This is the top three AoS lists for the Rocky Mountain Open AoS Championship that took place in the US on the 16th and 17th of March. It saw 75 players vying to be crowned champion in a 6-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: Fyreslayers – Army Subfaction: Greyfyrd – Grand Strategy: Masters of the Forge – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Auric Runemaster (130)* – General – Command Traits: Master Priest – Artefacts: Volatile Brazier – Prayers: Curse 1 x Auric Runesmiter (110)* – Forge Key – Prayers: Ember Storm 1 x Battlesmith (140)* – Artefacts: Nulsidian Icon 1 x Auric Flamekeeper (90)** – Nullstone Adornments: Pouch of Nulldust 1 x Auric Flamekeeper (90)** – Nullstone Adornments: Hand-carved Nullstone Icon 1 x Auric Runefather (110)** – Artefacts: Axe of Grimnir
BATTLELINE 20 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (150)** – Karl – 4 x Hornblower of Grimnir – Fyresteel War-pick and Bladed Slingshield 5 x Auric Hearthguard (110)** – Karl 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)*** – Karl – 2 x Hornblower of Grimnir 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (160)*** – Karl – 2 x Hornblower of Grimnir
INVOCATION 1 x Zharrgron Flame-spitter (40) 1 x Molten Infernoth (50)
TERRAIN 1 x Magmic Battleforge (0)
OTHER 10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (150)* – Karl – Flamestrike Poleaxe 9 x Vulkyn Flameseekers (140)* 1 x Doomseeker (70)*** – Artefacts: Draught of Magmalt Ale
CORE BATTALIONS: *Warlord **Warlord ***Wizard-finders of Andtor
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Kevin Lathers: This an interesting list in that it makes use of a lot of different Fyreslayer units all together. Functionally it may perform similar to some Vostarg Vulkite-heavy lists but allows for a couple different board control strategies.
To that end, this list will be effecting heavy board control. Vulkites and Hearthguard Berserkers have a lot of wounds on them to burn through, and Shield Vulkites are 40 wounds under a 6+/5+ (with battlesmith) ward that can be rallied on a 4+ and feed the flamekeepers when they die. There’s just a lot of stuff for enemies to have to deal with this.
Furthering this board control is the ability for the Hearthguard Berserker group to split off with the Runefather — with possibly the Doomseeker and Flameseekers (for an extra hero and anti-monstrous actions) — to create one small castle while the Vulkites, Battlesmith, and Flamekeepers create another small castle. This list can split push if need be. That’s very dangerous because opponents can often break one castle, but two? That’s another thing entirely.
On top of this, dealing with these castles, and their high model count, not only causes other stuff to get stronger (via flamekeeper), but leaves opponents open to heavy mortal wound output from the infernoth, flamespitter, and the poleaxe berserkers. It’s notable that flameseekers benefit as well from flamekeepers as Vulkites do, as well.
As a treat, the Auric Hearthguard add a nice little bit of shooting as well as movement reduction on select units which is always good and can even be backbreaking occasionally. Dropping a units move by 2″ can sometimes be a difference maker in an opponent’s plans.
Functionally this list becomes a buzzsaw that can push onto objectives, be hard to remove, and punish opponents for even trying to do it.
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Army Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant -Triumphs Inspired
LEADER 1 x Katakros (500) 1 x Arkhan the Black (380)* 1 x Mortisan Boneshaper (140)* – General – Command Traits: Diversionary Tactics – Artefacts: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE 6 x Necropolis Stalkers (220)* 3 x Immortis Guard (230)* 3 x Immortis Guard (230)*
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Bone-tithe Shrieker (60)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1980/2000)
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Allegiance: Khorne – Slaughterhost: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery – Triumphs:
Leaders Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (300)* – General – Command Trait: Firebrand – Artefact: Halo of Blood – Prayer: Unholy Flames Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330) – Artefact: A’rgath the King of Blades Skarbrand (380) Skarr Bloodwrath (110)* Slaughterpriest (110)* – Prayer: Killer Instinct Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (150) – Axe – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Nullstone Adornment: Pouch of Nulldust
Battleline 5 x Flesh Hounds (100) 5 x Flesh Hounds (100) 5 x Flesh Hounds (100)
This is the top three AoS lists for Frontline Gaming Cherokee 2024 that took place in the US on the 24th and 25th of February. It saw 67 players vying to be crowned champion in a 6-game super major 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: Blades of Khorne – Army Subfaction: Skullfiend Tribe – Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Bloodsecrator (120)* – Nullstone Adornments: Pouch of Nulldust 1 x Realmgore Ritualist (110)* – Prayers: Unholy Flames, Bronzed Flesh 1 x Skarbrand (380)* 1 x Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)** – General – Command Traits: Firebrand – Artefacts: Ar’gath, the King of Blades – Prayers: Unholy Flames, Bloodbind 1 x Slaughterpriest (110)** – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Killer Instinct
BATTLELINE 10 x Skullreapers (190)* – Skullseeker – 2 x Icon Bearer 10 x Skullreapers (190)** – Skullseeker – 2 x Icon Bearer 10 x Bloodreavers (80)** – Icon Bearer – Hornblower – Blood Chieftain – Meatripper Axe TERRAIN 1 x Skull Altar (0)
OTHER 6 x Furies (80)**
CORE BATTALIONS: *Warlord **Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)
Chai’s list deviates from the standard Khorne 5-0 list, but he proved that to be very effective. He still maintains some of the standard units, such as the Unfettered Fury, double priests, and Skarbrand. Meanwhile he decided to go with Skullfiend Tribe and leaning heavily into Skullreapers.
Skullfiend Tribe allows units that charge to have fights first if the charge roll was 8+. Coupled with the massive number of attacks from the Skullreapers (boosted by the bloodsecrator) this could prove crippling to an opponent. Two ten-man block supported by a bloodsecrator are going to have a combine 104 attacks, likely hitting on 2s, either from all out attack or their warscroll ability, and having the option of a 4+ rally when they inevitably start to get whittled down.
The only other odd inclusion in this list is the furies. They’re 12″ move and ability to retreat in the fight phase makes them excellent at scoring some battle tactics.
Overall an excellent show of Khorne’s ability to work within the tome’s internal balance and still succeed. Congratulations on the win, Chai!
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Army Faction: Nighthaunt – Army Subfaction: The Scarlet Doom – Grand Strategy: Fright or Flight – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Lady Olynder (270) – Spells: Seal of Shyish 1 x Spirit Torment (120)* 1 x Guardian of Souls (150)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Chill Blade – Artefacts: Midnight Tome – Spells: Seal of Shyish 1 x Dreadblade Harrow (110)*| 1 x Spirit Torment (120)** 1 x Krulghast Cruciator (150)** – Artefacts: Lightshard of the Harvest Moon
BATTLELINE 20 x Bladegheist Revenants (160) 20 x Bladegheist Revenants (160) 6 x Spirit Hosts (130)
Ramon Silva: It’s really fun looking at the leanness of a list this late into the season and understand the Fate of the game roles more solely on The decisions of the general, than it does with pay to win or spam.
This impressive 5-1 run by Mike has a list that seems like a jack-o-lantern of all trades; It’s Scarlet doom but only 40 blades, which when this book first dropped we could easily have seen double that- there’s six heroes so it’s definitely got a hero hammer aspect to it, but only one block of spirit hosts (The OG bodyguard/ damage YEEters) So the hosts positioning has to be tight against shooting because although the heroes are ethereal, they are a rather low wound count.
The list finishes out with tech; a 4 pack of banshee’s, an awesome anti-magic unit and the midnight Tome AutoCasting the purple sun. Which is amazing for ghosts because it just gives the enemy negative one to their save. But it also every once in a while sucks something up into the void, which is one of those few times, It’s fun to roll a one.
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Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Mannfred Von Carstein (The Sternieste Garrison) (630)* Arkhan the Black (380)** Mortisan Boneshaper (140)** – General – Command Traits: Aura of Sterility – Artefacts of Power: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Merciless Blizzard
OTHER Fell Bats 1 (The Sternieste Garrison) (630)* Fell Bats 2 (The Sternieste Garrison) (630)* Grave Guard (The Sternieste Garrison) (630)* – Seneschal – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Great Wight Blade
TERRAIN 1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Regiment of Renown **Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000
This list has some old Faithful’s and some new toys that have recently been added to the OBR lineup. We will go over the OBR bit first and then go over the Mannfred Regiment last.
For the sub faction, we have Mortis Praetorians. Providing a control tool that, when timed right, can stop battle tactics or go on the offensive during the opponents turn. The Grand Strat is a common one we see in spell casting savant because of Immortis guard being used to protect it. Starting off, we have the Bone Shaper with Artisans key, Sterility, and Blizzard.
Blizzard has a bit of dyssynergy with Savant. The general might end up blowing itself up on a blizzard cast, but it’s a nice keep away stick and source of damage if you need it to get you out of a bind or push an advantage further.
Arkhan, as we know, is one of the best casters in the game. Able to support the army through heals and spells. Able to stop powerful enemy casters with his +2 to cast and unbind. His speed and durability allow Arkhan to go places to go places, and other units would never want to go. Everything he does complements OBR incredibly well and helps the list do its job. Two units of Deathriders add a reliable battle tactic, speed, and screens. They add a lot of consistency to the list and can keep up with the rest of the speed in the list. 6 Immortis guards protect the Important hero’s, function as a solid hammer/Anvil, and open a battle tactic in Sculptors Encourage.
The new edition is the Mannfred RoR. Which comes with Manny, two units of 3 bats and a unit of 10 Graveguard. Firstly, at the start of your hero phase, you can pick a unit in the regiment outside of “3” of enemy units and teleport it outside of “6” of enemy units. Then, the unit that teleports gets an extra attack for the rest of the turn. This adds a lot of flexibility and mobility to the slower and more expensive OBR units. Mannfred’s Regiment will be wanting to do secondaries early and teleporting Graveguard to take out important pieces the rest of the list otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Then Mannfred will also be in the fight, adding another layer of control with his own counter charge. It’s important to note that every unit in the regiment has to deploy within “6” of Mannfred.
The list is a lot of fun and has a lot of tools at its disposal.
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Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords – Subfaction: Alumnia – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
LEADERS Scinari Cathallar (120)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Artefacts of Power: Silver Wand – Spells: Total Eclipse Scinari Calligrave (110)* – Spells: Overwhelming Heat Lyrior Uthralle (160)** – Spells: Protection of Hysh The Light of Eltharion (230)** Isharann Tidecaster (130)**
BATTLELINE Vanari Auralan Wardens (300)** – High Warden – Spells: Protection of Hysh Vanari Bladelords (120)** – Bladelord Seneschal – Sunmetal Dual Blades Vanari Dawnriders (120)** – Steedmaster – Standard Bearer – Spells: Speed of Hysh Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)** – High Warden – Spells: Overwhelming Heat
BEHEMOTH Alarith Spirit of the Mountain (340)**
OTHER Vanari Dawnriders (120)** – Steedmaster – Standard Bearer – Spells: Speed of Hysh
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30) 1 x Sanctum of Amyntok (20) 1 x Emerald Lifeswarm (50)
I’m happy to say we’ve been joined by another writer this month. Tom Skelton is both well liked and well known in the Scottish tournament circuit. He has the skills to boot! He’s currently sitting 3rd in the Scottish player rankings.
Tom Skelton: For this list, I got the opinion of Ross Sherrie, chief Teclis abuser on the Scottish world team, and he believes what Jon has here is a melee castle that can stack multiple minuses to be hit. A block of 20 wardens counting as two models each on objectives, with effectively a -2 to be hit, potentially a +3 to save and a five up ward on top, really isn’t going anywhere fast. So at least some of the primary is in the bag, then with the multiple Endless Spells and three battle tactics based on easy spell casting, the secondary points are also there for the taking. The Dawnriders are fast enough for making other passive BTs like Surround and Destroy or Intimidate the Invaders pretty easy to achieve, so overall it doesn’t really need to engage to score points, which is always a win. Not that it can’t dish out the hurt when needed, with the battle cattle, Bladelords and Eltharion each offering up a hefty punch. The Sanctum of Amyntok, though not often seen, is a mere 20 points and, if used in the right spot, would allow Lyrior to be in a garrison effectively, with a massive ward bubble for the army. So, sending out spells and units for secondary points, the castle sets up and camps out for the primary, with the tools for a lot of what comes its way and a decent enough amount of ranged damage from the cow, Eltharion and Jaws to wear down threats as they approach. It seems that with a bit of patience and using the right units at the right time, this list has answers for a lot of what’s out there, which is why I think it’s telling that it only lost to Khorne and OBR, two of the most oppressive armies going. Well played, Jon.
This is the top three AoS lists for Broken Realms: Scourge of Seraphon 2 that took place in the UK on the 17th and 18th of February. It saw 32 players vying to be crowned champion over 5 rounds.
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: Sylvaneth – Glade: Winterleaf – Mortal Realm: Shyish – Grand Strategy: Overshadow – Triumphs: Inspired – Season of war: The Reaping
Leaders Alarielle the Everqueen (820) Belthanos, First Thorn of Kurnoth (360) Spirit of Durthu (350)* – General – Command Trait: Warsinger – Artefact: Greenwood Gladius
Battleline 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)* 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)* 10 x Dryads (100)* 10 x Dryads (100)*
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment
Total: 1950 / 2000
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Allegiance: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Legion: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament (380)* Mortisan Ossifector (120)* – General – Command Trait: Dark Acolyte – Artefact: Gothizzard Cartouche – Lore of Ossian Sorcery: Empower Nadirite Weapons Liege-Kavalos (180)*
UNITS 3 x Immortis Guard (220)* 5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190)* – Nadirite Blade and Shield 4 x Morghast Archai (440)* – Spirit Halberds 4 x Morghast Archai (440)* – Spirit Halberds
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL: 1970/2000
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Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (240)** – Lore of the Swamp: Da Black Pit – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Wurrgog Prophet (170)* – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Universal Spell Lore: Levitate – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – General – Command Trait: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork – Lore of the Weird: Foot of Gork Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat
Battleline 10 x Orruk Brutes (280)*** – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)** 10 x Gutrippaz (150)** Units 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)**** – Pig-iron Choppas – Reinforced x 1 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)**** – Pig-iron Choppas 6 x Brute Ragerz (200)*** – Reinforced x 1
This is the top three AoS lists for the Wartilyo GT 2024 that took place in the Phillipines on the 3rd and 4th of February. It saw 31 players vying to be crowned champion over 5 rounds.
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 – Army Subfaction: King’s Gitz – Grand Strategy: Protect da Shrine! – Triumphs: Indomitable x2
LEADER 1 x Loonboss on Mangler Squigs (340)* – General – Command Traits: Fight Another Day – Artefacts: The Clammy Cowl 1 x Grinkrak the Great (220)* 1 x Madcap Shaman (70)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x Squigboss (110)**
BATTLELINE 10 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)* 36 x Squig Herd (140)** 24 x Squig Herd (140)**
TERRAIN 1 x Bad Moon Loonshrine (0)
OTHER 6 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (220) 5 x Gobbapalooza (170)* – Spells: The Hand of Gork
CORE BATTALIONS: *Warlord **Wizard-finders of Andtor
Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Cabalists – Grand Strategy: Overshadow
LEADERS Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (180)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Command Traits: Idolater Lord – Artefacts of Power: The Conqueror’s Crown – Spells: Daemonic Speed – Prayers: Curse Be’lakor (340)* – Spells: Binding Damnation, Spite-tongue Curse Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)** – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Spite-tongue Curse Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)** – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE Chaos Knights (440)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Doom Knight – Ensorcelled Warhammer – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower Chaos Warriors (180)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Aspiring Champion – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Murderous Weapon Corvus Cabal (80)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle Corvus Cabal (80)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
OTHER Chaos Chosen (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Exalted Champion – Icon Bearer – Skull Drummer – Ensorcelled Banner: The Banner of Screaming Flesh
This is the top three AoS lists for DaBoyz GT GoldenSprue 2024 that took place in the US on the 27th and 28th of January. It saw 30 players vying to be crowned champion over 5 rounds.
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: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Wurrgog Prophet (170)* – Artefacts: Glowin’ Tattooz – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat 1 x Gobsprakk (240)**
BATTLELINE 10 x Orruk Ardboys (220)** – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Ardboy Boss – Ardboy Choppas 10 x Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – Boss Choppa – 2 x Gore-choppa 10 x Orruk Ardboys (220)** – Ardboy Boss – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Ardboy Choppas
OTHER 6 x Brute Ragerz (100)** – 6 x Mighty Gore-hacka 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka
Overall, Crematorians appears to be the most successful subfaction at GTs with a win rate of 62%, while at the RTT setting the Mortis Praetorians appear to be having the stronger run with 65%. Both however shake out at 60% or above across the formats. Don’t read anything into the Ivory Host result, as the subfaction has only seen four players represent them at any level of competition.
Null Myriad are by far the most popular faction at both formats of the game, followed by Mortis Praetorians.
Here we can see that the Crematorians are the faction with the highest percentage of players who achieve 4+ wins in a GT setting, but also they have the highest positive win ratio (amber and green combined). However at only 12 GT results this is very loose data.
Looking at it from an RTT perspective, the Mortis Praetorians replace the Crematorians with the highest % of players going to an RTT and achieving a positive result.
This chart can show a lack of balance via results, if all factions were perfectly balanced (along with player skills) then the opposing bars (i.e. 5-0 and 0-5, 3-2 and 2-3).
The number of 5-0 results is almost twice what should be the norm for a balanced faction, while at the other end of the table the 1-4 result sees a considerable drop against the target.
FACTION MATCHUPS
Note that these stats are across all game formats.
While they have a win rate of 52% overall, interestingly the number of green matchups are very limited for OBR, with only 4 factions being a favourable matchup for them. Meanwhile at the other end of the table there are 4 red matchups (less than 40% win rate) and a further 4 orange matchups (40-44%).
ROUND PERFORMANCE
OBR have a nice run in the first three rounds of a GT, all being favourable towards themselves. However, this drops off on the fourth round where the opponent is then favoured. This drops to almost a coin toss for the final round. You could translate this as an expected results for OBR being 3-1-1 or 3-2.
While the first round falls strongly in favour of OBR at RTTs, then following two rounds drop off and only slightly favour them in terms of results. Aiming for a 2-1 with OBR is highly achievable.
WARSCROLL PERFORMANCE
This chart shows the win rates of lists which include the warscroll (in Blue) compared to those that don’t (in Orange). It also shows their appearances in lists in grey.
WARSCROLLS NOT USED
Morghast Harbringers
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This is the top three AoS lists for the SoCal Open that took place in the US on the 21st and 22nd of October. It saw 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: Idoneth Deepkin – Subfaction: Dhom-Hain – Grand Strategy: Dominion of the Deep Ones – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Isharann Tidecaster (130)* – General – Command Traits: Teachings of the Túrscoll – Spells: Hoarfrost Battlemage (100)* – Magic of the Realms: Wildform (Ghur) Akhelian Thrallmaster (100)** Eidolon of Mathlann Aspect of the Storm (300)** – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome Akhelian Thrallmaster (100)**
BEHEMOTH Akhelian Leviadon (400)** – Mount Traits: Reverberating Carapace
OTHER Akhelian Allopexes (150)** – Retarius Net Launcher, Barbed Hooks and Blades Akhelian Allopexes (150)** – Retarius Net Launcher, Barbed Hooks and Blades
Peter Holland: A few weeks ago our very own Aaron Newbom won the SoCal Open with a Dhom-Hain list. He wrote an entire tournament breakdown for us of the event and you can read that here.
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Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Army Subfaction: Befouling Host – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Skabbik Plagueseeker (140)* 1 x The Glottkin (580)** – Spells: Rancid Visitations 1 x Sloppity Bilepiper (120)** – Artefacts: Arcane Tome 1 x Poxbringer (130)** – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Spells: Fleshy Abundance
BATTLELINE 20 x Plaguebearers (120)** 10 x Plaguebearers (120)** 10 x Plaguebearers (120)** 10 x Plaguebearers (120)**
TERRAIN 1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0) 1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0)
OTHER 3 x Nurglings (100)* 3 x Nurglings (100)* 6 x Furies (80)* 6 x Furies (80)* 5 x Skabbik’s Plaguepack (140)*
Roland Rivera: At this point in the season, seeing a Glottkin Nurgle list do well isn’t much of a surprise – Nurgle’s favored mortal servants have been on quite the run as of late. However, this list has a couple of interesting twists to it. First among them is the Befouling Host subfaction and the Poxbringer General to give the summoning a bit more oomph. Second is the deep triumph bid – going 70 points under is not a trivial commitment. The reason why this list is doing so is to add a bit of an insurance policy on the Blightkrieg charges, as Bloodthirsty is the only way to get a reroll on them. Last but not least, this list is using its Ally allowance fairly extensively with 2 units of Furies and Skabbik’s Plaguepack, all of which are here to screen and put forward pressure on objectives.
Beyond them, this is very meat-and-potatoes Nurgle – lots of Plaguebearers to dominate the board, a Sloppity Bilepiper to shut off pile-ins, Nurglings to pester enemy deployment and rack up extra Contagion points. But hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I think Alec’s additions give a nice bit of depth to the classic Nurgle Glottkin gameplan, and were probably a real factor in securing the 5-0 finish.
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Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Army Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Barren Icescape – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Katakros (500)* 1 x Arkhan the Black (380)** 1 x Liege-Kavalos (180)** – General – Command Traits: Mighty Archaeossian – Artefacts: Lode of Saturation 1 x Mortisan Boneshaper (140)** – Artefacts: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE 5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190)* – Mortek Hekatos – Necrophoros – Nadirite Blade 30 x Mortek Guard (130)* – Mortek Hekatos – 3 x Necrophoros – Nadirite Blade – 3 x Soulcleaver Greatblade 2 x Morghast Archai (220)* – Spirit Halberd
Walter Brock: Today we are looking at a list that went 4-1 with Mortis Praetorians. Praetorians allow a unit to potentially counter charge after an enemy unit has finished a charge. This has many possible applications that lead to incredibly powerful moments to swing the tide of battle. From stopping key enemy charges to denying battle tactics. The praetorians’ counter charge is only limited by the players imagination. Instead of Spellcasting Savant this player opted for Barren Icescape. This option makes sense since there is no Locus in the list.
We start off with the Katakros and Arkhan double trouble pairing. We have seen this before and will again. These two are a deadly duo that cover each other’s weaknesses and buff each other’s strengths. From Katakros buffing everything up to 11 with his +1 hit and save aura. To Arkhans Spell casting to support the army with buff spells and stop key enemy spells. The synergies between these two are incredibly deadly and I could go on and on about how powerful these two works together if allowed, but we would be here all day.
Next is whats one of the toughest to kill models in the game. A liege Kavalos with the Lode stone Relic and Might Archaeossian command trait. The combination of the two lets the Liege ignore all negative save modifiers and gains +1 to its ward saves. With a command point for a 5+ ward a liege can achieve a 2+ “ethereal” save and a 4+ ward. This combination makes the liege tanky enough to go places that even Katakros and Arkhan Might fear. Top it off with the command ability to give a unit +1 attack and the liege brings a lot to the table for this list. A boneshaper with Artisans key and Hoarfrost. With katakros, Arkhan and the Boneshaper. This list could potentially bring back 12 Mortek Guard with just the healing abilities alone each OBR hero phase. Hoarfrost on top of all the buffs that the other characters bring can make any unit perform far and above their weight class.
Deathriders are a very powerful all rounder unit. Capable of multiple roles. From screening to protecting the back field or even denying the opponent the ability to move on an objective. They have an answer for almost any situation.
30 Mortek Guard. A giant block of 30 is a threat to behold. With all the buffs added you can easily engage multiple units with these Mortek units, and they can take out multiple units with their one fight. Imagine 30 Mortek. Hitting on 2s and 5s to hit, gain an additional hit. Wounding on 2s at rend 2. Each model has three attacks a piece. That will bring down almost any target they reach. On top of that they have incredible defensive capabilities. Beinh able to potentially ignore negative modifiers due to their command ability. Or all out defense, or a 5+ ward plus the healing mentioned before. This makes Mortek guard incredibly hard to take down.
Lastly is a unit of 2 Archai. This unit’s biggest value is from its no command aura. Being able to stop enemy commands can easily turn the tides of battle. Turning off all out defense and unleash hell. Make it so a unit can’t pass their battle shock. This unit stops the enemies plans dead in their tracks and lets the Bonereapers keep trucking along.
This list ends up as a four drop with a command entourage and a battle regiment. Opting to go for the extra relic. Well done to this player.
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Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Gittish Horde: Jaws of Mork (squig +1 atk on charge) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Overshadow – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Skragrott, The Loonking (230)** Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (110)*** – General – Command Trait: The Clammy Hand (Loonshrine roll x2) Madcap Shaman (70)* – Artefact: Moonface Mommet (12” start combat 1 unit -1 save) – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Webspinner Shaman (65)* – Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard
Units 24 x Squig Herd (280)*** – Reinforced x 1 24 x Squig Herd (280)*** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Boingrot Bounderz (300)** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)** 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)** 5 x Gobbapalooza (170)** – Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance 1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (170)**
Lodivicus: The Jaws of Mork core trend continues! The currently trending core consists of Skragrott, a Madcap Shaman (with Moonface Mommet and Hoarfrost), a Squigboss, Squig Herd, Boingrot Bounderz, Gobbapalooza and the Bad Moon Loonshrine. The quantity of the battleline units varies a bit from list to list, as we see here. Tad chooses two single reinforced Squig Herd (as opposed to one double reinforced unit) and he cuts back the large Bounderz unit to a single reinforced unit to do so. So rather than rehash the core, as we’ve done in previous commentaries, let’s have a look at what the rest of the points are spent on.
A popular choice, the Webspinner Shaman (on foot) is a 65 point Blizzard wizard with a native 5+ ward. He pairs up with the Madcap Shaman as the two Andtorian Loci of the list and together they unlock the Andtorian Acolyte battalion for (hopefully) more primal dice.
In his version, Tad chose offense over defense by forgoing the more common Sneaky Snufflers in favor of the Kruleboyz troggoth cousin, the Marshcrawla Sloggoth. His 18” aura of +1 hit rolls for attacks made with melee weapons is a huge boon to the output of the list, but in particular the Squig Herd units as they can’t receive commands like All Out Attack.
Congratulations Tad on going 4-1 (only losing in round 5 to the Dhom-Hain Deepkin) and continuing this Gitz trend. It will be interesting to see how the meta adjusts to account for this type of list and if it continues to gather steam.
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Final Tournament Placings
To view all of the results for the tournament please follow the link below to Best Coast Pairings
The Story: Socal open is the Culmination of a year long Journey for me. Competing for me is not so much about rank and wins as it is the Path to growth and constantly chasing a higher level of skill. For all of 2022, I played the arguably worst army in the game, Kruleboyz, and resolved to master them. I chose them in no small part because it would be a huge challenge. I knew that if I played the strongest armies it wouldn’t force me to learn and grow nearly as much; And grow I did but after a year on the struggle bus even I needed a bit of a break from the frustration of randomness in a competitive game.
I picked up Idoneth because while they’re not a power army, they’re close to 50%, and in my thinking, that means the better player should win. The fish elves would be a great metric to judge my progress and see how I measured up to the best in a fair fight, but I also still hold growth as my main goal, so I set a new mission for myself. I wanted to win an RTT, or 4-1+ a GT, with every subfaction in IDK.
My first result was with Nautilar in Arizona, playing to a strong 4-1 finish with Frostheart phoenix and turtle to create a tanky death ball. Next, at Old Town Throwdown summer smash, I played to another 4-1 with Fuethan just before the buffs. That was a hard, fought grind, but I squeezed it out. After that, I. picked up Dhom-Hain and got a top 8 with 3-1-1 in Arizona smite club open, but I couldn’t quite get it, so I had to try again. Which brings us to the Socal open with my new and improved list
The List:
Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin – Subfaction: Dhom-Hain – Grand Strategy: Dominion of the Deep Ones – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Isharann Tidecaster (130)* – General – Command Traits: Teachings of the Túrscoll – Spells: Hoarfrost Battlemage (100)* – Magic of the Realms: Wildform (Ghur) Akhelian Thrallmaster (100)** Eidolon of Mathlann Aspect of the Storm (300)** – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome Akhelian Thrallmaster (100)**
BEHEMOTH Akhelian Leviadon (400)** – Mount Traits: Reverberating Carapace
OTHER Akhelian Allopexes (150)** – Retarius Net Launcher, Barbed Hooks and Blades Akhelian Allopexes (150)** – Retarius Net Launcher, Barbed Hooks and Blades
When building the Dhom Hain list, I knew I’d have to lean into its strategy as hard as I possibly could if I wanted it to work. Dhom-hain is not an army of reasonable choices. It is an army of explosive, risky power. With this in mind I looked to maximize the namarti savages rule, which allows me to charge if I kill everything within 3’ (and I’m going first in the round) and then fight again (not immediately).
Step 1: Killing everything within 3”. Thralls can hit pretty hard, but on their own they’re just not getting there most of the time. They need a ton of support to do their job. 2 Thrallmasters granting exploding 6’s and reroll 1’s to hit up their consistency a ton, as well as the Leviadon giving them +1 to hit targets Wholly within 15”. These abilities combine to make the Thralls hit more times than they even have attacks. On average, dive 41 attacks from 20 thralls will hit 47-48 times. On top of that, the storm grants +1 to the wound, and Hoarfrost can increase their rend by 1-2 if you get a little lucky.
All of these auras combine to make an absolute blender of a unit, but it is 1030 points of buff pieces to set up a 220 point thrall unit.
Step 2: Charging out of phase. If I manage to kill everything around me, I can immediately attempt a charge. This is super powerful, but anyone who has played it knows it’s not as amazing as it sounds. The thing about charging out of phase is that you can not use the command to reroll that charge, so you’re extremely reliant on the dice. I found a solution to that problem, by running 1980, I often had a triumph to reroll, which immediately adds some consistency. Additionally, the Isharann ritual for +1 to run and charge on flood tide helps things line up in your favor. But the real bit to seal the deal is the ghurish battlemage, who’s spell grants +2 to run and charge. Having run and charge, +3 to run and charge, with both a command and a triumph to reroll, and being able to charge a second time can give the thralls a max threat range of 53” in a single turn if everything lined up perfectly, and allows you to pop off much more consistently.
With this game plan laid out, and everything tuned to my goals, it was time to really put it to the test at the Socal open
THE GAMES:
Round 1 vs Frank Deloachs Big Waaagh on Geomantic Pulse
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork, Foot of Gork 1 x Wardokk (80)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Gorkamorka’s War Cry 1 x Wurrgog Prophet (170)* – Artefacts: Glowin’ Tattooz – Spells: Hoarfrost, Levitate 1 x Gobsprakk (240)*** 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat
BATTLELINE 5 x Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Gore-choppa – Boss Choppa – Jagged Gore-hacka 5 x Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Gore-choppa – Jagged Gore-hacka – Boss Choppa 10 x Orruk Ardboys (220)*** – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Ardboy Boss – Ardboy Choppas
OTHER 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 6 x Weirdbrute Wrekkaz (250)** 3 x Morgok’s Krushas (80)**
The game began with me taking away the top of turn and flipping the tides so that when push came to shove in this beatdown matchup, I’d have control of turn 2. I had deployed as a dense castle in the center with flanking sharks and one wizard in a corner.
Frank came in with pigs but was surprised by how hard my crack back was as my pile ins removed 5/6 pigs.
On my turn, I moved up and scored magical dominance from standing in the corner. Frank couldn’t afford to expose his Gobbsprakk just to shut off my tactic. for the rest of the game, I neglected to attempt any spell casts so as to deny him Gobbsprakk mortals.
Turn 2 came and I had always strikes first vs his entirely melee army. He had top of turn but couldnt accomplish much without taking huge damage first. On my turn I proceeded to take out multiple other units and then doubled him to secure the win. Franks list was very nasty but Dhom hain was a solid counter to it.
Round 2 vs the Noog’s BOC on Fountains of Frost
Army Faction: Beasts of Chaos – Army Subfaction: Darkwalkers – Grand Strategy: Desecrating Brayherd – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Doombull (180)* – General – Command Traits: Bestial Cunning – Artefacts: Brayblast Trumpet 1 x Great Bray-Shaman (100)** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard
OTHER 10 x Ungor Raiders (130)* 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened (180)* 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened (180)* 3 x Beasts of Chaos Slaangor Fiendbloods (130)* 10 x Ungor Raiders (130)** 1 x Cockatrice (120)**
Flipping the tides for Always Strikes first turn 2 meant that when he had to come in off the board edges, he couldn’t afford to be aggressive. He played far back instead, but I used chain charging to wipe ~1300 points of models in a single turn and lock him into a corner. The extra mobility i got from multi charges meant his backline castle ended up getting shredded despite his careful placement.
He tried to sneak back into the game, but idoneth mobility and me winning all 4 priority rolls helped me counter his clever mobility tactics. Despite the heavy kill ratio, the overall points scored were fairly close as it was a 6 objective map, and BOC is incredible on maps like that
Round 3 vs Brian’s Khorne on Nexus Collapse
Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Army Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
LEADER 1 x Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (310) 1 x Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (310)* 1 x Bloodsecrator (120)* – Nullstone Adornments: Pouch of Nulldust 1 x Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (300)** – General – Command Traits: Firebrand – Artefacts: Halo of Blood – Prayers: Bronzed Flesh 1 x Slaughterpriest (110)** – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Blood Sacrifice 1 x Realmgore Ritualist (110)** – Prayers: Killer Instinct – Aspects of the Champion (Archived): Tunnel Master (Archived)
BATTLELINE 10 x Blood Warriors (190)* – Blood Champion – Icon Bearer – Goreaxe and Gorefist – Goreglaive 5 x Flesh Hounds (100)* 10 x Blood Warriors (190)* – Icon Bearer – Blood Champion – Goreaxe and Gorefist 5 x Flesh Hounds (100)*
This matchup was decided more than anything by it being the first time he had ever played the mission. It’s a weird one that you have to get a few reps to understand. The score was extremely lopsided, but the game itself was really techy and fun. It was a much closer game than it looked on paper overall.
His double boom-thirsters (mortal wound AOE demons) were terrifying, and I spent the whole game very carefully measuring to make sure they couldn’t blow my army up. Turn 4, I messed that up, and he threatened to bomb me but failed to roll any 6s even with an extra attack. After that, all in play, I was able to clean up his forces bottom of 4.
Round 4 vs Kyle Calips OBR on spring the trap
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Army Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Barren Icescape – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Katakros (500)* 1 x Arkhan the Black (380)** 1 x Liege-Kavalos (180)** – General – Command Traits: Mighty Archaeossian – Artefacts: Lode of Saturation 1 x Mortisan Boneshaper (140)** – Artefacts: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE 5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190)* – Mortek Hekatos – Necrophoros – Nadirite Blade 30 x Mortek Guard (130)* – Mortek Hekatos – 3 x Necrophoros – Nadirite Blade – 3 x Soulcleaver Greatblade 2 x Morghast Archai (220)* – Spirit Halberd
This game was by far the hardest one of the whole event. Kyle played an extremely tight game, including denying me a tactic by countercharging the opposite direction I expected and barely tagging a unit that wasn’t even the charge target. On the same note, I repeatedly forced him into difficult positions with movement tricks and pile ins. I ended up grabbing it basically off of a critical 6″ redeploy to take the game by just a point.
The game was neck and neck from start to finish and until the very last moment I had no idea who would take it. Great game and a great opponent
Round 5 vs Tads Gitz on power flux
Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Gittish Horde: Jaws of Mork – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Overshadow – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADERS Skragrott, The Loonking (230)** Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (110)*** – General – Command Trait: The Clammy Hand Madcap Shaman (70)* – Artefact: Moonface Mommet – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Webspinner Shaman (65)* – Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard
BATTLELINE 24 x Squig Herd (280)*** – Reinforced x 1 24 x Squig Herd (280)*** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Boingrot Bounderz (300)** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)** 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)**
OTHER 5 x Gobbapalooza (170)** – Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance 1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (170)**
I deployed my army as a melee castle with a wizard off to each side being terrain but up forward, making it nearly impossible for him to score magical dominance turn 1. My castle was just far enough back that he could realistically come into me, but it’d have to be full send.
Tad decided to go for it but didn’t manage to connect the way he’d hoped, and my entire army piled in and mopped up his squigs. On my turn, I rushed up the board, tagged corners of units, and liked in to kill them after taking very little damage.
Then I doubled him and tabled his entire army top of turn 2
It was honestly brutal, but we had a good laugh about it. He was left with a risky play, and it didn’t pan out. BY THE POWER OF MATHLANN, I HAVE THE POWER!!! (And a Golden ticket to the World Championship in the lost city of Atlanta)
SUMMARY:
All in All Dhom hain is a super fun faction to play, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for exciting games, but I will also caution that it’s MUCH harder to play than it looks like. Most of the army is single wound infantry with 5+ saves, and all of your games are balanced on a knifes edge. If you want a heart-pounding, technically demanding, explosive army, then it is amazingly fun to play. Unfortunately, the Battlemage of Ghur is rotating out essentially immediately, so changes to the list will have to be made. Creativity and list tweaking is a huge part of the game, and i’m excited to find what new direction to take with it.
This is the top three AoS lists for the GT de AoS: De Shyish a Ghyran that took place in Spain on the 22nd and 23rd of July. It involved players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
As this event had less than 20 players attending there won’t be any list comments here as the guys will be concentrating on the larger events of the week.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Null Myriad – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Arkhan the Black (380) Katakros (460)* Mortisan Boneshaper (140)* – General – Command Traits: Diversionary Tactics – Artefacts of Power: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Hoarfrost
This is the top three AoS lists for the US Open Tacoma that took place in the United States on the 15th and 16th of July. It involved 97 players vying to be champion.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Arkhan the Black (380) Katakros (460) Mortisan Boneshaper (140) – General – Command Traits: Dark Acolyte – Artefacts of Power: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Drain Vitality
Walter Brock: With the new season Ossiarch Bonereapers have started out of the gate running. This list uses Mortis Praetorians as the sub faction of choice, which allows a unit to counter charge after an enemy unit finishes a charge within 12”. This has a lot of potential things it can do. From stopping other units from charging, to taking objectives from the opponent when otherwise the objectives would have been lost. For mortis Praetorians the sky’s the limit when it comes to the crazy things it can do.
Spell casting savant means the Boneshaper needs to survive until the end of the game to score the grand strat. Because of the Immortis Guard can take hit for it. That means the opponent will need to chew through a lot of tanky models just to stop the grand strat.
Arkhan and Katakros are a two man wonder show. Each being able to heal three different units wholly within 24. Combine that with the Shapers Key and you could potentially return 4 Immortis guard each of your command phases, not to mention all the other things that can be healed too. Katakros has his very powerful Aura of +1 save and +1 hit. Arkhan is a spell casting master at +2 to cast and deny with three casts and unbinds. While also knowing all the lore spells. I could go on and on about what these two do, but we might actually be here all day
Dark acolyte gives the shaper access to an easy battle tactic with a powerful spell of the users choice. On top of it having a very potent healing ability.
Going into the units. Death riders grant access to a solid battle tactic while being able to play multiple roles in a list from screens to taking objectives or even trying to snipe out small heros with there impact hits. These add a lot of options and flexibility to an OBR gameplan.
Immortis Guard and are the Anvil and the hammer. They are very hard to take out. They can’t be ignored most of the time and they demand your attention. Being a 2+ save with katakros’s command ability and then you can stack defensive spells like mystic shield and reinforce construct makes them very difficult to take down. Now add all the healing abilities and it adds up to what feels like an immovable object. They also come with a once per game fight again so they can smack things around incredibly hard.
Stalkers are a unit with multiple choices. They can move fast with their command ability. They can become as tanky as Immortis guard in combat. They can even go full damage mode and take out large threats. They do a good job at rounding out the list and add another tool to the OBR arsonal. Well done to this player
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Army Faction: Seraphon – Army Type: Starborne – Army Subfaction: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Lord Kroak (410)* 1 x Skink Starseer (150)* – Spells: Speed of Huanchi, Merciless Blizzard 1 x Skink Oracle on Troglodon (270)** – Spells: Cosmic Crush, Speed of Huanchi 1 x Slann Starmaster (275)** – General – Command Traits: Lord of Celestial Resonance – Artefacts: Spacefolder’s Stave – Spells: Comet’s Call, Hoarfrost 1 x Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)**
BATTLELINE 5 x Saurus Guard (140)* – Saurus Guard Alpha – Icon Bearer – War-drummer 5 x Raptadon Chargers (150)* – Raptadon Charger Alpha – Icon Bearer – Hornblower 5 x Raptadon Chargers (150)* – Raptadon Charger Alpha – Icon Bearer – Hornblower} 5 x Drakespawn Knights (110)* – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Dread Knight 10 x Skinks (90)* – Skink Alpha – Boltspitter – Celestite Dagger and Star-buckler
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Malevolent Maelstrom (30) 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30) 1 x Chronomantic Cogs (50)
It’s dooble-forg, with a Trog – just like the ‘good’ ‘old’ days. In fairness, I’ve always been bullish on the Trog as a utility piece – even when it’s not being used as a kamikaze spell portal, it has an excellent warscroll spell (halving charges is not to be underestimated), a clutch -1 to hit aura (one of the strongest defensive effects in the game), built-in healing, some modest spike damage potential and the Terror ability – what’s not to love?
We also see double Chargers here, which I’m also a big fan of – point for point they’re the best output in Starborne, and with Speed of Huanchi can be an absolute rocket. I’m guessing the allied Drakespawn are essentially a cheap and equally fast screen for them with that sweet 3+ save, but either way they won’t be long for this world…
With 5 wins, over what looks on the surface to be about the toughest variety of opponents going – such as the shifty BoC, anti-magic Khorne, swarming Gitz, and TWO SBGL – it’s clear that this list and Stark’s generalship truly adhere to The Great Plan!
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Army Faction: Beasts of Chaos – Army Subfaction: Darkwalkers – Grand strategy: Desecrating Brayherd
LEADER 1 x Doombull (180)* – General – Command Traits: Bestial Cunning – Artefacts: Bleating Gnarlstaff 1 x Great Bray-Shaman (100)* – Artefacts: Brayblast Trumpet – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Be’lakor (340)*
BATTLELINE 10 x Ungors (80) 10 x Ungors (80) 9 x Bullgors (630) – Warheard Drummer – Warheard Banner Bearer – Bloodkine – Cleaving Axe and Bullshield
BEHEMOTH 1 x Chaos Gargant (150)
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (50)
OTHER 20 x Ungor Raiders (260)* 10 x Ungor Raiders (130)* CORE BATTALIONS: *Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Roland Rivera: This Beasts of Chaos list, piloted by Worlds Team USA member Jiwan Noah Singh, is trying to do one thing: deliver a giant blob of Bullgors to the spot where they can do the most damage. To that effect, everything in this list is geared around getting them there. The Doombull General has the Bestial Cunning command trait to set up a full deepstrike within 7″, the Bray-Shaman has Hoarfrost to counteract their base 4+ to hit, the Chaos Gargant projects an aura of -1 save, and the Ungor Raiders provide volume shooting to clear screens and expose juicy targets. It also has a potent spell in Geminids of Uhl-Gysh to soften up the target by stripping them of the ability to use commands. The Bulls themselves straddle the line between offense and defense by wielding Axes & Shields – the difference in offense is not large, and a 4+ save can give them enough staying power to survive a counter-attack and crush a second target.
Speaking of survival, the list also has a potent disruption piece in Be’lakor, which can potentially neuter an enemy hammer long enough for your Bullgors to crush it, or prevent reprisals against the Bullgors once they have delivered their payload. It also has access to some emergency bodies via the Brayblast Trumpet, which can be used to summon another unit of Ungor Raiders for more shooting, or a unit of Gors to impose strikes-last in some matchups. Last but not least, a couple of Ungor units serve as cheap objective grabbers and screens for your Heroes or the Bullgors. All in all, this is a highly technical list that walks on a razor’s edge, but in the hands of a skilled pilot (as it was here), it can be devastatingly effective.
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Army Faction: Disciples of Tzeentch – Army Subfaction: Hosts Arcanum – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Kairos Fateweaver (440)* 1 x Ephilim the Unknowable (190)** – Spells: Unchecked Mutation 1 x Fluxmaster (180)** – Artefacts: The Eternal Shroud – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Magister (140)*** – General – Command Traits: Arcane Sacrifice – Spells: Arcane Suggestion 1 x Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch (230)*** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard
BATTLELINE 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – Kairic Adept – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – Kairic Adept – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – Kairic Adept – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Ungors (80)** – Brayhorn Blower – Banner Bearer – Halfhorn – Pitted Blade
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Burning Sigil Of Tzeentch (70) 1 x Aethervoid Pendulum (40) 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
OTHER 4 x Ephilim’s Pandaemonium (190)** 6 x Furies (80)** 6 x Furies (80)**
Kieron: So new GHB; new list building in this Tzeentch offering from Joe Krier with tonnes to unpack. Let’s start with what looks familiar. The Grand Strategy is the same, Master of Destiny, because there is absolutely no reason to take anything different, especially with Kairos returning a Destiny Dice once per turn and The Eternal Shroud returning them on a 5+ whenever they are used. Most Tzeentch lists tend to lean towards the sub-factions Guild of Summoners or Hosts Arcanum, with Hosts Arcanum being Joe’s choice here for an auto-unbind battle rounds 1, 3 and 5. Merciless Blizzard on a ridiculously high amount (but without a Primal Super-cast) – just unbind it. Bunch of chaff about to be buffed to the moon with Hoarfrost – Tzeentch says no.
When we look at the characters, Kairos is a staple of many lists and does work (just not in combat – hard to hit something if you can only see into the past or the future!). Magister on foot gets the benefit from not being able to be shot when close enough to another unit and can debuff a unit/turn into a spawn from an extended range with Arcane Sacrifice. Fluxmaster carries the Shroud and also is a good choice for Hoarfrost as they have the once per game re-roll with +3 to the cast and it is unlikely to be in range turn 1 of its warscroll spell for extra Fate Points for summoning (although see comments on Endless Spells below). Gaunt Summoner on foot is a great, flexible piece and with its innate +1 to cast hopefully buffed by Kairos to +2 it makes Merciless Blizzard more likely to go off, without having to sacrifice any of the spells you are taking the summoner with. Then it gets a bit funky!
Ephilim the Unknowable is a very appropriately named character as many of you are wondering who he is! He is an Underworlds one-cast wizard who has an entourage of 4 little freaky dudes – his Pandaemonium – that he can sacrifice for +2 to cast for a phase and then bring back some of a subsequent hero phase instead of casting. This little package costs 190 points, which is a lot, with a Curseling being only 10 points more and offering more immediate utility with re-rolling of unbinds. The only reason you would take him is because of his spell and the way it combines with other spells. While Lumineth have a teleport spell, Seraphon have a teleport heroic action and even Tzeentchian sorcerers in Slaves to Darkness have a pseudo-teleport, Disciples of Tzeentch don’t have one that completes in the same hero phase…until now. Ephilim allows a Tzeentch unit to be teleported 9″ away from the enemy, allowing Kairos to operate at maximum efficiency or putting the Gaunt Summoner in striking position for Merciless Blizzard. There are one or two restrictions though…seven to be precise:
Casts on an 8
Teleporting unit must be wholly within 18″
And visible to Ephilim
And within 6″ of an objective
And more than 3″ away from an enemy
And set up 9″ or more away
And be able to be placed within 6″ of an objective
It’s restriction 7 that really bites but the potential tactical advantage if it goes off is pretty huge. If you want to get hold of Ephilim and his Pandaemonium, time to get your converting skills on as I can’t find him anywhere!
That’s the characters covered: now onto the units. Joe has gone for three units of Kairics, cheap battleline that can add a couple of spells in for Fate Point generation and, if they pool their spells into one Kairic unit, can get up to rend -3 shooting. Still only 10 shots, but its something. They can also do chip damage on enemy wizards who cast within 18″, causing a mortal wound on a 4+ and maybe setting up the ‘kill with magic’ battle tactic. Even more chaff like are the Ungor Raiders with their pre-game move getting board control and maybe setting up space for Ephilim to do his thing. The last units are 6 Furies, who haven’t seen that much of an outing since the heady days of Legion of the First Prince and the least interactive army in history! They are fast, allowing Surround and Destroy to be an easy turn 1 tactic and have a neat warscroll ability that allows them to run away instead of fighting. They probably won’t last long, but long enough for the casters to get within 18″ and then annihilate whatever was being roadblocked. It’s a similar principle to the Krondspine – just slow down the enemy while scoring points.
Finally, the Endless Spells. Burning Sigil is a great spell to be able to set up T1 with their Arcane Armies rule that can potentially get a spawn created in your opponent’s lines. It is unlikely to do much damage, but it slows everything else down. Combine with the Magister’s spell that can do the same and the Ungors and the Furies, it’s going to take a while to get to the juicy stuff in this Tzeentch list. The next one is Umbral Spellportal which some feel is more of a luxury pick at 80 points, especially as the range at which the portal can be used has come down. Lots of good spells to potentially go through this though in the early game, with Kairos’ warscroll spell a great choice to snipe a key character, the Fluxmaster to build up some summoning or, potentially, the next Endless Spell (although damage would be delayed a turn.) The final Endless Spell is Aethervoid Pendulum, which can carve through units for D6 mortal wounds in its 8″ movement. Tzeentch really don’t like being rushed by multiple units as single-target damage is where they excel, so this spell helps cover up that weakness for a cheap 40 points.
No discussion of a Tzeentch book is complete without at least a passing reference to Disciples of Tzeentch’s superpower – Grand Strategy and Battle Tactics. As Joe showed, going over 20 points for every battle apart from his one loss, Tzeentch are good at scoring. The Grand Strategy is in the bag and then there are at least 7 Battle Tactics that are straightforward to complete (book tactics and GHB), with a couple others that are doable, if more risky, for example casting 3 with Mass Conjuration. However, even here, keep Kairos out of range of unbinds, spank 6 Destiny Dice and pick easy spells, it’s a battle tactic that the Tzeentch player is in control of.
Overall, a Tzeentch list that wants to keep you at arms length, until it doesn’t, and then smashes you into little bits with its mortal wound output. Great performance from Joe, also managing to dodge Khorne and any sneaky Null Myriad players on his path to victory!
