This is the top three AoS lists for Dazmaul Wargaming Tournament 2024 that took place in the UK on the 16th and 17th of March. It saw 36 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
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The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Legion of Night – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS 1 x Mannfred Von Carstein (400)* – Spells: Prison of Grief 1 x Vampire Lord (150)** – Artefacts of Power: Morbheg’s Claw – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Necromancer (100)** – General – Command Traits: Unbending Will – Spells: Waste Away 1 x King Morlak Velmorn (230)***
BATTLELINE 10 x Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf 10 x Dire Wolves (150)* – Doom Wolf 20 x Deathrattle Skeletons (220)*** – Skeleton Champion – 2 x Standard Bearer
OTHER 4 x The Sons of Velmorn (230)*** 20 x Grave Guard (320)*** – Seneschal – Hornblower – Great Wight Blade – 2 x Standard Bearer 5 x Black Knights (130)*** – Hellknight – Standard Bearer – Hornblower 5 x Black Knights (130)*** – Hellknight – Standard Bearer – Hornblower
Each Datacard has three distinct sections; Charge Chance, Resilience and Average Damage Output.
Charge Chance
This graph shows the move and charge distances each unit can achieve and shows the chance of them achieving this distance as a percentage.
Resilience
This table shows how much damage would be required on average to destroy the unit. This is split into the various rend types most commonly found in Age of Sigmar. For example, the unit shown in the image above would need 18 damage from -2 rend weapons for the enemy to have a chance at destroying it.
This can be cross-referenced with another units average damage output to see what kind of damage they’ll do to it.
Average Damage Output
This simply shows how much damage on average the unit is expected to inflict after saves against the various save types. If there are multiple load-out choices, then these are shown separately, as is any missile damage.
All the data used in the charts on this article are drawn from events that have been hosted on Best Coast Pairings, Stats & Ladders and Ecksen using the points and FAQs from Battlescroll: Tactics of Andtor published in September 2023.
This chart shows the faction popularity, using the number of players using them at events.
The Combined win rate chart shows the overall win rate for these subfactions. This is the most comparable data to GW’s own metawatch articles. The figure in brackets shows the number of games featuring that subfaction the data is drawn from.
The above shows the win rates for each subfaction at GT events. These are events of single player tournaments of 2,000 points per player spread over a minimum of 5 rounds. This would be considered the most competitive view, with many of the players being experienced and looking to optimise their lists.
RTT/Casual shows the win rates for events that are not classified as a GT event. This could be doubles, teams, narrative, but mostly revolves around single day events known as RTTs.
The nitty gritty of a faction! This chart shows the win rate for lists where the specified warscroll has been included in the players list. The figure in brackets shows the number of games that featured the warscroll.
This shows the source of the Grand Strategy used in the players’ games, whether they are from the Battletome or the General’s Handbook.
Here you can see both the win rate of each Grand Strategy when it was used, as well as the popularity of the strategies.
Like our Grand Strategy source chart, this shows the same information but for Command Traits.
Once again, we can see the win rate of each Command Trait when used in players’ lists. The figure in brackets shows the number of games where that Command Trait was used.
Finally, we have the win rates for Endless Spells when included in lists.
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The forces of Order aim to bring peace to the Mortal Realms by stamping out evil. Forces of Stormcast Eternals, known as Stormhosts, would travel across the Realms liberating the pathways between realms known as Realmgates. Cities were then strategically erected around these places of power at the behest of the God-King Sigmar himself. Populated by the Humans, Duardin, and Aelves, these Free Cities came to be known as the Cities of Sigmar. Bastions of Order, these Cities serve as the garrison to crusades launched all across the Mortal Realms.
Playstyle
The Cities of Sigmar Battletome boasts a strong variety in play styles that include high durability, strong mobility, long range shooting, powerful magics, and formidable melee. What you will enjoy about Cities is being able to have your cake and eat it too. The wide variety inherently within the warscrolls and allegiance abilities will allow you to mix and match all of these archetypes to your heart’s content. Whether you aim to castle up and charge forward the Cities of Sigmar (CoS) will enable you to achieve that and more.
Allegiance Abilities
The delicious bread and butter for CoS lies in their Orders. Orders are special abilities your CoS HEROES can utilize. At the start of the battle round, you give each of your heroes an order, face down such that your opponent does not know what they are. You can then trigger them throughout the battle round at the appropriate times. This “trap card” style ability allows the CoS player immense flexibility on a turn by turn basis. You can’t have more than 3 of the same order out at the same time, and a unit cannot be affected more than once by the same order in the same phase. At the end of the battle round, you discard any that are not revealed and start anew.
The first two orders can be given to any CoS HERO. Advance in Formation is revealed at the start of the movement phase. Any unit that starts a normal move within 3” of this HERO gets to add 3” to their move characteristic. This means you get the opportunity to move the hero in range of a different unit that wants to receive the bonus. Castelite units with the Fortified Position ability can use said ability even if they made a normal move as long as they end within 3” of this HERO. We will get into what all that means when we discuss the warscrolls. Counter-Charge is revealed at the end of the enemy charge phase. You pick a unit that is not in combat and within 3” of this HERO. That unit can attempt a charge, and if they make it their rend is improved by one until the end of the turn. Anything that allows you to act in your opponent’s turn is very powerful, a Counter Charge being amongst the best of them. Your opponent can carefully position all they want and you can surprise them with one more unit that they did not intend on fighting.
The next three orders can only be given to your HUMAN CoS HEROES. Return Fire is revealed when a friendly unit within 3” of the HERO is targeted by a shooting attack. After that attack, a HUMAN CoS unit within 3” of that HERO that is not in combat can make a shooting attack. Any enemy archers will have to think twice about who they shoot! Suppressing Fire is revealed at the start of your shooting phase. Pick one HUMAN CoS unit within 3” of this HERO. If that unit shoots and puts all its attacks into one target, roll two dice against that unit’s bravery adding the number of models slain by that attack. If the roll exceeds the target’s bravery, that unit is suppressed until the end of the turn (meaning it has strikes last). Soften up a target with some missiles before charging in and you may be able to give it strikes last in addition! Engage the Foe is revealed at the start of your charge phase. Pick a CoS HUMAN within 3” of the HERO, not in combat, and has not fought yet in the battle. If that unit makes a charge move, they will get +1 attacks until the end of that combat phase. This will make your melee threats even more threatening on that initial impact.
The next two orders can only be given to your DUARDIN CoS HEROES. Form Shieldwall is revealed at the start of the enemy combat phase. It allows you to pick a CoS DUARDIN unit with 5 or more models within 3” of this hero to get a 5+ ward and strike last. A surprise jump in durability that can catch an opponent off guard. Grim Last Stand is revealed at the start of your combat phase. It allows you to pick a CoS DUARDIN unit models within 3” of this hero and gives them an explode on death. The explosion is 3” range measured from the unit and causes 1 mortal wound on a 5+ per slain model. This one leaves a lot to be desired as it does not seem to stack up to anything that we have seen so far.
The next two orders can only be given to your AELF CoS HEROES. Strike Them Down is revealed at the start of the charge phase. One CoS AELF unit within 3” of the hero will get strike first if they charge this turn. This combos very well with Counter-Charge. A unit can benefit from more than one order in the same phase assuming it is not the same order. Swift Disengage is revealed at the end of the combat phase.One CoS AELF unit within 3” of this hero can immediately make a retreat move. This is a very nice piece of out of phase mobility, and we love abilities that let you do things out of phase.
Subfaction Traits Summary
There are a whopping 11 Free Cities to choose from as your subfaction! You may find some to be more impactful than others, however each will definitely provide a niche that you may find enjoyable! A number of these will specifically lay out how allies can interact with them. As a reminder, allies will not get the subfaction keyword nor are they CoS which means they cannot have or receive orders.
Hammerhal Aqsha lets one of your Aqsha HEROES have two different orders instead of just one order. You also get an extra CP at the start of your hero phase if you have an allied Aventis Firestrike on the battlefield. This is going to be outclassed by some of the other cities as getting a single additional order or CP per round does not a subfaction make.
The Living City enables you to deepstrike up to half of your Living City or Sylvaneth units during deployment. One or more of them are set up wholly within 6” of the board edge and more than 9” away from enemies at the end of your movement phase. If deepstrike excites you and you would like to bring along your Sylvaneth toys, go nuts!
Vindicarum units are able to rally while within 3” of enemies, and your Vindicarum Flagellants can rally on a 5+. This one is not particularly flashy as no other unit will have an improved rally. Large blobs of Flagellants with defensive buffs tarring up the board and exploding on death while rallying back certainly is a choice you can make. However, they are so fragile that they may not survive to see the rally. And with the 10 wound cap on rally, it might be that much more difficult to pull off.
Tempest’s Eye units, Kharadron Overlords skyvessels allies, and the units embarked in said vessels are able to retreat and shoot. This is an alright touch of mobility, and could be exciting for the flying duardin enjoyers that want to bring their lads into Cities!
Greywater Fastness allows you to issue All-out Attack in the shooting phase to three Greywater Fastness units. The first two times you issue it, it does not cost a CP. If you’re a fan of tanks or lads with firearms, this could improve your output in the shooting phase.
Excelsis gives all your Excelsis monsters an additional wound. It also gives your Freeguild Cavaliers the ability to do some mortal wounds in the combat phase. After they fight, pick any enemy within 3” and roll a die for each model in the Cav unit. Each 4+ will deal a mortal. There are some formidable monsters in the book, so if you wish to beef them up and then sprint around with the very fast Cavalry, this may be the option for you!
Hallowheart stands out as the magical subfaction, allowing your Hallowheart wizards to cast on 3d6 rather than 2d6. If the unmodified casting roll was 10+, they take D3 mortal wounds after resolving the spell. We will review the spell lore shortly but getting the chance to 3d6 cast your critical spells at the cost of maybe D3 mortal wounds is the deal of a lifetime.
Lethis stands out as the premier PRIEST subaction. Your HUMAN Lethis non-WIZARD HEROES become PRIESTS and gain access to the Lethis specific prayer Morrda’s Embrace which is a 4+ 12” range ward turn off (your Stormcast PRIEST allies will also get this). The range is a bit short, but a ward turn off is a phenomenal tool to have in addition to the generic and Cities specific prayer scriptures.
Settler’s Gain WIZARDS get +1 to cast and your general will generate an additional CP if they are within 3” of a Lumineth Realm-Lord ally. This is another magic subfaction and while it feels less flashy than Hallowheart, it offers some nice consistency.
Hammerhall Ghyra allows you to bring 1 additional reinforced CoS unit than normal and make all of your HUMAN units bravery 10 while they have 10 or more models. This one seems like a miss. There are tools that will allow you to deal with battleshock so this just doesn’t seem necessary.
Misthavn lets you pick 3 Misthavn units at the end of the hero phase that are outside 12” of enemies. Those units move D6”, or 2d6” if they are mounted. This move can end within 3” of enemies. This is a really nice touch of mobility and will give your already speedy cavalry even more room to move. Being able to end within combat has so many implications including shutting off unleash, redeploy, counter-charges, certain commands, and so on!
Spells and Prayers
There are two spell lores in the CoS tome, one for HUMANS and one for AELVES. The Lore of Collegiate Arcane for HUMANS has a whopping 8 spells. Fireball (CV6 range 18”) is a hordebreaker (roll a number of dice equal to the number of models in the unit and do mortals on x) on 6s. This one is not winning any awards. Mystifying Miasma (CV5 range 18”) is a single target debuff for no running and -2 to charge. This could help slow down some folks that rely on run and charge and the range is really nice. Pall of Doom (CV7 range 18”) is a single target debuff to shut off commands. Some units rely more heavily on commands than others. When they DO rely on it, woof does it hurt to take that away. Pha’s Protection (CV7 range 18”) is a single target HUMAN buff to ignore all modifiers to save rolls. Giving a high base save unit an ethereal save could prove quite useful. Rain of Jade (CV7 range 12”) is a single HUMAN model heal, rolling a dice for each wound allocated and healing it on a 5+. This is only for models, not units. Not sure if you are casting this over the other options but could be ok to heal up a durable monster that is heavily injured. Transmutation of Lead (CV7 range 12”) is a hordebreaker on dice value that exceeds the target’s save characteristic. Shutter in fear bricks of ok save models! Twin-tailed Comet (CV7 range 18”) lets you pick an enemy unit and draw a line to one model in that unit. Any HUMANS that the line touches get bravery 10 for the turn and then that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. This one is really really niche. Wildform (CV7 range 12”) is a single target HUMAN buff for a 3d6 charge. Yes, I would absolutely take more mobility thank you very much. The Lore of Dark Sorcery will give your AELVES a less whopping 3 spells to choose from. Sap Strength (CV6 range 18”) is a single target debuff for -1 to wound. Bonuses to wound don’t come sound too often so this one can hurt. Umbral Hex (CV6 range 12”) is a single target debuff to roll 2d6 instead of 1d6 for battleshock tests. Pair this with Pall of Doom and the battleshock phase will be terrifying. Tenebrael Blades (CV7 range 9”) is a single target AELF buff. Any enemy that this AELF unit targets in melee will be treated as having a save characteristic of “-” which means 7+.
Amongst these two spell lores, there are a number of interesting tools you can utilize to buff yourself or debuff your opponent. With all the casting bonuses you may have access to based on the subfaction you choose, this is a toolbox that you can have at the ready.
Rune Lore is the prayer scripture with 3 prayers your DUARDIN will have access to. Rune of Unfaltering Aim (CV3 range 12”) is a single target DUARDIN buff with that will give +1 to hit with missile weapons. Copters and Bombers rejoice? Rune of Oath and Steel (CV3 range 12”) is a single target DUARDIN buff that will give enemies -1 to wound in melee against that unit. Yet another durability buff for blocks of DUARDIN. Rune of Wrath and Ruin (CV3 range 18”) is a single target damage prayer. On 6 dice, each 5+ is a mortal wound. On 3 or more mortals, that target cannot benefit from bonuses to save. Two consistent buffs and an inconsistent debuff.
Command Traits and Artefacts
YourHUMAN generals will have access to four command traits from Sentinels of Order. Diving Champion will make your general a PRIEST and give them access to the prayer Hammer of Sigmar (CV4 range 12”). The prayer is a +1 to wound AoE buff centered on the chanter. +1 to wound is nothing to sneeze at, but you’re still asking for a 4+ without rerolls. Grizzled Veteran is only for your FREEGUILD generals and it makes it so attacks can only wound successfully on unmodified rolls of 4+. This is a significant bump in durability. Master of Ballistics will improve your general’s All-out-Attack, giving +1 to wound in addition to +1 to hit when issued to a CASTELITE unit. If you want to go all in on Fusiliers or Steelhelms, this could be a good consideration. Fiery Temper allows this general to reroll charges. If this general makes a charge move, all other CoS units wholly within 18” also get to reroll their charges. If you live by the ABCs (Always Be Charging) this is a fun command trait for you.
Your HUMAN HEROES have access to 6 artefacts of power from Treasures of the Cities. Brazier of Holy Flame lets you roll a dice each time a HUMAN model flees from battleshock while wholly within 12” of the bearer. On a 4+, that model does not flee. Could potentially mess up coherency if you are not careful, but between this and all the potential bravery buffs I do not foresee HUMAN bricks running to bravery. Mastro Vivetti’s Magnificent Macroscope (great name) gives +3” to the range of missile weapons used by HUMANS wholly within 12” of the bearer. Steam Tanks and Fusiliers shooting from even father is going to be tough to handle! Shemtek’s Grimoire is a once per battle debuff to enemy wizards. You use this at the start of the enemy hero phase to give their wizards -D3 to cast for that phase. This is very niche, but if you want to go high drops for extra artefacts this is an interesting inclusion to make your army more magically dominant. Sigmarite Warhammer will just give one of the bearers weapons an extra pip of rend and damage. If you like a smashy Griffon, this is your golden ticket. Flask of Lethisian Darkwater is a once per battle D6 heal at the end of any phase. Once per battle abilities need to be REALLY good to keep up with the other options you have access to. D6 is just too inconsistent. Glimmering is a once per phase reroll for a hit, wound, or save roll for the bearer. Not sure why one would take this over some of the other options.
Your DUARDIN generals will have 3 command traits to choose from Lords of the Mountains. Of Mighty Lineage allows your general to pick an enemy HERO within 3” at the start of the combat phase, giving your general strikes first if they target the enemy HERO with all their attacks. Not sure if Mighty Lineage is going to earn much Mighty Mileage. Insurmountable Resilience allows you to roll a die for each wound allocated to this general at the end of the combat phase, healing the wound with each 3+. The beefiest DUARDIN HERO is 6 wounds on a 3+ save in the Warden King. I am not seeing how you can reliably take advantage of this. Master of Ancient Lore makes your general a PRIEST, and gives them an extra prayer from the scripture if they are already a priest. The scripture is not particularly inspiring. A common theme you may be noticing is that the DUARDIN are looking like they got the short end of the stick, pun intended.
Your DUARDIN HEROES can pick from 3 artefacts of power from Ancestor relics. Book of Grudges lets the bearer pick an enemy unit while out of combat. On a 4+, DUARDIN get +1 to hit that enemy unit until a different one is picked. The coinflip requirement hurts. Piledriver Gauntlets (best name yet?) allows the bearer to roll a dice for each enemy unit within 3” at the start of the combat phase. Each 4+ will give them strikes last. The bearer must forgo their chance to fight in order to do this. More coin flips, more feels bad.Heavy Metal Ingot allows the user to ignore negative modifiers to their save rolls as long as they have not made a move in the same turn. That 6 wound 3+ save Warden King may be a bit tougher to kill with this, but it is only 6 wounds after all.
Your AELF generals will have access to 3 command traits from Dreaded Leaders. Unparalleled Duelist will deal 1 mortal wound to an enemy for every hit roll that targets the general and does not produce a hit. Most of the AELF HEROES are not particularly tanky, so this may not be as good as it looks on paper. Secretive Warlock will give a wizard general +1 to cast and unbind. Simple, not flashy, but consistent and can combo with your subfaction. Although, your AELF WIZARDS are only single casters. Draconic Blood-pact is specifically for your AELF HEROES that are riding a Black Dragon. The general can take 1 mortal wound to give the Black Dragon mount attacks +1 attacks. This is alright if you like The Dragons themselves hit on 4+s base. I am not sure an AELF general’s role is to be fighting on the front lines. They have warscroll abilities that may better suit them elsewhere, which we will cover later. Your AELF HEROES will be able to choose from 3 artefacts of power from Exotic Armaments. Shadowshroud Ring will once per battle allow the bearer to become invisible to enemies outside of 12” until the start of your next hero phase. This may prevent them from being sniped if they didn’t already benefit from Look Out Sir! Venomfang Blade will make one of the bearer’s weapons deal an additional D3 mortal wounds on 6s to wound. Again, not sure your AELF HEROES are sprinting to the front lines to use this. Anklet of Epiphany will add 6” to the range of their spells while they are wholly on a terrain feature or contesting an objective. This one definitely has a use!
Warscrolls
HUMANS HEROES
The Alchemite Warforger is a single cast WIZARD that can choose at the start of the hero phase between +1 to cast or forgoing their spell for +1 to save for all HUMANS wholly within 12”. Their warscroll spell Blazing Weapons (CV7 12”) will give all HUMANS wholly within range 1 mortal in addition on 6’s to hit in melee. This one wizard packs both utility and a pretty banger warscroll spell. If you manage to get this off, your damage will skyrocket.
The Battlemage has a couple of loadouts to choose from. Those options are 2 extra weapon attacks (haha no GW I don’t think so), a 5+ ward, a once per battle casting of an additional spell at the cost of 1 wound, a once per battle 2+ D3 mortals wounds at 12”, 6” extra to the range of its spells, +1 to cast, or +1 to unbind. While these rules are neat in theory, the last 3 seem like the only options you would ever realistically choose for this single caster. And even then, it is probably the range.
Pontifex Zenestra, Matriarch of the Great Wheel, premier priest and utility piece for the Cities of Sigmar. They get a dispel and a +1 unbind, a 4+ ward, and a 2+ D3 mortal wounds ability within 3” after it fights and at the start of the combat phase. Their warscroll prayer Vessel of Sigmar (CV 3) allows you to pick 1 of three effects: a 5+ ward for all HUMANS wholly within 18”, +2” to the move characteristic of all friendly HUMANS on the field, or 2+ D3 mortal wounds to every enemy WIZARD and PRIEST on the field. If Zenestra is wholly outside of your territory when they chant this, they get to pick 2 effects. In a HUMAN focused army, Zenestra is an absolute banger pick providing you some immense options to flex between.
The Freeguild Marshal and Relic Envoy is a cheap order carrier that can once per battle make some of your HUMANS count as two models on objectives. He can make a HUMAN unit receive a free command once per turn and gets a 4+ ward next to the Freeguild Command Corp he deems his retinue. He is quite tanky for a little foot hero and has some utility behind him. Bringing along a cheap and safe hero for orders and investing more points into your units is quite feasible.
The Freeguild Cavalier-Marshal is nothing to write home about. It can give your Cavaliers +3 to charge when it uses Their Finest Hour and can make your Cavaliers fight immediately after it does. Your Cavaliers are already quite mobile so this may be putting a hat on a hat.
The Fusil-Major on Ogor Warhulk feels like a bit of a miss. It can increase the range of your Fusiliers’ missile weapons by D6, but with the movement order their effective threat range is already quite high. It can do some damage and has a rule to unreliably kill some models in a target. Your points may be better spent elsewhere.
Galen and Doralia ven Denst are interesting inclusions. You get two heroes for the price of one leader slot, meaning you get to carry around more orders. You are bound to run into wizards or daemons in most matchups, and they can be quite nasty with those targets as they get double damage against them. They have the added utility of being able to shoot down endless spells, which is nice. They do not have many wounds, so their 5+ ward can only keep them around for so long.
Haskal Hexbane and Hexbane Hunters can do a respectable amount of damage against the HERO that they target to hunt. Haskal is an additional HUMAN that can carry orders for your HUMAN focused army. That is about the extent of this package’s usefulness.
The Freeguild General on Griffon is quite the competent fighter and equipping it with the right enhancements can make it both killy AND hard to kill. 14” fly will have this unit screaming across the battlefield. Once per battle it can be given two orders rather than one, which is nice. And this monster can Monstrous Rampage Roar two units rather than one, which is very good.
The Battlemage on Griffon is equally fast, has exploding hits on the damage 3 beaks, and bonus damage against monsters which makes this unit somewhat formidable in combat. They are locked into Wildform if they take a spell from the lore, but that is one of the best ones so I am not bothered by this. The warscroll spell (CV7 18”) is a straight line of 2+ D3 mortals which is alright, but the unit has plenty of other things it is good at.
Battlemage on Celestial Hurricanum is a single caster. If they choose a lore spell it must be Twin-tailed Comet. In your hero phase you can pick 1 enemy unit within 18” and roll a number of dice equal to the current battleround. Every 2+ is going to be D3 mortal wounds. The Hurricanum is going to give your HUMAN units +1 to hit while wholly within 9” of it.Their warscroll spell Chain Lightning (CV6 range 18”) lets you pick one unit in range to suffer D3 mortal wounds. Then, every enemy within 6” of the target will suffer D3 mortal wounds on a 4+. Essentially, the Hurricanum is just going to spray mortal wounds around the table at a confident range. The unmounted Hurricanum is exactly the same without the warscroll spell for a small discount.
Battlemage on Luminark of Hysh is a singler caster as well. If they choose a lore spell it must be Pha’s Protection. They have a 30” range shooting attack that will create a straight line and deal D3 mortal wounds to any unit it touches on a 2+. The Luminark is going to give your HUMAN units a 6+ ward while wholly within 9” of it. Their warscroll spell Burning Gaze (CV6 range 18”) will allow them to do D3 mortal wounds to a unit. The damage is doubled against a 10+ model unit or tripled against a 20+ model unit. The unmounted Luminark is also exactly the same without the warscroll spell for a small discount. You already get a ward from Pontifex Zenestra if you are focusing on HUMANS so I am wholly uncertain why one would take the Luminark over the Hurricanum.
Thalia Vedra is reasonably killy, has a 6+ ward, can hold 2 orders, has a fight last monstrous action against enemy monsters, and can issue rally to units in combat while she is also in combat. That rally works on 4+s. While niche, she absolutely has use cases and comes equipped with very neat rules that could provide you with nice tools.
Steam Tanks are good. The Steam Tank Commander is exactly the same as the Steam tanks except for a couple extra weapons and the very neat ability to double issue commands to Steam Tanks for the price of 1 CP. They are all 12 wounds on a 2+ save. If the Steam Tank Commander is your general, your Steam Tanks will be battleline. They have single shots at 24” and a multitude of shots at 12”. With 8” move and the movement order, these Tanks can absolutely pepper you with bullets at great effective ranges. They also have impact hits and damage 2 attacks in combat which is nothing to sneeze at. They also have a special rule that allows you to roll 2d6 in the hero phase. If you beat the number of wounds currently allocated to them, they can run and shoot/charge or they can get extra shots. If you want to run a giant killy wall of steel forward at your opponent, Steam Tanks are going to be formidable.
HUMANS UNITS
Steelhelms are your only HUMAN non-conditional battleline. They actually have some very cool rules. They can consecrate an objective they control that has no enemies. Your HUMANS will have a 6+ ward as long as they control it. And when they receive All-out-Attack or All-out-Defense, they can share it with another unit of Steelhelms. Their real purpose is to just fill battleline slots very cheaply and exist a screen with some durability in a 4+ save, which they do well!
Wildcorp Hunters can be taken as a battleline for each unit of Steelhelms that you have. They have a pregame move, which is always really good. They are invisible to enemies while in cover or more than 12” from them and get an extra rend to their missiles while near terrain. They have some shots at 18” range. Altogether, they are alright and can take advantage of all the synergy within HUMAN focused armies.
Freeguild Cavaliers are battleline if your general is Freeguild. They are a speedy 10” move with a formidable 3+ save. They get bonus rend and damage on the charge, which will make them the perfect starts for your cavalry focused builds.
Freeguild Fusiliers can be taken as a battleline for each unit of Steelhelms that you have. This unit can shoot at 24” if they are fortified or 12” if they are not. If they move, they are not fortified (unless they benefit from the movement order). While fortified, they ignore negative modifiers to their save from missile weapons. Once per battle, they can reroll their hit rolls. This unit can be menacing with a multitude of shots at a distant range, especially when paired with the artefact Mastro Vivetti’s Magnificent Macroscope and the command trait Master of Ballistics.
Flagellants are battleline if your army includes Pontifex Zenestra. They spit mortals when they die on a 5+ to an enemy unit within 3”. There are certainly builds that could have you running hoards of them, but it seems like it is outclassed by some of the stronger options you have access to.
The Iornweld great cannon has the same Fortify rules as the Fusiliers. While it can do some damage, I am wholly uncertain why you would ever take it over Fusiliers.
One of the highlights of the book, a gang of absolute stars, the Freeguild Command Corps. This warscroll is dense with absolutely stellar rules amongst its 6 models. The unit can be a retinue for a Freeguild General on foot which gives that general a 4+ ward. The Arch-Knight and Mascot Gargoylian together have 7 damage D3 attacks which is nothing to sneeze at. The Whisperblade has a damage D6 attack and a boardwide once-per-turn command deny on a 4+. The command still counts as being issued and the command point is still spent. It may only be a coinflip, but if you have ever needed to reroll a critical charge this is a very scary coinflip that has no range or triggers holding it back. The Great Herald makes this unit a totem. Any HUMANS wholly within 12” of this unit white it has the Great Herald gets +1 to run and charge as well as an additional D3 to retreat moves. The War Surgeon allows you to pick 3 HUMAN units wholly within 12” at the end of your hero phase. Those units heal D3 wounds, or return D3 wounds worth of models if no wounds are allocated. The Soul Shepherd allows you to roll a die each time a model flees from a HUMAN unit wholly within 12”. On a 4+ that model does not flee. In this single warscroll you have the means to interrupt opponent commands, heal your own units/return models, prevent battleshock, gain extra mobility, and do some damage. If you want to play with HUMANS, I think you will be hard pressed not to include at least one unit of Freeguild Command Corps.
DUARDIN
DUARDIN HEROES
The Cogsmith can issue commands to Gyrocopters and Gyrombombres anywhere on the battlefield. That’s it. The Runelord is your DUARDIN PRIEST, gets an unbind, and has the warscroll prayer Forgefire(CV4 range 18”) that can give a DUARDIN unit an extra rend in melee. The Warden King (if they are your general) can pick an enemy unit at the start of the battle and all your DUARDIN will automatically wound with melee weapons on hit rolls of 6. They can also make a DUARDIN unit fight immediately after they do. These are your 3 options for DUARDIN heroes. If you like spamming helicopters, the Cogsmith can help somewhat. The prayers offer some value, which the Runelord will enable you to access. And the Warden King can help take down a single tough target. These heroes’ use cases are not far and wide.
DUARDIN UNITS
Ironbreakers and Longbeards are going to be your non-conditional battlelines. Ironbreakers have a 3+ save and when they Form a Shieldwall they get a 4+ ward rather than the 5+. Longbeards can have a 4+ save for rend 2 attacks or a 3+ save for rend 1 attacks. They will also prevent nearby DUARDIN models from fleeing to battleshock on a 4+ for each model. Neither unit is going to be particularly hitty, nor are they particularly tanky with 1 wound a piece. That being said, the DUARDIN have access to a number of buffs and orders that could make these little lads more formidable. Hammerers are going to do just that. They may have a 4+ save, but they do have 2 attacks at 2 rend and 2 damage. They will also give a Warden King a 4+ ward, but I am not sure you want the Warden King near danger with how few wounds they have. Irondrakes will be your shorty DUARDIN with 1 attack a piece at 15” range (2 attacks if it did not move and is not in combat). This is, again, outclassed by some of your other options for missile weapons.
Gyrocopters and Gyrbombers each sport 3+ saves and 12” fly. The Copters will have a choice between long range damage D3 attacks or shorter range damage 1 attacks with more shots. The Bombers will have damage 2 attacks at 18” range as well as 2+ D3 mortals for any enemies it flies over. The damage on these units is nothing to write home about, but what they are is absolutely mobile. If you want to play fighter choppers in your fantasy wargame, you certainly can with these units.
AELVES
AELF HEROES
There are 3 main keywords that will separate the AELVES: Serpentis, Darkling Covens, and Scourge Privateers.
Black Dragons are the big monsters that your AELF HEROES can ride. The Dreadlord on Black Dragon (Serpentis) is 14 wounds on a 4+. Its damage is unimpressive, which is unfortunate because its warscroll would lead you to believe you want this thing to be a fighter. You can forgo some of its weapon options to have a shield that will make it always save on 6s regardless of modifiers. It gets bonus rend and damage on the charge with a lance, some horde killing with its breath, and gives reroll charges to all your Serpentis units (Drakespawns and War Hydra). With the mediocre damage and middling combat enhancements, this one feels like a bit of a miss.
The Sorceress on Black Dragon (Darkling Covens) is not much better, unfortunately. The 5+ save is quite tough to swallow. The damage is worse and it has a warscroll spell. Bladestorm (CV6 range 18”) lets you roll 9 dice against a target and do a mortal for each roll below their save characteristic. It is a chaff clearer which is fine? It can double issue to your AELF units (specifically only the Darkling Coven ones) and that is it. This too feels like a miss.
The Black Ark Fleetmaster (Scourge Privateers) is an interesting utility piece. When it issues All-out-Attack to your Scourge Privateers, they also get +1 to their attack characteristics. Attack rolls of 1 that target this unit in melee reflect 2 mortals back to the attacker, which is funny enough. The special command alone is a reason to consider bringing this in an AELF build that wants to focus on Corsairs.
The Sorceress (Darkling Covens) is going to be a very popular inclusion for an AELF hero. They can kill a Darkling Coven AELF model to get +2 to casting. It may only be a single caster, but it is a cheap one. Its warscroll spell Word of Pain (CV7 range 18”) will deal D3 mortals and give -1 to hit to the target. A good bit of utility packed into a small package, but the real bang for buck comes with how the Sorceress interacts with Black Guard.
A serious miss comes in the form of the Assassin. It can do mortals on 6s, be invisible near AELVES (to units outside of 12”), and gets strike first on the charge. It is 5 wounds on a 5+ save. Your hero slots should not be spent here.
AELF UNITS
Starting with the Darkling Coven units, the Blackguard are going to be battleline if you take a Darkling Coven AELF as your general. Their damage is basic but their real value comes in their Steel and Sorcery ability. This unit and a Sorceress within 3” of it will have a 4+ ward. Yes, that means a big old block of Black Guard can effectively double their wounds just for having a Sorceress nearby. This tool will allow this unit to be a very effective tar pit for your opponent to slam their head against. And if you happen to get a Tenebrael Blades off they will also output a respectable amount of damage.
The Bleakswords and Dreadspears are cheap non-conditional battleline. Their damage is unextraordinary and their warscroll abilities give them exploding 6s to hit and +1 to hit on the charge respectively. They exist to fill battleline slots and screen for your good units, one of which is not Darkshards. Tenebrael Blades does not work in shooting and their shooting attack is quite bad without it. If you want to have a missile unit, don’t pick Darkshards.
Executioners are quite expensive. They have damage 2 base and 6s to hit will cause 2 mortal wounds. Not much else to discuss there. Moving on to the Scourge Privateers. Black Ark Corsairs have loads of attacks and with the help of the Fleetmaster they can get even more. Paired with Tenebrael Blades, this unit can absolutely blend whatever it may touch.
Scourgerunner Chariots have damage D3 attacks at 18”, which is just 3 against monsters. These harpoons can benefit from the Fleetmaster so if you have a lot of monsters stomping around your meta, these Chariots will keep them in check.
Kharybdiss has the Scourge Privateers. It is a relatively cheap monster that can get you a roar. It shuts off rally and inspiring presence within 12”. The damage is not remarkable, but it has its utility which is worth not nothing.
Finally, we have the Serpentis units. Drakespawn knights are a 3+ save base and have bonus damage and rend on the charge. They’ve got 10” move so they fit kind of nicely into the relatively hitty and somewhat durable cavalry category. Drakespawn chariots do impact hits and that is really about it.
Warhydra is meant to do damage and heal after combat. I do not think 12 wounds on a 4+ save is enabling to do that very effectively.
Darkriders have the same random Shadowblades keyword that the Assassin does. It does not do anything which is similar to this unit. They have a 4+ save and some attacks on not great profiles. They shut off commands for enemies within 12” on a 5+. Not sure that justifies including the unit.
Grand Strategies
There are four Grand Strategies to choose from in the book. Exemplar of the Acadamae Martial asks you to complete 4 battle tactics from the book. These are never the best pick as battle tactics can be way too finicky. Reclaim for Sigmar! asks you to have 1 CoS unit wholly within each quarter of the battlefield. Dedicating four units to four separate spots might be asking too much with objective based missions. Hold the High Ground wants you to have any friendly units and no enemy units within 12” of the center of the battlefield. This one is really easy to deny for your opponent. Banners Held High asks you to have more STANDARD BEARERS or TOTEMS than your opponent at the end of the game. Plenty of armies do not have too many standard bearers, but this one is really just asking you to kill your opponents units. You were already going to do that, so this one is the safest pick in the bunch.
Battle Tactics
You will have access to 6 battle tactics in this tome.
Bring Full Arms to Bear asks you to pick an enemy unit, use the Suppressing Fire order on it, and destroy it. This will require you to make a nice balancing act of shooting a unit with enough firepower that you kill enough models to beat their bravery, but not so much shooting that you outright kill the unit before you get the chance to suppress it.
Raise the Banner has you pick an objective your opponent controls and take it with a Command Corps unit that has their Great Herald. This is a reliable tactic because the Freeguild Command Corps is too good of a toolbox to not include in your list.
Blackpowder Bombardment asks you to kill 3 or more units in your shooting phase. The book packs some powerful missile weapons so this is possible but very risky.
Mount the Charge has you pick an objective your opponent controls and take that objective only with mounted units that made a charge move that turn. Cavaliers and Griffons are great so this is a pretty free tactic if you are planning on bringing them. Strike Without Warning asks you to charge with 3 or more CoS AELF units. With the strikes-first after charging and retreat after combat orders your AELF units have access to, charging with 3 units is very doable.
Iron Might asks you to fight with 3 CoS DUARDIN units and have no DUARDIN units destroyed in that turn. Given the variety of durability buffs you can dish out your DUARDIN, this tactic is doable albeit extremely niche.
Final Thoughts
The HUMANS feel like they are leading the pack in this book. They have the warscrolls and enhancements to make a variety of lists that can all perform well. The AELVES feel almost as good with slightly fewer options, but a lot of really good tricks. I think a Sorceress and Blackguard can fit into any list. DUARDIN feel a little lacking compared to the other options in the book. All that being said, if this book asks you to do one thing it is to find synergies to excel with. And the orders are a very interesting mechanic that can catch out plenty of opponents or force them into unideal decisions as they face down the barrel of your trap cards. I think there is so much potential for creative list building and skill expression in this book, and I hope CoS folks get their fair share of fun out of it.
Credit to Rhinoceruption, a prolific Cities of Sigmar player who offered great insights on this article.
This is the top three AoS lists for A Score to Settle that took place in Australia on the 16th and 17th of September. 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
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! I can’t believe it’s not order! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs:
LEADERS Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (240)* Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)** – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork – Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)*** – General – Command Trait: Supa Sneaky – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Wurrgog Prophet (170)** – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost – Lore of the Savage Beast: Gorkamorka’s War Cry Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard – Lore of the Swamp: Nasty Hex
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery – Triumphs:
Leaders Lord-Relictor (150)* – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Prayer: Translocation – Nullstone Adornment: Pouch of Nulldust Lord-Imperatant (160)** – Artefact: Luckstone
Battleline 5 x Liberators (110)* – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield – 1x Grandweapons 2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (240)** 2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (240)**
Units 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (220)* 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (220)* 6 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (460)** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (100)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Shock Handaxes 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (100)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Shock Handaxes
This is the top three 40k lists for the Grand Clash 2023 event that took place in the Canada on the 22nd and 23rd of April. It involved 47 players vying to be crowned champion in a 6-game tournament.
As we head into 10th edition and beyond we wanted to start providing a source for lists that are being used successfully in tournaments around the world. The size of the 40k community and the sheer number of events means we won’t be commenting.
Before I jump into the Top Three 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 40k Lists
Iron Hands Successor (Custom Chapter, Master Artisans, Whirlwind of Rage) Unbound Army (Faction) 0 CP, 1997 pts, 130 PL
HQ
Primaris Lieutenant [65 pts, 5 PL, -1 CP] – Neo-volkite pistol – Master-crafted power sword and Storm Shield – Rites of War, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord Primaris Techmarine [70 pts, 4 PL, -1 CP] – Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter – Target Protocols
With the release of the Battlescroll: Galletian Reinforcements I’ve been able to go back through the data from the release of the General’s Handbook and tidy everything up. In doing so, I though it may be cool to give you a run-down of how each faction performed under the current General’s Handbook until the Battlescroll took effect.
The data used for analysing these results was taken from 110 Grand Tournaments between 3rd July 2022 and 6th November 2022.
Cities of Sigmar
Region Comparison – Popularity
Cities of Sigmar saw their highest popularity in Europe with 3.5% of players choosing the faction for tournament play, while their close neighbours in Scandinavia had the lowest take-up with only 0.3%.
Region Comparison – Win Rates
They may not have been popular in Scandianvia but their win rate there was the top of the pile at 60.0%. While players in Europe could only manage 43.2%.
Cities of Sigmar saw their only 5-0’s in the UK & Ireland and North America.
Subfaction Analysis
Subfaction
Players
Win Rate
Excelsis
1
80.00%
Phoenicium
7
66.13%
Hallowheart
40
57.21%
Hammerhal
8
50.00%
Har Kuron
1
50.00%
Tempest’s Eye
24
49.17%
Living City
14
43.57%
Misthavn
1
40.00%
Anvilguard
3
33.33%
Greywater Fastness
4
28.95%
None/Unknown
14
44.20%
Faction Total
117
50.77%
Out of the many, many factions that Cities have available to them, Hallowheart and Tempest’s Eye were the most popular with win rates of 57.21% and 49.17% respectively.
Top 10 Cities of Sigmar Players
You may notice that some players have a better World/Nation ranking than players above them in this table. This is due to players playing with multiple factions. These players have been ranked on their top 4 faction results only.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for Devon Destruction II that took place in the UK on 26th and 27th November. 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.
Allegiance: Skaven – Grand Strategy: Arch-corruptors of the Mortal Realms – Triumphs:
Leaders Grey Seer on Screaming Bell (325)* – General – Command Trait: Diabolical Schemer – Lore of Ruin: Death Frenzy Plague Priest on Plague Furnace (335) – Artefact: Blistrevous the Living Cyst – Noxious Prayers: Rabid-rabid! Plague Priest (100)* – Noxious Prayers: Rabid-rabid! Plague Priest (100)* – Noxious Prayers: Filth-filth! Verminlord Corruptor (350) – Artefact: Blade of Corruption – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Units 20 x Clanrats (100)** – Rusty Blade – 2x Standard Bearers – 2x Standard Bell Ringers 20 x Clanrats (100)** – Rusty Blade – 2x Standard Bearers – 2x Standard Bell Ringers 30 x Plague Monks (270)*** – Foetid Blades – 3x Standard Bearers – 3x Plague Harbingers – Reinforced x 2 30 x Plague Monks (270)*** – Foetid Blades – 3x Standard Bearers – 3x Plague Harbingers – Reinforced x 2 Vermintide (40)
Declan: There’s still a few armies in Age of Sigmar that can genuinely run hordes… and thankfully Skaven remains one of them although it is rarely seen with Stormfiends being a more common choice.
Brandon has done very well to navigate this to a 5-0 helped by the 100 rats (40 Clanrats and 60 Plague Monks), but led by a complement of no less than 5 characters. As a horde player myself – I love this!
The Corrupter can hit like a ton of bricks:
From Games Workshop / Wahapedia
Sure it’s as swingy as a Mangler Squig but with 3+/3+ he’s definitely doing damage on the charge… and will be a good trading piece – especially if opponents forget the Gnawholes (allow teleporting between them – stand near them to stop this!)
Meanwhile the priests are trying to get the Pestilens +1 to wound… which conveniently includes the Corrupter. 2+/2+ with this and all out attack – that’ll make a mess. And in case you think the big characters are all he has, beware of the glass cannons of the Plague Monks. It’s not what it was back in AoS2 but it’ll still catch some people out.
Games Workshop & Wahapedia
With Filth-filth they are 3+/3+ – a good combat profile – and with +1 attack on the charge they are getting through 1.5 wounds each before saves – and whilst the rend ‘-‘ looks weak they get -2 rend on any 6s to hit.
So, to beat this you need to attack it first… simultaneously whilst hoping Brandon doesn’t know how to use his Clanrats as screens or objective holders – not much chance of that against someone who’s gone 5-0!
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Army Faction: Sons of Behemat – Army Type: Breaker Tribe – Grand Strategy: Show ’Em Who’s Boss! – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Gatebreaker (520)* – General – Command Traits: Monstrously Tough – Artefacts of Power: Glowy Shield of Protectiness Warstomper (450)* – Artefacts of Power: Amberbone Totem Kragnos (720)**
CORE BATTALIONS *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent **Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000
Danny: Devon was a tournament close to home (literally – a whole bunch of my club were there) – and despite its small size there were some heavy hitting lists. New SoB definitely count as ‘heavy hitting’ too – even though their damage output with the new book got swingier overall, they gained some extra utility and tactical flexibility.
Now, Kragos isn’t exactly ‘new’ but why fix what ain’t broken? What’s cool is that the ‘little’ guys are viable now, and Jon makes good use of their new points cost as objective/battle tactic grabbers. Meanwhile, Kragnos gets escorted by a Warstomper with the Amberbone Totem for a run AND a 3d6 charge (thanks to Krag-daddy) – while the Gatebreaker packs monstrously tough (for +5 wounds) and the Glowy Shield for minus 1 rend to incoming attacks, making the heavy-hitter also extra survivable.
All in all, it’s a simple, but well thought out and clearly effective package, losing only to the shenanigans of LotP and taking down 3 very good armies in the meta right now. Gargants run by my club-mate Cam also finished 4th – proving the big boys are very much back (well, settling) in town! Kudos to Jon!
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Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes – Mawtribe: Boulderhead – Grand Strategy: Enough Grub for All – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Frostlord on Stonehorn (445)* – General – Command Trait: Touched by the Everwinter – Prayer: Keening Gale – Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder Frostlord on Stonehorn (445) – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Metalcruncher – Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Alice: A classic style Beastclaw Raiders list, consisting of (mostly) mounted cavalry instead of foot troops. boulderhead is a natural choice as it adds 2 wounds to each model and hands out an extra mount trait to the leaders.
Leading the charge are two Frostlords on Stonehorns, which have an extremely nasty attack repertoire. Most notably the 4 attacks from the Frost Spear for Rend -1 Damage 3 and 6 Rock Hard Horns Rend -2 Damage 3 (With an extra point of damage on the charge). These guys also add +1 to charge rolls for any Beastclaw Raiders, which is most of this list, and they do stack if you’re within the bubble for both of them. Beastclaw Raiders live and die by the charge phase, either they all get in on turn 1 or they’re left out in the open to be picked off. If they get that charge, it’s usually going to be over real quick.
Each one is kitted out differently to aid the group as a whole. The General’s mount trait makes it much more hardy, granting it -1 to be wounded against all attacks, potentially saving it against alpha shooting or charging. Touched by the Everwinter lets him function as a priest, with Keening Gale adding 3″ of movement to the Mournfangs so they can keep up with their Masters. The other Frostlord is a Scalpel to take out high defense units. Metalcruncher does D6 mortals to units with a 3+ or better save, and Levitate allows it to bypass any would be screens trying to stop them from getting to the juicy targets in the back row. With the General using the Unstoppable Charge to make a 3D6″ move after charging, it becames damn near impossible to screen them out.
Rounding things off are a Reinforced unit of Mournfangs, Stonehorn and Thundertusk riders. Stonehorn are strong against tougher units, Thundertusk for hordes and Mournfangs for general purpose slaughter. The list struggle in battle tactics and missions requiring Galetian Veterans but solid at cracking through even strong foes. Of course, the meta darling Ironblaster also appears to rain down fire before the charge.
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Army Faction: Legion of the First Prince – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280) – Artefacts of Power: Armour of the Pact Great Unclean One (495)* – General – Command Traits: Ruinous Aura – Bilesword and Plague Flail – Artefacts of Power: Fourfold Blade – Spells: Flaming Weapon, The Master’s Command Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Hellforged Sword and Malefic Talons Changecaster (140)* – Spells: The Master’s Command Be’lakor (360)** – Spells: The Master’s Command
Alice: Quick disclaimer going forward, the new Slaves to Darkness book was not used in this tournament so any commentary will be referencing the old book.
The general design for Legion of the First Prince focuses on a strong core of Leaders and going lean on troops. Without their faction buffs, most rank and flank daemons struggle to do more than tarpit, but the faction’s strongest ability is to continuously to summon more so its ok to run a bit lean here. The Take What’s Theirs grand strategy starts making a lot more sense with that in mind.
So what do these heroes contribute? Be’lakor the man himself is an obvious staple, even without his bodyguard rule he’s still an excellent beat stick and The Dark Master is unmatched at locking your opponent’s most dangerous unit down for a unit. The Daemon Prince of Khorne serves one goal (remember we still have the old one here): to use its command ability to halve run and charge rolls. There’s no question why it was changed and I can’t blame someone for wanting to take it for one last run. The Changecaster is an extremely budget priced caster compared to the other daemon leaders and packs a spell that reduces Saves on a unit by 1, which is nice.
Both the Bloodthirster and Great Unclean One are meant to be beat sticks that are also difficult to take down. The Bloodthirster’s Armour of the Pact lets it reroll saves while the Great Unclean One has a 5+ Ward thanks to its command trait (Remember, you don’t get Disgustingly Resilient outside Maggotkin). The Great Unclean one can enflame its sword and use its artefact to do D3 mortals with its flail to do a surprising amount of damage with a hero most armies will struggle to kill. If you get stuck in fighting either of these Greater Daemons you likely will lose after a long, grinding fight
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for GAF Jamboree that took place in the UK on 19th and 20th November. 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: Daughters of Khaine – Subfaction: Khailebron – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Melusai Ironscale (115)* – General – Command Traits: Zealous Orator – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Mindrazor Morathi-Khaine (680)* The Shadow Queen (680)*
Joshua: Baz gives us a different look into Daughters, with a very interesting Khailebron list.
First, let’s talk about Khailebron since this isn’t a top pick of the temples. This temple allows you to spend a command point and target a friendly unit. Remove them from the battlefield, and set them up anywhere on the battlefield 9” away from enemy units. This is very valuable in the sense that it opens up easy access to battle tactics and getting key units out of combat. This also allows the shadow stalkers to become battleline. After becoming a battleline you also get a very mobile unit for objective grabbing and back line threats.
The first thing that we take away from this list is that Morathi is still involved and we all know she is a force to be reckoned with. Now to add to her threat level you can’t lock her into combat and bog her down. She just uses the Khailebron command ability to teleport out of combat and sets herself up for another charge. Which keeps the scary mindrazor spell giving the plus 1 to damage on the charge. Or getting away to safety, stopping the clock of three wounds on the queen for turn. And for lists that already have trouble getting those three wounds a turn, now struggle even more.
Ironscale being the general allows the Blood Sisters and Blood Stalkers to become battleline. Which is a key piece to this list allowing the stalkers to get up to a 15 man unit. Throwing 30 shots 24” across the table. With morathi on the table allowing the hero phase shooting a total of 60 shots, doing mortals on sixes to hit. Ironscale also lets the Bloodsisters run and charge which increases their threat range to a staggering 24”. Add in the Horrorghast which prevents inspiring presence, units are not staying on the table for long.
To add to all the mobility this list already has, it has two units of Khinerai Heartrenders. Having these two units allow to complete a DOK book tactic, Cruel Delight. Having these two units set in reserve there is nothing your opponent can do to prevent you from completing this tactic. Which gives you an edge in a generals handbook that tactics are not easy to come by.
This list gives you the mobility to threaten the entire board, making no objective safe from your taking. Also it gives you, as the pilot the ability to control your targets a little easier. With the Rites Table giving you a Plus 1 to charge it makes those 9” charges a little easier to come by. Looking at this list it’s clear that it has many, many threats and can easily see it going 5-0 in the upcoming events.
Leaders Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)** – General – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist – Command Trait: Mighty Waaagh! Leader – Artefact: Destroyer – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Orruk Warchanter (115)** – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat Orruk Warchanter – Bonded (115)** Orruk Warchanter – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
Battleline 5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)** – 1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)* – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)* – Jagged Gore-hackas – Reinforced x 1
Behemoths Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480) – Allies
Declan: With the points increase from 400 to 480 points there was clearly a hope in the AoS design studio that it would reduce it’s appearance. We can’t tell yet, but Tom doesn’t seem to mind. He’s added in a Maw Krusha and 3 Warchanters! No doubt this is so he can power up the Maw Krusha and both 6 Gore Gruntas units. This is an alpha strike army of the highest order.
Add in the Ironjawz ability – Smashing and Bashing – you’re going to need big screens to stop this one steamrollering over you. It’s very, very quick; gets to you in turn 1, and hits like a freight train.
To stop it, you need to take out the bonded Warchanter or hit the Maw Krusha when it doesn’t have finest hour or Mystic Shield on. Shooting armies will definitely have a chance here, but I’m not surprised that Tom got a 4-1.
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Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords – Subfaction: Ymetrica – Grand Strategy: Alarith Aftershock – Triumph: Inspired
Declan: Well this is different. Starts off with Teclis but then has none of the rest of the usual LRL army. Indeed in Ed’s absence I needed to look some of these units up… and that’s a great sign of an off-meta list.
Joe has done well to get to 4-1 with it built around Avalenor and Stoneguard although with Teclis doing his usual heavy lifting of course.
From Games Workshop / Wahapedia
Avalenor is designed to not die – not quite in the same way as Morathi, or a Bastiladon but he can still take some damage and the 3+/3+ combat profit shows he is expected to do some work in combat. At 420 points he’s not cheap but he’s not very slow and counts as 5 on objectives as well.
Meanwhile the Stoneguard and (arguably) more defensive with a 4+ ward if contesting an objective you control with Fortitude of Faith.
Games Workshop / Wahapedia
This will give even Orruks a run for their money and makes them very survivable as anyone who has fought Pheonix Guard will attest to. If they are on an objective, not much is shifting them. Well done to Joe and thanks for getting me to look at 2 different warscrolls!
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Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Army Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Exalted Greater Daemon of Khorne (580) – General – Command Traits: Mage Eater – Artefacts: Deathdealer 1 x Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (295)* 1 x Skarbrand (380)** 1 x Bloodsecrator (125)** – Artefacts: Skullshard Mantle 1 x Skullgrinder (90)**
Alice: Most Khorne lists rely on 3, sometimes 4 bloodthirsters. It’s one of the actually really good heroes in a faction that is struggling really hard. So Skarbrand and Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury are not surprising here.
What is surprising is the Exalted Greater Daemon, the Resin terror from Forgeworld. At 580 points this thing is not cheap, but it has power when your opponent is facing off against something they’ve probably never seen, let alone played against before. 20 wounds is hard to cut through, and the axe is incredible at 8 attacks at Rend -2 (rend -3 in this case, due to the command entourage’s extra artefact), Damage 3. The fun doesn’t stop there, either. It can nominate a unit in combat to be unable to retreat, able to function as an excellent tarpit. With 20 wounds it’ll be able to hang around a bit. The final perk is in the form of its command ability which lets any daemon unit pile in 6″, anywhere on the field. If your opponent thought he was being clever staying outside of 3″, it’s going to be a bad time.
Most of the roster rounding things off is pretty predictable. Bloodsecrators can help neuter enemy Wizards, and grant an extra attack to every unit within 16″.
The Skullgrinder helps support the foot troops, able to deal some mortal wounds to Enemy Heroes and Monsters on a 2+. Bloodreavers are a workhorse battleline, suitable for capturing objectives and sacrificing to opponents, while Wrathmongers can actually put in some work with their Flurry of attacks and mortal wounds on death.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Warhammer World: Matched Play Event that took place in Nottingham, UK on 24th and 25th September. It involved 72 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.
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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: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Drowned Men – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Lord of Afflictions (210)* – General – Command Trait: Overpowering Stench – Artefact: The Splithorn Helm Orghotts Daemonspew (300)* Bloab Rotspawned (300) – Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
UNITS 10 x Putrid Blightkings (500)** 5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)** 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)* – 1 x Dolorous Tocsin 2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)* – 1 x Dolorous Tocsin
Declan: Maggotkin of Nurgle are appearing at the top of many a tournament at the moment with Blightkings and Pusslords distributed as wished. Marco’s list has two of the special characters – Daemonspew and Rotspawned. This gives him a little punch and a little range, but must also help in the mirror match; as Marco beat Nurgle at the beginning and the end of the tournament.
Finishing 1st with 5-0 is always a good result and particularly special at Warhammer World!!
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Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos – Greatfray: Gavespawn – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders Beastlord (95)* – Artefact: Mutating Gnarlblade Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)* – Lore of Dark Storms: Hailstorm Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)** – General – Command Trait: Unravelling Aura – Lore of Dark Storms: Sundering Blades Great Bray-Shaman (100)** – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Savage Dominion
Battleline 6 x Dragon Ogors (250)*** – 3x Paired Ancient Weapons – 3x Draconic War glaives – Reinforced x 1 6 x Dragon Ogors (250)*** – 3x Paired Ancient Weapons – 3x Draconic War glaives – Reinforced x 1 10 x Ungors (65)**** – Mauls & Half-Shields 10 x Ungors (65)**** – Mauls & Half-Shields 10 x Ungors (65)**** – Mauls & Half-Shields
Units 20 x Bestigors (250)*** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Centigors (85)* 5 x Centigors (85)** 1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*
Declan: Well Beasts have well and truly made it, with some of the top players in the UK taking them and doing well with them… and Freddie is doing very well with them as well. He got his last win on the top table but was just pipped to the post by Marco.
Freddie’s version of the Beasts of Chaos army has a bit of everything… and lots of Dragon Ogres. Whilst they don’t hit too hard with the Paired Ancient Weapons (no rend), they have volumes of attacks over a relatively small area. The mix with the War Glaives (2″ reach) likely allows Freddie to get a few more of them into combat as they are on large bases. Being in Bounty Hunters doubles the damage against Galatian Veterans as well so be careful what you send against them.
From Games Workshop & Wahapedia
If you’ve not seen the Beasts of Chaos in your local area their other trick is summoning – with the Dragon Ogre Shaggoth taking damage from the herdstone and then healing most of it back – the summoning racks up quickly and just when you’ve started to make progress more appear. This makes the Beasts of Chaos army difficult to shift and with 194 wounds and summoning it’s a true DPS (Damage per Second) check. You need to do the damage!
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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Knight-Draconis (300)* – General – Command Traits: Heroic Stature – Artefacts of Power: Mirrorshield – Mount Traits: Celestial Instincts Knight-Judicator with Gryph-hounds (205)*
OTHER Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)* Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment **Bounty Hunters
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Declan: They may have lost the first game, and the Stormdrake Guard scroll may have been rewritten (and again), but they are no longer giving away extra points and so they are back on top! The dragons are doing +1 damage to Galatian Veterans with incredible moving and mortal wounds at range (no +1 damage on these!), and the Liberators provide a single GV unit in case it’s needed for scenarios or Battle Tactics.
This is quick… I mean really quick! And anything that might survive gets shot off. Eagle eyed readers will notice that the teleport has gone, but the Vanguards are in smaller units to give some flexibility, so it’s not really needed.
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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Kruleboyz – Army Subfaction: Skulbugz
LEADER 1 x Gobsprakk (280) 1 x Killaboss on Corpse-rippa Vulcha (240) – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un – Spells: Flaming Weapon 1 x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105) – General – Command Traits: Supa Sneaky – Spells: Choking Mist 1 x Breaka-boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (180) 1 x Kragnos (720)
BATTLELINE 10 x Gutrippaz (180)* – Gutrippa Hornblower – Gutrippa Banner Bearer – Gutrippa Boss – Wicked Stikka 10 x Gutrippaz (180)* – Gutrippa Hornblower – Gutrippa Banner Bearer – Gutrippa Boss – Wicked Stikka 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x The Burning Head (20)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Bounty Hunters
TOTAL POINTS: (1985/2000)
Declan: Well Kruleboyz are bottom of the pile with Gitz, making Eddie’s 4-1 a great achievement — and done without an Incarnate. Take A Bow! This is all about the characters and Kragnos charging monsters off the board… take it off!
Games Workshop & Wahapedia
Whilst Kraggy is doing his thing, Gobsprakk is scaring (or killing) enemy casters and the Mirebrute & Vulcha are charging alongside Kraggy. Of course a double turn might be the end of this army, but Eddie must have had a few against him to still get 4-1 — that doesn’t happen by accident with this list. A great wildcard.
