This is the top three AoS lists for Ironweld that took place in the US between the 11th and 12th of 2026. It saw 53 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
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The Top Three AoS Lists
Cities of Sigmar
Zealous Hordes
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 3
Wounds: 152
Spell Lore – Spells of the Collegiate Arcane
Prayer Lore – Scriptures of Sigmar
Manifestation Lore – Krondspine Incarnate
Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Burning for Vengeance
General’s Regiment
Tahlia Vedra, Lioness of the Parch (340)
• General
Freeguild Cavalier-Marshal (120)
• The Last Blade of Embergard
• Beloved Leader
Freeguild Cavaliers (300)
• Reinforced
Freeguild Cavaliers (300)
• Reinforced
Freeguild Fusiliers (240)
• Reinforced
Regiment 1
Alchemite Warforger (130)
Freeguild Grenadiers (140)
Freeguild Steelhelms (90)
Freeguild Steelhelms (90)
Regiment 2
Jorvan Kreel, Heir of the Kraken (120)
Freeguild Gallants (130)
Faction Terrain
Dawner’s Triumph
Fabien Barbusse: Four of the top-performing Cities lists this weekend, two from this event and two from Summer Scourge, shared a very similar foundation. Three of them were built around the same core: Tahlia Vedra, a Cavalier-Marshal, two reinforced units of Cavaliers, an Alchemite Warforger and Steelhelms. Together, these units form an incredibly efficient package that does almost everything the army wants. The Cavaliers are the real stars, combining an excellent statline with *Storm of Steel* to deliver devastating charges, while Steelhelms provide the defensive utility the army otherwise lacks by forcing opponents to fight on your terms. Tahlia, the Marshal and the Warforger all exist to make those Cavaliers even better, layering +1 to hit and wound, additional mortals on the charge and Crit (Mortal) onto an already exceptional unit.
For his remaining points, Dyl opted for reinforced Fusiliers alongside Jorvan Kreel, Grenadiers and Gallants. The Fusiliers provide ranged pressure and a durable screen, while Jorvan’s movement tricks let the infantry be exactly where they’re needed. Combined with several cheap units, the package gives the list excellent flexibility for both primary and battle tactic scoring.
Congratulations to Dyl on another tournament victory.
Slaves to Darkness
Despoilers
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 3
Wounds: 135
Spell Lore – Lore of the Damned
Manifestation Lore – Twilit Sorceries
Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Burning for Vengeance
General’s Regiment
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)
• General
Chaos Chosen (500)
• Reinforced
• The Dread Banner
Chaos Warriors (Scourge of Aqshy) (400)
• Reinforced
Regiment 1
Daemon Prince (230)
• Trophy Rack
• Pledged to Nurgle
• Rune of Murder
• Deathmonger
Chaos Knights (240)
Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (130)
Regiments of Renown
The Curse-Steel Battery (380)
Faction Terrain
Nexus Chaotica
Roland Rivera: Slaves to Darkness looks poised to make a strong showing this season between the changes in the July Battlescroll and the new additions in Scourge of Aqshy. This list showcases some of those additions in triumphant fashion.
We’ll start with Scourge of Aqshy Chaos Warriors. For a nominal points increase over the standard variety, you get quite a few benefits. A 6+ Ward when you have any amount of Fury combines with the Nurgle pledge to get you a big block of wounds with a 3+ save backed up by a 5+ Ward, which is a formidable nut to crack. On top of that, any additional Fury you gather over the course of the game makes them even better in combat, making them both a worthy running mate to the classic Dread Banner-bearing reinforced Chosen unit, and an excellent choice to shove into the middle of the board to take and hold any central objectives.
Next up is the Daemon Prince. Not only was he the beneficiary of a recent points cut, but the Despoilers Battle Formation was altered into giving him additional utility by enabling him to hand out his pledge at end of turn, thus accelerating the process of getting your units ready for combat. In addition to these changes, Scourge of Aqshy brought him a delightful piece of gear in the Rune of Murder, which combines with the Deathmonger Heroic Trait to make the Prince spit out a truly terrifying amount of offense on a once-per-game basis (12 attacks, with fight twice!). At 10 health, with a 3+ save backed up by a 5+ Ward thanks to the Nurgle pledge, he also boasts an impressive defensive profile. All in all, this Daemon Prince is officially the menace the lore always told us he could be.
Of course, being a potent combat army is only one piece of the puzzle in creating a successful army – being able to reliably score Battle Tactics is crucial. To aid in that endeavor, this list employed the Curse-Steel Battery Regiment of Renown. The shooting damage from the Helsmiths of Hashut artillery pieces make Blazing Onslaught much easier to score, and the pressure from being shot at will force enemy units to face your potent melee infantry blocks. Overall, this list had a strong showing, and I expect it to be an ongoing theme this season.
Neil Addleman: Right out of the gate with a Slaves to Darkness 5-0 in the first week of the new GHB, you love to see it. This list focuses on two powerhouse infantry units with a couple supporting pieces including a regiment of renown.
A Chaos Sorcerer Lord leads a reinforced unit of Chaos Chosen and Scourge of Aqshy Chaos Warriors. Chosen are a tried and true mega-hammer for this army, with their fight twice ability and the ability to gain a 5+ ward from the Sorcerer. While the new seasonal warriors improve with your fury level. First gaining a 6+ ward, then anti-charge, then at seven fury they gain strike first as long as they haven’t charged, making them a great anvil on any center objective. Especially if you mark them Nurgle to turn that 6+ ward into a 5+ one. With objectives being more tightly packed this GHB, marching two powerful bricks down the board is shaping up to be a solid plan.
A Nurgle Marked Daemon Prince leads the second regiment, and he has both the artefact and the heroic trait in this list. With the Nurgle mark he has 10 health on a 3+/5+ so he won’t be dying to random shooting, and can also be protected with Look Out Sir or Obscuring. With the new Despoilers Formation update he can also mark those Warriors Nurgle turn one and allow you to still mark the Chosen or Knights Khorne, helping your pledge economy. But the artefact and heroic trait combo also turn him into a strong secondary threat. The new Rune of Murder once per game allows you to double his attacks (for a mere d3 mortals taken) and Deathmonger lets you once per game fight twice. So you are looking at 12 damage 3 attacks with crit (mortal) two times for a single turn. If you pick your target well he can take an important piece of the table with ease, and he also uses fury dice well with those damage 3 attacks at end of turn.
In his regiment is a Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount paired with 5 Chaos Knights to give the list some speed to hit a flank or a side objective. A tried and true combo that can punch above it’s point cost pretty easily. The speed of these and the Daemon Prince also helps with Burning for Vengeance step one.
To top off the list you have The Curse-Steel Battery Regiment of Renown. This gives you a second cast to the list, as well as two artillery pieces. Not only does this provide ranged pressure to hopefully prevent your opponent from playing too defensively, but it can also shut down commands to stop important redeploys and allow your Chosen to get in and carve their units up. Shooting phase damage also makes Blazing Onslaught step one easier. And they can always high roll and take out a hero monster once in a while.
Overall, this list has multiple hammers on a 3+ save and possible 5+ wards that can brawl in the middle exceptionally well while two cannons fire from the backline to wreck all the opponents plans. And I am sure he enjoyed some thrilling combats with that juiced up Daemon Prince.
Kruleboyz
Kruleboyz Klaw
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 5
Spell Lore – Lore of the Swamp
Manifestation Lore – Manifestations of Gorkamorka
Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Burning for Vengeance
General’s Regiment
Kragnos, the End of Empires (580)
• General
Man-skewer Boltboyz (200)
• Reinforced
Regiment 1
Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (120)
• Swamp Staff
Regiment 2
Swampboss Skumdrekk (150)
Hobgrot Slittaz (140)
• Reinforced
Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (130)
• Slippery Skumbag
Regiment 3
Gobsprakk, the Mouth of Mork (240)
Regiments of Renown
Da Hurtlin’ Hogz (430)
Tuskboss on Maw-grunta
Maw-grunta Gougers
Faction Terrain
Skaregob Totem
Connor Irwin: Another strong showing for competitive kruleboyz has some interesting surprises. Let’s break it down.The Klaw formation turns on obscuring out to 12″ for units wholly within 3″ of terrain. Shielding the KB monsters from a lot of shooting hate in some metas. Blazing onslaught and burning for vengeance tactics take advantage of teleporting tricks and monster/wizard smashing tools like kragnos and gobbsprak. I think it’s important to point out what’s missing from this list: gutrippas and monsta-killaz! The faction’s two combat infantry bedrock units for the last…forever? Are taking a turn on the bench and do not seem to have been terribly missed based on the results. Wild!
The generals regiment has kragnos and a reinforced boltboyz unit for a hammer and scalpel combo, while the swampcalla with +1 power from the swamp staff probably sits atop the skaregob totem as long as possible to push out +1 to trick rolls, buffing spells. and maybe his +1 save potion.
Regiment 3 has a newly immerged skumdrekk and 20 hobgrots that (when appropriately buffed) are similar in many ways to gutrippas, but cheaper and with more control and better synergy with their nearby monster-jocky boss. It’s a suddenly popular combo that’s been a matter of discussion all edition and finally getting traction this season. Love to see it. The real dark horse here is the OG Gnashtoof, whose 12″ aura of +1 to hit for KB units (ie kragnos) when contesting uncontrolled objectives at 130 points is well worth the price.
The wizard-hater-in-chief gobsprakk is priced well for his ability to threaten wizards (and especially infantry wizards someone might park on a place of power to farm fury all game), and should be a popular pick this season.
Lastly the ironjawz maw-grunta RoR is out there with kraggy getting into the mix and hopefully handing out fight last on offense and burning rage dice. It’s a strong combo with kraggy’s d6 charge boost aura and opens up the kruleboyz general to pile on damage in multiple engagements both offensively and defensively with dirty trick fight last.
Congrats to Adam for crawling out of the swampy depths of the army WR% rankings with a great performance.
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Tallyband of Nurgle
General’s Handbook 2026-27
Drops: 4
Spell Lore – Lore of Malignance
Prayer Lore – Benedictions of Sickness
Manifestation Lore – Aetherwrought Machineries
Battle Tactic Cards: Blazing Onslaught, Siege of Ashes
General’s Regiment
The Glottkin (470)
• General
Pusgoyle Blightlords (380)
• Reinforced
Sloven Knights (180)
Regiment 1
Belga the Cystwitch (130)
Regiment 2
Festus the Leechlord (290)
Plaguebearers (130)
Regiment 3
Lord of Blights (140)
• Overpowering Stench
• The Witherstave
Scourge of Aqshy: Putrid Blightkings (280)
• Reinforced
Faction Terrain
Feculent Gnarlmaw
Final Tournament Placings
