Category Archives: Gnarlroot

Top Three AoS Lists for Shanghai Slaughter

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for Shanghai Slaughter that took place in the China on 14th and 15 January. It involved 20 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: Seraphon
– Army Type: Coalesced
– Subfaction: Thunder Lizard
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak

LEADERS
Engine of the Gods (285)*
General
– Command Traits: Prime Warbeast
– Artefacts of Power: Fusil of Conflagration
– Mount Traits: Beastmaster
– Prayers: Curse
Celestant-Prime (325)*
Lord Kroak (450)*
Skink Starpriest (130)*
– Spells: Hand of Glory

BATTLELINE
Saurus Guard (115)*
Saurus Knights (220)*
– Celestite Warspear and Powerful Jaws
Skinks (75)*
Saurus Knights (110)*
Celestite Warspear and Powerful Jaws

OTHER
Razordon Hunting Pack (210)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

Saurus units riding the crest of Seraphon power? Seraphon claiming number one with an Engine of the Gods and Kroak isn’t new. But Saurus Knights and Razordons in Thunder Lizard? It looks like Thunder Lizard was taken for double cosmic engine rolls and the Fusil of Conflagration. Thunder Lizard really boosts the power of an Engine and with Kroak can push out a lot of mortals. This is mostly a short range/melee army though, with the Engine’s 8” range working really well with the 9” range of curse. The Razordon’s bring 18” range (12D6 shots), but are most useful if the enemy gets close where they can both unleash hell and shoot at the end of the charge phase. Essentially, Seraphon Leadbelchers, you can’t leave them, but you can’t charge them.

The Saurus Knights are usually left at home, they don’t accept buffs as well as Skinks but this army is playing heavily into their Predatory-Fighter (+1 attack for Jaws attacks) and Scaly Skin (-1 damage). And they aren’t GVs. Combined with additional damage on the charge and the potential mortals on 6s, the double unit is pretty scary. A big part of the list, though, is the Celestant Prime – arguable if he is worth the cost in Seraphon, but it worked here. His guaranteed charge and damage profile is effective at removing key pieces like MawCrushas, Durthu, or Warsong Revenant. With Kroak shutting down spells it’s not hard to see why Sylvaneth struggled, the same for Skaven. Neither do well with Mortals. Damage reduction limits some of the impact of Ironjawz and the limited rend, but large number of attacks counters Nighthaunt. The army still has Seraphon’s ability to score while countering a lot of the unique abilities of his opponents army. It’s a really well thought out counter list.

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Army Faction: Sylvaneth
Subfaction: Gnarlroot
– Season: The Dwindling
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Arch-Revenant (120)*
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Regrowth, Verdant Blessing
Treelord Ancient (360)*
– Spells: Treesong, Verdant Blessing
Warsong Revenant (305)*
– General
– Command Traits: Spellsinger
– Spells: Verdant Blessing, Verdurous Harmony

BATTLELINE
Dryads (100)*
Tree-Revenants (110)*
Tree-Revenants (110)*

OTHER
Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatswords (500)*
Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatbows (230)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Vengeful Skullroot (60)
1 x Spiteswarm Hive (40)
1 x Gladewyrm (50)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000

Nikola here has brought a fairly standard Gnarlroot magic build here, with the Treelord Ancient and Warsong Rev combo for putting down a set of trees early doors with the Ancient for Warsong to use Spellsinger to cast his nasty AoE through.

It’s backed up by a compliment of reinforced Sword ‘Noth – a less popular choice than scythes because of their lesser rend – but a more balanced one overall, I think, due to their potential for MW output against targets who scoff at even 3 rend (such as Nighthaunt for example).

Happily for me, an endless spell enjoyer, the list packs all three Sylvaneth specific ones, and why not? They allo have fantastic utility and get be got off nicely in Gnarlroot with the ‘3d6 pick best 2’ to cast and re-roll from The Dwindling. Not only are they some of the best looking faction specific spells but they really do give the army a lot of options – horrorghast effects, healing, charge bonuses and more – love to see it!

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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness
– Army Type: Knights of the Empty Throne
Grand Strategy – Take what’s theirs

LEADERS
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)*
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Demonic speed

Varanguard (290)**
General
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Fellspear

BATTLELINE
Varanguard (290)**
Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Ensorcelled Weapon
Varanguard (290)**
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Ensorcelled Weapon
Splintered Fang (100)*
The Unmade (80)*
Corvus Cabal (80)*
Corvus Cabal (80)*

BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (480)*

OTHER
Ogroid Theridons (190)*
Mark of Chaos: Khorne
– Great Axes

BATTALIONS
Battle Regiment*
Overlords of Chaos**

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

Great to see a good run out with the new Slaves book! Although, less happy to see Spinedog – and do bear in mind that the new focus on foot heroes in the forthcoming season will likely mean a list such as this has to change in some big ways.

In the meantime though, it leans into the the obvious highlights of the new book – triple Varanguard in Khorne with lances for that sweet rend 3 charge in one unit, and two units of Ensorcelled Weapons for fast chaff/lower armour targets. With each unit able to fight twice, that’s potentially a lot of pressure coming at you early.

Andy also leans into a bevvy of tech cultists, which is a fantastic section of the new book. Splintered Fang for reliable MW output, The Unmade for running up and turning off Redeploy to help those Varanguard make their charges and not end up in no-man’s land, and double Corvus Cabal for deepstriking and scoring battle tactics. Note – in the new season we lose Barge – so one unit of Corvus for Desecrate is probably going to be the new jam.

It’s interesting that he’s packed in some Theridons – to be fair, they’re a cost effective if not at all durable counter-punch, so why not?

An interesting list that took down what I would imagine are some fairly green match ups, losing only to Nikola’s Sylvaneth, who are quickly proving to be a red matchup for the new chaos bois! Andy – be a hero and take 2nd place next time, without Spinedog! My commenting fingers are ready.

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Army Faction: Skaven
Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumph: Indomitable

LEADERS
Thanquol (415)*
– Warpfire Projectors
– 3 x Warpfire Braziers
– Spells: Skitterleap
Warlock Bombardier (115)*
Spells: More-more-more Warp Power!
Arch-Warlock (155)*
General
– Command Traits: Deranged Inventor
– Artefacts of Power: Esoteric Warp Resonator
– Spells: More-more-more Warp Power!

BATTLELINE
Skryre Acolytes (75)*
Skryre Acolytes (75)*
Stormfiends (960)*
3 x Windlaunchers and Clubbing Blows
– 3 x Ratling Cannons and Clubbing Blows
– 3 x Shock Gauntlets and Warpstone-laced Armour

OTHER
Warp-Grinder (65)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Lauchon the Soulseeker (50)
1 x Soulscream Bridge (80)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000

Skaven is one of those armies that I love to see pop up in these lists. Much like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.

In this case, we get nearly half of the points of the list dumped into one 9-rat unit of Stormfiends with a weapon load-out that punishes at 24″, ruins days at 12″, and ruins lives within 3″. Combining their damage output with the additional wounds of Warpstone-laced Armor allows them to absorb the mortal wounds they will ultimately take when one of the two nearby Warlocks casts More-more-more Warp Power! Stormfiends absolutely love the ability to land those 9 Windlauncher shots at 3+/2+/-3/D3, 9D6 Ratling Cannons at 2+/2+/-1/1, and 12 Shock Gauntlets at 2+/2+/-1/2.

We also get to see two endless spells that will be standards for the new battletome. The bonuses to mobility brought into play by Lauchon and the Soulscream Bridge makes scoring first and second turn battle tactics easier, since it allows those foot heroes (who might normally have a hard time moving more than 9″ in a turn) to jump across the board to claim objectives. Thanquol’s casting bonus allows him to be a very expensive, but reliable taxi driver, with the ability to cast Skitterleap and one of the two endless spells in the same turn, throwing both of the Galletian champions wherever the they need to be.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for Fantasia Fanatic XLII

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Fantasia Fanatic XLII Tournament that took place in Sweden on the 1st and 2nd October. It involved 38 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: Beasts of Chaos
Greatfray: Allherd
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)**
General
– Command Trait: Dominator
– Artefact: Tanglehorn Familiars
Great Bray-Shaman (100)**
Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Viletide
Tzaangor Shaman of Beasts of Chaos (135)**
Artefact: Blade of the Desecrator
Lore of the Twisted Wilds: Tendrils of Atrophy

Battleline
6 x Dragon Ogors (250)**
6x Draconic War glaives
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Ungors (65)
Mauls & Half-Shields
10 x Ungors (65)***
Mauls & Half-Shields
10 x Ungors (65)***
Mauls & Half-Shields
10 x Ungors (65)***
Mauls & Half-Shields

Units
20 x Tzaangors of Beasts of Chaos (350)*
8x Savage Greatblade
– 12x Savage Blade & Arcanite Shield
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Disc of Beasts of Chaos (360)*
Reinforced x 1
6 x Tzaangor Enlightened on Disc of Beasts of Chaos (360)*
Reinforced x 1

Endless Spells & Invocations
Ravening Direflock (30)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Warlord
***Expert Conquerors

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 179
Drops: 11

Declan: As we do more and more Top Three lists for AoS, two things are starting to happen. We see similar armies and we start to see the same names… and Ronya is one of those names. Ronya has gone for a Tzaangor based Beasts of Chaos army, but this works in the same way as most Beats of Chaos armies. There’s massive rend from the Herdstone, and summoning from the Dragon Ogre Shaggoth hurting himself (and then healing). It’s been a great army since the White Dwarf update and remains good.

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Allegiance: Nighthaunt
Procession: Scarlet Doom
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leader
Guardian of Souls (150)*
General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of the Underworlds: Seal of Shyish
– Bonded to Krondspine
Krulghast Cruciator (150)*

Battleline
Spirit Torment (115)*
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)**
Reinforced x 1
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)**
Reinforced x 1
5 x Hexwraiths (160)*
3 x Spirit Hosts (125)*
10 x Grimghast Reapers (160)**

Behemoth
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*
Allies

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

Total: 1960 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 400 / 400
Wounds: 85
Drops: 4

Declan: Let’s be fair, Nighthaunt are good – they give debuffs on the charge (after retreating), and if you don’t kill whole units they come back – very quickly. And what would make them better? Anders has the answer with a Krondspire Incarnate. Yet another model in the army that is difficult to kill (in fact he is impossible), the Incarnate also discourages opponents using their Endless Spells – a double benefit.

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Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Gnarlroot
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Alarielle the Everqueen (840)**
Warsong Revenant (305)**
General
– Command Trait: Spellsinger
– Artefact: The Vesperal Gem
– Lore of the Deepwood: Treesong
Spirit of Durthu (370)
Artefact: Greenwood Gladius
Arch-Revenant (120)**

Battleline
10 x Dryads (100)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*

Endless Spells and Invocations
Spiteswarm Hive (40)

Core Battalions
*Expert Conquerors
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 73
Drops: 7

Declan: Marcus was 4-0 going into the final game and lost to Ronya… not bad at all and thoroughly earning the third place. This Slyvaneth army is different to others I have seen, in that Alarielle is making an appearance. At 840 points Marcus did well to get value out of them and I have to be honest I’m not 100% sure how he did it. Sure Alarielle is good, but she’s also a point sink. I imagine there was a lot of teleporting through trees, charging and teleporting back (either with Durthu or Alarielle); but Marcus did well to concentrate on the Battle Tactics and grabbing the wins.

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Allegiance: Bonesplitterz
Warclan: Drakkfoot
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Wurrgog Prophet (150)*
Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Wurrgog Prophet (150)*
Artefact: Mork’s Boney Bitz
– Lore of the Savage Beast: Glowy Green Tusks
Wardokk (80)*
Lore of the Savage Beast: Gorkamorka’s War Cry
Savage Big Boss (65)****
General
– Command Trait: Great Hunter

Battleline
10 x Savage Orruks (165)**
Chompas
10 x Savage Orruks (165)**
Chompas
10 x Savage Orruk Morboys (155)***

Units
5 x Savage Boarboy Maniaks (145)***
5 x Savage Boarboy Maniaks (145)***
2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)*
2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)****
2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)****
2 x Savage Big Stabbas (80)****

Behemoths
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)****
Allies

Endless Spells & Invocations
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)

Core Battalions
*Warlord
**Expert Conquerors
***Bounty Hunters
****Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 400 / 400
Wounds: 147
Drops: 10

Declan: Another 4-1 but this time it’s Bonesplitters. They have definitely overcome the initial doubters after the release of the Orruk Warclans book where some thought it was the third army behind Kruleboyz…! Bonesplitters are now fighting it out with Big Waaagh for 2nd place.

2 Wurgogg Prophets put up 12″ range bubbles that you have to brave to enter and the Krondspire Incarnate puts out even a larger one! Sure the Incarnate makes this army, but it’s available for everyone and helping even the top armies so no reason Bonesplitterz can’t benefit.

The thing that helps this army in the meta is Drakkfoot:

Games Workshop and Wahapedia

Ward rolls are common in the top armies – Nurgle and Nighthaunt spring to mind. And turning them off can make a big difference. However as is always the way with theory, Dennis avoided them all – oh well! He did very well to beat what was in front of him for a 4-1.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for HHOGT 2022

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Hobart Hammer On Grand Tournament that took place in Tasmania, Australia on 1st and 2nd October. It involved 26 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

Ethan: Bit of a fun one here. I was at this GT! I came second, first GT ever to boot! Let’s get into the lists and keep an eye out for the GT writeup soonish when I find some time to put thoughts to keyboard but in case that is delayed somewhat a massive shout-out to Mitch the TO and our venue of Good Games Hobart for getting AoS kicking in good old Tassie again!

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: Daughters of Khaine
Temple: Hagg Nar
– Mortal Realm: Ulgu
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Morathi-Khaine (340)*
Lore of Shadows: Mindrazor
– Lore of Shadows: Shroud of Despair
The Shadow Queen (340)*
High Gladiatrix (90)*
General
– Command Trait: Zealous Orator
– Artefact: Crown of Woe
– Incamate Bond

Battleline
20 x Witch Aelves (230)**
Pairs of Sacrificial Knives
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Witch Aelves (115)***
Sacrificial Knives and Blade Bucklers
10 x Witch Aelves (115)***
Sacrificial Knives and Blade Bucklers

Units
10 x Doomfire Warlocks (290)**
Spell1: Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
– Spell2: Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
– Reinforced x 1

Behemoths
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)
Allies

Endless Spells & Invocations
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Bounty Hunters
***Expert Conquerors

Additional Enhancements
Spell

Total: 1990/2000
Reinforced Units: 2/4
Allies: 400/400
Wounds: 84
Drops: 8

Ethan: Congratulations to Luke Stone of Cinderfall gaming (check him out on YouTube) on his first GT victory. He achieved this with a DoK list which seems to be the new and improved iteration of Morathi and her pesky bow snakes, along with a Spinedog. This list presents you with lasting problems to which many armies don’t have an answer. Both Morathi and the Spinedog are fighting and murdering things for the first 2 battle rounds under ideal conditions, even more if you don’t have units to handle them and weather the storm. Backing this spine up, a high gladiatrix and 40 witch aelves sit as a mobile block ready to delete anything which makes it past the front lines. One block of 20 is in Bounty hunters, adding to their powers of deletion while the other two MSU units are in Expert Conquerors adding to this army’s prodigious scoring capabilities.

An interesting piece of tech for this list is the inclusion of the 10 Doomfire Warlocks, creating an additional hypermobile threat to assist either Morathi or the Spinedog or to create pressure in the parts of the field that they can’t cover. Add in a Purple Sun and the Doomfires running near your lines becomes rather ominous as you’re forced to deal with them or play hero roulette for the turn (We played this GT under old Purple Sun rules but the statement remains true!). The one critique I hold for the list is it puts a great deal of points into a limited number of models so anything with the capacity to go wide (a rarity in the current meta) or to pin it, rather than vice versa can present it with some difficult questions to answer. That aside, Luke performed admirably throughout the tournament, only losing in the fifth round and only dropping a single battle tactic over the course of the entire event!

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Allegiance: Sylvaneth
Glade: Gnarlroot
– Season of War: The Dwindling
– Mortal Realm: Ghyran
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Warsong Revenant (305)
General
– Command Trait: Spellsinger
– Lore of the Deepwood: The Dwellers Below
Treelord Ancient (360)
Lore of the Deepwood Treesong
Arch-Revenant (120)”
Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Lore of the Deepwood: Verdurous Harmony

UNITS
10 x Dryads (100)*
5x Tree-Revenants (110)*
5x Tree-Revenants (110)*
6x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Greatswords (500)*
3x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)*
Alles

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Horrorghast (40)
Spiteswarm Hive (40)
Vengeful Skullroot (60)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 1985/2000
WOUNDS: 93
ALLIES: 240/400
REINFORCED UNITS: 1/4
DROPS: 1

Ethan: This list is a masterpiece of tasteful design, whoever made it must be both a savant of the game and incredibly good looking to boot…

I’ve been informed that I should stick to writing the articles from here forward so, full disclosure, this is my list! This list runs Gnarlroot for the 3d6 casting once per turn, usually invested into the Warsong bomb to maximise Mortal Wound output. Combined with The Dwindling for re-rolls and the intrinsic +1 to cast of the Warsong Revenant and you have a considerable backline ranged threat active from turn 1. The TLA acts as an enabling piece for this, placing a single tree anywhere on the field and acting as a decent combat beat stick. Throw in a Vengeful Skullroot and there are very few support heroes surviving the first turn as the endless spell is cast from the summoned tree, right into the midst of the enemy army. Horrorghast provides the army a means of evening the wound differential Sylvaneth often suffers from, acting as a great anti-horde tool over a wide area in combination with the warsong bomb and creating great threat against reinforced elite units.

The only other spicy aspects of the list are the Kurnoth Swords as a 6-block, unusual in its difference from the usual scythe block found in Sylvaneth lists. Swords hold the unique advantage of being more effective after taking 5 wounds (even surpassing 6 scythes in damage output) and being significantly more damaging without supporting pieces, lessening the need to play a terrifying game of chicken with the Archrevenant and avoiding the antisynergy present in the allegiance abilities’ limitation of a single unit strike and fading per turn. In review, and especially against Nighthaunt (Sorry Steve) this worked as planned and provided a durable and dangerous mortal wound output into the broadest possible variety of units. The other tech piece is allied Longstrikes. We all know what Longstrikes do. I refuse to pay 230 points for mediocre shooting on a 15 wound chassis (Get in the bin, Kurnoth Bows). They help force battleshock tests and ensure if the opponent had any hope of using any of their heroes, it’s snuffed out. This list also went 4-1 (no 5-0s in the event!), dropping game 4 to a 10-Protector Hammer of Sigmar list.

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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Scions of the Storm)
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Demonstration of Strength
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADERS
Gardus Steel Soul (150)*
Lord-Relictor (145)
General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Spell: Celestial Blades
– Prayer: Translocation

UNITS
5 x Liberators (115)*
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1x Grandweapons
5 x Liberators (115)*
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1 x Grandweapons
5x Liberators (115)*
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1 x Grandweapons
4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)*
Drakerider’s Warblade
4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)*
Drakerider’s Lance

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Holy Command: Call for Aid

TOTAL: 2000/2000
WOUNDS: 114
ALLIES: 0/400
REINFORCED UNITS: 2/4
DROPS: 1

Ethan: In third, this Hallowed Knights list from Kaine presents the opponent with two massive threats (1st and 3rd sharing a theme there) in the form of two blocks of 4 x Stormdrake Guard. Call to aid and MSU liberators provide battleline requirements and durable deck-chair sitters at a point premium while Gardus and the standard Lord-Relictor set-up provide durability and mobility in equal parts. Much like Luke’s List, Kaine’s list asks the opponent a key question of “Can you deal with 36 wounds of Mortal Wound outputting, 3+ armour save, 5+ ward save, flying cavalry counting as 5 each on objectives?”. If the answer is no, congratulations you’re not playing Big Stabbas. With the exception of the Spinedog (which I think Kaine managed to dodge in this GT) treating them like a sectioned-up protein bar, dragons haven’t lost any of the power they once enjoyed, even if they have lost automatic 3” charges the moment your opponent puts down their dice. This creates brilliant pressure all game long and a strong primary-scoring advantage which most armies will struggle to match.

Gardus is an interesting tech-piece here, adding to the Dragons’ and Liberators’ durability massively with the 5+ ward but obligating the use of the Hallowed Knights subfaction, which is often overlooked compared to other Stormcast offerings. The list does suffer when it comes across something which can either kill the dragons quickly or withstand the storm of damage they put out but with a lack of both present in this tournament Kaine was able to execute consistently with his two big-threat units to carry himself to a 4-1, only losing to Sylvaneth in round 2.

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Allegiance: Skaven
Grand Strategy: Arch-corruptors of the Mortal Realms
– Triumphs:

LEADERS
Thanquol on Boneripper (415)*
4 Warpfire Projectors
– Lore of Ruin: Death Frenzy
Warlock Bombardier (115)*
Artefact: Esoteric Warp Resonator
– Lore of Warpvolt Galvanism: More-more-more Warp Power!
Plague Priest (100)**
General
– Command Trait: High Priest
– Noxious Prayers: Rabid-rabid
Plague Priest (100)**
Noxious Prayers: Filth-int
Plague Priest (100)**
Universal Prayer Scripture: Guidance

UNITS
20 x Clanrats (100)**
Rusty Blade
– 2x Standard Bearers
– 2x Standard Bell Ringers
20 x Clanrats (100)**
Rusty Blade
– 2x Standard Bearers
– 2x Standard Bell Ringers
6 x Stormfiends (640)*
2x Windlaunchers
– 2x Rating Cannons
– 2x Doomflayer Gauntlets
20 x Plague Monks (180)*
Foetid Blades
– 2x Standard Bearers
– 2x Plague Harbingers

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Warp Lightning Vortex (80)
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL: 2000/2000
WOUNDS: 130
REINFORCED UNITS: 2/4
DROPS: 2
ALLIES: 0/400

Ethan: Freddie Berryman: Our local protagonist and rat-man enthusiast was the favourite for many of our locals. A Skaven Savant, Freddy utilizes a wide variety of army-specific strategies in this list, with the Grand Strategy “Arch-Corruptors of the Mortal Realms” providing an alternative to many of the swingier options available in the current GHB. This only requires any three of Thanquol and the three Plague Priests to survive until the end of the game.

Freddy has gone wide with his list, investing for the full Pestilens package, including Great Plagues while dipping his toe into Masterclan and Skyre for perks for their respective units. Thanquol forms the backbone of the list with a massive +3 casting bonus baseline ensuring dominance in spellcasting while the 4 Warpfire Projectors, properly screened, create a strong deterrent for anyone thinking of quickly lifting a unit of Clanrats. Thanquol has the ability to issue the same command twice so, positioned properly alongside the Stormfiends, any army without the chaff requires to eat the unleash hell will have a miserable time cracking open the Skaven Castle.

Outside of this, the Plague Monks – buffed to the nines by the Plague Priests and Death Frenzy – are one of the punchiest units in the entire game. Kragnos? Archaon? 20 rats with little swords and more attacks than can be reliably attributed to the entire united states military. Were you previously against dice-rolling apps? You won’t be after spending 10 minutes watching your opponent obliterate your favourite unit through the sheer power of “eventually you will roll enough 1s to die”. Safe to say, if your opponent has a scary looking unit, you can point Plague Monks at it and assume its death is imminent.

One of the more interesting aspects of Freddie’s list is taking a compact Skyre package of Bombadier and 6 Stormfiends, allowing the projection of a powerful shooting threat to “encourage” opponents to approach the castle. Throw in Warp Lightning Vortex and Purple Sun and you’ve got a truly terrifying list.

Freddy finished Best in Chaos with a respectable 3-2, falling to both 4th and 5th place. Having played every Orruk army at the event I can only feel for his Clanrats, who must feel like they’ve been hit by a car or at a minimum, a stiff breeze.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for Smite Club Open 2022

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Smite Club Open AoS 2022 that took place in Mesa, Arizona on the 10th and 11th of September. It involved 47 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: Cities of Sigmar
Army Type: Hallowheart
– Grand Strategy: Mighty Beachhead                                                                       

LEADER                                                                                                                                              1 x Battlemage on Griffon (255)*
Mount Traits: Soaring Guardian
– Spells: Crystal Aegis, Elemental Cyclone, Warding Brand
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur                                                                                 1 x Freeguild General (100)*
General
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Ignite Weapons, Sear Wounds, Warding Brand                                                      
1 x Battlemage (100)*
General’s Adjutant
– Spells: Ignite Weapons, Sear Wounds, Warding Brand                       

BATTLELINE                                                                                                                                    20 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (200)*
Marksman
– 2 x Standard Bearer
– 2 x Piper                                                                                                                                               10 x Freeguild Guard (85)*
General’s Retinue
– Sergeant
– Standard Bearer
– Drummer
– Freeguild Sword and Shield                                                                                                   20 x Freeguild Crossbowmen (200)*
Marksman
– 2 x Standard Bearer
– 2 x Piper                                                                                                                           

BEHEMOTH                                                                                                                                    1 x Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*                                                                

ENDLESS SPELL                                                                                                                                     1 x Soulscream Bridge (80)                                                                                                         1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)                                                                                                         1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)                                                                                     

OTHER                                                                                                                                                                    10 x Protectors (450)*
Protector-Prime                                                                                                                       

CORE BATTALIONS:                                                                                                                  *Battle Regiment                                                                                              

TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)

Brett: Demonstrating how open things are we have a Cities list taking a big event that doesn’t lean on Stormdrakes. And answers the question “Where are all of the SCE paladins and why are they always on backorder”. Hallowheart, the mystical city, giving a 5+ magical ward, +1 to cast, and an extra spell to wizards. The list has 3 mage HQs, Krondspine and 210 pts of endless spells to take advantage.. Purple Sun for +1 rend (that’s the effect of -1 to saves) and a 16% per turn to eat something, Ravenak’s for it’s mortal wounds and Soulscream Bridge for teleports. The BM on Griffon is a Ghur mage, I assume the other Battlemage is as well. This means the the Griffon can cast Mystic Shield and Wildform before moving 15″ with +2 to the charge.

Or the other mage could do the same on the protectors before they stepped on the Bridge to move 24″ for a 7+ charge roll. The learned spells include improved magical ward (4+, Crystal Aegis), MW (Elemental  Cyclone), Warding Brand (MW following a hit on a 4+), Ignite Weapons (+1 to wound, includes ranged weapons), and D3 heal with Searing Wounds. The protectors, Krondspine and the Griffon can act as hammers supported by the Crossbows. The Crossbows get an extra attack (2 total) so long as they are more than 3″ from opponents and more than 10 models. That gives 2 units with 20+ attacks potentially wounding on 2s. Challenging.

5/0 against pretty strong lists including Ironjawz, Sylvaneth and Beasts of Chaos. The list has a lot of options centred around a castle with 2 heroes and a lot of archers. Charging into that is hard work but Thomas (who was playing Bonesplitterz last time we saw him) also took down a 30 Sentinel Lumineth list as well.

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Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts
Grand Court Delusion: Feast Day
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Abhorrant Archregent (245)*
Artefacts of Power: The Dermal Robe
– Spells: Spectral Host
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur
Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (445)*
Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite
– Spells: Blood Feast
Crypt Haunter Courtier (110)*
General
– Command Traits: Dark Acolyte

BATTLELINE
Crypt Ghouls (85)*
Crypt Ghouls (85)*
Crypt Horrors (330)**
Crypt Horrors (220)**

BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

TERRAIN
1 x Charnel Throne (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000

Brett: In second we have another uncommon faction who received a bit of a boost recently. Fairly horrific combination of two large blocks of Crypt Horrors combined with Krondspine and the Purple Sun. FEC don’t ignore rend like Nighthaunt so the Purple Sun affects them but with their heals, wound count and regeneration it’s just not that bad. Keep the Abhorrents away, particularly if it goes wild. Potentially you are looking at a very nasty castle, at least early game. The Archregent applies D3 attacks to the larger unit of Horrors (from the Carnal Throne, the Terrorgheist grants them a 5+ ward (they have 6+), on the Throne he can summon for free as well. They reroll all hits within 18″ of an Abhorrent. Dark Acolyte grants the Haunter Courtier the wizard ability and they know the Abhorrent Ghoul Kings Black Hunger giving another attack (or buffing a second unit).

Crypt Horrors with up to 6 attacks (Ferocious Hunger) with 2 wounds normally and 3 wounds on sixes (or 4 and 3 against Galletian Veterans). No rend but weight of dice counts even into 2+ saves. The block of 9 with 4 wounds, 5+ save and 5 or 6+ ward takes serious effort to shift. And they can be returned. The Terrorgheist has rerolls to Fanged Maw, it can receive additional attacks and of course Fanged Maw does 6 MW on 6s. The Terrorgheist can also receive run and charge (on top of 14″ move) from Spectral Host (up to 3 units can receive fly or if they have fly, run and charge). That’s before summoning. Both the Abhorrents can summon a unit of Galletian Veterans anywhere on the board.

Very hard to screen against and almost automatic Against the Odds, Desecrate their Lands and Barge through their lands. This is a list that can surprise people and is difficult to counter, unless you have good shooting. That said he lost his first round and recovered well to go 4/1 to the Sylvaneth list with little shooting sitting just below in 3rd.

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Army Faction: Sylvaneth
Subfaction: Gnarlroot
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Warsong Revenant (305)**
General
– Command Traits: Spellsinger
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Treesong, Verdant Blessing
Treelord Ancient (360)**
Spells: Verdant Blessing, Verdurous Harmony

BATTLELINE
Tree-Revenants (110)**
Waypipes
– Glade Banner Bearer
– Scion
– Protector Glaive
Tree-Revenants (110)**
Glade Banner Bearer
– Waypipes
– Scion
– Protector Glaive
Dryads (100)**

OTHER
Spiterider Lancers (420)*
Spiterider Scion
– 2 x Spiterider Standard Bearer
– 2 x Spiterider Hornblower
Revenant Seekers (235)*
Gossamid Archers (220)**

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Spiteswarm Hive (40)
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

TERRAIN
1 x Awakened Wyldwood (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000

Brett: interesting Sylvaneth list with all of the new stuff (or a lot of it anyway). 4 spells Verdurous Harmony (returns models to Tree Revenants) and Treesong (+1 Rend within 9” of a wyldwood). The Warsong has Spellsinger to extend casting range (a Wyldwood becomes a spell portal). Works really well for Unleash Swarm of Spities. This is really dangerous, you want to avoid grouping up and stay away from trees. List tech wise we have 2 endless spells, because the Purple Sun is mandatory.

Otherwise Spiteswarm Lancers for mobile damage, they strike first and can heal making it a little bit tougher. Gossamer Archers to do your opponent’s head (fade when charged), Revenant Seekers to return models (including Lancers). And finally Tree Revenants for opportunist attacks, teleporting and fire and fade. The last are among the most effective scoring units at the moment. No really big threats (the Treelord hits hard though) this list is about control and scoring. Hard to come to grips with and able to wear you down in attritional warfare (flavourful or frustrating). Differential type scoring was its only weakness, because it does rely on a longer game.

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Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
Army Type: Kruleboyz
– Subfaction: Big Yellers
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Breaka-boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (180)*
Killaboss on Corpse-rippa Vulcha (240)**
General
– Command Traits: Supa Sneaky
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Mount Traits: Fast ’Un
– Spells: Nasty Hex
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur

BATTLELINE
Man-skewer Boltboyz (360)**
Boltboy Boss
Man-skewer Boltboyz (360)**
Boltboy Boss
Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)**

BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)**

OTHER
Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000

Brett: Kruleboyz 4th, that’s an awesome effort with one of the weakest if not weakest faction right now. Since they appeared as the poster boys of the new edition they’ve struggled to make a serious impression on their own (they are crucial to the success of Big Waagh). How did he do it? You look at it and think it’s a skew list but it really isn’t, this is a balanced list with hard hitting HQs bearing the brunt of combat,  ranged battleline and some of the cheapest screens around. The Hobgrots are not even GVs, his opponents are going to have to kill them the old fashioned way (and they will). Killaboss on Gorpse-rippa Vulcha loaded with Fast’Un, Arcane Tome so there is one wizard and Supa Sneaky for a redeploy. Nasty Hex to turn off wards.

The list is looking to work at range and try to stop someone charging (or using endless spells) with Krondspine, he makes it really hard to get to particularly the bigger Boltboyz units. With their extra range they outrange almost all archers (Sentinels, Raptors and Kurnoth excepted). If you do charge one Unleash hell is going to be fun. With Covered in Mud they may also be invisible so hard to shoot. Gambling that the opponent can’t charge in multiple places (so only one unit uses Unleash hell). The Breaka Boss can pick off things or stop pressure on a flank and the Killaboss offers a lot of mobility particularly mid late game (I think you want to avoid a wild Krondspine too early so your opponent doesn’t send it into your archers).

It’s a different take and great to see hobgrots have a use (bullet shields, awesome), have you painted yours?

Another tournament, and week, throwing up unusual winners. The diversity in winners is amazing and puts AoS in a really great place for interesting games and tournaments. It’s genuinely exciting to see what’s going to win next week, other than Nurgle, there will always be Nurgle.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for Summer of Sigmar – Gamers Guild Grand Tournament

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Summer of Sigmar Grand Tournament that took place in Tempe, Arizona, USA on the 6th and 7th of August. It involved 16 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament. This was their inagural event and they have a venue that can handle quite a few more. Lets hope we see it grow in coming years.

Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.

If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?

Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.

The Top Three AoS Lists

Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine
Subfaction: Zainthar Kai
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Morathi-Khaine (680)*
The Shadow Queen (680)*
Bloodwrack Medusa (130)*
General
– Command Traits: Zealous Orator
– Artefacts of Power: Shadow Stone
– Spells: Mindrazor

BATTLELINE
Blood Sisters (420)**
Gorgai
Blood Sisters (140)**
– Gorgai
Blood Sisters (140)**
Gorgai
Blood Sisters (140)***
Gorgai
Blood Sisters (140)***
Gorgai

OTHER
Khinerai Heartrenders (95)*
Shryke
Khinerai Heartrenders (95)*
Shryke

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters
***Expert Conquerors

TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000

Brett: Another army eschewing the archers for the stabby queens reflecting the new battletome. 5 Blood Sister units including a double reinforced group of bounty hunter murder elves, fun. Rounding out the list the Bloodwrack Medusa is the General and Khinerai Heartrender for mobile threat. Ultimately this is a 6 drop list, a reasonable chance that they won’t decide first turn.

The high drops is a facet of having the Blood Sisters split between Bounty Hunters and Expert Conquerors. It’s not clear if the event allowed book traits (which the Khinerai play into really well) or just GHB however the list provides coverage for any outcome. Zainthar Kar is required to make the Blood Sisters battle line and the opportunity for 35 Blood Sisters. Mind Razor and Shadow Stone (+1 to casting) to try to get an additional -1 rend. Ignoring effects from Blood Rites (like +1 to wound) those 15 Blood sisters can expect 38 hits (exploding 6s) and 24 wounds – 48 into Galletian Veterans. With 2 wounds, 5+ save and 6+ (can be 5+) ward you have to devote real resources to shifting blood sisters. Zainthar Kar gives them fight on death, removing the large unit without shooting would be dicey.

Shadow Queen/Morathi are another hard nut, 3 spells across the 6 known to DoK. Those spells read like some of the best across multiple books including increased rend, rebuffs and a teleport. The Melisa only has one cast but 2 dispels. Enough to cause issues for a magic army. And it looks like that’s what’s happened with the army taking all flavours of elf and some star crossed lizards to take the event 5/0

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Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness
Army Type: Ravagers
– Grand Strategy: Take Whats Theirs – Triumph: Indomitable

LEADERS
Chaos Lord (120)***
General
– Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Command Traits: Eternal Vendetta
– Reaperblade and Daemonbound Steel
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Whispers of Chaos
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)***
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Command Traits: Bolstered by Hate
– Spells: Mask of Darkness
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)***
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts of Power: Blasphemous Cuirass
– Spells: Mask of Darkness
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur

BATTLELINE
Untamed Beasts (70)
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Chaos Knights (170)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Doom Knight
– Cursed Lance and Chaos Runeshield
Chaos Knights (170)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Doom Knight
– Cursed Lance and Chaos Runeshield
Chaos Warriors (400)**
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Aspiring Champion
– Chaos Hand Weapon and Chaos Runeshield
– 2 x Standard Bearer
– 2 x Hornblower
Chaos Warriors (400)**
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Aspiring Champion
– Chaos Hand Weapon and Chaos Runeshield
– 2 x Standard Bearer
– 2 x Hornblower

BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Expert Conquerors
***Command Entourage – Magnificent

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

Brett: Good to see a Slaves to Darkness army make the podium in a 2 day event particularly as Ravagers. No Archeon, Be’Lakor or even a manticore just Lords, Sorcerors and even a Chaos Warriors. Effective here with a 4/0/1 result, the only loss being to the winner.

Taking Tzeentch as the chaos mark increases resilience with reroll 1s on saves and a 5+ ward against spells. On a 20 strong block of Chaos Warriors (in Eternal Conquerers) that’s a real problem to shift. While in a unit > 10 they have a 3+ save and a 5+ ward (half ward – it’s only against Mortal Wounds) with the shields. That’s 120 effective wounds (Rend 0). Their weaknesses is movement at 5” unless Mask of Darkness is available on a Chaos Sorcerer and both do. They are helped on the run and charge by the Hornblower. The Knights are hammers, they want to charge using their 10″ mobility. They to have +1 to run and charge from the Hornblowers.

The Chaos Lord is a combat hero with reroll wound rolls (and reroll hits against Order) and has a MW spell in leui of a ranged weapon. Lastly there is Krondspine. He’s fast moving and capable of deleting things quickly. Bold move, he costs enough to limit your choices in either troops or heros, Tyler choose to take weaker heroes. Ravagers was a good choice allowing additional traits. After that this list is all about getting those blocks of Warriors onto objectives and keeping them there by using the Knights. Krondspine is about taking down a deathstar or important hero.

Looking his path through the event, the StD list would struggle to deal enough damage to the Warriors, as would most of the other lists. The mobility of the DoK army we just looked at combined with DoK book Battle Tactics (which you can’t interact with well) obviously caused the army to struggle but otherwise this is a really well thought out approach and well deserved result.

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Army Faction: Sylvaneth
Subfaction: Gnarlroot
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Warsong Revenant (305)**
General
– Command Traits: Spellsinger
– Spells: Verdant Blessing, Verdurous Harmony
Treelord Ancient (360)**
Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Treesong, Verdant Blessing

BATTLELINE
Tree-Revenants (110)**
Waypipes
– Glade Banner Bearer
– Scion
– Protector Glaive
Tree-Revenants (110)**
Glade Banner Bearer
– Waypipes
– Scion
– Protector Glaive
Dryads (100)**

OTHER
Revenant Seekers (235)*
Seeker Banner Bearer
– Seeker Hornblower
– Revenant Soulwarden
Spiterider Lancers (420)*
Spiterider Scion
– 2 x Spiterider Standard Bearer
– 2 x Spiterider Hornblower
Gossamid Archers (220)**
Flitwing Scion

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Spiteswarm Hive (40)
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000

Brett: An interesting variation of Sylvaneth and a brave move to take all of the new units. With, it has to be said, the Purple Sun. The mobility of Tree-Revenants with the 3 overgrown terrain pieces from the start of the battle, makes them one of if not the best unit in the army at the moment. They are amazing at securing Battle Tactics.

This army has all of the new Sylvaneth units from the Revenant Seekers to Spiterider Lancers and Gossamid Archers. I haven’t seen an army with all of them before and like most of us don’t have a lot of experience with them. The Seekers and Lancers provide a lot of mobility outside of teleports which is something Sylvaneth struggle with a bit. They offer some quality attacks, without buffs I worry about the amount of damage they do but it’s reasonable. The ability to return a model of the Seekers is great in this army – the Lancers and everything else have 5 wounds or less and can be returned. Return 2 Spiteriders in a game and you’ve almost recovered the cost.

The Gossamids are a frustrating unit, they are vunerable to shooting with only a 12″ range. They need to be hidden which doesn’t make sense given their anti combat role (retreat when charged). But they have a role where you teleport them to an objective (or near one) that has a thin force on it. You can even open an objective to a Tree Revenant by pulling a combat unit away. That’s not to forget the Treelord Ancient and Wargsong. With the Arcane Tome they have 4 spells, both are deicated to Awakended Wyldwoods (expect at least another per turn) and then buffing the impact of the woods. As Gnarlwood they also get improved casting near Wyldwoods. Another interesting army from this event.

One of the interesting impacts of this approach is its hard for an army like Ironjawz to identify an alpha strike target. Even if they get the Warsong it’s not going to put you on the back foot too much. Other than the winner’s evil Blood Sister’s list he was unbeaten through the event taking both combat and shooting armies.

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Army Faction: Legion of the First Prince
Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Kairos Fateweaver (435)
Spells: The Master’s Command
Be’lakor (360)*
Spells: The Master’s Command
The Contorted Epitome (245)*
General
– Command Traits: Ruinous Aura
– Artefacts of Power: Fourfold Blade
– Spells: Flaming Weapon, The Master’s Command
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur

BATTLELINE
Bloodletters (110)*
Plaguebearers (150)*
Plaguebearers (150)*

BEHEMOTH
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Umbral Spellportal (70)
1 x Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1990/2000

Brett: I grabbed this one just because we aren’t seeing a lot of Legion of the First Prince armies right now. This is a very interesting take including some heavy hitters (Belakor and Fateweaver) with Krondspine rather than another Deamon Prince/Greater Deamon. I’m a fan of the Contorted Epitome, love to see it in the army. Mobile, lots of casting and so dangerous in combat.

Fateweaver brings a lot, 3 casts, auto dispell of 1 endless spell and the ability to change dice for casting, unbinding or dispell rolls. That’s before gift of change. Plaguebearers are a good choice for objectives, Bloodletters are cheap but fragile. If they charge or are teleported though they can mess up some archers. Belakor and the Krondspine don’t need an introduction nor does the Purple Sun. The Umbral Spellportal is an autotake in a Tzeetch army or if Fateweaver is in the army.

This, to me, is a really fun army. A few small troop units and 4 big, fun models with lots of abilities to toy with your opponent. He lost his last 3 rounds but I bet they were still fun. Hitting a Bastilidon with Belakor and Fateweaver sounds like fun to me, the same about putting an Epitome into small heroes from any factions.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for GT ŁÓDŹ 2

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the GT ŁÓDŹ 2 that took place in Poland on 6th and 7th August. It involved 70 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.

As well as that, we’re holding out own GT in England in May next year. Why don’t you join us and meet the crew?

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: Beasts of Chaos
Greatfray: Gavespawn
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)***
General
– Command Trait: Unravelling Aura
– Artefact: Mutating Gnarlblade
– Lore of Dark Storms: Sundering Blades
Dragon Ogor Shaggoth (155)** + inkarnacja
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of Dark Storms: Hailstorm
Doombull (110)***
Doombull (110)***

Battleline
9 x Dragon Ogors (375)*
2x Paired Ancient Weapons
– 6x Draconic War glaives
– Reinforced x 2
6 x Dragon Ogors (250)*
3x Paired Ancient Weapons
– 3x Draconic War glaives
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Dragon Ogors (250)*
3x Paired Ancient Weapons
– 3x Draconic War glaives
– Reinforced x 1

Other
1 x Chaos Spawn (55)**
1 x Chaos Spawn (55)**

Behemoth
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)**
Allies

Endless Spells
Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Battle Regiment
***Command Entourage – Magnificent
Artefact

Total: 1975 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 400 / 400
Wounds: 151
Drops: 7

Brett: The newly rejuvenated (Tome Celestial) Beasts of Chaos going 5 and 0 in a major again. Peter has anyone had a 5/0 Kruleboyz recently? (Nope – Peter) Dragon Ogres are one of the stronger units in the battletome, and need Dragon Ogre Shaggoths to make them battleline. Combining their wounds/number of attacks with the increasing Rend available from the Herdstone makes them a dangerous opponent for pretty much anything. With Gnashing Jaws and Krondspine there is a lot of board coverage for a low model count army. The Herdstone isn’t listed and he’s taken Sundering Blades (-1 rend for a unit) but surely you have to take the Herdstone (it’s no cost of course).

Gavespawn is an interesting Greatfray which makes having mulitple heroes a good idea (they return as a Chaos Spawn on a 2+) and a command ability for an extra attack. The mandatory command trait gives an additional unbind and the mandatory artefact (Mutating Gnarlblade) does damage to the bearer on a hit roll of 1. It also adds 2 damage, on a Shaggoth that’s a 5 damage weapon. Command Entourage is used here to gain an addtional artefact for Arcane Tome, giving the whole army 3 casts and 4 unbinds. Hailstorm halves an opposing units movement (including charges) to limit movement and charging sheningans. Combine the reduced movement with Gnashing Jaws you can easily see 10MW a turn out of Jaws if you aim at slow moving units (5″ and less)

The Shaggoth’s are very useful leaders with casting, healing (not spell dependent) and being reasonably tanky with decent attacks. The weapons mix on the Dragon Ogres is interesting, almost ensuring split firing? As one damage weapons they are a natural to be included in Bounty Hunters. The Chaos Spawn are a favourite unit of mine in Slaves or Beasts. 2D6 movement and 2D6 attacks mean that they are often underestimated but they are great at grabbing objectives and are surprising difficult to remove.

The Doombulls are another different choice in a Dragon Ogre army but they have a decent attack profile and 8 wounds with MW on 6s. Charge them in early with the hope they do some decent damage, your opponent is going to have to take them seriously and devote real resources to killing them. And they come back 83% of the time. Serious distraction for 2 or 3 rounds. Solid example of army building to take advantage of solid warscrolls and army abilities. A deserving winner with a strong and fun army.

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Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
Subfaction: Drowned Men
– Grand Strategy: Blessed Desecration
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (360)
Allies
Bloab Rotspawned (300)*
Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
Lord of Afflictions (210)*
General
– Command Trait: Overpowering Stench
– Artefact: The Splithorn Helm

Battleline
4 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)*
Reinforced x 1
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)**
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)**

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

Terrain
Feculent Gnarlmaw

Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 360 / 400
Wounds: 115
Drops: 4

Brett: An increasingly common army from Maggotkin, Lord of Affliction with Blightlords, as General so they are battleline twice (since Drowned Men lets them be battleline). Be’Lakor and Bloab to lend weight and casting to the army. This style of army has the advantage of avoiding Galletian Veterans to blunt Bounty Hunters with good mobility and very high resiliance. It forces your opponent to counter you and lets you spread or concentrate depending on the mission. Everythng except the Bloab can fly and he brings the flies.

Be’Lakor can work as an independent hammer but better is arguably better if supported by one or two of the smaller Blightlord units. That lets him control an entire flank and dare your opponent into an aggresive play to try to remove him. The Blightlords add mortals through disease points. Alternatively you can castle the lot and snipe objectives with the Blightlords. Be’Lakor can’t be too isolated since he represents half of the casts/unbinds of the army. Mariusz has taken advantage of the high bravery of chaos units to pick Bloodthirsty for a free charge reroll.

Bounty Hunters on 2 of the Blightlord units including the reinforced one, solid choice almost doubling their damage situationally. I’m expecting to see a move back to the lower drop battalions in coming weeks, it already looks like there is movement that way with so many armies avoiding Galletian Veterans. The army scored exceptionally well through the weekend coming second with only 3 vicotories (but no losses). The army had draws against a Maggotkin army with a Great Unclean One and large block of Plaguebringers, the other was a Bonesplitterz triple Wurgog/Big Stabba army. The damage output of this army might be a little low, particularly if Be’Lakor is destroied early and these armies play into that.

This is a very good army which plays into missions well. Taking it to second in a strong crowd is an amazing effort.

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Allegiance: Sylvaneth
Glade: Gnarlroot
– Mortal Realm: Ghyran
– The Dwindling
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Inspired

Battlemage (100)*
Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Allies
Alarielle the Everqueen (840)**
All spells
Spirit of Durthu (370)*
Artefact: Greenwood Gladius (Guardian Sword)
Warsong Revenant (305)*
General
– Command Trait: Spellsinger
– Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Lore of the Deepwood: Treesong

UNITS
10 x Dryads (100)**
Branch Nymph
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)**
FCG
– Enchanted Blades
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)**
– FCG
– Enchanted Blades

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Vengeful Skullroot (60)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Battle Regiment

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Artefact

TOTAL: 1995/2000

Brett: Hero hammer Sylvaneth with the those 3. You really don’t want a piece of any of them although I believe there is a thought that Durthu hasn’t benefitted from the new battletome. And there is a sneaky Battlemage of Ghur. This is a strong move giving you a decent chance of a 7″ charge for a teleporting unit. I’ll let you work out the details but it’s a great way to move some revenants into danger close quickly.

The power of the list is concentrated in the heros, and mostly Aliarelle, with the Tome they have 6 casts and unbinds available. Alarielle is almost half the army and the real trick to playing this army is knowing when to commit her. She is vunerable if she is focused by your opponent (and they can get to her) and while you can return her to the battle, that’s not reliable before Turn 3or even 4. Loose her on Turn 1 and it’s going to be very hard. On top of her spell casting though she has your highest quality attacks as well so when to throw her into combat is a mini game in itself.

Durthu offers early turn combat strength if you want and can help screen Aliarelle. The Greenwood Gladius awards D3 extra attacks, potentially near a Awakened Wood Durthu will have 7, 6 damage -2 rend attacks. He can also whiff terriably. The Warsong Revenant is also decent at combat, can use a mortal wound spell and buffs bravery of Tree Revenants or Dryads making her clutch at times. Surprisely survivable with a 4+ ward. Tree Revenants with the extra wound are a reasonable battleline unit but they melt to ranged attacks or mortal wounds. With only a 5+ save and bravery of 6 they really need support to shine.

A defensive army the new battletome makes them much more viable. The new terrain rules help their fire and fade shenanigans and make them much more flexible and mobile. Aliarelle is a high risk strategy which worked well here, his one loss was against a mobile Lumineth list with Teclis, otherwise a strong weekend.

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Army Type: Kruleboyz
Subfaction: Grinnin’ Blades
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Killaboss on Corpse-rippa Vulcha (240)*
Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (315)*
General
– Command Traits: Egomaniak
– Artefacts of Power: Mork’s Eye Pebble
– Mount Traits: Fast ’Un
Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot (105)*
Spells: Nasty Hex
Murknob with Belcha-banna (95)*
Swampboss Skumdrekk (320)***

BATTLELINE
Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*
Scrap Totem Bearer
– Noise-maker
– Hobgrot Boss
Gutrippaz (180)**
Gutrippa Banner Bearer
– Gutrippa Hornblower
– Gutrippa Boss
– Wicked Stikka
Gutrippaz (180)**
Gutrippa Banner Bearer
– Gutrippa Hornblower
– Gutrippa Boss
– Wicked Stikka

OTHER
Man-skewer Boltboyz (240)***
Boltboy Boss
Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)***
Boltboy Boss
Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)***
– Boltboy Boss

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Bounty Hunters
***Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000

Brett: Peter chooses the focus list and Peter plays Kruleboyz. Surprise another Kruleboyz list. The army focuses on their best warscrolls, their heroes and the Boltboyz. Choosing Grinning Blades is a good move with this many Boltboyz, they aren’t battleline so aren’t Galletian Veterans. They don’t have good saves so the extra damage will clear them really quickly. Grinning Blades also means they aren’t visible more than 12″ away. As we’ve seen with Idoneth this is surprisely powerful, ranged units need to get within the threat range of the melee units.

Unfortunately both the battleline (Gutrippaz) and Boltboyz are really very soft with 5+ and 6+ saves. They melt under pressure, with only one Swampcalla it’s likely that only the reinforced Boltboyz had poison most of the time. Boltboyz need special mention – they do MW on 6s so you want to use Hasty Shot when you can. But you need to move (it can be 1″) and be within 12″ of the enemy. That means they are very exposed. Aimed shot is only available if they don’t move. If they are caught out of position or without screens they are very vunerable. And finally their small unit size (3) limits the effectiveness of Unleash Hell.

The heroes in this army are the major source of combat capability. They mix reasonable quality attacks with interesting wars roll abilities. From being able spam commands to mortal wounds from their slime to snatch and grab there are a lot of things to track. Unfortunately this increases their cost. The snatchaboss or swampboss have a decent chance of one shotting small heroes. Still 14 wounds with a 4+ may struggle in sustained combat. In the end they fail the dps check which is known as the Sons of Behemet. All of this adds to an underperforming faction, unfortunately they are among the lowest on current stats. Going 3/0/2 is a great performance in a 70 strong field.

Final Tournament Placings

For the full tournament placings visit tabletop.to

Top Three AoS Lists for the Peace Through Dakka AoS GT

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Peace Through Dakka AoS GT that took place in Delaware, USA on 30th and 31st July. It involved 16 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament. As a smaller tournament we expect to see some different armies perform well, this time we have two destruction armies in the top 10 as well as some of the more popular recent books.

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: Drowned Men
– Grand Strategy: Blessed Desecration
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Bloab Rotspawned (300)*
Lore of Malignance: Magnificent Buboes
Festus the Leechlord (150)*
Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
Lord of Afflictions (210)*
General
– Command Trait: Overpowering Stench
– Artefact: The Splithorn Helm

Battleline
4 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (440)*
Reinforced x 1
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 123
Drops: 1

Brett: An army we have been seeing a lot lately, Blightlords paired with a Lord of Afflictions. In this case teamed with casting heroes all wrapped in a Battle Regiment for a chance at first turn (EDIT or more importantly decide who goes first). Their resilience is the key here, with a pair having 16 wounds and taking (an average) of 36 -1 rend, 1 damage attacks to chew through. Because they aren’t Galletian Veterans Bounty Hunters don’t work so the basic attack infantry of a lot of armies aren’t going to kill a unit of 2 in a turn. And they’ll heal with the Festus potentially increasing that a bit further.

With the Drowned Men pregame move they can be within charge range very quickly for additional mortal wounds (MW). That’s without considering the larger unit of 4 or the Lord of Afflictions. He is more useful at the back to begin with so he can take Blightlords into the sky and redeploy them (EDIT not that anyone does). The Bloab is the better option in this army for pushing forward, his Daemon-Flies and Windspeaker Bells need to be close to the opponent to impact.

A couple of useful spells, Magnificant Buboes to debuff a hero and Gift of Disease for extra disease points. This means they also have dispells and their ward gives some protection from spell damage.

Are Blightlords becoming a defacto DPS check? I certainly think if you are going into a tournament you should be sure you can drop a unit of 2 easily. Looking at Emma’s run it looks like most of the armies would fail that test. That makes it much harder to play the game around objectives and achieving battle tactics because you need to commit real resources to dealing with them

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Army Faction: Sylvaneth
Subfaction: Gnarlroot
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Alarielle the Everqueen (840)*
Warsong Revenant (305)*
General
– Artefact: Arcane Tome
– Spell: The Dweller’s Below

BATTLELINE
Dryads (100)*
Tree Revenants (110)*
Tree Revenants (110)*

OTHER
Spiterider Lancers (420)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Spiteswarm Hive (40)
Purple Sun of Shyish (70)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000

Brett: New book and a new look with Spiterider Lancers instead of Kurnoth to support Alarielle. Not a lot of bodies in this army, it is very heavily reliant on Alarielle and the Warsong Revenant. Unfortuately you can’t afford to commit Alarielle too early, she returns on a 6+ with you adding the round number so losing her before the 3rd round is a huge risk. 2 wizards with 7 casts in the list covering a broad range of spells and the ubiquitous Purple Sun as well. The Gnarlroot grove helps get Purple Sun out with it’s 3D6 and discard the lowest near an awakened wyldwood or overgrown feature.

The army is struggling for damage with the Spitelancers, even reinforced, only really offering 29 damage 1 attacks. You can boost that with Bounty Hunters but into a lot of things (Blightlords, Fulminators or Stormdrakes) your mileage may disappoint. They are very durable, if they kill a model they can heal all wounds at the end of their turn. That’s twice a round, chip damage isn’t enough to end them. Alarielle can summon additional units, it’s not clear which Alex took but they would be clutch. The movement tricks that Sylvaneth are known for here would play their part in making Battle Tactics happen. Throughout the event the army scored well. The list for the army is deceptive only showing a damage spell for the Warsong. However Alairelle knows the whole lore and will return models or heal every turn.

As always there are lots of synergies particularly in concert with the trees/terrain. I feel you really want to control priority with this army, mostly to go second Turn 1 and play for the double reasonably often. That allows your army to get closer to you so you can operate near the woods for fight and fade, get spells up for Mortal wounds. And preserve Alairelle. Getting the double is a huge advantage here because you can commit her to combat knowing that if you need to bring here back it’s on Turn 3 with a 50/50 chance. I think this play style of drawing you in, hurting you with small bites all the way and then really damaging attacks deep in the forest is thematic as anything. It suits a very good player though and takes practice so well done Alex.

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Army Faction: Ironjawz
Subfaction: Bloodtoofs
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Orruk Megaboss (140)
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)
Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth Fist
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)*
Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth Fist
– General
– Command Trait: Mega Bossy
– Artefact: Destroyer
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Orruk Warchanter (115)*

BATTLELINE
Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-Hackas
Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*
Reinforced: Once
– Pig-Iron Choppas
Orruk Brutes (160)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

Brett: Double Maw-Krusha list that’s been around since the start of 3rd edition with two notable changes. One is the extra Megaboss sitting like a cherry on top and the other is the battalions. Early on the with the Double Maw-Krusha, warlords were preferred to give extra artefacts to the 2nd Krusha. This army has gone with the battle regiment for priority control side stepping the debate between Tough ‘Un or Weird ‘Un on the 2nd Krusha for durability.

Otherwise a Megaboss and 5 Brutes to control the home, nasty for anything trying to teleport although they are a slow moving block. 9 Gore-gruntas including a nasty block of 6 with the shorter range weapons, that might create some issues and two Warchanters, probably with Fix ’em and Get ’em beats. The biggest alpha strike list in AoS? The General moving up to 36″ and done properly the other Maw moving 24″. Unit of pigs with a 3D6 charge set up in first turn? Always a lot of muscle getting close fast that forces you to set up very carefully.

Ray’s only loss was to 2nd place after beating another Sylvaneth list in the second round. The first army is a Kurnoth centred tree terror list as compared to Alex’s Aliarelle’s spell slingers. I feel like the Purple Sun might have eaten something important. In any case deploying Aliarelle out of the Maw-Krusha’s reach. The other armies (Cities and SCE) may have struggled in the face of all of that damage. Nice work Ray.

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Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
Subfaction: Glogg’s Megamob
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Dankhold Troggboss (240)
General
– Command Traits: Shepherd of Idiotic Destruction
– Artefacts of Power: Aetherquartz-studded Hide
Kragnos (720)

BATTLELINE
Rockgut Troggoths (435)*
Rockgut Troggoths (435)*
Stabbas (150)*
Bad Moon Icon Bearer
– Gong Basher
– Pokin’ Spear and Moon Shield
– Barbed Net

TERRAIN
1 x Bad Moon Loonshrine (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000

Brett: Kragnos and friends? Does Kragnos have friends or just terrified/fascinated followers? Is this a Gloomspite alpha strike?

Whatever’s happening this army is getting into your personal space as quickly as possible and hugging you. Which you might find uncomfortable. There isn’t a lot of subtlety, the Dankhold makes the Rockgut battle line and grants a re-roll before smacking you in the face. Or whiffing – that’s the joy of Gloomspite, mad damage with bad saves and explosions. Double reinforced Rockgut units to take maximum advantage of their ability to return units (on a 4+ return a Troggoth unit at 1/2 strength). Lastly all of the troops are in Bounty Hunters just to hurt a little more.

A lot of fun but not without risk. Jakob’s 3rd round was an opponent that took No Place for the Weak making those battleline’s a primary target. With a reasonable amount of shooting that’s a problem. But this is Gitz, it’s about silly fun and not grinding out wins. The best part of this army is the way it’s going to hit you and either explode or explode you and it’s going to be a fun ride. There’s no overthinking things apart from where that moon is. 3/2 with an army like that is a very solid effort.

Final Tournament Placings

AoS Meta Stats (w/e 10th July 2022)

Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 4th July and Sunday 10th July 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.

Once again, another quiet week, with only 3 Grand Tournaments.

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Grand Tournaments

Ranked from largest to smallest.

South Coast Series July – England/UK
40 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stSlaves to DarknessHost of the Everchosen5-0-0
2ndNighthauntScarlet Doom4-0-1
3rdSylvanethHeartwood4-0-1
4thSylvanethGnarlroot4-0-1
5thSeraphonFangs of Sotek4-0-1
6thIdoneth DeepkinFuethan4-0-1
7thMaggotkin of NurgleDrowned Men4-0-1
8thBonesplitterzDrakkfoot3-1-1
9thNighthaunt Emerald Host3-0-2
10thDaughters of KhaineZainthar Kai3-0-2
South Coast Series July

Summer on the Coast AoS GT – Washington/USA
37 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stKharadron OverlordsBarak-Zilfin5-0-0
2ndDaughters of KhaineHagg Nar4-0-1
3rdBlades of KhorneGoretide4-0-1
4thHedonites of SlaaneshLurid Haze4-0-1
5thSlaves to DarknessHost of the Everchosen4-0-1
6thNighthaunt Scarlet Doom4-0-1
7thSeraphonThunder Lizard3-0-2
8thSons of BehematBreaker Tribe3-0-2
9thSylvanethHeartwood3-0-2
10thSylvanethGnarlroot3-0-2
Summer on the Coast AoS GT

Kingdom of Skrappa Spill – England/UK
28 PlayersGenerals Handbook: Pitched Battles 2022-23 Season 1

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stCities of SigmarHallowheart5-0-0
2ndDaughters of KhaineKhailebron4-0-1
3rdCities of SigmarHammerhal4-0-1
4thSkaven4-0-1
5thMaggotkin of Nurgle3-1-1
6thSeraphonThunder Lizard3-1-1
7thDaughters of KhaineKhailebron3-0-2
8thDaughters of KhaineHagg Nar3-0-2
9thNighthaunt 3-0-2
Kingdom of Skrappa Spill

Grand Alliance Stats

These stats reflect the last four weeks of GT’s that we’re aware of at Woehammer.

303 players (-182) took part in 12 GT’s (-4) over the last four weeks.

Grand AllianceWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins4+ Wins
Chaos56.4%6220.46%520
Order51.0%14949.17%421
Death43.8%5016.50%16
Destruction43.8%4213.86%03

Chaos continue to lead the way in the win rates, dropping only slightly from 56.7% last week to 56.4% this week. While Order pick up the most number of armies represented and most 4+. Chaos steal the crown this week for most 5-0’s.

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Faction Stats

The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.

FactionWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins0-5 Losses
Slaves to Darkness72.2%61.98%11
Beasts of Chaos63.1%134.29%20
Nighthaunt61.3%175.61%10
Blades of Khorne60.0%51.65%00
Sylvaneth58.5%134.29%00
Cities of Sigmar57.1%175.61%11
Seraphon56.3%247.92%21
Kharadron Overlords55.0%61.98%11
Big Waaagh!54.0%51.65%00
Maggotkin of Nurgle53.8%216.93%12
Bonesplitterz51.5%72.31%00
Lumineth Realm-Lords50.0%123.96%00
Daughters of Khaine50.0%175.61%01
Sons of Behemat50.0%82.64%00
Idoneth Deepkin47.8%185.94%00
Sons of Behemat48.5%214.33%01
Skaven46.7%61.98%10
Legion of the First Prince46.7%61.98%01
Stormcast Eternals45.6%268.58%03
Ogor Mawtribes44.8%61.98%01
Fyreslayers43.0%165.28%01
Flesh-eater Courts40.0%51.65%00
Soulblight Gravelords37.8%185.94%02
Gloomspite Gitz33.3%61.98%00
Ironjawz32.8%72.31%02
Ossiarch Bonereapers27.0%103.30%02

Slaves to Darkness and Blades of Khorne continue their run of good form in experienced hands. While the new battletomes of Nighthaunt and Sylvaneth can also be seen in the +55% area. Daughters of Khaine are smack in the middle with a perfect 50% win rate. While Skaven are beginning to climb.

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Subfactions

All factions listed below have been represented at tournaments by at least 5 players.

FactionSubfactionWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins0-5 Losses
Maggotkin of NurgleDrowned Men69.1%113.63%10
NighthauntScarlet Doom67.6%72.31%00
Beasts of ChaosNone61.4%72.31%10
Cities of SigmarLiving City57.1%72.31%00
SeraphonThunder Lizard55.7%216.93%21
Sons of BehematBreaker Tribe53.4%61.98%00
Stormcast EternalsHallowed Knights52.9%72.31%00
FyreslayersLofnir51.7%61.98%00
NighthauntEmerald Host48.3%61.98%00
Lumineth Realm-LordsZaitrec48.1%113.63%00
Daughters of KhaineZainthar Kai47.1%72.31%01
Legion of the First Prince46.7%61.98%01
Skaven46.7%61.98%10
Soulblight GravelordsVyrkos Dynasty43.3%61.98%00
Stormcast EternalsHammers of Sigmar42.3%154.95%03
Soulblight GravelordsKastelai Dynasty38.6%72.31%01
FyreslayersGreyfyrd35.2%92.97%01
Ossiarch BonereapersPetrifex Elite27.5%82.64%01

Drowned Men continue to lead the way with a win rate of 69.1% despite Maggotkin overall only having a win rate of 53.8%. Nighthaunt and Scarlet Doom find themselves near the top now as predicted by Danny some weeks ago. Meanwhile at the bottom of the table Ossiarch Bonereapers/Petrifex Elite are the only subfaction below 30% win rate.

Interestingly Fyreslayers have Lofnir (6 PLayers) with a win rate of 51.7% and the more popular Greyfyrd (9 Players) at 35.2%, are people playing the wrong subfaction?

Next Week

I’ll have graphs. Because nothing says stats like some graphs…..

AoS Meta Stats (w/e 3rd July 2022)

Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 27th June and Sunday 3rd July 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.

Once again, another quiet week, with only 3 Grand Tournaments. Two of these were run using the new GHB, while the other was just a little event called the World tSports Champions…..

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Grand Tournaments

Ranked from largest to smallest.

From the Ashes – Scotland/UK
22 PlayersGenerals Handbook: Pitched Battles 2022-23 Season 1

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stSkaven5-0-0
2ndNighthauntScarlet Doom4-0-1
3rdIdoneth DeepkinMor’Phann4-0-1
4thBonesplitterzDrakkfoot4-0-1
5thSeraphonThunder Lizard3-0-2
6thDaughters of Khaine Zainthar Kai3-0-2
7thSylvanethHeartwood3-0-2
8thBeasts of Chaos3-0-2
9thSoulblight GravelordsKastelai Dynasty3-0-2
10thSons of BehematBreaker Tribe2-1-2
From the Ashes 2022

World tSports Champions – England/UK
16 PlayersGenerals Handbook 2021-22

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stNighthauntGrieving Legion5-0-0
2ndIdoneth DeepkinIonrach3-0-2
3rdBeasts of ChaosAllherd4-0-1
4thIdoneth DeepkinFuethan3-0-2
5thSlaves to DarknessHost of the Everchosen4-0-1
6thMaggotkin of NurgleDrowned Men3-0-2
7thCities of SigmarHallowheart2-0-3
8thBonesplitterzDrakkfoot2-0-3
9thLegion of the First Prince 1-0-4
10thStormcast EternalsHammers of Sigmar2-0-3
World tSports Champions

Coliseum of Sigmar Carnage GT – Florida/USA
9 PlayersGenerals Handbook: Pitched Battles 2022-23 Season 1

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stLumineth Realm-LordsZaitrec3-0-1
2ndNighthauntEmerald Host4-0-1
3rdStormcast EternalsHallowed Knights3-1-1
4thLegion of the First Prince3-1-1
5thIdoneth DeepkinNautilar2-0-3
6thStormcast EternalsHammers of Sigmar2-0-3
7thSlaves to DarknessHost of the Everchosen0-0-2
8thSons of BehematBreaker Tribe2-0-3
9thDaughters of Khaine Zainthar Kai0-0-4
Coliseum of Sigmar Carnage GT

Grand Alliance Stats

As promised last week, I’ve changed the stats to reflect the last four weeks of GT’s that we’re aware of at Woehammer. Also if you read all the way to the end of the article I have a little surprise for you!

485 players took part in 16 GT’s over the last four weeks.

Grand AllianceWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins4+ Wins
Chaos56.7%9419.38%627
Order50.7%21844.95%834
Death45.8%8216.91%211
Destruction45.0%9118.76%08

Chaos continue to lead the way in the win rates. While Order pick up the most number of armies represented, most 5-0’s and most 4+. When you compare army share to the number of battletomes each Grand Alliance possess you can see that Order are overrepresented, while Chaos are vastly under represented:

Grand AllianceBattletomesBattletome %Actual Rep %
Order937.50%44.95%
Chaos729.17%19.38%
Death416.67%16.91%
Destruction416.67%18.76%

What can we take away from this? Perhaps that Order factions are more appealing than Chaos? New players gravitate towards Order? The Chaos range needs updated miniatures? Or all of the above?

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Faction Stats

The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.

FactionWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins0-5 Losses
Beasts of Chaos67.1%142.89%20
Legion of the First Prince 61.5%132.68%00
Slaves to Darkness61.1%61.24%01
Seraphon59.7%306.19%52
Blades of Khorne56.7%61.24%00
Maggotkin of Nurgle56.6%357.22%32
Bonesplitterz55.4%102.06%00
Cities of Sigmar54.2%244.95%21
Daughters of Khaine52.8%224.54%02
Nighthaunt52.2%326.60%12
Idoneth Deepkin51.8%234.74%10
Flesh-eater Courts51.7%61.24%00
Lumineth Realm-Lords51.5%214.33%00
Kharadron Overlords51.4%71.44%01
Sylvaneth49.1%112.27%01
Sons of Behemat48.5%214.33%01
Soulblight Gravelords47.1%285.77%11
Stormcast Eternals47.1%6012.37%04
Ogor Mawtribes47.1%282.89%01
Ironjawz44.7%163.30%01
Kruleboyz44.3%112.27%01
Hedonites of Slaanesh44.3%71.44%00
Skaven43.0%91.86%10
Big Waaagh!41.3%81.65%00
Fyreslayers39.5%204.12%02
Gloomspite Gitz30.9%112.27%01
Ossiarch Bonereapers28.2%163.30%02
Factions in Bold are those with 3rd Edition Battletomes published before or during this time period

I’ve highlighted all those faction win rates in red which are outside of the parameters that players have stated would make the game roughly balanced (45-55%).

I’m looking at the bottom of the table as I’m writing this, and its hard not to overlook Fyreslayers, Gloomspite Gitz and Ossiarch Bonereapers with win rates of less than 40%! Gloomspite Gitz are getting their new book this year, so hopefully we’ll see that improve. Fyreslayers have been mugged by Games Workshop rules writers, and it just shows how awful that book is. I feel for long term Fyreslayers players…

At the top of the table Beasts of Chaos now currently lead the way with a win rate of 67.1%! They’ve gone from trash tier to S tier in the space of 3 months. Slaves to Darkness are a bit of an anomaly at the top there, and this is primarily driven by a few high level players who vastly our performed the faction this month, much like Anthony Trentanelli did a few weeks ago with Skaven. Maggotkin of Nurgle and Seraphon win rates have both dropped, but its too early to tell why, as the new rules for Seraphon only really came into effect last week.

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Subfaction Stats

FactionSubfactionWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins0-5 Losses
Beasts of ChaosNone70.0%51.03%10
Maggotkin of Nurgle Drowned Men68.0%204.12%20
Legion of the First Prince61.5%132.68%00
NighthauntScarlet Doom60.0%112.27%00
Beasts of ChaosGavespawn60.0%61.24%00
SeraphonThunder Lizard59.6%285.77%42
BonesplitterzDrakkfoot58.3%61.24%00
Cities of SigmarLiving City57.7%132.68%20
Ogor MawtribesBoulderhead56.0%51.03%00
Kharadron OverlordsBarak-Zilfin53.3%61.24%01
Idoneth DeepkinMor’Phann53.3%61.24%10
Lumineth Realm-LordsZaitrec52.9%153.09%00
Sons of BehematBreaker Tribe52.8%153.09%00
Idoneth DeepkinNautilar51.3%81.65%00
IronjawzIronsunz50.0%61.24%01
Daughters of KhaineHagg Nar50.0%71.44%01
Stormcast EternalsAstral Templars50.0%61.24%00
Daughters of KhaineZainthar Kai49.2%122.47%01
Stormcast EternalsHammers of Sigmar48.8%336.80%02
Soulblight GravelordsVyrkos Dynasty48.0%102.06%00
Soulblight GravelordsKastelai Dynasty45.5%112.27%01
Stormcast EternalsHallowed Knights44.7%153.09%01
KruleboyzBig Yellers43.4%81.65%01
Skaven43.0%91.86%10
FyreslayersLofnir42.9%71.44%01
Hedonites of SlaaneshLurid Haze42.0%51.03%00
IronjawzBloodtoofs41.7%102.06%00
NighthauntEmerald Host41.5%132.68%02
Big Waaagh!41.3%81.65%00
Maggotkin of NurgleBefouling Host40.0%71.44%11
FyreslayersGreyfyrd35.8%122.47%01
Ossiarch BonereapersPetrifex Elite28.8%153.09%02
Gloomspite Gitz25.0%81.65%01
Factions in Bold are those with 3rd Edition Battletomes published before or during this time period

Maggotkin of Nurgle are a bit of a strange faction. While you have one of the meta leading Subfactions inside the tome with Drowned Men (68.0%, at the bottom of the pack you have Befouling Host (40.0%). It’s not an irregularity either as 7 players have played that subfaction and one claimed 5 wins at an event and another 5 losses. This suggests to me that while Drowned Men is a simple list to play, Befouling Host is completely the opposite and requires good memory and skill from the pilot.

After almost a year of publication now, both Stormcast and Orruk Warclan battletomes are beginning to show a little lag behind the other updated factions (apart from Fyreslayers of course). As the first of the Battletomes perhaps this has played into their stats slightly as the rules writers learn from their mistakes (apart from Fyreslayers of course) when writing the newer tomes.

Scarlet Doom shows that its the faction of choice for a reason in the new Nighthaunt battletome (60.0%) however, its still early days for this battletome and the other factions could be more complicated to pick up and play. However 60.0% win rate for any subfaction is too high and so they may need a future nerf at some point.

Going forwards as the weeks go on, I’ll be keeping an eye out for Grinin’ Blades beginning to get some more play with their updated allegiance abilities after not being placed at all due to all the Kruleboyz players choosing Big Yellers – this will change. I expect to see them nearing the 50% mark and above. Likewise with Skaven, I expect them to begin climbing the rankings as their new rules come into effect.

THE SUPRISE

I said I had a surprise, and here it is!

Woehammer will be doing a player ranking system for the new General’s Handbook based on the Elo system used by Chess.

Who gets ranked?

Everyone who takes part in a two day event using the General’s Handbook: Pitched Battles Season 1 2022-23. Each week I’ll update the scores of the players as they happen and post them in a separate rankings post which will be published every Saturday.

All players will begin with a rating of 1,000 at the beginning of the season, player ratings will be carried over into season 2 and beyond in the future.

I’ve included the current rankings below (there’s only been two GT’s using the new Handbook) which includes everyone at present. However, I will limit this to the top 20 as more players are ranked. The full downloadable player rankings will be available on the site to download next weekend.

PlayerCountryRegionRating
John BScotlandEurope1,049.4
David JackScotlandEurope1,031.2
Leigh MartinScotlandEurope1,030.3
Zachary ShinnUSANorth America1,029.7
Nathan WatsonScotlandEurope1,029.4
Jonathon RobertsUSANorth America1,020.0
Daniel GomezUSANorth America1,019.2
Cara NewbyScotlandEurope1,010.6
Richard McQuarrieScotlandEurope1,010.3
Karl RohrUSANorth America1,010.0
Alastair MaxwellScotlandEurope1,010.0
Reece FraserScotlandEurope1,010.0
Jamie McHughScotlandEurope1,010.0
Ryan PothecaryScotlandEurope1,010.0
Ian (Yes, just Ian)ScotlandEurope1,009.7
Aaron Burns LeesScotlandEurope1,009.4
Allan GeorgeScotlandEurope1,000.3
Douglas KlemUSANorth America1,000.0
Frank KellyScotlandEurope999.1
Scott SempleScotlandEurope999.1
Alasdair RobertsonScotlandEurope990.0
Michael SmithUSANorth America989.4
James HobsonScotlandEurope988.3
Michael PetersonUSANorth America980.3
Lewis MitchellScotlandEurope971.2
Grant FraserScotlandEurope968.9
Andrew DowlingUSANorth America961.7
AoS Player Rankings on 3rd July 2022

AoS Meta Stats (w/e 26th June 2022)

Here are the AoS Meta Stats for all the Grand Tournaments that have taken place between Monday 20th June and Sunday 26th June 2022. These are all the GT’s that I can locate on Tabletop.to or BestCoastPairing, if you know of any others please send me a link and I’ll add them.

There were only 2 Grand Tournaments last week, a quiet week! But both have 32 players with a nice mix of factions.

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Grand Tournaments

Ranked from largest to smallest.

Giga-Con: Age of Sigmar Teams Event – Georgia/USA
32 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stSeraphon Thunder Lizard5-0-0
2ndBeasts of Chaos4-1-0
3rdBeasts of Chaos4-0-1
4thOgor MawtribesBoulderhead4-0-1
5thLumineth Realm-Lords Zaitrec4-0-1
6thHedonites of Slaanesh Godseekers Host4-0-1
7thCities of SigmarLiving City 4-0-1
8thNighthaunt Scarlet Doom4-0-1
9thStormcast EternalsHallowed Knights3-1-1
10thBig Waaagh!3-1-1
Giga-Con: Age of Sigmar Teams Event

Ironweld Open GT – Massachusetts/USA
32 Players

PositionFactionSubfactionResult
1stSeraphonThunder Lizard 5-0-0
2ndSeraphon Thunder Lizard 4-0-1
3rdLegion of the First Prince4-0-1
4thSeraphonThunder Lizard 4-0-1
5thBonesplitterz Drakkfoot 3-1-1
6thLumineth Realm-Lords Zaitrec 3-1-1
7thDaughters of KhaineHagg Nar3-0-2
8thDaughters of KhaineZainthar Kai 3-0-2
9thStormcast EternalsHallowed Knights 3-0-2
10thSoulblight Gravelords Vyrkos Dynasty 3-0-2
Ironweld Open GT
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Grand Alliance Stats

64 players took part in 2 GT’s over the last week.

Grand AllianceWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins4+ Wins
Chaos55.6%914.1%04
Order53.7%3046.9%26
Death50.0%1015.6%01
Death39.3%1523.4%01

Faction Stats

The below stat show the results for those factions represented by 5 armies or more only.

FactionWin RateArmies% Share of Armies5-0 Wins0-5 Losses
Seraphon 80.0%57.9%20
Lumineth Realm-Lords 60.0%57.9%00
Soulblight Gravelords 40.0%57.9%00

With very few tournaments this week there’s not enough data to draw reliable win rates from.

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Subfaction Stats

Next week, I’ll have built up four weeks worth of data and at this point I will transition the stats over four weeks rather than a single week. This will helpfully give us more reliable data. At some point I’ll go backwards as well to the start of AoS 3.