Stormcast are known for two things. Dragons and Paladins. Today’s article is about both and a super nasty way to get the most out of the combination of the two.
Everyone loves Karazai and Krondys. Beautiful sculpts with compelling lore and super dope abilities, but they have a critical flaw that’s kept them from seeing much competitive play. 18 wounds, even on a 3+ save, is surprisingly easy to kill.
All too often your badass centerpiece model would get blown off the table in a single shooting/hero phase leaving you missing your key hammer. Several top players found an elegant solution to this: Praetors.
Praetors are a bodyguarding unit that sucks wounds away from your heroes, and Krondys/Karazai are indeed stormcast heroes. But even then, Praetors are slow, and your dragons are trying to fly about the battle wreaking havoc. So what are we to do to keep your dragons from being vulnerable once they’ve gone aggressive?
Well here is the really clever bit. By bringing along a lord relictor with translocation, you can teleport up those Praetors to remain in bodyguard range of your dragons.
“But once my dragon charges in those Praetors will be left 9″ out and won’t be up front with my hero!”
There is truth here, but also a really cool interaction.
Krondys and Karazai are on MASSIVE bases. Approximately 6.5 inches across. What this means is that even if your dragon charges into the fight, the back of their base will still be just 2.5″ away from the Praetors, allowing the bodyguards to stay out of the fight (where they might be targeted by opposing attacks leaving your dragon vulnerable) but still keep your dragons alive so they can rip the heart out of the enemy army.
If you’ve been wanting to field those 520 point terrors but haven’t been able to keep them alive, try this strategy out in your next game!
This is the top three AoS lists for the Big Bucks Bash that took place in the UK on the 27th and 28th of May. It involved 14 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
This tournament did unusually allow the new Seraphon book…..
As this event had less than 20 players attending there won’t be any list comments here as the guys will be concentrating on the larger events of the week.
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: Seraphon – Constellation: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: Survivor’s Instinct – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Lord Kroak (395)* Slann Starmaster (275)** – General – Command Trait: Lord of Celestial Resonance – Artefact: Spacefolder’s Stave – Spell: Comet’s Call – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Skink Starpriest (130)* – Spell: Speed of Huanchi Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)*
Battleline 10 x Skinks (85)* – Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 10 x Skinks (85)* – Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 5 x Saurus Guard (130)* 10 x Raptodon Chargers (300)* – Reinforced x 1
Units 3 x Terrawings (75)** 10 x Hunters of Huanchi with Dartpipes (270)** – Reinforced x 1
Allegiance: Seraphon Starborn – Constellation: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: Survivor’s Instinct – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Lord Kroak (395)* Slann Starmaster (275)** – General – Command Trait: Lord of Celestial Resonance – Artefact: Spacefolders Stave – Spell: Comets Call – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)* Skink Starpriest (130)** – Spell: Speed of Huanchi
Battleline 5 x Saurus Guard (130)* 5 x Saurus Guard (130)** 10 x Skinks (85)* – Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 10 x Skinks (85)** – Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers 5 x Raptadon Chargers (150)* 5 x Raptadon Chargers (150)**
Units 5 x Hunters of Huanchi with Dartpipes (135)* 5 x Hunters of Huanchi with Starstone Bolas (90)**
Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Subfaction: Hallowed Knights – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours – Triumph: Inspired
Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes – Army Subfaction: Meatfist – Grand Strategy: Take What’s theirs.
LEADER 1 x Tyrant (150)* – Big Name: Brawlerguts 1 x Tyrant (150)* – Big Name: Brawlerguts 1 x Tyrant (150)** – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Big Name: Brawlerguts 1 x Bloodpelt Hunter (140)** – General – Command Traits: Deadly Aim – Artefacts: Gruesome Trophy Rack – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Kragnos (720)**
BATTLELINE 4 x Leadbelchers (170)* 6 x Ogor Gluttons (260)* – Bellower – Tribal Banner Bearer with Lookout Gnoblar – Paired Ogor Clubs or Bluntblades 6 x Ogor Gluttons (260)* – Bellower – Tribal Banner Bearer with Lookout Gnoblar – Paired Ogor Clubs or Bluntblades
This is the top three AoS lists for the Aotearoa Masters Grand Tournament that took place in New Zealand on the 20th and 21st of May. It involved 18 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
As this event had less than 20 players attending there won’t be any list comments here as the guys will be concentrating on the larger events of the week.
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: Disciples of Tzeentch – Change Coven: Guild of Summoners – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: bloodthirsty
Leaders Changecaster, Herald of Tzeentch (150)** – Artefact: The Eternal Shroud – Lore of Change: Bolt of Tzeentch – Lore of Change: Treason of Tzeentch Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (200)** – General – Command Trait: Cult Demagogue – Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate – Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Magister (140)** – Lore of Fate: Glimpse of Future – Lore of Fate: Shield of Fate Contorted Epitome (190)* – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon – Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist – Allies
Battleline 20 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (500)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – 7x Pair of Cursed Blades – 3x Cursed Glaives 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)* – 7x Pair of Cursed Blades – 3x Cursed Glaives 10 x Tzaangors (180)* – 10x Pair of Savage Blade
Allegiance: Beasts of Chaos – Greatfray: Darkwalkers – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Doombull (180)* – General – Command Trait: Bestial Cunning – Artefact: Brayblast Trumpet – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha Great Bray-Shaman (95)* – Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Wild Rampage
Battleline 10 x Ungors (80)* – Mauls & Half-Shields 20 x Ungor Raiders (230)* – Reinforced x 1 9 x Bullgors (630)* – Pairs of Axes – Reinforced x 2
Units 6 x Beasts of Chaos Tzaangor Enlightened on Discs of Tzeentch (430)* – Reinforced x 1 10 x Chaos Warhounds (110)*
Leaders Dankhold Troggboss (200)* – General – Command Trait: Loonskin – Artefact: Glowy Howzit Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)*** – Artefact: Staff of Sneaky Stealin’ – Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork Skragrott, The Loonking (210)*** – Lore of the Moonclans: The Hand of Gork Webspinner Shaman (65)*** – Lore of the Spiderfang: Curse of da Spider God Squigboss with Gnasha-squig (100)** – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 3 x Fellwater Troggoths (160)* 6 x Rockgut Troggoths (320)* – Reinforced x 1 3 x Rockgut Troggoths (160)* 40 x Moonclan Shootas (250)*** – Reinforced x 1 24 x Squig Herd (260)** – Reinforced x 1
Units 5 x Gobbapalooza (160)* – Spell1: Lore of the Moonclans: Itchy Nuisance
This is the top three AoS lists for Wardolly Weekend that took place in Australia on the 18th and 19th of March. It involved 16 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (330) Gardus Steel Soul (170)* Lord-Castellant (160)** – Artefact: Mirrorshield – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Lord-Relictor (150)* – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Prayer: Translocation – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox Yndrasta, The Celestial Spear (280)*
Battleline 5 x Liberators (120)** – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 5 x Vindictors (130)* 10 x Sequitors (240)** – 5x Stormsmite Greatmaces – Reinforced x 1
Units 5 x Retributors (210)** 5 x Retributors (210)***
Leaders Vengorian Lord (280) – General – Command Trait: Rousing Commander – Artefact: Fragment of the Keep – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon Prince Vhordrai (460) – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions Radukar the Beast (310) Vampire Lord (140) – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 10 x Blood Knights (400) – Reinforced x 1 5 x Blood Knights (200) 5 x Blood Knights (200)
Allegiance: Ironjawz – Warclan: Ironsunz – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs:
Leaders Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)* – General – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist – Artefact: Destroyer – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Orruk Megaboss (140)* – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Orruk Warchanter (120)** Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)** – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)** – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Battleline 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* – 1x Gorkamorka Glyph Bearers 5 x Orruk Ardboys (80)* – 1x Gorkamorka Glyph Bearers 5 x Orruk Brutes (150)* – Pair of Brute Choppas – 1x Gore Choppas
Units 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)* – Pig-iron Choppas – Reinforced x 1
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for God’s of War 3 that took place in Italy on the 11th and 12th of February. It involved 84 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
The rankings for this tournament included other points that played around with the usual order of lists. We therefore decided to base the top 3 lists on the traditional method of wins and then battle points.
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: Idoneth Deepkin – Army Subfaction: Mor’phann – Grand Strategy: Dominion of the Deep Ones – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty LEADER 1 x Isharann Tidecaster (140) – Artefacts: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide – Spells: Steed of Tides – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Akhelian Thrallmaster (110)* – General – Command Traits: Lord of Storm and Sea 1 x Isharann Soulrender (120)* 1 x Lotann (110)*
BATTLELINE 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)* – Icon Bearer 20 x Namarti Thralls (260)* – Icon Bearer 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)** – Icon Bearer 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)** – Icon Bearer 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)** – Icon Bearer
BEHEMOTH 1 x Akhelian Leviadon (460)* – Mount Traits: Reverberating Carapace
Just in case it isn’t obvious by the time I finish this segment, I really love Idoneth Deepkin. They are the perfect army full of the best models with no bad builds, and you will never convince me otherwise. Luca’s list shines a spotlight on a handful of excellent units and clearly uses them to their greatest effect.
Let’s start with heroes. Luca has opted to leave the classic Murderking at home to fill in more slots for GCs. They are also focusing their heroes on the ability to buff and support their key units rather than shine by themselves. The Tidecaster brings two Isharann Rituals, the Thrallmaster is remarkably versatile (and has pretty decent solo damage output as well), the Soulrender keeps those Namarti alive, and Lotann provides some amazing buffs when stacked up with other heroes.
The Namarti thralls and reavers are supported by these heroes in key ways. Sticking the Tidecaster in a boat to give Riptide the widest possible reach, then pick your favorite Thrall unit and stick all of the remaining heroes into the middle. At that point the Soulrender is going to be resurrecting 4 to 6 Thralls per battleshock phase, the Thrallmaster is going to provide exploding 6’s to hit, Lotann provides +1 to wound, the Leviadon gives +1 to hit…
You see where this is going. Assuming the chosen unit doesn’t get destroyed on their way to their destination (which obviously didn’t happen, given Luca’s first place win) the 20 thralls will force a massive number of Rend -1 saves. And if it does happen that the thrall unit gets destroyed on the way to their destination, Luca has a backup castle right behind the first. On top of all this, Luca has 30 Sharpshooter Reavers running around the board as fast as (or faster) than other armies’ cavalry all the while able to pick off enemy GCs before they have the chance to score battle tactics.
All-in-all, this is an excellent showing from an army that we don’t get to see in top 3 articles very often, and Luca did an excellent job piloting them to a 5-0 win and first place!
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Allegiance: Nighthaunt – Procession: Scarlet Doom – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Guardian of Souls (150)** – Lore of the Underworlds: Seal of Shyish Krulghast Cruciator (150)** – Artefact: Lightshard of the Harvest Moon Lord Executioner (130)*** – General – Command Trait: Hatred of the Living – Artefact: Slitter – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Spirit Torment (120)** Spirit Torment (120)
Battleline 10 x Bladegheist Revenants (180)* 10 x Bladegheist Revenants (180)* 20 x Bladegheist Revenants (360)* – Reinforced x 1 20 x Bladegheist Revenants (360)* – Reinforced x 1 3 x Spirit Hosts (130)***
No Harridans, no Hexwraiths, just a single-minded focus on some of the most effective murder machines Nighthaunt has. By now, everyone knows the Bladegheist trick, an extra attack on the charge. With Lightshard, that means up to 5 attacks as well as mortal wounds from the charge (Scarlet Doom ability). This is a variation on the 2 blocks of 30 Bladegheist that we saw early in last season. This list deals with one of the weaknesses of the 60 Bladegheist list by giving both more units and a non-trivial screen. The weakness, of course, is only 10 wounds for 180 points. They can issue discorporate on themselves to take advantage of a 5+ ward increased their effective wounds 30%. But even without rend, a 10/13 wound unit is pretty easy to pick up.
Unfortunately unless you have a double pile in/fight rule (Terrorgheist I see you) the unit that removes the screen is really only a trading piece with one of the large units likely to take advantage of your clearing the screen. Elite armies can’t afford that trade too often. The normal buffing heroes are here, Kruleghast gives -1 damage, and Guardian of Souls with 2 Spirit Torments to return models every turn. The Lord Executioner build is cute and very threatening, but with only 5 wounds, he can be removed a bit too easily to rely on. It will take a little effort, though, with his standard wards and once per game 3+ wards.
If combined with the Spirit Hosts, it will take quite a bit to shift him. He’s not a Megaboss but with Slitter (chance to one shot small heroes) and Hatred of the Living he’s a nasty bomb waiting for something to get too close. The points increase cost this list dearly – in Season 2, it costs more than 100 more than Season 1 neatly removing the Purple Sun (and other helpful spells). With a mix of defensive and offensive buffs and choices, this is still a very aggressive list that aims to win by destroying you more than playing for points. Isolated any of the core units are pretty weak. The lower Battlescore (still 5 and 0) reflects that it’s a bit harder to score in Season 2 just by killing your opponent. It’s still fun though.
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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Knights of the Empty Throne – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (170)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Cursed Warhammer Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Daemonic Speed – Aspects of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Spells: Chaotic Conduit
BATTLELINE Chaos Knights (230)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Doom Knight – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Cursed Lance Chaos Knights (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Doom Knight – Cursed Lance – 2 x Hornblower – 2 x Standard Bearer – Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon Varanguard (290)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 3 x Ensorcelled Weapon Varanguard (290)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 3 x Fellspear Varanguard (290)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – 3 x Fellspear
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000
Slaves to Darkness players (myself included) are quickly finding that the new book has some definite power, even if from a fairly limited selection of warscrolls and allegiance abilities. However, the combos that do work, work.
Meme has kept things simple and leaned into a ‘2e Slaves but with no Archaon’ list, with loads of cavalry in Knights of the Empty Throne, which makes mounted units able to run and charge, and Varanguard battleline. Also, be aware, the 5+ Varanguard rally only applies if the GENERAL is a Varanguard model.
Slaves HQ picks are quickly consolidating to a lean selection of 1-2 Lords, with at least being the Sorcerer as we have here, for access to the fantastic Daemonic Power (+1 to hit and wound) spell, that he can cast on 3d6 thanks to a heroic action – hence the Arcane Tome and Master of Magic – also crucial to getting ‘Daemonic Speed’ off for those 3d6 charges.
Troop wise, Chaos Knights are rapidly showing Nurgle to be their favourite mark, so they can act as durable pinning pieces. Meme has them backed up by 3x msu Khorne Varanguard, as savage guided missiles, with each unit being able to fight twice.
You can probably see how it works – a wall of super hard to kill knights with run+3d6 charge to box you in, and death squads of Varanguard with – if all the buffs go off – 4 attacks each, 2/2/-3/2!
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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Stormkeep – Subfaction: Hallowed Knights – Triumph: Inspired – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Their
LEADERS Lord-Castellant (160)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact of Power: Arcane Tome – Spell: Starfall Gardus Steel Soul (170)*** Knight-Zephyros (100)*** – Artefact of Power: Mirrorshield – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox Krondys (550)*** – Spell: Thundershock
BATTLELINE 15 x Vindictors (390)* – Vindictor-Prime – 3 x Azyrite Signifier 5 x Vanquishers (110)** – Vanquisher-Prime 5 x Vanquishers (110)*** – Vanquisher-Prime
OTHER 3 x Aetherwings (70)** 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)** – Raptor-Prime
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Everblaze Comet (90)
With the news that small heroes were the focus of Season 2, SCE players rejoiced and began sorting through their 40 heroes for Galletian Champions to take up the challenge. And very quickly realised that despite only average performance, they’d gotten a nerf. The same 3 or 4 foot heroes that were already in the list were there for a reason. However, both the Knight Zephyros and the Knight Azyros. especially the Knight Zephyros, made a return. Only 6″ move, but he can teleport instead of move on top of run and charge. Only 5 wounds but equipped with Mirrorshield (can’t be shot unless you are within 9″) and Subborn as a Rhinox makes him both a great backfield but also a great unguarded objective unit. Really though this is the Krondys show with a supporting cast of heroes.
Both the Castellant and Steel Soul bring useful buffs (+1 to save and a 12″ 5+ ward). While Krondys is the big hammer, the Vindictors are a hammer in their own right. They are part of the Galletian Command battalion with the Castellant. You can expect them to hang around with a 2+ save. You can expect them to do an average of 5 mortal wounds at full strength (15 models), they need to lose 3 models before battleshock is an issue. They also fight on death, so combat is a real concern. They are part of an anti horde approach, including Starfall and the Vanquishers (they get more attacks the more models they face). At the same time, as including a hero that can snipe objectives, Ambrogio included some real snipers.
Aetherwings are not just spotters (+1 to hit for longstrikes if the target is within 12″ of them). They can, of course, take objectives or push scoring opportunities. The Longstrikes are a good choice for sniping out Galletian Champions. A well thought out list with solid scoring opportunities and the ability to apply pressure, including through remote mortal wounds (Raptors, Everblaze Comet, and Starfall) that will punish any horde or army that castles. 13th is low for a 4 and 1 record, demonstrating SCE’s frequent mobility issue and its impact on scoring.
This is the Top Three AoS lists for the ‘Ere We Go Again Ladz’ that took place in the USA on the 14th and 15th of January. It involved 24 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Hallowed Knights – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Gardus Steel Soul (150)* 1 x Knight-Draconis (300)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Mount Traits: Scintillating Trail – Spells: Celestial Blades
BATTLELINE 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)** – Stormdrake-Prime – Drakerider’s Lance 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)** – Stormdrake-Prime – Drakerider’s Lance
OTHER 1 x Stormstrike Chariot (165)* – Stormstrike Axe and Tempestuous Spear 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)*
Daniel is known as an exceptional Stormcast player, and we’re lucky enough to have him as a member of our Discord community. You may know Daniel from his awesome YouTube channel; The Stormkeep. They focus on Stormcast tactics and lists and give great reviews of GW releases such as the new General’s Handbook. Daniel kindly agreed to give us a rundown on how his list works.
Daniel Gomez: The list clearly revolves around Stormdrake Guard. More specifically, it takes advantage of their high amount of attacks and the unique mix of characteristics the unit has. The attacks and mortal wound output are easy to see, but the important thing about Dragons is the monster keyword, fly, 3” coherency/attack range (fangs and talons), and that reinforced it is a 4 model 9 wound unit. Monster is more important than ever. You can block everything from important command abilities such as Fyreslayers fighting first against you after charging them, down to the mundane AoD effective counting as rend or removing the option of AoA as a psuedo -1 to hit buff.
Fly combined with the 3” coherency and 12” move is so important for them to take up the offensive/defensive control space they need, as well as hopping over large terrain. They’re really unwieldy models, and the unit wouldn’t work at all without all of these. The oblong base also allows you to do some pile in tricks and “slide” beside an enemy unit to reach a juicier target in the back. 3” reach is another awesome and under-appreciated trait that even makes it so charging a dragon from the side as long as those bases are touching they can reach across and help hit a problematic unit. Directly across each base is just under 3”. This can bait opponents into charging, thinking they’ll only take a bit of damage back by flanking them. Only to realize the rend 2 attacks can still assist and deal some damage.
Stormdrakes are also 9 wounds, which doesn’t seem too important until you see the limit to qualify for cover and wyldwoods from terrain is 9 wounds. Combined with AoD and a mystic shield, you can hit a 0+ effective save easily. Being a 4 model unit also opens up a very good chance of rallying and during the tournament I rallied a dragon twice, one of those times giving me huge momentum to finish the tough job of shoving Alarith LRL off the middle objective in a 3-objective plan. I pretty much highlight the Stormdrakes here because they are the make or break of the list. It’s really a Death Star list, and even including the points inefficient Knight Draconis was acceptable as it allowed for hero phase breath once per game to free me up to move to the next target.
The raptors were there for a similar purpose just to be that extra bit of very consistent damage to help the dragons continue conquering. Add in a complimentarily fast support all-rounder support piece like the Stormstrike Chariot (and I will say this has been my favorite SCE list so far). Gone are the mindless push across the board and win turn 1 dragons. This list takes a more methodical approach, and I hope to keep bringing a similar list into the next season.
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Army Faction: Seraphon – Army Type: Starborne – Army Subfaction: Fangs of Sotek – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Saurus Astrolith Bearer (155)*** – Artefacts: Serpent God Dagger 1 x Skink Starpriest (130)*** – Spells: Hand of Glory 1 x Slann Starmaster (285)*** – General – Command Traits: Arcane Might – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Stellar Tempest 1 x Skink Priest (120)*** – Prayers: Curse
BATTLELINE 30 x Skinks (225)* – Boltspitter and Moonstone Club 10 x Skinks (75)* – Boltspitter – Celestite Dagger and Star-buckler 10 x Skinks (75)* – Boltspitter – Celestite Dagger and Star-buckler
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)
OTHER 8 x Salamander Hunting Pack (280)** 3 x Kroxigor (150)** 3 x Kroxigor (150)** 8 x Salamander Hunting Pack (280)***
Seraphon will always struggle to lose the ‘OP’ label, but honestly we’ve not seen them pop up so much in recent months, and here we see darn near as unusual a variant as possible while still being competitive.
The high value core remains as ever the Astrolith Bearer (for boosting the Slann’s spell range and offering a ward bubble), the Starpriest for his re roll 1s to hit spell and ability to give something mortals on 6s to wound – most likely the big skink blob in this case – and the Priest with Curse to make that skink blob able to annihilate anything through weight of attacks and fishing for mortals.
And yes, lots of skinks, because this is Fangs of Sotek. But where this list goes wonderfully skewiff is the 2×3 units of Kroxigor! The monsters that time forgot! Their warscroll is thoroughly unimpressive and honestly I’d love to see the way in which Sean used them – my best guess is as Skink screens/counter punchers, given they’re fast enough to keep up, relatively tanky (4 wounds on a 4+) and get +1 to hit while near the skinkeroos.
2 units of reinforced Salamanders round things off, projecting serious threats in both the shooting and melee phases.
This list gets hit pretty hard with the new points, but as it stands it’s a pleasingly balanced Fangs list – and while I’m not sure Kroxigor are some overlooked, stealth-value meta pick, I still love seeing them get use. Here’s hoping the new book gives them some love and allows for even more variation in Seraphon list-building.
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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Celestant-Prime (325)* 1 x Lord-Relictor (145)* – General – Command Traits: Shock and Awe – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Celestial Blades – Prayers: Translocation 1 x Battlemage (100)* 1 x Lord-Imperatant (175)****
BATTLELINE 5 x Vanquishers (110)** – Vanquisher-Prime 5 x Liberators (115)** – Grandweapon – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield 2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (230)*** 2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (230)***
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Everblaze Comet (90)
OTHER 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)*** – Annihilator-Prime 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)****
A different take on Stomrcast to Danniel’s bringing mobility through magic. This army counts on throwing multiple threats down and forcing you to either screen and spread or castle and remove threats as they arrive. The added wrinkle here is the Fulminator/Relictor/Battlemage combo that can easily see Fulminators hit anything that is isolated. The weakness is it’s hard to concentrate your force, and the MSU Fulminators/Annihilators at 12/9 wounds are one shots. Your opponent is likely to pick them up the turn after they are down. And 7” charges are still only a 58% chance without a reroll (Fulminators). You really want to try to shut down the 2nd turn when you are likely to get Fulminators, Annihilators, and the Celestant Prime all arriving.
With so many drops Tim is giving the first round activation away to most opponents, most opponents are probably going to give him first turn any way to avoid the 1/2 double that could be very nasty. That would make for an interesting battle against the Seraphon army. Letting the Seraphon go first and letting them buff those skinks is a bad idea. As it happened, the Seraphon was Tim’s only loss. There is nothing critical in that list for any of his big hitters to challenge, and small units of Skinks are great screens. They are very similar lists in their equivalent factions (multiple mobile small unit).
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Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz – Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Fungoid Cave-Shaman (95)*** – Spells: The Hand of Gork Fungoid Cave-Shaman (95)**** – Spells: Call da Moon Madcap Shamans (80)**** – Artefacts of Power: Moonface Mommet – Spells: Itchy Nuisance Dankhold Troggboss (220)**** – General – Command Traits: Mighty Blow – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Flaming Weapon
BATTLELINE Fellwater Troggoths (155) Shootas (120)** Shootas (120)** Stabbas (140)** – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – Stabba and Moon Shield – 3 x Barbed Net Rockgut Troggoths (145)*** Rockgut Troggoths (145)*** Rockgut Troggoths (145)***
I was so impressed to see a Gitz army go 4-1 at an event and be in a tournament winning position after Round 4 that I contacted Chris directly to ask him about the tactics he used. In my eyes, with such an out of date Battletome, this was such an exceptional performance it deserved the top spot! (No offense, Daniel!)
Chris Kennedy: My overall goal is to flood the board and give people bad choices and trades. I run my army in layers depending on the opponents. The 2 units of shootas are for sitting back and holding objectives. I normally set them in a corner on an objective each and forget about. Most people ignore them until they need to take the objective. The -1 to hit within 2 inches goes a long way in keeping them alive.
The rockguts work as hammer and anvils. Normally, having one unit out front to take a charge, then itchy Nuisance (fight last spell) and Moonface Mommet (-1 armor save) the unit on my turn to wipe big treats. I also keep the Rockguts in a Vanguard, so if I get off Hand of Gork (teleport spell), I can reroll the charge. Rockguts aren’t elite and have no leader.
My boingrots are used to flank and are in Bounty Hunters. They can effectively clear screens or shooters with doing mortals on the charge. Left alone behind enemy lines, they wreak havoc. The 4 plus save is as tanky as gitz gets, so they take time for the opponent to clear.
The Shamans sit back safely behind the shrine with long range Spells. A teleport, a line of sight table wide 3d damn to one target and scuttletide. I use those to either pick off heroes or shooters. Scuttletide can also be used to charge block because it does 1 mortal for every 5 up on 6 dice when you end a move or charge within 6 of it.
Last I have the Dankhold Troggboss and Marshcrawla that tow the back line. The marchcrawla tries to keep as many units under its 18-inch bubble as possible, giving everyone +1 to hit in melee, and the Dankhold gives out reroll 1s to hit for Troggoth units within 18. He also can hit pretty hard in melee if needed but pretty squishy.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the SoCal Masters Grand Tournament that took place in Texas, USA on 7th and 8th January. It involved 10 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: Beasts of Chaos – Army Subfaction: Allherd – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)** – Spells: Hailstorm, Sundering Blades 1 x Tzaangor Shaman (135)** – General – Command Traits: Dominator – Artefacts: Blade of the Desecrator – Spells: Vicious Stranglethorns, Wild Rampage 1 x Grashrak Fellhoof (150)** – Spells: Savage Dominion, Wild Rampage
BATTLELINE 10 x Ungors (65)*** – Brayhorn – Banner Bearer – Ungor Blade and Half-shield 10 x Ungors (65)*** – Banner Bearer – Brayhorn – Ungor Blade and Half-shield 30 x Tzaangors (525)*** – Twistbray – 2 x Icon Bearer – 2 x Brayhorn Blower – 4 x Tzaangor Mutant
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Wildfire Taurus (70) 1 x Ravening Direflock (30)
OTHER 6 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Discs of Tzeentch (360)* 6 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Discs of Tzeentch (360)* 1 x Tuskgor Chariots (65)* 5 x Grashrak’s Despoilers (150)**
Danny: Beasts of Chaos are finally running scared….of their new book. Because it contains at least the possibility of them being balanced.
In the meantime, you have something like this. In case you’re unfamiliar with how BoC work, let’s just say they do everything, with loads of bodies that punch above their weight (thanks to the Herdstone which gives rend that stacks by battle round and a 4+ rally emanating in an increasingly large aura by battle round) coming in from board edges when you least want them to.
For those who are experienced in such matters, let’s look to the innovations in this list. Well, it takes Grashrak Fellhoof and his merry band of Despoilers for a spin, on loan from Underworlds – who allows Brayherd units (i.e. most of the stuff in the list) to get…+3 to their movement…and a tasty spell for d3 mortals and +1 to hit for all units into that target. In true BoC fashion, that would probably be good value enough on its own but the 5 Despoilers in tow act as a bodyguard/ablative wounds too.
Beyond the usual ‘borrowing’ of the best stuff from the new Tzeentch book, the list also includes a token Tuskgor chariot. You don’t see those every day! But for 65 pts it’s a 10″ move, 6 wound on a 4+ piece with minor chip damage – but it’s 65 pts and moves 10″, who cares what else it does. The things BoC have access to for under 75 pts never ceases to amaze me.
Wishlist from the new book: change everything. Yes the models are old and ugly but their rules don’t need to match.
Of course – kudos to the general, as no army can win without skill. And there’s a lot to remember with BoC.
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Gregory Brewer 3/0/2
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Subfaction: Bloodtoofs – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90) – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Megaboss on Maw-krusha (480)* – General – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Mount Traits: Fast ’Un – Spells: Bash ’Em Ladz – Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur Orruk Warchanter (115)* Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Brett: Two things Ironjawz don’t love; huge screens (that they don’t clear on the first attempt) and lots of rend. Beasts bring both. Greg bounced back from a first round loss to the eventual winner before losing again in the 4th round to Kruleboyz (KB). Mortal wounds can be an issue for Ironjawz and 21 Boltboyz in 2 x 9 and a 3 man create some problems. Greg’s tried to increase damage output by taking Bash ’em ladz (+1 to wound rolls) but it’s not reliable with the high casting value. This list trys uses the Mawcrusha and 6 Goregruntas as the dynamic damage combination with the Krondspine as a 3rd threat/pining piece. Unfortunately, screens and MW shooting is a tough ask for a melee army. With poisons and MW those Boltboyz are removing a pig or two with Unleash Hell.
Other than his 2 losses though Ironjawz punished his opponents. Krondspine works great in the list either pining something important or distracting attacks from the Mawcrusha. 6 Gore gruntas have likewise proven to be a good foil to the Mawcrusha either supporting a push on one flank or allowing board wide pressure. Teleporting ardboyz is another effective distraction opportunity. Everyone knows the alpha strike but the inclusion of Krondspine and the larger Goregrunta unit give more subtlety and give options. It’s a matter of choice whether you take the Shaman for the teleport or not, it’s a very effective distraction/scoring mechanism.
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Scions of the Storm) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Gardus Steel Soul (150)* Lord-Castellant (155)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Spell: Celestial Blades
Battleline 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 5 x Vanquishers (110)*
Units 4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)** – Drakerider’s Warblade – Reinforced x 1 4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)** – Drakerider’s Warblade – Reinforced x 1
Brett: If there is one thing Stormcast have in spades, other than dragons, it’s Battleline units. Vanquishers are seeing some more use but usually a single unit, taking 3 is a bit of a risk but worth it if there are horde armies around. Drop one onto an unprotected objective and even if your opponent removes them they will attack on death, they have the Thunderstrike keyword as well give their Blaze of Glory an extra dice. Easier to shift with only a 4+ but damaging to deal with. No holy command is shown but if it was Call to Aid (likely) then that dead unit is going to return (only once per battle). Otherwise we have Gardus for a 5+ ward within 12″ and the Lord Castellant (who we’ll probably be seeing even more often as a Galletian Champion). Generally he’d put both buffs (+1 to save and +1 to wound) on a unit before it was sent into harms way.
Still there are issues, the Drakes have a lot of wounds but are hard to give cover from shooting, they can easily get out of buff range, redeploy can ruin charges and with high rend they will wilt. Evan recovered from 2 losses in the opening rounds, losing to a SCE list with a lot of shooting and Krondys (with Thudershock to wreck those charges and leave you exposed to the shooting). The second loss was to Maggotkin, damage output is a continuing issue for SCE and you don’t really want to be near them very long or the mortals pile up. Solid mobile list very reflective of where SCE is right now.
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Army Faction: Fyreslayers – Subfaction: Lofnir – Grand Strategy: Masters of the Forge – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Auric Runemaster (125)* – General – Command Traits: Avatar of Vulcatrix – Artefacts of Power: Volatile Brazier – Prayers: Heal Auric Runesmiter (135)* – Runic Iron – Prayers: Prayer Of Ash Celestial Hurricanum with Celestial Battlemage (290)*
BATTLELINE Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)* – Ancestral War-axe – Mount Traits: Coal-heart Ancient Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)* – Ancestral War-axe – Mount Traits: Flame-scale Youngblood Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)* – Ancestral War-axe – Mount Traits: Lava-tongue Adult Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)* – Karl – Hornblower of Grimnir Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)* – Karl – Hornblower of Grimnir
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Runic Fyrewall (40) 1 x Horrorghast (40) 1 x Molten Infernoth (40)
TERRAIN 1 x Magmic Battleforge (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000
Alice: There’s really only two ways to build Fyreslayers: Berzerker spam and Magmadroth Spam, but it comes with the territory of having a limited number of models.
That said…this one is interesting. Lofnir lets you bring Magmadroths as battleline, and juices them up to boot with extra wounds and mount traits. They’re a solid work horse monster that can do some solid damage output and horde clearing, a task Fyreslayers frequently struggle with. The Runesmiter and Runemaster support the army with powerful prayers, including the important Infernoth for Mortal Wound output and the Fyrewall to protect important units and objectives. Also key, the Runesmiter can tunnel a Magmadroth in 9″ away from the enemy, with bonuses to charge thanks to a supercharged rune granted through the army’s Heroic Action.
The Celestial Hurricanum is an interesting ally, it helps cover two of the Fyreslayer’s biggest weaknesses: Lack of Wizards and Ranged Mortal Wounds. A solid choice for artillery support. Rounding it off it can cast the Horrorghast, a powerful way to clear out a few extra models from large hordes by blocking Inspiring Presence.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Lost Legion GT that took place in Australia on 19th and 20th November. It involved 32 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: Ogor Mawtribes – Subfaction: Underguts – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
Declan: I don’t know if the tournament allowed the new book, but Patrick is well prepared for it if they didn’t. 4 Ironblasters never really appeared in the UK meta, but was reasonably common in the US and has appeared in Australia. It’s a great example of how the tournament scenes are different in each country.
Why is everyone talking about Ironblasters….? Well more consistent damage is coming and the Hailshot is getting very good! Expect to see similar lists to this once the book is fully allowed at tournaments.
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Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Barak-Zilfin – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Aether-Khemist (90)* – General – Command Traits: Collector – Artefacts of Power: Staff of Ocular Optimisation Aetheric Navigator (85)* – Artefacts of Power: Svaregg-Stein ‘Illuminator’ Flarepistol Arkanaut Admiral (125)**
BATTLELINE Arkanaut Company (90)* – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt – Volley Pistol Arkanaut Company (90)* – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt – Volley Pistol Arkanaut Company (90)** – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt – Volley Pistol
BEHEMOTH Arkanaut Ironclad (490)** – Great Sky Cannon – Great Endrinworks: The Last Word Arkanaut Ironclad (490)* – Great Sky Cannon – Great Endrinworks: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram
OTHER Grundstok Thunderers (270)* – Grundstok Mortar – 2 x Honour Bearer – 2 x Aethercannon – 2 x Aetheric Fumigator – 2 x Decksweeper Grundstok Gunhauler (155)** – Drill Cannon
Randal: There are two primary archetypes of Kharadron Overlords that have been successful this season. There is the Full Fleet list with four or more boats, and the Double Ironclad with an Anvil lists which have also seen a lot of success like this wonderful list from Luca Foerster.
Luca took this list in a slightly different direction from the typical double ironclad lists we have seen in the past, by foregoing the Krondspine or Gotrek anvil choices and instead taking a reinforced unit of Grundstok Thunderers with Special Weapons. This is extra spicy since it gives the unit an enormous amount of firepower but has limited range with most of the weapons limited to 12” or less. This list gets around that restriction by being in Zilfin which gets a hero phase move for one of the Ironclads allowing the Thunderers to jump out and pummel the enemy’s frontline. The usual suspects for heroes and battleline accompany the two heavy boats, but there is a surprise Grundstok Gunhauler which provides a little extra extra for the two big boats in the form of a 6+ ward if it is nearby.
Another surprise here is that Luca has foregone using Spell in a Bottle which is a mainstay for Kharadron Alpha-Strike lists. This is likely a concession to stay in Zilfin and still get a Navigator instead of the common double Khemist builds that we usually see.
There is not much out that wants to play against this, but the lack of mortal wounds output or Purple Sun means that after the Flarepistol and Admiral’s Special Ammunition are used there isn’t much punch left to deal with a good save army that managed to survive the opening barrage.
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Stormkeep) – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Gardus Steel Soul (150)** Karazai, The Scarred (550)** Lord-Relictor (145)** – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Artefact: Mirrorshield – Prayer: Translocation Lord-Castellant (155)** – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Spell: Celestial Blades
Battleline 5 x Liberators (115) – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 5 x Liberators (115) – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 10 x Vanquishers (220)* – Reinforced x 1
Units 2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (230)* 6 x Praetors (290)* – Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions *Bounty Hunters **Warlord
Additional Enhancements Holy Command: Call for Aid Artefact
Brett: Joel is a member of Measured Gaming (as is Pat who took first) who loves Liberators and Stormstrike Chariots (he has a battle report on youtube with 5 in a single game – against Pat). Very experienced SCE general who has been developing this list since Karazai came out. This army is about Karazai and trying to get him into battle while within range of the Praetors or Gardus (bodyguard and ward don’t stack). The Praetors, as Bounty Hunters, they are capable damage dealers, just a bit slow, with 19 attacks at Rend -1 and 2(3) Damage. The army has a few more surprises, Fulminators are efficient even in pairs and with a 5+ ward if near Gardus, hard to shift. Bounty Hunters can really help them if they are caught in combat, against GV anyway.
Vanquishers are good anti horde (3 attacks against 5 models and 4 attacks against 10 or more) all with Rend -1. The Castellan isn’t the general but still included for utility with his Lantern ability (improved saves or mortal wounds). Teamed with the Vanquishers he can make them as robust Vindicators (3+ save) while they have a much better damage profile. Hallowed Knights grants fight on death to the Liberators and Vanquishers (Redeemers). The same units benefit the most from the army being Watchful Guardians (Stormkeep). They get the benefit of Eternal Conquerors without the battalion (except they only count as 3 models on home objectives before round 3) and when successfully charged while on an objective they do mortal wounds to the attacker.
With the Relictor’s translocate and Liberators counting as 3 models you can sometimes steal an objective in Turn 4 with a unit that is hard to shift and has really strong objective control. The army has a really balanced approach with a solid mix of resilience and damage ultimately finishing only 4 points behind Luca (2nd) who he beat in the 1st round. Ultimately he lost to Pat with the revitalised Ogors and their amazing Ironblasters.
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Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords – Lineage: Legion of Blood – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Vampiric Conquerors – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (435)* – General – Deathlance – Command Trait: Aristocracy of Blood – Artefact: Soulbound Garments – Expertise: Martial – Mount Trait: Foetid Miasma – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos (200)* – Lore of the Vampires: Amethystine Pinions Big Drogg Fort-Kicka (525) – Allies
Battleline 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)* 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons (80)* 10 x Dire Wolves (135)*
Units 5 x Blood Knights (195)** 5 x Blood Knights (195)** 3 x Fell Bats (75)*
Danny: This list harks back to a brief period around the turn of editions where zombie spam + Big Drogg was a tournament winning Soulblight list. William has ditched the zombies like everyone else while Bounty Hunters is a thing (and here’s to it dying off soon) but kept Big Drogg – and why not? The guy is a source of rend 2 that Soulblight traditionally lack, and, well, he’s a gargant. They’re fast, soak up serious punishment and dish it out in turn – leaing your msu Deathrattle, speedy wolves and Fell Bats (LOVE seeing them) and the tankier 2 units of Blood Knights to head out and score.
It’s an interesting HQ selection too – Belladamma is a great buff piece but not usually taken these days, however for 200 pts she’s relatively cheap, speedy, and can cast a spell on a 6 for a 12″ aura of exploding 6s – which can help Blood Knights hit much more reliably. With her built in +1, she’s also a good Jaws caddy and being able to use the wolves as bodyguards ups her survivabillity.
Topping things off you have the always-reliable Lord on Zombie Dragon, who in Legion of Blood gains a built in horrorghast effect, and gains +1 attack on his Deathlance with Martial Expertise, while Soulbound Garments for +1 save gets him on a 2+ as standard before anything like AoD, Finest Hour – etc – making him SUPER tanky.
The one thing this list doesn’t have is access to good MWs outside of jaws, which may explain the loss to Stormcast – presumably they were able to tank the VLoZD, out-compete William on objectives and strike down Big Drogg with the usual SCE hammers. Still, a great result for an unusual list – I’m loving seeing the variation and the resurgence of top 5 SBGL lists these days after a slow start to the season!
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for War in the Heartlands that took place in UK on 12th and 13th November. It involved 102 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: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction Blessed Sons – Grand Strategy Show of Dominance – Triumphs
Leaders Bloab Rotspawned (320) – Lore of Malignance Gift of Disease Great Unclean One (495) – General – Command Trait: Nurging infestation – Plague Flail & Massive Bilesword – Artefact: The Witherstave – Universal Spell Lore Flaming Weapon Orghotts Daemonspew (320) Gutrot Spume (170) Morbidex Twiceborn (320)
Danny: Now this is what we like to see – a crazy looking but clearly still brutal list with no flies and lots of big stinkers!
The core tech to this list is Gutrot Spume’s ability to deepstrike and take up to 3 Nurgle mortals along for the ride – yep, that means if Marc wanted to, and had the space, he could put each Maggoth lord into reserve and being them all out of reserve at once. Hilarious. Is that the way he probably played it? Almost certainly not. But could he have? Absolutely yes. Nevertheless, the ability to do it with one is a powerful mind-fuck for the opponent given how much utility and killing power each Maggoth lord brings.
Anchor that around the GUO – with his mixed phase goodness, and msu Rotmire, a cheap battleline option with native deepstrike with the ability to ‘splash’ disease points around, acting as a really effective catalyst for Nurgle’s attrition game, and you have a really quite amusingly mobile, or should we say positional Nurgle list with some fantastic meta-deployment options.
Great list, love to see it, big up to Marc!
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Army Faction: Lumineth Realm-lords – Subfaction: Helon – Trumph: Inspired. – Grand Strategy: No place for the weak
LEADERS Archmage Teclis (700)* – General Scinari Cathallar (110)* – Artefacts of Power: Silver Wand – Spells: Total Eclipse
OTHER Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* – High Sentinel – Spells: Overwhelming Heat Vanari Auralan Sentinels (300)* – High Sentinel – Spells: Speed of Hysh
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80) 1 x Rune of Petrification (40)
TERRAIN 1 x Shrine Luminor (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Ethan: In a WWE-esque blindside from the top rope Helon seems to be coming out of absolutely nowhere to be the LRL tournament faction of choice. Many LRL lists still follow the Teclis + everything else structure and I won’t keep everyone waiting to hear about Teclis: He’s quite good. Assuming most TOs are using the common sense god gave a dog about his spells known: the versatility of casting 4 spells from the various spell lores, the el classico Tecnado (d3 mortal wounds in an area that makes a Slaan blush), a 5+ ward aura and any number of other strong effects (teleportation, d3 mortal wounds and half movement, d3 mortal wounds in a line, d3 mortal wounds on a skateboard, d3 mortal wounds to a target of choice, you get the picture); in combination, make Teclis an absolutely beastly inclusion in any list. This list focuses on projecting power at distance using umbral spellportal and the rune of petrification (you guessed it, d3 mortal wounds, twice!) alongside Teclis’s spell package and other units to essentially prevent opponents’ ability to interfere with this process.
The two blocks of Sentinels, double reinforced, allow each other to shoot at 30″ under the new warscroll and output great damage and mortal wounds to force enemies to approach this castle setup. Late in games, I’d foresee this pairing splitting somewhat if enemies are out of range and need to be chased down but otherwise this is the core damage output of the list, sitting at the back and making enemy units wonder which nerfs exactly LRL players were complaining about. The other units essentially act as speedbumps, the wardens are a fun little block of 10 to sit on objectives and fighty enough that opponents can’t send their chaffiest chaff to deal with them while the windchargers take on the role of the old spirit of the wind, plinking, unleashing hell and piling out of combat as the opponent chases them up the board Benny Hill style while Teclis’s casting does it’s best impression of a Home Alone movie, ensuring that by the time enemies arrive to objectives they’re so battered as to be easy pickings for the Sentinels.
Last but not least, the Cathallar, she sits in the shrine and makes the opponent pay 2 cp for each CP they spend and sucks up any bad feelings from Elves having meth Aetherquartz withdrawals. We all love the Cathallar here at WoeHammer. What an absolute team player. Great work to Dan in piloting this relatively spicy archetype to a 5-0 and having seen some massive complaints in various discords about the difficulties of using a similar build I’d love to hear from the man himself if he has any tips for aspiring practitioners of the ancient martial art of D3 Mortal Wounds.
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Gardus Steel Soul (150)* Knight-Draconis (300)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Scintillating Trail – Spell: Thundershock
Battleline 4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)* – Drakerider’s Lance – Reinforced x 1 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Drakerider’s Lance 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Drakerider’s Lance
Units 5 x Tree-Revenants (110)* – Allies
Endless Spells & Invocations Horrorghast (40)
Core Battalions *Battle Regiment
Additional Enhancements Holy Command: Steadfast March
Brett: The last of the 5 and 0 lists for the event and we see the return of the Dragon List. Not as extreme as some with 9 drakes altogether but it’s still a hard list to play into. There is an ongoing debate surrounding Lances vs Warblades but Lances make a lot of sense in a Hallowed Knights list with Gardus. There is a really nice synergy between Gardus’s warscroll abilities and Lances with both an extra reroll (so the Drakes can save theirs) and an additional attack. On the charge the lances are -2 Rend, 2 Damage for maximum impact. Statistically best on the unit of 4, all units within 12″ benefit. It would be hard (but possible) to get more than 6 drakes wholly within 12″.
Horrorghast is an unusual choice but makes sense, Drakes don’t do huge damage and might not clear a unit completely through shooting and combat. Bottom of a round this might make a difference. Everblaze is a good option with the build on the Knight Draconis and the points. Tree Revenants are another good choice, their ability to walk the spirit paths (teleport) is better than the similarly costed Vanguard-Hunters because they don’t need to arrive close to the board edge. Choosing Tree Revenants means no need for a priest (Translocation) and a redeemer. In this list that’s worth an extra 2 dragons.
Mobility with endurance and reasonable hitting power is usually effective. Everything fits in a single battle regiment and at 1960 pts, the triumph should be in play most games. Daniel’s scores were competitive but his opponents were ranked lower through the tournament so his Swiss SoS placed him 3rd. A really good way to play SCE if you have the patience to build and paint that many dragons. It still needs good generalship, you don’t have a lot of bodies to control objectives or the board.
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Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness – Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Knights of the Empty Throne Varanguard x 6 (560)* – General – Daemonforged Blade and Warpsteel Shield – Command Trait: Inescapable Doom – Artefact: Grasping Plate – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch Knights of the Empty Throne Varanguard x 6 (560)** – Daemonforged Blade and Warpsteel Shield – Artefact: Corrupted Nullstone – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Mask of Darkness Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)** – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Spell: Mask of Darkness
Battleline 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch 8 x Iron Golems (75)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Units 1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*
Behemoths Chaos Warshrine (215)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Prayer1: Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Peter: I reached out to fill to see if he would be kind enough to comment on his list. He not only agreed but also gave us a tournament run down, which I’ll be publishing later today in its own article.
Phil Marshall: Knights of the Empty Throne – How does it work? In Knights of the Empty Throne, you are able to take Varanguard as Heroes, the first unit which is your general has Inescapable Doom and Grasping plate, meaning it can pile 6 inches and you cant retreat from this unit, the other unit has Corrupted Nullstone which is an auto unbind. The list is designed around two units of six Varanguard with the Mark of Tzeentch which allows the re-rolls of 1s to armour saves and gives units a 5+ spell ignore. Then you’ll look to really capitalise on these mechanics with other buff pieces in the army, which include two Sorcerer lords. Sorcerer lords have a built in mechanic called Orcular Visions which gives a unit +1 to save (this ability can stack), they are also wizards so offer the ability to cast mystic shield, demonic power (re-roll all hits and wounds) and mask of darkness (teleport). The final buff piece is the Warshrine, the prayer for Tzeentch is +1 save and a 4+ spell ignore, the only other prayer that may be used is Undivided which allows a unit to re-roll all hits and wounds. On top of this the Warshrine has an aura of 6+ ward which degrades as it takes damage. With all of these buff pieces it allows you to essentially make an unkillable unit (or two) of Varanguard. You can get +6 to your save re-rolling 1s once per game (oracular visions twice, mystic shield, Tzeentch Prayer, all out defence and finest hour), on top of this you can have a 4+ 5+ 5+ spell ignore as the Varanguard have a warscroll ability for spell ignore, mark of tzeentch grants spell ignore and then an additional spell ignore from the warshrine. As a result there are very few things that can deal with these units once they have the buffs on, you need to be able to do mass mortal wounds in the shooting and combat phase, otherwise there is a strong likelihood that you will never do any damage to this unit. I tend to evaluate the main threats of my opponents army and see how they have deployed, if I can capatalise on getting my general into the bulk of it and keeping them locked in combat for as long as possible. The rest of the list is designed to be very hard to kill with four units of iron golems who get +1 to their save if they havent made a normal move, meaning before rend they will be a 3+ re-rolling 1s.
This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Proving Grounds that took place in Canada on 22nd and 23rd October. It involved 15 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: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Lord-Imperatant (175)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Celestial Blades Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos (300)* Lord-Relictor (145)* – Prayer: Translocation Knight-Judicator with Gryph-Hounds (205)*
UNITS 3 x Annihilators (200)*** 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)*** 2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (230)*** 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)* 5 x Vindictors (130)** 5 x Vindictors (130)**
ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS Holy Command: Call for Aid Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley
TOTAL: 1995/2000 WOUNDS: 83 DROPS:10
Brett: Now we’re talking, 1 of almost everything really good in the SCE book, drops be damned. The result is some really powerful mortal wound projection and good mobility with Translocation, Annihilators and Fulminators. That combined with Bastian and 30″ shooting is punishing. He’s only lost to a list that could get close enough in the early rounds. With the Annihilators only coming in from reserve the Idoneth could really get an advantage in early rounds. We never see 2x Holy Commands, but I think they are underrated. Here they are giving an extra round of shooting and an extra 10 wounds.
This is just a fun list to play with and has some of the best or most interesting units SCE can bring.
Declan: Small tournaments are great in that you can win with a good 4-1 result, and it means the number of 0-5s is hopefully limited — in this case zero! But Matthew has come out on top with a SCE list that has teleporting, armour saves, and good shooting. It’s also a list we’ve seen before but Translocation has gone out of favour recently – so it’s good to see it still being good enough to get success.
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Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin – Army Subfaction: Nautilar – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Eidolon of Mathlann Aspect of the Storm (355)** – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Arcane Corrasion 1 x Akhelian King (250)** – General – Command Traits: Unstoppable Fury – Bladed Polearm and Falchion – Artefacts: Armour of the Cythai – Mount Traits: Voidchill Darkness 1 x Lotann (115)**
BATTLELINE 1 x Akhelian Leviadon (500)* – Mount Traits: Ancient 10 x Namarti Reavers (170)** 10 x Namarti Thralls (130)*** 10 x Namarti Thralls (130)***
TERRAIN 1 x Gloomtide Shipwreck (0)
OTHER 2 x Akhelian Allopexes (330)* – Alpha Allopex – Razorshell Harpoon Launcher – Barbed Hooks and Blades
Brett: This is a very interesting top 3, this list beat the one in first and was beaten by the list below in third. I haven’t seen that before. Idoneth is still throwing up a lot of variety, they haven’t taken a lot of tournaments so there is no “net list”. Here there is a return to the Allopexes/Leviadon with a supporting cast of infantry. Of course Eidolon and the Ahkelian King are here as hammers. Turn priority is important for Idoneth and would have worked in Pendelton’s favour against first place. The heavy hitters here and Reavers could do devastating damage to the small SCE units in the first turn and then deal with Annihilators. Pretty much every other list would have suffered exactly the same way, unless they had Gotrek or a Big Dragon.
Declan: Good to see IdK still doing well – even if they are Aelves. This is a relatively ‘normal’ list since the new book with Leviadon (big turtle), some sharks, a king and a Eidolon. It’s an interesting list which seems to rely on the characters, sharks and turtle… although don’t underestimate the Thralls. I prefer them in bigger units, but they can still contribute to the game.
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Scions of the Storm) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADERS Gardus Steel Soul (150)** Lord-Relictor (145)** – Prayer: Translocation Lord-Celestant on Stardrake (500)** – General – Celestine Hammer – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Celestial Instincts – Spell: Thundershock Gotrek Gurnisson (485)** – Allies
UNITS 5 x Liberators (115)* – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 5 x Liberators (115)* – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 5 x Liberators (115)* – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240) Everblaze Comet (100)
Brett: And so here is an army you don’t want to get close to, Gotrek , 5+ wards and fight on death for all of those enticing Liberators. Long range shooting and a dragon are always pretty effective. This list is really banking on Everblaze, Stardrake and the Longstrikes to weaken you at range (30″ to 36″). If there is a weakness it’s the crippling lack of mobility in this force. You can teleport (or translocate them) but their scoring opportunities are going to be fewer with only 4″ to 6″ on everything other than the dragon. You really want the enemy to be coming to you which looks like what happened. His only loss was to another fight on death army. Zainthar Kai is brutal with so many attacks and they get to you fast so it makes sense.
Declan: 2 big characters! We’ve not seen Gotrek in a while and the little dwarf is here to provide a big bubble that the enemy doesn’t want to go into. He’s still a monster in combat and can safely kill most things in the game if he can roll normally.
It’s also great to see a Stardrake doing well – it’s seen as overcoasted by most players but the model is great – even I own one. It’s also a great centre piece for drawing attention to the army – something Gotrek just can’t do.
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Army Faction: Cities of Sigmar – Army Type: Living City – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Doralia ven Denst (115)** Freeguild General (100)** – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Lifesurge Freeguild General on Griffon (290)*** – General – Command Traits: Ironoak Artisan – Sigmarite Runesword – Artefacts of Power: Spear of the Hunt – Mount Traits: Soaring Guardian Galen Ven Denst (115)*** Haskel Hexbane (180)***
Brett: Is this someone that also plays Warhammer Fantasy battles? This looks a lot like a Fantasy army (also if you are checking on Best Coast Pairings this is listed as Beastclaw Raiders but as you can see, it isn’t). Good to see the Underworlds here with Hexbane, now go see if you can find his warscroll. Huge number of rank and file combat and shooting hampered only by it’s short range. And that’s what’s happened by the looks of it, every army that needed to charge died to a hail of fire. Even the Lumineth list which was Stoneguard following their glow up in the new book. Lists with long range shooting to hit those crossbow men did a lot better. This is the first of the 3/2 lists and scored really well in all rounds (that he won) other than the last. Stoneguard are really good now.
Hard to disassemble a castle like this without shooting or spells, your best option is to play the mission and try to get tactics where you can avoid engaging. Either way try to get rid of the Demigryph Knights as soon as possible to limit his movement and remove them as a threat to your smaller units.
Declan: I’ve not reviewed a Cities of Sigmar list in a while and this one’s interesting. With both the Ven Denst’s making an appearance and with Freeguild Crossbowmen there is a ranged threat here that is not to be ignored. I’m interested in the Greatswords though.
3+/3+ is the stat-line Games Workshop are using for models and units they want to be good in combat. So the Freeguild are going to hit, and the 4+ armour save is not to be ignored. They are not cheap at 150 points for 10, but with a unit of 10 and 20, they will be able to push out some damage. It’s not seen often, as they’re probably not good enough for a 5-0, but they are great if you want to have fun and have a good paint scheme.
