This is the top three AoS lists for Salt City GT that took place in the USA on the 8th and 9th of July. It involved 34 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: Flesh-eater Courts – Subfaction: Blisterskin – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
LEADERS Abhorrant Archregent (240)** – General – Command Traits: Hellish Orator – Artefacts of Power: The Dermal Robe – Spells: Deranged Transformation – Aspects of the Champion: Abhorrant Ghoul King – Bonding: Abhorrant Ghoul King Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)** – Artefacts of Power: Eye of Hysh – Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite – Spells: Monstrous Vigour Crypt Infernal Courtier (130)**
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh – Army Type: Pretenders – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x The Masque (140) 1 x Contorted Epitome (190)* – Artefacts: The Crown of Dark Secrets – Spells: Flaming Weapon – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage 1 x Glutos Orscollion (480)* – General – Spells: Born of Damnation 1 x Lord of Pain (135)*
BATTLELINE 11 x Blissbarb Archers (150)** 11 x Blissbarb Archers (150)** 11 x Blissbarb Archers (150)**
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Dreadful Visage (60)
TERRAIN 1 x Fane of Slaanesh (0)
OTHER 5 x Slickblade Seekers (200)* 5 x Blissbarb Seekers (200)* 5 x Symbaresh Twinsouls (140)*
Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Legion: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament (370) Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis (440) Mortisan Boneshaper (120)* – General – Command Trait: Aura of Sterility – Artefact: Artisan’s Key – Lore of Ossian Sorcery: Empower Nadirite Weapons – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 3 x Immortis Guard (200)* 3 x Immortis Guard (200) 2 x Morghast Archai (240) – Spirit Halberds 5 x Kavalos Deathriders (170) – Nadirite Blade and Shield
This is the top three AoS lists for Fal-Con: A Goonhammer Joint AoS Event that took place in Canada on the 10th and 11th of June. It involved 14 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: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Army Subfaction: Petrifex Elite – Grand Strategy: Survivor’s Instinct – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Arkhan the Black (370) 1 x Katakros (440)* 1 x Mortisan Boneshaper (120)* – General – Command Traits: Diversionary Tactics – Artefacts: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Empower Nadirite Weapons – Aspects of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
BATTLELINE 3 x Necropolis Stalkers (220)* – Dread Falchions 6 x Necropolis Stalkers (440)* – 2 x Dread Falchions 6 x Immortis Guard (400)*
TERRAIN 1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)
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Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Legion: Null Myriad – Mortal Realm: Hysh – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs:
LEADERS Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament (370)** Mortisan Boneshaper (120)* – General – Command Trait: Aura of Sterility – Artefact: Artisan’s Key – Spell: Empower Nandrite Weapons Mortisan Boneshaper (120)** – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master – Spell: Drain Vitality Mortisan Ossifector (120)** – Artefact: Gothizzard Cartouche – Spell: Reinforce Constructs
BATTLELINE 3 x Immortis Guard (200)* 6 x Necropolis Stalkers (440)* – Reinforced x 1 5 x Kavalos Deathriders (170)* – Nadirite Blade and Shield 5 x Kavalos Deathriders (170)* – Nadirite Blade and Shield
Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts – Grand Court: Blisterskin – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs:
LEADERS Crypt Haunter Courtier (110)* – General – Artefact: Eye of Hysh Abhorrant Archregent (240)* – Artefact: The Dermal Robe – Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)* – Mount Trait: Gruesome Bite – Lore of Madness: Spectral Host Crypt Infernal Courtier (130)*
UNITS 6 x Crypt Horrors (220)** 9 x Crypt Flayers (540)** 6 x Crypt Horrors (220)** 10 x Crypt Ghouls (80)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Galletian Veterans
TOTAL: 1990/2000
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Army Faction: Seraphon – Army Type: Starborne – Subfaction: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Slann Starmaster (275)* – General – Command Traits: Lord of Celestial Resonance – Artefacts of Power: Spacefolder’s Stave – Spells: Comet’s Call Lord Kroak (395)* Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)** Skink Oracle on Troglodon (270)** – Artefacts of Power: Sacred Stegadon Helm – Spells: Cosmic Crush Skink Starseer (150)** – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master – Spells: Cosmic Crush
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 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.
Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 4th July and Sunday 10th July 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.
Once again, another quiet week, with only 3 Grand Tournaments.
Kingdom of Skrappa Spill – England/UK 28 Players – Generals Handbook: Pitched Battles 2022-23 Season 1
Position
Faction
Subfaction
Result
1st
Cities of Sigmar
Hallowheart
5-0-0
2nd
Daughters of Khaine
Khailebron
4-0-1
3rd
Cities of Sigmar
Hammerhal
4-0-1
4th
Skaven
4-0-1
5th
Maggotkin of Nurgle
3-1-1
6th
Seraphon
Thunder Lizard
3-1-1
7th
Daughters of Khaine
Khailebron
3-0-2
8th
Daughters of Khaine
Hagg Nar
3-0-2
9th
Nighthaunt
3-0-2
Kingdom of Skrappa Spill
Grand Alliance Stats
These stats reflect the last four weeks of GT’s that we’re aware of at Woehammer.
303 players (-182) took part in 12 GT’s (-4) over the last four weeks.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
56.4%
62
20.46%
5
20
Order
51.0%
149
49.17%
4
21
Death
43.8%
50
16.50%
1
6
Destruction
43.8%
42
13.86%
0
3
Chaos continue to lead the way in the win rates, dropping only slightly from 56.7% last week to 56.4% this week. While Order pick up the most number of armies represented and most 4+. Chaos steal the crown this week for most 5-0’s.
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Faction Stats
The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.
Faction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Slaves to Darkness
72.2%
6
1.98%
1
1
Beasts of Chaos
63.1%
13
4.29%
2
0
Nighthaunt
61.3%
17
5.61%
1
0
Blades of Khorne
60.0%
5
1.65%
0
0
Sylvaneth
58.5%
13
4.29%
0
0
Cities of Sigmar
57.1%
17
5.61%
1
1
Seraphon
56.3%
24
7.92%
2
1
Kharadron Overlords
55.0%
6
1.98%
1
1
Big Waaagh!
54.0%
5
1.65%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
53.8%
21
6.93%
1
2
Bonesplitterz
51.5%
7
2.31%
0
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
50.0%
12
3.96%
0
0
Daughters of Khaine
50.0%
17
5.61%
0
1
Sons of Behemat
50.0%
8
2.64%
0
0
Idoneth Deepkin
47.8%
18
5.94%
0
0
Sons of Behemat
48.5%
21
4.33%
0
1
Skaven
46.7%
6
1.98%
1
0
Legion of the First Prince
46.7%
6
1.98%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
45.6%
26
8.58%
0
3
Ogor Mawtribes
44.8%
6
1.98%
0
1
Fyreslayers
43.0%
16
5.28%
0
1
Flesh-eater Courts
40.0%
5
1.65%
0
0
Soulblight Gravelords
37.8%
18
5.94%
0
2
Gloomspite Gitz
33.3%
6
1.98%
0
0
Ironjawz
32.8%
7
2.31%
0
2
Ossiarch Bonereapers
27.0%
10
3.30%
0
2
Slaves to Darkness and Blades of Khorne continue their run of good form in experienced hands. While the new battletomes of Nighthaunt and Sylvaneth can also be seen in the +55% area. Daughters of Khaine are smack in the middle with a perfect 50% win rate. While Skaven are beginning to climb.
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Subfactions
All factions listed below have been represented at tournaments by at least 5 players.
Faction
Subfaction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Drowned Men
69.1%
11
3.63%
1
0
Nighthaunt
Scarlet Doom
67.6%
7
2.31%
0
0
Beasts of Chaos
None
61.4%
7
2.31%
1
0
Cities of Sigmar
Living City
57.1%
7
2.31%
0
0
Seraphon
Thunder Lizard
55.7%
21
6.93%
2
1
Sons of Behemat
Breaker Tribe
53.4%
6
1.98%
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
Hallowed Knights
52.9%
7
2.31%
0
0
Fyreslayers
Lofnir
51.7%
6
1.98%
0
0
Nighthaunt
Emerald Host
48.3%
6
1.98%
0
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
Zaitrec
48.1%
11
3.63%
0
0
Daughters of Khaine
Zainthar Kai
47.1%
7
2.31%
0
1
Legion of the First Prince
46.7%
6
1.98%
0
1
Skaven
46.7%
6
1.98%
1
0
Soulblight Gravelords
Vyrkos Dynasty
43.3%
6
1.98%
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
Hammers of Sigmar
42.3%
15
4.95%
0
3
Soulblight Gravelords
Kastelai Dynasty
38.6%
7
2.31%
0
1
Fyreslayers
Greyfyrd
35.2%
9
2.97%
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
Petrifex Elite
27.5%
8
2.64%
0
1
Drowned Men continue to lead the way with a win rate of 69.1% despite Maggotkin overall only having a win rate of 53.8%. Nighthaunt and Scarlet Doom find themselves near the top now as predicted by Danny some weeks ago. Meanwhile at the bottom of the table Ossiarch Bonereapers/Petrifex Elite are the only subfaction below 30% win rate.
Interestingly Fyreslayers have Lofnir (6 PLayers) with a win rate of 51.7% and the more popular Greyfyrd (9 Players) at 35.2%, are people playing the wrong subfaction?
Next Week
I’ll have graphs. Because nothing says stats like some graphs…..
Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 27th June and Sunday 3rd July 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.
Once again, another quiet week, with only 3 Grand Tournaments. Two of these were run using the new GHB, while the other was just a little event called the World tSports Champions…..
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Grand Tournaments
Ranked from largest to smallest.
From the Ashes – Scotland/UK 22 Players – Generals Handbook: Pitched Battles 2022-23 Season 1
As promised last week, I’ve changed the stats to reflect the last four weeks of GT’s that we’re aware of at Woehammer. Also if you read all the way to the end of the article I have a little surprise for you!
485 players took part in 16 GT’s over the last four weeks.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
56.7%
94
19.38%
6
27
Order
50.7%
218
44.95%
8
34
Death
45.8%
82
16.91%
2
11
Destruction
45.0%
91
18.76%
0
8
Chaos continue to lead the way in the win rates. While Order pick up the most number of armies represented, most 5-0’s and most 4+. When you compare army share to the number of battletomes each Grand Alliance possess you can see that Order are overrepresented, while Chaos are vastly under represented:
Grand Alliance
Battletomes
Battletome %
Actual Rep %
Order
9
37.50%
44.95%
Chaos
7
29.17%
19.38%
Death
4
16.67%
16.91%
Destruction
4
16.67%
18.76%
What can we take away from this? Perhaps that Order factions are more appealing than Chaos? New players gravitate towards Order? The Chaos range needs updated miniatures? Or all of the above?
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Faction Stats
The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.
Faction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Beasts of Chaos
67.1%
14
2.89%
2
0
Legion of the First Prince
61.5%
13
2.68%
0
0
Slaves to Darkness
61.1%
6
1.24%
0
1
Seraphon
59.7%
30
6.19%
5
2
Blades of Khorne
56.7%
6
1.24%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
56.6%
35
7.22%
3
2
Bonesplitterz
55.4%
10
2.06%
0
0
Cities of Sigmar
54.2%
24
4.95%
2
1
Daughters of Khaine
52.8%
22
4.54%
0
2
Nighthaunt
52.2%
32
6.60%
1
2
Idoneth Deepkin
51.8%
23
4.74%
1
0
Flesh-eater Courts
51.7%
6
1.24%
0
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
51.5%
21
4.33%
0
0
Kharadron Overlords
51.4%
7
1.44%
0
1
Sylvaneth
49.1%
11
2.27%
0
1
Sons of Behemat
48.5%
21
4.33%
0
1
Soulblight Gravelords
47.1%
28
5.77%
1
1
Stormcast Eternals
47.1%
60
12.37%
0
4
Ogor Mawtribes
47.1%
28
2.89%
0
1
Ironjawz
44.7%
16
3.30%
0
1
Kruleboyz
44.3%
11
2.27%
0
1
Hedonites of Slaanesh
44.3%
7
1.44%
0
0
Skaven
43.0%
9
1.86%
1
0
Big Waaagh!
41.3%
8
1.65%
0
0
Fyreslayers
39.5%
20
4.12%
0
2
Gloomspite Gitz
30.9%
11
2.27%
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
28.2%
16
3.30%
0
2
Factions in Bold are those with 3rd Edition Battletomes published before or during this time period
I’ve highlighted all those faction win rates in red which are outside of the parameters that players have stated would make the game roughly balanced (45-55%).
I’m looking at the bottom of the table as I’m writing this, and its hard not to overlook Fyreslayers, Gloomspite Gitz and Ossiarch Bonereapers with win rates of less than 40%! Gloomspite Gitz are getting their new book this year, so hopefully we’ll see that improve. Fyreslayers have been mugged by Games Workshop rules writers, and it just shows how awful that book is. I feel for long term Fyreslayers players…
At the top of the table Beasts of Chaos now currently lead the way with a win rate of 67.1%! They’ve gone from trash tier to S tier in the space of 3 months. Slaves to Darkness are a bit of an anomaly at the top there, and this is primarily driven by a few high level players who vastly our performed the faction this month, much like Anthony Trentanelli did a few weeks ago with Skaven. Maggotkin of Nurgle and Seraphon win rates have both dropped, but its too early to tell why, as the new rules for Seraphon only really came into effect last week.
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Subfaction Stats
Faction
Subfaction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Beasts of Chaos
None
70.0%
5
1.03%
1
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Drowned Men
68.0%
20
4.12%
2
0
Legion of the First Prince
61.5%
13
2.68%
0
0
Nighthaunt
Scarlet Doom
60.0%
11
2.27%
0
0
Beasts of Chaos
Gavespawn
60.0%
6
1.24%
0
0
Seraphon
Thunder Lizard
59.6%
28
5.77%
4
2
Bonesplitterz
Drakkfoot
58.3%
6
1.24%
0
0
Cities of Sigmar
Living City
57.7%
13
2.68%
2
0
Ogor Mawtribes
Boulderhead
56.0%
5
1.03%
0
0
Kharadron Overlords
Barak-Zilfin
53.3%
6
1.24%
0
1
Idoneth Deepkin
Mor’Phann
53.3%
6
1.24%
1
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
Zaitrec
52.9%
15
3.09%
0
0
Sons of Behemat
Breaker Tribe
52.8%
15
3.09%
0
0
Idoneth Deepkin
Nautilar
51.3%
8
1.65%
0
0
Ironjawz
Ironsunz
50.0%
6
1.24%
0
1
Daughters of Khaine
Hagg Nar
50.0%
7
1.44%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
Astral Templars
50.0%
6
1.24%
0
0
Daughters of Khaine
Zainthar Kai
49.2%
12
2.47%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
Hammers of Sigmar
48.8%
33
6.80%
0
2
Soulblight Gravelords
Vyrkos Dynasty
48.0%
10
2.06%
0
0
Soulblight Gravelords
Kastelai Dynasty
45.5%
11
2.27%
0
1
Stormcast Eternals
Hallowed Knights
44.7%
15
3.09%
0
1
Kruleboyz
Big Yellers
43.4%
8
1.65%
0
1
Skaven
43.0%
9
1.86%
1
0
Fyreslayers
Lofnir
42.9%
7
1.44%
0
1
Hedonites of Slaanesh
Lurid Haze
42.0%
5
1.03%
0
0
Ironjawz
Bloodtoofs
41.7%
10
2.06%
0
0
Nighthaunt
Emerald Host
41.5%
13
2.68%
0
2
Big Waaagh!
41.3%
8
1.65%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Befouling Host
40.0%
7
1.44%
1
1
Fyreslayers
Greyfyrd
35.8%
12
2.47%
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
Petrifex Elite
28.8%
15
3.09%
0
2
Gloomspite Gitz
25.0%
8
1.65%
0
1
Factions in Bold are those with 3rd Edition Battletomes published before or during this time period
Maggotkin of Nurgle are a bit of a strange faction. While you have one of the meta leading Subfactions inside the tome with Drowned Men (68.0%, at the bottom of the pack you have Befouling Host (40.0%). It’s not an irregularity either as 7 players have played that subfaction and one claimed 5 wins at an event and another 5 losses. This suggests to me that while Drowned Men is a simple list to play, Befouling Host is completely the opposite and requires good memory and skill from the pilot.
After almost a year of publication now, both Stormcast and Orruk Warclan battletomes are beginning to show a little lag behind the other updated factions (apart from Fyreslayers of course). As the first of the Battletomes perhaps this has played into their stats slightly as the rules writers learn from their mistakes (apart from Fyreslayers of course) when writing the newer tomes.
Scarlet Doom shows that its the faction of choice for a reason in the new Nighthaunt battletome (60.0%) however, its still early days for this battletome and the other factions could be more complicated to pick up and play. However 60.0% win rate for any subfaction is too high and so they may need a future nerf at some point.
Going forwards as the weeks go on, I’ll be keeping an eye out for Grinin’ Blades beginning to get some more play with their updated allegiance abilities after not being placed at all due to all the Kruleboyz players choosing Big Yellers – this will change. I expect to see them nearing the 50% mark and above. Likewise with Skaven, I expect them to begin climbing the rankings as their new rules come into effect.
THE SUPRISE
I said I had a surprise, and here it is!
Woehammer will be doing a player ranking system for the new General’s Handbook based on the Elo system used by Chess.
Who gets ranked?
Everyone who takes part in a two day event using the General’s Handbook: Pitched Battles Season 1 2022-23. Each week I’ll update the scores of the players as they happen and post them in a separate rankings post which will be published every Saturday.
All players will begin with a rating of 1,000 at the beginning of the season, player ratings will be carried over into season 2 and beyond in the future.
I’ve included the current rankings below (there’s only been two GT’s using the new Handbook) which includes everyone at present. However, I will limit this to the top 20 as more players are ranked. The full downloadable player rankings will be available on the site to download next weekend.
Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 20th June and Sunday 26th June 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.
There were only 2 Grand Tournaments last week, a quiet week! But both have 32 players with a nice mix of factions.
64 players took part in 2 GT’s over the last week.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
55.6%
9
14.1%
0
4
Order
53.7%
30
46.9%
2
6
Death
50.0%
10
15.6%
0
1
Death
39.3%
15
23.4%
0
1
Faction Stats
The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.
Faction
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Seraphon
80.0%
5
7.9%
2
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
60.0%
5
7.9%
0
0
Soulblight Gravelords
40.0%
5
7.9%
0
0
With very few tournaments this week there’s not enough data to draw reliable win rates from.
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Subfaction Stats
Next week, I’ll have built up four weeks worth of data and at this point I will transition the stats over four weeks rather than a single week. This will helpfully give us more reliable data. At some point I’ll go backwards as well to the start of AoS 3.
