Fall of the Old World VII took place in the UK on April 30th and May 1st. It involved 31 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.
Allegiance: Skaventide – Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery – Triumph: Inspired
Leaders Arch-Warlock (175)** – Artefact: Vigordust Injector – Lore of Warplock Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power! Grey Seer (140)** – Lore of Ruin: Skitterleap Lord Screech Verminking (330) Verminlord Deceiver (345)** – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Gnawbomb – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Peter: Skaven seem to be having a resurgence of late. This list, much like Anthony Trentanelli’s at the Motor City GT and the Slambo GT, relies on the Stormfiends to destroy anything they come up against. They have so many shooting attacks, and they’re super swingy. But! John has added an Arch-Warlock with More-more-more Warp Power which will allow him to re-roll all misses on those Stormfiends if he gets the spell off.
On top of that you have a teleporting giant-assassin-rat sneaking up on your lines and killing anything they can, and while all that is going on the Clanrats and Stormvermin are quietly going about their business claiming objectives.
Advertisements
Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Befouling Host – Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery – Triumph: Inspired
Leaders Great Unclean One (495)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Bile Blade & Doomsday Bell – Artefact: The Witherstave – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon The Glottkin (700)** – Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations
Units 1x Beasts of Nurgle (110)* 3x Plague Drones (200)* 20x Plaguebearers (300)** – Reinforced: Once 10x Plaguebearers (150)**
Peter: A fairly eclectic Nurgle list that aims to out drop you and get the decision on who takes the first turn.Those plaguebearers are going to be hard to shift from any objectives with the disgustingly resilient rules and the Glottkin and GUO pack a punch in combat and love to cast spells which give you a tonne of mortal wounds.
Advertisements
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – City: Living City – Grand Strategy: Mighty Beachhead -Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Freeguild General on Griffon (290)* – General – Lance – Command Trait: Forest Strider – Artefact: Spear of the Hunt – Mount Trait: Soaring Guardian Freeguild General (100)* Doralia ven Denst (115)*
Peter: A single drop Cities list, which loves to chip wounds off you with its shooting and then tear whatever is left to shreds with charging Fulminators.
Advertisements
Allegiance: Bonesplitterz – Warclan: Icebone – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Wurrgog Prophet (150)* – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of the Savage Beast Glowy Green TusksManiak Weirdnob (100)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un – Lore of the Savage Beast Glowy Green TusksKragnos, The End of Empires (720)*
Battleline 5 × Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas
Units 10 x Savage Boarboy Maniaks (290)* – Reinforced x 1
Peter: A nice fast, Orruk army that’s likely to outdrop you and claim objectives early. Chadnos, who’ll give all those units buffs to their charges and will do the Lions share of the fighting. Then, Wurrgog. Oh how we’ll miss Wurrgog once he’s been nerfed by GW….
Chris Wraight has written a few books on the Khan of the White Scars and he enters the Siege of Terra when the Khan decides that attack is the best form of defence and attacks Mortarion and the Death Guard for the Space Port… hoping for the arrival of the Ultramarines and Gulliman.
Warhawk Cover from Black Library
From the book:
The Inner Walls are breached.
Traitor vanguards tear towards the heart of the Palace, sensing victory. Desperate gambits are attempted: an unwilling saint is released into the ruins, as well as an enthusiastic sinner. A black sword rises, forged from spite, ready to create a legend. But amid the slaughter, Jaghatai Khan, Warhawk of Chogoris, prepares to launch the most audacious strike of the conflict. His goal is nothing less than the liberation of the Lion’s Gate space port. Cut off from any help, he stakes everything on one desperate counter-offensive, launched against an old enemy who has been made far greater than he ever was before. As the White Scars ride out against the newly crowned lords of life and death, they know that defeat for them dooms not only the Legion, but Terra itself.
As we approach the end of the end with the Siege of Terra things are definitely hotting up and it’s great to see Chris Wraight return to the White Scars and the battles with Mortarion and his Death Guard.
The Khan is stuck on Terra where he is one of the Primarchs facing the invasion of Horus in the final stages of the Heresy and it is not his natural environment, being trapped behind walls, unable to use the speed of his jetbikes. Eventually he grows tired of defense and goes on the attack… straight towards the Death Guard and the Lion’s Gate Space Port.
This is another great addition to the series, and one I liked a lot – which, considering neither of the chapters hold particular interest for me was down to the good writing and pace. The White Scars are introduced slightly in case you hadn’t seen or read of them before and then it’s quickly into the action – there are still lots of smaller stories whirling around here, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself getting a little lost! I certainly did.
That said, it is a fun addition to the story which slowly moves towards it’s conclusion and Chris Wraight does a good job of bringing in the White Scars, but keeping the underlying story moving as well.
Vault Wars took place in Missouri, USA on 14th and 15th May. It involved 39 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Vault Wars differs in that each player takes two lists with so 250 points being changed between the lists. The idea being that each player can choose the list yet think most suits their opponent. For the purpose these top three we will only look at their first lists.
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.
1st Place – Tom Lyons
Tom won all five games over the weekend. Along the way they beat Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe in round 1, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in round 2, Idoneth Deepkin/Dhom-Hain in round 3, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Befouling Host in round 4 and Lumineth Realm-Lords/Syar in Round 5.
Leaders Dreadblade Harrow (100)** – General – Command Trait: Ruler of the Spirit Hosts – Artefact: Pendant of the Fell Wind Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (135)** – Artefact: Corpse Candle – Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist Guardian of Souls with Nightmare Lantern (135) – Lore of the Underworlds: Shademist Krulghast Cruciator (120)*** – Artefact: Midnight Tome – Reaping Scythe Reikenor the Grimhailer (145)*** – Lore of the Underworlds: Soul Cage Spirit Torment (115)***
Battleline 30 x Chainrasp Horde (285)* – Reinforced x 2 20 x Chainrasp Horde (190)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Chainrasp Horde (95)
Units 2 x Chainghasts (75)** 10 x Dreadscythe Harridans (160)* 4 x Myrmourn Banshees (75) 2 x Chainghasts (75)***
Danny: What have these Nighthaunt players got to prove, with all this big wins on the eve of the new book! Reikenor’s Condemned is an interesting sub-faction that requires a wide variety of units – the tl;dr is that it offers re-roll hits to Chainrasps and Stalkers, can bring even more models back, and gives Stalkers +6″ movement. So it’s a tight list of requirements but offers a lot of utility. With 5 heroes and a Black Coach there’s an awful lot of overlapping synergy going on in general – but a key piece is the Cruciator who buffs the death ward of 6 to a 5 if he inflicts a wound on anything – with 12″ range, 4 attacks 3/3/-2/1 that’s not usually TOO hard. Beware folks – all of this has just got much, much better…
Advertisements
2nd Place – Justin Newman
Justin managed four wins over the two days and lost a fifth. Along the way they beat Fyreslayers/Greyfyrd in round 1, Hedonites of Slaanesh/Lurid Haze in round 2, Soulblight Gravelords/Legion of Blood in round 3, then lost against 1st placed Tom in round 4 before beating Sylvaneth/Gnarlroot in round 5.
Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Befouling Host – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Horticulous Slimux (225)** Sloppity Bilepiper, Herald of Nurgle (130)** Lord of Afflictions (210)* – General – Command Trait: Overpowering Stench – Artefact: The Splithorn Helm Orghotts Daemonspew (300)*
Battleline 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)* 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)* 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)* 1 x Beasts of Nurgle (110)*
Danny: Maggotkin with Befouling Host is emerging as the premier alternative to Drowned Men – Gnarlmaws are pretty darn sweet and offer lots of synergy (and contagion points!) now, so the ability to take 2 offers flexibility. This list is a semi-creative take on the Beast of Nurgle spam list – with two of the funniest characters in the game (who also happen to offer a tonne of buffs and synergy) – Sloppity and Horticulous – and Daemonspew for a nice single-model hammer. Beasts are basically a nightmare to pin down – they can run retreat/charge, put disease points on units they retreat from, and do d3 mortals on a 2+ when they make a charge. You can probably see how the list functions now.
Advertisements
3rd Place – Bryce Wickline
Bryce finished the weekend with one loss and four wins. His path saw him beat Idoneth Deepkin/Nautilar in round 1, Sylvaneth/Gnarlroot in round 2, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Blessed Sons in round 3, Soulblight Gravelords/Legion of Blood in round 4. This was followed by a loss to Idoneth Deepkin/Nautilar in round 5.
Allegiance: Sons of Behemat – Tribe: Breaker Tribe (Fierce Loathing: Idiots with Flags) – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Kragnos, The End of Empires (720) Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (525)* – General – Command Trait: Louder than Words – Artefact: Enchanted Portcullis Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (525)* – Artefact: Amulet of Destiny (Universal Artefact)
Battleline 1 x Mancrusher Gargants (170)
Core Battalions *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent
Danny: Sons are in an interesting place – they’re still great, but in certain matchups the Priority points they give up handicap more than perhaps is fair. Still, 2 Gate-breakers (the hardest hitting ones) with a 3d6 charge next to big ol’ Chadnos, and a more ‘throwaway’ (it’s all relative with Sons…) Mancrusher offers a nice hierarchy of pain, and kinda gives each warscroll a more dedicated role than the usual 4 big’uns. Sons aren’t going anywhere despite having a big crosshair painting on their enormous butts!
Advertisements
Wildcard – Brendan Melnick
Brendan won three games and lost two, ending his weekend in a very respectful 11th. Along the way he beat Bonesplitterz/Icebone in round 1, then lost against 3rd placed Bryce in round 2. This was followed by wins against Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in round 3 Legion of the First Prince in round 4. In the last round he lost against Maggotkin of Nurgle/Befouling.
Danny: Gotta love those plucky murder-trees juicing the old…so very old… book for all its worth. This version revolves (as does any competitive build now) around the Warsong Bomb – that’s what all the endless spells are for essentially, to add cast attempts and extend range for fully loading up on the Warsong’s scroll spell. It also brings two Treelord (and ancient and normal) for save stacking, synergy, and durable monsters, and rounds it off with a killer tree blob – 6 sycthes (great value, good rend) and 3 swords (can spike mortals on 6s to wound) offering play into both hordes and tankier, high save stuff. Doesn’t look like 3-2 is going to be the best this kind of list can do for long – but congrats for the result on hard-mode in the meantime!
Mancunian Carnage took place in Manchester, UK at Element Games on 21st and 22nd. These events are organised by the fantastic Alex “Ghost Arm”. It involved 81 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Carnage is a great event as it tries to level the playing field between the lower tier factions and the higher. For example giving factions like Gloomspite Gitz and Skaven an additional 250 points for their army lists. Points are also awarded. For your painting standard and your sportsmanship which all get added to your overall score for the event.
You can also catch up on some of the games from this event by subscripting to The Hobby Room on twitch who were streaming the games live.
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.
1st Place – Gabe Huddlestone
Gabe won all five games over the weekend. Along the way they beat Nighthaunt/Emerald Host in round 1, Flesh-eater Courts/Gristlegore in round 2, Idoneth Deepkin/Ionrach in round 3, Idoneth Deepkin/Mor’Phann in round 4 and Blades of Khorne/Reapers of Vengeance in Round 5.
Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Befouling Host – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Rotigus (495) – Spells: Fleshy Abundance Orghotts Daemonspew (300) Morbidex Twiceborn (320)** Lord of Afflictions (210)** – General – Command Traits: Overpowering Stench – Artefacts of Power: The Splithorn Helm Sloppity Bilepiper (130)** – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Favoured Poxes
BATTLELINE Plaguebearers (300)* Beasts of Nurgle (110)* Beasts of Nurgle (110)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Hunters of the Heartlands **Command Entourage
Peter: Lots of big Monsters in here. The reinforced plague bearers will be a nightmare to try and shift from any objectives they go near as they’ll be getting buffed by the Sloppity Bilepiper to stop any units that charge them from piling in any closer too! Add to that units like Daemonspew who hits fairly hard but will allow Gabe to issue a command with this unit each turn without using a command point. Morbidex who can round heal half of all wounds that have been allocated to him in a turn and Rotigus a named Great Unclean One. What makes him different to a regular GUO is his spell Deluge of Nurgle:
Which, by the way, he can re-roll his casting dice for if he fails to cast it the first time around!
Advertisements
2nd Place – Freddie Leggett
Freddie also finished the weekend with five wins. Along the way they beat Ironjawz/Ironsunz in round 1, Cities of Sigmar/Living City in round 2, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 3, Idoneth Deepkin/Nautilar in round 4 and Cities of Sigmar/Hammerhal in round 5.
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – City: Hallowheart – Grand Strategy: Dominating Presence – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Battlemage (115)* – Hallowheart 2nd Spell: Warding Brand – City Role: General’s Adjutant – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Lore of Whitefire: Ignite Weapons Luminark of Hysh with White Battlemage (275)* – Hallowheart 2nd Spell: Sear Wounds – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist Black Ark Fleetmaster (70)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Hallowheart 2nd Spell: Ignite Weapons – Lore of Whitefire: Warding Brand
Battleline 1 x Scourgerunner Chariots (80)* 1 x Scourgerunner Chariots (80)* 1 x Scourgerunner Chariots (80)*
Units 6 x Demigryph Knights (350)** – Lance and Sword – City Role: Honoured Retinue (Must be 5-20 models) – Reinforced x 1 6 x Vanguard-Palladors (430)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Starstrike Javelins – Reinforced x 1 10 x Protectors (450)** – Reinforced x 1
Peter: A nice magic heavy list here, with a lot of fast units to grab the objectives early doors. The magic users are there to buff the rest of the army rather than cause massive damage to the enemy. With Ignite Weapons adding +1 to the wound rolls of a unit. Warding Brand allows units to dish mortal wounds back for every wound they suffer on a 4+, while Sear Wounds will heal up to D6 wounds back on a unit.
Advertisements
3rd Place – Russ Veal
Russ managed to claim four victories over the course of the event at the cost of a single loss. Through the weekend Russ beat Maggotkin of Nurgle/Befouling Host in round 1, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in round 2, Nighthaunt/Emerald Host in round 3. He then lost to 1st place Gabe in round 4 before going on to beating Gloomspite Gitz/Glogg’s Megamob in round 5.
Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin – Enclave: Mor’Phann – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Lotann, Warden of the Soul Ledgers (115)* Eidolon of Mathlann, Aspect of the Sea (325)* – Lore of the Deeps: Steed of Tides Isharann Soulrender (120)* – General – Command Trait: Teachings of the Turscoll – Artefact: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide
Units 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)* 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)* 1 x Akhelian Allopexes (165)* – Razorshell Harpoon 1 x Akhelian Allopexes (165)* – Razorshell Harpoon Akhelian Leviadon (500)* – Mount Trait: Ancient *Battle Regiment
Peter: This army is surprisingly tanky. Being Mor’Phann the Soulrender will be able to add 3 models back to a Namarti unit when using their Lurelight ability and with 40 of these boys on the board an opponent must have gotten really board of killing Namarti! This obviously makes them prime units to take and hold the objectives while the rest of the army zips around making fish food of things.
Advertisements
Wildcard – Calvin Smith
Calvin won four games and lost one. Along the way he beat Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty in round 1, Fyreslayers/Greyfyrd in round 2, Idoneth Deepkin/Fuethan in round 3, Slaves to Darkness/Hosts of the Everchosen in round 4. In the last round he lost to Gabe and his Maggotkin of Nurgle list.
Allegiance: Khorne – Slaughterhost: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs:
LEADERS Bloodsecrator (125)* Skarr Bloodwrath (105)*** Slaughterpriest (110)* – Prayer: Bronzed Flesh Skarbrand (380)*** Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280)* – Artefact: A’rgath the King of Blades Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (295) – General – Command Trait: Mage Eater – Artefact: Skullshard Mantle
UNITS 10 x Blood Warriors (190)** – Goreaxe & Gorefist – 1 x Goreglaives 10 x Blood Warriors (190)** – Goreaxe & Gorefist – 1 x Goreglaives 5 x Flesh Hounds (105)*** 5 x Flesh Hounds (105)*** 5 x Wrathmongers (145)** 10 x Bloodreavers (80)*** – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80)* – Meatripper Axes
Peter: Calvin was so, so close to going 5-0 with Blades of Khorne! As Danny would say ‘thats a helluva flex!’.
You’ve a Bloodsecrator who will add 1 to the attacks of friendly Khorne units nearby. While Skarr Bloodwrath can allow Wrathmongers to pile in and fight before they die. You can guarantee they’ll have been placed in the middle of the many many troops available to Calvin. Then you’ve got essentially three bloodthirsters who can blend most things in combat.
Slambo GT took place in Texas, USA on 21st and 22nd May. It involved 91 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.
1st Place – Anthony Trentanelli
Anthony followed up his Motor City GT GrandSlam with yet another, winning all five games over the weekend with his Skaven list for the second time. Along the way he beat Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn in round 1, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 2, Idoneth Deepkin/Dhom-Hain in round 3, Nighthaunt/Emerald Host in round 4 and LVO winner Gavin Grigar and his Daughters of Khaine/Hagg Nar list in Round 5.
Allegiance: Skaventide – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Thanquol on Boneripper (405)* – General – 4 Warpfire Projectors – Lore of Ruin: Skitterleap Arch-Warlock (175)* – Artefact: Vigordust Injector – Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power! Arch-Warlock (175)* – Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power!
Battleline 9 x Stormfiends (945)* – 3x Windlaunchers – 3x Ratling Cannons – 3x Doomflayer Gauntlets – Reinforced x 2 5 x Skryre Acolytes (65)* 5 x Skryre Acolytes (65)*
He comes off the back of another 5-0 with Skaven at the Motor City GT as well. To do it once could be viewed as lucky, but twice really shows his skill!
Danny: Two in a row with a list as swingy as double reinforced stormfiends is a helluva flex, Thanquol is the scourge of any kind of large unit. With so few bodies he must just systematically table opponents because the objective play is virtually non existent.
Honestly i can’t see the full rerolls surviving the new book, it’s probably the most oppressive shooting in the entire game.
Peter: I’d just like to add that Anthony beat Las Vegas Open winner Gavin Grigar in the final round. Who himself is a bit of a tourny legend for getting to the podium with Gloomspite Gitz.
Advertisements
2nd Place – Zach Kennedy
Zach also managed five wins over the two days with possibly the worst book of 3rd edition. Along the way they beat Maggotkin of Nurgle/Befouling Host in round 1, Idoneth Deepkin/Nautilar in round 2, Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 3 and Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 4 and Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in round 5.
Allegiance: Fyreslayers – Lodge: Greyfyrd – Mortal Realm: Aqshy – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360) – General – Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker – Artefact: Master Rune of Unbreakable Resolve – Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient Auric Runesmiter (135)* – Runic Iron – Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse – Prayer: Ember Storm Battlesmith (150)* – Artefact: Nulsidian Icon Auric Runemaster (125)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Universal Spell Lore: Levitate – Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Battleline 15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)** – Poleaxes – Reinforced x 2 30 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (480)** – Reinforced x 2 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)**
Endless Spells & Invocations Runic Fyrewall (55)
Core Battalions *Command Entourage – Magnificent **Hunters of the Heartlands
Peter: And it’s Fyreslayers! I think their new book is really starting to find it’s groove now, especially with players who have stuck with it. Admittedly it probably requires a high skill level, but this just goes to show that you’re still able to do well with them. This is regarded as possibly the worst of the new books as well.
Dave: What they really need to compete is trousers.
Peter: Ha! And sensible hair. Where do you stand on the Snake ladies then?
Dave: Tail probably, stop them wrapping you up so easily.
Peter: Brilliant
Danny: ahahahah. So they went with two magmadroths and lots of vulkites, very interesting. I found vulkites surprisingly tanky when I fought them and Hearthguard surprisingly non-lethal, so going wider for board control and relying on the Magmadroths for overlapping charges up rend shots is really clever.
Peter: This Fyreslayer list also beat two Maggotkin lists including a Dreaded Drowned Men fly list.
Danny: Very nice. It’s maybe because they’re tanky – and iirc they have a way to turn off wards?
Advertisements
3rd Place – Randal Brasher
Randal finished the weekend with one draw and four wins. His path saw him beat Lumineth Realm-Lords/Zaitrec in round 1, Sylvaneth/Gnarlroot in round 2. In round 3 he drew against Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty, then beat Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty in round 4 and Seraphon/ Thunder Lizard in round 5.
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – City: Tempest’s Eye – Mortal Realm: Aqshy – Grand Strategy: Dominating Presence – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Celestial Hurricanum with Celestial Battlemage (280)* – General – Command Trait: Hawk-eyed – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Eagles: Strike of Eagles Aetheric Navigator (95)*
Battleline 5 x Freeguild Pistoliers (105)* 5 x Freeguild Pistoliers (105)* 5 x Freeguild Pistoliers (105)* 10 x Ironbreakers (115)**
Units 4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)** Priority Target – Drakerider’s Lance – Reinforced x 1
Behemoths Arkanaut Ironclad (490)* – Main Gun: Great Volley Cannon
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment **Hunters of the Heartlands
Peter: So Randall went the weekend with four wins and one loss with a list that’s made up of 30% Kharadron and 34% SCE. A very fast moving army aimed at board control early on.
Dave: Poor Cities units, there are some good or even great ones but most never see play in favour of stuff from other books. Especially SCE.
Peter: True, it’s not as bad as some like Living City where we can see Dragon spam amounting to over 1.2k of points in a list.
Dave: Imagine what they’d have been like without the pre-nerf.
Danny: so…much…shooting…
Peter: Each Pistolier unit having 10 shots at 4/3/-1/1
Danny: The 4 dragons bog you down while everything else takes pot shots. Well, Ironclad is more tactical missiles rather than pot shots. Hurricanum can ruin your day too, really oppressive list.
Dave: Lots of pew pew noises!
Danny: Ha! What did it lose to?
Peter: It didn’t lose, it drew in the third round against SBGL/Kastelai list with Blood Knights and a Vamp Lord on Zombie Dragon.
Advertisements
Wildcard – Jacob Mathias
Jacob won four games and lost one, ending his weekend in a very respectful 8th. Along the way he lost to Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in the first round. He then beat Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn in round 2, Soulblight Gravelords/Legion of Night in round 3, Stormcast Eternals/Astral Templars in round 4 and Blades of Khorne/Reapers of Vengeance in the last round.
Leaders Frostlord on Stonehorn (430)* – General – Command Trait: Nice Drop of the Red Stuff! – Artefact: Splatter-cleaver – Mount Trait: Metalcruncher Butcher (135)* – Tenderiser – Bloodgullet 2nd Spell: Molten Entrails – Universal Spell Lore: Levitate Butcher (135)* – Tenderiser – Bloodgullet 2nd Spell: Ribcracker – Lore of Gutmagic: Greasy Deluge Kragnos, The End of Empires (720)
Battleline 2 x Mournfang Pack (160)* – Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists 2 x Mournfang Pack (160)* – Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists 2 x Mournfang Pack (160)* – Culling Clubs or Prey Hackers with Iron Fists
Peter: Four wins and a loss with that list is pretty insane.
Danny: Yuup!
Peter: It beat a Maggotkin/Drowned Men list in the first round with All the flies plus Bel’akor. I’m assuming the Gnoblars gum things up and the mournfang/stonehorn pounce on them?
Danny: Mournfangs are objective grabbers and chaff clearers really. The man is a hero for taking gnoblars, but at 5 points per wound they’re actually good value chaff and Mournfangs, at 10 points a wound and their damage potential – shooting chip damage, damage 2 tusks on the charge, 2 damage weapons_ are really solid picks, even if the bigger buffalos are more eye-catching.
Butchers are seeing repeated play as good utility pieces (like Warchanters, can buff damage AND cast a spell) and Kragnos ties it all together. Smart list and shows there’s life in the old frost-bitten tusk-dog
On May 14, I attended my first ever Warhammer grand tournament. This is the story of how I won two games, almost won a third, and had a damn good time meeting a lot of really cool people.
The place? Detroit, Michigan. The field? 34 players. The event? Motor City Mayhem. The battleground? A faded Best Western hotel just off the highway, where the lobby floor was always wet but the staff were always accommodating.
I arrived a day early in order to take in the sights of Detroit. While I won’t go into too much detail, if you ever find yourself in that part of the world make sure to check out Belle Isle Aquarium (America’s oldest aquarium!) and John K. King Books (America’s second-largest bookstore!). And for the love of god, try the local rectangular pizza.
🔥🔥🔥
Then Saturday rolled around and it was time for the games to begin.
The List
Now here’s where I admit something embarrassing: I had only played two games with my army list prior to this. Why would I do something so stupid? Well, I have a small toddler who dictates what I do with my free time. Also, I thought I was playing a different list until a week before the tournament.
Long story short: I submitted a list that centered around a Krondspine Incarnate. Then the tournament organizers updated the event packet to disallow a certain unit. I’ll give you one guess what that unit was.
So the Incarnate was out. But as the Girl Scouts say: improvise, adapt, overcome. I peered inside my Ikea Detolfs to see what other models were painted and ready to go. Here’s what I came up with:
Quite the mixed bag. You’ve got two flavors of eels, two styles of Namarti, a couple of sharks, two support heroes, an Eidolon of the Sea and a fully tricked-out Akhelian King (a.k.a. the Slap-King).
Why Dhom-Hain for my enclave?
I thought their ability for Namarti Thralls to charge and fight again after killing an enemy unity sounded extremely cool… if I could pull it off. (Spoiler alert: I did not pull it off once during the entire weekend.)
Why these battleline troops?
I was curious to see how the eels performed. The Thralls and Reavers, however, were a calculated decision. The new Idoneth Deepkin battletome relies on a strong core of Namarti, and I had identified the block of 20 Thralls as one of my biggest sources of reliable damage.
Why these heroes?
Well, it’s hard to say no to the Slap-King. While a little tricky to use, he’s more than capable of earning double his points back with a well-timed charge. How does 7 attacks, hitting on 2s, wounding on 2s, rend -3 and damage 4 sound to you? And that’s just his first weapon (he has four).
The Eidolon of the Sea (hereafter to be known as the “Seadolon”) is a major winner from the new battletome. While useless at melee and shooting, he’s a wildly efficient spellcaster and unbinder of enemy spells. One of his warscroll spells, Tsunami of Terror, can strip the armor from your opponent’s toughest units, and with his surprising durability (12 wounds, a 5+ ward and reliable self-healing) he can even be used as a sacrificial lamb to tie up an enemy unit or absorb an Unleash Hell.
The Idoneth prepare for battle
Day 1
Match 1 versus Maggotkin of Nurgle – Drowned Men
Opponent’s list: Great Unclean One, Horticulus Slimux, Orghotts Daemonspew, Beasts of Nurgle, Plaguebearers
They say battles are won or lost in the mind before a single shot is ever fired. They might be onto something there.
My first opponent of the tournament, Jeremy, was playing a Maggotkin list. I’d never played against Maggotkin but I’d heard rumors about the new battletome – specifically about all the tournaments they’ve been winning. I was keen to see how my fishy aelves would fare against them.
That’s a lot of 5+ ward saves
I out-dropped my opponent and gave him the first turn, hoping he’d move into a position where I could charge with my King and eels – and even, fingers crossed, take a double turn.
He simply moved everything onto the mid-board and ended his turn, daring me to come closer. I took the bait, charging with my eels, King, sharks and Thralls. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very clean or well-positioned charge, as I could only get my King onto his Great Unclean One and not the eels.
Meanwhile, I had misplaced my Thralls so the only thing they were able to charge was the Plaguebearers. Turns out, Plaguebearers are tanky. I thought my Thralls could chew through them but it didn’t work out that way.
On the other side of the board, my Slap-King did a mighty 20 damage to the GUO. However, he rolled an improbable amount of ward saves and stayed standing. My eels and sharks managed to kill a few Beasts of Nurgle, but his center held.
My opponent then took a double turn and used it to go on a rampage with Orghotts and the GUO. After that, what was left of my army was worn down by the weight of Disease points.
In the end, I think I may have been a little intimidated by facing Nurgle for the first time, causing me to under-think my deployment. If I’d placed a few units differently, my first turn would have been much more effective and the game might have been a lot closer.
RESULT: Loss, 12-39
Match 2 versus Sylvaneth – Gnarlroot
Opponent’s list: Warsong Revenant, Treelord Ancient, Spirit of Durthu, Arch-revenant, Branchwraith, Tree-revenants, Kurnoth Hunters with bows, Dryads
Ah, the classic Warsong Bomb list. Soon to be replaced by the new Sylvaneth battletome, the Warsong Bomb – in which a Warsong Revenant powers up their spellcasting while unleashing magic blasts through an Umbral Spellportal – was one of the only competitive lists available to Sylvaneth in third edition.
Unfortunately, it only works if you cast your spells. This would prove to be a major problem for my opponent, Matt, as my Seadolon just would not stop unbinding his spells. Matt, however, was very nice about this. His enthusiasm and positive attitude made for a really fun match.
The Slap-King about to do his thing
I gave Matt turn one. He split his forces and moved up to the mid-board. In my counter-attack, I was able to completely take out one flank of Dryads and a Treelord Ancient with my King, while pinning the other flank (Durthu and the Kurnoth Hunters) in place with the Ishlaen Guard.
Although Durthu hits hard (he wiped out all 20 Thralls in a single round!), my King was able to cut him down. With the Warsong Revenant having failed to set up his spell-bomb, I went on to clean up the board.
The result wasn’t close, but this game was a blast thanks to Matt being a really fun opponent.
RESULT: Victory, 31-13
Match 3 versus Soulblight Gravelords – Kastelai Dynasty
Opponent’s list: 20 Blood Knights, Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon, Necromancer, Coven Throne, Dire Wolves
My opponent in this game, Austin, seemed a bit unsure of his army going into this match. And there was a good reason for that: The battleplan was Tooth and Nail, a weird scenario which you don’t often see at tournaments.
In Tooth and Nail, you can’t set up any units in reserve. Which sucked for Austin, because setting up Blood Knights in reserve and then bringing them on from the board edge is the entire gimmick of Kastelai Dynasty. His summoned units also couldn’t charge after summoning, which is another blow for a Soulblight army.
To make matters worse, the board for our game was covered in large pieces of blocking terrain. Most of my units could simply fly over it, but his knights would have to go around. This would allow me to pick my battles and take out his units of five knights one at a time.
Those are some chonky terrain pieces
After setting up, he gave me first turn and waited for my army to come to him. I moved up but stayed just out of engagement range. Once it was my turn again, the Slap-King was able to assassinate the Vampire Lord on zombie dragon before it could really do anything.
Realizing he was out of position, Austin actually gave away a double turn on Turn 3 (never seen anyone do that before!) so that he could pull back his army and remove one of my objectives.
But it wasn’t enough, and the Slap-King continued on to remove the Coven Throne and Necromancer, handing me the game.
My opponent for this match, Paul, was a younger guy who was at the tournament with his dad. Which is adorable, and total Parenting Goals. Paul was also an awesome opponent who basically apologized for taking the classic “Morathi and the Bow Snakes” meme list. He told me he was looking forward to the new Daughters of Khaine battletome so he could run literally anything else.
After winning priority, Paul gave me first turn. From here on out, we would trade double turns back and forth for almost the entire match!
My Reavers shot apart a unit of Witch Aelves, killing all but one (that lone aelf would come back to haunt me later). He then got the double turn and pushed up the left flank with the Shadow Queen. My plan was to pull back and try to ignore her while pushing the other flank where his bow-snakes and support characters were hanging out.
That plan did not go so well. The Shadow Queen ate every single one of my Reavers and Thralls, while the bow-snakes rained down fire on my other flank, almost killing both my sharks. Things looked bad. But I wasn’t down and out just yet.
Taking a double turn, I rolled my Slap-King and eels through a screen of Witch Aelves and right into his bow-snakes, wiping them out. My King went on to kill his General, the Medusa, and get stuck into Morathi herself.
On Turn 4, he wheeled the Shadow Queen around and aimed her at my remaining units. She killed my eels, but my King was able to finally slay the rampaging god.
Pretty metal 🤘
At the end of all five rounds, we were completely even on points. We had both taken Hold the Line as our Grand Strategy, and all my battleline units were dead. So were his… except for that one pesky Witch Aelf that was hiding in the corner of the battlefield! This gave him an extra three points and the victory.
In the end, this game was an absolute blast, full of twists and turns and high drama. It was probably the highlight of the entire weekend. My opponent played a great game and fully deserved the win, even though I can’t help but wishing I’d rolled one more hit on that unit of Witch Aelves!
RESULT: Loss, 21-24
Match 5 versus Soulblight Gravelords – Vyrkos Dynasty
Opponent’s list: 60 Zombies, Prince Vhordrai, Lauka Vai, Necromancer, Vampire Lord, Dire Wolves, Skeletons, Corpse Carts
I’ll be completely honest: This wasn’t a fun game. After two straight days of Warhammer, I was getting tired and losing focus. And after the thrills and spills of the previous game against Daughters of Khaine, facing 60 zombies felt like a brutal slog.
Zombies, man. They have so much going on. Double piling in, returning slain units, buffing auras, piling in different directions until they’re stretched across the board like a weird misshapen Katamari of bodies. Zombies are a lot.
It didn’t help that my opponent, Rob, played a slow game, with his double turns feeling like an eternity. I don’t blame him for this. He was micro-managing his tiny dead dudes and explaining his army mechanics as he did so, as any good opponent should. It just took soooo loooong.
You know, maybe this says more about me and my own impatience. I may have to do some soul-searching here.
The Gruesome Twosome
Anyway, I flubbed this match. I deployed my Gloomtide Shipwreck and Namarti units completely wrong. Then I decided to send my King and eels after his support characters in the back, when I should have tried to end the double threat of Vhordrai and Lauka early in the game. The final result was an ignominous defeat, but at least now I know how zombies work (and I know to ask for a chess clock next time).
RESULT: Loss, 12-32
Final Thoughts
If you’re just starting your Warhammer journey and thinking of taking the plunge into events, I am here to tell you: competitive Age of Sigmar is incredibly fun. It was a pleasure to play against passionate, experienced opponents at a well-organized event. Everyone should try going to a GT at least once, if only for the wealth of knowledge you can glean from your fellow players.
Plus, I got to meet Tyler Mengel and he complimented my painting. That was almost worth the entry fee alone.
What’s next? I’m working on an article about list-building using the new Idoneth Deepkin battletome, to help you get the most out of your own Slap-King and friends. And I can’t wait to attend my next GT, probably with a different list this time. Although the Incarnate is tempting, chatting with fellow Deepkin players at the event has convinced me I need to paint up an Akhelian Leviadon…
Have you recently attended your first GT? Planning to go to one? Drop us a comment below and let us know what you think.
Haven GT took place in Washington, USA on 14th and 15th May. It involved 28 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.
1st Place – Daytond Obre
Daytond won all five games over the weekend. Along the way they beat Flesh-eater Courts/Blisterskin in round 1, Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in round 2, Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty in round 3, Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 4 and Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in Round 5.
Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine – Temple: Hagg Nar – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADERS Morathi-Khaine (330)* The Shadow Queen (330)* Melusai Ironscale (115)* – General – Command Trait: Devoted Disciples – Artefact: The Ulfuri
BATTLELINE 10 x Blood Sisters (280)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Blood Sisters (280)* – Reinforced x 1 15 x Blood Stalkers (540)* – Reinforced x 2
Danny: Sneaking in just ahead of the new book, we have a good old fashioned Morathi and the Bow Sneks list taking a big win – something DoK struggle with recently in the meta, so this still deserves props. Morathi can make the bow-sneks shoot twice (well, once in the hero phase) – of course it can also make a nice big spear-snek blob fight in the hero phase too. Both are pretty darn clutch – and it’s not going away with the new book. Check out our Tome review to see our feelings on how this list will do from now on!
Advertisements
2nd Place – Alexander Gonzalez
Alexander managed four wins over the two days and drawing a fifth. Along the way they beat Gloomspite Gitz in round 1, Legion of the First Prince in round 2, drew against Flesh-eater Courts/Blisterskin in round 3, then beat Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty in round 4 and Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 5.
Leaders Vampire Lord (140)* – General – Command Trait: Pack Alpha – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions Radukar the Beast (315)* Gorslav the Gravekeeper (75)* Mannfred von Carstein, Mortarch of Night (380) – Lore of the Deathmages: Fading Vigour Neferata, Mortarch of Blood (365) – Lore of the Deathmages: Decrepify
Battleline 20 x Deathrattle Skeletons (170)** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Dire Wolves (135)* 10 x Dire Wolves (135)*
Units 20 x Grave Guard (280)** – Great Wight Blades – Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment **Hunters of the Heartlands
Danny: Soulblight are just so well placed to adapt to the meta, with a wonderfully deep and internally balanced book. The Vyrkos dynasty allows summonable units near to a vampire hero to get +1 to wound, which adds up, and brings the double Mortarch combo which has been increasingly popular recently due its sheer amount of utility, casting prowess and mid-level damage. Another popular pick is the Pack Alpha trait for a free CP per turn – never not useful!
Advertisements
3rd Place – Matt Beasley
Matt finished the weekend with one loss and four wins. His path saw him beat Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn in round 1, then lose to 2nd placed Alexander in round 2. In round 3 he beat Ironjawz/Ironsunz, followed by Seraphon/Dracothion’s Tail in round 4 and Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in round 5.
Army Faction: Legion of the First Prince – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER Be’lakor (360) – Spells: The Master’s Command Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280) – General – Command Traits: Ruinous Aura – Artefacts: Armour of the Pact – Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur Kairos Fateweaver (435)* – Spells: The Master’s Command
Danny: It’s legion, with a Krondspine! That little incarnate that could is popping up all over the place these days! It’s nice to see a varied list of battleline units for filling subtly different roles – nice fast flesh hounds, slicer and dicier Bloodletters and tanky plaguebearers for objective play. Kairos is always a magic powerhouse and the increasingly popular Bloodthirster rounds out the combo by … being a bloodthirster. Means Kairos doesn’t have to get his feathery hands dirty!
Advertisements
Wildcard – Cody Quigley
Cody won three games and lost one and drew one, ending his weekend in a very respectful 4th. Along the way he beat Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 1, then Gloomspite Gitz/Glogg’s Megamob in round 2. This was followed by a draw against 2nd place Alexander in round 3 and a loss to Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in round 4. In the last round he beat Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn.
Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts – Subfaction: Blisterskin
LEADERS Abhorrant Archregent (245)* – General – Command Traits: Hellish Orator – Spells: Spectral Host Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (445)* – Artefacts of Power: Eye of Hysh – Spells: Blood Feast Gorslav the Gravekeeper (75)**
Danny: Bill Souza is an expert in taking off-meta lists and making them sing. That’s not something anyone can do, and Flesh Eater Courts especially don’t make life easy these days. But Terrorgheists ALWAYS have the option to spike a bunch of MWs and are highly mobile, and allying in Gorslav and his shambling zombie contingent means you can guarantee a bunch of them comes back even outside of SBGL – shoring up the objective play while the ‘Gheists fly around trying to eat stuff. Amazing (but not surprising, perhaps) result for The Special Souza.
Note: This is a live document, and is still being worked on. Please feel free to make comments.
Intro
Nurgle are one of the factions to beat if you want to perform well in the current meta. But just how do you give yourself chance of doing this?
As you no doubt realise by now after perhaps your own experience playing as or against Nurgle, or even from Danny and Declan’s comments on the top three lists, Nurgle are tough! Army wide 5+ ward saves mean they have a chance of saving anything. However if you have good access to mortal wounds then you may be able to negate this slightly. There are even spells out there which effectively ‘switch off’ ward saves (see Nasty Hex – Kruleboyz).
You’ll find these are one of the main units run in Nurgle lists. They’re highly durable with a 6+/5+ save and bravery 10. This is added to with their ability Cloud of Flies which forces enemy units to subtract 1 from their to hit rolls when targeting Plaguebearers with missile weapons, and their Icon Bearer who if present in a Plaguebearer s unit when you roll for battleshock, will allow you to bring a model back on an unmodified battleshock roll of 1.
Because of this they’re perfect for holding objectives, as you’ll find that you’ll often struggle to deliver enough damage to shift them. But, they’re not hard hitters, with a unit of ten only dishing out an average of 3 or 4 damage from their zero rend weapons.
If your opponent has a Spoilpox Scrivener though, then this fella will buff the Plaguebearers in one of three ways;
Giving a unit of Plaguebearers an additional attack on their melee weapons. (This essentially doubles their attacks and damage output).
Giving a Plaguebearer unit -1 rend on their weapons, or;
Adding 1 to the save rolls for a unit of Plaguebearers. This increases the average damage required from 36 damage to 45!
If your opponent also has a Sloppity Bilepiper then they can also add one of the following;
+1 to wound rolls
6’s to wound, cause 1 mortal wound in addition to its their normal damage.
Stop units piling in against them.
On top of this you’ll find opponent’s who like to give them the benefits of Mystic Shield for the +1 save and Inspiring Presence so they won’t flee in Battleshock.
Pusgoyle Blightlords/Lord of Affliction
HOW THEY WORK
Lord of Afflictions with Pusgoyle Blightlords are usually taken in Drowned Men lists. This is because the Drowned Men will allow them to make an 8″ move before the the first battle round begins. Then they’ll get their normal move in the movement phase and before you know of they’ve moved 16″ towards your line and are already holding any centre field objectives! The likelihood is that they also be around 8″ away from your units and solidly within charge range.
But I can deploy further back to counter this! I hear you cry. Well you could, but the Lord of Afflictions has another trick up his sleeve for just that situation. The Lord of Afflictions has an ability called the Swarm Descends, this allows a Lord of Afflictions and up to two Pusgoyle Blightlords to set up in reserve, coming in within 12″ of each other anywhere on the tabletop 9″ away from any enemy models at the end of the movement phase.
WRACK & RUIN
So either way your likely to have these guys threatening first turn charges and if they do, both units have another ability called Wrack and Ruin which gives them a chance to deal D3 mortal wounds at the end of their charge to any enemy unit within 1″. This has to be rolled for, and is successful on a 4+. But, you’ll probably find that the Nurgle player has chosen to give a model in each unit Dolorus Tocsin. This will allow those models to add 2 to their Wrack and Ruin roll, meaning they’ll cause D3 mortal wounds on 2+ instead.
DAMAGE OUTPUT
Then the blighters attack you, and they hit hard! For a unit of two Pusgoyle Blightlords and a Lord of Afflictions making a charge you’ll probably already have suffered 6 Mortal wounds from Wrack and Ruin before the fighting even begins! Then they get rolling, and on average the Lord of Afflictions will dish out roughly 6 damage before any saves, while the pair of Pusgoyle Blightlords will add a further 9-10 damage on top of that. Not only that, but you’ll then have to contend with the Pusgoyle Blightlords, Relentless Attackers ability, which if the unit they’re fighting has a wounds characteristic of 3 or less, they’ll be allowed to roll a dice for every model in that unit. Any rolls that exceed the wound characteristic of that unit cause 1 mortal wound.
So hopefully this goes to show what a deadly combination these units are together. But how do you counter this?
COUNTER PLAYS
SCREENS
Firstly, as you’ve probably guessed deployment will be key. You’re probably going to need a few screens that you don’t mind losing. Have these in front of your main army and ensure that there’s no points 9″ to the sides or behind your army where the flies can drop and charge with the Lord of Afflictions. Also make sure you’re screens are close enough to our main lines so that the Lord of Afflictions and Pusgoyle Blightlords 60mm bases can’t fit inside – otherwise there is no point having these screens as they’ll just fly right over the top!
Once they’re in your screens, they’re delayed for a turn. Take the opportunity to hammer them with ranged attacks if you can. Preferably with lots of mortal wound causing weapons, if you can stop them taking ward saves, even better. Fight on your terms, make sure you get the charge in and not them to cancel out their Wrack and Ruin ability.
Don’t bunch up too much if possible, as they’d love to get a charge in against multiple units at once. If you have a hard hitting unit nearby that can then deal with them, then this may be a good ploy to lure then in, otherwise I’d try and avoid it.
REDEPLOY
Alternatively you may have abilities which allows you to redeploy units after setting up, in which case you’ll already know whether the big bugs will be dropping in or flying towards your lines. Use this to your advantage! Of they’re flying towards your lines, then make sure after their 16″ move they still need a long bomb charge to make it to your important units.
I’d also class armies that have pre-game moves in this category. If you’re going to go first, position yourself so that you can get the charges in and not them. If you’re going second then move them away as above to make sure they’re left with long bomb charges that enable you to make a counter charge in your turn.
USE RESERVES
If you are able, perhaps deploy some of your key units off the table and bring them on at a point that suits you.
USE TERRAIN
Your own faction terrain or even the standard terrain can be used to make the charges for the Pusgoyles particularly difficult. Having to bend their charges around these pieces.
Further notes: Retreat & Charge abilities, terrain charge vectors
Brimingham AoS GT took place in Birmingham, UK on 21st and 22nd May. It involved 59 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.
1st Place – Daniil Osudin
Daniil won all five games over the weekend. Along the way he beat Daughters of Khaine/Khailebron in round 1, Idoneth Deepkin/Ionrach in round 2, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in round 3, Blades of Khorne/Reapers of Vengeance in round 4 and Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 5.
Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos – Greatfray: Gavespawn – Mortal Realm: Aqshy – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Tzaangor Shaman of Beasts of Chaos (135)* – General – Command Trait: Unravelling Aura – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Wild Rampage Great Bray-Shaman (100)* – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Wild Rampage Beastlord (95)* – Artefact: Mutating Gnarlblade
Battleline 30 x Tzaangors of Beasts of Chaos (525)* – 18x Pair of Savage Blade – 12x Savage Greatblade – Reinforced x 2 20 x Tzaangors of Beasts of Chaos (350)* – 12x Pair of Savage Blade – 8x Savage Greatblade – Reinforced x 1 10 x Gors (75)* – Gor-Blades & Beastshields
Units 3 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Disc of Beasts of Chaos (180)* 6 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Disc of Beasts of Chaos (360)* – Reinforced x 1
Danny: We’ve seen Beasts of Chaos win events since their Tome Celestial – one of the most impactful of its kind so far – and hats off to Daniil for winning what was by all accounts a supremely competitive event with them! Tzaangor Enlightened have quickly become a favourite due to their speed, sheer number of attacks – and a hugely clutch ability to re-roll ALL hits and wounds if an enemy unit within 3″ has already fought. The list is rounded out by plenty of big chaff blocks (who can still blend with a few buffs on them – typically from the Herdstone) and hero utility picks – interestingly, he foregoes a lot of the usual big beasties! Less sheer threat, but gives up less points and allows much greater board-control, a very techy and clearly adaptable list.
Advertisements
2nd Place – Dominic Stonebridge
Simon managed four wins and a draw over the two days.. Along the way they beat Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 1, Nighthaunt/Emerald Host in round 2, Skaventide in round 3. Drew against Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty in round 4 and beat Maggotkin of Nurgle/Blessed Sons in the last round.
Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Option: Glogg’s Megamob – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Dankhold Troggboss – Trev (240)* – General – Command Trait: Shepard of Idiotic Destruction – Artefact: Aetherquartz-studded Hide Fungoid Cave-Shaman – Freddie the Fungoid (95)** – Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork Madcap Shaman – Madcap Max (80)** – Artefact: Moonface Mommet – Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth – Mr Marvin Brute (180)* – Allies
Battleline 6 x Rockgut Troggoths (290)*** – Reinforced x 1 6 x Rockgut Troggoths (290)*** – Reinforced x 1 3 x Fellwater Troggoths (155)*** 3 x Fellwater Troggoths (155)**
Units 5 x Spider Riders (100)* 3 x Rippa’s Snarlfangs (70)* 1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth – Drummer Dave (150)*
Behemoths Aleguzzler Gargant – Gary (165)*
Endless Spells & Invocations The Burning Head – Steve the Swamp Trogg (20)
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment **Warlord ***Hunters of the Heartlands
Danny: What. a. hero. Two of my club-mates played this list (1 lost, one held them to a draw) and described it as super techy and flexible, and the pilot as galaxy-brain level. The list roughly works around what my club-mate called ‘little shaman bastards’ handing out -1 save to a unit in the combat phase, the troll boss giving reroll 1’s to hit in an 18″ bubble and the Marsh-crawler (aka Murder Dobby) giving +1 hit in an 18″ bubble. So every trogg unit is 2’s rerolling 1’s and a -3 effective rend to one unit. Add in Gary the Gargant for monstrous ‘stuff’ in general (scoring, actions) spider-riders and Snarlfangs to function as fast flankers or emergency screens, and you have what was apparently a near impossible army to beat. Bonus points for naming his heroes!
Advertisements
3rd Place – Alexander Theophanos
Alexander finished the weekend with one loss and four wins. His path saw him beat Nighthaunt/Reikenor’s Comdemned in round 1, then Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in round 2. In round 3 he beat Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty. He had a bye in round 4, this was then followed by a loss to 1st place Daniil and his Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn in round 5.
Danny: It wouldn’t be a top 3 without a Thunder Lizards list now would it? There’s not a huge amount to say about it other than it’s gone the interesting route of taking a Troglodon with Kroak. The way this works is, Kroak’s horrible MW spells only has a 10″ range but can be measured from any Skink Oracle unit on the board – and guess what keyword the Troglodon has? So it’s a mobile range-extender essentially – more utility than a spell-portal and can obviously do stuff in its own right (not much though, it’s fairly useless in melee). It’s a huge amount of points to invest in a Kroak-combo but it does add value and clearly didn’t make the list too vulnerable overall.
Advertisements
Wildcard – Tom Welsh
Tom won three games and drew two, ending his weekend in a very respectful 6th. Along the way he beat Ossiarch Bonereapers/Mortis Praetorians in round 1, Stormcast Eternals/Knights Excelsior in round 2 and Nighthaunt/Emerald Host in round 3. Then in the last two rounds he drew against the Gloomspite Gitz/Glogg’s Megamob of Dominic in round 4 and Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty in round 5.
Leaders Radukar the Beast (315) Prince Vhordrai (455)* – spell: Amethystine Pinions Wight King on Skeletal Steed (130)* – General – Command Trait: Rousing Commander – Artefact of Power: Grave-sand Shard Vampire Lord (140)* – Spell: Spirit Gale Coven Throne (290)** – Spell: Amaranthine Orb – Artefact of Power: Fragment of the keep
Battleline Grave Guard with Great Wight Blade (280)** – Reinforced: Once Blood Knights (195)** Blood Knights (195)**
Danny: My club-mate Tom Welsh came 6th after a nail-biting tie with the 7th place SBGL player, after he beat Nighthaunt, Stormcast, and drew with 2nd place Gitz. It’s a general SBGL good-stuff Kastelai list, with 2 units of Blood Knights who can come in from a board edge and get progressively stronger as they kill stuff, the usual great chaff units and two synergistic hammers. The first is Radukar + Graveguard – after a nearby unit makes a successful charge, the wolf-vampire-man can pop a CA for an aura of +1 attack – and because it’s an aura, it leaves the Graveguard themselves open to an All out Attack – meaning a unit of 20 is doing 60 2/4/-1/2 attacks, with additional mortals on 6s to wound. Utterly brutal.
The even more horrific combo is Coven Throne with Vhordrai, the named vampire lord on dragon that isn’t taken quite so often. The Coven Throne can pop a targeted command for +1 to attack, wound and save – add that to Vhordrai’s insane offensive stat-line on the charge and you have a super fast flying monster that can blend almost anything in the game – and, with All out Defence and EITHER mystic shield or Finest Hour, be on a 2+ ignoring rend 2 with a ward of 6 and multiple ways to heal, in and out of combat. Big congrats to Tom and Vhordrai for a great result!
There are a wide array of games, both large battle and skirmish available on the market and while many are familiar with Games Workshops offerings, there are many other colourful games to play.
The aim of these articles is as a taster and guide to help get you into a game that interests you and where better to start than a trip through the breach to Malifaux, Where bad things happen.
What is Malifaux?
Malifaux is a small scale skirmish game played with around 7-10 themed figures. Each figure is individual and has it’s own stat card (no duplicates here!). Players alternate taking actions while trying to score off there schemes and strategies. These can be as simple as “hold this point” or make sure “model 1 is killed by model 2”
Are there any Unique Mechanics?
Rather than roll dice, Malifaux uses a fate deck (fancy name for a standard deck of cards), Players flip cards instead of rolling dice. You also have a control hand of cards which allow you to “cheat fate” for when you really need an action to happen.
Certain characters can also use Soul stones, another resource to boost actions or reduce damage.
How easy is it to get into?
There are many local Henchman (Wyrds demo players) in many countries and can usually be found via the Wyrd forums or running local events and Demo days.
The Rules are available from free from the Wyrd website (listed below) and stat cards can be found there for all factions as well as available on the free M3E app. A standard deck of cards can be used as a fate deck (provided it has a Red and Black Joker) but there are many other variants available with custom artwork.
Crew boxes give you a starting crew and you can usual pick up 1 or 2 more boxes to pad your crew out allowing you to start playing from between £50-£100. Some Masters (Crew Leaders) are classed as Dual Faction, allowing you to easily dip into other factions.
There are also regular updates to competitive play and stat cards to maintain balance.
Pro’s and Cons
Pros
Under £100 to get into
Every Model Unique
Great support from the Community and Wyrd
Cons
Helpful to have a lot of scenery
Lots of rules interactions which may take a while to master.
Some miniatures have very small parts making assemble tricky
Summary
Malifaux is a great skirmish game to get into. The factions and crews are all very different with interesting themes and no two are exactly alike. There is a healthy community, with lots of support from Wyrd. The miniatures are well sculpted and characterful with my only complaints being small parts and occasional thin parts supporting a model.
If you are able to get a demo with a friend or Henchman I highly recommend giving Malifaux a try.
