Tag Archives: Army List

Top Three Old World Lists for the Old World First GT

This is the top three Old World lists for the Old World First GT that took place in Sweden on the 2nd and 3rd of March. It saw 34 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.

Before I jump into the Top Three Old World 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 Old World Lists

CHARACTERS
Night Goblin Big Boss (112)
  – Great Weapon
  – Light Armour
  – Battle Standard Bearer
  – The Big Red Raggedy Flag
Night Goblin Oddgit (85)
  – Wizard Level 2
Night Goblin Oddnob (215)
  – General
  – Wizard Level 4
  – Dispel Scroll
  – Buzgob’s Gnobbly Staff
Orc Warboss (340)
  – Shield
  – Heavy Armour
  – Wyvern
  – Ogre Blade
  – Talisman of Protection

CORE
10x Goblins (41)
  – Short Bows
5x Wolf Riders (70)
  – Short Bows
  – Standard Bearer
30x Night Goblins (207)
  – Short Bows
  – Standard Bearer
  – Boss
  – 3x Fanatics
40x Night Goblins (322)
  – Thrusting Spears
  – Shields
  – Musician
  – Standard Bearer
  – Banner of Iron Resolve
  – Boss
  – 3x Fanatics
6x Night Goblin Squig Herd (53)
  – 1x Squig Herder
  – 5x Cave Squigs

SPECIAL
1x Goblin Bolt Thrower (45)
5x Night Goblin Squig Hoppers (60)

RARE
1x Doom Diver Catapult (95)
1x Doom Diver Catapult (95)

Peter: I think every list in this top three features the Talisman of Protection.

We also see a Night Goblin Big Boss with the Big Red Raggedy Flag, and I imagine this fella will be sat with the big group of 40 Night Goblin Spearmen.

With that unit also carrying the Banner of Iron Resolve. They won’t be going anywhere.

Then we two wizards, one at level 2 and one at level 4, which I think will be a fairly common split.  The level 4 also has Buzgob’s Gnobly staff to avoid any nasty miscast when trying to boost their potential spell output.

This list revolves around the  40x Night Goblins being the anvil and the Orc Warboss being the Hammer.

This list has plenty of range to harrass the enemy from afar and a nice screen of squigs to move  ahead of the big block of gobbos.

There’s also a nice unit of Wolves to be used as march blockers or to try and take out enemy war machines?

Dave: Yes, I agree. There’s also the two squig units, which can cause chaos and actually hit surprisingly hard with impact hits, AP 1 and armour bane. They’re also Immune to Psychology, so don’t risk panic.

Lore of Mork is excellent too, Itchy Nuisance and Mork’s Curse are really effective debuffs.

A key point to remember with the Night Goblin units is that in this edition, you get to choose how many fanatics are released. That means they can’t be baited out by fast cavalry, and that threat can linger into the late game.

Some players have had a bit of a downer on stone throwers, but the doom divers are more accurate, allowing a D3 inch correction to the shot. Bolt throwers are also good, cheap, and effective artillery.

Peter: It’s a list that’s beaten Tomb Kings, Lizardmen, and Beastmen. Tomb Kings, I believe, are quite tough at the moment.

Dave: I’ve not had the pleasure of facing Tomb Kings yet, but from an early look at the stats and a peruse of their list, they do seem strong. Their infantry look weak at first blush but unbreakable, and regeneration for such a low cost is good, and they synergise well with the initiative shenanigans Tomb Kings can bring.

CHARACTERS
Glade Lord (525)
  – General
  – Shield
  – Forest Dragon
  – Ogre Blade
  – Talisman of Protection
  – An Annoyance of Netlings
Shadowdancer (135)
  – Trickster’s Blades
  – Dragon Slaying Sword
Spellweaver (225)
  – Level 4 Wizard
  – Oaken Stave

CORE
9x Glade Guard (129)
  – Trueflight Arrows
  – Lord’s Bowman
  – Musician
  – Fire & Flee
8x Deepwood Scouts (132)
  – Arcane Bodkins
  – Lord’s Bowman
  – Musician
6x Deepwood Scouts (102)
  – Arcane Bodkins
  – Lord’s Bowman
  – Musician
6x Glade Riders (138)
  – Hagbane Tips
  – Reserve Move
  – Glade Knight
  – Musician

SPECIAL
7x Wardancers (135)
  – 5x Additional Hand Weapons
  – 2x Throwing Spear
  – Bladesinger
  – Standard Bearer
  – Musician
7x Wild Riders (203)
  – Shields
  – Musician

RARE
1x Great Eagle (60)
1x Treeman (215)

Peter: Then we’ve got Elves……

Plus, this list features another monster and the Talisman of Protection again. That Eagle is the perfect war machine hunter.

Dave: Dragons and ToP do seem to be a big part of the developing meta, and that may well why Tomb Kings look strong, with access to a cheap Monster Slayer in the Scorpion.

I guess that’s the purpose of them, and that would allow the Wood Elves to better control the tempo.

The Dragon Lord is effective in challenges and so may be used as an assassin in some match-ups.

Peter: Interesting low model count on this one.

Dave: Yes, small but very effective and lean.

Peter: Both lists so far also feature a lot of bows.

Dave: Yes, and neither look like they’ll give up points easily.

I’m interested in the Treemen pick as it’s not something I’d looked at closely. It’s a big stompy terror causer with some interesting but swingy short-range shooting. A terror causer is always nice, but it’s a little slow. I do wonder if it was used as an anvil or as a distraction carnifex.

Perer: I think it’s likely a distraction more than anything. With the few models on the table, I imagine he wants the enemy to focus on the treeman and Dragon so as not to whittle down their numbers too much.

Dave: Important to remember too that the Wood Elves can use trees to block up enemy units and also magically move their characters for a bit of bait and switch.

CHARACTERS
Royal Herald (126)
  – Shield
  – Skeletal Chariot
Settra The Imperishable, The Great King Of Nehekhara (445)
Tomb King (279)
  – Great Weapon
  – Heavy Armour
  – Skeletal Chariot
  – Armour of the Ages
  – Talisman of Protection
Mortuary Priest (85)
  – Level 2 Wizard

CORE
25x Tomb Guard (358)
  – Halberds
  – Nehekharan Phalanx
  – Tomb Captain
  – Standard Bearer
  – Icon of Rakaph
  – Musician
6x Skeletal Chariots (306)
  – Master Charioteer
  – Standard Bearer
  – Rampaging Banner
  – Musician
8x Skeleton Skirmishers (40)
  – Warbows

SPECIAL
3x Necropolis Knights (162)

RARE
1x Necrosphinx (195)

Peter: Oh, look. Talisman of Protection.

This army is fast. Lots of chariots and Knights, then a large block of infantry marching up the centre with the priest. Perhaps the aim being to get the impact hits and hit the enemy hard enough in the early game so that they struggle to keep up in the later turns?

Dave: I think you may well be right. Interesting bit of rules-tech, Killing Blow works on Infantry and Cavalry and Monster Slayer works on monsters….. Well, Chariots drive straight through the middle of that (loophole?) and aren’t affected by either. This means one of the natural predators of the big mounted character isn’t effective.

I really like the Icon of Rakaph on the Tomb Guard. A single free reform at any point in its movement will help get that big block where and how you want it.

The Necrosphinx is nice, a good source of Monster Slayer to keep Dragons honest.

Rampaging Banner on the Chariots is also a nice touch. The reroll charge gives more dependability to a high point unit that really needs to make those charges to get value.

CHARACTERS
Chaos Lord (566)
  – General
  – Great Weapon
  – Shield
  – Chaos Dragon
  – Mark of Chaos Undivided
  – Favour of the Gods
  – Crown of Everlasting Conquest
  – Enchanting Aura
Exalted Sorcerer (175)
  – Mark of Tzeentch
  – Level 2 Wizard
  – Battle Magic
  – Spell Familiar
  – Ruby Ring of Ruin
Sorcerer Lord (250)
  – Heavy Armour
  – Mark of Tzeentch
  – Level 4 Wizard
  – Battle Magic
  – Spell Faniliar

CORE
9x Chaos Marauders (71)
  – Skirmishers
  – Mark of Khorne
  – Flails
  – Marauder Chieftain
5x Chaos Warhounds (30)
14x Chaos Warriors (236)
  – Shield
  – Mark of Tzeentch
  – Musician
  – Standard Bearer
6x Marauder Horsemen (82)
  – Mark of Khorne
  – Flails
  – Marauder Horsemaster

SPECIAL
1x Chaos Chariot (110)
  – Mark of Chaos Undivided
3x Chaos Ogres (126)
  – Mark of Khorne
  – Great Weapons
  – Champion
1x Dragon Ogre (70)
  – Shartak
  – Great Weapon

RARE
1x Chaos Giant (200)

Peter: Then, finally, we have one of your favourite factions, I believe. There is no Talisman here, but we do have another monster.

Dave: Yeah, the Chaos Lord doesn’t need the ToP as their Chaos Armour already gives them the 5+ Ward. They’ve supplemented that with 5+ Regeneration from the Crown of Everlasting Conquest and Enchanting Aura to force Strikes Last on opponents. Nasty.

I’ve tried a variation on this list with the bunkered Tzeentch Sorcerers, though I opted for Daemonology.

The Tzeentch Warriors block will buff the Sorcerers if they join it with a +1 to cast while the spell familiar gives them an extra spell. This build can pump out magic missiles at high casting values, plus the Ruby Ring adds in a little more.

I suspect the small Marauder unit and Marauder Horseman unit may be used a bit like missiles. That horseman unit can churn out attacks, and I’ve seen minotaurs suffer under their attention.

There’s still some nice chaff, though in the hounds and even the Dragon Ogre. Let’s not forget that the Dragon Ogre can also challenge.

Chaos Chariots are excellent, in my opinion, and also surprisingly durable. Ogres are Ogres, but Mark of Khorne makes them that bit more Killy.

Finally, I love a giant. They’re fun, they’re cool, and I’ve taken one in every game I’ve played bar one.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for Invasion AOS 2023

This is the top three AoS lists for the Invasion AoS 2023 that took place in the Norway on the 23rd and 24th of September. It involved 58 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament. Spoiler, Skaven didn’t win.

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: Ossiarch Bonereapers
Army Subfaction: Null Myriad
Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Katakros (500)*
1 x Mortisan Boneshaper (140)*
– Artefacts: Artisan’s Key
– Spells: Hoarfrost
1 x Mortisan Soulmason (160)*
– General
– Command Traits: Dark Acolyte
– Spells: Levitate

BATTLELINE
30 x Mortek Guard (390)*
– Mortek Hekatos
– 3 x Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade
– 3 x Soulcleaver Greatblade
6 x Immortis Guard (440)*
5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190)*
– Necrophoros
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade

BEHEMOTH
1 x Gothizzar Harvester (160)*

TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1980/2000)

Walter Brock: Null Myriad continues its showing of being the sub faction to stand above the others. Ignoring offensive spells on a 2+ covers a weakness in mortal wounds from offensive spells.

Spellcasting savant Remains a tried-and-true Grand Strat for the Ossiarch legions. Being Reliable Grand Strat with the Immortis protection makes it very difficult for the opponents to stop.

Starting off we have the Big Boss himself. Katakros dials everything up to 11. Giving +1 to save and wound in a massive Aura of 24 inches. Having the chance of bleeding opponents of their Command points and giving a unit -1 to hit all help turn the tide of battle and swing the math in the OBR players favor. On top of all this, Katakros himself when within 3 inches of a hero hits incredibly hard.

The Boneshaper is another unit often seen in Bonereaper lists. Artisans key giving a chance for the Boneshaper to use its healing ability on a 3+. Hoarfrost helps make each unit more consistent. Mortek Guard buffed by hoarfrost become a serious threat.

The soulmason is the general in this list. Because the chair counts as a mount means that the Soulmason can be targeted by ranged attack and the Immortis help protect the Mason from threats. Dark Acolyte Makes the first Ossiarch lore spell cast by the Soulmason unable to be stopped. With the Soulmason knowing every spell on the Ossiarch lore it can reliably get off what critical tool it needs for any situation needed.

A massive unit of 30 Mortek Guard. With the points drop Mortek Guard have become a very efficient unit for their points. Having access to several defensive options from command abilities and receiving the buffs from Katakros can make Mortek very Difficult to remove. With the healing from Katakros and the Boneshaper could potentially return 9 models in each Bonereaper hero phase. Add in the Harvester healing and the Mortek Guard might never go away.

Deathriders are seen everywhere. These have multiple applications. Acting as a screen. Scoring battle tactics. Deathriders act as a Swiss army knife of units. Having an application for almost any situation.

A unit of 6 Immortis guard. Another staple seen in many Bonereaper lists. With the change to healing Immortis/Stalkers, they cannot act as the anvils they were before. Gone are the days of 4 Immortis dying and then watching all 4 come back. Their offensive output remains. Immortis are still great at protecting the General.
Lastly is the harvester. With the points drops the harvester has opened as an option recently. Potentially being able to bring back Mortek Guard. Hitting decently hard and opening a battle tactic. The harvester is a cheap option that does a lot of small things that adds up.

All this fits Inside a battle Regiment as a one drop. All together this list has a lot of options and small things that add up to a mountain of potential. Well done to Ben.


Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Subfaction: Befouling Host
– Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
– Triumphs: Inspired


Leaders
The Glottkin
(580)**
– Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
Horticulous Slimux (200)*
Poxbringer Herald of Nurgle (130)**
– General
– Command Trait: Nurgling Infestation
– Artefact: The Witherstave
– Lore of Virulence: Fleshy Abundance


Battleline
20 x Plaguebearers
(240)**
– Reinforced x 1
20 x Plaguebearers (240)**
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Nurglings (100)*
1 x Beasts of Nurgle (100)**
1 x Beasts of Nurgle (100)**
1 x Beasts of Nurgle (100)**
1 x Beasts of Nurgle (100)*
1 x Beasts of Nurgle (100)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

Total: 1990 / 2000

Geir Vedeld: The list has three main focus areas:

1) Summoning: With 3 Gnarlwoods (one extra from sub-faction, one from Slimux) together with the Nurglings deep striking in opponent territory, I have a steady flow of Contagion Points coming my way. I summoned more than 400 points worth of units every game.

2) Denial: Taking up board space, being difficult to kill is main. At some point, the opponent runs out of battle tactics as well, and during the tournament I don’t think I had a game where my opponents managed 5 Battle Tactics

3) Most importantly, the list revolves around Glottkin and his Blightkrieg ability. This is also supported by summoning Sloppity Bilepipers (yes, plural). The only game I was really close to losing was the one where I only summoned one. My first two summons were always Bilepipers, so I could fan out and deny pile-in in a huge bubble.

Countercharge is very strong in this GHB. A lot of battle tactics revolve around making charges. The Glottkin’s ability triggers in the end of the movement phase, making his ability very strong! You have the same dynamic in other factions as well, but combined with no pile-in, it is stronger than the mere countercharge.

The reason for units of Plaguebearers is that they can form a line outside of reach for the opposing unit. Sloppity only stops pile-in for models within 3”, so tagging a unit on a corner with a Beast of Nurgle is not sufficient. Tagging a unit on the corner with a Plaguebearer, leaving the rest of the unit engaged but out of reach on the other hand is much more efficient.

Then the opponent is left with either retreating or standing still. And then you countercharge on the retreating unit afterwards…

Slimux provides rerollable charges for BoN. Meaning that even though you might lose your beast, you will actually stop the movement forward for your opponent, and also stop a devastating high rolled charge killing more than your list can handle.

The list does a fair amount of damage over time, but it is neither mobile nor explosive. So a grind is won over 5 turns, not 2. You need to position yourself correctly at an early stage, because you will not move much further. Therefore the low drop to go first. You both get a Sloppity T1 and a good position.

It is not an S-tier list. There are several ways of playing around the list, and if you know them you should be able to bypass. 3d6 charges from Varanguard, denying summoning T1, retreat and charge from OBR, a large unit of e.g. Blood Warriors locking the army down, etc. Heavy shooting or magic taking out The Glottkin is also a very effective way. He is key to the list.

The list is demanding to play, being purely reactive you need to know your opponent’s armies. But it is also demanding to play against, and you are severely punished for small mistakes on both sides.

Army Faction: Slaves to Darkness
– Army Subfaction: Knights of the Empty Throne
– Grand Strategy: Overshadow
– Triumphs: Inspired


LEADER
1 x Chaos Sorcerer Lord
(120)*
– Spells: Merciless Blizzard
– Mark of Chaos: Undivided

1 x Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)*
– Spells: Hoarfrost
– Mark of Chaos: Nurgle

1 x Be’lakor (340)**
– Spells: Daemonic Speed
1 x Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (180)**
– Artefacts: Helm of the Oppressor
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne

6 x Varanguard (280)**
– General
– 6 x Fellspear
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne


BATTLELINE
3 x Varanguard
(280)**
– 3 x Fellspear
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne

5 x Chaos Knights (220)**
– Doom Knight
– Standard Bearer
– Hornblower
– Cursed Lance
– Ensorcelled Banner: The Banner of Rage
– Mark of Chaos: Khorne

9 x The Unmade (80)**

OTHER
6 x Furies
(80)**

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Andtorian Acolytes
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1980/2000)

Danny Elvestad: So! When building this list and any list really, I look for efficiency. In this case I wanted to maximize my value from Knights of the empty throne. That means as much mounted as possible. The recent point changes let me hit some other breakpoints in units I could bring within the confines of belakor, varanguards and decent magic control. That combination has a huge damage output, stable unbinds, and a great defensive option from belakor. After that I look into making battletactics as easy as possible. I landed on a few key units that smooth up the battle tactic game quite substantially.

Varanguard general – If I meet heavy shooting, I present them as a forward screen so I can preserve the rest of my army and rally these guys every turn.

Unmade – Cheap screen with an amazing ability to stop redeploy. Gives me better options for 4 battletactics and some flex for overshadow grand strat. (Charge 3 units, Lead into the maelstrom, Surround and destroy and the match to ruin)

Furies – Great cheap unit with the option to retreat instead of fighting in combat. Flying and move 12 makes this huge. Gives me better options for early surround and destroy. Cool trick with bait and trap battle tactic where you start with only 1 unit in combat. Retreat the 1 unit, charge furies, activate them first, and retreat in combat. Along with 2 more charges from other units thats 1 more battle tactic done. They can also cover a huge distance with this trick to steal backward objectives and such.

Chaos Lord on Karkadrak – My favorite addition. He is just a good bang for buck now. Run and charge from kotet, extra attacks from Khorne, with a cool trick of getting 2d3 impact hits and strike first when he charges. He is tanky, does enough damage, flexible for battletactics and he actually makes rolling on the eye of the gods table relevant. Stacking rend on him can be quite fun. Running up and stealing an objective or killing a backline hero makes the Lust for Power battle tactic very easy. Also he is a fast piece to carry 1 of 2 artifacts. Either deny models with 1 or 2 wounds the ability to contest objectives within 6″ of him, or stop inspiring presence within 6″ of him. I chose the last one but I regretted it for the tournament. Both are great.

I usually try to max buff 3 varanguards and ship them into the enemy early to remove screens. Then I push up wait for openings to get the rest into the good stuff. While mentally marking out what units I need to kill to secure my grand strat. Save belakor for t2 or t3 usually after killing what ever got sent in to kill my 3 varanguards.

I put a lot of effort in maintaining buff ranges, unbind ranges, and defensive formations with terrain, behind my initial charge with a throw-away unit. (sorry 3 varanguards) And positioning my smaller units so they are ready to do battletactics into the next turns.


Army Faction: Orruk Warclans
– Army Type: Big Waaagh!
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumph: Indomitable


LEADERS
Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
(90)*
– Spells: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork

Wurrgog Prophet (170)*
– Artefacts of Power: Glowin’ Tattooz
– Spells: Hoarfrost
Megaboss on Maw-krusha (450)**
– General
– Boss Choppa and Rip-toof Fist
– Artefacts of Power: Destroyer
– Mount Traits: Fast ’Un

Gobsprakk (240)***
Orruk Warchanter (120)***
– Warbeats: Fixin’ Beat
Orruk Warchanter (120)***
– Warbeats: Get ’Em Beat

BATTLELINE
Orruk Ardboys
(80)**
– Waaagh! Drummer
– Gorkamorka Glyph Bearer
– 2 x Orruk-forged Shield

Orruk Brutes (140)**
– Brute Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka
– Boss Klaw & Brute Smasha

Orruk Ardboys (80)***

OTHER
Orruk Gore-gruntas
(340)**
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka

Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)**
– Gore-grunta Boss
– Jagged Gore-hacka

CORE BATTALIONS
*Andtorian Acolytes
**Battle Regiment
***Warlord

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000

Peter Holland: I normally let the professionals comment on lists, but there was none of them available so you’re stuck with me!

Gobsprakk, a favourite of mine, continues to show his face in both Kruleboyz and Big Waaagh lists on the tournament scene. And for very good reason! The ability to unbind spells on 2D6 and then add a further Primal Dice to increase that unbind score, means that Gobbsprakk absolutely bullies enemy casters with his ‘Mork Sez No!‘ ability. To make it even worse, this list has the potential to shove Gobsprakk into unbind range from the first turn thanks to ‘Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork‘ on the Shaman. It means that easy battle ‘Magical Dominance‘ tactic on turn 1 ifKnut decides to go first, isn’t quite so easy. Otherwise, you’re looking at the army staying back (possibly) while building up Waaagh points before slamming into the hapless opposition.

Then you have the solid Ironjawz core of the army, with Brutes and Gore-Gruntas, a couple of Warchanters to buff them and a Maw-Krusha with Destroyer, we all know what they do.

Final Tournament Placings

Thuis event used Best Coast Pairings as its TO program.

Top Three AoS Lists for TM Gaming

This is the top three AoS lists for the TM Gaming event that took place in the UK on the 23rd and 24th of September. It involved 17 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.

As this event had less than 20 players attending there won’t be any list comments here as the guys will be concentrating on the larger events of the week.

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

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

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

The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Seraphon
– Constellation: Koatl’s Claw
– Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
– Triumphs: Indomitable


Leaders
Slann Starmaster
(290)
– General
– Command Trait: Eater of Magic
– Artefact: Itxi Grubs
– Spell: Empowered Celestite
– Lore of Primal Frost: Hoarfrost

Saurus Astrolith Bearer (140)**
Skink Starseer (150)*
– Spell: Heavenly Frenzy
– Lore of Primal Frost: Merciless Blizzard

Knight-Zephyros (100)**
– Allies
Knight-Zephyros (100)**
– Allies

Units
10 x Saurus Warriors (
180)**
– Spears
10 x Skinks (90)
– Meteoric Javelins Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
6 x Kroxigor Warspawned (340)
– Reinforced x 1
6 x Aggradon Lancers (380)
– Reinforced x 1
Bastiladon with Ark of Sotek (180)

Endless Spells & Invocations
Geminids of Uhl-Gysh
(50)

Core Battalions
*Andtorian Acolytes
**Warlord

Total: 2000/ 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 200 / 400
Wounds: 127
Drops: 10

Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords
– Subfaction: Barak-Zilfin
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumph: Inspired
– Stick To The Code (Amendments): Trust To Your Guns
– Stick To The Code (Artycles): Master the Skies
– Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught

LEADERS
Lord-Ordinator
(110)
– Astral Hammers
Arkanaut Admiral (140)*
– General
– Command Traits: Ex-Grundstok
– Nullstone Adornments: Pouch of Nulldust

Aether-Khemist (100)*
– Artefacts of Power: Celestium Burst-grenade
Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90)*

BATTLELINE
Arkanaut Frigate
(300)*
– Heavy Skyhook
– Great Endrinworks: Magnificent Omniscope

Endrinriggers (240)*
– Mizzenmaster
– Grapnel Launcher and Gun Butt

Arkanaut Company (180)*
– Company Captain
– Volley Pistol
– 2 x Light Skyhook and Gun Butt
– 2 x Aethermatic Volley Gun and Gun Butt

Grundstok Gunhauler (170)*
– Drill Cannon
Grundstok Gunhauler (170)*
– Sky Cannon

BEHEMOTH
Arkanaut Ironclad
(500)*
– Great Volley Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: The Last Word
– The Admiral’s Flagship: Arkanaut Ironclad


CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000


Army Faction: Blades of Khorne
– Subfaction: Skullfiend Tribe
– Grand Strategy: ‘Bring Me A Worthy Skull’
– Triumph: Inspired


LEADERS
Slaughterpriest
(110)*
– Bloodbathed Axe
– Prayers: Bronzed Flesh

Slaughterpriest (110)*
– Hackblade and Wrath-hammer
– Prayers: Unholy Flames

Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (330)*
– General
– Command Traits: Firebrand
– Artefacts of Power: Halo of Blood
– Prayers: Bloodbind

Bloodsecrator (120)**
– Artefacts of Power: Banner of Blood
Skarbrand (380)**

BATTLELINE
Skullreapers
(380)*
Blood Warriors (190)**
– Blood Champion
– Icon Bearer
– Goreaxe and Gorefist
– Goreglaive

Bloodreavers (80)**
– Icon Bearer
– Hornblower
– Blood Chieftain
– Meatripper Axe

Blood Warriors (190)**
– Blood Champion
– Icon Bearer
– Goreaxe and Gorefist
– Goreglaive


ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Wrath-Axe
(70)

TERRAIN
1 x Skull Altar
(0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1960/2000

Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine
– Subfaction: Zainthar Kai
– Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots
– Triumph: Inspired


LEADERS
The Shadow Queen
(700)*
Bloodwrack Medusa (140)*
– General
– Command Traits: Zealous Orator
– Artefacts of Power: Shadow Stone
– Spells: Hoarfrost

Morathi-Khaine (700)*
– Spells: Mindrazor

BATTLELINE
Blood Stalkers
(180)*
– Krone
Blood Sisters (300)*
– Gorgai
Blood Stalkers (540)*
– Krone

OTHER
Khinerai Heartrenders
(100)*

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1960/2000

Final Tournament Placings

This event used Stats and Ladders as its TO program.

Top Three AoS Lists for GT Bilbao

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for GT Bilbao that took place in Spain on 10th and 12th December. It involved 26 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: Lumineth Realm-lords
Great Nation: Ymetrica
– Grand Strategy: Alarith Afterschock
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (700)
Alarith Stonemage (120)*
General
– Command Trait: Unyielding Toughness
– Artefact: Molten Talisman
– Lore of the High Peaks: Unbreakable Stoicism
Avalenor, the Stoneheart King (420)*

Battleline
5 x Alarith Stoneguard (120)*
Diamondpick Hammers
10 x Alarith Stoneguard (240)**
Diamondpick Hammers
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Alarith Stoneguard (240)**
Diamondpick Hammers
– Reinforced x 1

Units
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
Allies

Endless Spells & Invocations
Rune of Petrification (40)

Faction Terrain
Shrine Luminor (0)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Expert Conquerors

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 110 / 400
Wounds: 97
Drops: 4

Ed: This is typical of the kind of lists we’ve been seeing since the new Lumineth Realmlords tome. It is tricky to run properly as Teclis has a whopping 18 spells to choose from and takes up so much of your points that what’s left really has no room to make mistakes. You need to know your rules inside and out – not a list for players who take 10 mins to read their warscrolls each round! However, the versatility of Teclis coupled with the hardiness and output of his Alarith entourage can accomplish a great deal even with so few models on the board.

Avalenor is a certified beatstick, especially with his pet stonemage in tow keeping him on top bracket for as long as possible. He and Teclis have the ability to dictate the course of the battle, while the Stoneguard will do most of the actual heavy lifting. Even as Galletian Veterans, Stoneguard are hardy anvils which gain a 4+ ward against mortal wounds while contesting an objective they control and the ability to ignore rend of -1 and -2! Plus in the Expert Conquerers battalion they count as 3 per model, meaning their hold over that objective and access to their ward are extra secure. They’re not too bad on the offensive either, though certainly the support from Avalenor and Teclis is crucial.

Then there are the Tree Revenants. A cheeky little unit that can pop up in unexpected places and secure objectives without much investment. It forces your opponent to play a little defensively and deploy their forces in less than ideal positions to prevent a catastrophic backdoor teleports. Even if they don’t steal an objective or assassinate a vulnerable unit, just having them on the board can be worth it for how it changes your opponent’s behaviour in your favour. I can’t speak highly enough of these guys as a list filler for any order faction who can ally them in.

It’s a brilliant list, clearly played excellently to have reached first place. But time is running out to make use of it! With a new GHB just around the corner, and Expert Conquerors/Bounty Hunters almost certainly about to disappear will similar builds continue to reach the top of the podium?

Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes
Mawtribe: Underguts
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Butcher (135)*
General
– Tenderiser
– Command Trait: Reluctant Rabble-rouser
– Artefact: Gruesome Trophy Rack
– Lore of Gutmagic: Blubbergrub Stench
Frostlord on Stonehorn (445)**
Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder

Battleline
4 x Leadbelchers (170)*
4 x Leadbelchers (170)*
4 x Leadbelchers (170)**

Units
20 x Gnoblars (100)**
20 x Gnoblars (100)**

Artillery
Ironblaster (170)
Ironblaster (170)
Ironblaster (170)*
Ironblaster (170)**

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Battle Regiment

Total: 1970 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 146
Drops: 4

Brett: The current Big Bad of AoS according to many threads, as always shooting is effective and controversial. The increase in range for the Leadbelchers (to 18″) means it’s a lot easier for them to stand still. Standing still now guarantees 2 shots (2D3 v 1D6), not a lot but it’s significantly more damage. Ironblasters long range shot moving to a guaranteed 4 damage at 30″ with -2 Rend and doubling the number of shots is a huge deal. Their Hail Shot (10 shots, Rend -1, D2) is effective in Unleash hell and both units are solid melee damage dealers as are their Leaders. Fittingly for Ogors they are tough (4+ save) multiwound (4W for Leadblechers and 9W for Ironblasters) models who also tank well. With multiple small units they also blunt the counter strike and limit carry over damage.

With two effective (and cheap) screens in the Gnoblars (who aren’t even GV) to keep opponents out of your hair, it’s a challenge to take apart. Only the event’s 1st place managed to do so in the 3rd round, a match up of the new tomes, with the Stoneguard coming out on top. Scoring 20 in 3 rounds it looks like Adrian might have tabled his opponents frequently, certainly a chance with this sort of shooting.

Allegiance: Idoneth Deepkin
Enclave: Fuethan
– Grand Strategy: The Creeping Gloomtide
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Eidolon of Mathlann, Aspect of the Sea (325)*
– General
– Command Trait: Endless Sea Storm
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Lore of the Deeps: Steed of Tides
Isharann Soulscryer (150)*
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse

Battleline
20 x Namarti Reavers (340)*
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Namarti Reavers (170)*
2 x Akhelian Allopexes (330)**
– Razorshell Harpoon
– Reinforced x 1
2 x Akhelian Allopexes (330)**
– Razorshell Harpoon
– Reinforced x 1
2 x Akhelian Allopexes (330)**
– Razorshell Harpoon
– Reinforced x 1

Endless Spells & Invocations
The Burning Head (20)

Faction Terrain
Gloomtide Shipwreck (0)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 95
Drops: 4

Patrick: What a strange list, and yet here we are in the top 3. Fuethan opens up the ability to take Allopexes as Battleline as well as bringing in Bloodthirsty Shivers (which gain some bonus attacks if they are within a certain distance of one another). In Jordi’s Case, they have opted to take three squads of 2 without bringing any Shivers at all. Allopexes are already excellent “independent operator” units, and placing them in a Bounty Hunters battalion improves their ability to clear objectives, allowing for the slower Namarti to move in.

Speaking of Namarti, Jordi has brought 2 units, both fairly small. 30 Reavers spread across 2 units is decent if you’re pushing for a skirmish force, but the frailty of the Namarti will sting if anything focuses on them for very long. The Soulscryer’s ability to deep-strike will allow all of the Namarti to start the game off the board, which would allow for better early survival.

The final unit is an Eidolon general, bringing the Arcane Tome and Endless Sea Storm. The Eidolon innately has full re-rolls for casting, unbind, and dispelling, and Endless Sea Storm allows the ability to cast an additional spell for each successful casting attempt with a result greater than 7. The Eidolon has some solid warscroll spells, and with these upgrades he becomes a high-quality support hero that will do a lot to keep the Allopexes alive.

Allegiance: Fyreslayers
Lodge: Greyfyrd
– Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Auric Runesmiter (135)*
Runic Iron
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Auric Runeson (80)*
Ancestral War-axe
– Artefact: Axe of Grimnir
Battlesmith (150)*
Artefact: Nulsidian Icon
Auric Flamekeeper (90)**
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)**
General
– Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker
– Artefact: Master Rune of Unbreakable Resolve
– Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient
Auric Runemaster (125)**
Artefact: Volatile Brazier
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal

Battleline
15 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (480)***
Poleaxes
– Reinforced x 2
10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (320)***
Broadaxes
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (170)**

Endless Spells & Invocations
Molten Infernoth (40)
Runic Fyrewall (40)

Faction Terrain
Magmic Battleforge (0)

Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Warlord
***Expert Conquerors

Additional Enhancements
Artefact
Artefact

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 112
Drops: 9

Brett: Straight forward enough, the foot heroes provide a 4+ ward (in Greyfyrd) and can use their prayer (heal) to get the Hearthguard close enough to charge. The triple reinforced Hearthguard averages 10 mortal wounds (MW) in addition to their normal damage. Both Hearthguard are Expert Conquerors to give some solid objective play for really elite army. This is a great way to play into the current meta and try to deal with long range shooting. The primary hammers have the option of rending or non rending weapons to manage armies like Nighthaunt and the Vulkites are a risk for melee army with their fight on death.

As always though there are trade offs, this is such a slow army that you might be better to not engage the central castle forcing them to come to your or spread. Either works giving you the chance to weaken them piecemeal. Score wise I think that lack of movement may have cost him dearly.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for the Leicester City AoS GT

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Leicester City AoS GT that took place in the UK on 3rd and 4th December. It involved 28 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

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

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.

Pre-Tournament Analysis

I thought I’d add a bit about the meta at the event before we jump into the meat of the article. If this is popular I’ll continue doing this on future top three articles.

Ranked Players

Below shows the players already ranked in our Woehammer rankings form events before the Leicester GT.

Of the 28 players, 21 Players had already taken part in at least 1 GT before this event, with the highest ranked player (Phil Marshall) being 1st in the UK and currently 2nd in the World. Remember these rankings are based on our own handicapped rankings system explained here.

Faction Breakdown

The Leicester GT had a fairly close representation of the current meta with a few notable exceptions. No Sylvaneth armies where present despite this currently being the 2nd favourite faction with players. Like wise there was also no representation of Ogor Mawtribes or Kharadron Overlords at this event.

The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness
Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Show of Dominance
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Knights of the Empty Throne Varanguard x 6 (560)*
General
– Daemonforged Blade and Warpsteel Shield
– Command Trait: Inescapable Doom
– Artefact: Grasping Plate
– Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Knights of the Empty Throne Varanguard x 6 (560)**
Daemonforged Blade and Warpsteel Shield
– Artefact: Corrupted Nullstone
– Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)**
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Spell: Mask of Darkness
Chaos Sorcerer Lord (135)**
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Spell: Mask of Darkness

Battleline
8 x Iron Golems (75)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
8 x Iron Golems (75)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
8 x Iron Golems (75)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
8 x Iron Golems (75)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch

Units
1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)*

Behemoths
Chaos Warshrine (215)*
Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch
– Prayer1: Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 124
Drops: 4

Phil Marshall: Knights of the Empty Throne – How does it work? In Knights of the Empty Throne, you are able to take Varanguard as Heroes, the first unit which is your general has Inescapable Doom and Grasping plate, meaning it can pile 6 inches and you cant retreat from this unit, the other unit has Corrupted Nullstone which is an auto unbind.

The list is designed around two units of six Varanguard with the Mark of Tzeentch which allows the re-rolls of 1s to armour saves and gives units a 5+ spell ignore. Then you’ll look to really capitalise on these mechanics with other buff pieces in the army, which include two Sorcerer lords. Sorcerer lords have a built in mechanic called Orcular Visions which gives a unit +1 to save (this ability can stack), they are also wizards so offer the ability to cast mystic shield, demonic power (re-roll all hits and wounds) and mask of darkness (teleport).

The final buff piece is the Warshrine, the prayer for Tzeentch is +1 save and a 4+ spell ignore, the only other prayer that may be used is Undivided which allows a unit to re-roll all hits and wounds. On top of this the Warshrine has an aura of 6+ ward which degrades as it takes damage. With all of these buff pieces it allows you to essentially make an unkillable unit (or two) of Varanguard. You can get +6 to your save re-rolling 1s once per game (oracular visions twice, mystic shield, Tzeentch Prayer, all out defence and finest hour), on top of this you can have a 4+ 5+ 5+ spell ignore as the Varanguard have a warscroll ability for spell ignore, mark of tzeentch grants spell ignore and then an additional spell ignore from the warshrine.

As a result there are very few things that can deal with these units once they have the buffs on, you need to be able to do mass mortal wounds in the shooting and combat phase, otherwise there is a strong likelihood that you will never do any damage to this unit. I tend to evaluate the main threats of my opponents army and see how they have deployed, if I can capatalise on getting my general into the bulk of it and keeping them locked in combat for as long as possible. The rest of the list is designed to be very hard to kill with four units of iron golems who get +1 to their save if they havent made a normal move, meaning before rend they will be a 3+ re-rolling 1s.

Allegiance: Disciples of Tzeentch – Change Coven: Hosts Arcanum
– Grand Strategy: Master of Destiny
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch (180)*
General
– Command Trait: Cult Demagogue
– Lore of Fate: Arcane Suggestion
Kairos Fateweaver (435)
Lord of Change (400)*
Artefact: The Eternal Shroud
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Fluxmaster, Herald of Tzeentch on Disc (170)*
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Ghost-mist

Battleline
10 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (250)**
10 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (250)**
10 x Kairic Acolytes (120)**

Endless Spells & Invocations
Horrorghast (40)
Umbral Spellportal (80)
Burning Sigil of Tzeentch (50)

Core Battalions
*Command Entourage – Magnificent
**Expert Conquerors

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1975 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 69
Drops: 7

Kieron: Ryan is the captain of Team Malta and a combination of one of the finest Tzeentch players in the world and one of the nicest people you’re ever likely to meet. Speaking to him at the event about his list writing and tactics, he explained that he’s very confident in his approach and then plays the list repeatedly – around 350 reps with the current iteration, losing very few games along the way. The only downside – headaches after each match due to the mental load of channelling the will of The Changer of Ways. Malta has a relatively small AoS scene and there’s only so many times a person can take a beat down from Ryan, no matter how charming he while doing so, and games on TTS don’t really allow for the precision of measurements that cause aforementioned headaches. 

Onto the list itself and it has somewhat of a retro charm about it with two big birds: a combo that, while clearly effective in the right hands, is seen less frequently due to Kairos and the Lord of Change sharing the same warscroll spell now instead of Kairos having his own spell. The Lord of Change offers a good amount of shooting with the Rod of Sorcery and can do some work with a damage 3 Staff of Tzeentch thanks to the Flaming Weapon buff. Together, they give everything within range +1 to cast each, meaning that Ryan can afford to leave Cogs at home in favour of Horrorghast. 

The list can also expect to generate over the magic number of 10 fate points a turn, meaning that 10 blue horrors should be summoned every turn. When talking to Ryan about Screamers, I explained I was excited about how fast they could go and his response was that a Fluxmaster moving 22” and then summoning 9” away is even faster! 

The final little wrinkle for this list (valid for the next month or so at least) is the fact that all Ryan’s battleline are Expert Conquerors – annoying enough for the 10 Kairics to count as 30, but absolutely infuriating on the Pink Horrors that start off counting as 30, but peak at counting as 60 until the 31st wound is done to the unit, at which point it starts the slow decline back to counting as 3 and then counting as dead! 

It clearly worked, with Ryan achieving the maximum possible differential on Day One, with the only loss being into the event’s eventual winner, Phil Marshall, and a tonne of 2+ re-rerolling 1s saving throws and an equally hefty amount of spell ignores and wards. 

Allegiance: Seraphon
– Constellation: Thunder Lizard
– Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
– Triumphs: Inspired


LEADERS
The Triceracop
(285)
Engine of the Gods
– General
– Command Trait: Prime Warbeast
– Artefact: Incandescent Rectrices
– Mount Trait: Beastmaster
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Curse

Lord Kroak (450)***
Bert the Banner Waver (155)***
Saurus Astrolith Bearer
An Undercosted Priest (120)***
Skink Priest
– Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Skink Starseer (145)**
– Artefact: Fusil of Conflaguration
– Spell: Hand of Glory


UNITS
Skinkrunner Chariot
(85)**
1 x Scourgerunner Chariots
Saurustrike Chariot (165)**
1 x Stormstrike Chariot
10 x Skinks (75)*
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers
Kroak’s Ablative Wounds (115)*
5 x Saurus Guard
10 x Skinks (75)*
– Boltspitters Celestite Daggers & Star Bucklers

BEHEMOTHS
Bastiladon with Solar Engine
(250)

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
Chronomantic Cogs
(70)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Expert Conquerors
**Vanguard
***Command Entourage – Magnificent

ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Artefact

TOTAL: 1990/2000
WOUNDS: 103
ALLIES: 0/400
REINFORCED UNITS: 0/4
DROPS: 11

Kieron: And so on to the third placed army, piloted by the very dry Toby Resnick, including the named units “An Undercosted Priest”, “Kroak’s Ablative Wounds” and the “Raveshaper Engine”, which is like a “Realmshaper Engine” but with flashy LEDs that are operated by remote control depending on who wins priority. I almost felt sorry for the Seraphon player on the table next to us at Leicester as they jealously eyed up the craziest terrain piece you’ll ever see! 

The list itself has a couple of lovely converted chariots that are really good at zipping around the board early game while one of the Engine of the Gods or the Bastiladon is double activating with one of the 5+ CP Toby generally has to play with each turn. Cogs consolidates Kroak’s absolute magical supremacy with a double miscast pretty much being the only way that Kroak fails a spell and, usually, the unbind required when a spell does go off is double figures or flat out impossible. “Big Frog Goes Ribbit Ribbit” indeed. 

All the other buffs that Seraphon players can dish out are also present here, with re-rolling 1s, run and shoot, +1 to hit in addition to the normal All out Attack etc. buffs that can be added. Skinks running about the place, doing all the dirty jobs that score the points while the bigger immediate threats (particularly the resurrecting Engine of the Gods – 50% of the time, it comes back with full wounds every time) draw the enemy’s attention away.  

I’m sure once Ryan had finished with the paracetamol, Toby was ready for some with the number of rules he has to keep in his head, even with more tokens than models to help him keep track. While one of the Order Battletomes from the latest Roadmap is probably another Lumineth book (maybe two!), it would be great to have a Seraphon book to combine some of these into the Warscrolls themselves and make it so players like Toby can fly their Dino Flag and not feel a bit guilty about it. 

Allegiance: Flesh-eater Courts
Grand Court: Morgaunt
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Abhorrant Archregent (245)**
Artefact: The Dermal Robe
– Lore of Madness: Spectral Host
Abhorrant Archregent (245)**
Lore of Madness: Deranged Transformation
Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Zombie Dragon (430)*
General
– Command Trait: Savage Chivalry
– Artefact: Decrepit Coronet
– Mount Trait: Razor-clawed
– Lore of Madness: Miasmal Shroud
Varghulf Courtier (160)**

Battleline
20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)*
Reinforced x 1
20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)*
Reinforced x 1
20 x Crypt Ghouls (170)*
Reinforced x 1

Units
6 x Crypt Flayers (360)*
Reinforced x 1

Endless Spells & Invocations
Chalice of Ushoran (50)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 120
Drops: 4

Brett: Flesh eater courts is still centred around their heros and lean on their summoning and buffs to make their other units dangerous. They reward a patient player who is happy to screen the heroes and summon more models early game before striking out. 3 Abhorrants (one mounted and 2 foot) and the Varghulf at the heart of the list and maybe a little unusually 3 x 20 Crypt Ghouls. Bounty Hunters can tear through these quickly and a lot of lists have minimised them. 3 Wizards granting fly to 1 to 3 units (Spectral Host) however if they can fly (like the dragon) then granting run and charge, additional movement (Deranged Transformation) and lastly a small MW spell with the chance of affecting opposing hit and wound rolls (Miasmal Shroud).

Spectral Host on the Zombie Dragon gives up to 20″ of movement + a charge at the top of first turn if they go first. Try not to leave room for it to land near something important early game. Then there is the summoning, a Serf unit is Crypt Ghouls, Knight is 3 Crypt Flayers/Horrors and a Courtier is a Varghulf Courtier. Each Archreagent can summon 20 Serfs or 3 Knights or a Courtier every turn. The Ghoul King can only summon Courtiers. This is a command ability so forcing them to use CP can help but it is done at the end of the movement phase. The Courtiers are both mobile threat and healers rolling 6 dice and healing Serfs on a 2+ and Knights on a 5+ within 10″ (as well as themselves if they kill a model).

As a Morguant host the Serfs can return once destroyed at full strength (4+). It’s a 50% chance that you can kill a screen and achieve very little. All of this is just to build the scene, the army can afford to wait but with the ability to snipe something with either the Flayers or the Zombie Dragon. If they get their buffs off it’s possible for most of the army to reroll 1s to hit if they are close to the Serfs. And those serfs, while they don’t hit hard, can easily get to 3 attacks each making them a reasonable threat to anything with a 4+ save. They’re cheap and trade really well. Castling though means they can struggle to score well in early rounds if you don’t feed them units and tactics. Shooting obviously is a weakness as are ranged Mortal Wounds from spells (they have a lot of denies though). Stretching them out and making them react to you is a good tactic as well.

Simon lost to a Soulblight army with a lot of mobility (Blood Knights, Dire Wolves) and Grave Guard. They were able to hold Simon scoreless. The other loss was to a Seraphon Thunder Lizard with Kroak. Kroak can deny pretty much all of their magic while the Solar Engine Bastiladon tears big holes. Seraphon are a hard counter to the army and very difficult to deal with.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for the Big Bristol Brawl

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Big Bristol Brawl that took place in the UK on 3rd and 4th December. It involved 41 players (Including our very own Danny) 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.

Pre-Tournament Analysis

I thought I’d add a bit about the meta at the event before we jump into the meat of the article. If this is popular I’ll continue doing this on future top three articles.

Ranked Players
Below shows the players already ranked in our Woehammer rankings form events before the Bristol GT.

11 Players had already taken part in 1 GT before this event, with the highest ranked player (Luke Churchus) being 22nd in the UK. Remeber these rankings are based on our own handicapped rankings system explained here.

Faction Breakdown

The Bristol Brawl saw an unusually high number of Daughters, Blades of Khorne and Slaanesh armies, with all three seeing double their expected representation based on the current worldwide meta.

On the flip side of this, the tournament saw no representation from Ironjawz, Slaves, Cities, Kharadron and Big Waagh where we would have expected at least one army to be present.

Of the high win rate factions Beast of Chaos and Disciples are as expected while Ogor Mawtribes and Soulblight see a slightly higher number than compared to the meta.

The Top Three AoS Lists

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

Leaders
Nagash, Supreme Lord of the Undead (955)*
Spirit Torment (115)*
General
– Command Trait: Ruler of the Spirit Hosts
– Artefact: Lightshard of the Harvest Moon

Battleline
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)*
Reinforced x 1
20 x Bladegheist Revenants (350)*
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Spirit Hosts (125)*

Units
2 x Chainghasts (95)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 74
Drops: 1

Declan: Greg has been using Nagash since AoS3 dropped, and quite a bit before that. In early AoS3, there was a period we met 3 or 4 times and he beat me every time with a Soulblight version…. here he has taken Nighthaunt instead which allows him to use the Nighthaunt alleginace abilities on the charge and back it up with Nagash’s magic dominance.

Games Workshop / Wahapedia

When they charge the Bladegheists are almost certain to roll 4+ and get one of the debuffs on the table. But the truly frightening thing is that these debuffs stack. I’m not a fan of the mechanism, but it’s the core of how Nighthaunt work and it is scary when a 10+ is rolled followed by a few 8+ (because you can always go down the table).

There’s no denying that Nagash is the centrepiece though and – although he is seen as weaker in the last update – he can still take on an army (and at 955 points he needs to). I’d love to tell you how to kill him, but the truth is I still don’t know but I imagine it’s got something to do with mortal wounds (preferably at range). It’s definitely not a Mangler Squig (last time I charged one in, I did no wounds to Nagash).

If you’ve not met him before he lives up to his role as the Lord of the Undead… with 8 spell casts, all with bonuses and the piece de la resistance… Arcane Bolt as many times as you like. (see you’ll be glad you brought the ranged mortal wounds. He’s a beast and sometimes the best thing to do is get ahead on points, stand on objectives and hope he and the Bladegheists can’t shift you. Good luck; you’ll need it!

Games Workshop / Wahapedia

Allegiance: Fyreslayers
Lodge: Lofnir
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Auric Runefather on Magmadroth (360)**
General
– Command Trait: Blood of the Berzerker
– Artefact: Axe of Grimnir
– Magmadroth Trait: Coal-heart Ancient
Battlesmith (150)**
Battlesmith (150)**

Battleline
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)*
Ancestral War-axe
– Artefact: Master Rune of Unbreakable Resolve
– Magmadroth Trait: Flame-scale Youngblood
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)*
Ancestral War-axe
– Magmadroth Trait: Lava-tongue Adult
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)*
Ancestral War-axe
Auric Runeson on Magmadroth (320)**
Ancestral War-axe

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1940 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 90
Drops: 7

Edit: The maximum number of Magmadroths you can take in a Lofnir list is six, not five as the comment below eludes to.

Ethan: This Lofnir list leans on heavy on the idea that more is more, taking as many magmadroths as you can fit in 2000 points. It’s obviously an effective strategy, having worked out well for Alex, with his only loss being Hagg Nar where I can only predict Morathi’s unkillable rules made for a major issue for an army so light on units.

Army Faction: Ogor Mawtribes
Army Subfaction: Boulderhead

LEADER
1 x Kragnos (720)
1 x Frostlord on Stonehorn (445)*
General
– Command Traits: Touched by the Everwinter
– Artefacts: Arcane Tome
– Mount Traits: Rockmane Elder
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
– Prayers: Heal (🎶Living on a Prayer🎵)
1 x Butcher (135)*
Cleaver
– Spells: Molten Entrails

BATTLELINE
2 x Mournfang Pack (175)*
Skalg
– Culling Clubs and Hackers and Ironfist
1 x Stonehorn Beastriders (310)*
Blood Vulture
2 x Mournfang Pack (175)*
Skalg
– Culling Clubs and Hackers and Ironfist

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1960/2000)

Danny: Andy helped me out with our Ogor Tome Review – so it’s awesome and very interesting to see him go 4-1 and 3rd at this highly competitive event – WITHOUT cannons or Gnoblars. Andy has basically stuck with this tried and tested core of a Frostlord backed by Kragnos – the big(ger) man offering 3d6 charges for those sweet 3d6 MWs on the charge, along with a huge pressure piece while the Frostlord, specced out with Arcane Tome + Flaming weapon for more reliable damage and Touched by the Everwinter to also make him a priest with the ability to heal himself – or Kragnos. So he’s doing it all. Another ‘big cow’ joins the pressure party as the first battleline pick.

Two units of Mournfang fill out the tax, allowing for some excellent objective play, hardly inconsiderable damage and their new and improved resistance to shooting attacks.

Andy also included a Butcher for some utility spell casting and to babysit the mawpot, although he informed me that he regretted including him overall as he always ended up out of range to be useful and felt like wasted points overall.

Andy had a tough route to 4-1, remaining on top table most of the event, taking a big win against IDK to kick off, followed by a tough Blood Knight list, then the Kroak list that beat me, a grudge match over the ‘new’ 4x Ironblaster + leadbelcher Ogor list before finally losing to the event’s winner Greg. The amount of pressure this list can put out can clearly only be resisted by unrendable ghosts with Nagash bringing loads back and shunting fistfuls of MWs through Kragnos’ 2+ save – definitely a counter to what is otherwise clearly a list that very few armies in the game can really withstand.

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

LEADER
1 x Melusai Ironscale (115)*
General
– Command Traits: Zealous Orator
– Artefacts: Crown of Woe(hammer)
1 x Morathi-Khaine (680)*
1 x The Shadow Queen (680)*

BATTLELINE
10 x Witch Aelves (115)*
Hag
– Death Pennant Bearer
– Hornblower
– Sciansá and Bladed Buckler
15 x Blood Sisters (420)*
Gorgai
10 x Blood Stalkers (360)*
Krone

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Ravenak’s Gnashing Jaws (60)

OTHER
9 x Khainite Shadowstalkers (150)*
Shroud Queen
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (95)*
Shryke

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)

Danny: It me! First things first, I’m working on an in-depth tourney report including some deeper thinking on my list and a breakdown of the games, so for now I’ll give you the digest of HOW the list works rather than get bogged down in the why.

It’s relatively simple – a twist on the Morathi on the bowsnakes. I took 15 spears and 10 bows to lean more heavily into the reliable MWs. Witch aelves are a cheap screen and battleline pick with bladed bucklers for some hopeful clutch saves and mortal wound bouncing. I took Ironscale to make the sneks battleline and enable the run+charge for some key threat projection, but also because I wanted Hagg Nar to speed up Blood Rites, which saves me loads of CP and helps Morathi perform a lot better in early rounds (when she’s still alive!)

This event didn’t allow book battle tactics, so instead of a 2nd squad of Khinerai, I opted for Shadowstonkers, who are also just a relatively tanky and super mobile scoring piece.

Jaws rounds out the list as a spare point filler and another source of MWs against slower targets that my spear sneks might be scared or unable to get into. It’s all wrapped up in a one drop bat reg because this list really, really wants to avoid getting doubled. Of course, sometimes you come up against another 1 drop in round 5 and lose the roll-off….more on that and other exciting, brain-melting moments in my full report.

Want to say a quick but big kudos to both the organisers (Alex and Jonny) from our club, Sigmar’s Pilgrims, and to all my opponents and everyone else there – it was a hugely competitive field but the vibe was friendly and jolly as all hell – a fantastic, super hard fought event!

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for Immortal Masquaerade

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for Immortal Masquerade that took place in USA on 12th and 13th November. It involved 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

List 1

Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
Subfaction: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Arkhan the Black (340)**
Mortisan Soulmason (115)**
Artefacts of Power: Soul Reservoir
– Spells: Drain Vitality
Liege-Kavalos (170)**
General
– Command Traits: Mighty Archaeossian
– Artefacts of Power: Godbone Armour

BATTLELINE
Kavalos Deathriders (380)*
Necrophoros
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Kavalos Deathriders (380)*
Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
– 2 x Necrophoros
Mortek Guard (140)***
Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Mortek Guard (140)***
Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield

BEHEMOTH
Mortek Crawler (200)

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Bone-tithe Shrieker (50)
1 x Nightmare Predator (60)

TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)

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

TOTAL POINTS: 1975/2000

List 2

Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
Subfaction: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: Tame the Land
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty

LEADERS
Nagash (955)*
General
Mir Kainan (190)*
Spells: Drain Vitality

BATTLELINE
Mortek Guard (140)*
Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
Kavalos Deathriders (380)**
Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
– 2 x Necrophoros
Kavalos Deathriders (190)**
Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield

OTHER
Kainan’s Reapers (190)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Bone-tithe Shrieker (50)
1 x Umbral Spellportal (80)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
**Bounty Hunters

TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000

Danny: OBR feel slightly like the faction that 3e forgot, with their weird version of command points and panoply of 2e style re-rolls. The army can definitely blend though – and recent points drops have given them even more list flexibility. Their main weakness is their red matchups are very red – something a two list format can massively help ameliorate.

Michael has a core of Deathriders in both lists – fast, relatively tanky if not particularly killy battleline that represent the ‘best’ objective grabbers the super slow Bonereapers have. The first list goes with two reinforced bone pone blobs backed up by the ever reliable MSU Mortek with their re-roll saves in Petrifex always making them difficult to shift. Arkhan, the currently favoured OBR utility hero rounds out the tried and tested core. This first list also bungs in a Mortek Crawler – they’re super swingy (pun intended) but do offer one long range piece with spike potential that helps try and deal with those pesky backline support heroes this faction has otherwise no way of interacting with.

List 2, meanwhile, is wild – primarily for the simple fact it contains Nagash!! The bone daddy himself is in need of some modernisation, but he’s still a super potent spellcaster. The main reason you don’t see much of him is his lack of ward save makes him super vulnerable to good ranged threats – something again the two list format allows Michael to make a good guess about the chances of facing such threats before choosing the list.

And WITHOUT good ranged firepower, Nagash can be a MW powerhouse able to keep bringing models back.

A fantastic result for an under-appreciated faction who are nonetheless slowly gathering a cult following. Still a shame Nagash is too unreliable to bring to a solo-list tourney – but in the meantime, great to see him put in a successful appearance!

List 1

Allegiance: Big Waaagh!
Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Gordrakk the Fist of Gork (540)
Gobsprakk, The Mouth of Mork (260)
Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (105)**
Lore of the Swamp: Sneaky Miasma
Orruk Warchanter (115)***
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat
– Lore of the Weird: Da Great Big Green Hand of Gork
Wurrgog Prophet (170)**
Artefact: Glowin’ Tattooz
– Lore of the Savage Beast: Gorkamorka’s War Cry
Killaboss on Corpse-Rippa Vulcha (220)**
General
– Command Trait: Supa Sneaky
– Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un

Battleline
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*

Other Units
Beast-skewer Killbow (110)***
Beast-skewer Killbow (110)***
Beast-skewer Killbow (110)***

Core Battalions
*Expert Conquerors
**Command Entourage – Magnificent
***Grand Battery

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 112
Drops: 12

List 2

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Warclan: Ironsunz
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Indomitable

Leaders
Kragnos, The End of Empires (720)
Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)*
General
– Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist
– Command Trait: Touched by the Waaagh!
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Smelly ‘Un
– Lore of the Weird: Bash ‘Em Ladz

Battleline
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*

Behemoth
Rogue Idol (430)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 88
Drops: 2

Declan: Bringing 2 lists to a tournament is a great way to have a little more fun… but normally players either bring 1, or make very small changes… not so Rob with his Big Waaagh lists – they are completely different. I really like the idea of taking a shooting list and a charging list and then choosing which one would be best – and Rob clearly chose well.

The 2nd list is simple and straight forward, but three monsters are a great idea – Kragnos; Big Waaagh; Rogue Idol… all charging 3D6″ and smashing face. Big Waaagh aren’t always best of a turn 1 charge but these three may change all that.

The 1st list is much more techy; with lots of shooting and Gobsrakk. But the genius here is Gordrakk – what a brave play. He’s not seen as the best unit in the Orruk Warclans list, but it’s great to see him having an outing.

Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals
Army Type: Stormkeep
– Subfaction: Celestial Warbringers
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumph: Inspired

LEADERS
Lord-Celestant on Stardrake (500)*
General
– Command Traits: Master of the Celestial Menagerie
– Stormbound Blade
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
– Mount Traits: Celestial Instincts
– Spells: Flaming Weapon
Yndrasta (280)*
Averon Stormsire (230)*
Spells: Thundershock

BATTLELINE
Sequitors (145)*
Sequitors (145)*
Sequitors (145)*

OTHER
Stormsire’s Cursebreakers (230)
Castigators (210)*
Castigators (210)*

ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Everblaze Comet (90)
1 x Geminids of Uhl-Gysh (40)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: 1995/2000

Brett: Smaller tournaments are a great place to see some really different lists like this. We don’t see Sequitors or Castigators a lot and here is a list with all of the Sacrosants. The Sacrosant chamber was introduced in 2nd Edition as the casters of the Stormcast, with Sequitors, Castigators, Stormsire and a Stardrake this is a full chamber in action. Thematic. Even though it’s the casting chamber there are only 3 casts in the list but that’s enough for the Everblaze and the Geminids. Everblaze has been popular recently for decent MW at a distance and Geminids are amoung the best of the Malign Sorcery Spells. The Stardrake offers one of the few casting buffs that Stormcast can receive.

Sequitors spell abilities are limited to choosing between exploding 6s or a 5+ ward. Castigators can do the same and either give themselves +1 to hit or increased rend. But they are still using random (D3) shots which is not ideal. Interesting but the damage here is the Stardrake and Yndrasta. This is really more of a durable list, Stormkeep and Celestial Warbringers compliment that approach. But it is a slow moving list which seems to have affected scoring. Both of Paul’s loses (to first and second) were to lists that mixed durable and fast units. Fantastic to see an alternative take on Stormcast.

Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar
City: Living City
– Mortal Realm: Ghyran
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty

Leaders
Nomad Prince (110)**
General
– Command Trait: Ironoak Artisan
– Artefact: Spear of the Hunt
Anointed (110)**
Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– City Role: General’s Adjutant
– Lore of Leaves: Ironoak Skin
Drycha Hamadreth (335)**

Battleline
5 x Sisters of the Thorn (130)**
Lore of Leaves: Cage of Thorns
10 x Sisters of the Watch (180)***
10 x Sisters of the Watch (180)***

Units
20 x Phoenix Guard (350)*
Reinforced x 1
10 x Vigilors (340)*
Reinforced x 1
2 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (230)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
The Burning Head (20)

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

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 102
Drops: 9

Declan: Only one list for Matt, but it’s an interesting one – I’m not actually sure how it works. I assume the Pheonix Guard are the anvil (4+ ward save), and the Vigilors provide the hammer with the Fulminators being able to pick off a key unit or clear a screen or two. The battleline are interesting, with some reasonable range, but definitely fishing for 6s.

Matt has taken Dyrcha as well for some much needed punch, but this is definitely not a list you’ll see too often and that’s probably its strength… I wouldn’t really know what to do or what to target first. A strength of ‘off-meta’ lists.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for TCC: Age of Sigmar 2 Day Event

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the TCC: Age of Sigmar 2 Day Event that took place in Australia on 12th and 13th November. It involved 24 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

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

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

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

The Top Three AoS Lists

Army Faction: Maggotkin of Nurgle
Army Subfaction: Drowned Men
– Grand strategy: Blessed Desecration

LEADER
1 x Lord of Afflictions (230)*
General
– Command Traits: Overpowering Stench
– Dolorous Tocsin
– Artefacts: The Splithorn Helm
1 x Be’lakor (360)*

BATTLELINE
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (250)*
Dolorous Tocsin
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (250)*
Dolorous Tocsin
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (250)*
4 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (500)*
10 x Plaguebearers (150)*

TERRAIN
1 x Feculent Gnarlmaw (0)

CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1995/2000)

Danny: Maggotkin are still good after the flies went up a few points, who’d a thunk it! We got drowned men here for the pre-game move with 10 flies, and a cheeky Be’Lakor to stop your main thing from doing whatever it does that MIGHT kill some flies for a turn (or two if they give away/lose the double).

Oppressive pinning list and attrition through disease points is the name of the game here. Be’Lakor is a cheeky inclusion but makes plenty of sense, given it’s a nightmare to claw back points from fly spam – and let’s be honest, it’s still fly spam – after a turn of your biggest piece sitting on their arse.

We’ll see how it goes – initial feelings are Drowned Men, not the price of flies, is the real problem. But in the meantime, gratz to Thomas for rolling with the punches and taking down some tough armies along the way.

Allegiance: Sylvaneth
– Glade: Heartwood
– Mortal Realm: Ghyran
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:

LEADERS
Alarielle the Everqueen (840)*
Spirit of Durthu (370)*
General
– Command Trait: Gnarled Warrior
– Artefact: Greenwood Gladius

UNITS
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
6 x Spiterider Lancers (420)*
Reinforced x 1
Spiteswarm Hive (40)
*Battle Regiment

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 90
Drops: 1

Ethan:One of the real pillars of Sylvaneth currently is Alarielle + good stuff and this list fits it to a Tree (Sorry). Alarielle is a large, fast and durable beatstick that comes back after you deal with her the first time. Her durability is well supported by Durthu as a backup, teleporting spiteswarm recipient, using his warscroll teleport and the additional +3′ to charges to gain consistency on this hammer. Combined with gnarled warrior, durthu becomes quite durable making the 90 wounds of the list slightly misleading. Throw in 15-20 summoned wounds from alarielle and you’ve got quite the beefy core with which to gain board control and threaten across objectives.

Tree revs fill out the middle to complete battle tactics well but the more interesting unit here is the Spiterider Lancers. At 1 damage some people question their staying power after Bounty Hunters rotates but Mitch must think they don’t need the help, taking them in a battle regiment – absolutely key with this kind of list – controlling game flow is invaluable without durable anvils or notable shooting. The Spiteriders always strike first on the charge, allowing for some flexibility with Strike and Fade and giving the Matt a chance to make an educated call about whether he needs to make like a tree (Sorry, Sorry) before a reprisal happens or whether he can use his successive activations to clear an area and hold it safely.

I can see this list being quite swingy in some matchups, Alarielle is notoriously weak to MWs and shooting, but Matt has obviously piloted it well to a 4-1, only losing in the final game to a Maggotkin list. Perhaps Alarielle’s reputation of being pillowfisted coming to the fore against the extremely durable Nurgle units, though he has taken out great competition along the way with Snakes, Ogors, Rats and Bravery bombs under his belt. Well done Matt!

Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine
Temple: Zainthar Kai
– Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Bloodwrack Medusa (130)**
Artefact: Shadow Stone
– Lore of Shadows: Mindrazor
Slaughter Queen on Cauldron of Blood (315)**
General
– Command Trait: Zealous Orator
– Artefact: Crown of Woe
– Prayer: Sacrament of Blood
Hag Queen (110)**
Prayer: Blessing of Khaine
Anointed on Frostheart Phoenix (315)**
Allies

Battleline
10 x Blood Stalkers (360)
Reinforced x 1
15 x Blood Sisters (420)*
Reinforced x 2
10 x Witch Aelves (115)*
Pairs of Sacrificial Knives

Units
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (95)**
5 x Khinerai Heartrenders (95)**

Endless Spells & Invocations
Heart of Fury (45)

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Warlord

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 315 / 400
Wounds: 106
Drops: 9

Danny: If you don’t take Spinedog, you probably take…. double takes a Frostheart on Phoenix allied in!? That’s some interesting tech – it’s not inconsiderably killy but I think the idea behind it is a mobile platform for a 9″ aura of -1 to wound in melee, which will obviously go a long way to keeping a fragile army like DoK alive. Combine that with the 12″ Heart of Fury aura for -1 damage, and a Cauldron of Blood for +1 save within 18″ and Blessing on Khaine prayer on the Hag Queen for re-roll ward saves and, funnily enough, you just make the glassiest of cannons into something resembling a…porcelain cannon! Hell, maybe even a solid oak cannon.

The rest of the list is normal enough – a nice big 15 blob of Blood Sisters for putting out eye-watering mortals after they fight, and the obligatory 2x Khinerai for battle tactic scoring. But love to see the Frostheart tech for a really interesting alternative to the tankiness Morathi brings (to herself) – instead spreading it over a key unit or two.

On the way to 3rd. Liam lost only to the winner, and managed to beat out Fangs of Sotek, SCE and Slaves, who can all put some serious melee hurt, so the list clearly performed. Kudos!

Allegiance: Kruleboyz
Warclan: Big Yellers
– Grand Strategy: Demonstration of Strength
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Breaka-Boss on Mirebrute Troggoth (180)
Mount Trait: Fast ‘Un
Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof (150)
General
– Command Trait: Supa Sneaky
Murknob with Belcha-banna (95)
Artefact: Mork’s Eye Pebble

Battleline
10 x Gutrippaz (160)**
10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)
10 x Gutrippaz (160)**
10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)*
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)*
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)*
3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)
20 x Shootas (120)**

Core Battalions
*Bounty Hunters
**Expert Conquerors

Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 156
Drops: 16

Kieron: So, with the new Battlescroll buffs and the existing staples for almost all Kruleboyz lists, we’d be expecting Joel to write a list to make the most of these, yeah…well, maybe not! With most Kruleboyz lists focusing on some degree of castle, Joel decided to go all Realmstone Cache with his Boltboyz and spray them all over the battlefield.

There’s some logic to this though as Big Yellers means the Boltboyz are battleline, making Demonstration of Strength a solid Grand Strategy choice as you need to kill 11 of the 13 battleline units to prevent it. Big Yellers also get to re-roll one of the hit rolls in the first battle round. Combined with the extra shot from the Boltboy Boss that’s 32 shots, re-rolling 8 of them.

The Mirebrute is probably thrown forward with Supa Sneaky and then opponent has to take first turn to kill it (though with Noisy Racket for -1 to wound, Best Day Ever for +1 to save and then All out Defense) that might not be as easy as you think OR give the turn away and have the Breakaboss rampage through your lines.

All in all, a really interesting take on Kruleboyz that Joel clearly played extremely well in some very tricky matchups.

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for the Shakespeare Invitational 2022

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the Shakespeare Invitational that took place in the UK on 29th and 30th October. It involved 32 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

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

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

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

The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Stormkeep)
– Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Lord-Celestant on Stardrake (500)*
General
– Celestine Hammer
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Celestial Instincts
– Spell: Celestial Blades
Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (325)*
Slann Starmaster (265)*
Allies

Battleline
5 x Liberators (115)*
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
5 x Liberators (115)*
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (460)*
Reinforced x 1

Units
3 x The Farstriders (90)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
Everblaze Comet (90)
Horrorghast (40)

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Call for Aid

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 265 / 400
Wounds: 80
Drops: 1

Peter: Owen is one of those players that places consistently well, as proven by the Woehammer player rankings where Owen now sits 10th Worldwide.

Here we’ve got two big hammers in the form of the Lord-Celestant on Stardrake and Celestant-Prime. The latter of which can twiddle his thumbs in reserve until you need him. An allied Slann Starmaster who’s purpose is to dominate the magic phase with its ability to cast three spells and unbind three spells (from anywhere on the table).

What better to protect 1,090 points of heroes than two units of Liberators and some Dracothian Guard Fulminators. The Fulminators can kick out an average of 48 damage before saves which, I might add, are all at rend -2 AND thats without the Lord-Celestant giving them +1 to wound rolls through Celestial Blades….. On top of that each model in the unit (6), has a 50% chance of causing D3 mortals to units within 12″. My assumption is for the Liberators to cap objectives who, because the army is Stormkeep, count as three models each on an objective AND have a 6+ near an objective thanks to being Hammers of Sigmar. Meanwhile the Fulminators ride around smashing face.

The unit of Farstriders can be quite nifty at taking far flung objectives or setting up elsewhere on the battlefield to harass the enemy backlines with chip damage.

We’ll down to Owen for going 5-0!

Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords
Great Nation: Ymetrica
– Grand Strategy: Alarith Aftershock

Leaders
Alarith Stonemage (120)
– General
– Command Trait: Unyielding Toughness
– Lore of the High Peaks: Unbreakable Stoicism
– Lore of the High Peaks: Living Fissure
Alarith Stonemage (120)
Artefact: Molten Talisman
– Lore of the High Peaks: Unbreakable Stoicism
– Lore of the High Peaks: Living Fissure
Avalenor, the Stoneheart King (420)***
Scinari Calligrave (115)***
Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh
Scinari Calligrave (115)***
Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Lore of Hysh: Protection of Hysh

Battleline
15 x Alarith Stoneguard (360)*
Reinforced x 2
10 x Alarith Stoneguard (240)**
Reinforced x 1
10 x Alarith Stoneguard (240)**
Reinforced x 1
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*
5 x Tree-Revenants (110)*

Endless Spells & Invocations
The Burning Head (20)
Lauchon the Soulseeker (30)

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

Additional Enhancements
Spell

Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 4 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 126
Drops: 10

Ed: The Alarith models got some tasty buffs in the new Lumineth tome, so it’s not suprising to see a list that leans heavily into those units do well.  In the Ymetrica subfaction everything except the Calligraves and the Tree-Revenents ignore rend of -1 or -2 and since Stoneguard and Avalenor have save characteristics of 4+ and 3+ respectively, they can be tough nuts to crack. They hit pretty hard too and synergize well together too, a wonderful way to build an army if you fancy dipping your toe into those crystal clear Hyshian waters. The Stonemages add crucial support to this list, allowing Avalenor to fight on his top bracket regardless of wounds taken and adding rend to the Stoneguard’s weapons. Having two of them just means that Matthew can spread those buffs around where they are most needed.

“Don’t leave the objective unattended…”

The allied Tree-Revenants are something I’ve been seeing in a lot of lists now that Sylvaneth are a valid ally. As Galetian Veterans who can teleport and pile-in 6″ they make up for the slow pace of all those Stoneguard and open up a lot of creative objective play.  By putting them in Expert conquerors Matthew has 2 adaptive units great for taking advantage of poor positioning and seizing control of objectives without putting his heavy hitters out of position. It’s a great investment for now, but it remains to be seen how valuable they will be when the next GHB drops and the focus moves away from battleline infantry.

Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords
Great Nation: Ymetrica
– Grand Strategy: Alarith Afterschock
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Avalenor, the Stoneheart King (420)
The Light of Eltharion (240)
Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (700)**
Alarith Stonemage (120)**
General
– Command Trait: Tectonically Attuned
– Artefact: Molten Talisman
– Lore of the High Peaks: Unbreakable Stoicism
Scinari Calligrave (115)**
Artefact: Silver Wand
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh

Battleline
5 x Alarith Stoneguard (120)*
Stone Mallets
5 x Alarith Stoneguard (120)*
Stone Mallets
5 x Alarith Stoneguard (120)*
Stone Mallets

Endless Spells & Invocations
Rune of Petrification (40)

Core Battalions
*Expert Conquerors
**Command Entourage – Magnificent

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 79
Drops: 8

Ed: Herohammer at it’s best! A whopping 1,595 points of Shanee’s list is made up of heroes, with only 360 points allocated for the mandatory 3 units of battleline.  Like Matthew, Shanee has gone for Stoneguard in Ymetrica for her infantry units meaning they are extremely defence anvils with decent output. However, to go 4W/1L with such a spartan list attests to Shanee’s skill as a player. There isn’t a lot of room for error when one mistake can cost you a quarter of your list or deny you crucial victory points with so few models on the board to play the objectives.  I would love to have watched over her shoulder during one or two of her games and see her approach.

Teclis obviously provides some of the best magic power in the game, providing a 5+ ward save and a variety of utility options that can change to suit your match up. Also, between his Searing Storm of White Light warscroll spell and the Rune of Petrification this list features a lot of multi-target mortal wound output which will tear through multiple small units or anything without a ward save. Avalenor and Eltharion provides a pair of powerful beat-sticks to clean up anything unlucky enough to find itself stuck to the Stoneguard anvils. Finally the Stonemage and Calligrave are support pieces which synergize well with the rest of the list. While the stonemage keeps Avelenor fighting at his best in tough times, the Calligrave is the perfect steward to sit in the Shrine Luminor in the early game dispensing free command points and casting/unbinding rerolls from atop his floating assault waterfall. Fantasy games are weird.

Drive this floating rock closer, I want to hit them with my stave!

Allegiance: Khorne
Slaughterhost: Reapers of Vengeance
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (360)
Allies
Skarbrand (380)
Bloodsecrator (125)**
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (280)**
Artefact: Khartoth the Bloodhunger
Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury (295)
General
– Command Trait: Mage Eater
– Artefact: Skullshard Mantle
Slaughterpriest (100)**
Prayer: Blood Sacrifice

Battleline
5 x Flesh Hounds (105)*
5 x Flesh Hounds (105)*
5 x Flesh Hounds (105)**
10 x Bloodreavers (80)*
Reaver Blades

Endless Spells & Invocations
Hexgorger Skulls (50)

Core Battalions
*Expert Conquerors
**Warlord

Additional Enhancements
Artefact

Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 360 / 400
Wounds: 107
Drops: 10

Kieron: After getting absolutely demolished by a Boomthirster in a recent game, part of my therapy is to write up the feedback from this wildcard list! This list includes a trio of Bloodthirsters: a Boomthirster that does 4 mortal wounds as AoE damage on each 6 to wound; the angriest Bloodthirster there is, Skarbrand, who will also do a ton of mortal wounds on top of 9 damage 3 attacks; then a third Bloodthirster who allows Daemon units to fight from 6″ away, which synergises well with the Reaper of Vengeance sub-faction Command Ability to fight twice.

Put this all together and you can auto-run the Boomthirster 16″ and then pile in 6″, avoiding Unleash Hell, do up to 20 mortal wounds to all enemy units within 8″…pile in up to another 6″ and then do it again. And all of those mortal wounds are in addition to the D6 damage from the Great Axe of Khorne. Then Skarbrand can attack if there’s anything left alive on the board by this point as the Daemon Weapon Khartoth the Bloodhunger allows the bearer to activate out of sequence at the start of the command phase on a 4+. It is at this point that you give your by now weeping opponent the choice of who to fight with next.

There’s also a Bloodsecrator to give each of those angry red monsters an extra attack and make casting more difficult. The Hexgorger Skulls complement making depending on magic against Khorne a risky business by subtracting 2 from all casts and potentially wiping a spell from a wizard’s mind if not killing them outright. It’s also a prayer, so unless you also have a priest, the only way to get rid of it is to detonate it with one of your casters.

The list also has ready access to the Barge Through Enemy Lines bonus point with its speedy Flesh Hounds and access to summoning through Blood Tithe points and to cap everything else of there is Be’Lakor poised and ready to shut down a unit at a key moment where a battle tactic is at stake.

If an opponent can take out the AoE mortal wound threat early on, they can probably cope with the other threats and the list lost to two Stormcast Eternals lists that had the tools to do exactly that. If not…more Blood for the Blood God!

Final Tournament Placings

Top Three AoS Lists for the South Coast Series – Southampton

This is the Top Three AoS Lists for the South Coast Series Southampton that took place in the UK on 22nd and 23rd October. It involved 23 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5 game tournament.

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

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

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

The Top Three AoS Lists

Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
Stormhost: Hallowed Knights (Scions of the Storm)
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Gardus Steel Soul (150)*
Knight-Draconis (300)*
General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Thunderous Presence
– Spell: Thundershock
– Bonding: Krondspine Incarnate

Battleline
5 x Liberators (115)*
Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1x Grandweapons
4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)*
Drakerider’s Lance
– Reinforced x 1
2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)*
Drakerider’s Lance

Behemoths
Krondspine Incarnate of Ghur (400)*
Allies

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Call for Aid

Total: 1985 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 400 / 400
Wounds: 81
Drops: 1

Brett: Almost all of the dragons list with a Krondspine. Mobility and some decent punch, I like how Matt has dangled the MSU Liberators there just so you can kill something easily. That he can summon on to an objective or block a point with Call for Aid (return the Liberators once slain). Gardus for his 5+ ward, most likely near the 4 Stormdrakes, Knight Draconis so the Drakes are battle line. Hallowed Knights giving a 50/50 fight on death. This list can control a lot of the board, a 4 man drake unit can span 20″. The drakes can move 12″ and shoot 12″ making first turn priority important. He can dangle the Krondspine as a target and engage at will. The Knight Draconis is likely to stay close to the big drake unit as well for Thundershock to control the charge phase.

Depending on match up and mission going first might even be an advantage with this list, Blaze of Glory and fight on death is going to punish any successful attacks on the drakes. As the only 5/0 and with really high scores Matt tabled a number of his opponents. And that’s what this list really needs to do, in the early turns remove as many hammers as possible then clean up. The drake’s 9 wounds and profile make them very hard to shift. For opponents, what do you go after? None of his opponents had a lot of shooting or ranged shooting with MWs, the first list with drakes had pairs matching into the 4 drake unit. Hint – that doesn’t work well even with teleports.

Allegiance: Nighthaunt
Procession: Emerald Host
– Grand Strategy: Dismantle the Brave
– Triumphs:

Leaders
Krulghast Cruciator (150)**
General
– Command Trait: Cloaked in Shadow
– Artefact: Beacon of Nagashizzar
Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief (340)**
Lore of the Underworlds: Seal of Shyish
Spirit Torment (115)**
Artefact: Lightshard of the Harvest Moon

Battleline
10 x Chainrasps (110)***
10 x Chainrasps (110)***
5 x Hexwraiths (160)
5 x Hexwraiths (160)
5 x Hexwraiths (160)
10 x Grimghast Reapers (160)*
10 x Grimghast Reapers (160)*
10 x Grimghast Reapers (160)*
3 x Spirit Hosts (125)***

Endless Spells & Invocations
Mortalis Terminexus (85)

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

Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 107
Drops: 12

Brett: Nice to see Emerald Host back (and not Scarlet Doom) which means a few changes to the unit list. Emerald host slowly withers the opponent. This list plays into that, lots of units which take longer to clear (big hitting units don’t carry over their damage as far). Then Lady Olynder can once per battle brings back D6 models in every unit (they are all summonable). The Beacon also returns 1 model to each summonable unit (all of these). That will let the army stick around longer and score more. Mortalis Terminexus plays really well into this strategy as well (either heal or mortal wounds). There is still the Spirit Torment to help a unit that is being pressured and Krulghast for the damage debuff.

It’s great to see something different from Nighthaunt. Lots of options here with great speed from the Hexwraiths. It’s weakness is probably into something durable that does a lot of damage or the first round list he ran into. It would have removed a minimum of 2 units a turn and the Grimghasts are good, but not likely to kill Fulminators. Lady Olynder is vulnerable to long range shooting as well.

Army Faction: Ossiarch Bonereapers
Army Subfaction: Petrifex Elite
– Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak
– Triumphs: Inspired

LEADER
1 x Arkhan the Black (340)**
Spells: Protection of Nagash
1 x Liege-Kavalos (170)**
General
– Command Traits: Mighty Archaeossian
– Artefacts: Godbone Armour

BATTLELINE
20 x Mortek Guard (280)*
Mortek Hekatos
– 2 x Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
20 x Mortek Guard (280)*
Mortek Hekatos
– 2 x Necrophoros
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
20 x Mortek Guard (280)*
Necrophoros
– Mortek Hekatos
– Nadirite Blade and Shield
5 x Kavalos Deathriders (190)**
Mortek Hekatos
– Necrophoros
– Nadirite Spear and Shield

ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Nightmare Predator (60)

TERRAIN
1 x Bone-tithe Nexus (0)

OTHER
3 x Necropolis Stalkers (175)**
Dread Falchions
3 x Necropolis Stalkers (175)**
Dread Falchions

CORE BATTALIONS:
*Bounty Hunters
**Battle Regiment

TOTAL POINTS: (1950/2000)

Brett: Arkhan and 3 x 20 blocks of Mortek. Need to say more? They aren’t going to go far but you aren’t going to shift them either. Deathriders and Necropolis Stalkers give a little more manoeuvrable but this is an army that is going to spread out slowly and dare you to charge. And that works (see Ironjawz above). Beasts of Chaos overwhelmed them through a combination of strong rend and bodies (including summoning). The first round draw is more interesting, the Tzeentch list is essentially Horrors and Flamers, hard to kill and a lot of shooting. But they’d have to come into range (charges) and it had less bodies than this list. The ability to control more of the board and force your opponent into an unfavourable match up is the way this list grinds out wins.

Allegiance: Ironjawz
Warclan: Bloodtoofs
– Mortal Realm: Ghur
– Grand Strategy: Waaagh!
– Triumphs: Inspired

Leaders
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (480)*
General
– Boss Choppa and Rip-tooth fist
– Command Trait: Hulking Brute
– Artefact: Destroyer
– Mount Trait: Mean ‘Un
Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Warbeat: Get ‘Em Beat
Orruk Warchanter (115)*
Warbeat: Fixin’ Beat

Battleline
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*
1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
5 x Orruk Ardboys (85)*
1x Gorkamorka Banner Bearers
6 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (340)*
Jagged Gore-hackas
– Reinforced x 1
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-hackas
3 x Orruk Gore-gruntas (170)*
Jagged Gore-hackas

Behemoths
Rogue Idol (430)*

Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment

Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 1 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 126
Drops: 1

Brett: Not a particularly techy list, Ironjawz with a Mawcrusha and Rogue Idol, 2 Warchanters and a mix of 12 gore-gruntas and ardboyz. In true orcish style, it either went off like a frog in a sock or didn’t quite get over the bar. Ironjawz struggle against armies that can bury them or screen them with cheap bodies, the pigs damage isn’t as prodigious as you might like. If you can feed screens to the Mawcrusha and Idol and pepper them with MWs as both of the Chaos lists did here you have a good chance. Still not an easy list to play against, particularly with how quickly the Idol can reach you, priority is key here. With only one Mawcrusha Matt hasn’t had to worry about giving himself another artefact. Interesting way Matt’s mixed tanky (Hulking Brute) and damage (Mean ‘Un) on the Mawcrusha.

This is still a solid Orruk list that can take a tournament (or close to) depending on the day and opponents.

Final Tournament Placings