This is the top three AoS lists for the Goonhammer Open that took place in the USA on the 19th and 20th of August. It involved 15 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
As this event had less than 20 players attending there won’t be any list comments here as the guys will be concentrating on the larger events of the week.
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: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Null Myriad – Grand Strategy: The Scales Balanced – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Mortisan Soulmason (160) – Spells: Merciless Blizzard Arkhan the Black (380)* Liege-Kavalos (180)* – General – Command Traits: Diversionary Tactics Mortisan Boneshaper (140)* – Artefacts of Power: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Hoarfrost
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Nightmare Predator (40)
TERRAIN 1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Knights of the Empty Throne – Grand Strategy: Follow the Path to Glory
LEADERS Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Spells: Hoarfrost Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – Artefacts of Power: Chaos Familiar – Spells: Chaotic Conduit
BATTLELINE Corvus Cabal (80)* Corvus Cabal (80)* Varanguard (580)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 6 x Fellspear Varanguard (580)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 6 x Fellspear Chaos Knights (440)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Doom Knight – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Cursed Lance – Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120) – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90) – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Megaboss on Maw-krusha (450)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat 1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (230)*
BATTLELINE 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 10 x Orruk Brutes (140)* – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – 2 x Gore-choppa
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
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Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Filthbringers – Grand Strategy: Control the Nexus
This is the top three AoS lists for the G&T GT that took place in the UK on the 4th and 5th of March. It involved 8 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
As this was a small event, with less than 20 players, there will be no comments on the lists from Woehammer writers as they concentrate on the larger events.
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: Ogor Mawtribes – Mawtribe: Boulderhead – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Ready for Plunder – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Bloodpelt Hunter (140)* – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Huskard on Thundertusk (330)* – Blood Vulture – Mount Trait: Rimefrost Hide – Prayer: Pulverising Hailstorm Slaughtermaster (140)* – Lore of Gutmagic: Molten Entrails Frostlord on Stonehorn (450) – General – Command Trait: Touched by the Everwinter – Heal – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos – Greatfray: Quakefray – Grand Strategy: Protect the Herdstone – Triumphs:
Leaders Doombull (160)* – General – Command Trait: Bestial Cunning Great Bray-Shaman (95)* : The Knowing Eye – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Tendrils of Atrophy – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Great Bray-Shaman (95)* – Artefact: Brayblast Trumpet – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Primal Dominance
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for Raccoon Rumble that took place in Germany on 17th and 18th September. It involved a massive 120 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: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Filthbringers – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations – Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations – Lore of Malignance: Cloying Quagmire Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – Lore of Malignance: Blades of Putrefaction – Lore of Malignance: Magnificent Buboes
Battleline 10 x Putrid Blightkings (500)** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)** 10 x Plaguebearers (150)** 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*** – 1x Dolorous Tocsin 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*** – 1x Dolorous Tocsin
Danny: Nurgle take gold in Germany with an off-meta (for Nurgle, anyway) Filthbringer list, eschewing Drowned Men and the pre-game move for the Rotbringer Coven and their really quite impressive magical prowess. Multiple excellent spells on durable platforms with a combined +3 to cast/unbind can compete with all but the very best casters in the game, and with Nurgle’s excellent lore full of debuffs and longer-range disease point delivery systems, they shore up the slowness and lack of range the army typically has.
Of note elsewhere is a reinforced Blightking blob to gum up the mid-table, and the 2x 2 Blightlords for mobility – not that they don’t also slap. For those looking at the odd-at-first-sight Endless Spell list, and who haven’t learned the hard way, the way it works is this: Shards halve the movement of something, count as an additional way of putting out disease points, and then Gnashing Jaws chomps through – dealing the difference between a 3d6 roll and a unit’s movement as MWs – hence Shards. Nasty combo and a big win, especially as Colin had to chew through double Seraphon, Tzeentch (whose mortals typically threaten Nurgle tankiness), the hyper-mobile Sylvaneth and scary ol’ Nighthaunt!
Peter: We’re lucky enough that Colin is a member of our Discord. I asked him what he thought the vulnerability of the list was and how opponents should approach playing it.
Colin: I don’t think there is really much counter potential for this list. Of course, you can try to split the list, then I could get into trouble because I don’t have many units. The wizards are of course important for my list, but I have made the experience that the list remains super stable even if I lose my wizards.
Most people focus on the 10-strong squad of Blightkings, but that’s the wrong approach for me. The opponent should rather focus on the other smaller units. Alone, 10 Blightkings with a 4″ move do nothing on most battleplans.
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Allegiance: Seraphon – Constellation: Fangs of Sotek – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Slann Starmaster (265)*** – General – Command Trait: Arcane Might – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Spell: Stellar Tempest Skink Starpriest (130) – Spell: Hand of Glory Skink Priest (90)*** – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)*** – Artefact: Serpent God Dagger
Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (115)** 30 x Skinks (225)** – Boltspitters & Moonstone Clubs – Reinforced x 2 10 x Skinks (75)** – Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 10 x Skinks (75)*** – Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
Units 2 x Salamander Hunting Pack (280)* – Reinforced x 1 2 x Salamander Hunting Pack (280)* – Reinforced x 1
Behemoths Bastiladon with Solar Engine (250)
Endless Spells & Invocations Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Danny: Fangs of Sotek again! In their defence, the FAQ to turn scaly skin off skinks has meant the Starborne sub-factions are worth taking again, which is good for diversity overall, even if how good Seraphon are in general is a wider issue.
Tristan’s take on the teleporting skink gang is fairly standard – he’s got the 30 blob there, the 2x 10 objective grabbers, and the shooty core of 2x 2 sallies (nasty with the option to teleport) and the Solar Engine which, combined with Purp Son is putting out 9 rend 2, damage 2 (3 vs chaos – and Colin’s Nurgle still beat him!) shots at long range.
It’s an incredibly solid list archetype that I doubt we’ll see much deviation from in a while, but big up to Tristan for keeping up the concentration over a long tourney against some tough opponents and armies!
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Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin – Enclave: Briomdar – Mortal Realm: Ghyran – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Eidolon of Mathlann, Aspect of the Sea (325)* – General – Command Trait: Endless Sea Storm – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Deeps: Steed of Tides – Lore of the Deeps: Counter-current Isharann Soulscryer (150)* – Universal Prayer Scripture: Guidance Isharann Soulrender (120)*
Battleline 10 x Namarti Thralls (130)** 10 x Namarti Thralls (130)*** 20 x Namarti Reavers (340)*** – Reinforced x 1
Units Akhelian Allopexes (330)** – Razorshell Harpoon
Behemoths Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400) – Allies – bound to Eidolon of Mathlann, Aspect of the Sea
Endless Spells & Invocations Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Danny: An interesting IDK list that drops a few common pieces in favour of a Spinedog and an Eidolon, who may not be as slap-happy as the King, but do offer a huge amount of utility and versatility. Overall though, it looks like a pin-and-cushion list – 20 Reavers can rain down serious hurt on whatever the Spinedog ties up, while the lone shark caps objectives and the two Thrall blobs – who can certainly pack a punch once the Eidolon gets the -1 save debuff off on folks and/or the inevitable Sun gets into range.
The Soulscryer in Briomdar completes the game plan by offering a few units the chance to start in reserves to threaten early board control or objective yoinking – the Enclave allowing for an extra unit to go into reserves and for them to come in outside the table edge too. The list performed admirably, losing only to Seraphon and taking down some meta-factions en route to 3rd- congrats Stephan!
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Allegiance: Fyreslayers – Lodge: Vostarg – Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Auric Flamekeeper (90)* Auric Flamekeeper (90)* Auric Runemaster (125)* – Artefact: Volatile Brazier – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal Auric Runesmiter (135)** – Runic Iron – Prayer: Ember Storm Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)** – General – Ancestral War-axe – Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker – Artefact: Axe of Grimnir – Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient Battlesmith (150)** – Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
Battleline 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)**** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)**** 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)****
Danny: Fyreslayers infamously don’t have a huge roster to work with, and they seem to have settled largely into either Magmadroth spam or Hearthguard spam, for obvious reasons. But Jan here is not content to follow the pack, and has opted instead for…Vulkite spam! The little guys that could don’t set the world on fyre at first glance, but their combined weight of attacks and relative durability can make for serious board control. Two Flamekeepers no doubt hung out nearby, absorbing the power of all their little fallen breathren before multiplying the power of the rest, allowing for a steady trickle of combos and shenanigans – such as the powerful combat-phase charge.
A fun, unusual list that managed 4 wins, showing it clearly has (lots of little) legs!
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Miniparadice Anniversary Tournament that took place in Germany on 23rd and 24th July. It involved 38 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: Tzeentch – Change Coven: Hosts Arcanum – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Krysothea – The Lady Of Arcana (400)* Lord of Change – Staff of Tzeentch and Rod of Sorcery – General – Command Trait: Spell Hunters – Artefact: Wellspring of Arcane Might – Lore of Change: Tzeentch’s Firestorm Kai & Ross – The Surfing Bird(s) (435)** Kairos Fateweaver – Lore of Change: Bolt of Tzeentch Birdie Mc Birdface (140)** Changecaster, Herald of Tzeentch – Artefact: The Fanged Circlet – Lore of Change: Unchecked Mutation – Krondspine Bonded Vilitch & Thomin (180)** Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch – Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate
Battleline 3 x Screamers of Tzeentch (100)* 3 x Screamers of Tzeentch (100)* 3 x Screamers of Tzeentch (100)*
Behemoths Changespine, Incarnate of Tzeentch (400)* Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur – Allies
Endless Spells & Invocations Umbral Spellportal (70) Chronomantic Cogs (40) The Burning Head (20)
Peter: This army revolves around the quick Screamersof Tzeentch (16″) and buffing them with heroes while the Krondspine eats stuff and the casters chip away mortal wound damage via various spells.
This Hosts Arcanum army will allow you to move D3 of those Screamersof Tzeentch units 6″ before the battle even begins. Meaning that with their 16″ move they have the potential threat range of 34″ in the first turn alone. They’re ok in combat as well with 3 attacks each hitting on 4+ and wounding on 3+, no rend though and only 1 damage per attack. That puts their average damage output at 3 damage before any saves are made. They’re better against monsters as the damage changes to D3 and means that average damage output jumps up to 9 damage.
The Fanged Circlet, which has to be taken in a Hosts Arcanum list as the first Artefact isn’t exactly a burden to take when once per battle it will allow you to summon a unit of 6 Screamers of Tzeentch near the Changecaster.
But really the Krondspine is here to do all the smashing while the Screamers of Tzeentch cap off the objectives.
This is a strong magic list made stronger by the ability to auto unbind one spell in the 1st, 3rd and 5th rounds. If they don’t want you to get Purple Sun off then it’s unlikely you’ll manage it unless in rounds 2 or 4. On top of that the Lord of Change has the Wellspring of Arcane Might allowing it to re-roll it’s casting and unbind rolls. The Chronomantic Cogs will also give this ability to other casters as well.
This list has three spells for causing mortal wounds on the enemy, Tzeentch’s Firestorm (CV9) allows the player to target an enemy unit within 18″ and roll 9 dice with each 6 causing D3 mortal wounds. Unchecked Mutation (CV6) also with a range of 18″ can also cause D3 mortal wounds on a unit, if that successfully removed a model then it will cause an additional D3 mortal wounds on the same unit. Finally there’s Bolt of Tzeentch (CV7) also with a range of 18″ which automatically cause D6 mortal wounds on a target unit within range. But where you’re reading 18″ these can be extended to 36″ with the use of the Umbral Spellportal.
In summary this list is designed to dominate the hero phase unbinding enemy spells and doing a lot of mortal wound damage with its own.
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Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Filthbringers – Grand Strategy: Blessed Desecration – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease – Lore of Malignance: Cloying Quagmire Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease – Lore of Malignance: Cloying Quagmire Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – Lore of Malignance: Blades Of Putrifaction – Lore of Malignance: Magnificent Buboes
Battleline 10 x Putrid Blightkings (500)*** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)*** 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)** 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)** 10 x Plaguebearers (150)***
Units 2 x Nurglings (105)**
Endless Spells & Invocations Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60) Shards of Valagharr (50) Purple Sun of Shyish (70)
Peter: Another Rotbringer Coven list that leans heavily into magic – it even has the much discussed Purple Sun.
It’s no surprise that it perhaps drew with the other magic heavy Disciples of Tzeentch list that won the event as they would perhaps cancel each other out.
With offensive units (Pusgoyle Blightlords) and defensive units (Plaguebearers) this army is going to try and get all over the objectives as soon as it can. All the while the Nurgle magic and disease points will be taking their toll on the opponent
Brett: Moggotkin are popular in Germany it seems with 2 of the top 3 armies from the faction. They represent the 2 most popular sub-factions (Filthbringers and Drowned Men) which are either side of the magic/combat divide. Colin appears to like variety, the Blightlords aren’t battleline of course. Nurglings in Bounty Hunters is interesting but there isn’t room anywhere else for them. How embarrassing to be killed by a damage 2 Nurgling.
At it’s heart this is a castle type army that can sit on objectives while being hard to remove. Including the Blightlords give it some offensive punch, particularly as Bounty Hunters but they will almost be sniping since you don’t want them to be isolated and unsupported. The Endless Spells round out the offensive part of the list. Shards of Valagharr (CV5) and Gnashing Jaws (CV6) are both reasonably easy to cast. Shards is an interesting and unusual inclusion, removing fly and having movement makes it much easier for slow moving Blightkings to come to blows. You want that because every 6 is a disease point. It’s easy for the large unit 10 thing unit to max disease points every turn.
One last point, each of the Endless spells is also diseased since it was cast by a Rotbringer. All up this is a pretty tight army that should outlast most others. If you can avoid the Blightlords and remove the Rotbringers it should be easier to tackle. It’s not flashy but board control and consistent mortal wound output will win games as you can see here. Even the chosen spells lean into the toughness (debuffing your opponent) and increasing the application of disease points. Host Arcanum into this army would have been very interesting to watch. The Host Arcanum army featured big daemons for the most part that aren’t also the best at combat. Into an army with 5+ wards that can resist a lot of their magic forcing them to rely on combat. Where the HA will get mortal wounds (from disease points) that they can’t shrug.
Otherwise the army saw off all comers including Sons of Behemat, I can’t see the list but I’m guessing it had Manchrushers. It’s an interesting win since this isn’t a DPS army and Sons are a DPS check. Goes to show that playing the mission and not the player is the important part.
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Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Drowned Men – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Lord of Afflictions (210)* – General – Command Trait: Overpowering Stench – Artefact: The Splithorn Helm Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (360)* – Allies
Battleline 4 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)** – Reinforced x 1 4 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)** – Reinforced x 1 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)* 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
Peter: This is a time honoured list from the earlier General’s Handbook and one that was fairly common. Lots of Pusgoyle Blightlords with their 8″ movement plus the pre-game movement as well. The Lord of Afflictions gives options to drop two fly units with him from reserve. The whole list revolves around pinning you in your deployment zone and making your way through the really tough Nurgle units. Board control is its key.
Be’Lakor has been added to this list in place of a second Lord of Afflictions. He’s a beat stick himself, but can add to the pinning effect with his once per battle ability The Dark Master where on a 3+ in each phase the chosen unit cannot act.
A quick army (8″ move) with a tough hide means you’ll be hard pressed to steal the objectives away.
Brett: As Peter said this is a fairly common army that reaches back to before Season 1 kicked off. It plays well into the new harder Battle Tactics with it’s combination of resilience and movement. Drowned Men giving everything other than Belakor a 8″ pregame move is a big part of this. You can see how your opponent deploys and reacts. That also makes taking Bounty Hunters and a Battle Regiment more palatable, reducing the sting if you don’t finish deploying first.
The inclusion of Belakor brings 2 casts/unbinds to a list with little magic and is a combat monster with several powers to enhance his combat effectiveness, or longevity at least. The army is very combat focused, his high mobility with the Lord of Afflictions The Swarm Descends giving long range and threatening home objectives. The Blighlords can chew through screens efficiently giving the army a strong chance to deal with shooting. Through the event he only lost to the winner (in the final round) and took down several armies with access to solid shooting. The mobility and robustness of the army would have been an issue for both Idoneth and Stormcast.
Disease points make staying in combat for any length of time a loosing proposition. It gives a solid advantage against Ossiarch and Stormcast who have good saves but whose damage output might not be as high as the elves.
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Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords – Great Nation: Zaitrec – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs:
Leaders Vanari Lord Regent (155)* – General – Command Trait: Fast Learner – Extra Spell: Lambent Light – Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh Hurakan Windmage (120)* – Extra Spell: Guiding Flurries – Lore of the Winds: Transporting Vortex Scinari Loreseeker (170)* – Artefact: Gift of Celennar – Extra Spell: Lambent Light – Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh
Battleline 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* – Lore of Hysh: Lambent Light 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* – Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)* – Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh 30 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (510)* – Lore of Hysh: Total Eclipse – Reinforced x 2 30 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (510)* – Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh – Reinforced x 2
Peter: Players often complain about Lumineth, but right now after the release of the new handbook, they’re not in a good place with a sub 45% win rate. That’s why I chose this list, Daniel’s done exceptionally well to claim four wins in the tournament.
Brett: I’d complain about this list as well – that’s 60 archers with 30″ range and potentially MW on 5+. This sort of list was common on the release of Lumineth and faded when no one would play them. An average 20 MW a shooting phase is enough to get anyone’s notice. Here Daniel has played into the small heroes to maximise troops so has 3 x 10 Wardens, arguably better than the Sentinels, for screening and generally being painful to deal with. If you charge into them they get extra rend and wound on a 3+. Assuming they don’t redeploy and leave you hanging for the next shooting phase.
Everything in this list is a wizard and everything has unbinds so your hero phase is likely to be “interesting”. Their spell lore is incredibly good at buffing and protecting the slightly soft Aelves, Speed of Hysh, doubling movement, Lambent Light, rerolls hit rolls with missile weapons, Protection of Hysh, 5+ ward. Guiding Flurries adds range and Transport Vortex, well that’s just a teleport. To paraphrase Terry Pratchett, you’d be mad to give an elf a chisel lest he carve his initials in your forehead with it. This lot would probably expect you to thank them.
The heroes are here mostly as buff characters but do offer some combat capacity if pushed (not the Windmage though). The army can easily divide into 2 shooting castles and dare you to engage. If need there is still the ability to teleport using vortex. This style of army was popular in the past but faded with the rise of DoK and Sons. And probably the painting of so many Sentinels. There are definite counters and because virtually the whole army is Galetian Veterans they are very susceptible to Bounty Hunter units. Good work from Daniel in piloting such an army and particularly in taking out 2 armies thought to offer good counters.
Final Tournament Placings
For the full tournament placings and other lists see Tabletop.TO
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Salt City GT that took place in New York, USA on 23rd and 24th July. It involved 31 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: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Filthbringers – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Morbidex Twiceborn (320) Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)*** – General – Command Trait: Grandfather’s Blessing – Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)*** – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Malignance: Magnificent Buboes Rot Coven Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)*** – Artefact: Rustfang – Lore of Malignance: Cloying Quagmire
Battleline 10 x Putrid Blightkings (500)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Plaguebearers (150)** 10 x Plaguebearers (150)**
Units 3 x Nurglings (105)*** 3 x Plague Drones (200)**
Endless Spells & Invocations Purple Sun of Shyish (70) Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60) Quicksilver Swords (60)
Brett: The sorcerous arm of Nurgle comes out to play and dominates the field going five wins, with all five Battle Tactics and his Grand Strategy for a full 35 points in each round. Three wizards here to take full advantage of the Filthbringers ability. Standing in a group (3″ of each other) they have a +3 to casts, unbinds and dispelling rolls. No coincidence then that there are 3 Endless Spells in the army. Purple Sun is casting on a 5+ (67% chance). Gnashing Jaws and Swords deal direct Mortal Wounds (CV3 with the buff), but they are a bit spicier here because they have the Nurgle keyword if cast by a Rotbringer; applying disease points from their presence and if they do damage.
Morbidex is a little more unusual but gives solid combat punch to the army that might lack that (Rend -1, -2 and -3 on different weapons) while still naturally very tanky. 12 wounds, 3+ save and 5+ ward who heals half the wounds taken every round. That’s 54 damage at 0 rend to bring him down in a single round. And as the king of the Nurglings, he can return one unit of Nurglings per turn, the army has a swarm of them to keep him company.
The army plays into the Season 1 battalions but I don’t think the list correctly marks them, because Plague Drones are mounted (and not Galletian Veterans). Plaguebearers are in Eternal Conquerors so they count as 3 models each on objectives.
Blightkings in Bounty Hunters is a good move for such a big investment. The combination of Blightkings as the hammer with the Plague Drones and Endless Spells makes this a very mobile (for Nurgle) army. Alternatively park the Blightkings in the middle and dare your opponent to remove their 240 effective wounds. The Command Trait gives a little bit more control to the Cycle of Corruption and Arcane Tome gives an extra cast to a Rotbringer (4 total). There’s also the cheeky inclusion of Rustfang to scare off enemy heroes if they attack the Rotbringers.
Beyond the Endless Spells we also have Gift of Disease (spread disease points), Magnificent Buboes (debuff enemy hero) and Cloying Quagmire to slow an enemy and reduce the potential for charges.
A successful and innovative army that shows the depths of the Nurgle book. We haven’t even delved into the Cycle of Corruption and summoning (teleporting for fun) but the mixture of de-buffs, resilience, movement and multiple casts would make this both fun to play and difficult to play against.
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Allegiance: Fyreslayers – Lodge: Greyfyrd – Mortal Realm: Aqshy – Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)** – General – Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker – Artefact: Axe of Grimnir – Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient Auric Runemaster (125)** – Artefact: Volatile Brazier – Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse Battlesmith (150)** – Artefact: Nulsidian Icon Auric Runesmiter (135)** – Forge Key – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist – Prayer: Prayer of Ash
Battleline 15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)* – Broadaxes – Reinforced x 2 15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)* – Broadaxes – Reinforced x 2 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)*
Brett: A great result with Fyreslayers 4/1 with 4 rounds of maximum scoring (separated from 3rd by two points). This army is based around the hidden power of Hearthguard, with two big blocks being powered up by their small heroes and particularly the influence of the Battlesmith and his 4+ rally on them. The Battlesmith can grant a 4+ ward as well with his artefact which is very good for the Vulkite. The list has a lot of artefacts but that is a result of the lodge (Greyfyrd) which gives an additional 2 and grants +1 wound to foot heroes; it’s the obvious choice for this army. The Command Entourage provided another artefact. This makes a tooled up Auric Runefather with a pet who is fighting twice in one turn and has Axe of Grimnir making his main attack -2 Rend and 4 damage. A mobile and threatening monster killer.
Two Priests with an Arcane Tome to increase the casts/denies to 3. Fyreslayers don’t have a spell lore so a generic spell is listed. The Runemaster has the Volatile Brazier to reroll an invocation (prayer). Prayer of Ash is a defensive spell that reduces incoming wound rolls by 1. Very useful to keep those big blocks of Hearthguard around. The Hearthguard have the Broadaxe, in my opinion the more consistent and better weapon although they are hampered by their 5+ save. Near any Fyreslayers hero they also have a 4+ save though. To top off the list there is a Runic Firewall to block paths and maybe grant wards and a Molten Infernoth for some chip MW.
Solid performance with the army only dropping the round to Luke whose Maggotkin are more mobile. With the exception of one army they are all pretty tough armies, some with a lot of shooting, typically an area of weakness for Fyreslayers. They are a slow moving army and avoiding those Hearthguard would be the best option for trying to defeat them, but that’s easier said than done with those large blocks.
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)* – General – Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh! – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth Fist – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un – Spell: Bash ‘Em Ladz 1 x Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Get ‘Em Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (115)* – Get Fixin’ Beat
BATTLELINE 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)** – Jagged Gore-Hackas 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)** – Jagged Gore-Hackas 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Jagged Gore-Hackas 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Jagged Gore-Hackas
INVOCATIONS & ENDLESS SPELLS Purple Sun of Hysh (70)
Brett: What is there to say, Ironjawz are awesome, but this is a Mawcrusha and 18 piggies. There is no subtlety here – these are coming across the board as fast as they can. Both of the big blocks are in Bounty Hunters to boost their damage against GV. The inclusion of an Arcane Tome on the Mawcrusher is interesting, presumably for the Purple Sun. The Purple Sun and Bash ‘Em Ladz have the same casting value (8). Get the Sun out as soon as possible and then try and get the +1 to wounds from Bash em ladz?
First turn (or any turn really, but only one) that Mawcrusha can move 36″ with Fast ‘un and Mighty Destroyer’s. While Tyler would like you to go first and move closer, he really doesn’t need it on most AoS boards. At least one of the big Gore-grunta units will also have a 3D6 from Get ’em ladz. However this is a 3 drop army, we are seeing a lot of larger drops at the moment which might give Tyler an edge.
This is a massive alpha strke army that you want to avoid until you can wear them down. It’s important to remember not only Mighty Destroyers but Touched by the Waagh. The Megaboss can call his Waagh any time and then everything is rerolling their charges, a wall of charging Gore Gruntas. His only loss was to the eventual winner, those Blightkings being just the thing to weather a massive charge.
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Kruleboyz – Army Subfaction: Big Yellers – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x One-eyed Grunnock (470) 1 x Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (315)* – General – Command Traits: Supa Sneaky – Artefacts: Vial of Manticore Venom – Mount Traits: Weird ’Un 1 x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)* – Spells: Da Black Pit 1 x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)* – Spells: Levitate
BATTLELINE 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)* – Boltboy Boss 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)* – Boltboy Boss 10 x Gutrippaz (180)* – Gutrippa Banner Bearer – Gutrippa Drummer – Wicked Stikka 6 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)* – Boltboy Boss
OTHER 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1975/2000)
Brett: For our extra list today we’ve chosen the 5th place, another Ork list, Kruleboyz going 4/1. Mass ork shooting with a Giant friend. And some Hobgrots. Again it’s a pretty straight forward list, you have the choice of either closing with the infantry and being shot. Or you can focus on the Giant (Sons of Behemat) so it can’t rampage, and be shot. It all fits in a Battle Regiment and is one drop.
Including Grunnock is interesting, a 35 wound stomping model will take a lot of focus for most armies. As a monster with a vicious stomp attack, the ability to ignore screens or engagement to an extent and mortal wounds (MW) on the charge it’s a lot to deal with. Keep it within 15″ of at least one Bolt Boyz unit and a Shaman and they’ll be able to pepper whatever is trying to deal with it with MW (on a 5+). The challenge is to use the bows without exposing them, Big Yellers helps by extending their range by 3″ (to 27″). This means Sentinels, Judicators or Raptors will still outrange them but a lot of armies only have 18″ on their archers. Even with the Hobgrots there don’t seem to be enough screens, and small units of Gutripperaz seem to melt quickly.
I’d be tempted to increase one of the Boltboyz to a 9 and drop one of the 6s. If you drop the grots you would have enough for another Gutrippaz unit. They won’t have poison unless they are within 12″ of the Sludgeraker but it feels more robust and still very damaging. That said this army as written went 4/1 so Jeff knows what he’s doing. The Sludgeraker is a great unit to anchor the lines against to make use of it’s Sludgeraker Venom and it’s attacks, you want to keep it healed up to maximise the number of 2 damage attacks. As included he allows a redeploy (Supa Sneaky), Manticore Venom is straight damage increase and Weird ‘un gives a 4+ ward against spells, with the buffed Endless Spells that’s a good idea.
Super solid performance and a good showing with Kruleboyz bringing their sneaky shenanigans – especially a big smelly mercenary (what do you pay a giant anyway?)
