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 the Kingdom of Skrappa Spill event that took place in Derby, UK on 9th and 10th July. It involved 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.
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The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – City: Hallowheart – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Battlemage (100)** – Hallowheart 2nd Spell: Warding Brand – City Role: General’s Adjutant – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Lore of Whitefire: Ignite Weapons Runelord (95)** – Artefact: Whitefire Tome – Sear Wounds – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal Freeguild General (100)** – General – Command Trait: Veteran of the Blazing Crusade – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Hallowheart 2nd Spell: Warding Brand – Lore of Whitefire: Ignite Weapons
Battleline 10 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (100)*** 10 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (100)*** 6 x Demigryph Knights (350)* – Lance and Sword – City Role: Honoured Retinue (Must be 5-20 models) – Reinforced x 1
Units 5 x Sisters of the Thorn (130)** – Hallowheart 2nd Spell: Elemental Cyclone – Spell1: Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist 6 x Vanguard-Palladors (430)* – Boltstorm Pistols and Starstrike Javelins – Reinforced x 1 10 x Protectors (450)* – Reinforced x 1
Endless Spells & Invocations Chronomantic Cogs (40) Purple Sun of Shyish (70) The Burning Head (20)
Peter: Congratulations on your win! How did you find the new GHB?
Freddie: From a battleplans perspective, it felt like the tables where much thinner with the majority of objectives focused around the middle of the table. To be honest I didn’t really like that aspect as it made the games very one dimensional.
From a battle tactics point of view it was a really interesting change. No longer is there 4-5 easy battle tactics, now it’s just 1 or 2. It meant you had to think ahead a couple of turns to ensure you could keep ticking them along.
Overall, refreshing seeing new tactics but would have been better if the battleplans were more open and spread out.
I’ve just interviewed Baz, and we talked a little about how some armies may be able to score battle tactics easier. Some tournaments are now limiting these to only those in the GHB, is this something you agree with?
I do agree that battle tactics should be limited. Not just because my armies have crap ones.
But I’m generally against comps in tournaments as that is a fundamental change to how some armies work. Battle tactic however don’t change how an army should function on a table so limiting some armies is a fair balance/comp to the game. Though I’m sure plenty of DoK players will disagree!
So what’s the key behind your list. What got you the 5-0?
The key unit to the list is the protectors. This units purpose is to safeguard the 3 small heroes of the army. If the heroes die, the buffs stop and the damage efficiency plummets. Throughout the 5 games, only one hero was killed. That was all thanks to the protectors.
Did your purple sun kill anything important?
So vs 3 opponents it didn’t kill a thing. Against the other 2 opponents it single handedly beat them.
Game 2 against Mike Wilding, I autoslayed the flamespyre phoenix and a couple of phoenix guard
Game 3 vs JJ it went bezerk. It killed his general GUO turn 1, then the sloppity bilepiper and orghotts daemonspew turn 2. Called it at that point.
Ow! Having played it and the Cogs (which if I remember correctly gives your wizards a re-roll to casting) do you think it’s overpowered?
With a low volume of casts, Probably not. With my army that has 7 casts, at a potential 1 to 8 bonus to cast. It is too much. I can see the same issue with nagash and teclis style armies.
Either way to go 5-0 at any event is a huge success. You’re a regular tournament goer, are you hoping to repeat the success of last year and make it to the tSports finals?
Last year was my first year of giving competitive aos a real go and seeing what I could achieve. The fact that it culminated in being invited to the tsports final was a welcome surprise for sure.
This aim for this year is to get No1 cities player worldwide and If that performance gets me an invite to the tsports final then even better haha
Do you have any tips for players looking to get into the tournament scene?
The best way to do it is to jump straight in! Rip the plaster off as it were. I turned up to my first event alone and by the first game I was chatting away talking about the hobby. Don’t get me wrong its a daunting prospect going to tournaments but I can honestly say I have never had a bad experience and have loved every minute of it.
Alternatively ofcourse you can find a local club first and do it that way, probably easier and less stressful than how I did it.
Freddie! Thank you so much for your time and your awesome answers. It’s very much appreciated!Best of luck for the coming season.
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Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine – Subfaction: Khailebron – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Morathi-Khaine (680) The Shadow Queen (680) Melusai Ironscale (115) – General – Command Traits: Zealous Orator – Artefacts of Power: Crown of Woe
Peter: Congratulations on your second place! You’ve kicked the new season off well in the GHB, are you hoping to emulate last season and push for the top 16 in the UK?
Baz: Thank you! From my first competitive level game on the 11th November with the lovely Tom Patton which got me hooked.
Kingdom Of Skrappa was my 25 event since, playing DoK for over 90% of them…. a cheeky delve into Gitz for the light heartedness games!
Im a firm believer of reps reps reps, and learning from the fantastic community we have and thats evident in where ive got to so far.
Yes, 100% id to get into the top 16 in the UK, it’ll take a lot of work, but with the community and friends I’ve made thus far, the sky is the limit.
There is a real sense of community with AoS. I’m sure you can replicate last season. So how did you find playing DoK under the new handbook?
Brilliant. The new GHB (love it or hate it, is what it is), it keeps things fresh and keeps the scene on its toes, which I like. The changes have been good in my opinion. DoK do have very good units which you can pull into the Bounty Hunter Battalion for those extra bonuses but its not something to take for granted. They are still very much a glass cannon and will drop, so positioning (hence why I run Khailebron) and timing is key.
Yes they do have the Battletome battle tactics which are huge advantages, but I dont just want to rely on those to win games….
Yeah, there’s been a bit of a murmur about the DoK tactics. So you try and avoid them?
All the GHB battle tactics are new for the community so with not really knowing them fluidly like I did the previous ones. I did use Tides of Battle, (2 units from your starting army in the opponents territory etc), being mindful of time. I think the majority of us took more time at the start of the Hero phases! Lol
So for those unsure, what’s the key behind your list?
No Morathi isnt key, but she certainly helps, especially with the spicy shenanigans thats now out there available to most armies; Purple Sun, im looking at you!
Movement is gives you the huge edge to control where the fighting takes place and at what time, being able to react to dice rolls not going your way and then recover gets you back in the game. I cant recall any other competitive DoK player run Khailebron….. either im doing something wrong, or ive found the hidden gem lol
People joke about my potential none existent relationship with my other half after hearing the number of events ive done, but its like anything, practice practice practice and also don’t fall into the trap of chopping and changing factions etc
As Arnold Schwarzenegger says: “You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets”.
That’s true, most lists I’ve seen go for Zainthar Kai more recently.And you must have a very understanding partner!
Ive got a cheeky list, like many other people, of other builds…..one or two MIGHT be Zainthar Kai
Shes fantastic tbf but she knows I love the hobby, but for me its not just about playing the game. It about the total inclusivity of individuals from all walks of life, its about the night away with friends sharing a hotel, having a meal out, having laughs (and cries at time) all playing a game we love.
Like hundreds of others, it helps keeps my Mental Health in a positive place for sure and coming from someone who is an Armed Forces veteran, medically discharged, Mental Health and Wellbeing is very important 🙂
It’s a fantastic community for support and the social aspect of this game can’t be ignored. Even if it’s just for a hang out while you paint some minis.
I’ll also add, the one thing that has kept my confidence and drive up is the club. Being part of The Warrior Lodge is like having a family…. very much like the military family mentality.
For first timers getting into the hobby, what would you recommend if they’re looking to get into the competitive scene?
The beauty with the competitive scene, is that the term competitive is on a sliding scale, yes you could do GT sized events but smaller hobby shops also have tournaments going on. Get involved with them, try different lists and see what works for you and what you like the feel of. If possible get involved with a club, that’ll give you all the drive and passion collectively as you can share ideas and have that encouragement, as I’ve mentioned above.
I purchased a Samsung Tab 3 and use that for the AOS app but also record all my games etc on that using The Honest Wargamers scoring sheet (shout out to Rob and the team!).
Every game you win, even if you lose on points. You win because you learn.
Thank you so much for agreeing to the interview. Is there anything you’d like to say to those reading this before we end?
Just a huge thank you to everyone I have played and who has supported me to date. Lets all continue the hobby love ❤️
I’d also like to give a huge shout-out to Speccles who ran the event.
Baz is part of the Warrior Lodge based in Nottingham, they have a few upcoming events this year:
Quest of Champions 2022: Heat 4 – 6/7th October
Quest of Champions 2022: Finals – 22/23rd October
Quest of Champions 2023: Heat 1 – 4/5th Feb 2023
Quest of Champions 2023: Heat 2 – 1st/2nd April 2023
Quest of Champions 2023: Heat 3 – 3rd/4th June 2023
Quest of Champions 2023: Heat 4 – 5/6th August 2023
Quest of Champions 2023: Finals – 7/8th October 2023
The top 12 from each heat are invited to the finals at the end of the year.
There will also be a mix of 1 dayers so best to keep an eye on their page @LodgeWarrior.
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Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – Subfaction: Hammerhal – Grand Strategy: No place for the Weak – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Anointed on Flamespyre Phoenix (290)* – Artefact: the Twinstone Assassin (80)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Cindercloud Knight-Incantor (125)* – City Role: General’s Adjutant – Spell: Wings of Fire
UNITS 20x Phoenix Guard (350)*** – Reinforced: Once 20x Phoenix Guard (350)*** – Reinforced: Once 20x Phoenix Guard (350)*** – Reinforced: Once – City Role: Honoured Retinue 10x Shadow Warriors (120)** 10x Shadow Warriors (120)** 10x Eternal Guard (120)** 5x Khinerai Heartrenders (95)*
The following interview was carried out over email:
Peter: Michael, congratulations on your third place! How did you find the new General’s Handbook?
Michael: The new book is so much more interesting, with many more twists and turns, with the proving ground option being the most interesting.
What is the key to how your army list works?
The key to my army is having units able to withstand the shear number of mortal wounds that dominate the game, also dishing out many deaths by a thousand cuts, it is a game style that has worked for me for a long time.
After coming 5th in the Honest Wargamers top 16 event, are you hoping you can emulate lasts seasons success and push for the podium next year?
I think I have reached my goals this year, so I think I am going to move to a more fun style of play, with a few twists to keep my opponents on there toes.
What’s been your favourite moment of your playing career in the last 12 months?
It would be getting the invite to the Honest Wargamers top 16 event and coming 5th place. Also staying top in the cities faction, with some other great cities players constantly on my heals for top place, though I think I kept it more with the luck of the dice, then skill.
For players looking to get into the competitive scene, what would your advice be?
My advice is 3 to 4 very strong units that work well together and buff each other really does help, but also have fun and always remember sometimes the dice gods will not always be with you, and when they are not just laugh and have fun.
Thank you for your time and I wish you nothing but 6’s in the coming season.
