This is the top three AoS lists forthe Wheat City Open 2024that took place in Canada on the 2nd and 3rd of March. It saw 28 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
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.
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 – Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery
LEADERS Bloodsecrator (120)* – Artefacts of Power: Banner of Blood Skarbrand (380)* Slaughterpriest (110)* – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Killer Instinct – Nullstone Adornments: Pouch of Nulldust Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)** – General – Command Traits: Firebrand – Artefacts of Power: Halo of Blood – Prayers: Heal, Killer Instinct Slaughterpriest (110)** – Hackblade and Wrath-hammer – Prayers: Blood Sacrifice, Bronzed Flesh Skarr Bloodwrath (110)**
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Hexgorger Skulls (50) 1 x Wrath-Axe (70)
TERRAIN 1 x Skull Altar (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Roland Rivera: A Mortal-heavy Reapers of Vengeance list is not exactly a common sight, but such is the power of its effect of providing bonus Blood Tithe for slain enemy Heroes that you can make it work. The Hero lineup features most of the big hits: a Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury with Firebrand as a powerhouse to build your center around, Skarbrand as a steady and mostly independent hammer, multiple Priests to leverage the excellent prayer scripture and invocations, and Skarr Bloodwrath as a reusable source of Blood Tithe.
The troops themselves feature a mix of native Khorne troops and Allies from Slaves to Darkness: the reinforced blob of Blood Warriors will take and hold the middle, whereas the Flesh Hounds and Bloodreavers serve as cheap screens that can generate Blood Tithe on death. The Furies can also serve that role, but provide additional mobility to help pressure faraway objectives.
Khorne continues to be in a strong position, and this list is a good example of why this is the case: the combination of durability, reliability, and mobility makes it a powerful army in the hands of a skilled player.
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! (Battleline or General in enemy territory at end of game) – Triumph: Indomitable (pass battleshock)
LEADERS Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork (teleport) Wurrgog Prophet (170)* (Zap Daddy with the slot machine eye lasers) – Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz (4+ ward) – Spells: Hoarfrost Megaboss on Maw-krusha (450)** – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts of Power: Destroyer (+3 damage once per game) – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un (once per game hero phase move) Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat (d3 heal) Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat (3d6 charge) Gobsprakk (240)*** (once per game 3d6 unbind and deals d3 or d6 on every successful unbind) – General
BATTLELINE Orruk Brutes (280)** (+1 to hit models with 4+ wounds. Models with 1 wounds can’t contest within 3″) – Brute Boss – Boss Choppa – Jagged Gore-hacka Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Boss Choppa – Jagged Gore-hacka Gutrippaz (150)*** (-1 to hit from non Hero, non monsters) – Gutrippa Banner Bearer – Gutrippa Hornblower – Gutrippa Boss – Wicked Stikka
OTHER Brute Ragerz (200)** (run and charge) – 6 x Mighty Gore-hacka
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30)
Roland Rivera: It’s not often that you see a Maw-krusha in Big Waaagh lists, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t potent. Its combination of speed and hitting power can be a daunting complement to the board presence and magical power typical of Big Waaagh armies.
Alongside the big guy is an interesting combination of Ironjawz threats – Brute Ragerz pack a lot of punch on the cheap, and Brutes bring both damage and the ability to bully smaller models off objectives. Alongside them is a unit of Gutrippaz that acts as a screen that can also take down weaker units, and a fairly typical Hero lineup of Gobsprakk, a Wurrgog Prophet, a Weirdnob Shaman with Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork, and a couple of Warchanters to lay down Violent Fury on the Ironjawz.
Because the Maw-krusha is not often seen in Big Waaagh, your opponents may not be prepared for it, and that kind of curveball can be a very useful tool.
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Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses
LEADER 1 x Belladamma Volga (220) – Spells: Soulpike 1 x Ivya Volga (135) 1 x Necromancer (100)* – General – Command Traits: Eater of Magic – Artefacts: Seed of Rebirth – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x Vampire Lord (150)* – Spells: Soulpike
BATTLELINE 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (150) 30 x Deathrattle Skeletons (110) – Skeleton Champion – Standard Bearer 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (110) 10 x Dire Wolves (150) – Doom Wolf 10 x Dire Wolves (150) – Doom Wolf
OTHER 10 x Black Knights (130) – Hellknight – Standard Bearer 3 x Fell Bats (90) 3 x Vargheists (140)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Andtorian Acolytes
TOTAL POINTS: (1985/2000)
Roland Rivera: While this list is in Vyrkos, and has some of the Vyrkos mainstays in Zombies and Belladamma, it has a very interesting mix of units. Vyrkos is normally all about the Deadwalkers, but this list has a big blob of 30 Skeletons (!), as well as 10 Black Knights (!!) and some Vargheists (!!!). The surprises don’t end there, as even Ivya Volga makes an appearance.
The gameplan, however, is the same as it typically is for Vyrkos – drown your opponent in bodies, and pick them back up when they die. The Black Knights offer you a bit of a counterpunch angle with the mortal wounds on the charge, and the Vargheists can threaten backfields with their flight speed and deepstrike ability.
Overall, this is a bit of an unusual list, but unusual doesn’t always mean bad, as its results demonstrate.
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Army Faction: Cities of Sigmar – Army Subfaction: Greywater Fastness – Grand Strategy: Banners Held High – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Freeguild Marshal and Relic Envoy (90)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Ballistics – Duelling Pistols and Silvered Shortsword 1 x Freeguild Cavalier-Marshal (120)** – Artefacts: Sigmarite Warhammer 1 x Fusil-Major on Ogor Warhulk (130)*** – Artefacts: Mastro Vivetti’s Magnificent Macroscope 1 x Alchemite Warforger (100)*** – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Alchemite Warforger (100)*** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard
This is the top three AoS lists for the Unified Tournament Circuit AOS Finals that took place in the US on the 13th and 14th of January. It saw 24 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: Disciples of Tzeentch – Army Subfaction: Guild of Summoners – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Magister (140)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Hoarfrost 1 x Ogroid Thaumaturge (170)** – Spells: Arcane Suggestion, Glimpse the Future 1 x Lord of Change (380)** – General – Command Traits: Daemonspark – Staff of Tzeentch and Rod of Sorcery – Artefacts: Nine-Eyed Tome – Spells: Levitate, Ghost-mist 1 x Magister (140)** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Shield of Fate – Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
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 – Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Tzaangors (180)* – Twistbray – Icon Bearer – Brayhorn Blower – 2 x Tzaangor Mutant – Pair of Savage Blades 10 x Chaos Marauders (90)* – Icon Bearer – Barbarian Drummer – Marauder Chieftain – Barbarian Axe and Darkwood Shield
BEHEMOTH 1 x Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)* ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80) 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30) 1 x Burning Sigil Of Tzeentch (70)
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120) – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90) – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork 1 x Megaboss on Maw-krusha (450)* – General – Command Traits: Hulking Brute – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts: Destroyer – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat 1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (230)*
BATTLELINE 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 10 x Orruk Brutes (280)* – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – 2 x Gore-choppa
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)
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Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Kritza (110)* – General -Command Trait: Spore Trackers – Artefacts: Ulfenkarni Phylactery 1 x Torgillius the Chamberlain (180)* – Spells: Waste Away 1 x Necromancer (100)** – Spells: Fading Vigour
BATTLELINE 10 x Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf 10 x Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)** 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)** 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)** 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)**
OTHER 3 x Fell Bats (90)* 20 x Grave Guard (160)** – Seneschal – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower – Great Wight Blade
Legion of Night is seeing the most success on the GT tournament with a win rate of 55%, while at the RTT level Avengorii Dynasty seems to be the most powerful subfaction at 60%. Meanwhile players using Kastelai Dynasty appear to be struggling at both tournament formats, both being at sub 40% win rate.
Legion of Blood is by far the most popular subfaction at both tournament formats, and perhaps the larger numbers of players for this subfaction will be dragging their win rate down slightly as player skill gets diluted over a larger population.
Here we can see how the subfaction players generally perform at GTs. The grey bar shows how many players achieve 0 to 2 wins at a GT, if this is less than 50%, then that faction has a positive win rate, as shown in the yellow bar (those players who achieve 3 or more wins), the blue segment shows those who achieve 4 or more wins, and finally the green segment shows the percentage of players who go on to win all 5 games.
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) should be the same length.
FACTION MATCHUPS
Note that these stats are across all game formats.
Daughters of Khaine, Fyreslayers and Ironjawz prove to be the easiest factions for Soulblight players to defeat, while Beasts of Chaos, Kharadron Overlords and Blades of Khorne appear to be the most difficult.
ROUND PERFORMANCE
Soulblight Players appear to have mostly a 50/50 outcome from most of their matches throughout a tournament, all being within the 45-55% win rate.
However, at RTT level the Soulblight players appear to have a harder time in rounds 1 and 2, with the victories leaning towards their opponents.
WARSCROLL PERFORMANCE
Right click & view image to view the table in its full scale
This chart shows the win rates of lists which include the warscroll (in Blue) compared to those that don’t (in Orange).
WARSCROLLS NOT USED
Deintalos the Exile
Exiled Dead
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This is the top three AoS lists for Warmaster took place in Australia on the 24th and 25th of November. It saw 24 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Khorne – Slaughterhost: The Goretide – Grand Strategy: The Blood Legions March
Leaders Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)** – General – Command Trait: Firebrand – Artefact: A’rgath the King of Blades – Prayer: Killer Instinct – Prayer: Bloodbind Dromm, Wounder of Worlds (180)** – Prayer: Blood Sacrifice – Prayer: Unholy Flames Slaughterpriest (110)**** – Prayer: Bronzed Flesh – Prayer: Killer Instinct Bloodsecrator (120)*** Skarr Bloodwrath (110)** Magister – The Coven of Thryx (320)* – Allies
Battleline 10 x Blood Warriors (190)** – Goreaxes – 1x Goreglaives 8 x Claws of Karanak (100)*** 10 x Bloodreavers (80)*** – Meatripper Axes 10 x Bloodreavers (80)**** – Meatripper Axes
Units 10 x Skullreapers (380)**** – Goreslick Blades – Reinforced x 1 2 x Gorechosen of Dromm (0)**** 10 x Horrors of Tzeentch – The Coven of Thryx (0)* – Allies
Endless Spells & Invocations Burning Sigil of Tzeentch – The Coven of Thryx (0) Daemonic Simulacrum – The Coven of Thryx (0) Tome of Eyes – The Coven of Thryx (0)
Core Battalions *Regiment of Renown **Warlord ***Vanguard ****Vanguard
Additional Enhancements Prayer
Total: 2000 / 2000
Roland Rivera: This list is a spicy morsel – it has taken the standard Khorne Mortals framework, and added spellcasting to the mix as an added dimension on both defense (hello, Mystic Shield!) and offense, as the mortal wound endless spells can provide damage at range. Another interesting inclusion is Dromm, which brings some beefy melee bodyguards and another source of mortal wounds at range thanks to his prayer.
As you’d expect, the frontline for these lists is rock solid – Blood Warriors for holding the middle, Skullreapers for damage, Claws of Karanak and Bloodreavers for utility and objective pressure, Skarr Bloodrwath as a reusable source of Blood Tithe. The Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury also looms large as a Hero Monster that can provide both defense or offense as needed. Don’t sleep on the Pink Horrors as a screen, either – especially since they bite back when they die.
In summary, the Coven’s spellcasting combined with the typical Khorne Mortal beef is a potent combination that Jordan used to great effect, and as this is not the first time that a Khorne list featuring the Coven has achieved notable results, expect to see it more often going forward.
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Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Gittish Horde: Jaws of Mork – Mortal Realm: Chamon – Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Skragrott, The Loonking (230)** Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (110)* – General – Command Trait: The Clammy Hand – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) Webspinner Shaman (65)* – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost
Battleline 10 x Boingrot Bounderz (300)* – Reinforced x 1 40 x Moonclan Shootas (240)* – Reinforced x 1 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)** 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)** 36 x Squig Herd (420)* – Reinforced x 2
Units 5 x Gobbapalooza (170)* 5 x Loonsmasha Fanatics (110)**
Lodivicus: Another variation of Jaws of Mork core podiums again! Skragrott, a Squigboss, Squig Herd, Boingrot Bounderz, Gobbapalooza and the Bad Moon Loonshrine all make an appearance from the core. In this list, Rob flexes out of the more common Madcap Shaman (with Moonface Mommet and Hoarfrost) for a Webspinner Shaman (with Hoarfrost and native 5+ ward). The highly popular Sneaky Snufflers also hit the chopping block to free up points.
So what’s the change? What are the points used for? Forty Moonclan Shootas and five Loonsmashas Fanatics. We haven’t talked about these two units much in previous commentaries, so let’s dive in!
Moonclan Shootas have two 20” ranged attacks each (when they have 10 or more models) plus one for the Champion for a wild 81 attacks per turn at full strength. While they don’t have a particularly efficient attack profile, with AoA, their high volume should end up doing about 9 damage into a 4+ save. That’s pretty solid for clearing screens for the Squigs to get in and at a far enough distance they can still blanket an objective while doing so. If the opponent gets within charge range, you can pop out the Loonsmashas for protection (assuming they were hidden here and not in the Gobbapalooza).
The whirling dervishes, the Loonsmasha Fanatics, can reveal themselves at the start of the charge phase. With their strike-first effect and d6 rend -2 damage d3 attacks each, they can function as anything from a speed bump to a weapon of mass destruction depending on the high variability of the rolls. Either way, whether they protect your grots or get launched offensively into the enemy on your turn, they are an effective and fun ‘casino type’ piece.
Congrats to Rob on his 2nd place finish (only losing in Round 3 to Big Waaagh). Keep those Loonsmashas drinking their Fungus Brew!
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Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Barak-Nar – Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies – Triumph: Inspired – Stick To The Code (Amendments): Always Take What You Are Owed – Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything – Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught
BATTLELINE Arkanaut Company (90)* – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Volley Pistol – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt Grundstok Thunderers (320)* – Gunnery Sergeant – 2 x Honour Bearer – 2 x Aethercannon – 2 x Aetheric Fumigator – 2 x Decksweeper Arkanaut Company (90)** – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Volley Pistol – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt
BEHEMOTH Arkanaut Ironclad (500)* – Great Sky Cannon – Great Endrinworks: The Last Word – The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship Arkanaut Frigate (300)** – Heavy Sky Cannon
Carl Stokes: Another spectacular showing by KO, this time with Barak Nar! This is a faction I haven’t explored in great detail personally, but this list has some very interesting synergies that really elevate it to the next level. Barak Nar is all about command points and having an enormous amount of them. By making thunderers battleline as part of their subfaction abilities, the general can now take stormcaller as a command trait to maximize the value provided by the navigator.
Bee also took the Lord-Magnate of Barak Nar, Brokk Grungsson, who is truly living up to his full potential in that subfaction. Brokk is shockingly tanky at 8w and a 3+ native save, while also being incredibly fast and weirdly good at close combat. Oh and he also shoots ridiculously hard and buffs skyfarers around him if they charge. For example, let’s say a frigate charges a target while carrying Brokk and 3 Endrinriggers.
The resulting combat phase might look a little something like this…
Frigate impact hits for about 4 MW. Brokk and endrinriggers pile out. Then the Endrinriggers (who are always striking first) hit with 10 attacks at (probably) 2/3/-2/d3 with Brokk (also striking first) hitting with 5 attacks at 3/2/-2/d3. The frigate also probably does some stuff, but that’s not quite as relevant. In short, Brokk and the endrinriggers fight way better than one might expect, and with the Frigate acting as a reliable combat delivery system, they’re a ruthless combo that can certainly catch opponents off-guard.
And of course they’re backed up by the traditional Ironclad + Khemist + Thunderers combo of ridiculous mobility and shooting neatly packaged into 2 drops with 20 arkanauts providing both screening and home objective control. A Navigator and Admiral pair serve as both an anti-magic nexus, as well as a (fairly) consistent way to prevent the enemy Big Bad from touching your precious boats. Overall, this list is a very tidy and efficient way to bring a combined arms approach to the KO style of play and it clearly paid off for Bee! Congratulations!
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Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination
LEADERS Belladamma Volga (220)* – Artefacts of Power: Standard of the Ulfenwatch – Spells: Soulpike Radukar the Beast (290)** Vampire Lord (150)** – General – Command Traits: Driven by Deathstench – Spells: Hoarfrost Wight King (150)** – Artefacts of Power: Ulfenkarni Phylactery
BATTLELINE Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf Deathrattle Skeletons (330)* – Skeleton Champion – 3 x Standard Bearer
OTHER vrykos blood born (90) Grave Guard (320)* – Seneschal – Wight Blade great wight blade- 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower
Danny Wadeson: Vampires and their doggos are a winning formula, and this list in particular cleaves close to my own preferred list, centred around the King and Queen of Vyrkos. Belladamma still brings a huge amount of utility thanks to her exploding 6s aura spell – and Radukar who is fast, killy (especially with, you guessed it, excploding 6s!), and difficult to pin down thanks to his being -1 to hit.
MSU Dire Wolves as battleline also just never go out of fashion, and their ability to bodyguard Bella means she’s super survivable – remembering of course that Vyrkos have unique heroic actions to both bring wolves back and, once per game, summon another unit of 10 for some serious board control. A blob of 30 Deathrattle with their ability to return models at the start of ANY combat phase are going absolutely nowhere.
Finish off with the obligatory Grave Guard as the main hammer and a personal favourite in Blood Born for a cheeky 10″ pre-game move – and they’re no slouch in combat either – and you have an excellent board control list with some nicely distirbuted threats. Such a fun list and it’s good to see that it’s no longer overwhelming.
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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
This is the top three AoS lists for the Battle Of The Bend 2023 that took place in the US on the 11th and 12th of November. It saw 20 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
With the tournament having 20 or less players we won’t be commenting on individual lists.
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: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Lauka Vai (300)* – Spells: Vile Transference Gorslav the Gravekeeper (140)* – General – Command Traits: Spoor Trackers – Artefacts of Power: Ulfenkarni Phylactery Vampire Lord (150)** – Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE Deadwalker Zombies (300)* Deadwalker Zombies (300)* Deadwalker Zombies (150)** Dire Wolves (150)** – Doom Wolf Deathrattle Skeletons (220)** – Skeleton Champion – 2 x Standard Bearer
OTHER Corpse Cart (90)* – Corpse Lash – Unholy Lodestone Fell Bats (90)** Myrmourn Banshees (90)**
Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos – Greatfray: Darkwalkers – Grand Strategy: Desecrating Brayherd – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Shaman (120)* – General – Command Trait: Slakefray Reveller – Artefact: The Knowing Eye – Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (340)* – Allies Grashrak Fellhoof (180)* – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Tendrils of Atrophy Great Bray-Shaman (100)** – Artefact: Brayblast Trumpet – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost
Battleline 10 x Ungors (80)* – Mauls & Half-Shields 10 x Ungors (80)* – Mauls & Half-Shields 10 x Ungors (80) – Mauls & Half-Shields
Units 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened on Discs of Tzeentch (420) – Reinforced x 1 10 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangors (170)** 10 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangors (170)** 3 x Bullgors (210)** – Pairs of Axes 5 x Grashrak’s Despoilers (0)
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Army Subfaction: Barak-Mhornar – Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies – Triumphs: Inspired – Stick To The Code (Amendments): Trust To Your Guns – Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything – Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught
LEADER 1 x Arkanaut Admiral (140)* – General – Command Traits: Ex-Grundstok 1 x Aether-Khemist (100)* – Artefacts: Spell in a Bottle soulscrram bridge 1 x Aether-Khemist (100)*
BATTLELINE 15 x Grundstok Thunderers (160)* – Honour Bearer – Gunnery Sergeant – 3 x Grundstok Mortar – 3 x Aethercannon – 3 x Aetheric Fumigator – 3 x Decksweeper 15 x Grundstok Thunderers (160)* – Honour Bearer – Gunnery Sergeant – 3 x Grundstok Mortar – 3 x Aethercannon – 3 x Aetheric Fumigator – 3 x Decksweeper 1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)* – Sky Cannon
BEHEMOTH 1 x Arkanaut Ironclad (500)* – Great Volley Cannon – The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship – Great Endrinworks: Prudency Chutes
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)
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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
This is the top three AoS lists for the Sugar & Dice Annual AoS Tournament that took place in the US on the 21st and 22nd of October. It saw 16 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: Nighthaunt – Army Subfaction: The Scarlet Doom – Grand Strategy: Fright or Flight – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Lady Olynder (270) – Spells: Spirit Drain 1 x Guardian of Souls (150)* – Chill Blade – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x Guardian of Souls (150)* – Chill Blade – Artefacts: Midnight Tome – Spells: Shademist 1 x Krulghast Cruciator (150)** – General – Command Traits: Terrifying Entity 1 x Krulghast Cruciator (150)** – General – Command Traits: Terrifying Entity
BATTLELINE 10 x Chainrasps (100) 10 x Bladegheist Revenants (160)** 10 x Bladegheist Revenants (160)** 10 x Bladegheist Revenants (160)** 5 x Hexwraiths (170)**
BEHEMOTH 1 x Black Coach (270)** – Reaper Scythe
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Mortalis Terminexus (80)
OTHER 4 x Myrmourn Banshees (90) 4 x Myrmourn Banshees (90)**
Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Belladamma Volga (220)* – Artefacts of Power: Ulfenkarni Phylactery – Spells: Spirit Gale Vampire Lord (150)* – Spells: Soulpike Necromancer (100)* – Artefacts of Power: Terminus Clock – Spells: Fading Vigour Radukar the Beast (290)** – General – Command Traits: Hunter’s Snare Vampire Lord (150)** – Spells: Hoarfrost Torgillius the Chamberlain (180)** – Artefacts of Power: Standard of the Ulfenwatch – Spells: Waste Away
BATTLELINE Deathrattle Skeletons (220) – Skeleton Champion – 2 x Standard Bearer Deathrattle Skeletons (220) – Skeleton Champion – 2 x Standard Bearer Dire Wolves (150) – Doom Wolf
OTHER Grave Guard (160)* – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Seneschal – Great Wight Blade Grave Guard (160)** – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Seneschal – Great Wight Blade
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
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Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes – Mawtribe: None – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Ready for Plunder – Triumphs:
LEADERS Butcher (140) – Cleaver – Lore of Gutmagic: Blood Feast Firebelly (120) – Lore of the Sun-Eater: Billowing Ash Slaughtermaster (140) – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Tyrant (150) – General – Command Trait: Killer Reputation – Artefact: Splatter-cleaver
UNITS 8 x Ironguts (480) 4 x Ironguts (240) 4 x Ironguts (240) 6 x Ogor Gluttons (240)** – Paired Ogor Clubs or Bluntblades 6 x Ogor Gluttons (240)** – Paired Ogor Clubs or Bluntblades
CORE BATTALIONS *Andtorian Acolytes **Wizard-Finders of Andtor
TOTAL: 1990/2000
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Army Faction: Skaven – Grand Strategy: Arch-corruptors of the Mortal Realms – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Grey Seer (120)* – Spells: Death Frenzy Grey Seer (120)* – Spells: Hoarfrost Lord Skreech Verminking (370)** Plague Priest (100)*** – Prayers: Heal Plague Priest On Plague Furnace (270)*** – General – Command Traits: Devious Adversary – Artefacts of Power: Blade of Corruption – Prayers: Disease-disease! Skabbik Plagueseeker (140)***
This is the top three AoS lists for Crucible that took place in New Zealand on the 30th and 1st of October. It involved 44 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: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Nagash (900)* 1 x Vampire Lord (150)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Artefacts: Ulfenkarni Phylactery – Spells: Flaming Weapon
BATTLELINE 30 x Deathrattle Skeletons (130)* – Skeleton Champion – 3 x Standard Bearer 10 x Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf 10 x Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Aethervoid Pendulum (40) 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)
OTHER 4 x Myrmourn Banshees (90)* 3 x Fell Bats (90)*
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1980/2000)
Danny Wadeson: What we have here is a list that looks simple on the surface of things….and is simple beneath the surface too. It’s Nagash, and a shit load of chaff. Now, utilising Nagash well isn’t that simple, but essentially, he’s King-Magic-Man and likes bringing skellybobs back. You’ve got the Myrnmourn Banshees in there to deny opponent’s magic too, which seems somewhat overkill given Naggy’s +3 to unbinds, but hey, sometimes you really, really want to be the only one on the board flinging spells around. And it clearly works – taking down some tricksy factions, including stuff like IDK, which I’d have thought had the forward pressure necessary to give this list trouble. Would love to have seen some of these games!
Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: Badsnatchers – Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Fungoid Cave-Shaman (110)* – Spells: Itchy Nuisance Fungoid Cave-Shaman (110)* – Spells: The Hand of Gork Dankhold Troggboss (210)** – General – Command Traits: Loonskin – Artefacts of Power: Glowy Howzit Webspinner Shaman (65)*** – Spells: Rupture
Lodivicus: I have to admit, when I was asked to do the analysis and commentary on this list, I felt like I was getting Punk’d a little bit. It’s VERY off-meta and illustrates the skill of Chris Kennedy and the level of internal balance Gloomspite Gitz currently has. If you’ve been wondering if it’s possible to 5-0 with a Gitz list that contains pretty much at least one of all the different keyword types in the faction, Chris is here to say “Yes!”
For most mixed lists in Gitz, one would expect that King’s Gitz would be the subfaction choice taken most often. But not here! Chris chose Badsnatchers (reroll one of the casting dice if another Badsnatchers Moonclan Wizard is wholly within 9”) with two Fungoid Cave-Shamans and the Gobbapalooza fitting the bill. Completing the Moonclan Grot portion of the list, two units of Moonclan Shootas and a unit of Moonclan Stabbas round out the list to act as screens, objective control, ranged support and increase the wound count of the list.
The Dankhold Troggboss general with his Glowy Howzit (4+ ward until he can no longer resist the urge to eat it) is one of the most durable general choices available in Gitz and pairs well with the Chasing the Moon Grand Strat. He also adds Scuttletide to the list for free with his Loonskin command trait and gives out the mighty +1 attack to Troggoths when being a Shepherd of Destruction. Completing the Troggoth portion of the list is two units of Rockgut Troggoths (durable hammers with throwin’ boulders) and a unit of Fellwater Troggoths (debuffing tech troggs with their terrible stench and noxious vomit).
The Squig component of the list is not met by the more common Squig Herd or Boingrot Bounderz component, but instead, Mangler Squigs takes the place in the list. With its faction specific monstrous rampage, Giant Boing! it can get pretty much anywhere it wants to go and deal pretty effective damage once there.
What would a mixed list be without a Spiderfang component? The Webspinner Shaman is one of the most popular Andtorian Locus choices due to his 65 point price tag and built in 5+ ward. In true off-meta fashion, Chris gave him the Frost spell Rupture instead of the more popular Hoarfrost or Merciless Blizzard. Considering this event happened 2 weeks after the Rupture nerf, I can only assume he expected that he might run into a lot of Incarnate lists and didn’t want to be without his Incarnate de-levelling tool or perhaps was a list submission deadline casualty.
We have all the four major keyword types in Gitz covered, but how could it truly be an all-encompassing mixed Gitz list without bringing an Aleguzzler Gargant to round it out? With his 3d6 charge and Hand of Gork in the list, this monster can reliably be delivered pretty much anywhere he’s needed. Once there, he can do things like the Smash to Rubble monstrous action to opposing faction terrain or act as a monstrous missile.
While I did not personally witness the event (I wish I had), if I had to hazard a guess (which apparently I do), I would bet that Chris’ opponents enjoyed playing against a list that was so off-meta with so many vastly different and fun components even when they lost to it. It’s definitely not the usual Gitz list you’d expect to see at an event. While I wasn’t provided with the exact lists that he ran into, looking at the factions/subfactions of his opponents it appears that he ran into several different archetypes and barrelled his way to a 5-0 finish with this mishmash crew of Gitz. Very impressive!
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Army Faction: Seraphon – Army Type: Starborne – Subfaction: Dracothion’s Tail – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
I’m a Seraphon player, but there comes a point where you have to just hold up your scaly hands and say ‘it’s the wizard lizard list’. It’s always hard to write commentary on this list archetype because much of the skill comes from what you choose to summon, and where, and how you use it once it’s on the board, which obviously I have no way of knowing.
But for those unfamiliar with the engine in general, here’s how the list works. For every cast, unbind, and dispel, plus for every ‘cosmic node’ (wizards and wizardy shit like the Astrolith), you get a star power point. No, that isn’t the official name. Star power can be used to summon stuff, or do a shit load of MWs to stuff near aforementioned C-nodes. The Slann gets double star power be…wait…hold up…
He didn’t take the double star power command trait!! This is unheard of! He’s taken the ‘can control 3 endless spells and double their range’ trait! That would certainly allow him a lot more leeway in terms of positioning the somewhat fiddly Maelstrom, and allow for one of Kroak’s damage spells to go through the portal instead of Pendulum, which with double-range can much more reliably be cast normally. I can’t believe someone finally didn’t take Lord of Celestial Resonance, what a trailblazer.
There are also two Arks of Sotek because they’re cheap as fuck massive wound sponges with spike mortal potential.
But he didn’t take LoCR!!!
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Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Munificent Wanderers – Grand Strategy: Blessed Desecration – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Great Unclean One (430)* – Doomsday Bell and Bileblade – Artefacts of Power: The Witherstave – Spells: Fleshy Abundance Sloppity Bilepiper (120)* – Artefacts of Power: Tome of a Thousand Poxes – Spells: Gift of Disease Rotbringer Sorcerer (120)* – General – Command Traits: Infernal Conduit – Spells: Plague Squall Sloppity Bilepiper (120)**
OTHER Nurglings (100)* Nurglings (100)* Beasts of Nurgle (100)** Beasts of Nurgle (100)** Plague Drones (200)** – Icon Bearer – Bell Toller – Plaguebringer
TERRAIN 1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Vanguard
TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000
Roland Rivera: This is perhaps one of the most unexpected Nurgle lists I have seen since the 3rd edition book dropped. It picked one of the least-used subfactions (Munificent Wanderers), and is running some very rarely picked units in the Rotbringer Sorcerer (two of them even more so) and the Great Unclean One. The fact that this list went 3-0 in Day 1 is nothing short of remarkable. Take a bow, John, take a bow.
This list is clearly playing the objective game above all else, as its 50 Plaguebearers are not much to write home about offensively but can be extremely hard to shift when backed up by a Sloppity Bilepiper to prevent pile-ins and a caster using Fleshy Abundance to juice up their Wound count. It also uses Nurglings and Beasts for a bit of mobility, as well as potential pinning maneuvers. Plague Drones can also pitch in as pinners, while dealing enough damage that they have to be respected.
On the matter of Hero support, the Great Unclean One carries the Witherstave, which makes disease points more effective, and the Infernal Conduit command trait juices up the list’s summoning ability. All in all, a surprising list, but a pleasant surprise indeed.
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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
So there’s probably no better timing for releasing a top three on an event than the day after a load of controversy gets talked about at said event?!
This is the top three AoS lists for the London Grand Tournament that took place in the UK on the 30th and 1st of October. It involved 82 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz – Gittish Horde: Jaws of Mork – Grand Strategy: Protect da Shrine – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Webspinner Shaman (65)*** – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Madcap Shaman (70)*** – Artefact: Moonface Mommet – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Skragrott, The Loonking (230)* Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (110)** – General – Command Trait: The Clammy Hand
Battleline 15 x Boingrot Bounderz (450)** – Reinforced x 2 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)* 5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)* 6 x Sneaky Snufflers (140)* 36 x Squig Herd (420)** – Reinforced x 2
Units 5 x Gobbapalooza (170)** – Spell1: Lore of the Moonclans: Squig Lure
I’ve a 2-for-1 for you today because I’m not very organised, and my head has been filled with GT planning (no excuse!). So I rather stupidly asked both PlasticCraic (thanks again Pete – check out his site if you havent already!) and Phil Marshall to comment on these lists! So you have the benefit of both the players’ point of view and an expert AoS Analysts point of view..
Phil Marshall: Gloomspite Gitz – Jaws of Mork – How did it work?
I decided to go back to my routes and play an aggro combat army. Gitz the moment are super versatile and play lots of scenarios extremely well. With this edition lots of scenarios are fight in the middle and Gitz really lean into that. Yes, they have had their fair share of points increases but the army is still super strong with all the buffs and debuffs within the list. Lets take a note of a few of the key buff pieces, Skraggy knowing the full spell lore and also being able to help dictate battle tactic scoring by being able to manipulate the moon placement. Squig boss with the pre game move and MWs in addition for squigs, honestly its mental how far that unit can move in the turn you commit to this, in addition to this you have the clammy hand command trait to try and get two units out of the shrine. Madcap & Webspinner the combo allows you get acolytes in for hoarfrost, without being able to receive the commands on squigs hoarfrost works as your all out attack as minimum but when you can be hitting on 2s at potentially rend 3 with 150 attacks you really do see the value, the madcap also has moonface mommet to give a unit -1 to their save. Sneaky snufflers, 2+ 5 up ward yes please but oh wait if under the moon and you roll a 5+ you get an extra attack as well; mental. Then my buff piece MVP, these lads are sublime, the -1 to hit aura spell, the no command ability spell stoping redeploy from your none re-rollable charge on the herd, then a static aura of either +1 rend or plus 1 to run and charge. The list is then bolstered out by two units of 5 boingrots to grab objectives, do surround and destroy and clear screens, the real punch comes from the 36 herd and the unit of 15 boingrots.
How did the list play the? Aggressively, but when it needed to be. The way I played the list a lot of the time was as a castle waiting to capitalise on opportunities to explode out of it and ensuring that I was in range of all my auras and buff pieces ready to maximise my next movement phase. Depending on match up would be dependant on what would be used to screen with, if I was concerned about my opponent going first the screen was the two 5 of bounders and the terrain piece (assuming no monsters). Then I would have the hammers sat just off the screen ready to counter charge in my turn and make my opponent second guess about coming in. If I knew I was under no threat top of 1 I would screen with my gobbapalooza and snufflers and leave a squig sized gap as a screen as we all know 25mm is less than an inch so you can move through those gaps. The herd would then be set up in between so that if I wanted to maximise the potential hero phase move I was at no risk of missing out on the buffs from gobbapalooza and the herd at the start of movement. One of the hoarfrost wizards would also be close enough to make sure I can cast hoarfrost. Hoarfrost for me was the main spell I was always trying to cast as it makes the squig herds output substantially better no matter what you roll, I found myself always using it for hit rolls. The herd were always used at the 1st wave to commit and then follow up with the 15 bounders after the herd were now out of the buff ranges. This dual threat is horrible to deal with for your opponent again due to the speed in which your units can get across the table. In my opinion there isn’t a unit in the game that can survive the punch from either of these units when you have the buffs on. In the match ups that were perceived “easier” you can just throw the list at your opponent and its extremely hard for them to deal with, the speed it gets to them, the weight of dice you are throwing combined with the rend and damage made them quite straightforward. In conclusion it’s a super fast aggro army that suits a player that likes to put pressure on your opponent, however, it can play the passive game till you need to push out. It is the complete toolbox of buffs and debuffs that is a real pain to play around for your opponent.
Pete Atkinson: We talk a lot in this game about “skill ceiling”, but less so about “skill floor”. I’d argue that filling your list with Squigs and pushing them forward again and again has an abnormally high floor, in that you could teach a small child to execute and they’d win a lot of games, much like Terrorgheists back in their day. There’s only so badly you can do with a list like this.
All the same, 5-0s with Squigs remain rare, and that’s what separates the Bosses from the Gits. Phil has encountered a broad range of challenges in this event, encompassing high-mobility combat giga-damage (S2D) and Order gunlines with phenomenal straight line speed (Fuethan), as well as highly competitive KO, layered screens in Nighthaunt and ambushing BOC rounding out the opposition¹. Phil managed to react accordingly to opponents that were corner-deployed, well screened or even off the board entirely, and that’s where the skill ceiling part comes in.
In terms of what the list does, it’s really just Squigs 102. I’d argue that Squigs 101 was profiting from the bent Hoppers interaction with Rally (deliberately breaking coherency to get outside of 3″ then Rally back), but since that got swiftly nipped in the bud, these are the standard units you’ve been seeing used in tandem. Gobbapalooza gets you a tough wizard with Recursion which also dishes out -1 rend; Moonface Mommet adds further to the rend jamboree.
Given Phil’s smart use of Squig Lure though (allowing for Squigs to reroll charges when they can’t use CAs at all), I wouldn’t be shocked to hear that he sometimes used the ‘Palooza for the +1 to run and charge ability instead of extra rend. With the Subfaction attacks and Squigboss buffs, the damage is already there, so it’s just the delivery mechanism you need to lock down; and making it impossible to fail a 3″ charge is massive. Those charge consistency bonuses can be the difference between being written about here on Woehammer, and spending the time before your next game pissing and moaning about how your dice fucked you.
Squig Herd in particular love Hoarfrost as a way to fix their 4+ to Hit Roll and it’s notable that Phil has doubled down on that for redundancy, rather than being tempted with Merciless Blizzard. You’re not going to have units camping within 12″ in front of you for protracted combats, because you’ve already Squigged them off the board.
Chuck the Herd forward, merck a bunch of stuff, pop out some Battleshock mortals. Send the Boingrots in next and do the same. Then rezz back your original Squigs (with the Clammy Hand CT to help) and at that point your opponent probably shakes your hand.
I played a tiny handful of games with Squigs myself when the book first dropped and that was enough for me to get bored (I’m talking Early-Third-Edition-Giants-Standing-On-Circles levels of bored), but the fact remains that guiding them to the full 5-0 is an extra level of challenge, and one that very few have proven capable of thus far. If you’re looking for a way to hit consistent rankings points for your local Masters though – or just keen to chase a podium – then I’d suggest you look no further, because this list is as tight as an Allopex’s arse. Everything is geared towards and refined around executing your gameplan, with vigour and consistency. Ruthless.
¹Bear in mind I haven’t seen the full lists Phil played against – but looking at the Factions and Subfactions he encountered, we can have an educated guess.
Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Necromancer (100)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Spells: Waste Away 1 x Necromancer (100)* – Spells: Fading Vigour 1 x Belladamma Volga (220)** – Spells: Spirit Gale 1 x Gorslav the Gravekeeper (140)*** – Artefacts: Ulfenkarni Phylactery
BATTLELINE 10 x Dire Wolves (150)** – Doom Wolf 10 x Dire Wolves (150)** – Doom Wolf 20 x Deathrattle Skeletons (110)*** – Skeleton Champion – 2 x Standard Bearer 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)*** 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)*** 60 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)***
Michael Attali: This was a test for the WCW in Atlanta where I’ll be representing France (as I did during the AoS worlds Team’s Tournament).
So Vyrkos is the best sub faction in my advice (tactic and strategy wise) even though LoN performs more, I have seen that it is more due to the fact that most people don’t know how to play against LoN.
The main part of my army is 120 zombies (60-40-20) seconded by 20 skeletons to be buffed by Gorslav with the Ulfenkarni Phylacteri. The aim of this portion of the army is to take primaries with it’s board presence. and recursion.
Belladamma with 2×10 Wolves, serves as a shield for the zombies during deployment and to click units or far away objectives. A third pack is set up by Volga to protect herself with the Vyrkos heroic action. Volga can pin some units with the lycancurse, creating more wolves and more recursion.
The three parts click together perfectly, I usually do all the primaries and secondaries. If you come at me you are pinned by the zombies and showered in debuffs. I can then counter attack with Under the killing Moon + Hoarfrost+ Danse Macabre (and maybe blizzard).
The grand strategy is easy against most armies except, for example, against Benjamin Savva on Nexus collapse, who had low damage input, so I had to put 3 units in reserves (40-20 zombies and 10 Wolves) and never bring them to the table. So, from turn 4, I would be able to bring them on with Gorslav, but you do score the maximum amount of points most of the time
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Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Barak-Urbaz – Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies – Triumph: Inspired – Stick To The Code (Amendments): Trust To Your Guns – Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything, Settle the Grudges – Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught
BATTLELINE Grundstok Thunderers (480)* – Gunnery Sergeant – 3 x Honour Bearer – 3 x Aethercannon – 3 x Aetheric Fumigator – 3 x Decksweeper – 3 x Grundstok Mortar Arkanaut Company (90)* – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Volley Pistol – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt Arkanaut Company (90)* – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Volley Pistol – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt
BEHEMOTH Arkanaut Ironclad (500)* – Great Volley Cannon – Great Endrinworks: The Last Word – The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship
OTHER Gotrek Gurnisson (480)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Carl Stokes: Everyone knows I’m a fervent believer in the Gospel of Gotrek, and it’s lists like this that reinforce why he’s just such an incredible asset for KO. One of the major weaknesses of KO as a faction is their inability to reliably handle fast chunky monsters that can catch our boats and survive being shot long enough to make mincemeat of our troops. This is where Gotrek steps in and immediately turns challenging matchups into easy wins.
The rest of the army is also classic and battle-tested. The shooting-themed ironclad full of thunderers and characters with the Admiral-Khemist-Navigator combo designed to automatically unbind a single vital spell once per game while providing some movement shenanigans and consistent unbind attempts is something everyone expects to see when playing KO. Add in 20 arkanauts to screen and hold backfield objectives and there’s the army.
Which brings us to the greatest Old World Dawi to ever wield an axe… Gotrek! When wielded appropriately, he provides an immovable bulwark and melee blender that can reliably remove almost anything in the game. He’s the sort of model you run into the midfield and then just threaten the meat of your opponent’s army every turn. Sure, you may not reliably make a 10” charge, but you only have to do so once and you win the game. Worried something might get into the ironclad? With Gotrek around, nothing is gonna want to be within about 12” of his small but mighty footprint.
Specifically, he provides a way for KO to immediately remove things like Kragnos, Stonehorns, blobs of infantry, blobs of cavalry, blobs of monstrous infantry, etc, etc. People often forget that it’s fairly hard to pile in a blender unit into Gotrek to maximize their attacks into him, which means that units of 6 pigs or necropolis stalkers just simply can’t get enough models in combat to take him out before he minces the squad. And reducing all damage to one BEFORE his 3+ ward means that it’s reeeeeally hard to take him out (plus don’t forget he can Heroic Recovery if need be)!
Just to hammer home how stupid high Gotrek’s output is, I’ve included a little damage table of his average output into various saves:
Except that’s only one activation. And he gets to fight TWICE per combat phase. So yeah, that’s why he’s the Goat..rek.
As for the way this army plays, it’s fairly similar to many other top KO lists. You’ve got the incredibly high output shooting with 4+ rally for the thunderers and ironclad support backed up by ancillary characters designed to get the most out of both the thunderers and the boat. This is the sort of army that will absolutely dominate any low objective battle plan while likely going down early on points when playing multi-objective scenarios. But it rarely matters, since you’re just going to be erasing your opponent with overwhelming firepower and smashing them with Gotrek if they try to threaten your firebase. An incredible list and an excellent result. Well done!
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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Knights of the Empty Throne – Grand Strategy: Overshadow – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Spells: Hoarfrost Be’lakor (340)* – Spells: Daemonic Speed Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (160)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – Chaos Lance – Artefacts of Power: The Conqueror’s Crown
BATTLELINE Varanguard (560)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 6 x Fellspear Varanguard (280)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 3 x Fellspear The Unmade (80)*
OTHER Chaos Chosen (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Exalted Champion – 2 x Skull Drummer – 2 x Icon Bearer – Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Geir Vedeld: What I like the most here is that it has several strong elements. It plays well on Battle Tactics. It has a strong control / alpha element combined with the opportunity to slow play.
The lone Mounted Chaos Lord can flank easily. He would, of course, be better on Karkadrak, but the list is 2000 points on the spot. He supplies the list with the battle tactic Lust for Power, which is otherwise harder to get to. With Conqueror’s Crown, he takes objectives from Chaff. Also, he is difficult to kill for chaff units, making it an investment for the opponent to take him out.
The 3-man unit of Varanguard is an MVP. It can either be sent on a mission alone, killing as many small units as possible before dying. Taking out 200+ points with it at an early stage is often quite important late game and ruins plans and battle tactics on the other side of the table.
The drawback with the Chosen is that it is slow, and the Knights of the Empty Throne sub-faction gives speed and punishes the opponent for making mistakes in positioning, etc. Chosen reduces that opportunity.
The drawback with Varanguard is that they do very little damage if they are tagged (by e.g., Murderlust from Khorne). Without retreat and charge and a corner tag, Varanguard are basically doing very little they are supposed to do.
Roland Rivera: Slaves to Darkness continues its post-Battlescroll ascent with another strong showing. This list pairs the devastating offensive power of Khorne Varanguard with an extra dose of speed by putting them in the Knights of the Empty Thorne subfaction, which enables them to run and charge. On the defensive front, this list runs a reinforced unit of Nurgle Chosen as its solid center that can take a hard punch and give one back. It also features a Sorcerer to hang out near the Chosen, providing Ward saves and Daemonic Power. Lastly, it also adds a dash of board control by featuring Be’lakor and his ability to shut units down for a turn.
Geir has made some interesting choices in support units to set his list apart – he has a rarely-seen unit in the Chaos Lord with Daemonic Mount as a dedicated objective snatcher (thanks to his speed and The Conqueror’s Crown letting him bully 1- and 2-Wound models off objectives) and a unit of Unmade, which project an aura preventing Redeploy and making sure the Varanguard’s devastating charges have a higher chance of hitting home.
All in all, this list clearly plays to the strengths of the Slaves to Darkness force, while featuring some interesting tech that make it quite an interesting read.
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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
This is the top three AoS lists for AoS Frontier Cup 2023 that took place in Slovakia on the 16th and 17th of September. It involved 23 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: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Gorslav the Gravekeeper (120)* – General – Command Traits: Spoor Trackers – Artefacts of Power: Ulfenkarni Phylactery Lauka Vai (300)** – Spells: Spirit Gale Torgillius the Chamberlain (150)** – Spells: Waste Away Vampire Lord (140)** – Spells: Hoarfrost
Army Faction: Seraphon – Army Type: Starborne – Army Subfaction: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)* – Artefacts: Arcane Tome 1 x Slann Starmaster (275)* – General – Command Traits: Lord of Celestial Resonance – Spells: Drain Magic, Comet’s Call 1 x Skink Starseer (150)* – Spells: Hoarfrost, Speed of Huanchi 1 x Lord Kroak (410)** 1 x Skink Starseer (150)** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Celestial Harmony 1 x Skink Starseer (150)** – Spells: Cosmic Crush, Merciless Blizzard
BATTLELINE 10 x Skinks (90) – Boltspitter – Celestite Dagger and Star-buckler 5 x Saurus Guard (140)** – Icon Bearer – War-drummer – Saurus Guard Alpha 10 x Saurus Warriors (180)** – Saurus Warrior Alpha – Icon Bearer – War-drummer – Celestite Club
BEHEMOTH 1 x Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (180)
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Chronomantic Cogs (50) 1 x Malevolent Maelstrom (30) 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Andtorian Acolytes **Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: (1975/2000)
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Wurrgog Prophet (170)* – Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz – Spells: Hoarfrost, Merciless Blizzard Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork, Foot of Gork Maniak Weirdnob (100)** – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un – Spells: Gorkamorka’s War Cry, Merciless Blizzard Gobsprakk (240)*** Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat
BATTLELINE Orruk Ardboys (80)** – Waaagh! Drummer – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Ardboy Boss – 2 x Orruk-forged Shield Orruk Brutes (280)** – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – 2 x Gore-choppa Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Gore-choppa – Brute Choppas – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha Orruk Ardboys (80)*** – Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer – Waaagh! Drummer – Ardboy Boss – 2 x Orruk-forged Shield OTHER Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (50)
BEHEMOTH 1 x Chaos Gargant (150) 1 x Chaos Gargant (150)
OTHER 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened (180) – Aviarch 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened (180) – Aviarch 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened (180) – Aviarch 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened (180) – Aviarch
CORE BATTALIONS: *Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: (1940/2000)
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Final Tournament Placings
Changes to BCP mean we can’t display the final results like we used to. Instead here is a link to the results on Best Coast Pairings
This is the top three AoS lists for the Smite Club Open that took place in the US on the 9th and 10th of September. It involved 35 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: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses
LEADER 1 x Necromancer (100)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x Vampire Lord (140)* – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Lauka Vai (300)** – Spells: Vile Transference 1 x Belladamma Volga (200)** – Spells: Spirit Gale 1 x Gorslav the Gravekeeper (120)*** – General – Command Traits: Spoor Trackers – Artefacts: Ulfenkarni Phylactery
BATTLELINE 10 x Dire Wolves (140)** – Doom Wolf 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)** 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)** 40 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)** 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)*** 20 x Deadwalker Zombies (120)***
OTHER 1 x Corpse Cart (80)** – Unholy Lodestone – Corpse Lash 1 x Corpse Cart (80)*** – Unholy Lodestone – Corpse Lash
Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh – Army Type: Godseekers – Grand Strategy: Coveted Riches – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Shardspeaker of Slaanesh (130)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard Infernal Enrapturess (120)* – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome Sigvald (200)** The Masque (140)** Keeper of Secrets (400)** – Shining Aegis – Artefacts of Power: Girdle of the Realm-racer – Spells: Paths of the Dark Prince Lord of Pain (140)*** – General – Command Traits: Speed-chaser
Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin – Subfaction: Dhom-Hain – Grand Strategy: Dominion of the Deep Ones – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Eidolon of Mathlann Aspect of the Sea (310)* – Spells: Steed of Tides Akhelian Thrallmaster (100)* Isharann Tidecaster (140)** – General – Command Traits: Teachings of the Túrscoll – Artefacts of Power: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide – Spells: Hoarfrost Battlemage (100)** – Magic of the Realms: Wildform (Ghur)
