This is the top three AoS lists for CTC Age Of Sigmar Championship Open that took place in Ottawa, Canada on the 13th and 14th of May. It involved 22 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament. The tournament was broken into 2 rounds, one of 3 games and one of 2 games (2nd day). The results are for the combined placings, overall winners are slightly different reflecting standings after day 1 (first 3 rounds).
As this event had less than 25 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?
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Fyreslayers – Subfaction: Vostarg – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)** – General – Command Traits: Blood of the Berzerker – Artefacts of Power: Master Rune of Unbreakable Resolve – Mount Traits: Coal-heart Ancient Auric Flamekeeper (90)** Auric Flamekeeper (90)** Battlesmith (150)*** – Artefacts of Power: Nulsidian Icon – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Auric Runeson (80)*** – Ancestral War-axe – Artefacts of Power: Axe of Grimnir Auric Runemaster (130)*** – Prayers: Curse
BATTLELINE Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)* – Karl Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)* – Karl Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)* – Karl Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)* – Karl Hearthguard Berzerkers (450)** – Karl – Berzerker Broadaxe
Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Mortal Realm: Chamon – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Artefact: The Dermal Robe – Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation Abhorrant Ghoul King (170)* – Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)** – Artefact: Corpsefane Gauntlet – Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Crypt Haunter Courtier (110)* Crypt Haunter Courtier (110)** Varghulf Courtier (160)** – General – Command Trait: Grave Robber – Artefact: The Bilious Decanter – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
BATTLELINE 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)** -1 x Crypt Ghast 9 x Crypt Horrors (330)*** – Reinforced x 2 – 1 x Crypt Haunter 9 x Crypt Horrors (330)*** – Reinforced x 2 – 1 x Crypt Haunter
Army Faction: Sons of Behemat – Army Type: Breaker Tribe – Grand Strategy: Make the Land Tremble! – Triumph: Inspired – Fierce Loathings: Idiots with Flags
LEADERS Gatebreaker (520)* – General – Command Traits: Rabble Rouser – Artefacts of Power: Extra-calloused Feet – Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur Gatebreaker (520)* – Artefacts of Power: Amberbone Totem
CORE BATTALIONS *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent **Footsloggas – Unified
TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Army Subfaction: Da Choppas – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Megaboss on Maw-krusha (480)* – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts: Armour of Gork – Mount Traits: Smelly ’Un 1 x Orruk Megaboss (140)* – Artefacts: Destroyer – Aspects of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)** – General – Command Traits: Touched by the Waaagh! – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeats: Killa Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat
BATTLELINE 10 x Orruk Brutes (300)* – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – 2 x Gore-choppa 10 x Orruk Ardboys (160)* – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Waaagh! Drummer – Ardboy Boss – 4 x Orruk-forged Shield 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Waaagh! Drummer – 2 x Orruk-forged Shield 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* – Ardboy Boss – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Waaagh! Drummer – 2 x Orruk-forged Shield
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)
OTHER 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka
This is the top three AoS lists for HAST 2: Who Let the Dogs Out? that took place in Australia on the 29th and 30th of April. It involved 11 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
Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin – Enclave: Mor’Phann – Mortal Realm: Ghyran – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Akhelian King (250)* – General – Bladed Polearm – Command Trait: Unstoppable Fury – Mount Trait: Voidchill Darkness Lotann, Warden of the Soul Ledgers (110)* Akhelian Thrallmaster (110)*** – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Deeps: None Isharann Soulrender (120)* – Artefact: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)** 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)** 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)*** – Reinforced x 1 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)** – Reinforced x 1
Units 3 x Aetherwings (70)* – Allies
Behemoths Akhelian Leviadon (460) – Mount Trait: Reverberating Carapace
LEADERS Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450) – Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite – Spells: Blood Feast Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Artefacts of Power: The Dermal Robe – Spells: Deranged Transformation – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Zombie Dragon (430)* – Spells: Flaming Weapon Crypt Haunter Courtier (110)* – General – Command Traits: Dark Acolyte – Spells: Spectral Host
Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Legion: Null Myriad – Mortal Realm: Shyish – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament (340)** Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis (430) Mortisan Boneshaper (110)* – General – Artefact: Artisan’s Key – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
UNITS 20 x Mortek Guard (280)* – Nadirite Blade and Shield – 2 x Soulcleaver Greatblades 10 x Mortek Guard (140)** – Nadirite Blade and Shield – 1 x Soulcleaver Greatblades 10 x Mortek Guard (140)** – Nadirite Blade and Shield – 1 x Soulcleaver Greatblades
This is the top three AoS lists for the Dazmaul Wargaming Tournament that took place in the UK on the 18th and 19th of March. It involved 29 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.
Leaders 1 x Necromancer (130)* – General – Command Trait: Pack Alpha – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Deathmages: Decrepify – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha 1 x Radukar the Beast (310)* 1 x Vampire Lord (140)* – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions
Battleline 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (240)* – Reinforced x 1 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (240)* – Reinforced x 1 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (240)* – Reinforced x 1
Units 1 x Corpse Cart with Balefire Brazier (80)* 20 x Grave Guard (280)* – Great Wight Blades – Reinforced x 1
Behemoths Zombie Dragon (270)*
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment
I can’t in good faith make any more jokes about Soulblight rising back up, so I’ll just jump right into it.
What we’ve got here is a Vyrkos list that gleefully flips off the last season and screams ‘RIP BOUNTY HUNTERS’ while pushing 120 zombies up the board and, presumably, cackling gleefully. They’re all backed up by the usual buff pieces allowing them to get extra attack (Radukar, if he makes a charge) and fight twice (Necromancer, with danse macabre) – and remember they do MWs on 6s to hit and bring back models killed as zombies on a 2+. So it’s not like they can’t spike a few rolls and do a surprise bunch of mortals to whatever tries to chew through them or pull from the front and rally back up.
On top of that, they’re backed up by a Corpse Cart, which projects a -1 to wound aura, making those zombos even more infuriating to kill, and the pretty standard 20 Graveguard – who also make an excellent target for the hero buffs – who always have and still absolutely slap. A newly bargain-priced Zombie Dragon provides access to monstrous rampages and some nice targeted damage, while fitting neatly into the battle regiment!
5 wins for Soulblight at the moment is a great result, and it seems like loads and loads of meat is well and truly back on the menu, boys (and girls).
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Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts – Army Subfaction: Hollowmourne – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450) – Spells: Flaming Weapon 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)* – General – Command Traits: Grave Robber – Artefacts: Corpsefane Gauntlet – Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite – Spells: Spectral Host 1 x Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Artefacts: The Dermal Robe – Spells: Deranged Transformation – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Abhorrant Ghoul King (170)* – Spells: Blood Feast 1 x Varghulf Courtier (160)*
BATTLELINE 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)** 6 x Crypt Horrors (220)** 6 x Crypt Horrors (220)**
Having just called a list with 9 x Flayers “the list” we’ve got one of the best variations. I say that because I played against a version of this a lot. 2 Dragons and 2 blocks of Crypt Horrors is a smart way to play the faction. It gives you more threats to push an opponent. You still have the ability to bring 9 x Crypt Flayers/Horrors (Flayers are probably better) on through summoning. You might have to do it earlier if the Terrorgheist are in combat though.
Still no Cogs, taking the risk that a spell will fail, and only one of the Crypt Horror units will have all of the buffs. The 6 strong units are a risk as well, against a Rend -2 attack even with a 5+ ward (and only one should have it), it’s only 36 effective wounds. A block of fulminators can overcome that on the charge easily. Still, they have fight twice near one of the Dragons on top of rerolls to hit. And additional attacks – they are very nasty threat.
Tunnel Master on the Archregent is surprisingly useful. He can grab an unattended objective easily and then summon friends. But just as easily, it lets him stay within range of either the dragons or Crypt Horrors. Lots of mobility and stacks of board control, it’s a very effective way to control your opponents’ scoring opportunities and really terrify them.
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Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: Jaws of Mork – Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS 1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (160)** – Spells: The Hand of Gork 1 x Squigboss (80)** – Artefacts of Power: Gryph-feather Charm 1 x Squigboss (80)** 1 x Grinkrak the Great (190)*** 1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*** – General – Command Traits: The Clammy Hand – Artefacts of Power: Moonface Mommet – Spells: The Hand of Gork – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
BATTLELINE 20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)* – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – 3 Barbed Nets 20 x Moonclan Shootas (125)* – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – 3 Barbed Nets 36 x Squig Herd (360)*** 36 x Squig Herd (360)***
OTHER 1 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (190)* 1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150)** 1 x Gobbapalooza (145)*** – Spells: Itchy Nuisance 6 x Sneaky Snufflers (110)***
Our latest boogey man (for all of a month and then more demons arrived this week). Simon was keen to see a horde on the table and took over 100 models. Beyond that, though there is so much going on, it’s hard to know where to start. We’ve got a couple of sources of Hand of Gork (for teleports), and Grinkrak’s Looncourt can teleport themselves (if you don’t want the bodyguard). Fungoid Cave Shaman as General? Not sure I’ve seen that before, he’s a sneaky Tunnel Master as well, not sure you’d want to use that too early but he has a nasty Mortal Wound spell with a range of only 6″.
Squigboss’s for both Squigg units, of course, Skragrott (is he mandatory, certainly see him a lot) and a Sloggoth for monster action. The point, of course, is the heroes buff the Squiga (or Shootas), and you let loose the Squig’s. Individually, it’s not really an issue. The 30 Squiggs (and 6 herders) in each of the Squigg herds can hit, from the charge, 120 times. And if you kill some on the crack back, they do a mortal as they flee. With a 3 for bravery, there is a lot of fleeing. Their version of rally is once a game (2+ from each Squigherd) and kills the squiherd but unless you can clear the unit in a turn (difficult) you’ve probably got 2 turns of this from each unit.
That’s the name of the game for the squig build. Wear your opponent down in rounds 1 through 3 and then crack back. With the heroes handing out ‘shrooms granting wards or bonuses to the Shoota (only target) and the Sloggoth giving +1 to hit the Shootas start to be an issue. Sloggoth’s affect is an aura and will apply in any phase – charging the Shootas will be painful. Goes first, winds the squiggs up and unleashes them into your key units. Goes 2nd, hold the squiggs back at let’s the Shootas blunt your attack. If you try to hide, then the Shootas can even be teleported to punish you. If you injure them but don’t clear the unit, it can be rallied 3 times. If you do kill it, there is a 50% chance of them returning via the moon shrine.
I’ve only scratched the surface, but despite weak looking warscrolls, this is a very competitive army. 140+ wounds that can have multiple models or units returned is bad. Their overwhelming you with buckets of dice, which is worse. It’s probably a bit cheap with a lot of sources of mortal wounds. It’s an army that you have to try to outlast or watch them run away with things in the turn 4 and 5. Losing to Flesh Eater courts probably reflects the amount of damage even 3 Crypt Flayers (or 6 Crypt Horrors) can do with buffs and fight twice. They can kill anything in this list in a turn. Otherwise, more elite armies will struggle.
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Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs:
Leaders 1 x Gordrakk the Fist of Gork (500)* 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork 1 x Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (260)** 1 x Orruk Megaboss (140)** – General – Command Trait: Skilled Leader – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion) – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Wurrgog Prophet (170)** – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
Battleline 10 x Orruk Brutes (300)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 5 x Orruk Brutes (150)*** – Pair of Brute Choppas 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)*** 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)**
Tom & I spent much of late 2021 and 2022 battling each other for top Ironjawz and top Big Waaagh in the UK… and whilst he always beat me, my fun run last year got me the Big Waaagh title…! Woot. Since then Big Waaagh has suffered with the new General’s Handbooks and it’s great to see Tom bucking the trend with a 4-1 result (and top table game 5 match.
Tom’s taken a mostly traditional Big Waagh list with Ironjawz as the base, but he’s gone with Gordrakk and Gobsprakk. Two big flying models in the era of Gallatian Champions is a brave decision but it does allow Tom to stop spells with Gobsprakk and kill characters with Gordrakk.
It’s a great call to bring a model that can cause mortal wounds to Galatian Champions and has the reach to get them. Being able to avoid shooting doesn’t help when a Maw Krusha gets within 1″.
The rest of the army is standard Big Waaagh… but I like all the pieces and it’s made me consider actually painting my Gobsprakk – so a great double result. Well done Tom!
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.
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.
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)
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….
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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
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.
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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)*
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.
This is the top three AoS lists for Realmgate Rampage II that took place in the USA on the 4th and 5th of March. It involved 37 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: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Cabalists – Grand Strategy: Follow the Path to Glory – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Daemonic Speed – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Daemonic Speed
BATTLELINE Chaos Knights (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Doom Knight – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower – Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon The Unmade (80)* Corvus Cabal (80)*
OTHER Chaos Chosen (480)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Exalted Champion – 2 x Icon Bearer – 2 x Skull Drummer Varanguard (580)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 6 x Fellspear
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Soulscream Bridge (80)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Peter: I reached out to Anthony to see if he would be able to give us some info on how this list works. The legend kindly responded:
Anthony: So I mostly just lifted the list from Big Phil Marshall, with a few tweaks to marks. The army has 3 key pieces, with a bit of utility to support them. First, the block of 10 Nurgle-marked Knights with the Eroding Icon is incredibly tough to shift, while also able to do a fair bit of damage on the charge. Next are two hammer units: 10 Khorne Chosen, and 6 Khorne Varanguard with spears. I chose to go with Khorne on both units because, for the most part, these units perform threat removal duty, and I want those threats gone immediately. Plus, it means you get even more value if you use the ability to activate a second time in the combat phase on the turn that they charged. All three units are 30 wounds on a 3+ save, but have drastically different roles, and you can further enhance with the 2 Sorcerer Lords. There are quite a few spells that you want to get off, hence the choice of adding Arcane Tome, Master of Magic, and being in Cabalists. Lastly, Corvus Cabal is a nice piece to be able to save and snag an objective after the battlelines shift, the Unmade help ensure that the units you want to charge cannot redeploy away and make the charge harder, and the bridge increases your threat range immensely.
Being one drop means you decide first turn in most cases. A typical game sees you giving away the turn, although you do have the speed to rush across the board to hit your opponent before they can set up any of their buffs if they misdeploy in an egregious way. The other advantage of going second is that it allows your Sorcerer Lord to use both the heroic action for 3d6 cast and 3d6 for rolling on the Eye of the Gods table. You want to be rolling for that early and often. Getting an 11-12 on 3d6, rerolling one die isn’t too unlikely, but it’s still something that relies on rolling, and all it takes is your sorcerer lords getting killed off to remove your ability to achieve your Grand Strategy. I typically use the Knights to block areas of the board off from my opponent and initiate trades. It will cost most armies more value to remove this unit than the 460 points that the knights cost, and the Chosen and Varanguard hit hard enough that most things will struggle to survive contact with them. You’re looking to value trade more efficiently than your opponent, which is what the Slaves to Darkness do incredibly well.
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Knights Excelsior (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Karazai, The Scarred (550)* Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (330)* Lord-Imperatant (170)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Spell: Celestial Blades – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 3 x Annihilators (180)* 3 x Annihilators (180)* 3 x Annihilators (180)*
Units 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)* 3 x Praetors (140)*
Peter: We reached out to Joseph, who kindly offered a quick synopsis on how his list works.
Joseph: Use the longstrikes the aoe mortals and the charge mortals from the annilators to punch large holes in their army’s screens and key buff pieces. Then go for the kill with the prime and Karazai.
Brett: Joseph undersells his list a bit, there is a bit of tech in how he has set up the list to do exactly what he says it will. There is a Lord Imperatant to make sure those Annihilators only have a 7″ charge. Best case that’s 3 turns of skyfalling. The list is Knights Excelsior to give a Paladin unit +1 to hit and wound on top of being battline. The Annihilators don’t have Grandhammers so cheaper (by 60pts) and more durable. Rerollable 7″ charge that does D3 mortals on arrival, more mortals on the charge (on a 4+) and then hits on 2+, wounds on 2+, saves on 2+. Even if they don’t wipe a screen some will probably survive the counter attack. It also makes dropping 2 units in a turn more palatable, even if the second fails it’s 9″ charge it may survive to try again.
The Longstrikes have Thunderbolt Volley (and aren’t reinforced) to give a turn of double shooting. Praetors to bodyguard Karazi in the early game (he out paces them) wraps up the troops. After that the Lord Imperatant has Tunnel Master for a sneaky teleport and celestial blades just in case something needs help with wounding (melee weapons only). And lastly the Celestant Prime for another hammer mid to late game (when Karazai is normally running out of steam).
Not without it’s risks, in the end there are only 75 wounds in the list and it needs to dictate the engagement. Karazai is more rarely chosen because he is vulnerable to mortal wounds generally. Being a one drop army helps, Joseph will dictate the first round activation in most games. Competing well against combat armies, Joseph faced down a Tzeetch army which is a tall order for an army with almost no denies.
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Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Army Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Skarbrand (390) 1 x Archaon (860)* 1 x Bloodsecrator (130)* – General – Command Traits: Mage Eater – Artefacts: Skullshard Mantle – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage 1 x Slaughterpriest (100)* – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Blood Sacrifice
A lot of armies in Age of Sigmar can be broken down into units of hammers and anvils. This is a useful distinction, since it gives a quick idea of what role a unit needs to play, why you would include them in your list, and what to expect from your opponent’s force. Blades of Khorne do not work this way.
Blades can be better broken into three categories: independent operators, tech pieces, and drones. In Samuel’s case, he has brought a balance of the three, with a skew towards independent operators.
In this list, the idependents are Archaeon and Skarbrand. Both are meant to be beatstick intimidation pieces with minor buffs to other units. Archaeon is the only wizard in Samuel’s list, and he will see some benefit from Mystic Shield, but the known spell are limited since Khorne does not have a spell lore (for obvious reasons). Skarbrand is an excellent intimidating force, and only opponents that have never faced him before will risk damaging him without being positive that he will die. At his lowest bracket (his best) he can guarantee 8 mortal wounds with his axe, Carnage. While he can’t score VP from killing a Galletian Champion, he can certainly deny his opponent a few battle tactics through the use of the rare rule: “you can just pick that one up.”
The Bloodsecrator, Slaughterpriest, and Cockatrice are Samuel’s tech pieces. The first provides two useful auras (forcing Wizards to re-roll successful casting attempts and providing Blades of Khorne units +1 attack). The second gives access to prayers (Blood Sacrifice in this case, allowing early blood tithe gains) and invocations (which Samuel has elected to leave at home). The Cockatrice brings a particularly interesting ability that is one of the few in this list that will benefit Archaeon. If the Cockatrice manages to ping some mortal wounds on an opponent, that unit can only hit on 6s in that combat phase. This can be used to either protect Archaeon and Skarbrand from the beatings Samuel’s opponents are surely going to throw at them, or can be used to add some additional protection for his drones.
A note for the above units: Skarbrand, the Bloodsecrator, and the Slaughterpriest can all be used at summoning points for daemon units. Khorne is in a great spot right now, partially because the summoning mechanic allows them to pull a GC out of thin air onto an objective for the measly cost of 2 blood tithe points. This allows for some seriously flexible scoring, ecen into the late game, assuming you have a hero or skull alter and some blood tithe points burning a hole in your pocket.
Back on the subject of drones, Samuel has chosen to take the mortal flavor of drone: 10 blood warriors and 30 blood reavers. The blood warriors’ 2 wounds and 4+ somehow make them one of the most durable units in the book (about equal with Mighty Skullcrushers), which is saying something. The blood reavers are fast and will die as soon as they connect with something, providing some early blood tithe points.
All around a deceptively technical list, and one that was piloted to a great 4-1.
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Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Grand Court: Blisterskin – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs:
LEADERS Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Artefact: The Dermal Robe – Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)* – General – Command Trait: Hellish Orator – Artefact: Eye of Hysh – Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Crypt Infernal Courtier (130)*
UNITS 9 x Crypt Flayers (540)** 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)** 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)*
BEHEMOTHS Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480) – Allies
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Galletian Veterans
TOTAL: 2000/2000 WOUNDS: 83 DROPS: 7
Declan: Well I’m the first to admit that I’m not an expert in Flesh Eater Courts, but I have fought them a few times and this one has a Incarnate of Ghur – so there’s that. Frederic has gone for the 4-1 that’s difficult to pull off known as the submarine (LWWWW); and it’s a great result with a difficult army to use. This one is all about close assault, the Krondspine, Terrorgheist and Crypt Flayers.
Despite the increase in cost (480 points from 400 points in the latest balance update), the Krondspine is still good, and as he doesn’t die until the end of the turn so when it’s in combat you can guarantee it will dish out damage.
Games Workshop via Wahapedia
This allows teleporting Ghouls and gives the Terrorghiest a useful -1 to be hit with the Eye of Hysh, not to mention his warscroll ability to summon more Crypt Flayers. The Archregent can do the same, but also comes with a great utility spell:
Games Workshop via Wahapedia
It’s easy to cast and – crucially – lasts to the next hero phase. This means Frederic can make one awesome unit a turn with additional D3 attacks in combat. Sure, he may roll a 1, but you’ll never forget it if you’re on the other end of a 3 on a Terrorgheist or Crypt Flayers.
The army certainly has potential, but Frederic must have commanded it well to get a 4-1; they’re still not common with FEC.
This is the top three AoS lists for the Sheffield Slaughter that took place in the UK on the 21st and 22nd of February. It involved 98 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: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: Jaws of Mork – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours – Triumph: Indomitable x2
LEADERS Skragrott, the Loonking (160)* Squigboss (80)* – General – Command Traits: The Clammy Hand Madcap Shaman (70)* – Artefacts of Power: Moonface Mommet – Spells: The Hand of Gork – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
BATTLELINE Boingrot Bounderz (420) – Bounder Boss Squig Hoppers (540) – Squig Hopper Boss Squig Hoppers (180) Moonclan Stabbas (125)** – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – Moonclan Boss – 3 Barbed Nets – Stabba Moonclan Shootas (125)** – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – Moonclan Boss – 3 Barbed Nets
OTHER Marshcrawla Sloggoth (150) Sneaky Snufflers (110)**
It’s amazing what a new book can do, and Dan Bradshaw has pivoted from Beasts of Chaos to Gloomspite Gitz following their (near-) simultaneous release. Guess we know which one he thinks is better in the current meta. A lot of the army will be familiar with those who played Gitz through the dark times of the last 3 years, and indeed much of the ‘tech’ that is used has been hardened on the crucible of defeat throughout that time.
Dan has no doubt benefitted from his knowledge of the game and the other armies, but it’s still good to see Gitz doing well with an immediate 5-0 out of the gate. Some of this is going to be ‘what does that do’ as people get used to the new army. Other Gitz players did not perform so well, with long term Trogg player – Stuart – going 1-1-3 (but close in all 5!)
So how does it work, and how do you beat it? Well I may leave the 2nd question for a few weeks yet (got to have some time under the light of the moon), but Dan has gone for a toolkit of toys. Skragrott is much improved, and much cheaper – gaining the Warmaster trait and so being able to play with the moon. The Squigboss gives out helpful bonuses and makes Boingrot Bounders battleline (allowing Dan to take 15 of them). The final character is the Madcap with the two stalwarts of Hand of Gork and Moonface Mommet. Both of which are back and both of which are still as good as ever (dare I say essential).
There’s some support in the Marshcrawler and Snufflers both of which buff the other units. The stabbas and shootas are for objective control (within 9″!) and the hitting power comes from Hoppers and Boingrots. Now they have consistent movement (10″+D6 and 7″+D6″) respectively, can run and charge under the moon and cause mortal wounds… plus the squigs can do some real damage. In the previous book I was very happy if my hoppers moved 10″ as (with run) this was normally enough for a maximum attempt at mortal wounds. Now there’s limited risk and the 10″+D6 is much more generous than I expected.
It’s a great start, but we’ll see if this is a ‘flash in the pan’ or a genuine 5-0 consistent battletome. Only time will tell, but well done to Dan for a really good start.
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Allegiance: Fyreslayers – Lodge: Vostarg – Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge – Triumphs: Indomitable
Battleline 30 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (480)* – Reinforced x 2 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)* 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)* 15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (450)** – Poleaxes – Reinforced x 2
Kevin: With Bounty Hunters out and foot heroes in, there’s a resurgence in non-Magmadroth Fyreslayers. This list abandons the ‘droths entirely for an all-foot list. Its plethora of GCs means it has a solid footing in this season’s tactics.
Andrew’s running Vostarg, the sub-faction for buffing Vulkites, and his six heroes rounding out the leaders are the usual suspects for any Vostarg list, excepting the foot-father. No Fyreslayer can leave home without a Nulsidian Icon Battlesmith for the 4+ spell ignore, and double flamekeeper is basically a must-have for any Vostarg list. Flamekeepers allowing out of phase charging – the combat phase in this case – is absurdly powerful, as is adding damage to the high amount of attacks Vulkites enjoy. The runefather can further pump up those attacks once per game.
In a bit of an oddity for Vostarg, Andrew has added 15x Hearthguard to support his Runefather. This not only gives him some bodyguards, but also some objective holding power that can hit back hard. Those poleaxes’ mortal wounds can rack up fast. Further, with ember storm (prayer to run and charge) and Tunnel Master, the Hearthguard can speed ahead and have the runefather simply teleport to them without fear of them losing their ward or him losing his bodyguard. Tunnel Master can also allow the runefather to position perfectly to share his once-per-game buff with the vulkites. The hearthguard can also be pumped up or charged by the flamekeepers if need be.
The Vulkites do what Vulkites do in any Vostarg list: die while doing damage, pump the flamekeepers, then punch back absurdly hard – either by running and charging or combat-phase-charging. The 30x Vulkite unit will receive buffs excellently as well as Rally’s from the Battlesmith. 30 charging Vulkites with the runefathers and flamekeepers can output, theoretically, 121 attacks of 3 damage (especially with GV battalion allowing them to fight through each other). Those high attack numbers certainly spell trouble for his Nighthaunt opponent. There’s nothing quite as sweet as charging that into an opponent in their combat phase and then activating strike first to wipe out a unit before it gets off its activation. The two units of ten Vulkites can either be deepstriked by the Runesmiter or stay on the field to act as screens, food for the flamekeepers, or objective holders.
The infernoth accomplishes the beautiful Grand Strategy of keeping an invocation on the field while also chasing around Galletian Champions. It can also be used as a poor-man’s fyrewall in some cases, particularly against large bases like Archaon or Mawkrushas.
This list results in the classic Fyreslayer playstyle: a wave of naked dudes with axes that just can’t be removed from objectives. They trade incredibly well with anyone willing to try to remove them in the combat phase, making that route a daunting task. At the same time, shooting is hampered by a 4+ rally under a 6+ ward (5+ ward, occasionally) from the Battlesmith who can not be shot.
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Allegiance: Disciples of Tzeentch – Change Coven: Guild of Summoners – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (180)* – General – Command Trait: Cult Demagogue – Lore of Fate: Treacherous Bond – Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion Fluxmaster, Herald of Tzeentch on Disc (170)* – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist – Lore of Change: Bolt of Tzeentch Magister (120)** – Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master The Blue Scribes (160)** Fatemaster (140)** – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate – Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion
Battleline 10 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (250)* 10 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (250)* 10 x Tzaangors (180)* – 10x Pair of Savage Blade 10 x Tzaangors (180)* – 10x Pair of Savage Blade 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – 10x Cursed Blade & Arcanite Shield
Endless Spells & Invocations Chronomantic Cogs (70) Purple Sun of Shyish (90) Umbral Spellportal (80)
With more chickens than a KFC basket, we have another Guild of Summoners list doing extremely well this weekend. While Kaleb called in the support of a Krondspine to give him time to get those Lords of Change on the board, Stephen goes the more traditional (and pink) tarpit of Horrors to slow his enemy down. Another big change to several other Guild of Summoners lists is that it doesn’t start with a LoC/Kairos on the board at the beginning, allowing more Arcanite casters to be taken instead. This is key, as one way of shutting down a Guild of Summoners list is to kill the mortal characters who the Lords of Change must be summoned through. With three such characters, it’s going to be hard to do that to Stephen’s list.
Once the summoning does get going, the shooty Lord of Change is great here as it’s up to 12 shots, hitting on 3s, wounding on 3s (or 2s if the Fatemaster is nearby), rend -1 BUT if you’re shooting at something in Purple Sun range (helpfully auto-cast by The Blue Scribes) now you’re at rend -2. Have the Curseling use a pair of Destiny Dice to make Arcane Suggestion’s armour debuff be unable to be unbound, suddenly those shots are up to rend -3.
Tzaangors being surrounded by wizards is also a great pick as they’re be doing mortal wounds on 4+ at range, rolling a number of equal to the number of wizards within range, so probably at least 5 dice T1, increasing as the game goes on. Twice. The last troops choice is Kairics, probably there for cheap screening, but get their warscroll spell off and shoot them at the Purple Sunned/Arcane Suggested unit and that’s another 10 rend -3 shots going down range.
All in all, a great take on Guild of Summoners, throwing in a couple of Galletian Champions for battle tactics and being able to quite easily access 4/5 of the Tzeentch specific ones.
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Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Grand Court: Blisterskin – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Abhorrant Ghoul King (170)* – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)* – General – Command Trait: Hellish Orator – Artefact: Eye of Hysh – Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite – Lore of Madness: Bonestorm Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Zombie Dragon (430) – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Battleline 9 x Crypt Flayers (540)** – Reinforced x 2 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)** 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)*
Discord user: gualtikhan: This list utilizes the full summoning power from the fec Heroes to maximize the number of summons it brings to the table. This adds some mass with which to take the board and pin the opponent off of the objectives. This helps counter the faction’s natural lack of durability as well.
There are some really good spells, mainly a couple of really strong unit buffs (+d3 attacks, +1 attack, 5+ ward, reroll to wound, +1dmg) but fec typically lacks the reliability to cast those often enough. In particular, this list relies on spectral host, combined by the +2 movement of the subfaction, to give the two dragons and the flayers an huge threat range.
Crypt flayers’ ranged attack has big variance but against the right unit can definitely pack a punch. I’m a bit surprised to see arcane tome for an extra unreliable cast instead of the more often taken garland, for -2 bravery, increasing both the efficiency of the scream attacks and the bravery damage.
The aforementioned buffs to damage output synergize really well with the fec command ability to fight twice, allowing one buffed unit to pack some serious damage, and also helping to burst open some bunkers against imperfectly deployed armies.
The teleport is great as it helps with scoring battle tactics and objectives greatly in this edition, and it can be used also to let the flayers scream the right unit at the right time.
All in all this is the best attempt l’ve seen at running Fec, which is a subfaction that is having an hard time right now, having several key units with poor durability and a weakness to alpha strikes, since killing the heroes would prevent their summoning.
With the release of the Battlescroll: Galletian Reinforcements I’ve been able to go back through the data from the release of the General’s Handbook and tidy everything up. In doing so, I though it may be cool to give you a run-down of how each faction performed under the current General’s Handbook until the Battlescroll took effect.
The data used for analysing these results was taken from 110 Grand Tournaments between 3rd July 2022 and 6th November 2022.
Flesh-eater Courts
Region Comparison – Popularity
Flesh-eater Courts saw their highest popularity in Oceania with 3.7% of players choosing the faction for tournament play, while at the opposite end of the world the uptake was only 1.8% in Europe.
Region Comparison – Win Rates
The win rates across all the regions were fairly solid at around 50%. However, the only exception was Scandinavia where this dipped to 35.0%
North America was the location of the Flesh-eater Courts only 5-0 result.
Subfaction Analysis
Subfaction
Players
Win Rate
Hollowmourne
7
54.29%
Gristlegore
13
50.77%
Feast Day
32
47.20%
Morgaunt
12
46.67%
Blisterskin
29
43.45%
None/Unknown
9
52.27%
Faction Total
104
47.60%
Although Hollowmourne appears to have the most successful win rate, they were by far not the most popular faction, with the majority of players choosing between Feast Day and Blosterskin as their go to.
Top 10 Flesh-eater Courts Players
You may notice that some players have a better World/Nation ranking than players above them in this table. This is due to players playing with multiple factions. These players have been ranked on their top Flesh-eater Courts results only.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Leicester City AoS GT that took place in the UK on 3rd and 4th December. It involved 28 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.
Pre-Tournament Analysis
I thought I’d add a bit about the meta at the event before we jump into the meat of the article. If this is popular I’ll continue doing this on future top three articles.
Ranked Players
Below shows the players already ranked in our Woehammer rankings form events before the Leicester GT.
Of the 28 players, 21 Players had already taken part in at least 1 GT before this event, with the highest ranked player (Phil Marshall) being 1st in the UK and currently 2nd in the World. Remember these rankings are based on our own handicapped rankings system explained here.
Faction Breakdown
The Leicester GT had a fairly close representation of the current meta with a few notable exceptions. No Sylvaneth armies where present despite this currently being the 2nd favourite faction with players. Like wise there was also no representation of Ogor Mawtribes or Kharadron Overlords at this event.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness – Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Knights of the Empty Throne Varanguard x 6 (560)* – General – Daemonforged Blade and Warpsteel Shield – Command Trait: Inescapable Doom – Artefact: Grasping Plate – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch Knights of the Empty Throne Varanguard x 6 (560)** – Daemonforged Blade and Warpsteel Shield – Artefact: Corrupted Nullstone – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Mask of Darkness Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Mask of Darkness
Battleline 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Units 1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*
Behemoths Chaos Warshrine (215)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Prayer1: Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Phil Marshall: Knights of the Empty Throne – How does it work? In Knights of the Empty Throne, you are able to take Varanguard as Heroes, the first unit which is your general has Inescapable Doom and Grasping plate, meaning it can pile 6 inches and you cant retreat from this unit, the other unit has Corrupted Nullstone which is an auto unbind.
The list is designed around two units of six Varanguard with the Mark of Tzeentch which allows the re-rolls of 1s to armour saves and gives units a 5+ spell ignore. Then you’ll look to really capitalise on these mechanics with other buff pieces in the army, which include two Sorcerer lords. Sorcerer lords have a built in mechanic called Orcular Visions which gives a unit +1 to save (this ability can stack), they are also wizards so offer the ability to cast mystic shield, demonic power (re-roll all hits and wounds) and mask of darkness (teleport).
The final buff piece is the Warshrine, the prayer for Tzeentch is +1 save and a 4+ spell ignore, the only other prayer that may be used is Undivided which allows a unit to re-roll all hits and wounds. On top of this the Warshrine has an aura of 6+ ward which degrades as it takes damage. With all of these buff pieces it allows you to essentially make an unkillable unit (or two) of Varanguard. You can get +6 to your save re-rolling 1s once per game (oracular visions twice, mystic shield, Tzeentch Prayer, all out defence and finest hour), on top of this you can have a 4+ 5+ 5+ spell ignore as the Varanguard have a warscroll ability for spell ignore, mark of tzeentch grants spell ignore and then an additional spell ignore from the warshrine.
As a result there are very few things that can deal with these units once they have the buffs on, you need to be able to do mass mortal wounds in the shooting and combat phase, otherwise there is a strong likelihood that you will never do any damage to this unit. I tend to evaluate the main threats of my opponents army and see how they have deployed, if I can capatalise on getting my general into the bulk of it and keeping them locked in combat for as long as possible. The rest of the list is designed to be very hard to kill with four units of iron golems who get +1 to their save if they havent made a normal move, meaning before rend they will be a 3+ re-rolling 1s.
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Allegiance: Disciples of Tzeentch – Change Coven: Hosts Arcanum – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (180)* – General – Command Trait: Cult Demagogue – Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion Kairos Fateweaver (435) Lord of Change (400)* – Artefact: The Eternal Shroud – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon Fluxmaster, Herald of Tzeentch on Disc (170)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
Battleline 10 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (250)** 10 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (250)** 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)**
Kieron: Ryan is the captain of Team Malta and a combination of one of the finest Tzeentch players in the world and one of the nicest people you’re ever likely to meet. Speaking to him at the event about his list writing and tactics, he explained that he’s very confident in his approach and then plays the list repeatedly – around 350 reps with the current iteration, losing very few games along the way. The only downside – headaches after each match due to the mental load of channelling the will of The Changer of Ways. Malta has a relatively small AoS scene and there’s only so many times a person can take a beat down from Ryan, no matter how charming he while doing so, and games on TTS don’t really allow for the precision of measurements that cause aforementioned headaches.
Onto the list itself and it has somewhat of a retro charm about it with two big birds: a combo that, while clearly effective in the right hands, is seen less frequently due to Kairos and the Lord of Change sharing the same warscroll spell now instead of Kairos having his own spell. The Lord of Change offers a good amount of shooting with the Rod of Sorcery and can do some work with a damage 3 Staff of Tzeentch thanks to the Flaming Weapon buff. Together, they give everything within range +1 to cast each, meaning that Ryan can afford to leave Cogs at home in favour of Horrorghast.
The list can also expect to generate over the magic number of 10 fate points a turn, meaning that 10 blue horrors should be summoned every turn. When talking to Ryan about Screamers, I explained I was excited about how fast they could go and his response was that a Fluxmaster moving 22” and then summoning 9” away is even faster!
The final little wrinkle for this list (valid for the next month or so at least) is the fact that all Ryan’s battleline are Expert Conquerors – annoying enough for the 10 Kairics to count as 30, but absolutely infuriating on the Pink Horrors that start off counting as 30, but peak at counting as 60 until the 31st wound is done to the unit, at which point it starts the slow decline back to counting as 3 and then counting as dead!
It clearly worked, with Ryan achieving the maximum possible differential on Day One, with the only loss being into the event’s eventual winner, Phil Marshall, and a tonne of 2+ re-rerolling 1s saving throws and an equally hefty amount of spell ignores and wards.
Kieron: And so on to the third placed army, piloted by the very dry Toby Resnick, including the named units “An Undercosted Priest”, “Kroak’s Ablative Wounds” and the “Raveshaper Engine”, which is like a “Realmshaper Engine” but with flashy LEDs that are operated by remote control depending on who wins priority. I almost felt sorry for the Seraphon player on the table next to us at Leicester as they jealously eyed up the craziest terrain piece you’ll ever see!
The list itself has a couple of lovely converted chariots that are really good at zipping around the board early game while one of the Engine of the Gods or the Bastiladon is double activating with one of the 5+ CP Toby generally has to play with each turn. Cogs consolidates Kroak’s absolute magical supremacy with a double miscast pretty much being the only way that Kroak fails a spell and, usually, the unbind required when a spell does go off is double figures or flat out impossible. “Big Frog Goes Ribbit Ribbit” indeed.
All the other buffs that Seraphon players can dish out are also present here, with re-rolling 1s, run and shoot, +1 to hit in addition to the normal All out Attack etc. buffs that can be added. Skinks running about the place, doing all the dirty jobs that score the points while the bigger immediate threats (particularly the resurrecting Engine of the Gods – 50% of the time, it comes back with full wounds every time) draw the enemy’s attention away.
I’m sure once Ryan had finished with the paracetamol, Toby was ready for some with the number of rules he has to keep in his head, even with more tokens than models to help him keep track. While one of the Order Battletomes from the latest Roadmap is probably another Lumineth book (maybe two!), it would be great to have a Seraphon book to combine some of these into the Warscrolls themselves and make it so players like Toby can fly their Dino Flag and not feel a bit guilty about it.
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Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Grand Court: Morgaunt – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Abhorrant Archregent (245)** – Artefact: The Dermal Robe – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Abhorrant Archregent (245)** – Lore of Madness: DerangedTransformation Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Zombie Dragon (430)* – General – Command Trait: Savage Chivalry – Artefact: Decrepit Coronet – Mount Trait: Razor-clawed – Lore of Madness: Miasmal Shroud Varghulf Courtier (160)**
Battleline 20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)* – Reinforced x 1 20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)* – Reinforced x 1 20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)* – Reinforced x 1
Units 6 x Crypt Flayers (360)* – Reinforced x 1
Endless Spells & Invocations Chalice of Ushoran (50)
Brett: Flesh eater courts is still centred around their heros and lean on their summoning and buffs to make their other units dangerous. They reward a patient player who is happy to screen the heroes and summon more models early game before striking out. 3 Abhorrants (one mounted and 2 foot) and the Varghulf at the heart of the list and maybe a little unusually 3 x 20 Crypt Ghouls. Bounty Hunters can tear through these quickly and a lot of lists have minimised them. 3 Wizards granting fly to 1 to 3 units (Spectral Host) however if they can fly (like the dragon) then granting run and charge, additional movement (Deranged Transformation) and lastly a small MW spell with the chance of affecting opposing hit and wound rolls (Miasmal Shroud).
Spectral Host on the Zombie Dragon gives up to 20″ of movement + a charge at the top of first turn if they go first. Try not to leave room for it to land near something important early game. Then there is the summoning, a Serf unit is Crypt Ghouls, Knight is 3 Crypt Flayers/Horrors and a Courtier is a Varghulf Courtier. Each Archreagent can summon 20 Serfs or 3 Knights or a Courtier every turn. The Ghoul King can only summon Courtiers. This is a command ability so forcing them to use CP can help but it is done at the end of the movement phase. The Courtiers are both mobile threat and healers rolling 6 dice and healing Serfs on a 2+ and Knights on a 5+ within 10″ (as well as themselves if they kill a model).
As a Morguant host the Serfs can return once destroyed at full strength (4+). It’s a 50% chance that you can kill a screen and achieve very little. All of this is just to build the scene, the army can afford to wait but with the ability to snipe something with either the Flayers or the Zombie Dragon. If they get their buffs off it’s possible for most of the army to reroll 1s to hit if they are close to the Serfs. And those serfs, while they don’t hit hard, can easily get to 3 attacks each making them a reasonable threat to anything with a 4+ save. They’re cheap and trade really well. Castling though means they can struggle to score well in early rounds if you don’t feed them units and tactics. Shooting obviously is a weakness as are ranged Mortal Wounds from spells (they have a lot of denies though). Stretching them out and making them react to you is a good tactic as well.
Simon lost to a Soulblight army with a lot of mobility (Blood Knights, Dire Wolves) and Grave Guard. They were able to hold Simon scoreless. The other loss was to a Seraphon Thunder Lizard with Kroak. Kroak can deny pretty much all of their magic while the Solar Engine Bastiladon tears big holes. Seraphon are a hard counter to the army and very difficult to deal with.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for Almost Loremaster that took place in Montreal, Canada on December 3rd. It involved 30 players vying to be crowned champion in a 3-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.
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Allegiance: Sylvaneth – Glade: Heartwood – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired – Season of war: Dwindling
Leaders Arch-Revenant (120) Branchwych (130) – Artefact: The Vesperal Gem – Lore of the Deepwood: Verdurous Harmony Warsong Revenant (305) – General – Command Trait: Spellsinger – Artefact: Acorn of the Ages – Lore of the Deepwood: Treesong
Battleline 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)** 6 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes (500)*** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)**
Units 3 x Revenant Seekers (235)*** 10 x Gossamid Archers (440)* – Reinforced x 1
No stranger to podiums across Quebec and Ontario, Olivier Gandouet takes first in a scrappy field with his take on the familiar Sylvaneth Heartwood skeleton. Eschewing common pieces like Drycha, a reinforced Seeker unit, or the Celestant-Prime, Olivier instead gets the most out of a reinforced unit of Gossamid Archers – a unit often maligned by Sylvaneth players.
You’ll find many of the usual suspects in this list – teleporting Tree-Revenants easily score battle tactics and potentially Show of Dominance, the Warsong provides reliable access to the strong Sylvaneth spell lore and bursts of AOE mortal wounds, and the Kurnoths are an unholy anvil/hammer combo that can be launched through the Wyldwoods crunked out on Spiteswarm sap to send something to the shadow realm and then fade away. A reinforced unit of Gossamids is really the elephant in the room here. While their durability and expected damage is low relative to their cost, they are capable of truly gruesome spikes and can be difficult to interact with for armies lacking in ranged reach. They will always be a risky include just because their strengths and weaknesses are so polarized, but the risk paid off for Olivier in this case.
We’ve seen Sylvaneth lists slowly edge toward lower drops over time, but Olivier reverses course and instead opts for a high drop list with all the bells and whistles. It’s a strategy that paid off in this event – Sylvaneth can still have a productive and relatively risk-free turn 1 if given first thanks to the Warsong + Spellsinger combo and Strike and Fade, but are also naturally resistant to alpha strikes if given second due to how far back they can set up. A unit of Seekers and a Branchwraith auto-casting Verdurous Harmony provides a layer of insurance for any mistakes, effectively negating any incidental chip damage and enabling rapid recovery from failed kill shots.
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Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Grand Court: Blisterskin – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (445)* – General – Artefact: Eye of Hysh – Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Abhorrant Archregent (245)* – Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation
UNITS 9 x Crypt Flayers (540)* 10 x Crypt Ghouls (85)* 10 x Crypt Ghouls (85)*
BEHEMOTHS Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)* – Allies
Season of War’s own Carl Ong really put Flesh Eater Courts on the map of the Canadian tournament scene when he went on a run with his own FEC-Krondspine list. Perhaps seeing no reason to teach an old spine-dog new tricks, Frederic proves the nerfed Krondspine is still very much a thing in deftly piloting his ghoulies to a 3-0 finish.
It’s not flashy, but it doesn’t have to be: the trifecta of the Ghoul King on Terrorgheist, a block of 9 Flayers, and the Krondspine provide the savvy general with the tools to be competitive in most matchups. The Terrorgheist is an infamously explosive rocket-powered scalpel, threatening to tear even the hardest targets down by fishing for mortals with his Gaping Maw. The Krondspine gives the FEC army the durable mid-board unit it desperately wants and a temporary answer for units the Terrorgheist may not want to engage. In tandem, the Gheist and the Krondspine can either remove or tie up the opposing pieces that have the damage (see: Bounty Hunters) to threaten the Flayers, letting them safely leverage their recursion capability and project their force across the table with Run and Charge from Spectral Host.
This list is here for a good time, not a long time. It will launch a new Archregent-buffed unit across the board each turn until someone runs out of threats. Blisterskin is required here to turn the Flayers into GVs, but is also a strong blanket option with +2 move and access to a teleport for shifty objective play. The Horrorghast is a smart take here, helping to ensure that the list gets the kills it needs on the turn the pilot pulls the trigger and commits. Kudos to Frederic for an excellent finish here.
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Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Petrifex Elite – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Arkhan the Black (340) Katakros (450) Mortisan Soulmason (115) – General – Command Traits: Mighty Archaeossian – Artefacts of Power: Godbone Armour – Spells: Drain Vitality
Legends say that on one fateful night a secret cabal of OBR players got together, prayed to effigies of Nagash, Bill Souza, and Owen Jackson, and received the revelation that big bricks of Necropolis Stalkers in Bounty Hunters can do very bad things to almost anything in the game. Dan Fortin was obviously in attendance at this clandestine ritual and has successfully spread the Stalker gospel in Montreal with convincing wins over Sylvaneth, KragGitz, and the OBR mirror.
What DON’T stalkers do, besides disappoint? They’re relatively fast by OBR standards (mimicking the FLY keyword and re-rolling charges), have access to a vintage 2.0 mechanic in re-rollable saves, and scale hard with powerful buffs from Katakros and the Soulmason to drown juicy targets in a sea of hyper-accurate damage 2 and 3 attacks. Arkhan provides damage diversity with his own personal orbit of arcane bolts, while Katakros acts as a buff vector and a constant threat to the opponent’s precious CP. The Mortek Crawler is a good utility add-on, allowing this otherwise melee-range army to reach out and threaten opposing wizards, monsters, and buff characters with a frightening 5 flat damage projectile. It’s worth noting that the Crawler’s normal profile can benefit from Katakros’ attack buff as well, making the payload extremely deadly in concert with a synergistic Horrorghast to lock in the casualties.
No silly frills like “screens” here: just twelve very large and VERY angry skeletons ready to receive positive affirmations from Katakros and punch a few one-way tickets to the bone zone. Congrats to Dan and looking forward to seeing the Ossiarchs again!
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Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Option: Jaws of Mork – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Kragnos, The End of Empires (720)* Loonboss on Mangler Squigs (270)* – General – Command Trait: Envoy of the Overbounder – Artefact: Syari Screamersquig Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig (110)* – Moon-cutta
Battleline 20 x Shootas (120)* 20 x Shootas (120)* 20 x Shootas (120)*
Units 10 x Boingrot Bounderz (210)* – Reinforced x 1 6 x Sneaky Snufflers (75)*
How cool is it that two Gloomspite Gitz lists finished back-to-back in 7th and 8th? In a true homage to the random nature of the Bad Moon, I rolled a dice to decide which I would cover. It seems Raphael Boyon continues to enjoy the moon’s fickle favour, though there was nothing lucky about his performance – he only dropped a game to Olivier’s winning Sylvaneth list!
A lot of the (justified) criticism of the Gloomspite tome boils down to it feeling like playing a losing game of keyword bingo: the juicy synergies seem to be there, but inevitably end up being just out of reach. Raphael’s Jaws of Mork list may represent the best combo this old 2.0 tome is capable of, solving the unreliable reach of Squig units with access to re-rollable movement, +3 movement, and 3d6 charging. On the offensive side of things, these Squigs can hit surprisingly hard: the Loonboss on Mangler provides a generous +1 to wound buff, while the Sneaky Snufflers are perhaps the cheapest source of the very powerful +1 Attack buff in the game. Kragnos ties the package together, serving as a cataclysmic melee threat and anchor that also allows the buffed Squig units to travel potentially shocking distances.
Interesting that Raphael opted for a 2-drop here, but it certainly makes sense for this configuration of the list. If the opponent makes a deployment mistake or fails to respect his movement, Raphael could potentially pull off an Ironjawz-esque alpha strike that pins the opponent at worst and cripples them at best. Going second, Raphael can sit behind the generous screening provided by the Shootas and then pierce the opponent on their weakest flank, threatening a deadly double with Kragnos. Props to Raphael for squeezing every drop of competitive juice out of a beleaguered battletome.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Gourds of War FT that took place in Texas, USA on 12th and 13th November. It involved 18 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: Lumineth Realm-lords – Subfaction: Zaitrec – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
LEADERS Sevireth (320) Scinari Cathallar (110)** – General – Command Traits: Loremaster – Artefacts of Power: Silver Wand – Spells: Protection of Hysh, Solar Flare, Total Eclipse The Light of Eltharion (240)** Vanari Lord Regent (170)** – Spells: Protection of Hysh
BATTLELINE Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)** – High Warden – Spells: Overwhelming Heat Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)** – High Warden – Spells: Solar Flare Vanari Auralan Sentinels (450)** – High Sentinel – Spells: Total Eclipse
OTHER Vanari Bladelords (130)* – Bladelord Seneschal Vanari Dawnriders (140)* – Steedmaster – Standard Bearer – Spells: Speed of Hysh Vanari Dawnriders (140)* – Steedmaster – Standard Bearer – Spells: Speed of Hysh
TERRAIN 1 x Shrine Luminor (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Bounty Hunters **Battle Regiment
Ed: Dustin’s List seems simple at first glance, but it is a deceptively hard list to run. All his units have the potential to be stars depending on match ups and battle plans, but they are fragile. You need to be thinking at least a turn ahead to ensure your key pieces are in the right place ahead of time. It is a common mantra that “Games are won in the movement phase”, and I feel like Dustin’s list takes this to heart with his highly manoeuvrable choice of units. Don’t leave an objective open around Dustin!
The Zaitrec subfaction gives all wizards a +1 to casting, unbinding and dispelling rolls. That added reliability is key for getting off important spells, particularly Power of Hysh which represents a huge increase in damage and Protection of Hysh which keeps your army alive.
After so long on the bench, it’s nice to see Eltharion included in a list that’s performing well. As a mid-level threat with a small presence on the table he is often able to fly under the radar until he connects with something important. He is much more reliable since the new battletome, and has been referred to as a Diet-Gotrek – although mortal wounds will bring him down very quickly.
To have achieved 5 wins with this list, Dustin must have played wonderfully. It is an army with a high skill ceiling and an extremely techy set of core mechanics. It’s not your typical netlist army that can be copied by a novice and still do fairly well. But if you’re looking to improve your skills, playing a list like this is a good challenge to test your mastery of strategic buff placement, unit positioning and long term thinking.
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Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords – Lineage: Kastelai Dynasty – Mortal Realm: Shyish – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead (955)** Wight King on Skeletal Steed (110)** – General – Command Trait: Rousing Commander – Artefact: Fragment of the Keep
Battleline 5 x Blood Knights (195)* 5 x Blood Knights (195)* 5 x Blood Knights (195)* 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)** 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)**
Endless Spells & Invocations Umbral Spellportal (80) Purple Sun of Shyish (90)
Edited: Sorry I somehow forgot (it’s wishful thinking…) that Blood Knights aren’t summonable! That’s what you get for re-reading Nagash’s scroll after a 1-dayer when your brain is mush. Post is now accurate!
Danny: It’s Nagash! Again! What is happening??
Well, there’s a fairly standard core at play here, with 3x msu Blood Knights in Kastelai providing a roaming set of both tanky AND killy – especially in bounty hunters – fast movers. Aaron will have had the option of layering them up or splitting them off for board control, and either way the Wight King on Steed is a relatively budget general acting as a ‘Rousing Commander’ caddy – which allows the best of the Kastelai ‘kill a unit and gain a buff based on its type’ effects to pop off once per battle ‘for free’, as it were. And the battleline is rounded out by the 2x msu Deathrattle are cost-efficient grave-site lurkers.
So in this context, Nagash seems to really be offering the magical dominance. He can’t buff Blood Knights in the same way Mannfred/Coven Throne etc can, but with Spellportal (and no Cogs – living dangerously!) he can stay at a safe range and shut down a lot of the usual magic threats that would ordinarily threaten the Blood Knights. Soulblight have some excellent debuffs too.
So overall, your opponent has a tough choice. Try and take down Nagash – not easy unless you have excellent ranged firepower – or focus down the Blood Knights and leave the magic powerhouse at liberty. Clearly making his opponent make tough choices paid off, with a brutal anti-aelf campaign, losing only to Zaitrec LRL who could probably stand up to the magic and shut down most of Nagash’s utility. Big congrats to Aaron for the 4-1 with Nagash!
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Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280) – Artefacts of Power: Skullshard Mantle Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (295) Skarbrand (380)* Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280)** – Artefacts of Power: Ar’gath, the King of Blades Bloodsecrator (125)** – General – Command Traits: Mage Eater Slaughterpriest (100)** – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Resanguination
Peter: Our new colleague, Alice, needs no introduction! You may know her as Ragnarok Angel, the lead AoS writer for Goonhammer. Alice has kindly offered her skills and expertise to help us with top three commentary.
Alice: Blades of Khorne is a real underdog that is often underestimated when faced (Source: Me being the receiving end of it not too long ago). “It’s a bad book, the changes to priest nerfed them!” you say and you aren’t wrong, but piloted by a skilled player and a far too eager opponent, Khorne can put out a lot of damage.
Reapers of Vengeance is still considered the best subfaction, Devour the Craven causes D3 extra models to run on a failed battleshock which is fine but the real meat is the Leave None Alive command ability, allowing a Daemon model to fight a second time. When you look at the quadruple Bloodthirsters, you start to see the profit here.
On top of this, the change to Blood Tithes so they no longer burn all their points at once has had a bigger impact on the faction than is generally understood. For 4 Blood Tithe points, a unit can fight at the beginning of the Hero phase, including your opponent’s, before your opponent has had a chance to set up their buffs. That means a Bloodthirster fighting potentially three times in a single turn of gameplay, assuming something even survives that many hits.
The Bloodthirsters are the showstoppers, but rounding off the list is some decent anti-magic. The forced artefact is a 2+ shrug for spells, which while not ideal is still really good at forcing an enemy wizard to choose different targets. The mandatory Mage Eater is much better, allowing the General, Karnak and Flesh Hounds to unbind spells and even do Mortal Wounds with the General and Karnak. Hexgorger Skulls force -2 to casts, and can potentially cause more mortal wounds. It won’t stop an overwhelming number of spells, which explains the one loss against Lumineth, but it’ll shut down armies with only a handful of crucial spells.
When brought together it creates a list that is just incredibly difficult to engage in close combat. If you fight a Bloodthirster you better go first and you better win because if it hits you on the kick back it’ll kill most things. A blunt instrument, but a reliable one, as Khorne would wish.
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Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Grand Court: Blisterskin – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs:
Leaders Abhorrant Archregent (245)** – Artefact: The Dermal Robe – Lore of Madness: Blood Feast Abhorrant Ghoul King (165)** – Lore of Madness: Miasmal Shroud Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (445)* – General – Command Trait: Hellish Orator – Artefact: Eye of Hysh – Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Zombie Dragon (430)** – Lore of Madness: Monstrous Vigour
Battleline 9 x Crypt Flayers (540)* – Reinforced x 2 10 x Crypt Ghouls (85)* 10 x Crypt Ghouls (85)*
Peter: Another new writer, and perhaps a familiar name to those on the Canadian tournament circuit. Jake Seguin is currently ranked 20th in Canada.
Jake: Don’t call it a renaissance, but things have been looking up of late for our favourite Bretonnian roleplayers. Harnessing both the power of the Incarnate and the frightening damage and recursion of max-size Knight units, a few ghoulish generals have successfully piloted an off-meta army to notable tournament success. Eddy Andrews ascends to abhorrent greatness with his take on a Blisterskin list that foregoes the Incarnate in favour of expanding his royal family with the oft-overlooked King on Zombie Dragon.
You’ll find much of the familiar FEC architecture here: an Archregent, the King on Terrorgheist, and MSU ghouls to fill the battleline slots. What the Zombie Dragon lacks in the spiky mortal wound output of his batty brother, he makes up for in force multiplication. His signature spell (at only a CV of 6) provides a 16” wound reroll bubble for friendly FEC units, juicing the double-fighting Flayers to incredible heights of carnage and closing his own average damage gap significantly with the Terrorgheist.
With 36 wounds, a natural 6+ ward, and conditional access to a 5+ ward from the Terrogheist, the Flayers are sporting some real beef to complement their reach and offence. As FEC can now get an additional Muster from any hero courtesy of White Dwarf, any failed attempt to remove this unit can become a game-losing swing. It may fall short of turning water into wine, but a single hero phase can certainly turn one remaining Flayer into nine. Presenting a tough force allocation dilemma and providing the frail FEC army with an actual anvil, 9 Flayers can threaten to take over any matchup where there isn’t a strong Bounty Hunters threat opposite them.
The four Kings will cast their respective buff spells, supercharge something with up to +4 attacks and run+charge, and slam into the enemy until someone is tabled. Leveraging the ability to summon up to four units from any board edge, the list is also deceptively wide and can play a more cagey objective game if the situation calls for it. While flesh-eating enthusiasts will continue to debate the merits of Blisterskin over Feast Day/Crusading Army until the next End Times, Eddy decided that the army-wide +2 movement and teleport utility was worth giving up his first artefact slot. Instead, he took a Command Entourage for the dermal robe, giving his Archregent that extremely important casting buff in a list where he couldn’t fit Cogs.
Excellent work by Eddy, who only dropped his last two games to the eventual 1st and 3rd-place finishers.
