This is the top three AoS lists for Merry SquigmAOSs 2023 that took place in the US on the 2nd and 3rd of December. It saw 10 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
With less than 20 players we won’t be commenting on each list indificually
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: Disciples of Tzeentch – Army Subfaction: Guild of Summoners – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch (230)* – General – Command Traits: Daemonspark – Artefacts: Nine-Eyed Tome – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Magister (140)* – Spells: Shield of Fate 1 x Tzaangor Shaman (130)** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x Tzaangor Shaman (130)** – Spells: Merciless Blizzard
BATTLELINE 10 x Jade Obelisk (130) 10 x Horrors of Tzeentch (Pink) (260)** – Iridescent Horror – Pink Horror Icon Bearer – Pink Horror Hornblower – Split and Split Again 10 x Horrors of Tzeentch (Pink) (260)** – Iridescent Horror – Pink Horror Icon Bearer – Pink Horror Hornblower – Split and Split Again
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Daemonic Simulacrum (70) 1 x Chronomantic Cogs (50)
OTHER 6 x Ogroid Theridons (300)** – Thorakon – 2 x Banner Bearer – 2 x Charge-caller – Goroan Great Axe 6 x Ogroid Theridons (300)** – Thorakon – Banner Bearer – Charge-caller – Goroan Great Axe
Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: King’s Gitz – Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Skragrott, the Loonking (230)* – Spells: The Hand of Gork Dankhold Troggboss (210)* – General – Command Traits: Alpha Trogg – Artefacts of Power: Glowy Howzit Madcap Shaman (70)* – Artefacts of Power: Moonface Mommet – Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE Boingrot Bounderz (150) Moonclan Stabbas (120) – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – Stabba – 3 Barbed Nets Moonclan Stabbas (120) – Moonclan Boss – Bad Moon Icon Bearer – Gong Basher – Stabba – 3 Barbed Nets Rockgut Troggoths (340) Rockgut Troggoths (340) Boingrot Bounderz (150)
OTHER Loonsmasha Fanatics (110) Loonsmasha Fanatics (110)
CORE BATTALIONS *Command Entourage – Magnificent
TOTAL POINTS: 1950/2000
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Barak-Zon – Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies – Stick To The Code (Amendments): Always Take What You Are Owed – Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything – Stick To The Code (Footnotes): There’s No Reward Without Risk
LEADERS Aetheric Navigator (100) – Artefacts of Power: Voidstone Orb Arkanaut Admiral (140) – General – Command Traits: Stormcaller Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90) – Nullstone Adornments: Hand-carved Nullstone Icon
BATTLELINE Arkanaut Company (90) – Company Captain – Light Skyhook and Gun Butt – Skypike – Volley Pistol – Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt Endrinriggers (240) – Mizzenmaster Endrinriggers (240) – Mizzenmaster
BEHEMOTH Arkanaut Frigate (300) – Heavy Sky Cannon – Great Endrinworks: Prudency Chutes – The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship Arkanaut Frigate (300) – Heavy Sky Cannon
OTHER Gotrek Gurnisson (480)
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Army Faction: Sylvaneth – Army Subfaction: Harvestboon – Grand Strategy: Overshadow – Triumphs: Inspired – Seasons of War: The Reaping
LEADER 1 x Belthanos (360) 1 x Arch-Revenant (120) – General – Command Traits: Warsinger 1 x Branchwych (110) – Artefacts: The Vesperal Gem – Spells: Verdurous Harmony, Verdant Blessing
BATTLELINE 3 x Spiterider Lancers (190) 6 x Revenant Seekers (230) 3 x Spiterider Lancers (190)
OTHER 6 x Kurnoth Hunters with Kurnoth Scythes (250) 3 x Aetherwings (70)
Overall, disregarding the unknown lists (lists which didn’t specify which subfaction they were) Fangs of Sotek appears to be the most subfaction at GTs with a win rate of 58%, while in RTT & Casual settings Dracothion’s Tail appears to have the run of the tables with a win rate 60%. Both however shake out at 55% across the formats and outperform the other subfactions by a fair bit.
Thunder Lizard and Koatl’s Claw both appear to struggle regardless of the format and neither can break into the 45-55% win zone that most people see as the ideal win rates.
Despite their lacklustre performance on the tables, Koatl’s Claw appears to be the go-to subfaction for most players. While Fangs of Sotek takes the 2nd spot.
Ramon Silva: I think they’re honestly one of the most solid written books because they hold a magical castle very well with good summoning and good spells
And then they also have the dinosaurs to play more of a timy type game. But that can also be successful in its own way.
Here we can see how the subfaction players generally perform at GTs. The grey bar shows how many players achieve 0 to 2 wins at a GT, if this is less than 50%, then that faction has a positive win rate, as shown in the yellow bar (those players who achieve 3 or more wins), the blue segment shows those who achieve 4 or more wins, and finally the green segment shows the percentage of players who go on to win all 5 games.
This chart can show a lack of balance via results. If all factions were perfectly balanced (along with player skills), then the opposing bars (i.e. 5-0 and 0-5, 3-2 and 2-3) would be the same length.
FACTION MATCHUPS
Note that these stats are across all game formats.
Slaves to Darkness appears to be the easiest faction for Seraphon player with a 66% win rate against the spikey boys. This is closely followed (probably unsurprisingly by Kruleboyz at 65% win rate, and Sylvaneth at 63%. Factions shown in the lighter green are favourable towards Seraphon with a win rate of between 55-60%. The yellow factions are ideally balanced against Seraphon, falling between the 45-55% bracket. Those in orange are between 40-45% win rate. Those in red and the factions that Seraphon struggles the most against with a win rate of less than 40%.
Ramon Silva: Obviously, an army wide five up spell ignore does wonders...
Michelle Anderson: On the stinky spectrum of 1-10, one being not stinky and ten being maximum stink aura of fifteen feet…..
Seraphon are def a solid 7stinky.
Fabien Barbusse: We need to separate Coalesced stinky and Starborne stinky.
Ramon Silva: Yeah, like that’s the thing, too. I was thinking about after I said it’s a clear counter…
It’s only to half because to Big Lizzy’s, I don’t know how korne does so well…
But I theorize they trade better because they get to pick the fights better.
Peter Holland: I think we have to remember the matchup stats are skewed towards Koatl’s Claw and Fangs of Sotek.
ROUND PERFORMANCE
At the beginning of a GT, the game could go either way for Seraphon and with the pairings being completely random (in most cases) its down to the luck of the draw who the players may come up against.
Following the 1st round tie, the 2nd round appears to fall slightly more in Seraphon’s favour with a win rate in this round of 54%. This falls back again to essentially a coin toss in rounds 3 and 4 followed by a favourable matchup for Seraphon in Round 5.
WARSCROLL PERFORMANCE
This chart shows the win rates of lists which include the warscroll (in Blue) compared to those that don’t (in Orange).
The Ripperdactyl Riders and Chief appear to have a good effect on win rates for Seraphon, with lists that include these touching around the 58-59% win rate mark – however bear in mind looking at the next chart, that these warscrolls only appear in very few lists and so could need more data before this claim is substantiated.
Ramon Silva: I feel so bad for the engine lovers.
Peter Holland: But (and a big one), it only appears in 1% of the lists.
Lodivicus: I’d love to see the Starborne data and coalesced data split (as mentioned above). The one thing that I’d be most interested in is how Tzeentch is beating Seraphon more than OBR? That’s not something I expected, and I think it is noteworthy.
Ramon Silva: I mean, they also get bonuses from spellcasts going off,so….
WARSCROLLS NOT USED
Kixi-Taka
Hunters of Huanchi with Dartpipes
Klaq-Trok
Starblood Stalkers
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This is the top three AoS lists for The Fast and the Primal that took place in the UK on the 9th and 10th of December. It saw 18 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
With less than 20 players we won’t be commenting on each list indificually
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: Lumineth Realm-lords – Army Subfaction: Zaitrec – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
LEADER 1 x Ionus Cryptborn (400) 1 x Archmage Teclis (740)* 1 x Scinari Cathallar (120)* – General – Command Traits: Eye of the Blizzard – Artefacts: Phoenix Stone – Spells: Merciless Blizzard 1 x The Light of Eltharion (230)*
BATTLELINE 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)* – High Warden – Spells: Overwhelming Heat 5 x Vanari Dawnriders (120)* – Steedmaster – Standard Bearer – Spells: Speed of Hysh
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80) 1 x Aethervoid Pendulum (40)
OTHER 5 x Vanari Bladelords (120)* – Bladelord Seneschal
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Hallowed Knights – Grand Strategy: Overshadow
LEADER 1 x Gardus Steel Soul (160)* 1 x Knight-Incantor (120)* – Artefacts: Luckstone – Spells: Celestial Blades 1 x Ionus Cryptborn (400)* – General – Prayers: Translocation
BATTLELINE 5 x Liberators (100)* – Liberator-Prime – Grandweapon – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Sigmarite Shield 4 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Stormdrake-Prime – Drakerider’s Lance 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Stormdrake-Prime – Drakerider’s Lance
OTHER 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (100)* 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (100)*
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADERS Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (240) Zonkgaz Venomscuttle Ascended (450)** Megaboss on Maw-Krusha – Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist – Mount Trait: Smelly ‘Un Elbog (120)** Orruk Warchanter – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat Dralg Bogroff (90)* Orruk Weirdnob Shaman – General – Command Trait: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Skragra (170)* Wurrgog Prophet – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost
UNITS Oglok’s Mob (220)** 10 x Orruk Ardboys – 1 x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers Kazhag’s Mob (220)** 10 x Orruk Ardboys – 1 x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers Zhok’s Mob (280)** 10 x Orruk Brutes – Jagged Gore-hackas – 2 x Gore Choppas Noirek’s Mob (120)** 20 x Moonclan Stabbas – Allies
This is the top three AoS lists for the Coventry AoS GT that took place in the UK on the 11th and 12th of November. It saw 22 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired – thunder strike
LEADERS Bastian Carthalos (300)* Lord-Arcanum on Gryph-Charger (170)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts of Power: Luckstone – Mount Traits: Scintillating Trail – Spells: Chain Lightning Sevireth (270)*
OTHER Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (460)* – Raptor-Prime Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (230)* – Raptor-Prime
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Everblaze Comet (90)
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1950/2000
Army Faction: Idoneth Deepkin – Subfaction: Fuethán – Grand Strategy: Akhelian Pursuit – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Lotann (110)* Isharann Tidecaster (130)** – General – Command Traits: Teachings of the Túrscoll – Artefacts of Power: Rune of the Surging Gloomtide – Spells: Steed of Tides
Allegiance: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (120)*** – General – Command Trait: Skilled Leader – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un Gordrakk the Fist of Gork (460)** Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (240) Wurrgog Prophet (170)** – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat
Battleline 10 x Orruk Brutes (280)* – Pair of Brute Choppas – Reinforced x 1 10 x Gutrippaz (150)*** 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)*** 5 x Orruk Brutes (140)** – Pair of Brute Choppas
Units 3 x Brute Ragerz (100)* crushers
Core Battalions *Wizard-Finders of Andtor **Warlord ***Battle Regiment
Leaders Wurrgog Prophet (170)* – General – Command Trait: One Wiv Da Beast – Power of the Were-boar – Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz – Lore of the Savage Beast: Glowy Green Tusks Maniak Weirdnob (100)** – Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un – Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost
Battleline 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas 5 x Savage Boarboys (140)* – Stikkas
Units 10 x Savage Boarboy Maniaks (300)** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Savage Boarboy Maniaks (300)** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Savage Boarboy Maniaks (300)** – Reinforced x 1 10 x Snarlfang Riders (240)** – Allies
However, we’ve now created a permanent page for the stats so that you can view them easily. They’ll also now appear in the drop-down menu underneath the Age of Sigmar segment on the website.
Going forward, you should be able to find all the stats you need here.
This is the top three AoS lists for Duckstravaganza 2: Battle For the Pond that took place in the US on the 21st and 22nd of October. It saw 36players 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: Disciples of Tzeentch – Army Subfaction: Guild of Summoners – Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Lord of Change (380) – General – Command Traits: Daemonspark – Staff of Tzeentch and Rod of Sorcery – Artefacts: Nine-Eyed Tome – Spells: Levitate 1 x Magister (140) – Spells: Arcane Suggestion 1 x Magister (140) – Spells: Shield of Fate
BATTLELINE 11 x Blissbarb Archers (170) 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120) – Kairic Adept – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Kairic Acolytes (120) – Kairic Adept – Scroll of the Dark Arts – Vulcharc – Cursed Blade and Arcanite Shield – 3 x Cursed Glaive and Arcanite Shield 10 x Tzaangors (180) – Twistbray – Icon Bearer – Brayhorn Blower – 2 x Tzaangor Mutant – Pair of Savage Blades and Vicious Beak – Pair of Savage Blades
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Umbral Spellportal (80) 1 x Burning Sigil Of Tzeentch (70) 1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30)
OTHER 6 x Varanguard (280) – 6 x Fellspear
TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)
Kieron Bailey: With the prevalence of Khorne and Null Myriad in the meta, combined with the challenge to magical dominance offered by Seraphon and various Nagash builds, the number of Tzeentch lists in the wild has dropped off somewhat as this GHB continues. One person who has continued to push around the servants of the Architect of Fate is the Lord of Change himself, Kaleb Walters. But while this list does still opt for Guild of Summoners for an extra battle tactic on command (summoning a Lord of Change), Kaleb’s customary Krondspine is absent from this list, replaced instead with 6 Varanguard.
In terms of the overall army construction, the army is a one-drop, allowing Kaleb to give away first in many matchups, get the enemy in range and then blast them with spells, maybe get the double and then do it all over again. The Varanguard might be able to activate three times in two turns due to their warscroll ability Relentless Killers. Being a one-drop is always a dilemma for Tzeentch as they need the casts to get the summoning points, but don’t really want to have that extra drop if they can avoid it. Kaleb’s elegant solution is to take two Magisters on Foot who can potentially cast two times each. Add the two casts from the Kairics, the two casts from the Lord of Change (with full re-rolls thanks to the Nine-Eyed Tome), the autocast Sigil from Arcane Armies and three fate points from Daemonspark, that’s twelve fate points to bring in that Lord of Change with.
The spells chosen also are a nod to the anti-magic of Khorne and Null Myriad as two out of three affect the Tzeentch units, therefore no spell ignores can be made. Shield of Fate can be put on the Varanguard, meaning that they have a 4+ ward against mortal wounds and a 5+ against all other wounds AND a spell ignore of a 4+ if the spell is cast while Kaleb has seven or more Destiny Dice. Add a Mystic Shield and All Out Defense and those Varanguard are a nightmare to get through. The chosen spell that affects others is the very flexible Arcane Suggestion that can shut off commands, subtract 1 from hit and wound rolls or subtract 1 from save rolls, maximising the impact of the charging Varanguard.
Other units that Kaleb have taken all complement the Varanguard well, with 42 ranged shots pummelling any screens and then 43 attacks from the run and charge Tzaangor finishing off whatever is left. While the Varanguard are not Disciples of Tzeentch so can’t auto charge with Destiny Dice, they certainly won’t have to be committed to taking out any chaff.
The list might be frustrated somewhat by hordes, but Suffocating Gravetide will help with that, in addition to the Sigil of Tzeentch and Bolt of Change from either of the Magisters popping up Spawns within 3″ of units that take damage. While the Spawns themselves probably won’t do a tonne of damage, they will pin those hordes in place if they aren’t killed in the ensuing combat phase.
All in all, a great twist on a Tzeentch list, congratulations to Kaleb and I’m now off to get some Varanguard off eBay!
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120) – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90) – Spells: Hoarfrost 1 x Megaboss on Maw-krusha (450)* – General – Command Traits: Hulking Brute – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts: Destroyer 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat 1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (230)*
BATTLELINE 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Gore-grunta Boss 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 10 x Orruk Brutes (140)* – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – 2 x Gore-choppa
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1970/2000)
Roland Rivera: Here’s an interesting Ironjawz list earning a podium result, which have been few and far between for the faction of late. Interestingly, it does not feature any of the units in the new Ironjawz supplement. What it does feature, however, is 4 big scary combat units in the Maw-krusha, 10 Brutes, and 2 units of 6 Gore-gruntas. Those units all have a ton of hitting power, and will put a hole in your opponent’s army if you deliver them properly.
The big combat units are complemented by an interesting selection of support Heroes. Warchanters are no surprise, of course, but a Weirdnob lets the list make use of primal dice offensively by giving the list a Hail Mary shot at Hoarfrost, which can be quite a potent offensive buff. Furthermore, it features an interesting Ally choice in Skragrott, which is decently durable, helps ease the burden on the list’s command points and has an interesting offensive spell.
The list is a bit light on chaff and other complementary units, but who needs that when you can just crash into the enemy with overwhelming force? That’s the approach this list took, and it seems to have done well.
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Grundstok Expeditionary Force – Grand Strategy: Acceptable Profit Margin – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Aether-Khemist (100)* Aether-Khemist (100)* Aetheric Navigator (100)* – Artefacts of Power: Aetheric Nullifier Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit (170)** – General – Command Traits: Entrenchment Expert – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
BATTLELINE Grundstok Gunhauler (170)* – Sky Cannon Grundstok Gunhauler (170)** – Sky Cannon Grundstok Gunhauler (170)** – Sky Cannon Grundstok Thunderers (480)** – Gunnery Sergeant – 3 x Honour Bearer – 3 x Grundstok Mortar – 3 x Aethercannon – 3 x Aetheric Fumigator – 3 x Decksweeper Grundstok Thunderers (480)** – Gunnery Sergeant – 3 x Honour Bearer – 3 x Grundstok Mortar – 3 x Aethercannon – 3 x Aetheric Fumigator – 3 x Decksweeper
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1940/2000
Carl Stokes: So this list is very much the classic approach to the Grundstock Regiment of Renown. You’ve got the thunderers, the gunhaulers to tote them around, and the khemists to turn them into unstoppable killing machines. Interestingly, there’s no admiral in the list, but they’re not very important here since you don’t have a flagship. A fast flying endrimmaster is an interesting addition, but since arcane tome lets him cast mystic shield on the thunderers and allows KO to get that sweet sweet magical dominance battle tactic, he’s an excellent dwarf-of-all-trades that can provide some flexibility in an otherwise very straightforward list.
The mechanics of this list are very straightforward and honestly, not particularly interesting. The army moves insanely fast (pre-nerf) and shoots harder than anything else in the game. A 50% chance to double the shots of 15 thunderers allows KO to ace basically any unit in the game. And then they get to try for double shots again during unleash hell…
What’s much more interesting is looking at the matchups and seeing what conclusions we can draw about this style of army and the KO book as a whole.
It’s no secret that KO is an extremely powerful book in a game that heavily emphasizes asymmetric threat extension (I hurt you and you’re not allowed to hurt me back) and movement (objectives, battle tactics, etc). This army of renown exemplifies the best of both worlds, where the cheapest boat in the book can ferry the largest threat in the book anywhere they need to go.
So let’s see how this played out: Darkwalkers is an extremely interesting matchup where Frank would have had to do an excellent job balancing the removal of extremely mobile chaff units while still keeping his movement tight to avoid the ol’ “shaman rips a unit out of position where it then gets eaten by something scary” play that BoC specialize in. Here, I could see the flying endrinmaster really pulling his weight, being able to clear out ungor units while the thunderer blocks dare anything to get in blastin range. Gunhaulers are also excellent here, as they’re fantastic and blowing up squishy infantry units/characters.
Slaves to Darkness is an honest army (except for Belakor). Strong saves, good melee, and horribly unprepared for this KO build. Varanguard can’t do much against a double volley (possibly quadruple after unleash hell) from the thunderers, and gunhaulers can clear screens (with the endrinmaster). Ironjawz, being the only loss, is also not surprising in the slightest. KO, as a book, is very susceptible to fast chunky melee threats, and that’s exactly what IJ are. Frank’s list doesn’t really play for the double turn and KO shooting is relatively short ranged, which means that being doubled by a Mawkrusha and friends could easily result in an unstoppable green tide sweeping away poor innocent dawi. IJ have enough movement and shenanigans to end up in combat immediately, and even a few surviving pigs can be an enormous threat to KO.
Slaanesh can’t really deal with massed 3+ armor units that outmove, outshoot, and outcompete them for objectives. D3 MW from temptation dice don’t matter to a 30 wound thunderer unit that just removes your army immediately.
And finally, seraphon can pose some trouble for traditional KO that rely on the admiral and maybe one khemist to make the army hum along. This is not traditional KO. I’d imagine pretty much anything seraphon brought to the table just got immediately removed by the thunderers and that sprinkling some mortal wounds around the units simply couldn’t reduce their efficacy in a meaningful way.
In short, although GW recognized that this army of renown was horribly unbalanced and made some sweeping changes to their power, it’s nice to see that we didn’t end up in a “10th ed Aeldari” situation with AoS. Good work to Admiral Sylvester for upholding the honor of the fleet and congratulations on a very successful Grundstock Expedition!
Army Faction: Fyreslayers – Army Subfaction: Greyfyrd – Grand Strategy: Masters of the Forge – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Auric Runemaster (130) – Prayers: Heal 1 x Arch-Revenant (Elthwin’s Thorns) (310)* 1 x Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)** – General – Command Traits: Blood of the Berzerker – Artefacts: Master Rune of Unbreakable Resolve – Mount Traits: Coal-heart Ancient 1 x Battlesmith (150)** – Artefacts: Nulsidian Icon 1 x Auric Runemaster (130)** – Artefacts: Volatile Brazier – Prayers: Heal 1 x Auric Flamekeeper (90)*** – Artefacts: Arcane Tome
BATTLELINE 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (150)** – Fyresteel War-pick and Bladed Slingshield 15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (160)*** – Berzerker Broadaxe 10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Bladed Slingshields (150)*** – Fyresteel War-pick and Bladed Slingshield
INVOCATION 1 x Molten Infernoth (50)
TERRAIN 1 x Magmic Battleforge (0)
OTHER 5 x Gossamid Archers (Elthwin’s Thorns) (310)*
CORE BATTALIONS: *Regiment of Renown **Warlord ***Wizard-finders of Andtor
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Kevin Lathers: This list is a what I like to call a “dual threat” list. A big block of Hearthguard Berserkers (HGB) to hold down an objective or two (dependent on map) and a Runefather with all the things in order to make him a single turn absolute monster where he will kill almost anything in the game.
This allows the list to function as a sort of split pushing list or as a castle army and capable of fluidly shifting between either. If the shield vulkites and/or HGB can shield the runefather until he has the right opening, he can remove the key pieces of the opponents army in one round of combat.
Of course, the list will struggle against anything with multiple smaller threats or anything that can not only ignore wards, but then effectively do huge damage to the HGB to instantly lift them (such as Sigvald!).
The inclusion of Elthwin’s thorns, instead of a second flamekeeper or Grimhold exile (run+charge on the HGB), is clearly for easy tactics. Fyreslayers struggle immensely with tactics and this can go a long way to shoring that up while also providing a mobile threat piece that opponents can’t just roam around doing whatever it wants.
Final Tournament Placings
To view all of the results for the tournament please follow the link below to Best Coast Pairings
This is the top three AoS lists for 2d6 Carnage that took place in Norway on the 3rd and 4th of November. It saw 44 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
The Top Three AoS Lists
Allegiance: Khorne – Slaughterhost: Skullfiend Tribe – Grand Strategy: The Blood Legions March – Triumphs:
Leaders Bloodmaster, Herald of Khorne (110)* – General – Command Trait: Favoured of Khorne – Artefact: A’rgath the King of Blades – Prayer: Killer Instinct Bloodsecrator (120)*** – Artefact: Banner of Blood Bloodstoker (90)** Realmgore Ritualist (110)* – Prayer: Blood Sacrifice Skarr Bloodwrath (110)* Magister – The Coven of Thryx (320)**** – Allies
Units 10 x Skullreapers (380)** – Goreslick Blades -Skullseeker -2x Icon Bearer – Reinforced x 1 5 x Wrathmongers (140)** -Wrathmaster 5 x Wrathmongers (140)** -Wrathmaster 10 x Horrors of Tzeentch – The Coven of Thryx (0)**** – Allies
Endless Spells & Invocations Burning Sigil of Tzeentch – The Coven of Thryx (0) Daemonic Simulacrum – The Coven of Thryx (0) Tome of Eyes – The Coven of Thryx (0)
Khorne has been on quite the run of spicy lists of late. Just when you think you’ve seen it all between Bloodthirster spam, mixed mortals and Daemons, and Be’lakor as an Ally, here comes yet another curveball with a Tzeentch Regiment of Renown! The Coven of Thryx makes for a quite interesting addition to a Khorne list, not least because of opening up the possibility of casting spells into an army that rarely features it.
This choice is complemented by some fairly typical Khorne shenanigans: lots of Bloodreavers to occupy space and generate Tithe, powerful Priests in the Bloodmaster and the Realmgore Ritualist, a run & charge enabler in the Bloodstoker, a Rallier and on-demand attack booster in the Bloodsecrator, and Wrathmongers to juice up the attack count of any unit near them. The main hammer is a unit of 10 Skullreapers, which have access to enough buffs to pound through just about any target.
However, the inclusion of the Coven and going this heavy on Bloodreavers (I count 60!) clearly indicate that this list is primarily intending to tussle over the objectives, prevail in key combats to ensure that happens, and build up an insurmountable points edge over its opponent. An interesting approach, vindicated by a strong result.
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Celestial Warbringers (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (330)* Drakesworn Templar (400)* – Tempest Axe – Artefact: Luckstone – Mount Trait: Envoy of Lightning Knight-Judicator with Gryph-Hounds (180)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) Knight-Judicator with Gryph-Hounds (180)** Knight-Judicator with Gryph-Hounds (180)** Sevireth, Lord of the Seventh Wind (270)** – Allies
Battleline 5 x Liberators (100)* – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield – 1x Grandweapons 5 x Liberators (100)** – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield – 1x Grandweapons 5 x Liberators (100) – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield – 1x Grandweapons
Units 1 x Stormstrike Chariot (150)
Core Battalions *Warlord **Warlord
Additional Enhancements Holy Command: Call for Aid Holy Command: Steadfast March Artefact
Total: 1990 / 2000
Ramon Silva: So the main thing I would commentate is that it’s amazing. This guy did it in a different storm host than anybody else, and he did it with the Knight-Judy.
It’s one of those weird lists that works as long as you know how every piece works and what you want it to do. And the extra dogs definitely help, but having a dragon drop in and do more to wounds is just… (chef’s kiss)
So the whole thing is too hard to wrap my head around right now without saying that it’s just beautiful.
It’s really fun when a person can take the game to this level and understand what they’re doing because they didn’t have an easy time
Seraphon is very much the number one counter to Stormcast, and he won that in the final round Let alone OBR in the first round.
The feat alone is amazing to do, but doing it with one of the worst performing armies and doing it outside of the box like they did is just amazing
I would love to ask this person 21 questions.
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Big Waaagh! – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)* – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork Wurrgog Prophet (170)* – Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz – Spells: Hoarfrost Orruk Megaboss (140)** – Artefacts of Power: Destroyer Gobsprakk (240)*** Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat Orruk Warchanter (120)*** – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat
BATTLELINE Orruk Brutes (280)** – Brute Boss – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – Jagged Gore-hacka – 2 x Gore-choppa Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – Jagged Gore-hacka – Gore-choppa Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Gore-choppa – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – Jagged Gore-hacka Orruk Brutes (140)** – Brute Boss – Gore-choppa – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – Jagged Gore-hacka
OTHER Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*** – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (50)
Big Waagh is really building up a head of steam at the moment, and as this list demonstrates, a large part of it is probably due to how insanely cost efficient Brutes are now. They’re not necessarily the most pumped warscroll on their own, but bear in mind the Warchanter handing out +1 damage and their surprising threat range with both the +1 to charge from the Big Waagh table and Mighty Destroyer.
Big Waagh was recently handed a large bone (but no-one to splitterz it…) in the form of an easy to score battle tactic, which certainly helps – but Brutes have now reached that critical mass where you can fit in enough wound dense, reliable threats to just swamp the mid-board, trade up super reliably, and rapidly generate Waagh points.
Of course, those Waagh points go a long way too – especially once they unlock another auto-battle tactic (once at 24 pts, get to 30 – trivial) and also grant army-wide +1 to hit, wound and charge, making _everything_ a reliable hammer. With the 2 small units of Gore-gruntas for effective flanking or early softening up of targets (and again, rapid waagh point generation), the list represents a really savage puzzle for an opponent to solve.
Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine – Temple: Hagg Nar – Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Melusai Ironscale (120)* – General – Command Trait: Zealous Orator – Artefact: Crown of Woe Morathi-Khaine (350)* The Shadow Queen (350)*
Battleline 15 x Blood Sisters (450)* – Reinforced x 2 10 x Sisters of Slaughter (120)* – Barbed Whips and Sacrificial Knives 10 x Sisters of Slaughter (120)* – Barbed Whips and Sacrificial Knives
Units 5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (100)* 5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (100)*
While some of us predicted a huge resurgence of DoK thanks to the theoretically better changes of getting Mind-razor off, we haven’t actually seen a huge amount of DoK results. Either way, with such a limited roster, the core of a successful list remains largely unchanged, with Morathi never going out of fashion due to her sheer reliability and scoring potential, and the auto-score tactic (followed up by likely Surround and Destroy and help with Intimidate) that 2x Heartrenders represent.
In the Battleline, it’s the standard big blob of Blood Sisters for near-guaranteed deletion of any target or two they manage to tag (thanks to MWs per model on a 2+ after their pretty hefty normal damage potential). I’ve always been fond of a blob of 15 as it gives you some redundancy against chip shooting and allows you to reliably delete two units at once if you position correctly – one with the normal damage, then a 2nd unit with the 12-ish MWs so long as one model is within 1″ of it.
A treelord for ‘no-pile-ins’ is an intriguing and increasingly popular ally option for some board control and defensive denial, no doubt helping both Morathi and the sneks to run around relatively unmolested!
Final Tournament Placings
To view all of the results for the tournament please follow the link below to Best Coast Pairings
This article over on PlasticCraic has an excellent wish list of changes for the new Battlescroll coming soon(ish?). Check it out!
Opinions are like starter set Kruleboyz: everyone’s already got way too many, but they keep getting repackaged and pushed out anyway. Once per quarter, every dickhead on the internet howls that their favourite units are fine but everybody else’s need nerfing, and your faithful Plastic Craic writing team (or at least the ones who haven’t been […]
This is the top three AoS lists for the Tournament Trials Of Andtor that took place in Ireland on the 18th and 19th of November. It saw 12 players vying to be crowned champion in a 4-game tournament.
With the tournament having 20 players or less we won’t be providing a detailed breakdown of the lists.
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: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: Trugg’s Troggherd – Grand Strategy: Overshadow – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Trugg (320) – General – Command Traits: Ceaseless Growth Dankhold Troggboss (210)* – General – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome Dankhold Troggboss (210)**
Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Slaughter of Sorcery
LEADERS Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (310) – Artefacts of Power: Ar’gath, the King of Blades Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (300) – Artefacts of Power: Halo of Blood Skarbrand (380)* Skarr Bloodwrath (110)* Slaughterpriest (110)* – General – Command Traits: High-priest of Khorne – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Blood Sacrifice – Nullstone Adornments: Pouch of Nulldust
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS 1 x Hexgorger Skulls (50)
TERRAIN 1 x Skull Altar (0)
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Roland Rivera: While at first glance this seems like an increasingly standard Bloodthirster-heavy Reapers of Vengeance list, look again – this one has some interesting choices made for its complementary units. First among those is the decision to make one of its support foot Heroes the General. This was likely done to maximize the benefit of the Skull Altar’s ability to reroll prayers for the Priest standing in it, as High Priest of Khorne means that the General will be able to chant 2 prayers per Hero phase.
Another interesting choice is the decision to bring not 1, but 2 Skull Cannons for ranged support. While those Cannons won’t be blowing up monsters or ripping chunks out of units, they are a source of chip damage that combines with other sources of chip damage in this army (the Slaughterpriest’s Blood Boil prayer, for example) to take down screens or soften up more expensive units before you crash in.
Last but not least, this build features a fun artefact on the Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster in the Halo of Blood, which lets him strike first and drag either one of his big buddies into combat immediately. This could wreak havoc with your opponents in melee. All in all, a solid list, as reflected by the result.
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords – Subfaction: Grundstok Expeditionary Force – Grand Strategy: Acceptable Profit Margin – Triumph: Inspired
This is the top three AoS lists for the The Leicester AoS GT that took place in the UK on the 2nd and 3rd of December. It saw 15 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Because there are less than 20 players we won’t be commenting on the individual lists.
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: Flesh-eater Courts – Subfaction: Hollowmourne – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist (450)* – Artefacts of Power: Corpsefane Gauntlet – Mount Traits: Gruesome Bite – Spells: Spectral Host Varghulf Courtier (160)* Abhorrant Ghoul King (170)* – Spells: Merciless Blizzard Abhorrant Archregent (240)** – General – Command Traits: Grave Robber – Artefacts of Power: The Dermal Robe – Spells: Hoarfrost Abhorrant Archregent (240)** – Spells: Deranged Transformation
Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Subfaction: Befouling Host – Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant – Triumph: Inspired
LEADERS The Glottkin (580) – Spells: Gift of Disease Bloab Rotspawned (310) – Spells: Plague Squall Morbidex Twiceborn (290) Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (150) – Wings – Daemonic Axe Horticulous Slimux (200)* Spoilpox Scrivener (100)* – General – Command Trait – Eye of the blizzard – – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
BATTLELINE Beasts of Nurgle (100)* Beasts of Nurgle (100)* Beasts of Nurgle (100)* Spire Tyrants (70)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Roland Rivera: While we’ve all seen our fair share of Glottkin lists at AoS tournament podiums this season, this one has made some very interesting choices to support the core of Glottkin + Maggoth Lords for him to control the middle with. One such choice is Horticulous Slimux and the Befouling Host subfaction, which effectively maximizes the ability of this list to summon reinforcements. Slimux’s utility is further bolstered by the choice of Beasts of Nurgle for Battleline.
Another interesting choice is the inclusion of a Spoilpox Scrivener (a unit that buffs Plaguebearers) with no Plaguebearers in the main list. This is likely because the list intends to summon Plaguebearers in if it needs them, and because opting for the Scrivener over some of the more expensive Heroes allows the list to squeeze in an extra unit in the form of Spire Tyrants.
Rounding things out is a Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince, which was considered a poor choice at higher points totals, but now profiles as interesting anti-Ward tech, which lets this list drop the hammer in the mirror match. All in all, it’s an interesting spin on a list that has proven to be effective this season.
Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Subfaction: Reapers of Vengeance – Grand Strategy: Barren Icescape – Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster (300) – Artefacts of Power: Halo of Blood Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (310) – General – Command Traits: Firebrand – Artefacts of Power: Ar’gath, the King of Blades – Prayers: Bloodbind Skarbrand (380)* Bloodmaster (110)* – Prayers: Blood Sacrifice Slaughterpriest (110)* – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Killer Instinct Be’lakor (340)**
OTHER Ogroid Theridons (150)** – Thorakon – Banner Bearer – Charge-caller – Goroan Great Axe
CORE BATTALIONS *Warlord **Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Roland Rivera: Khorne Bloodthirster spam has been a popular build of late, and adding Be’lakor to the mix for an extra bit of control has had good results as well. While this list had a weaker result than we typically see at 3-2, it only lost to the 1st and 2nd place finishers, so it had a pretty good showing overall.
The mix of Bloodthirsters skews toward damage and ease of chaining combat activations in Skarbrand, the Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage, and the Wrath of Khorne Bloodthirster. These are supported by a couple of Priests to make sure you take full advantage of Khorne’s excellent prayer lore, and the seemingly-ubiquitous chaff choice round things out.
I would be remiss, however, to not point out a very interesting tech piece in Ogroid Theridons. Khorne is deep on tricks, but lighter on raw damage compared to some of the other melee armies in the game, and Theridons provide a potent dose of raw damage if you can deliver them into the right combats. I like some of the decisions made in this list, and I think it’s a very interesting spin on Khorne Bloodthirster spam.
Army Faction: Orruk Warclans – Army Type: Ironjawz – Army Subfaction: Bloodtoofs – Grand Strategy: Waaagh! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADER 1 x Megaboss on Maw-krusha (450) – Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist – Artefacts: Destroyer – Mount Traits: Smelly ’Un 1 x Gordrakk (460)* 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)* – Warbeats: Killa Beat 1 x Orruk Warchanter (120)** – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat 1 x Orruk Weirdnob Shaman (90)** – General – Command Traits: Shaman of the Chilled Lands – Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
BATTLELINE 6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)* – Gore-grunta Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka 5 x Orruk Brutes (140)*** – Brute Boss – Gore-choppa – Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha – Jagged Gore-hacka 5 x Orruk Brutes (140)*** – Brute Boss – Jagged Gore-hacka – Gore-choppa – Boss Choppa
Roland Rivera: Now here’s an Ironjawz list you don’t see every week. This list has forsaken the typical strategy of going heavy on Gore-Gruntas in order to do some Herohammer and include both Gordrakk and a Maw-krusha, along with a full complement of Warchanters for all of its hammers.
Another interesting utility tech piece is the Weirdnob Shaman, which offers the prospect of teleportation in Da Big Great Hand of Gork. This can either benefit your main hammers, or the 5-man units of Brutes. Those Brutes may seem like Battleline filler (which they kind of are), but they can be quite punchy if you run them into the right target.
While this list is a bit of a glass cannon in that it’s light on bodies and has middling saves and no mortal wound protection, it is extremely potent on offense, and as such cannot be taken lightly.
