Category Archives: Lurid Haze
Top Three AoS Lists for Broken Ranks Q3 Illinois
This is the top three AoS lists for the Broken Ranks Q3 tournament that took place in the USA on the 23rd and 24th of September. It involved 20 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords
– Army Subfaction: Barak-Mhornar
– Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery
– Triumphs: Inspired
– Stick To The Code (Amendments): Trust To Your Guns
– Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything
– Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught
LEADER
1 x Arkanaut Admiral (140)*
– General
– Command Traits: Ex-Grundstok
1 x Aether-Khemist (100)*
– Artefacts: Spell in a Bottle
1 x Aether-Khemist (100)*
BATTLELINE
15 x Grundstok Thunderers (480)*
15 x Grundstok Thunderers (480)*
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)*
– Sky Cannon
BEHEMOTH
1 x Arkanaut Ironclad (500)*
– Great Volley Cannon
– The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship
– Great Endrinworks: Prudency Chutes
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)
Carl Stokes: Another tournament, another glorious victory for the Dawi! Victor’s list sticks to the tried and true axiom of “if it moves, we can shoot it to death” and boy howdy does it work. Not much in the game can stand up to a juiced volley from 15 thunderers and with a 3+ save and rallying on a 4+ from the articyle “Honor is Everything”, it’s shockingly hard to clear out the unit.
When the new book was released, KO players immediately noticed the incredible advantage of having an unstoppable (and free) Soulscream bridge. Even after the most recent nerf, the ability for KO to sling 15 thunderers and/or an ironclad around the battlefield far outweighs the downside of not being able to make use of commands that turn. Plus, the bridge comes with a khemist, whose buff is not a command ability, and can further increase the output (and survivability) of thunderers around him.
The interesting twist in this list is the use of Mhornar rather than Urbaz. Using Mhornar makes it more challenging for opponents to make use of their precious command abilities at the cost of limiting you to one artycle. In a meta where OBR and seraphon are rampant, this provides a little extra utility to the matchup and can help overcome the massive problem of the Aura of Sterility favored by OBR.
The use of prudency chutes over the last word on the ironclad is also a bit of personal flair that can help KO overcome the loss of an ironclad. It’s not a perfect solution, though, since the way disembarking works is that embarked models must be placed within 3” of the boat BEFORE the boat is removed from play. You can’t place models in the cavity left by the boat’s demise. If you wrap the boat in close combat and kill it, everything inside it will die whether or not you have prudency chutes. But in a high shooting meta, preventing the 1/6 chance of losing key characters to an ironclad crash can be vital.
The tactical Gunhauler is also an addition I think more and more KO players will begin to adopt. The speed and utility of an unbracketable 3+ save chariot-esque model that’s unbelievably quick and packs a wizard-killing amount of shooting and bombs cannot be understated in a world where Andtorian Loci are key in many matchups. Victor clearly leaned into this aspect, taking Slaughter of Sorcery as his grand strategy.
All-in-all, the new KO book continues to show its strength, even after attempts at taking it down a few notches. The ease of the book battle tactics combined with the skewed gameplay of massive shooting backed up by shocking mobility is something that armies will have to be prepared to deal with at top tables and expect to see at most major tournaments. Victor has taken a classic KO archetype and made some incredibly well-informed alterations to maximize its power for the current meta which paid off in a big way with this first place finish. Congrats!
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Subfaction: Null Myriad
– Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
LEADERS
Mortisan Boneshaper (140)*
– General
– Command Traits: Aura of Sterility
– Artefacts of Power: Artisan’s Key
– Spells: Hoarfrost
Mortisan Soulreaper (110)*
– Spells: Merciless Blizzard
Arkhan the Black (380)**
Liege-Kavalos (180)**
BATTLELINE
Mortek Guard (390)**
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade
– 3 x Necrophoros
– 3 x Soulcleaver Greatblade
Kavalos Deathriders (190)**
– Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade
Kavalos Deathriders (190)**
– Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade
Morghast Archai (220)**
– Spirit Halberd
BEHEMOTH
Gothizzar Harvester (160)**
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Aethervoid Pendulum (40)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Andtorian Acolytes
**Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Jake Cachey Muhr: The list is a response to the Immortis Guard recursion nerf – where previously taking a Boneshaper, Arkhan, and Katakros would allow for a potential 20 wound recursion per hero phase. With this being no-longer possible, I’ve opted to drop Katakros and the Immortis block for a Harvester, 30x Mortek Guard, and a Soulreaper (my Blizzard Wizard). This creates a pretty durable and scary area my opponent doesn’t want to get stuck into because first – mortek guard can slap pretty good, and also Blizzard Wizard is hanging around them typically.
On top of this I’m designed to capitalize on multiple battle tactics throughout the game. The new block, as mentioned above, can become a problem if stuck in combat for my opponent – but also opens up the tactic for Killing an Enemy with a spell (Blizzard/Pendelum/Etc), Finishing a unit with a Harvester (the Tithe Demands), and can stick me in combat with multiple units for Bait and Trap if needed. I can consistently use my more mobile units (Arkhan, Chargers, Archai) to set up for movement tactics from this GHB. And I’m consistently landing Trample the Defiant. Overall it’s an easy list to consistently land 5/5 tactics.
Without Katakros you lose a bit of your punch and bulk (no +1/+1 hit/Save) so you are forced to play a bit smarter than previously. Depending on opponent you cannot afford to over extend your auras, and Mystic Sheild needs to be getting placed on the right model every turn.
Positioning your harvester is also Key – you never want to be in a position where it can get blasted by a cheeky pile in. Remember that while it’s a good utility model – it also can bop things pretty hard (and has a shooting attack) so capitalize on it’s power when things line up correctly.
Arkhan does Arkhan things – your Boneshaper should always be close enough to heal your Mortek or whatever is going to be threatened – and your Soulreaper is an aggro model that sticks behind a screen at all times preparing for Blizzard.
These models are also extending your null myriad range – which gives a bit more flexibility if needed on multi-objective maps. You should never be in a position that you’re not rolling a 2+ spell ignore with this list.
Army Faction: Beasts of Chaos
– Subfaction: Allherd
– Grand Strategy: Protect the Herdstone
– Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS
Great Bray-Shaman (100)*
– Spells: Rupture
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
Great Bray-Shaman (100)*
– Artefacts of Power: Brayblast Trumpet
– Spells: Tendrils of Atrophy
Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Shaman (120)*
– General
– Command Traits: Twistfray Cursebeast
– Spells: Merciless Blizzard
Beastlord (140)**
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
BATTLELINE
Ungors (80)*
– Gnarled Shortspear
Gors (220)**
– Hacking Blade and Beastshield
Gors (220)**
– Hacking Blade and Beastshield
BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)
Cygor (210)
OTHER
Dragon Ogors (210)**
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Malevolent Maelstrom (30)
1 x Doomblast Dirgehorn (30)
1 x Aethervoid Pendulum (40)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Vanguard
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Joshua Bennett: With this GHB and new book we start out with, it has come to be the standard start of any BOC list with the double Great Bray Shaman and a Tzanngor Shaman. With one Great Bray bonded with the incarnate. The trick here is doing your rituals kills your great bray, allowing the incarnate to go wild and do incarnate things.
Also what we see here is three low casting endless spells that feed the Incanate when needed, tag along the Tanngor shaman with the high mobility and the once per game of +3 to cast, and that with primal dice it allows blizzard to be pretty reliable cast.
The gors give you a very cheap and dependable screen unit to buy you they time and space for the incarnate to do his thing. The ungors give that off the board threat to backline heroes, causing your opponent to be very careful on how they deploy. One mistake can cost them some very important support early game.
While the Incarnate is in your face pinning your army, it’s also causing your wizards to have the negative one to cast, then add the Cygor in the mix where you take mortals when you successfully your spells, a really great combo for this current meta state of wizards.
All in all, with the screens you bring in the list plus the ones you summon with the artefact, this list has the power to tie you long enough for the incarnate to do its job. It is very well built and as you can see from the results very well played.
Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Pretenders
– Grand Strategy: Selfish Desire
– Triumphs:
Leaders
Glutos Orscollion, Lord of Gluttony (480)*
– Lore of the Magnificent: Born of Damnation
Lord of Pain (140)*
Contorted Epitome (210)*
– General
– Command Trait: Strength of Goodhood
– Artefact: The Crown of Dark Secrets
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Units
11 x Blissbarb Archers (160)*
11 x Blissbarb Archers (160)*
11 x Blissbarb Archers (160)*
5 x Blissbarb Seekers (210)*
5 x Slickblade Seekers (210)*
5 x Slickblade Seekers (210)
Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (50)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 123
Drops: 2
Joshua Bennett: This list takes a little different take on the normal pretenders list we see. Just a refresher or for a new reader prenders allow you to aquire a lot of command points while also issusing the same command from your chosen general to three different units each phase.
This list takes mostly the normal approach to the pretenders list. Stacked with blissbarb archers that have a range of 18 inches that can run and shoot, putting the threat at 30 inches. Tagged along with blissbarb seekers, it puts them at rend two. That volume of shots topped with the rend makes this a deadly combination.
The contorted is pretty much a staple in every pretenders list. The strength of the godhood command trait added with a flaming weapon makes her a beat stick for every army to fear. Gloutus is the one we dont normally see, but I can understand the draw to put this almost unkillable hero in any list. With a 3+ save and a 5+ ward that heals up to six wounds after he fights, it is a problem for any army to deal with.
The endless spell shuts off all commands and stops the All out Defence that naturally comes during the round of shooting. This is a great list and was played well to bring it up to the top of the list.
Final Tournament Placings
Top AoS Lists for Adepticon 2023
These are the top AoS lists for Adepticon that took place in the USA on the 23rd and 24th of March. It involved 204 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
There was some controversy around the scoring for Adepticon, so we decided as a team to focus on all those lists that went undefeated or were in a tournament winning position (4 wins from 4 after round 4).
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Disciples of Tzeentch
– Change Coven: Guild of Summoners
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Ogroid Thaumaturge (170)*
– General
– Command Trait: Arcane Sacrifice
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion
Lord of Change (400)*
– Artefact: Nine-Eyed Tome
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (180)*
– Lore of Fate: Glimpse of Future
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Magister (120)**
– Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate
Battleline
10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)**
– 7x Cursed Blade & Arcanite Shield
– 3x Cursed Glaives
10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)**
– 7x Cursed Blade & Arcanite Shield
– 3x Cursed Glaives
10 x Tzaangors (180)**
– 8x Pair of Savage Blade
Behemoths
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)**
– Allies – Bound to Magister
Endless Spells & Invocations
Umbral Spellportal (80)
Purple Sun of Shyish (90)
Burning Sigil of Tzeentch (60)
Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Battle Regiment
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 480 / 400
Wounds: 72
Drops: 4
Kaleb returns with a variation on his LVO list. Kairos is replaced with a Lord of Change; the extra 40pts are then used to upgrade the Changecaster to a Curseling and to enable Kaleb to take Burning Sigil instead of Tome of Eyes to get the summoning train rolling. The list goes up from 2 drops to 4 drops to allow the Lord of Change to have a re-roll casts relic to practically guarantee that those casts will go off, most likely Umbral Spellportal and then the Warscroll spell for a consistent 6 mortal wounds or so a turn.
The reason that Umbral Spellportal is the key spell is so you can feed it to the Krondspine. How the combo works is that the Magister successfully casts their first spell and then uses the Destiny Dice to cast a second, with the double killing the Magister, sending the Incarnate wild. Spellportal can then be chucked out near the Krondspine’s charge target. Obviously another spell could be cast through it (or even move the Purple Sun through it) but the main job of the portal is for the Krondspine to be able to charge in and then Devour the endless spell to go up to level 3. It is a slight risk as it goes down a level if it fails, but Kaleb would just need to roll a 4 on 2D6 for it to be successful. With it more than likely being successful, the Krondspine is hanging around for a bit, no matter what it goes into.
If not more important than an indestructible Krondspine is that the Battle Tactics and Grand Strategy for Tzeentch are among the most straightforward to achieve, demonstrated by Kaleb scoring all 5 Battle Tactics every turn and Master of Destiny being arguably the easiest Grand Strategy in the game to complete.
One of those Battle Tactics, the Guild of Summoners specialises in: Call for Change, which is to summon a Lord of Change. Normally these would need 27 fate points, but in Guild of Summoners, the first Lord of Change is only 9 fate points and the first fate point is the auto-cast at the start of the game with Arcane Armies.
Congratulations on another superb showing from Mr Tzeentch himself and very much a trendsetter for several Tzeentch lists doing well in tournaments…
Allegiance: Big Waaagh!
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders
Wurrgog Prophet (170)**
– Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz
– Lore of the Savage Beast: Gorkamorka’s War Cry
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)**
– General
– Command Trait: Egomaniak
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
Orruk Warchanter (120)***
– Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat
Orruk Megaboss (140)***
– Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion)
– Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (260)***
Skragrott, The Loonking (160)**
– Allies
Battleline
5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)*
5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)*
5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)*
Other Units
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)**
– Jagged Gore-hackas
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)***
24 x Squig Herd (240)*
– Allies
– Reinforced x 1
Endless Spells
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)
Core Battalions
*Galletian Veterans
**Warlord
***Warlord
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Aspect of the Champion
Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 400 / 400
Wounds: 153
Drops: 12
Big Waagh is enjoying a kind of thematically Ghurish resurgence, due to their access to great GCs and the simple fact they can also now take some Gitz allies, who, as you may have heard, have enjoyed somewhat of a glow up.
Either way, a 5-0 Waagh is a thing to be celebrated, so let’s dive into how it got there. The compliment of heroes has a few interesting surprises – you have ol’ laser eyes with his 4+ ward, a Warchanter and Megaboss as standard, and Gobsprakk for his anti-magic tech – but we also see here a Snatchaboss. Even though he’ll only be buffing one unit of 3 Boltboyz, he’s a well rounded solo operator, and Rob has slapped Egomaniak on him – I wonder if some of the Ardboyz acted as a bodyguard, making him a relatively fast and very durable monster with MW spike potential.
Then there’s the newly much-more-expensive Skagrott. At 210, I wonder if Ron would still ally him in – but as it stood, he’s an insanely high value allied spellcaster with a nasty, long range MW spell.
The other allies on loan from Gitz are the Squid Herd – a super cheap way to gain access to a high volume of attacks and further mid-range MWs when they fail a battleshock test – although they also have a recursion mechanic, meaning if you don’t kill the whole unit, the pain train keeps on comin’.
Overall, it’s a fantastic hero-hammer Waagh that makes great use of their spicy new allies. The points don’t quite add up anymore, but the fact it took down high profile armies such as Ogors, NH, Slaves, and Gitz themselves speaks to the versatility of the list – and Rob’s prowess of course. The Orruk book as a whole might be a complete bin-fire, but Big Waagh clearly offers the best way to make like an Orruk and slap whatever manic, vaguely green muscle you can lay your hands on into a potent krump!
Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords
– Great Nation: Helon
– Mortal Realm: Hysh
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders
Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (700)*
– General
Scinari Cathallar (110)*
– Lore of Hysh: Total Eclipse
Scinari Loreseeker (160)*
– Artefact: Tuskhelm (Galletian Champion)
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Battleline
5 x Hurakan Windchargers (130)*
10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)*
– Lore of Hysh: Overwhelming Heat
20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)*
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (150)*
– Lore of Hysh: Overwhelming Heat
10 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (150)*
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
Endless Spells & Invocations
Umbral Spellportal (80)
Rune of Petrification (60)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 87
Drops: 1
I call this list archetype the ‘can’t wait for the next Battlescroll’! Lead designer Matt Rose has highlighted that Helon and Sentinels are in line for an adjustment, for what should by now be fairly obvious reasons.
Tell you what though, it’s quite fun seeing the Tuskhelm on the Loreseeker. Imagine him popping up wherever he wants pre-game, then yeeting himself into you with a flaming weapon like a less sneaky version of the Masque.
Otherwise, there’s not much to say – it’s Sentinels projecting extreme prejudice at range and up close, with Teclis doing Teclis things. The only thing of interest left about this kind of list is how hard it’s going to get hit by the nerf bat!
Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes
– Army Subfaction: Boulderhead
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Kragnos (720)
1 x Frostlord on Stonehorn (450)*
– General
– Command Traits: Voice of the Avalanche
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Mount Traits: Rockmane Elder
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
BATTLELINE
1 x Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
– Blood Vulture
1 x Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
– Blood Vulture
2 x Mournfang Pack (170)*
– Skalg
– Culling Clubs and Hackers and Ironfist
TERRAIN
1 x Great Mawpot (0)
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1960/2000)
Since the Ironblaster points hike, bar the very occasional Stonehorn heavy podium, Ogors have settled comfortably into a ‘top 5’ army, as though they have a nice big dinner early on and then get a bit too sleepy to bother chasing the absolute top spot.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course – we don’t want every faction to be Lumineth Slaanesh! Taking down three tanky melee armies, the shooty Ogors and a summoning heavy Tzeentch list for a 5-0 is a great result, either way.
So how did Tony do it? Well, he took Kragnos and a bunch of Stonehorns. The name of the day here is killing stuff on the charge – why risk having to roll attacks? Kragnos is capable of a OHKO of a big monster with the right roll of course, but probably the main thing he offers is a 3d6 charge aura. Given Stonehorns do mortals on a 4+ for dice equal to their unmodified charge roll – which a 3d6 is – you can start to see the appeal.
That’s about all there is to it. Like the Ogors themselves, it’s big and not very clever, but gets the job done.
Army Faction: Sylvaneth
– Subfaction: Gnarlroot
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
– Seasons of War: The Burgeoning
LEADERS
Spirit of Durthu (350)
– General
– Command Traits: Gnarled Warrior
– Artefacts of Power: Greenwood Gladius
The Lady of Vines (290)
– Spells: Verdant Blessing
Alarielle the Everqueen (820)*
– Spells: Verdant Blessing
BATTLELINE
Dryads (100)*
Dryads (200)*
Tree-Revenants (110)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Spiteswarm Hive (40)
1 x Chronomantic Cogs (70)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
This list from Joey Trizenberg is so elite and character focused that it might be playable in Marvel Ultimate Crisis. The Lady of Vines and Alarielle’s summoning mechanics bulk out the wound count and utility this list needs with 30 dryads and a unit of tree revenants satisfying most of your objective-sitting needs. The reason such a limited selection of units can get away with this is that both Alarielle and Durthu demand answers, immediately, and can either murder or pin vast quantities of the opponent’s army, limiting their scoring options.
Durthu with the Gladius and Gnarled warrior is a brutal beatstick, and ethereal 3+ keeps him healthy over the game and the gladius makes him hit like a brick. Combine this with a 6+ ward and the number of wounds in this army gets a sneaky boost to keep it in the game. This said, the selection of the Burgeoning as the Season of war requires a 70 point investment in the form of Cogs to make the quantity of spellcasting in this list work, especially so, when you consider that Gnarlroot is being taken for 3d6 casting, messaging that Joey wants to ensure he’s spreading trees and getting up the very important LoV’s 5+ ward spell, which is rather inconsistent when raw-cast as a 7+ on 2d6.
Legitimate analysis aside, I’d pay good money to see this list smack around Sons of Behemat, that’d be a great table to watch. Great work Joey, a great achievement to get an uncommon 5-0 for sylvaneth, let alone with a list that is a major departure from what we usually see.
Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes
– Subfaction: Meatfist
– Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours!
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Tyrant (150)*
– Big Name: Brawlerguts
Kragnos (720)*
Icebrow Hunter (120)**
– General
– Command Traits: Touched by the Everwinter
– Prayers: Keening Gale
Tyrant (150)**
– Artefacts of Power: Gryph-feather Charm
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
– Big Name: Brawlerguts
Tyrant (150)**
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
– Big Name: Brawlerguts
BATTLELINE
Frost Sabres (80)*
Frost Sabres (80)*
Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
– Blood Vulture
ARTILLERY
Ironblaster (200)*
TERRAIN
1 x Great Mawpot (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: 1960/2000
Continuing their recent hot-streak of great results is another 4-1 Alarielle finish! Oh how people bemoaned the Everqueen upon the book’s release – and in fairness, she takes a bit of figuring out, as her power doesn’t lie in her melee power but rather in her zoning and revival ability.
She’s backed up here by the standard Arch-Rev with Warsinger to make stuff speedy – make that extra-super speedy when also combined with the Spiteswarm Hive. It’s also nice to see a brace of Dryads as surprisingly effective screens – sure they turn into splinters once hit but, with -1 to hit and wound, the can be like reeds in a breeze…. and a reinforced blob of Seekers for doing Seeker things (namely pinning stuff at speed and just never, ever dying due to their abilities to heal themselves and bring their own models back automatically).
Overall, a nicely balanced list that gives Big Momma and her Fancy Beetle a good run out against a tough variety of opponents.
Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords
– Subfaction: Helon
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS
Archmage Teclis (700)*
– Spells: Healing Zephyr
Scinari Cathallar (110)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts of Power: Silver Wand
– Spells: Total Eclipse
– Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
BATTLELINE
Hurakan Windchargers (130)*
– Windspeaker Seneschal
– Standard Bearer
Hurakan Windchargers (130)*
– Windspeaker Seneschal
– Standard Bearer
Hurakan Windchargers (130)*
– Standard Bearer
– Windspeaker Seneschal
OTHER
Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)*
– High Sentinel
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat
Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)*
– High Sentinel
– Spells: Speed of Hysh
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
1 x Rune of Petrification (60)
1 x Emerald Lifeswarm (60)
TERRAIN
1 x Shrine Luminor (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
More LRL! Funnily enough, this list has also opted for Helon, and who cares how many Sentinels. But they also go hard on WIndchargers! A cunning tactical ploy to have slightly fewer shots on slow bodies and slightly more shots on fast bodies. I’m sure the dilemma was agonising.
Since this tournament, and indeed my comments on the 3rd place list, Sentinels, Teclis, and Windchargers have gone up a few points. So lists like this will no longer be able to take quite so many endless spells! I’m sure the effect on their efficacy will be devastating.
Army Faction: Disciples of Tzeentch
– Army Subfaction: Guild of Summoners
– Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Magister (120)*
– Spells: Shield of Fate
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
1 x Curseling (180)**
– Spells: Glimpse the Future
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
1 x Ogroid Thaumaturge (170)**
– General
– Command Traits: Arcane Sacrifice
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Arcane Suggestion
1 x Lord of Change (400)**
– Staff of Tzeentch and Rod of Sorcery
– Artefacts: Nine-Eyed Tome
– Spells: Ghost-mist
BATTLELINE
10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)*
– Kairic Adept
– Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield
– Scroll of the Dark Arts
– Vulcharc
– 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield
10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)*
– Kairic Adept
– Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield
– Scroll of the Dark Arts
– Vulcharc
– 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield
10 x Tzaangors (180)*
– Twistbray
– Icon Bearer
– Brayhorn Blower
– 2 x Tzaangor Mutant
– Pair of Savage Blades
BEHEMOTH
1 x Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)*
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
1 x Burning Sigil Of Tzeentch (60)
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (90)
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Please read the review for Kaleb’s winning list and substitute the word ‘Kaleb’ for ‘Jonathan’! Seriously, I wasn’t kidding about Kaleb’s list being a trendsetter!
I should probably include a few more words on Jonathan’s path to 13th place so that Peter doesn’t get mad at me and assigns me 500 words on each variant of contrast paint. He did fantastically well to get to table 2 in Round 5 but then faced the Kryptonite of many Tzeentch lists: Kragnos and Stonehorns. With the ability to ignore so much magic AND the speed of Tony’s 4th placed list (see above) it was always going to be tricky. While having some monsters to eat would be handy for the Krondspine, Jonathan wouldn’t have been given the time to get the summoning going and so had to settle for a still very impressive 4-1 in the end.
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians
– Grand Strategy: Unrelenting Efficiency
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Arkhan the Black (340)
Katakros (430)*
Mortisan Soulreaper (100)*
– Spells: Protection of Nagash
– Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Mortisan Soulreaper (100)*
– General
– Command Traits: Katakros’ Chosen
– Artefacts of Power: Artificer’s Blade
– Spells: Drain Vitality
BATTLELINE
Mortek Guard (420)*
– Necrophoros
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Mortek Guard (280)*
– Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Mortek Guard (140)*
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Immortis Guard (150)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Nightmare Predator (40)
TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
A list reminiscent of classical pre-Stalkers as Battleline lists for Ossiarch Bonereapers. Obviously, this list was before the new battletome so a few things need to be considered. Katakros and Arkhan are the headliners, with Arkhan being one of the few legitimately good units in OBR with his +2 to casting and blazing fast speed. Katakros offers a ton of buffs from stealing a command point on a 4+, -1 to hit on an enemy unit, and giving +1 to hit and to saves for all units within 36″. Mortis Praetorians doesn’t see as much play as Petrifix Elite but if you’re going to run Katakros it’s about the same with his +1 to save aura, though you do lose the -1 Rend from Petrifix Elite. Rounding off the list is two Soulreapers, which while not very good allow him to slip in 2 Galetian Champions at 2000 points.
As for units this list doesnt really have much of a hammer. That’s clearly not the point though, with 60 Mortek Guard you can gum up the board pretty bad, 30 3+ Save, 6+ Ward wounds aren’t easy to cut through if you didn’t bring a Monster to roar them. While they may not hit nearly as hard as Stalkers, they’re not totally impotent either, and can usually win a grind out war over 2-3 turns of combat against nastier things. The Immortis guard are a workhorse unit to protect Arkhan from ranged fire, since an 11 wound 4+ Save Monster makes him a giant red bullseye for enemy fire.
Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Lurid Haze Invaders Host (Host of Chaos)
– Mortal Realm: Ulgu
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders
The Contorted Epitome (240)*
– General
– Command Trait: Feverish Anticipation
– Artefact: Oil of Exultation
– Host Option: General
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Sigvald, Prince of Slaanesh (210)*
– Host Option: General
Glutos Orscollion, Lord of Gluttony (440)*
– Lore of Pain and Pleasure: Battle Rapture
Infernal Enrapturess, Herald of Slaanesh (120)*
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Slaanesh: Born of Damnation
Battleline
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)**
– Reinforced x 1
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)**
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)**
Other
1 x Cockatrice (105)*
1 x Cockatrice (105)*
Endless Spells
Mesmerising Mirror (60)
Wheels of Excruciation (80)
Dreadful Visage (70)
Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Galletian Sharpshooters
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 96
Drops: 9
As Peter put it the other day, Old Slaanesh (the previous Battletome) was in play. This is a popular “old list” right now. Slaanesh, like all aelves, has always been very difficult to balance, at the moment though they are a bit of a sleeper. Mobile with mad summoning, decent shooting and surprisingly durable with Revel in Pain.
Laron’s doubled down on the Epitome with Fuelled by Ghurish rage on top of Oil (+1 wound) and Flaming Weapon. Glutos, the mobile road block, is here with Sigvald to snipe out annoying Galletian Champions and the Enrapturess to make sure those casts go off. Beyond wards, bravery and damage spells, the army is packing all 3 Hedonite Endless Spells. Mortal wounds for everyone and a fight last as well. Mandatory Blissbarbs and the soon to be extinct Cockatrice (the monster keyword isn’t on the new scroll). The Cockatrice still has a place to generate DP and for their fast movement, letting them score early points.
And that’s the conundrum of facing the chaos aelves – target the Blissbarb, and apart from being stung, you’ll give them a lot of DP (summoning points). And as you kill them, they’ll get harder to kill. Worse, Glutos and the Epitome will be free to act. Target the heroes, and the Blissbarb will make you look like a porcupine. The old HoS book is a dps check. You need to deal with them fast enough that their summoning doesn’t matter. Preferably from range.
Laron took the list to 4-1 handily defeating several top armies (and Stormcast). Pretty amazing with a list that shouldn’t have a lot of surprises and was at the time running with a 47% win rate. That success should tell you how good the general was.
Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Heartwood
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:
Leaders
Alarielle the Everqueen (820)*
Arch-Revenant (120)*
– General
– Command Trait: Warsinger
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of the Deepwood: Verdurous Harmony
Units
10 x Dryads (100)*
10 x Dryads (100)*
3 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (230)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
6 x Revenant Seekers (480)*
– Reinforced x 1
Endless Spells
Spiteswarm Hive (40)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 97
Drops: 1
Continuing the 4-1 with Alarielle trend – which I’m personally happy to see given Momma Nature is such a great model, is this Heartwood list that, well, pretty much follows the template.
Probably the most important synergy in overall playstyle here is the way the Seekers compliment what Alarielle can do. Beetle-bum is much more of a mixed phase zoning piece with her big’ ol….base and surprising speed, so you need something like the Seekers to be able to zoom in on smaller, more versatile bases, do a good amount of damage, and actually stay where they end up – something they’re willing to risk due to their built in healing, 5+ rally and ability to bring a model back. With Dryads and Tree Revs as annoying, teleporty objective grabbers and screens, and the 3 Greatbows doing plinky-plink damage at long range, this kind of list can be very difficult to actually navigate around. And of course, by the time you finally kill Alarielle, she’s liable to come back in later rounds when you no longer have the tools to take her off again.
Losing only to a Gnarlroot Sylvaneth semi-mirror, and taking down a good variety of other lists en route, this new list archetype (I’m calling it Beetle-Momma and the Seekers) clearly has legs/wings/roots…. I’ll leaf it there. Big up to Matthew!
Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin
– Enclave: Mor’Phann
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders
Akhelian Thrallmaster (110)*
Isharann Soulrender (120)*
– Artefact: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Akhelian King (250)*
– General
– Bladed Polearm
– Command Trait: Unstoppable Fury
– Mount Trait: Voidchill Darkness
Battleline
6 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Namarti Reavers (340)*
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Namarti Reavers (170)*
20 x Namarti Thralls (260)*
– Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 115
Drops: 1
This list makes use of some of the best Idoneth units avaiable in the book, without relying on Lotann or the Leviadon. Two champs are there to support the Namarti units, both defensively and offensively, and the Artefact allows the Isharann character to summon a Gloomtide Shipwreck at the end of the first movement phase. This is particularly good with Tunnel Master, because the Soulrender can pop up anywhere on the board and drop a large piece of line of sight blocking impassable terrain.
The eels and king can work in tandem to deal a lot of damage. The eels can charge in first, eat the Unleash Hell while still getting their mortal wound bomb off, while the king can pop himself and possibly both eel squads into high tide, creating the possibility of an alpha strike against any enemy who may have deployed too aggressively.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for Guts & Glory Club Tournament
This is the top three AoS lists for the Guts & Glory Club Tournament that took place in the USA on the 11th and 12th of March. It involved 48 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Legion: Petrifex Elite
– Mortal Realm: Ghyran
– Grand Strategy: Unrelenting Efficiency
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Liege-Kavalos (160)*
– General
– Command Trait: Mighty Archaeossian
Mortisan Boneshaper (110)*
– Artefact: Godbone Armour
– Lore of Mortisans: Drain Vitality
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Mortisan Soulmason (120)*
– Lore of Mortisans: Arcane Command
Battleline
10 x Mortek Guard (140)*
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
– 1x Soulcleaver Greatblades
10 x Mortek Guard (140)*
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
– 1x Soulcleaver Greatblades
5 x Kavalos Deathriders (180)*
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Units
6 x Necropolis Stalkers (340)**
– 2x Dread Falchions
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Necropolis Stalkers (340)**
– 2x Dread Falchions
– Reinforced x 1
Artillery
Mortek Crawler (200)*
Mortek Crawler (200)
Endless Spells & Invocations
Bone-tithe Shrieker (50)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Galletian Veterans
Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 125
Drops: 4
You may be aware of our recent collaboration with Stormkeep and presenting out stats on YouTube. We’ll Mrigank of Stormkeep fame has managed an impressive 5-0, but not with Stormcast as you’d expect, but Bonereapers! I’ll let Mrigank explain the list.
Mrigank Jha: So pivoting away from the traditional Arkhan Magic + Infantry based lists , this list doesn’t focus on hordes of Mortek Guard. Roar makes them vulnerable and the meta has too many ranged horde killers (Ogors, Skaven, Stormcast, LRL). So, keeping the 2×6 stalkers for Blenders, this list goes towards Catapults. All out Defence and Armor may make it seem weak, but the special ammo is what is important. Ogors, LRL, and Gitz, the three big bad, are fairly low bravery, and Gitz in particular, has small wound heroes. Being able to wreck a giant Grot unit or Squigherd unit. Taking out Gnoblars entirely the same way is amazing. Sniping a Sentinel Captain to turn off empower, and in case of a Slaves to Darkness matchup, sniping an Ensorcelled Banner is amazing.
Stalkers are amazing with Mystic shield and re roll saves on defence or additional rend and damage on offence (can increase rend even further with Bludgeon)
So, for my matches, I mainly did that. Use catapults at key targets, and push Mortek guard out early as Stalker screens. Stalkers to counterattack. Necromantic Mastery (heroic action) with Bone Tithe Shrieker to add 1 to hit rolls and stop Inspiring Presence and Rally. In instances of where your opponent leaves a GC out in the open, the special ammo can help you snipe it on a lucky roll. You can also use this one to break coherency in entire units strung out as screens
I faced LRL, Ogors, Anvilgard Cites, Skaven and Gitz. The Catapult range and threat meant they often chose to target it instead of my other threats , the ones that take objectives and its fairly difficult to kill catapults with 12 W 4+ save and reducing a rend.
I used the Kavalos as a fast threat, objective taker, Mortek guard as screens / first line of defense, and stalkers to get into the thick of it.
Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Lurid Haze Invaders Host (Host of Chaos)
– Mortal Realm: Ulgu
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders
The Contorted Epitome (240)*
– General
– Command Trait: Feverish Anticipation
– Artefact: Oil of Exultation
– Host Option: General
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Sigvald, Prince of Slaanesh (210)*
– Host Option: General
Glutos Orscollion, Lord of Gluttony (440)*
– Lore of Pain and Pleasure: Battle Rapture
Infernal Enrapturess, Herald of Slaanesh (120)*
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Slaanesh: Born of Damnation
Battleline
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)**
– Reinforced x 1
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)**
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)**
Other
1 x Cockatrice (105)*
1 x Cockatrice (105)*
Endless Spells and Invocations
Mesmerising Mirror (60)
Wheels of Excruciation (80)
Dreadful Visage (70)
Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Galletian Sharpshooters
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 96
Drops: 9
Old book HoS take the podium! With a new book around the corner east to forget, this is just a current, often nerfed, HoS list. It has all of the stars, Sigvald, Epitome, and Glutos, with a lot of Blissbarb. Blissbarb are as much the heart of the list as the heroes, ok archery and a fantastic source of Depravity Points (DP). The Epitome build is very tanky (for HoS) with an extra wound and one of the new Ghurish enhancements – Fuelled by Ghurish Rage (once per battle 3+ ward). Add in the Flaming Weapon, and it’s still a very dangerous unit.
Back to the DP – Hedonites are really a summoning army, everything is fragile (not Glutos), just now they can use Revel in Pain as well while they have the points. You’re forced into an unenviable choice of removing units (Generating DP) or heroes (and being shot) – very hedonistic. With the Cockatrice to act as blockers, objective getters and generally be pains it’s a very annoying army that can react to most situations. The list even has 2 ways to snipe out Galletian Champions – Galletian Sharpshooters for all of the Blissbarb and Mesmering Mirror, swingy but if it goes off…. Both of the other spells do mortal wounds as well based on 6 dice. Dreadful Visage is very effective against screens etc, if it does damage it reduces Bravery by 1. Orcs hate it.
That combination of threats was very effective. Laron’s opponents had limited or no shooting, that shooting was frequently shorter ranged. Combined with effective heroes and the mortal wound output it’s hard to counter unless played just right. That Epitome is a thing of nightmares….
Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Aether-Khemist (90)**
– General
– Command Trait: Collector
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit (160)**
– Artefact: Staff of Ocular Optimisation
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Arkanaut Admiral (140)**
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Gotrek Gurnisson (480)
Battleline
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Skypikes
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
Units
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (260)*
– 2x Aetheric Fumigators
– 2x Decksweepers
– 2x Aethercannons
– 1x Grundstok Mortars
– Reinforced x 1
Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (490)
– Main Gun: Great Volley Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: The Last Word
Endless Spells & Invocations
Warp Lightning Vortex (80)
Core Battalions
*Galletian Sharpshooters
**Warlord
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Artefact
Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 95
Drops: 9
One last hurrah for the old book, this time around we’re lucky enough to have Carl’s comments on hid list
Carl Stokes: This was the final ride of the Warp Lightning Vortex in KO and I was determined to send it off with a bang!
I’ve always felt that KO struggle into high tempo combat heavy armies that can either shrug off the heaps of rend -1 shooting I can bring to bear and/or close the gap in one turn to crack open my boats.
Enter Gotrek.
He completely changes the way opponents have to think about KO. The things I used to be very concerned about (Kragnos, Varanguard, Mawkrushas) are now the armies I feel extremely favored into. Gotrek forces combat armies to forfeit the alpha strike into my boat bunker and allow me to seize the initiative and dictate the flow of the game.
With old KO rules, this also meant that forcing me to go first just allowed me to perfectly lob a WLV into my opponent’s backfield and then hide the Ironclad behind a layer of 10 Thunderers and a Khemist who would guarantee my opponent was at -1 to hit in close combat. And of course, should they fail to kill the Thunderers and Khemist, a very angry dwarf was right around the corner…
The best part is how easily this list transitions to the new book! Not only is this archetype alive and well, but because the warp lightning vortex becomes a free soulscream bridge and a few characters are easily swapped around, I can add 5 more new and improved Thunderers (that rally on a 4+) to the list and make it a one-drop. I’m always trying to spread the Gospel of Gotrek and I think the new KO tome will really demonstrate his utility in the faction.
Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Check Header
– Grand Court: Blisterskin
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Abhorrant Archregent (240)
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Abhorrant Archregent (240)
– General
– Command Trait: Hellish Orator
– Artefact: The Dermal Robe
– Lore of Madness: Spectral Host
Abhorrant Ghoul King (170)*
– Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation
Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)*
– Artefact: Eye of Hysh
– Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Varghulf Courtier (160)*
– Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline
9 x Crypt Flayers (540)**
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)**
10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)*
Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Galletian Veterans
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 98
Drops: 8
FEC is a statistical anamoly – both Metawatch and TSN have them as a 50%+ faction, we have them at about 43% win rate. Who’s right? Well we don’t write about them that often so there aren’t that many podiums in the events we cover. But that could just be the low player representation.
Anyway the list, this is the “list” or the most common way we see FEC. A double reinforced Crypt Flayer unit with 2 x Crypt Ghoul screens, Terrorgheist, Archregents and Ghoul Kings. This gives the widest range of spells and summoning. It can summon, during the battle, up to another 9 Crypt Flayers and 20 serfs – this is really a 2660 point list. That’s key to beating them – don’t commit too early, force your opponent to bring most of their units onto the table so you don’t face an overwhelming force in Turn 2 or 3. Not taking Chronomatic Cogs is an interesting choice.
FEC really needs to get their buffs off (adding up to 4 attacks and a 5+ ward) so Cogs is almost mandatory. Only losing to Fyreslayers though is a testament to what the faction is capable of. Roll well and the Flayers are terrifying, very hard to kill and rally really well. In the matchups here they’ve taken down almost everything including Varanguard. With the new book announced it’s likely we’ll see more interest in the faction and enjoy those damn Flayers.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for Blood in the Snow
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for Blood in the Snow that took place in the UK on 14th and 15 January. It involved 30 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine
– Subfaction: Khailebron
– Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots
– Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS
Melusai Ironscale (115)*
– General
– Command Traits: Zealous Orator
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Mindrazor
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
Morathi-Khaine (680)*
The Shadow Queen (680)*
BATTLELINE
Witch Aelves (115)*
– Hag
– Death Pennant Bearer
– Hornblower
– Paired Sciansá
Witch Aelves (115)*
– Hag
– Death Pennant Bearer
– Hornblower
– Paired Sciansá
Blood Sisters (420)*
– Gorgai
BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Horrorghast (40)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1965/2000
EDIT: You would think that I – a DoK main – would not get Blood Stalkers and Sisters mixed up – but there’s an interesting case study in assumptions tricking your brain into reading things wrong! To be fair, it doesn’t really change much but either way, my bad – commentary amended accordingly (less Pin-Cushion and more Pins-Needles)
Baz Norman is one of those names you really don’t want to see on your pairings sheet – and he’s ending the old season on another high here with a list that, with the forthcoming points changes and GC rules, is likely dead from here on.
Essentially it’s a riff on the good old fashioned pin-and-cushion list, with two timed-unkillable giant bases in Morathi and Spinedog to back you up while 15 Stab charge in behind them with their huge MW output. I call it, the ‘Pins-and-Needles’ list!
That’s it really. It’s done the business before, it’s done it here again and in the new season this list will be nearly 100 pts dearer and have only the one useful Galley Champ – so hopefully we’ll see DoK lists getting a mix up at least!
Army Faction: Sylvaneth
– Subfaction: Harvestboon
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS
Warsong Revenant (305)*
– General
– Command Traits: Spellsinger
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Treesong, Verdant Blessing
Celestant-Prime (325)*
BATTLELINE
Tree-Revenants (110)*
Tree-Revenants (110)*
Revenant Seekers (705)**
– Revenant Soulwarden
– 3 x Seeker Banner Bearer
– 3 x Seeker Hornblower
Spiterider Lancers (420)**
– Spiterider Scion
– 2 x Spiterider Standard Bearer
– 2 x Spiterider Hornblower
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters
TOTAL POINTS: 1975/2000
Peter Twigg here showing that Sylvaneth are starting to put some deep roots down – and that’s before their forthcoming points cuts.
It’s a nasty list – tripling down on Revenant Seekers, those bastards tricky flying cavalry who can feel nigh on indestructible by dint of healing up after they kill something and their ability to bring a model back by themselves – including one of their own. They’re backed up by Lancers – the less tanky but killier ones, all wrapped up in Harvestboon for the pre-game move (for EACH flying-cav unit) of 12″. The threat projection is obvious – you’re likely to start turn 1 swatting more bugs than you’d find at an al fresco jam tasting in August.
Then, just to make your life truly miserable, there’s a Celestant Prime.
The list has the speed to take down tanky targets like SCE and Slaves in the first two games, and also has the recursion and mobility to deal with DoK, losing only to Baz. Another list that may suffer in the new season due to lack of scoring GCs but honestly, when you can just pin and kill everything in the first battle-round, does it matter?
Allegiance: Ironjawz
– Warclan: Bloodtoofs
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)**
– General
– Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist
– Command Trait: Mighty Waaagh! Leader
– Artefact: Destroyer
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
Orruk Warchanter (115)**
– Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat
Orruk Warchanter – Bonded (115)**
Orruk Warchanter
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat
– Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
Battleline
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)**
– 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*
– Jagged Gore-hackas
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*
– Jagged Gore-hackas
– Reinforced x 1
Behemoths
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)
Points: 1,955/2,000
Elite in that special Orc way, Mawcrusha with 3 Warchanters for lots of Violent Fury (+1 damage), 12 pigs and a token 5 Ardboyz. And the Krondspine. It produces a quadruple threat, all hammers list that can be all Alpha strike but has some potential to play for a double if you hold it back until Turn 2/3. The change to -2 Rend boosted Goregruntas a lot and blocks of 6 can remove most threats in a turn. Even better they will usually (being 30 wounds) tie up whatever they charged for a 2nd round where the unreinforced unit can be taken out in 1 turn. This is a multi drop army (2 artefacts) so it probably isn’t going to get first turn unless their opponent thinks they can delay outside of 25”+, the threat range of the Goregruntas with Mighty Destroyers and Get ‘em beat.
But wait there’s more – Get ‘em beat on a Goregrunta unit with the Green Hand of Gork is a very good sniping tactic. You drop outside of 9” (no redeploy) with a 3D6 charge or better than 50% chance of making the charge. Then there’s the Krondspine, a handy addition to Ironjawz who are lagging a little in the win rate. Quadrulple threats with the potential to remove units quickly and restrict your scoring. But at the same time if the opponent is too mobile or spreads then other army lacks the units to pursue. If they Orks get to dictate play you are in trouble but they are vulnerable to mortal wounds (or spells really) and archers. And with so few units it’s hard to score Battle Tactics. High risk high reward list for a High risk high reward army – very orkish.
Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Lurid Haze Invaders Host (Host of Chaos)
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
The Contorted Epitome (245)*
– General
– Command Trait: Feverish Anticipation
– Artefact: Oil of Exultation
– Lore of Slaanesh: Hysterical Frenzy
Sigvald, Prince of Slaanesh (205)*
Glutos Orscollion, Lord of Gluttony (440)*
– Lore of Pain and Pleasure: Battle Rapture
Battleline
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)**
– Reinforced x 1
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)**
– Reinforced x 1
5 x Hellstriders with Hellscourges (135)*
Units
5 x Blissbarb Seekers (220)*
5 x Centigors (85)*
5 x Centigors (85)*
Endless Spells & Invocations
The Burning Head (20)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Expert Conquerors
Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 125
Drops: 3
Peter published these meta stats earlier this week, and according to it the Hedonites are…. *searches through list*… sleeping in. Apparently they are sick in bed with a terrible case of old book-itis, and would prefer not to have to have their names added to anything, thankyouverymuch.
In reality, Slaanesh is in a tough spot right now. They are stuck with Hero-hammer being the best way to field their most effective units while dealing with a GHB that rewards armies with good troops. They want to kill their opponents, but if they do it too well they break their own summoning mechanic. They want to get their heroes stuck in, but on a good day Sigvald is still going to fold under the weight of a decent opponent (there is only so much a 3+ save and 4+ ward can do when you’re starting out with 6 wounds).
All that said, what this list seems to want is to place as many threats on the board in as many places as possible. Blissbarb archers aren’t going to stand up to dedicated fire, but are fast enough to place bodies where you need them, potentially stealing an objective right out from under their opponent. The Seekers, Hellstriders, and Centigors are also present to make use of those relatively fast movement speeds to tie up and harass their opponents. The heroes waver between support (Glutos) and damage (Sigvald), both of which can very effectively support the other.
I expect once the new GHB is released and adopted by more tournaments we will see drastically different list-building styles from Hedonites. Whether those modified lists will see top 3s remains to be seen.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for 5 Alarm GT
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the 5 Alarm Grand Tournament that took place in Canada on 12th and 13th November. It involved 22 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine
– Temple: Zainthar Kai
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders
Morathi-Khaine (340)*
The Shadow Queen (340)*
Melusai Ironscale (115)*
– General
– Command Trait: Zealous Orator
– Artefact: Crown of Woe
Units
10 x Blood Sisters (280)**
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Blood Sisters (280)**
– Reinforced x 1
15 x Blood Stalkers (540)*
– Reinforced x 2
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (95)*
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters
Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 99
Drops: 3
Peter: Joshua Bennett (who you may recognise from many a top three article featuring his own lists), has kindly joined the Woehammer team to comment on Daughters Lists.
Joshua: While this list sticks to the norm of the current meta for DOK, it does have its own tweaks that make it very interesting.
At first glance, we see what looks like the basic Zainthar Kai list. At the head of the snake army is the high queen herself, Morathi. Morathi, by herself, is a menace to most opponents. She has a cap of only three wounds a turn, which becomes a great deterrent for the alpha strikes becoming a perfect screen, where the alpha strikes are running into an unkillable duo of models. As anyone knows that has ever faced off against the shadow queen, she is not to be taken lightly in combat. Shadow queen has the potential to pick up most units. She lives up to her title as a “God Model” with the ability to tank everything with the absolute barrage of attacks with high damage and rend.
Bring on the snakes! 15 blood stalkers have always and still remain to be a powerful force to deal with in the DOK list. At 30 shots, hitting on three’s, wounding on three’s, doing mortals on sixes to hit, makes stalkers a threat against any list. Add the fact that they are also shooting in the hero phase, bringing the total number of shots to 60 at a range of 24”. With all of these attacks, this unit should be feared by all. To add to the terror of the Stalkers, their melee loving counter parts, the blood sisters, are also added to this list. Two 10 man units bring each of these death ball units to 30 attacks, hitting and wounding on threes, followed by an extremely powerful turned to crystal ability. This ability allows the unit to roll a dice for each model in their unit and each 2+ inflicting a mortal wound to the selected unit an inch away from it. In this list, the blood sisters are placed in the bounty hunters battalion, which brings the damage of each attack against Galletian Veterans units, a minimum of 2 damage. But it doesn’t stop there, when the ever daunting Shadow queen is in combat within 18” of these blood soaked sisters, the sisters attacks increase to four attacks each, which gives the sisters even more power to pick their opponents units up.
So I know what you’re thinking! I am just going to stay away from this army of blood driven blood elves. This may be harder to do than you think. This is because the Shadow queen is moving 14” and the melee snakes are moving 8”. Also you must keep in mind that the Melusai is in the list as well and serves more than just a pretty face. She allows the Sisters to be able to run and charge, increasing the threat of the slithering blood crazed sisters to the potential of a 14” move bringing them into a more manageable charge range.
Wait, look in the sky! That’s right, a unit of heartrenders are circling above the battlefield waiting for the right moment to strike. This unit can deploy off the board and be placed on the table 9” away from an enemy model. In the shooting phase they each shoot an enemy within 12” of them and then move 6”. Normally we see two of these units in a list because that allows DOK players to use the Battletomb tactic Cruel Delight. This single unit still has its uses. It keeps a constant threat to the backfield objectives. Also this unit can make a great screen for the remaining army. With this units very speedy movement of 14” it can bounce back and forth between objectives causing their opponents a massive headache of leaving models on all objectives. Also with the Grand strategy of take what’s theirs the late game deepstrike can give you edge needed to gain that three extra points.
The other obstacle opponents face while playing this list, is that you must pick up entire units. Because thanks to the Command trait Zealous Order bringing models back from the dead is much easier than normal. This command trait allows the general to bring back friendly models back on a four plus rally compared to the normal six.
Overall this list hasthe range, and the face-to-face killing power to take on most lists, and I can see why it did so well at this tournament.
Army Faction: Disciples of Tzeentch
– Subfaction: Guild of Summoners
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS
Curseling (180)*
– Spells: Shield of Fate
Fluxmaster (170)*
– Artefacts of Power: Pyrofyre Stave
– Spells: Unchecked Mutation
Lord of Change (400)*
– Staff of Tzeentch and Rod of Sorcery
– Artefacts of Power: The Eternal Shroud
– Spells: Ghost-mist
Kairos Fateweaver (435)***
– Spells: Tzeentch’s Firestorm
Tzaangor Shaman (135)***
– Spells: Glimpse the Future
Magister (120)***
– General
– Command Traits: Arcane Sacrifice
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Arcane Suggestion
BATTLELINE
Kairic Acolytes (120)**
– Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield
– Scroll of the Dark Arts
– Vulcharc
– 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield
Kairic Acolytes (120)**
– Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield
Kairic Acolytes (120)***
– Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Burning Sigil Of Tzeentch (50)
1 x Chronomantic Cogs (70)
1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Expert Conquerors
***Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Kieron: A super interesting list for my first time reviewing a Disciples of Tzeentch top three list. Conventional wisdom would suggest that Guild of Summoners is relatively low down in the sub-faction hierarchy but Nic has clearly made this work well for him. Conventional wisdom would also suggest that Master of Destiny is a no-brainer Grand Strategy (have Destiny Dice equal to 9 or more at the end of the battle) but Nic has again bucked the trend with Defend What’s Ours. Where the power comes from in this list can be broken down into Destiny Dice, Fate Points and Battle Tactics.
Let’s start with Destiny Dice, or cheaty dice as some less charitable (and non-Tzeentch players might call them). Nic would roll 9 at the start of the game and the Eternal Shroud would allow new dice to be rolled on a 5+ whenever they are used. The Tzaangor Shaman can lurk at the back of the board (see battle tactics below) generating a new one with Glimpse the Future which will be supporting Kairos who is generating one per turn if you have less than 9. This means that over the course of the game, there should be in the region of 20 dice that the Tzeentch player will know ahead of time, allowing them to be super aggressive or defensive as the game demands.
Next up is fate points and if you thought 20 was a lot of a resource to generate then you haven’t seen anything yet! If Tzeentch go first and all the possible spells go off they will have: 1 from Burning Sigil; 2 from The Curseling; at least 1 and probably 3 from Fluxmaster (theoretically 10, but if you roll 9/9 5+s against me I’m probably conceding or calling a TO!); 2 from the Lord of Change; 3 from Kairos; 1 from Shaman; 3 from Magister; 1 from each Kairic unit making around 15-18 in Turn 1. And what do we do with those points I hear you ask? You summon another Lord of Change for only 9 points and bank the other points for the next turn. Next turn you will have another two casts meaning that you will have more than enough to summon another Lord of Change 18 fate points! At this point you would be facing over 1600pts of prime Tzeentch Turkey that are giving each other (and nearby heroes) +4 to cast. Diminishing returns from this point in as there won’t be enough spells for them all to cast, so probably just bring in 20 pinks a turn instead! If the Tzeentch player is not locked down quickly, they could summon 1500pts by turn 5 (EDIT: Thanks to Tasteless for getting me to go back and not blah, blah , blah the sub-faction ability: Guild of Summoners can ONLY summon Magic Chickens, meaning that a 5 turn game could actually see 2000pts of summoning and Nic possibly in need of kidney to donate to fund the 7 Lords of Change that could be on the board at this point…).
This is all well and good, but if you don’t score points then you don’t win and this is also a list that really wants to use book battle tactics! Call for Change is extremely straightforward as you just need to summon a Lord of Change; the Tzaangor Shaman is an excellent choice for Reckless Abandon, where you need to complete a charge move with a mortal unit more than 18″ away from all enemy units; Ninefold Dismantlement needs you to kill a unit with 9 models or a hero/monster with a wounds characteristic of 9 or more and Tide of Anarchy needs you to take an objective off your enemy with 9 or more models. To truly flex on your opponent, Kairos could even go for Mass Conjuration by casting 3 or more spells for a full 5/5 Tzeentch tactics.
Congrats to Nic for doing fantastically well with some more off-meta choices, demonstrating the internal balance of the Disciples of Tzeentch book.
Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Mortal Realm: Chamon
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Aether-Khemist (90)*
– General
– Command Trait: Collector
– Artefact: Staff of Ocular Optimisation
Aether-Khemist (90)**
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
Aetheric Navigator (85)*
– Artefact: Svaregg-Stein Illuminator Flarepistol
Gotrek Gurnisson (485)**
Battleline
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
Units
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)**
– Reinforced x 1
Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (490)**
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Ebullient Buoyancy Aid
Endless Spells & Invocations
Purple Sun of Shyish (90)
Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Battle Regiment
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 97
Drops: 4
Peter: Another new member of the team today. Randal Brasher, who some may remember from General Speaking, has agreed to join us to comment on KO, Cities and Stormcast lists.
Randal: Oh boy, here we go! Karl is no stranger to Kharadron Overlords this season and has found 5-0 and 4-1 success with both Double Ironclads and Whole Fleet lists, but the one constant has been his inclusion of Purple Sun. This list leans in on the power of the Endless Spell even more than his previous winning lists by overloading an Ironclad with heroes, Arkanauts, and some spicy Grundstock Thunderers then using the Zilfin Hero Phase move alongside Ebullient Bouyancy Aid. After moving the murder boat across the board it wants to unleash the Purple Sun then leverage the once per game effects of the Flare Pistol (full rerolls in the shooting phase) and the Admiral’s Special Ammunition for either additional rend or eliminating a ward save. It is a very high volume of shots at very high rend, more than enough to cripple most elite armies or clear the flank of a horde army. If the opponent somehow manages to survive the barrage in any condition to fight, they get a facefull of Gotrek.
A bit of tech in this list is to use the Great Sky Cannon over the more synergistic and higher damage Volley Cannon. It lets the boat play the objective game and still contribute some shooting after it unleashes its payload due to the superior range. This list is going to play very well into elite armies or high save armies but it has a serious issue with ranged mortal wounds as its loss to Disciples of Tzeentch shows. Armies with a lot of summoning, such as Beasts of Chaos or Nurgle, might also give it some problems. However, into a metagame of Giants, Daughters of Khaine, Sylvaneth, and Seraphon it is a monster of a metabreaker.
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh
– Army Type: Invaders
– Army Subfaction: The Lurid Haze
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Synessa (260)*
– General
1 x Sigvald (205)*
– General
1 x Be’lakor (360)*
BATTLELINE
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)*
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)*
5 x Hellstriders with Hellscourges (135)*
BEHEMOTH
1 x Chimera (200)*
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (40)
OTHER
10 x Symbaresh Twinsouls (260)*
10 x Symbaresh Twinsouls (260)*
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Alice: Slaanesh is struggling badly at the moment, but it’s not entirely without merit. There’s a few units that manage to succeed despite their own faction dragging them down, and Invaders manages to pull itself up to something quite usable, if a bit fiddly.
Invaders allows you to have 3 Generals who need to remain 12″ apart from each other. This is largely fine with this composition, because Be’lakor operates well as the main general leading the force to shut down the major threats while Synessa hangs back and casts spells and Sigvald attempts to do character assassinations. If any do die, its a free CP.
Blissbarb Archers are one of the few stand out units in Slaanesh. While they may not get mortal wounds on 6s like some armies, they get a decent number of Rend -1 shots and can run and shoot. Twinsouls make a solid hammer and anvil, depending on what you need in any given situation. Rounding it out, the Chimera is an interesting ally, giving them the mortal wound support they really need while being a solid beat stick to boot.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for Game Knight GT
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Game Knight Grand Tournament that took place in London, Ontario, Canada on the 17th and 18th of September. It involved 22 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Sons of Behemat
– Army Type: Breaker Tribe
– Grand Strategy: Make the land tremble!
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Gatebreaker (525)*
– General
– Command Traits: Monstrously Tough
– Artefacts: Enchanted Portcullis
1 x Warstomper (470)*
– Artefacts: Amulet of Destiny
1 x Gatebreaker (525)**
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Warstomper (470)**
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent
**Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)
Brett: Sons of Behemat continuing to benefit from the Season 1 GHB taking out an event this time. Lately we’ve seen a lot of 3 Gatebreaker, Krondspine lists in the podium, this time it’s a more traditional (?) 2 x Gatebreakers and 2 x Warstomper. From the top Breaker Tribe but no loathing shown, and no Mancrushers in the list, with 2 x Bosses of the Stomp for extra artefacts. Grand Strategy is Make the Land Tremble – a unit needs to make a run or charge move every round, very hard to stop. Gatebreaker general with Monstrously Tough (extra 5 wounds) and Enchanted Portcullis (6+ ward). The first Warstomper also has a 6+ ward (Amulet of Destiny) and lastly the other Gatebreaker has Arcane Tome with Flaming Weapon (+1 damage)A tanky build with 2 of the Gargants having more than 40 effective wounds thanks to traits and artefacts.
If you move the Portcullis to another gargant instead of the General there would have been 3 Gargants with more than 40 effective wounds. First round draw against Slaves, the slaves list was running the new Legionnaires and mostly had small units with Be’lakor. Warstompers are less efficient into smaller units with their Titanic Boulder clubs attacks reducing quickly (it caps at 10). The same is true of the Sylvaneth list he faced in round 2. He maxed all of his other rounds including the last against the only other player to max all of his rounds. That match up against Fangs of Sotek would have favoured the Sons with the wards helping against Mortal Wounds and the Warstompers having max attacks against the big Skink blocks. A great run and nice to see a little variation in an army with so few warscrolls.
Army Faction: Seraphon
– Army Type: Starborne
– Army Subfaction: Fangs of Sotek
– Grand Strategy: The Astromatrix
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Lord Kroak (430)*
– General
1 x Skink Starpriest (130)*
– Spells: Hand of Glory
1 x Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)**
– Artefacts: Serpent God Dagger
1 x Stegadon with Skink Chief (305)**
– Skystreak Bow
– Artefacts: Cloak of Feathers
– Mount Traits: Celestial Destruction
1 x Skink Priest (90)**
– Prayers: Curse
BATTLELINE
30 x Skinks (225)*
– Skink Alpha
– Boltspitter and Moonstone Club
30 x Skinks (225)*
– Skink Alpha
– Boltspitter and Moonstone Club
10 x Skinks (75)*
– Skink Alpha
– Boltspitter
– Celestite Dagger and Star-buckler
5 x Saurus Guard (115)*
– Saurus Guard Alpha
– Stardrake Icon Bearer
– Wardrummer
BEHEMOTH
1 x Bastiladon with Solar Engine (250)*
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: (1985/2000)
Brett: Seraphon have continued to be strong for a very long time, not least because of the number of builds they can use. I prefer Fangs of Sotek to Thunder Lizard, not that I play Seraphon, but I think it plays to the mission better. And allows you to stop your opponent playing the mission as well. Choosing a named character as General (Kroak) loses you a Command Trait so it’s not often seen. Still 6 casts and Kroak’s unlimited range +2 dispel/unbind magic is going to be in their favour. Saurus guard are acting as body guards, the Skink Chief, Starpriest and Priest are buffing Skinks and the Astrolith Bearer providing a 6+ ward to units within 12″. Lots of leaders but the core of this list is the 2 x 30 Skink units.
They can be teleported within 9″ (with a 16″ weapon), with more than 15 models they have an extra attack (Unleash Hell with 60 attacks before any other buffs). Before being teleported they will be granted +1 to hit (Skink Priest), +1 attack (Skink Chief – melee only), 6s do a mortal wound in addition with at least +1 to their save and likely 6+ ward. If they have their buffs that unit is potentially doing 25 mortal wounds in addition to any other damage. Skinks look inoffensive but in a large group with buffs they are anything but. Rounding out this potential is the Bastilidon with Solar Engine and the Starbourne summoning which makes Descrate Lands and Against the Odds really easy. They can also pick up Barge through Enemy Lines with a teleport and summon.
That is before the 3 wizards inflict Mortals – Kroak can inflict D3 MW on 3 units 4 times a turn (on a 2+). Your best bet is to go first and try to concentrate on removing as many skinks as possible. A bit easier since they are in the large 30 man units rather than say 2 x 20 with 3 x 10 Skink screens. Once they start getting their buffs they become a much bigger threat and even out ranging them isn’t a guarantee. They will potentially pick up a 15 strong unit of Blood Stalkers or Namarti Reavers following a teleport within 9″. Tanky Gargants seem to be a counter otherwise Michael scored maximum points in each of his 4 previous battles to finish with a great, almost perfect 4/1.
Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin
– Army Subfaction: Mor’phann
– Grand Strategy: The Creeping Gloomtide
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Akhelian King (250)*
– General
– Command Traits: Unstoppable Fury
– Bladed Polearm and Falchion
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Mount Traits: Voidchill Darkness
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
1 x Isharann Soulrender (120)*
1 x Isharann Soulrender (120)*
BATTLELINE
30 x Namarti Reavers (510)*
– Icon Bearer
30 x Namarti Thralls (390)*
– Icon Bearer
3 x Akhelian Ishlaen Guard (195)*
– Lochian Prince
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
3 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (195)*
– Standard Bearer
– Lochian Prince
– Musician
3 x Akhelian Ishlaen Guard (195)*
– Lochian Prince
– Standard Bearer
– Musician
TERRAIN
1 x Gloomtide Shipwreck (0)
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1975/2000)
Brett: Straight forward Idoneth list anchored on Namarti with eels for extra mobility. Good to see the eels in a podium list. No real spell casting (1 cast/unbind from Arcane tome), as Morphann the Soulrenders can return and additional 3 models when using their Lurelight to return D3 models. That makes the Namarti much harder to clear particularly since the Gloomtide Shipwreck is garrionsable and give a 5+ ward within 6″. All of the Akehlian’s benefit on the charge with additional rend and damage (King and Morrsarr), and saves (Ishalean). The King is the only model with upgrades which include Unstoppable Fury (+2 attacks for each unit within 3″ in High Tide), Arcane Tome/Flaming Weapon (+1 damage) and Voidchill Darkness (-1 hit to enemy attackers).
The Shipwreck is probably central to this list, in combination with Tides of Death. In the first 2 tides the reavers (and thralls) are key units, wearing you down and stopping you getting to the King and Eels. Then in turn 3 and 4 the King and Eels can unleash and take advantage of run and charge/retreat and charge. 2 units of Eels can fit (no they can’t – they have mounts) in the Shipwreck with the Soulrenders to keep those Narmarti coming back. 30 models with a 5+ save and 6+ ward is hard to shift unless you have a lot of rend. His only loss was to Nighthaunt Scarlet Doom, another army that regrows and can retreat and charge in every round. And really important, they ignore rend, ultimately this army is a rend army. 4/1 is a strong performance, it’s great to see Idoneth on a the podium.
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh
– Army Type: Invaders
– Subfaction: The Lurid Haze
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS
Sigvald (205)**
– General
The Contorted Epitome (245)**
– General
– Command Traits: Feverish Anticipation
– Artefacts of Power: Oil of Exultation
– Spells: Hysterical Frenzy
Shardspeaker of Slaanesh (135)**
– Artefacts of Power: The Rod of Misrule
– Spells: Battle Rapture
BATTLELINE
Blissbarb Archers (420)***
– High Tempter
Blissbarb Archers (140)***
– High Tempter
Blissbarb Archers (140)***
– High Tempter
OTHER
Symbaresh Twinsouls (260)*
– Egopomp
Symbaresh Twinsouls (260)*
– Egopomp
Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
***Expert Conquerors
TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000
Brett: For our last list we have 4th, Mitch, who really really likes Blissbarb Archers. Fewer Leaders to increase the troops units but Sigvald and the Contorted Epitome are present with the less common Shardspeaker, it’s Twisted Mirror can give the Twinsouls +1 to wound or have the Epitome wounding on 3s. 3 casts/dispels from the Epitome and Shardspeaker. The Epitome gives rerolls to charges to one unit (Feverish Anticipation) and has an extra wound (Oil of Exultation). The Shardspeaker is carrying the Rod of Misrule (generate command points). The spells do Mortal Wounds (Hysterical Frenzy) and Battleshock modifications (Battle Rapture).
The double reinforced Blisbarb unit can move up to 12” and still shoot giving it a 30” threat range. The 2 unreinforced Blissbarbs are trading pieces and even screens. Expert Conquerors strengthens that role by giving the strong objective control. With the twinsouls supporting the Shardspeaker and Blissbarbs this list will generate a lot of depravity points either inflicting or taking wounds. So a Keeper of Secrets isn’t too far away. As we’ve seen a few times Scarlet Doom was his only loss but the list also scored a little lower than others, a symptom of its fragility perhaps.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for the Sacramento GT
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Sacramento GT (Sacremento Slam) that took place in the USA on 27th and 28th July. It involved 12 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Seraphon
– Army Type: Coalesced
– Subfaction: Thunder Lizard
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS
Engine of the Gods (265)*
– General
– Command Traits: Prime Warbeast
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Hand of Glory
– Prayers: Curse
Skink Priest (90)*
– Prayers: Heal
Doralia ven Denst (115)*
Slann Starmaster (265)**
– Artefacts of Power: Itxi Grubs
– Spells: Stellar Tempest
Stegadon with Skink Chief (305)**
– Skystreak Bow
– Artefacts of Power: Fusil of Conflagration
– Mount Traits: Beastmaster
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)**
BATTLELINE
Saurus Guard (115)*
Saurus Knights (110)***
– Stardrake Icon Bearer
– Wardrummer
– Celestite Warspear and Powerful Jaws
Stegadon (270)***
– Skystreak Bow
BEHEMOTH
Bastiladon with Solar Engine (250)
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
TERRAIN
1 x Realmshaper Engine (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
***Bounty Hunters
TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000
Brett: All the big things Thunder Lizard list with minimum battleline. The Purple Sun to back up the Starmaster, this is more a combat list than casting after all. Just the 3 casts from the Starmaster, 1 from Arcane Tome and prayers from the Skink Priests (importantly they also have an unbind for Endless Spells). The Starmaster is casting at +1, +2 within 12″ of the Saurus Astrolith Bearer and most likely a +1 from the army. Doralia is along for her endless spell removal, the witch hunter is also very good at removing small casting heroes. A nice bonus with a lot of Nighthaunt lists around. 2 Stegadons, both crews are using the Skystreak Bow for a little 24″ shooting in addition to the Solar Engine (on Bastilidon). Great way to pressure all of the shorter range units.
3 Artefacts, from Warlord and Command Entourage. In series they create a wizard (Arcane Tome), heal and allow a recast (Itxi Grubs) and On top of the +1 to casting for coalesced the Battle Traits of Seraphon continue to be what makes the army so effective. -1 to incoming damage, an additional attacks for the Jaws, and summoning. 6 to 10 points are very easy to achieve each turn and give you the broadest range from Skinks, to Saurus (Guard or Knight) – screens and objective to a Salamander Hunting Pack for offense. Beastmaster on the Stegadon with Skink Chief in accordance with the Thunder Lizard mandatory requirements (+1 attack to the mounts weapon) is no penalty.
Overall Thunder Lizard continues to be successful because it’s a well rounded army with a lot of key abilities. Adding the Purple Sun (casting on a 5 most likely) just makes it that much more spicey and buffs all of the incoming attacks which is very useful to Seraphone (most of their attacks lack much rend). Since much of their damage is at range they avoid the issues with the Sun and can dispel it if it goes wild. John scored well through out and was the only undefeated entrant. Target priority would be hard to determine with this list and mortal wounds from ranged very useful to chip damage from it before closing. Most of his opponents were short on both shooting and mortals.
Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine
– Army Subfaction: Zainthar Kai
– Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER
1 x Hag Queen (110)*
– Prayers: Sacrament of Blood, Curse
1 x Slaughter Queen (130)*
– Prayers: Catechism of Murder, Sacrament of Blood
1 x Melusai Ironscale (115)***
– General
– Command Traits: Zealous Orator
1 x Bloodwrack Medusa (130)***
– Artefacts: Shadow Stone
– Spells: Mindrazor
1 x High Gladiatrix (90)***
BATTLELINE
5 x Blood Stalkers (180)*
– Krone
5 x Blood Stalkers (180)*
– Krone
10 x Blood Sisters (280)**
– Gorgai
20 x Sisters of Slaughter (270)**
– Handmaiden
– 3 x Death Pennant Bearer
– 4 x Hornblower
– Kruiplash and Bladed Buckler
5 x Blood Sisters (140)**
BEHEMOTH
1 x Avatar of Khaine (155)*
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Bloodwrack Viper (80)
INVOCATION
1 x Heart of Fury (45)
OTHER
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (95)*
– Shryke
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters
***Command Entourage – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Brett: Having the misfortune to run into John in round 3 ended David’s run then. With only the 10 x Blood Stalkers in 2 x 5 model units this list would struggle to tackle the Stegodons and Bastildons. That leaves their heroes which aren’t the best trading pieces outside of the High Gladiatrix. With 10 wounds on a 5+ save and a 6+ ward the 5 model units are very fragile. The same is true of the Blood Sisters, this list would be difficult to play unless you were prepared to lose one or more of those units a turn. Ranged is best because Zainthar Kai fight again on death.
2 Priests with 4 spells including Sacrement to advance the Blood Rights table, Curse (MW on a natural 6 to hit) and Catechism of Murder for exploding 6s. Only one wizard with a single cast, the Bloodwrack Viper might not be used a lot. Particularly with Mindrazor being so good. There heroes are mostly in place to buff the larger infantry units, advancing Blood Rites and improving damage dealing. The High Gladiatrix brings a interesting, if difficult to use, assassination ability.
Ultimately David was able to score well throughout, looking at the run through the tournament quite a few of the the lists were susceptible to the sort of pressure DoK are good at. It’s an interesting take on DoK with so many MSU blocks, it would be good to see more games with it.
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Subfaction: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Arkhan the Black (340)
– General
– Spells: Protection of Nagash
Mortisan Soulmason (115)
– Artefacts of Power: Godbone Armour
– Spells: Mortal Contract
BATTLELINE
Kavalos Deathriders (190)
– Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Mortek Guard (280)**
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
– 2 x Necrophoros
Mortek Guard (280)**
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
– 2 x Necrophoros
OTHER
Morghast Harbingers (360)*
– Spirit Halberd
Necropolis Stalkers (175)*
Necropolis Stalkers (175)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Expert Conquerors
TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000
Brett: The current meta is wide open and there have been a few sightings of Ossiarch Bonereapers but they are still far from common, 3rd is a strong effort going 3/5 losing to 1st and 2nd in the final 2 rounds. A pretty traditional Ossiarch list, with Arkhan the Black and a Soulmason as the only heros. The points are tied to the Battleline (Mortek Guard are beefy and dear) with a large unit of Harbingers in bounty hunters to punish the unwary. 5 spells base but Arkhan has additional spells as well as buffs to casting on a degrading profile from his staff. Arkhan is the natural choice for Purple Sun (casting on a 6 for him). He is also a solid combat hero but you don’t want to get him into combat too early due to his casting.
The Soulmason offers re-roll hit rolls of 1, he has an ability where at the end of the hero phase he could apply it to up to D3 models which is a good reason to have him. The points saved on heroes have gone to the combat units, 2 x 20 Mortek Guard (40 wounds) and the reinforced Harbingers (4). Harbingers are very dear, they have a great stat-line but are pretty expensive per wound. Deathriders (and the Harbingers) for some mobility. Again there are a few MSU in the list that are vulnerable to being pickup relatively easily. The idea behind the list is pretty simple, the Mortek Guard camp objectives and you try to bait your opponent into you. They have a 4+ save and 6+ ward but most units have a movement of 4″ to 6″. They are vulnerable to shooting (as happened here).
Scott did see off a few of the meta’s current stars in the first 3 rounds. This list does give you quite a few options and at least some units that can seek to go wide if needed.
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh
– Army Type: Invaders
– Subfaction: The Lurid Haze
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Sigvald (205)*
Keeper of Secrets (400)*
– General
– Command Traits: Feverish Anticipation
– Sinistrous Hand
– Spells: Slothful Stupor
Synessa (260)**
– General
– Spells: Born of Damnation
Soulfeaster Keepers of Secrets (385)**
– Artefacts of Power: Oil of Exultation
– Spells: Progeny of Damnation
Infernal Enrapturess (130)**
BATTLELINE
Blissbarb Archers (140)*
Hellstriders with Hellscourges (135)*
Blissbarb Archers (140)**
Hellstriders with Hellscourges (135)**
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
TERRAIN
1 x Fane of Slaanesh (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Brett: Double Keeper of Secrets in a 2 drop list with Synessa (for her wonderful gaze) and a Purple Sun just to make your opponent’s life difficult. But wait there’s more – in a spell heavy meta let’s introduce a character that forces opposing Wizards within 24″ to reroll successful casts and cause them D3 mortal wounds every time they cast a double. I give you the Infernal Enrapturess. Like Tzeentch, Slaanesh armies usually have a reasonable number of casts, 5 this time, and an extra dispel from the Enrapturess. Invaders allow up to 3 generals in the army (for command point and command purposes), only 2 are listed for this army though.
Feverish Anticipation (re-roll run rolls within 12″) from the mandatory requirements for Lurid Haze. Healing spell (Progeny of Damnation), turn off command abilities (Slothful Stupor) and hero heals (Born of Damnation). Sigvald is as always a swingy combat hero, the number of attacks determined by his charge roll and +3 to charge. He normally picks up something important. Neither Keeper of Secrets is a combat powerhouse (but they aren’t weak either) at least compared to other Greater Demons. The Soulfeaster is a forgeworld variant that loses the potential for a ranged weapon and has an intriguing warscroll ability. You offer your opponent to allow a hero to accept temptation. If they refuse, they take D3 mortal wounds. If they accept then they have 1 more attack this round, at the start of the next combat phase they roll a dice, 4-6 they are slain.
The battleline units are both thin and slightly fragile (as are the heroes for the most part). That allows Depravity Points to accumulate quickly though, Slaanesh relies on speed an summoning to overwhelm you. Shutting it down against invaders is tough with multiple generals and in this case multiple Keepers of Secret to play around. And a Purple Sun just to make life harder (the -1 to saves is pretty strong).Special mention to Synessa’s Staff, D3 if you make a save, D6 if you fail, you are only safe on a 6. Always an interesting army to play, their speed means it’s hard to prevent scoring but their fragility means you can score well into them.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for Boise Cup O AoS GT
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Boise Cup O AoS GT that took place in Texas, USA on 30th and 31st July. It involved 52 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament. A larger event with a good spread of lists in the Top 5. The tournament used the CORRECT scoring system which awards bonuses to the Battleplan scoring including for denying a Battle Tactic. Something for TOs to consider.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords
– Army Type: Legion of Blood
– Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER
1 x Neferata (365)
– Spells: Decrepify
1 x Vampire Lord (140)*
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Arcane
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Levitate, Invigorating Aura
1 x Mannfred Von Carstein (380)*
– Spells: Fading Vigour
BATTLELINE
5 x Black Knights (100)*
5 x Black Knights (100)*
10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)*
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Horrorghast (40)
1 x Chronomantic Cogs (40)
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
OTHER
10 x Blood Knights (390)**
– Standard Bearer
– Kastellan
20 x Grave Guard (280)**
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Seneschal
– Great Wight Blade
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters
TOTAL POINTS: (1985/2000)
Brett: It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Soulblight in the spotlight it seems. Quickly checking the stats it’s still a popular faction at tournaments (right around the middle in entries) but is slowly dropping in performance against newer books. After spending a year around a 50% win rate it’s now dropped in the last month to a 38% win rate. This underlines how good a performance this is. While in the states the army is interesting for taking a less popular Sub-faction and an uncommon battle line.
What this army does bring though is three Flying Vampires wizards (thank you for that nightmare), a whole mess of spells and a murder of summonable (not sure that’s a word – Peter) units that will keep coming back. Six casts across the three heros and the current staple Cogs and Purple Sun. Cogs for rerolls before casting the Purple Sun for it’s typical debuff and potential to eat something important. Lets assume you drop it near two units everytime (10″ separation is required to prevent the sun touching two units) then over the course of a tournament it will eat something 8 times. With flying multi cast Vampire Wizards that could drop it in a home objective castle on turn 2. I’m not saying that did happen, but lets say it ate a Bastiladon or a Storm Drake. Or even Thanquol. That’s possible.
The list has a lot of mobile threats with the Knights combining with Manfred and Neferata to give a lot of options on positioning. The Vampire Lord is most likely going to stay close to the Summonable (Still not sure – Peter) units he can heal. Importantly for the Vampire Lords they all have heals if they kill something. Otherwise they work to weaken their enemy and reduce their bravery. Combining Horrorghast with the effects of the army is a nice touch, you can potentially lose a lot of 1 wound models in a turn that way. Their spells mostly reduce the combat effectiveness of their opponents and, like most Death armies there is a 6+ ward
The Grand Strategy is an interesting one, it’s book specific and requires you to control more gravesites than your opponent. They either need to disperse their forces to cover one or two of them and risk being attacked by summonable units (like the Black Knights) or cede the GS to you. You pick how many points there are and where they are. Nasty.
It’s good to see a different list from a faction that is struggling do so well, congratulations to Jeremy for taking it all the way to number 1.
Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords
– Subfaction: Zaitrec
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS
Sevireth (345)**
Scinari Cathallar (110)***
– General
– Command Traits: Fast Learner
– Artefacts of Power: Gift of Celennar
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Protection of Hysh, Total Eclipse
Scinari Loreseeker (170)***
– Artefacts of Power: Blade of Leaping Gold
– Spells: Flaming Weapon, Lambent Light, Overwhelming Heat
The Light of Eltharion (220)***
BATTLELINE
Vanari Dawnriders (140)*
– Steedmaster
– Standard Bearer
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Total Eclipse
Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)**
– High Warden
– Spells: Lambent Light, Overwhelming Heat
Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)**
– High Warden
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Speed of Hysh
Vanari Auralan Sentinels (510)**
– High Sentinel
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Speed of Hysh
OTHER
Vanari Dawnriders (140)*
– Standard Bearer
– Steedmaster
– Spells: Overwhelming Heat, Speed of Hysh
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Emerald Lifeswarm (60)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Battle Regiment
***Command Entourage – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000
Brett: This tournament has been a bit of a blast from the past, Lumineth on the podium with a massive block of Sentinals and sporting Emerald Lifeswarm. So 2021. Still it’s hard to argue with 30 Archers that can shoot you even behind cover from across the map. That’s the heart of the list, a big block of archers with Wardens as screens. With Power of Hysh the 30 are still averaging 10 Mortal Wounds per turn. Unleash hell while they have Power of Hysh up is very painful. The Dawnriders in Bounty Hunters provide flexibility and threat across the board with much needed increased damage. No MSU is safe, particularly Galletian Veterans.
Severith is a unique threat piece with his extraordinary movement and fire and fade abilities. Exposing small heroes offers him opportunities, the Light and Cathallar are most likely going to remain near the shooting castle offering improved saves. increased bravery and spell protection. The Light of Eltharion is a good covering piece with his MW ranged attack and multiple attacks. The Scinari Loreseeker having Flaming Weapon (+1 damage) with Blade of Leaping Gold (+3 attacks) is very interesting combined with his Lone Agent ability. Drop him within 3″ of something important and apply 7 attacks hitting on 2s wounding on 3s with -1 rend and D3+1 damage.
Beaten into 2nd by one point this is a strong list harking back to the hey day of Lumineth. His opponents, apart from Nighthaunt, mostly had something big that would be a deserving target and without which the army would find it hard to recover. The final match up with Teclis would have been interesting, Dustin couldn’t have relied on his spells at all. The mobility of the Loreseeker, Seviarath and the Dawnriders would appear to be the difference. Loreseeker could do a lot of damage to a Sentinal block in one turn (and die).
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh
– Army Type: Invaders
– Army Subfaction: The Lurid Haze
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Sigvald (205)*
– General
1 x Bladebringer, Herald on Seeker Chariot (185)*
– General
– Spells: Hysterical Frenzy
1 x The Contorted Epitome (245)*
– General
– Command Traits: Feverish Anticipation
– Artefacts: Oil of Exultation
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
BATTLELINE
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)*
– High Tempter
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)*
– High Tempter
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)*
– High Tempter
BEHEMOTH
1 x Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x The Burning Head (20)
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
TERRAIN
1 x Fane of Slaanesh (0)
OTHER
5 x Centigors (85)*
5 x Centigors (85)*
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)
Brett: Archer meta? Krondspine, Purple Sun, 55 Blissbard and Sigvald, what a fun army. The Krondspine to threaten your heroes, block the board and eat endless spells. You don’t want to engage him but his movement makes him hard to ignore and you definitely don’t want to feed him. But if you do try to deal with him you give the opportunity for either the Epitome or Sigvald to wreck face. Sigvald is going to try to come from a board edge and the Epitome can move very quickly.
There aren’t a lot of buffs to their casting but the Epitome has reroll casts. That’s a big buff to getting the Sun out. Flaming Weapon with the Lurid Haze artefact and trait is good combo. 9 attacks at 2 damage particularly if it gets Overwhelming Acquiescence off. Sigvald will typically be entering from a board edge and using his charge to get into something important. Lots of damage, very small screens (Centigors) and a reason to get into your deployment. This is a fun army that is going to be very determined. It’s interesting that Matt’s only lose was to Lumineth.
That list was built around Teclis, so no Purple Sun and included a block of Sentials, the natural enemy of Blissbard. The Epitome and Sigvald would struggle with Teclis as well, this would have been a difficult army to engage. 3rd in a big tournament is a solid effort and reflects the value of Slaanehi lists.
Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts: feast day
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Abhorrant Archregent (245)**
– General
– Command Traits: Dark Acolyte
– Artefacts of Power: The Dermal Robe
– Spells: Deranged Transformation
Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (445)**
– Artefacts of Power: The Grim Garland
– Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite
– Spells: Blood Feast
Varghulf Courtier (160)**
BATTLELINE
Crypt Ghouls (85)***
Crypt Ghouls (85)***
Crypt Ghouls (85)***
OTHER
Crypt Horrors (220)*
Crypt Horrors (220)*
Crypt Flayers (360)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
TERRAIN
1 x Charnel Throne (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
***Expert Conquerors
TOTAL POINTS: 1975/2000
9 drops
Brett : An army that is currently among the lowest ranked in the current meta with some potential in this season 17th is a good result. Flesh Eater Courts work by applying overlapping buffs from their Nobles (or Heroes) to the Knights (Horrors and Flayers) and Serfs (Ghouls). That means, at least early on, you can expect a pretty big castle.
That makes a lovely target for some serious shooting if you have it. The army has 3 casts with the Archregent having +1 to cast, unbind or dispel from the Dermal Robe. The command trait appears to add a spell but they aren’t gaining the wizard trait (since it is a wizard) and he add Deranged Transformation to throw those Horrors further faster. The Ghoul King and his Terrorgheist have some “interesting” abilities but they are let down in the execution. Death Shriek is only really effective against Destruction armies or Cities but the other attacks inflict serious damage. The Gaping Maw/Gruesome bite combo is extremely nasty, reroll hit rolls, it has 3 attacks, where a 6 does 6 MW. Enough to one shot a Stormstrike Chariot. Twice. In the same game.
The Horrors have 3 attacks hitting on 4s that can be improved, doing 2 damage and 3 on wound rolls of 6. Flayers have 4 attacks only doing 1 damage but can redeploy quickly and does MW on 6s. The Archregent and Ghoul King can return models on top of their summoning which can make clearing the Horrors/Flayers more difficult. To stop the army you need to kill the heros or they will heal and summon. Unfortunately this army has effectively 6 screens to stop you doing that. You can play around the bigger units and pick up the screens through MW attrition and shooting. Like most death armies their strength is often in numbers and if you are patient you can deal with them.
Cody did very well taking the army to 17th dealing with Ironjawz, DoK and SCE all of who have strong play into this list, well done.
Final Tournament Placings
Top Three AoS Lists for BWG: Summer Slaughter GT
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the BWG: Summer Slaughter GT that took place in Pennsylvania, USA on 23rd and 24th July. It involved a massive 102 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament. An interesting result, 2 of the lists feature White Dwarf rule adjustments and we have Seraphon. In fact the whole top 5 is made up of AoS 2 books with 6th being the highest placed. Of course 5 to 10 are all the newest of books (Skaven and Sylvaneth).
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Slaanesh
– Host: Lurid Haze Invaders Host (Host of Chaos)
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Sigvald, Prince of Slaanesh (205)*
– Host Option: General
The Contorted Epitome (245)*
– General
– Command Trait: Feverish Anticipation
– Artefact: Oil of Exultation
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Krondspine Bladebringer, Herald on Seeker Chariot (185)*
– Lore of Slaanesh: Hysterical Frenzy
Battleline
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)*
– Reinforced x 1
22 x Blissbarb Archers (280)*
– Reinforced x 1
11 x Blissbarb Archers (140)*
Units
5 x Centigors (85)*
10 x Gors (70)*
– Gor-Blades & Beastshields
Behemoths
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*
Endless Spells & Invocations
Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (40)
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 96
Drops: 1
Brett: Tuned to excess (I know what I did there) with the most efficient Slaanesh Warscrolls combined alongside Krondspine and that Purple Sun. The result is a mobile army with brutal amounts of shooting backed by enough hitting power to remove your hammers (or anvils). This is a very interesting army which avoids any of the larger heroes (Glutos, Keeper of Secrets or Shalaxi) for Krondspine and maximum Blissbarb.
Anthony has taken advantage of the Invaders battle traits to gain a second hero for command purposes. Useful to increase the sweep of command abilities. 2 Wizards with 3 casts and denies but neither are true wizards so the list really has 3 combat heros with denies. Starting with Sigvald; he continues to be a machine, ignoring wards but has a 4+ ward, with his minimum 5 attacks hitting on 2s and wounding on 3s with Rend -2 and D3 damage. If he charges he can use his charge roll for his attacks. Invaders allow the placement of 3 units into ambush (deep strike) so there is an excellent chance of meeting him after he charges (3+ to his charge roll), of course he strikes first. Avoid hm by staying more than 15″ from the edge of the board. Any edge.
The Contorted Epitome is quite tanky in this build with +1 wound and it’s normal 2+ ward on MW. 14″ move and with Flaming Weapon (presumably on the Ravaging Claws) for 9 attacks with a rend -1 and 2 damage weapon. And ability to make other units fight after it if it charges. The Chariot and Epitome have warscroll spells to grant rerolls for 1s. The Chariot has an impressive melee profile but more importantly can retreat and charge, it inflicts mortal wounds on the charge. The Hysterical Frenzy spell inflicts more MW. These combat characters make sense when the rest of the list is mostly Blissbarb. 2 attacks but a 6+ save and 1 wound mean they will melt under pressure. With a 6″ move (but they can run and shoot) mobility is limited but they can take Sigvald up the board with them.
With the limited casting and no real wizards (who have buffed casting) getting Purple Sun out might be hard. Geminids have a CV of only 5 though and are no where near as powerful as the Purple Sun. Still they inflict MW on a unit with 1″ at the end of their movement on a 2+ and if they do they turn off commands. An army that is going to apply pressure from the start, it pretty much always wants to go second to see where the best places to drop in units. If they take Sigvald into ambush with 2 of the Blissbard Archers units their opponent is going to have real trouble. Anthony scored consistently through all rounds (26+), most of his opponents had either Eternal Conquerers or Bounty Hunters or both which this list largely negates (they are shooting you off objectives, your numbers won’t count).
Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords
– Sky Port: Barak Zilfin
– Mortal Realm: Chamon
– Grand Strategy: Masters of the High Airs
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Aether-Khemist (90)*
– General
– Command Trait: Collector
– Artefact: Spell in a Bottle
Aetheric Navigator (85)*
Arkanaut Admiral (125)*
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Battleline
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)**
– 1x Light Skyhooks
– 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns
Units
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)*
– Reinforced x 1
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (155)
– Main Gun: Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Zonbarcorp ‘Debtsettler’ Spar Torpedo
Behemoths
Arkanaut Ironclad (490)
– Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram
Admiral’s Krondspine (400)
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
Endless Spells & Invocations
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Expert Conquerors
Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Total: 1955 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 94
Drops: 10
Brett: It’s been a while since Kharadron Overlords have climbed to the top of the tree. Coming off a recent buff from both the mid year points (only 2 units) and White Dwarf revision Carl is one of 3 to go 5/0 in the event. He does have both the Purple Sun and Krondspine and 2 wizards to bind them thanks to the Arcane Tome. I wonder if we will see anything about the Purple Sun and Krondspine before the next Battlescroll is due in September.The general, the Aether-Khemist is an obvious choice, one of 3 Khemist only artefacts guarantees an endless spell can be cast once per game. The Purple Sun has a casting value of 8 so if there is anyway to make it a sure thing take it.
Slow moving he also hands out a re-roll wound rolls of 1 to a unit within 12″ and reduces to-hit rolls within 3″ (himself and another character typically) unless garrisoned, so he has to be on foot. His own attacks are much riskier, 3D6 with rend -2 sound great but only 9″ range make it a risky proposition. Of course he can garrison a vessel. The Navigator is here for his dispel and reroll run and charges for vessels if they are visible to him. Lastly the Admiral, who was the most changed by White Dwarf here. He lost 3 of his 4 unique command abilities, keeping the ability to allow a unit to fire even if it had run (Master of the Skies). Flaming Weapon is an interesting choice, he has reroll hits and wounds against monsters and heroes.
He is a small beatstick with only 3 attacks, -2 rend, 2 damage. He can divert wounds to the Arkanaut Companies (Skyfarers). Otherwise 3 battle line Arkanauts with minimal upgrades, Thunderers for some punch. With limited capacity in the flying units I would garrison the Thunderers and forgo the hero buffs to minimise their exposure. All of the KO shooting units have quite short ranges, typically 18″ or less except for the boats. The addition of the Purple Sun to increase saving throws for adjacent units with the number of shots from even the Arkanauts is a great combo. The Krondspine is pure distraction and menace, it takes a lot to deal with but can’t easily be ignored. In melee he can delete weaker units and at least bracket most bigger heroes in a single turn.
His highest ranked opponent was 11th, so it’s not clear how much we can take from his matchups. Most of the armies this went against were a bit short on shooting with the exception of his 2nd opponent. 5/0 is no small accomplishment and the list is quite different with so few boats and mostly footsloggers who aren’t riding.
Army Faction: Seraphon
– Army Type: Coalesced
– Subfaction: Thunder Lizard
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS
Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)**
– Artefacts of Power: Fusil of Conflagration
Lord Kroak (430)**
Celestant-Prime (325)**
Engine of the Gods (265)***
– General
– Command Traits: Prime Warbeast
– Artefacts of Power: Incandescent Rectrices
– Mount Traits: Beastmaster
– Prayers: Curse
BATTLELINE
Skinks (75)*
– Skink Alpha
– Boltspitter and Moonstone Club
Skinks (75)*
– Skink Alpha
– Boltspitter and Moonstone Club
Saurus Guard (115)**
– Saurus Guard Alpha
– Stardrake Icon Bearer
– Wardrummer
BEHEMOTH
Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (165)***
Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (165)***
Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (165)***
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Horrorghast (40)
TERRAIN
1 x Realmshaper Engine (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Expert Conquerors
**Warlord
***Linebreaker
TOTAL POINTS: 1960/2000
Brett: The last of the 5/0 armies coming in 3rd with an absolute hero hammer of a army. Over a 1000 points in heroes, some skinks and Saurus to fill those pesky battleine and 3 Bastiladons because why not. The inclusion of Horrorghast in interesting and the decision to play into the Triumph (Inspired). Those 40 points could have upgraded Skinks to Saurus or Chronomatic Cogs for casting rerolls. I wonder what Michael thinks after the event. Again this army wasn’t paired into any of the top 10 armies so not a lot can be drawn from the matchups.
Kroak is an amazing wizard, only Nagash and Teclis match him with 4 casts/unbinds and no range limitation on his unbinds. He adds +2 to casts, can make nearby units fly and give a +1 to save. He’s very hard to kill so those spells are there the whole game. The Astrolith is also a wizard and the Engine of the Gods has some decent combat prowess but is mostly here for the Cosmic Engine. Thunder Lizard means it rolls twice. Celestant-Prime is a SCE ally, their most expensive non dragon hero.
24″ shooting attack (D3 MW to units with 6″ of a point) and the mighty Ghaz Maral hammer. Starting at 3 attacks, -3 rend, 3 damage hitting on 3s and wounding on 2s he gains 2 attacks for each turn you leave him in reserve. Once a turn he can change a dice roll, including a charge roll. Arrive in Turn 3 with 7 attacks and a guaranteed turn or bring him in earlier if things are going badly. He is likely to delete any smaller hero when he arrives and is even a good chance (with help) to force an incarnate to lose a level.
The Bastiladons are rocking an extra 2 wounds, taking 4 wounds to bring them below a 1+ save. I know, stupid GW a 1+ roll always fails, except for Bastiladons and moral (40k). Anyway all of them are using the Ark of Sotek for maximum attacks (18 at top bracket) looking for MWs on 6s. Hunter Battalions are less common as well so there is a good chance of a monstrous action affecting opponents. A Thunder Lizard army with all of the big toys as we’ve come to know is pretty effective and has done extremely well here.
Allegiance: Khorne
– Slaughterhost: Reapers of Vengeance
– Mortal Realm: Aqshy
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders
Skarbrand (380)*
Bloodsecrator (125)*
Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)*
– Axe
– Artefact: The Crimson Crown
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
Slaughterpriest (100)
– Prayer: Blood Sacrifice
Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (295)
– General
– Command Trait: Mage Eater
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280)
– Artefact: Skullshard Mantle
Battleline
10 x Blood Warriors (190)**
– Goreaxe & Gorefist
– 1x Goreglaives
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
– Meatripper Axes
10 x Bloodreavers (80)**
– Meatripper Axes
Units
5 x Centigors (85)***
5 x Centigors (85)***
5 x Centigors (85)***
Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Expert Conquerors
***Bounty Hunters
Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 131
Drops: 12
Brett: 4/1 only gets you to 15th place in this tournament, only getting his Grand Strategy 3 times with the dropped game seeing Sam slide. The new Season 1 Battle Traits and Grand Strategies are that much harder. I am not sure that Show of Dominance is a good pick, it’s quite risky trying to place a GV unit in each quarter. Blades of Khorne can summon additional veterans though through Blood Tithe points which you earn by killing units. And that’s what this army is built for.
With Skarbrand and 2 more Bloodthirsters as well as a Demon Prince this army moves fast and hits very very hard. Or whiffs (nothing personal Skarbrand). Getting to 4 points shouldn’t be hard unless your opponent is super elite. 4 points grants 10 Bloodletters. Back to the heroes – the Crimson Crown is a good choice on the Demon Prince allowing him to use Bloodslicked Ground for free. Mage eater for a deny in an almost castless army (the Slaughterpriest has a deny as well) and Skullshard Mantle, because Blades of Vengenace must take it, round out the enhancements. Blood Scarifice allows the generation of Blood Tithe, farming 5 a game, at the cost of something cheap (Centigors or Bloodreavers).
13 drops (not 8) and 131 points without summoning Sam had a tough road facing 3 new books in his first 3 rounds and only dropping one. His last game was Lumineth, and interesting problem for a melee army. Solid effort Sam.