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
Advertisements
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!
Advertisements
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.
Advertisements
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!
This is the top three AoS lists for CROSSROADS CARNAGE 1 that took place in the USA on the 8th and 9th of July. It involved 32 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: Ravagers – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Archaon (860)* – Spells: Daemonic Speed, Warp Reality Exalted Hero of Chaos (100)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Command Traits: Idolater Lord – Rune-etched Blade and Chaos Runeshield – Prayers: Heal Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – Artefacts of Power: Chaos Familiar – Spells: Chaotic Conduit, Warp Reality – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
BATTLELINE Splintered Fang (200)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh Splintered Fang (200)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh Splintered Fang (200)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh Chaos Knights (220)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Doom Knight – Cursed Lance – Ensorcelled Banner: The Blasted Standard Corvus Cabal (80)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Advertisements
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Katakros (440)* Mortisan Boneshaper (120)* – General – Command Traits: Aura of Sterility – Artefacts of Power: Artisan’s Key – Spells: Reinforce Constructs – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Bone-tithe Shrieker (50)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000
Advertisements
Allegiance: Kharadron Overlords – Sky Port: Barak Urbaz – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
Kharadron Code – Artycle: Settle The Grudges + honor is everything – Amendment: Prosecute Wars With All Haste – Footnote: Without Our Ships We Are Naught
Leaders Aether-Khemist (80)** Arkanaut Admiral (125)** – General – Command Trait: Ex-Grundstok – Artefact: Celestium Burst-grenade Aetheric Navigator (85)** – Artefact: Voidstone Orb – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90) Gotrek Gurnisson (480) – Allies
Battleline 10 x Arkanaut Company (100)* -1 leader – 1x Light Skyhooks – 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns 15 x Grundstok Thunderers (405)* -1 leader – 3x Aetheric Fumigators – 3x Decksweepers – 3x Aethercannons – 3x Grundstok Mortars – Reinforced x 2 3 x Endrinriggers (120)* – 1x Drill Launcher -1 leader with rivet gun and saw -1 rivet gun saw
Behemoths Arkanaut Ironclad (500) -admirals flagship – Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon – Major Installation: Prudency Chutes
Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin – Army Subfaction: Mor’phann – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Isharann Tidecaster (140)* – Spells: Steed of Tides – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Isharann Soulrender (120)* – Artefacts: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide 1 x Eidolon of Mathlann Aspect of the Sea (325)* – General – Command Traits: Endless Sea Storm – Spells: Steed of Tides
BATTLELINE 20 x Namarti Reavers (340)* – Icon Bearer 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)* – Icon Bearer 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)* – Icon Bearer
BEHEMOTH 1 x Akhelian Leviadon (460)*
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (90) 1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (70)
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
These are the top AoS lists for Adepticon that took place in the USA on the 23rd and 24th of March. It involved 204 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
There was some controversy around the scoring for Adepticon, so we decided as a team to focus on all those lists that went undefeated or were in a tournament winning position (4 wins from 4 after round 4).
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Disciples of Tzeentch – Change Coven: Guild of Summoners – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Ogroid Thaumaturge (170)* – General – Command Trait: Arcane Sacrifice – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion Lord of Change (400)* – Artefact: Nine-Eyed Tome – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (180)* – Lore of Fate: Glimpse of Future – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Magister (120)** – Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate
Battleline 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)** – 7x Cursed Blade & Arcanite Shield – 3x Cursed Glaives 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)** – 7x Cursed Blade & Arcanite Shield – 3x Cursed Glaives 10 x Tzaangors (180)** – 8x Pair of Savage Blade
Behemoths Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)** – Allies – Bound to Magister
Endless Spells & Invocations Umbral Spellportal (80) Purple Sun of Shyish (90) Burning Sigil of Tzeentch (60)
Kaleb returns with a variation on his LVO list. Kairos is replaced with a Lord of Change; the extra 40pts are then used to upgrade the Changecaster to a Curseling and to enable Kaleb to take Burning Sigil instead of Tome of Eyes to get the summoning train rolling. The list goes up from 2 drops to 4 drops to allow the Lord of Change to have a re-roll casts relic to practically guarantee that those casts will go off, most likely Umbral Spellportal and then the Warscroll spell for a consistent 6 mortal wounds or so a turn.
The reason that Umbral Spellportal is the key spell is so you can feed it to the Krondspine. How the combo works is that the Magister successfully casts their first spell and then uses the Destiny Dice to cast a second, with the double killing the Magister, sending the Incarnate wild. Spellportal can then be chucked out near the Krondspine’s charge target. Obviously another spell could be cast through it (or even move the Purple Sun through it) but the main job of the portal is for the Krondspine to be able to charge in and then Devour the endless spell to go up to level 3. It is a slight risk as it goes down a level if it fails, but Kaleb would just need to roll a 4 on 2D6 for it to be successful. With it more than likely being successful, the Krondspine is hanging around for a bit, no matter what it goes into.
If not more important than an indestructible Krondspine is that the Battle Tactics and Grand Strategy for Tzeentch are among the most straightforward to achieve, demonstrated by Kaleb scoring all 5 Battle Tactics every turn and Master of Destiny being arguably the easiest Grand Strategy in the game to complete.
One of those Battle Tactics, the Guild of Summoners specialises in: Call for Change, which is to summon a Lord of Change. Normally these would need 27 fate points, but in Guild of Summoners, the first Lord of Change is only 9 fate points and the first fate point is the auto-cast at the start of the game with Arcane Armies.
Congratulations on another superb showing from Mr Tzeentch himself and very much a trendsetter for several Tzeentch lists doing well in tournaments…
Advertisements
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Wurrgog Prophet (170)** – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of the Savage Beast: Gorkamorka’s War Cry – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)** – General – Command Trait: Egomaniak – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Megaboss (140)*** – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion) – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (260)*** Skragrott, The Loonking (160)** – Allies
Battleline 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)*
Other Units 3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Jagged Gore-hackas 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)*** 24 x Squig Herd (240)* – Allies – Reinforced x 1
Big Waagh is enjoying a kind of thematically Ghurish resurgence, due to their access to great GCs and the simple fact they can also now take some Gitz allies, who, as you may have heard, have enjoyed somewhat of a glow up.
Either way, a 5-0 Waagh is a thing to be celebrated, so let’s dive into how it got there. The compliment of heroes has a few interesting surprises – you have ol’ laser eyes with his 4+ ward, a Warchanter and Megaboss as standard, and Gobsprakk for his anti-magic tech – but we also see here a Snatchaboss. Even though he’ll only be buffing one unit of 3 Boltboyz, he’s a well rounded solo operator, and Rob has slapped Egomaniak on him – I wonder if some of the Ardboyz acted as a bodyguard, making him a relatively fast and very durable monster with MW spike potential.
Then there’s the newly much-more-expensive Skagrott. At 210, I wonder if Ron would still ally him in – but as it stood, he’s an insanely high value allied spellcaster with a nasty, long range MW spell.
The other allies on loan from Gitz are the Squid Herd – a super cheap way to gain access to a high volume of attacks and further mid-range MWs when they fail a battleshock test – although they also have a recursion mechanic, meaning if you don’t kill the whole unit, the pain train keeps on comin’.
Overall, it’s a fantastic hero-hammer Waagh that makes great use of their spicy new allies. The points don’t quite add up anymore, but the fact it took down high profile armies such as Ogors, NH, Slaves, and Gitz themselves speaks to the versatility of the list – and Rob’s prowess of course. The Orruk book as a whole might be a complete bin-fire, but Big Waagh clearly offers the best way to make like an Orruk and slap whatever manic, vaguely green muscle you can lay your hands on into a potent krump!
Advertisements
Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords – Great Nation: Helon – Mortal Realm: Hysh – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (700)* – General Scinari Cathallar (110)* – Lore of Hysh: Total Eclipse Scinari Loreseeker (160)* – Artefact: Tuskhelm (Galletian Champion) – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Battleline 5 x Hurakan Windchargers (130)* 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)* – Lore of Hysh: Overwhelming Heat 20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* – Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh – Reinforced x 1 10 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (150)* – Lore of Hysh: Overwhelming Heat 10 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (150)* – Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
I call this list archetype the ‘can’t wait for the next Battlescroll’! Lead designer Matt Rose has highlighted that Helon and Sentinels are in line for an adjustment, for what should by now be fairly obvious reasons.
Tell you what though, it’s quite fun seeing the Tuskhelm on the Loreseeker. Imagine him popping up wherever he wants pre-game, then yeeting himself into you with a flaming weapon like a less sneaky version of the Masque.
Otherwise, there’s not much to say – it’s Sentinels projecting extreme prejudice at range and up close, with Teclis doing Teclis things. The only thing of interest left about this kind of list is how hard it’s going to get hit by the nerf bat!
Advertisements
Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes – Army Subfaction: Boulderhead – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Kragnos (720) 1 x Frostlord on Stonehorn (450)* – General – Command Traits: Voice of the Avalanche – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Mount Traits: Rockmane Elder – Spells: Flaming Weapon
BATTLELINE 1 x Stonehorn Beastriders (310)* – Blood Vulture 1 x Stonehorn Beastriders (310)* – Blood Vulture 2 x Mournfang Pack (170)* – Skalg – Culling Clubs and Hackers and Ironfist
TERRAIN 1 x Great Mawpot (0)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1960/2000)
Since the Ironblaster points hike, bar the very occasional Stonehorn heavy podium, Ogors have settled comfortably into a ‘top 5’ army, as though they have a nice big dinner early on and then get a bit too sleepy to bother chasing the absolute top spot.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course – we don’t want every faction to be Lumineth Slaanesh! Taking down three tanky melee armies, the shooty Ogors and a summoning heavy Tzeentch list for a 5-0 is a great result, either way.
So how did Tony do it? Well, he took Kragnos and a bunch of Stonehorns. The name of the day here is killing stuff on the charge – why risk having to roll attacks? Kragnos is capable of a OHKO of a big monster with the right roll of course, but probably the main thing he offers is a 3d6 charge aura. Given Stonehorns do mortals on a 4+ for dice equal to their unmodified charge roll – which a 3d6 is – you can start to see the appeal.
That’s about all there is to it. Like the Ogors themselves, it’s big and not very clever, but gets the job done.
Advertisements
Army Faction: Sylvaneth – Subfaction: Gnarlroot – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Bloodthirsty – Seasons of War: The Burgeoning
LEADERS Spirit of Durthu (350) – General – Command Traits: Gnarled Warrior – Artefacts of Power: Greenwood Gladius The Lady of Vines (290) – Spells: Verdant Blessing Alarielle the Everqueen (820)* – Spells: Verdant Blessing
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Spiteswarm Hive (40) 1 x Chronomantic Cogs (70)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
This list from Joey Trizenberg is so elite and character focused that it might be playable in Marvel Ultimate Crisis. The Lady of Vines and Alarielle’s summoning mechanics bulk out the wound count and utility this list needs with 30 dryads and a unit of tree revenants satisfying most of your objective-sitting needs. The reason such a limited selection of units can get away with this is that both Alarielle and Durthu demand answers, immediately, and can either murder or pin vast quantities of the opponent’s army, limiting their scoring options.
Durthu with the Gladius and Gnarled warrior is a brutal beatstick, and ethereal 3+ keeps him healthy over the game and the gladius makes him hit like a brick. Combine this with a 6+ ward and the number of wounds in this army gets a sneaky boost to keep it in the game. This said, the selection of the Burgeoning as the Season of war requires a 70 point investment in the form of Cogs to make the quantity of spellcasting in this list work, especially so, when you consider that Gnarlroot is being taken for 3d6 casting, messaging that Joey wants to ensure he’s spreading trees and getting up the very important LoV’s 5+ ward spell, which is rather inconsistent when raw-cast as a 7+ on 2d6.
Legitimate analysis aside, I’d pay good money to see this list smack around Sons of Behemat, that’d be a great table to watch. Great work Joey, a great achievement to get an uncommon 5-0 for sylvaneth, let alone with a list that is a major departure from what we usually see.
Advertisements
Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes – Subfaction: Meatfist – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Tyrant (150)* – Big Name: Brawlerguts Kragnos (720)* Icebrow Hunter (120)** – General – Command Traits: Touched by the Everwinter – Prayers: Keening Gale Tyrant (150)** – Artefacts of Power: Gryph-feather Charm – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master – Big Name: Brawlerguts Tyrant (150)** – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Flaming Weapon – Big Name: Brawlerguts
Continuing their recent hot-streak of great results is another 4-1 Alarielle finish! Oh how people bemoaned the Everqueen upon the book’s release – and in fairness, she takes a bit of figuring out, as her power doesn’t lie in her melee power but rather in her zoning and revival ability.
She’s backed up here by the standard Arch-Rev with Warsinger to make stuff speedy – make that extra-super speedy when also combined with the Spiteswarm Hive. It’s also nice to see a brace of Dryads as surprisingly effective screens – sure they turn into splinters once hit but, with -1 to hit and wound, the can be like reeds in a breeze…. and a reinforced blob of Seekers for doing Seeker things (namely pinning stuff at speed and just never, ever dying due to their abilities to heal themselves and bring their own models back automatically).
Overall, a nicely balanced list that gives Big Momma and her Fancy Beetle a good run out against a tough variety of opponents.
Advertisements
Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords – Subfaction: Helon – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Archmage Teclis (700)* – Spells: Healing Zephyr Scinari Cathallar (110)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts of Power: Silver Wand – Spells: Total Eclipse – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
BATTLELINE Hurakan Windchargers (130)* – Windspeaker Seneschal – Standard Bearer Hurakan Windchargers (130)* – Windspeaker Seneschal – Standard Bearer Hurakan Windchargers (130)* – Standard Bearer – Windspeaker Seneschal
OTHER Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* – High Sentinel – Spells: Overwhelming Heat Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* – High Sentinel – Spells: Speed of Hysh
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80) 1 x Rune of Petrification (60) 1 x Emerald Lifeswarm (60)
TERRAIN 1 x Shrine Luminor (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
More LRL! Funnily enough, this list has also opted for Helon, and who cares how many Sentinels. But they also go hard on WIndchargers! A cunning tactical ploy to have slightly fewer shots on slow bodies and slightly more shots on fast bodies. I’m sure the dilemma was agonising.
Since this tournament, and indeed my comments on the 3rd place list, Sentinels, Teclis, and Windchargers have gone up a few points. So lists like this will no longer be able to take quite so many endless spells! I’m sure the effect on their efficacy will be devastating.
Advertisements
Army Faction: Disciples of Tzeentch – Army Subfaction: Guild of Summoners – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Magister (120)* – Spells: Shield of Fate – Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur 1 x Curseling (180)** – Spells: Glimpse the Future – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Ogroid Thaumaturge (170)** – General – Command Traits: Arcane Sacrifice – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Arcane Suggestion 1 x Lord of Change (400)** – Staff of Tzeentch and Rod of Sorcery – Artefacts: Nine-Eyed Tome – Spells: Ghost-mist
BATTLELINE 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – Kairic Adept – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – Kairic Adept – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Tzaangors (180)* – Twistbray – Icon Bearer – Brayhorn Blower – 2 x Tzaangor Mutant – Pair of Savage Blades
BEHEMOTH 1 x Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)*
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80) 1 x Burning Sigil Of Tzeentch (60) 1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (90)
Please read the review for Kaleb’s winning list and substitute the word ‘Kaleb’ for ‘Jonathan’! Seriously, I wasn’t kidding about Kaleb’s list being a trendsetter!
I should probably include a few more words on Jonathan’s path to 13th place so that Peter doesn’t get mad at me and assigns me 500 words on each variant of contrast paint. He did fantastically well to get to table 2 in Round 5 but then faced the Kryptonite of many Tzeentch lists: Kragnos and Stonehorns. With the ability to ignore so much magic AND the speed of Tony’s 4th placed list (see above) it was always going to be tricky. While having some monsters to eat would be handy for the Krondspine, Jonathan wouldn’t have been given the time to get the summoning going and so had to settle for a still very impressive 4-1 in the end.
Advertisements
Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Mortis Praetorians – Grand Strategy: Unrelenting Efficiency – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Arkhan the Black (340) Katakros (430)* Mortisan Soulreaper (100)* – Spells: Protection of Nagash – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Mortisan Soulreaper (100)* – General – Command Traits: Katakros’ Chosen – Artefacts of Power: Artificer’s Blade – Spells: Drain Vitality
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Nightmare Predator (40)
TERRAIN 1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
A list reminiscent of classical pre-Stalkers as Battleline lists for Ossiarch Bonereapers. Obviously, this list was before the new battletome so a few things need to be considered. Katakros and Arkhan are the headliners, with Arkhan being one of the few legitimately good units in OBR with his +2 to casting and blazing fast speed. Katakros offers a ton of buffs from stealing a command point on a 4+, -1 to hit on an enemy unit, and giving +1 to hit and to saves for all units within 36″. Mortis Praetorians doesn’t see as much play as Petrifix Elite but if you’re going to run Katakros it’s about the same with his +1 to save aura, though you do lose the -1 Rend from Petrifix Elite. Rounding off the list is two Soulreapers, which while not very good allow him to slip in 2 Galetian Champions at 2000 points.
As for units this list doesnt really have much of a hammer. That’s clearly not the point though, with 60 Mortek Guard you can gum up the board pretty bad, 30 3+ Save, 6+ Ward wounds aren’t easy to cut through if you didn’t bring a Monster to roar them. While they may not hit nearly as hard as Stalkers, they’re not totally impotent either, and can usually win a grind out war over 2-3 turns of combat against nastier things. The Immortis guard are a workhorse unit to protect Arkhan from ranged fire, since an 11 wound 4+ Save Monster makes him a giant red bullseye for enemy fire.
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)**
As Peter put it the other day, Old Slaanesh (the previous Battletome) was in play. This is a popular “old list” right now. Slaanesh, like all aelves, has always been very difficult to balance, at the moment though they are a bit of a sleeper. Mobile with mad summoning, decent shooting and surprisingly durable with Revel in Pain.
Laron’s doubled down on the Epitome with Fuelled by Ghurish rage on top of Oil (+1 wound) and Flaming Weapon. Glutos, the mobile road block, is here with Sigvald to snipe out annoying Galletian Champions and the Enrapturess to make sure those casts go off. Beyond wards, bravery and damage spells, the army is packing all 3 Hedonite Endless Spells. Mortal wounds for everyone and a fight last as well. Mandatory Blissbarbs and the soon to be extinct Cockatrice (the monster keyword isn’t on the new scroll). The Cockatrice still has a place to generate DP and for their fast movement, letting them score early points.
And that’s the conundrum of facing the chaos aelves – target the Blissbarb, and apart from being stung, you’ll give them a lot of DP (summoning points). And as you kill them, they’ll get harder to kill. Worse, Glutos and the Epitome will be free to act. Target the heroes, and the Blissbarb will make you look like a porcupine. The old HoS book is a dps check. You need to deal with them fast enough that their summoning doesn’t matter. Preferably from range.
Laron took the list to 4-1 handily defeating several top armies (and Stormcast). Pretty amazing with a list that shouldn’t have a lot of surprises and was at the time running with a 47% win rate. That success should tell you how good the general was.
Advertisements
Allegiance: Sylvaneth – Glade: Heartwood – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs:
Leaders Alarielle the Everqueen (820)* Arch-Revenant (120)* – General – Command Trait: Warsinger – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Lore of the Deepwood: Verdurous Harmony
Units 10 x Dryads (100)* 10 x Dryads (100)* 3 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (230)* 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)* 6 x Revenant Seekers (480)* – Reinforced x 1
Continuing the 4-1 with Alarielle trend – which I’m personally happy to see given Momma Nature is such a great model, is this Heartwood list that, well, pretty much follows the template.
Probably the most important synergy in overall playstyle here is the way the Seekers compliment what Alarielle can do. Beetle-bum is much more of a mixed phase zoning piece with her big’ ol….base and surprising speed, so you need something like the Seekers to be able to zoom in on smaller, more versatile bases, do a good amount of damage, and actually stay where they end up – something they’re willing to risk due to their built in healing, 5+ rally and ability to bring a model back. With Dryads and Tree Revs as annoying, teleporty objective grabbers and screens, and the 3 Greatbows doing plinky-plink damage at long range, this kind of list can be very difficult to actually navigate around. And of course, by the time you finally kill Alarielle, she’s liable to come back in later rounds when you no longer have the tools to take her off again.
Losing only to a Gnarlroot Sylvaneth semi-mirror, and taking down a good variety of other lists en route, this new list archetype (I’m calling it Beetle-Momma and the Seekers) clearly has legs/wings/roots…. I’ll leaf it there. Big up to Matthew!
Advertisements
Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin – Enclave: Mor’Phann – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Akhelian Thrallmaster (110)* Isharann Soulrender (120)* – Artefact: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Akhelian King (250)* – General – Bladed Polearm – Command Trait: Unstoppable Fury – Mount Trait: Voidchill Darkness
Battleline 6 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (360)* – Reinforced x 1 6 x Akhelian Morrsarr Guard (360)* – Reinforced x 1 20 x Namarti Reavers (340)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)* 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)* – Reinforced x 1
This list makes use of some of the best Idoneth units avaiable in the book, without relying on Lotann or the Leviadon. Two champs are there to support the Namarti units, both defensively and offensively, and the Artefact allows the Isharann character to summon a Gloomtide Shipwreck at the end of the first movement phase. This is particularly good with Tunnel Master, because the Soulrender can pop up anywhere on the board and drop a large piece of line of sight blocking impassable terrain.
The eels and king can work in tandem to deal a lot of damage. The eels can charge in first, eat the Unleash Hell while still getting their mortal wound bomb off, while the king can pop himself and possibly both eel squads into high tide, creating the possibility of an alpha strike against any enemy who may have deployed too aggressively.
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.
Advertisements
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.
Advertisements
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…..
Advertisements
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?
Advertisements
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.
Advertisements
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.
Advertisements
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.
Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 13th June and Sunday 19th 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 was a total of 3 Grand Tournaments last week, a quiet week! That being said, one of them was the awesome UK tSports Champions, which our very own Declan was invited to take part in. You can read up on his prep here.
286 players took part in 10 GT’s over the last week.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
64.7%
19
21.59%
3
7
Order
49.2%
49
55.68%
0
5
Destruction
43.8%
8
9.09%
0
1
Death
34.2%
12
13.64%
0
0
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
Maggotkin of Nurgle
66.0%
10
11.36%
1
4
Cities of Sigmar
58.6%
7
7.95%
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
54.0%
10
11.36%
0
3
Idoneth Deepkin
46.0%
5
5.68%
0
0
Seraphon
43.0%
10
11.36%
0
0
Fyrselayers
40.0%
7
7.95%
0
1
Soulblight Gravelords
33.3%
6
6.82%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle top the charts this week in a very small data set. With a win rate of 66.0% Followed closely by Cities of Sigmar with a win rate of 58.6%. Seraphon, Fyreslayers and Soulblight Gravelords all struggling to make that magical 45% mark with Soulblight Gravelords being the only faction below 40%.
Advertisements
Subfaction Stats
Only Seraphon/Thunder Lizard and Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men made the requirement for this table (min 5 armies represented). Thunder Lizard managed a win rate of 43% while Drowned Men achieved 72.5%……
On Reddit Warhammer 40k has the Meta Mondays posted by the brilliant u/JCMS85 on r/WarhammerCompetitive. So why can’t we have one for AoS? Well we can….
Here are the stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 6th June and Sunday 12th 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 was a total of 10 Grand Tournaments last week, however only 9 had data available to analyse. Valleycon 2022 was a 26 player tournament but no lists were available at the time of publishing these stats.
286 players took part in 10 GT’s over the last week.
Grand Alliance
Win Rate
Armies
% Share of Armies
5-0 Wins
4+ Wins
Chaos
54.5%
56
19.6%
2
13
Order
51.0%
119
41.6%
6
22
Death
46.6%
48
16.8%
1
7
Destruction
46.1%
56
22.0%
0
5
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
66.2%
13
2.27%
3
1
Legion of the First Prince
65.0%
8
1.40%
0
0
Maggotkin of Nurgle
58.6%
21
3.67%
2
0
Idoneth Deepkin
58.5%
11
1.92%
1
0
Soulblight Gravelords
57.7%
13
2.27%
1
0
Cities of Sigmar
57.0%
10
1.75%
2
0
Daughters of Khaine
56.4%
14
2.45%
0
1
Lumineth Realm-Lords
52.1%
10
1.75%
0
0
Ironjawz
50.8%
13
2.27%
0
0
Sons of Behemat
48.5%
14
2.45%
0
1
Ogor Mawtribes
47.2%
11
1.92%
0
0
Nighthaunt
46.7%
21
3.67%
0
2
Stormcast Eternals
45.0%
43
7.52%
0
3
Kruleboyz
44.3%
11
1.92%
0
1
Sylvaneth
40.0%
5
0.87%
0
1
Hedonites of Slaanesh
38.3%
6
1.05%
0
0
Skaventide
37.9%
7
1.22%
0
0
Fyreslayers
34.4%
9
1.57%
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
31.1%
11
1.92%
0
1
Gloomspite Gitz
30.0%
6
1.05%
0
1
Despite Nighthaunt and Daughters of Khaine being released now for a couple of weeks, we still see Seraphon, Legion of the First Prince and Maggotkin of Nurgle topping the win rates. On top of that Seraphon managed to grab three 5-0 results this week.
As a rough guide factions should have win rates of between 45-55% to ensure the game is roughly balance (true balance being impossible). The above shows that 7 factions have exceeded this band (including the new Daughters of Khaine) with Seraphon and Legion of the First Prince have exceeded the 60% win rate barrier. There are also seven factions below this ideal range, including one of the new battletomes for 3rd Edition (Fyreslayers). While Stormcast Eternals have a win rate of 45% we have to bear in mind that this is the most popular faction and is often the ones new players use when first playing Age of Sigmar, so the range of skill of the players inside this faction will vary widely, while many of the other faction will have a dedicated fan base or have tournament players looking for a faction that provides them the best chance at good results.
Advertisements
Subfaction Stats
The below stat show the results for those subfactions represented by 5 armies or more only.
Faction
Subfaction
Win Rate
Armies
5-0 Wins
0-5 Losses
Seraphon
Thunder Lizard
67.3%
11
2
1
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Drowned Men
65.5%
11
1
0
Legion of the First Prince
65.0%
8
0
0
Lumineth Realm-Lords
Zaitrec
60.9%
5
0
0
Idoneth Deepkin
Nautilar
58.6%
6
0
0
Cities of Sigmar
Living City
58.3%
6
2
0
Nighthaunt
Scarlet Doom
54.3%
7
0
0
Daughters of Khaine
Zainthar Kai
54.3%
7
0
0
Soulblight Gravelords
Vyrkos Dynasty
53.3%
6
0
0
Sons of Behemat
Breaker Tribe
53.1%
10
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
Astral Templars
50.0%
6
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
Hammers of Sigmar
49.1%
23
0
1
Ironjawz
Bloodtoofs
44.2%
9
0
0
Kruleboyz
Big Yellers
43.4%
8
0
1
Hedonites of Slaanesh
Lurid Haze
42.0%
5
0
0
Nighthaunt
Emerald Host
41.5%
13
0
2
Fyreslayers
Greyfyrd
38.6%
7
0
0
Skaventide
37.9%
7
0
0
Stormcast Eternals
Hallowed Knights
35.6%
9
0
1
Ossiarch Bonereapers
Petrifex Elite
32.3%
10
0
1
Gloomspite Gitz
24.0%
5
0
1
The faction stats are pretty much replicated above with Lumineth Realm-Lords/Zaitrec joining the +60% club this week. Meanwhile despite Anthony Trentanelli’s heroics with Skaven recently (claiming two GT’s and going 4-1 this week) they still sit below 45% with a miserable 37.9% win rate. Will their new battletome and the Generals Handbook see a change in this though? A new tome can’t come soon enough for Gloomspite Gitz and Ossiarch Bonereapers….
