This is the top three AoS lists for the TTB OPEN 2023 that took place in Norway on the 28th and 29th of October. It saw 22 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
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The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness
– Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne
– Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders
Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (340)*
– The Lore of the Damned: Daemonic Speed
Exalted Hero of Chaos (90)*
– General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
– Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost
Battleline
6 x Varanguard (560)*
– 6x Fellspear
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Varanguard (280)*
– 3x Fellspear
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
3 x Varanguard (280)*
– 3x Fellspear
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
9 x The Unmade (80)*
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided
5 x Chaos Knights (220)*
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Ensorcelled Banner: The Banner of Rage
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 1970 / 2000

Roland Rivera: A classic ABC (Always Be Charging) Slaves to Darkness list, this list leverages the power and consistency of Khorne Fellspear Varanguard to the max by running a bunch of them (12, to be exact) in Knights of the Empty Throne, where they all get to run and charge. Complement them with a bit of control in Be’lakor, a caster with Daemonic Speed to make their threat range even bigger, some Unmade to make sure people can’t Redeploy away from your charges, some Knights as a Swiss army knife/cleanup crew, and just dare your opponents to stop you (most of them can’t).
There was a somewhat interesting choice made in the supporting Heroes, however. Instead of spending every last one of his 2000 points, Geir Vedeld (a Slaves to Darkness pilot with proven bona fides) decided to suit an Exalted Hero up with an Arcane Tome and instead angle for a triumph bid. An interesting choice that I can see the logic behind (this build lives and dies by making its charges), and I’d be interested to know how often it resulted in a critical charge reroll. Overall, if you’re looking to build a fast, aggressive, and effective Slaves to Darkness list, here’s your blueprint.

Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
– Army Subfaction: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
– Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER
1 x Liege-Kavalos (180)
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
1 x Katakros (500)
1 x Mortisan Ossifector (120)
– General
– Command Traits: Dark Acolyte
– Spells: Empower Nadirite Weapons
BATTLELINE
5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190)
– Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade
10 x Mortek Guard (130)
– Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Soulcleaver Greatblade
– Nadirite Blade
3 x Immortis Guard (220)
TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)
OTHER
4 x Morghast Archai (220)
– Spirit Halberd
2 x Morghast Archai (220)
– Spirit Halberd
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Walter Brock: We’re looking at an OBR list that went 4-1. Choosing Petrifex Elite to make The Immortis Guard and Morghasts harder to kill in combat. Spellcasting Savant is the go-to Grandstrat having so much synergy with Immortis guard.
The liege Kavalos with Arcane shield provides an extra cast to put up arcane shield so the Ossifector can put up Nadirite weapons. The liege also provides extra attacks making any unit hit harder. Altogether a power army multiplier.
Katakros is the big man providing all the value. Giving everything +1 to hit and +1 to save makes all units run at maximum efficiency. Combo with the other buffs that the list can provide, and a simple 10-person unit could even kill gods.
The Ossifector is the Glue that holds everything together. The Grand Strat is tied to this thing. It buffs Morghasts with extra rend. Has a 9-inch bubble of +1 to wound and Dark Acolyte to get a battle tactic very easily. Everything that this little guy gives is pure gas, but if it somehow dies. A lot of good things go away.
A unit of 5 Deathriders is a standard seen in most lists. Providing a battle tactic and being a fast uni. Deathriders can do many things from being a screen to clogging up the key piece of the opponent. The imagination is the limit of what Deathriders can do.
A unit of 10 Mortek guard. Act as easy filler to reach 3 battlelines. Can be a cheap screen or act as a unit to block off back line deep strikes. While not the most stellar inclusion for the list. They can provide a lot of unspoken support for the list that nothing else really wants to do.
Three Immortis guard Unlock an easy battle tactic for OBR and help protect the Ossifector so getting the Grandstrat is more likely.
The two units of Morghasts are the stars of the show. These units provide large amounts of Damage. Are incredibly fast and shut down commands. Whatever these guys get into will usually die. Katakros buffing their ability to hit. The Ossifector buffing the Rend and wound rolls, and Empower Weapons going onto a unit plus the extra attacks from the liege makes a unit of Morghasts able to take down almost any unit in the game.
This list is very good at getting its buffs reliably and dealing large amounts of damage while being difficult to kill thanks to Petrifex Elite and Katakros. A very well-rounded list. Well done to this player.

Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance
– Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (310)
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (310)
– Artefacts of Power: Ar’gath, the King of Blades
Skarbrand (380)
Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (300)*
– General
– Command Traits: Firebrand
– Artefacts of Power: Halo of Blood
– Prayers: Killer Instinct
Bloodmaster (110)*
– Prayers: Bronzed Flesh
Slaughterpriest (110)*
– Bloodbathed Axe
– Prayers: Blood Sacrifice
– Nullstone Adornments: Polished Nullstone Pebble
BATTLELINE
Flesh Hounds (100)
Flesh Hounds (100)
Flesh Hounds (100)
Bloodreavers (80)
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Blood Chieftain
– Meatripper Axe
Bloodreavers (80)
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Blood Chieftain
– Meatripper Axe
TERRAIN
1 x Skull Altar (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Command Entourage
– Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000

Roland Rivera: The big boys are back in town! This is another instance of a Khorne player pushing all their chips into the center of the table with the 4-Bloodthirster build, and this pilot was in quite a gambling mood, as he chose to roll with 2 Bloodthirsters of Insensate Rage, whose damage can be inconsistent but has huge spike potential. Those two slot machines were paired with Skarbrand’s steady output and a Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster to tie the room together via activation tricks to make combat sequencing easier.
As you’d imagine for a list with 4 300+ point models, everything else in the list reolves around supporting the big guys. Flesh Hounds and Bloodreavers pressure objectives and can be cashed in for Blood Tithe in a pinch, and a couple of Priests will sit in the back line and provide buffs (or perhaps a bit of direct damage in the form of Blood Boil). Overall, this list is highly specialized, but the thing it does is good enough to be a strong choice in an all-comers tournament.

Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords
– Army Subfaction: Barak-Urbaz
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumphs: Inspired
– Stick To The Code (Amendments): Trust To Your Guns
– Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything, Settle the Grudges
– Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught
LEADER
1 x Arkanaut Admiral (140)*
– General
– Command Traits: Ex-Grundstok
1 x Aetheric Navigator (100)*
– Artefacts: Voidstone Orb
1 x Aether-Khemist (100)*
– Nullstone Adornments: Hand-carved Nullstone Icon
BATTLELINE
10 x Grundstok Thunderers (160)*
– Gunnery Sergeant
– 2 x Honour Bearer
– 2 x Grundstok Mortar
– 2 x Aethercannon
– 2 x Aetheric Fumigator
– 2 x Decksweeper
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
– Company Captain
– Light Skyhook and Gun Butt
– Skypike
– Volley Pistol
– Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt
10 x Arkanaut Company (90)*
– Company Captain
– Light Skyhook and Gun Butt
– Skypike
– Volley Pistol
– Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)*
– Sky Cannon
BEHEMOTH
1 x Arkanaut Ironclad (500)*
– Great Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: The Last Word
– The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship
OTHER
1 x Gotrek Gurnisson (480)*
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)
Carl Stokes: Another day, another KO list featuring everyone’s Old World remnant! This Gotrek list takes a slightly different approach than many others in that, rather than take one large thunderer block, it takes a slightly smaller one in order to afford a gunhauler.
I’ve already made it abundantly clear why I think Gotrek is an incredible addition to KO armies in previous write-ups so won’t wax poetic on this one, but safe to say that I think he patches a lot of the intrinsic weaknesses of KO while allowing the army to retain their core identity as a mobile firebase.
The usual cadre of characters provides support/disruption while 20 arkanauts screen in the early game before transitioning to objective holders in the mid/late game. A single gunhauler provides another way to score battle tactics and threaten little wizards while being juuuust tough enough to pin targets in place for Gotrek. The gunhauler is another excellent way to hunt down those pesky Andtorian Loci that can cause KO all sorts of problems.
But as usual, the backbone of the list lies in the 10 thunderers and Ironclad that ferries them around. The thunderers are a very tough unit that’s extremely prickly at close range and can be juiced to ridiculous levels by the characters. Generally, the classic approach to this list is to take the single unit of 15 but as the meta shifts towards more anti-shooting, the decision here was made to prioritize mobility to improve the matchup into lists that have a strong anti-shooting presence.
Will that be the case moving forward? Nobody can tell for sure, but the ability of KO to quickly adapt to a changing metagame by drawing on their ally pool and the various different skyports while still being able to easily achieve their many battle tactics is one of the many things that makes them a top-tier army.
Final Tournament Placings
To view all of the results for the tournament please follow the link below to Best Coast Pairings
https://www.bestcoastpairings.com/event/JN5ULW3GE4
