 damage from zero rend weapons allocated to it BEFORE any saves on order to have a chance of destroying this in a single turn.
Have you heard the call of the Ethersea? Do you steal the souls of sentient creatures to prolong your own life? Do you like to move fast and hit hard while looking fishy and fabulous? Then Idoneth Deepkin is the faction for you!
The obvious place to start collecting an army of watery aelves is the Vanguard: Idoneth Deepkin box, available from Games Workshop or your favorite local game store.
The box is great value. Here’s what you get:
10 Namarti Thralls. The backbone of virtually any Idoneth Deepkin army, these Battleline units hit like a truck but are relatively fragile. The kit has only one weapon option with a few different visual choices.
3 Akhelian Guard. These ultra-fast flying cavalry can be built as either Morsarr Guard (spears) or Ishlaen Guard (swords). I highly recommend building them as Morsarr Guard, as the offense-oriented eels are more widely usable in a variety of different lists.
1 Akhelian Allopex. Think of it as a flying gun platform that can also bite people. Very fast and decent at both shooting and melee. Comes with a choice of harpoon launcher or net launcher. Build your first shark with the harpoon, as the net is more situational.
1 Isharran Soulscryer. The Deepkin’s only Priest character. While he’s nobody’s first choice of hero, “Mister Pointy” still has his uses, especially in the 2022 Matched Play season.
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Alternative Starting Points
If you can find it, the old Start Collecting: Idoneth Deepkin box is a little cheaper but still provides good value. You’ll get the same 10 Thralls and 3 Akhelian Guard, but you’ll miss out on the Allopex. In place of the Soulscryer you get the Isharran Soulrender, arguably a much better hero. If you’re starting out with the Soulrender, consider choosing the Mor’phann sub-faction to get the most out of him.
If you can find the 2022 dual-faction box Fury of the Deep, the Idoneth Deepkin half comes with 10 Thralls, 10 Namarti Reavers (mobile ranged battleline) and one Akhelian Thrallmaster (a buffing hero that improves Thralls). This might be a good option if you’re splitting the box with a Fyreslayers player, or if you plan to focus on Namarti and avoid the eels and sharks.
Fire, meet water
Your First 1000 Point List
Here’s how to build your first 1000 point Idoneth Deepkin list:
Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin – Enclave: Ionrach – Grand Strategy: The Creeping Gloomtide – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Isharann Soulscryer (150)* – Artefact: Dritchleech – Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse Isharann Tidecaster (150)* – General – Command Trait: Teachings of the Turscoll – Lore of the Deeps: Counter-current
Battleline 10 x Namarti Thralls (130)* 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)*
Units 1 x Akhelian Allopexes (165)* – Razorshell Harpoon 3 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (195)*
This list can do something in every phase of the game. While fragile, it has access to two Isharran rituals (Creeping Mist during Low Tide and Deepsight during High Tide) that can keep you safe from shooting and protect your Namarti, respectively.
We’ve chosen Ionrach for our enclave as it’s a good all-rounder that doesn’t rely on any specific units to be effective. Use it to retreat-and-charge or run-and-charge with your eels or shark whenever you need an extra boost of mobility.
A typical deployment would be to set up defensively behind your Gloomtide Shipwreck and keep the Soulscryer off the board, accompanied by the Reavers, the Allopex or even both. With your one-drop battalion, you’ll usually want to give away first turn to force your opponent to come closer (allowing you to hopefully grab the double turn). Based on your opponent’s army and deployment, decide whether to use Teachings of the Turscoll to reverse the order of the tides to your benefit.
The game plan is to whittle down your opponent with shooting before charging in with your eels, shark and Thralls. Deep-strike the Soulscryer and friends in at an opportune time to grab an objective or harass the opponent’s backline. Use his Curse prayer along with Namarti shooting and melee to hopefully break even the largest enemy unit.
If you want to embody an Idoneth general, start practicing your satisfied smirk
Want more infantry? For an alternative list, lose the Tidecaster and add 10 more Thralls, bringing that block up to 20. You’ll have more bodies and more presence on the board, but you’ll be missing any form of magic.
Looking for something that’s high risk/high reward? Lose the Soulscryer and Tidecaster and add an Akhelian King. You’ll have no magic (unless you give him Arcane Tome and Flaming Weapon, which you absolutely should), no rituals, and you’ll be spending a quarter of your points on one very fragile hero. On the other hand, he’s extremely deadly and he buffs your Akhelian units. While amazing in a larger game, he may not be the best choice when you’re just starting out.
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Pricing It Out
So how much will this list cost you?
Box
USD
GBP
EUR
AUD
Vanguard: Idoneth Deepkin
$130
£80
€105
$190
Namarti Reavers
$55
£32.50
€42.50
$84
Isharran Tidecaster
$32
£18
€23
$40
Gloomtide Shipwreck
$60
£35
€45
$84
Battletome: Idoneth Deepkin
$55
£32.50
€42.50
$84
Total
$332
£198
€258
$482
Purchasing from eBay or your local game store can drop these price by 15-20%
Let’s talk about the ur-kraken in the room: The Gloomtide Shipwreck. It’s currently out of stock on Games Workshop’s website and very expensive on eBay. Your best bet is to scour local game stores in search of one.
This is an important model for your army, but you can make do without one if you’ll be playing casually at first. My advice is to use a template or proxy model until you find one or they come back in stock online.
Next Steps
So you’ve played a few games at 1000 points and you want to expand your army. What’s next?
First things first: grab yourself an Akhelian King. The Slap-King, as he’s known, is a fantastic finesse piece which can reliably delete the enemy’s biggest threats and almost guarantee you the This One’s Mine! battle tactic. Just be careful with your positioning and watch out for Unleash Hell and Stomp.
I strongly recommend at least another 10 Namarti Thralls. They may be eye-less but they’re not harmless, as their 2″ reach and surprising damage output can chew through most enemy units.
To support your Thralls and Reavers, you could consider investing in heroes such as the Isharran Soulrender, Lotann or the Akhelian Thrallmaster. The Soulrender is a particularly good choice, as he unlocks the popular Mor’phann enclave.
Waving to his fans
Now we’re getting into the big centerpiece models. The Eidolon of Mathlann is a huge support hero that comes in either Sea (spellcasting) or Storm (combat) flavors. The Eidolon of the Sea is currently your best bet for a reliable spellcaster in the entire faction, and it also brings along a massive bravery buff and an excellent warscroll spell. Definitely a worthwhile investment.
Finally, the Akhelian Leviadon is a hefty model with a hefty points cost (and price tag), but as the faction’s only monster he doesn’t disappoint. The titanic turtle is a shooting, fighting, tanky monster that protects and buffs your Namarti. If you happen to choose the Nautilar enclave, the Leviadon’s attacks become truly terrifying against heavily armored targets.
Good luck harvesting the souls of your enemies! If you have any questions or want to share your ideas for starting an Idoneth army, dive into the comments section below.
Here at Woehammer, we know that Warhammer fans never complain about anything. But – sometimes it can be healthy to get something off your chest. This is a game of two halves, and one of those halves is always wrong, or too strong – right? But, great sports as we all are, we bottle those feelings up. But feelings ferment (it’s the salt!) and left too long, can turn sour, and blow the bottle of your unconscious into shards of misery that dig deep into your most squishy, inner parts – and no-one wants that.
Least of all your new, resident Agony Aunt, The Slaughter Queen known as ‘Kreelith Tongue-Tearer’. She drove a hard bargain – most of the Woehammer team are still recuperating from the blood-letting – but eventually the Cauldron was full, and she pledged her services to us in perpetuity, or until we all became exsanguinate husks in service of her God-Mother – whichever comes first.
Kreelith is all ears. And sacrificial daggers.
Now, after such an ordeal, we’re sincerely hoping some of you have some gripes you can send in for Kreelith to help you with, in her infinite, bloodthirsty wisdom. Want to complain about a certain faction? Let it all out (so long as it’s not Daughters of Khaine…). Have a secret shame or confession you need to get off your chest? Let Kreelith rip your heart out – figuratively speaking. Just want to moan about something preventing you from Warhammering as much as you’d like to? Bare all to your new master! Master of comforting understanding, that is.
Originally this tournament army was going to be played at the ‘Age of the Dark Gods‘ tournament organised by Savage Hammer Gaming on 24th September. However, due to not enough interest in the event, I was invited instead to attend their event on 25th June ‘The Battle of the God-Kings‘. This is being held in Harrold, near Bedford. For those interested, there are still tickets available.
Last time we had one last vote and that was to decide on whether to keep the Warlord Battalion or change it to another Battle Regiment. The results are in!
With the overwhelming response being to change to the battle regiment, we’ve changed our list to a 3 drop. This should give me a good chance of deciding whether to go first or second.
The Final Tournament Army List
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Kruleboyz – Subfaction: Big Yellers – Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Breaka-boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (180) – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un Gobsprakk (280)* Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)** – Spells: Nasty Hex Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (315)** – General – Command Traits: Supa Sneaky – Artefacts of Power: Mork’s Eye Pebble Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)** – Spells: Choking Mist
BATTLELINE Man-skewer Boltboyz (360)* – Boltboy Boss Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)* – Boltboy Boss Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)* – Boltboy Boss Gutrippaz (180)** – Gutrippa Banner Bearer – Gutrippa Drummer – Gutrippa Boss – Wicked Stikka
OTHER Hobgrot Slittaz (80)** – Scrap Totem Bearer – Noise-maker – Hobgrot Boss
That should do it! Now just to paint the last few models and then roll some dice. I hope I get to play some of my fellow Woehammerers, Ed, Declan and Rhys are all attending the event. I’ll let you know how I get on.
