This is the top three AoS lists for the Alberta Classic that took place in Canada on the 6th and 7th of May. It involved 19 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: Ossiarch Bonereapers – Subfaction: Petrifex Elite – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours
LEADERS Katakros (440)* Mortisan Ossifector (120)* – General – Command Traits: Dark Acolyte – Artefacts of Power: Lode of Saturation – Spells: Protection of Nagash – Aspects of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Mir Kainan (250)*
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Stormkeep) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Knight-Incantor (120)* – Spell: Celestial Blades Knight-Relictor (120)* – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Prayer: Translocation – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Lord-Imperatant (170)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome
UNITS 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 5 x Vanquishers (110)* 5 x Vindictors (130)* 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240) 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)** 2 x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Drakerider’s Lance 1 x Stormstrike Chariot (170)* 3 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (240)
ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS Holy Command: Call for Aid Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley
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Army Faction: Soulblight Gravelords – Army Type: Vyrkos – Grand Strategy: Empire of Corpses – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Radukar the Beast (290)* – General – Command Traits: Hunter’s Snare Torgillius the Chamberlain (125)* – Spells: Fading Vigour Necromancer (90)* – Spells: Waste Away – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Belladamma Volga (170)** – Artefacts of Power: Ulfenkarni Phylactery – Spells: Spirit Gale
BATTLELINE Deadwalker Zombies (230)* Deadwalker Zombies (230)* Deathrattle Skeletons (255)* – Skeleton Champion – 3 x Standard Bearer Dire Wolves (130)** – Doom Wolf Dire Wolves (130)** – Doom Wolf
LEADERS Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)* – General – Command Trait: Supa Sneaky – Mount Trait: Weird ‘Un Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast (290)** Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (100)* – Lore of the Swamp: Choking Mist Murknob with Belcha-banna (80)* Killaboss with Stab-grot (100)* – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox
BATTLELINE 20 x Gutrippaz (300)* 20 x Gutrippaz (300)** 10 x Hobgrot Slittaz (80)**
UNITS 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)* 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)* 3 x Man-skewer Boltboyz (120)***
This is the top three AoS lists for the Regicide in the Realms that took place in the UK on the 6th and 7th of May. It involved 16 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
Army Faction: Blades of Khorne – Army Subfaction: Skullfiend Tribe – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER 1 x Realmgore Ritualist (100)* – Prayers: Killer Instinct, Blood Sacrifice 1 x Realmgore Ritualist (100)* – Prayers: Bronzed Flesh, Blood Sacrifice 1 x Slaughterpriest (110)* – General – Command Traits: High-priest of Khorne – Bloodbathed Axe – Prayers: Unholy Flames, Killer Instinct – Galletian Enhancement: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage 1 x Bloodsecrator (110)** – Artefacts: Banner of Blood 1 x Bloodstoker (90)****
OTHER 5 x Garrek’s Reavers (70)* 6 x Mighty Skullcrushers (400)**** – Skullhunter – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower – Bloodglaive 6 x Mighty Skullcrushers (400)**** – Skullhunter – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower – Bloodglaive
Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords – Subfaction: Legion of Blood – Mortal Realm: Shyish – Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination – Triumphs: N/A
Leaders – Parade Ground Neferata, Mortarch of Blood (390)* – Lore of the Deathmages: Waste Away Skeleton High King (440)* Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon – General – Deathlance – Command Trait: Doomed Minions – Artefact: Cloak of Mists and Shadows – Lore of the Vampires: Soul Pike The Ever-Living Prince (440)* Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon – Vampiric Sword – Lore of the Vampires: Vile Transference The Scorned Captain (135)** Wight King – Artefact: Amulet of Screams – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox The Discarded Princess (135)** Ivya Volga, the Outcast
Battleline – Procession Host The Endless Duty (85)** 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons The Worked-To-The-Bone Brigade (85)** 10 x Deathrattle Skeletons The Impending Doom (220)** 10 x Black Knights – Reinforced x 2
Endless Spells – Delirious Visions The Reins Of Tyranny (40) Soulsnare Shackles The Great Unwashed (30) Suffocating Gravetide
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Mortal Realm: Ghyran – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Karazai, The Scarred (550)* – General Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (330)* Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Celestial Blades Knight-Vexillor (120)* – Meteoric Standard – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard
UNITS 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (110)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Shock Handaxes 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (110)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Shock Handaxes 5 x Vindictors (130)** 6 x Praetors (280)*
This is the top three AoS lists for Border War 2023 that took place in the Albury, Australia on the 29th and 30th of April. It involved 43 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.
Kharadron Code – Artycle: Settle The Grudges – Amendment: Prosecute Wars With All Haste – Footnote: There’s No Reward Without Risk
LEADERS Arkanaut Admiral (125)* – General – Command Trait: Stormcaller – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha Aetheric Navigator (85)* – Artefact: Voidstone Orb Endrinmaster with Endrinharness (90)*
BATTLELINE 9 x Endrinriggers (360)* – 1x Grapnel Launchers – Reinforced x 2 10 x Arkanaut Company (100)* – 1x Skypikes – 1x Light Skyhooks – 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns Arkanaut Frigate (300)* – Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon 10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)* – 2x Aetheric Fumigators – 2x Decksweepers – 2x Aethercannons – 2x Grundstok Mortars – Reinforced x 1
UNITS 1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (170)* – Main Gun: Sky Cannon – Gunhauler Modifications: Zonbarcorp ‘Debtsettler’ Spar Torpedo
BEHEMOTHS Arkanaut Ironclad (500)* – Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon – Major Installation: Zonbarcorp ‘Dealbreaker’ Battle Ram
CORE BATTALION *Battle Regiment
Total: 2000 / 2000
Sometimes, it pays off to lean into the highlights of a new Battletome, and Luca Foerster’s Barak Zilfin Kharadron Overlords list does this perfectly. One of the biggest loses to Kharadron Overlords was the loss of Aethergold in the new book, which was often used for an on-demand +1 to wound, Luca offsets this by taking the new Settle The Grudges Artycle which gives all Kharadron Overlords units a static +1 to wound against a target chosen at the start of the game. Less versatile, for sure, but often more impactful when multiple units are needed to ensure that something is made dead.
Luca starts things off with a classic Admiral taking Stormcaller and Leadership of the Alpha. Stormcaller allows for the rerolling of dice from the Navigator’s Read the Winds ability, which I will talk about in a moment. He follows that up with an Endrinmaster with Endrinharness, which pays the tax of allowing Endrinriggers to be battleline. Lastly, for heroes, he has taken a Navigator who gets an unbind/dispel and is carrying a Voidstone Orb, which is a once per game Artefact that will auto-unbind a spell. A powerful deterrent against trying to snipe heroes with spells or setting up crippling -1 to hit/wound auras. However, the real power of the Navigator is its Read the Winds ability, which allows it to roll six dice and then choose an effect. It can choose to either pick an enemy unit for each “one” it rolls to deal d3 mortal wounds and half movement until its next hero phase or for each “six” pick a friendly Boat and immediately normal move it D3+3 inches. The extra movement is great, but the real value is crippling fast enemy units, and combined with the reroll from the Admiral’s Stormcaller ability it can flat out win games by crippling the opponent’s ability to advance up the board to contest objectives or complete battle tactics. Sometimes, the best way to win is to not allow your opponent to play, and I especially feel for the poor Sons of Behemat player who ran afoul of this.
Moving onto his troop selection, Luca has taken a sample of the Kharadron mainstays. He has a double reinforced unit of Endrinriggers, which brings a bucket of rend -2 to the game both at range and in melee. They can also heal the boats, but that is just a bonus. The native rend -2 is the real benefit here. Next up, we have a common theme within Kharadron in this edition, the extremely efficient reinforced Thunderers with Special Weapons. They bring a massive amount of firepower at shotgun range, but back that up with a native 3+ save, 20 wounds, debuffs, and even mortal wounds in melee. They are a classic, “Move Me” objective holder with just enough range that they can not be ignored. A unit of Arkanauts rounds out the troop selection.
To finish off the list, Luca brought one of each of the Kharadron boats. An Ironclad toting around the Battle Ram to combo with the once per game 3d6 charge from his Footnote, a battleline Frigate courtesy of Barak Zilfin, and a cheeky Gunhauler to give the larger boats a 6+ ward save and a fast mover to cap objectives later in the game. He packages all of this into a one-drop Battle Regiment at an even 2000 points.
This is a classic list that can do well at range and in melee. It presents a difficult challenge for opponents as the Battletome Battle Tactics allow it to avoid interaction but greatly punishes opponents who spread out to score their own. Combined with Luca’s outstanding play, I pity the poor souls who had to face it.
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Allegiance: Ogor Mawtribes – Mawtribe: Boulderhead – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: No Place for the Weak – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS Frostlord on Stonehorn (450) – Artefact: Vial of Manticore Venom (Universal Artefact) – Mount Trait: Rockmane Elder Frostlord on Thundertusk (400) – Mount Trait: Matriarch Huskard on Thundertusk (330)* – Blood Vulture – Mount Trait: Rimefrost Hide – Prayer: Keening Gale Icebrow Hunter (120)* – General – Command Trait: Touched by the Everwinter – Prayer: Pulverising Hailstorm – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha
BATTLELINE 6 x Mournfang Pack (510)* – Gargant Hackers – Reinforced x 2 2 x Frost Sabres (80)* 2 x Frost Sabres (80)*
We’ve an absolute legend joining our team for the top three comments this week.
Peter Atkinson (AKA Plastic Craic) has recently made a return with a revamped website and a crack team of top AoS gamers to help him!
Peter Atkinson: Thanks for having me on gents – long time listener, first time caller.
“It’s gotta be Little Lisa Simpson, Springfield’s answer to a question NOBODY ASKED!”
– Ned Flanders
Well he’s pulled one out of the bag here, hasn’t he? The Thundertusk answers the question nobody asked, namely “how can I do chip damage to a chaff unit in the shooting phase?”. The whole point of shooting is that you get to pick where the damage goes, but the limitations around where (and how much) the Thundertusk can apply its output are usually seen as crippling in the hands of most players.
Well, up steps The Mayor to show he’s not most players.
The Factory-standard Frostlord is of course present, with the Manticore Venom artefact being a slightly unorthodox pick, but all Stonehorns will take consistency of output where they can get it. I like it. In fact, I might just copy it.
Then Mat goes off script with the double Tusks: one as a Frostlord for the 3+ save and at least some kind of melee output, and the other packing the 5++ ward Trait. Coupled with the Boulderhead extra wounds and neg -1 to wound on the big lad, Mat has layered up the durability buffs in this army, but he’s done the same with his charge bonuses too. Both Frostlords add stacking +1s to charge in an aura, and the 3rd Mount Trait does the same (for Thundertusks only), so they’re all supporting each other to charge at +2” or +3”. It won’t boost the charge mortals, but it can blow the game wide open with some unexpected long bombs.
And how about those Mournfang? He has the prayer for extra movement on them, so with dual Frosties nearby and their native plus 1” to charge, they’re often gonna be zipping around at +3” to move and +3” to charge. This unit is a ride-on lawnmower, and your army is the mole poking its head out of the ground.
They give zero fucks about overwatch too, so with all their charge mortals added in, KO might not be as scary as you think; and speaking of KO, those Thunderers make a prime target for Thundertusk shooting. You don’t want the pricks rallying back, but bringing them into combat means they can’t use Rally anyway.
In fact, expensive combat units with good saves are where Thundertusks want to be generally, and there’s a lot of that in the meta right now; so if they will ever have a time to shine this is it. They won’t go too badly into Khorne’s Mighty Skullcrushers for example, with a double-tap putting enough mortals into them that a decent charge or two could clean them up without even worrying about that stupid 0+ save. OBR springs to mind too.
In practice though, I think I’d use the Thundertusks just as often to bludgeon through a support hero. 2 mortals, another 2 mortals, Blood Vulture, bam. That’s a 5-wound hero gone. The chances of spiking off a 6-wound hero are not trivial, and across two turns of shooting it’s very likely they’re toast. Efficient sniping? No, but sometime’s a Tyrant’s gotta do what a Tyrant’s gotta do. And something like a Krulghast or Death Frenzy can just switch off your win condition, so efficiency goes out the window at that point and you just do what you have to.
The kitty cats are an ace in the hole, popping up to secure Desecrate and then (because they can’t be shot in cover) usually forcing a far-more-expensive combat unit to hit reverse gear and clear them up. They’re not half bad at soaking up a mortal-wound overwatch too.
I know Mat has owned this army for aeons but it rarely sees the tabletop in competitive play. So I’ll be honest, I looked at this list and thought Mat was bringing a palette-cleanser pick for his hometown GT, so he could relax into his games with no pressure.
Well the more you look at it, the better it gets. It’s surprisingly strong into a couple of dominant new books and you write it off at your peril. Strutting onto the podium with such a unique list is a great achievement – well done mate.
If you found this write-up informative, check out our site over at Plastic Craic where we’re smashing out regular, high-quality Age of Sigmar coverage. See you there.
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Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness – Damned Legion: Knights of the Empty Throne – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Archaon the Everchosen (860)* – The Lore of the Damned: Daemonic Speed Chaos SorcererLord (120)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Chaos Familiar – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – The Lore of the Damned: Daemonic Speed – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – The Lore of the Damned: Chaotic Conduit
BATTLELINE 6 x Varanguard (580)* – 5x Fellspear – 1x Daemonforged Blade – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Reinforced x 1 9 x Corvus Cabal (80)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided 5 x Chaos Knights (220)* – Mark of Chaos: Tzeentch – Ensorcelled Banner: The Blasted Standard
Ok folks, we’ve reached the Slaves sass threshold. What that means is we’ve now seen enough good results, with similar-enough lists, in a short enough time period, that I get to be a little bitch about them.
So what we have here is lots of the two good units in the book (cavalry) in the sub-faction that makes cavalry able to run and charge, with Archaon slapped on top for good measure. Archaon does offer a lot of tactical flexibility thanks to his picking a mark before deployment and not in the list building stage, and even though he’s always been frustratingly easy to kill and frustratingly bad at killing when I’ve run him, when he inevitably gets the Nurgle mark he’s definitely an annoying man-mountain that can stomp an objective while the 6 Varanguard do their thing.
I’ve also spotted that the Chaos Knights have been marked Tzeentch so that they can be yoinked around a bit by the Tzeentch Sorceror Lord. I wonder if that ever actually went off? At least it’s new!
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Karazai, The Scarred (550)* Lord-Castellant (160)* – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion) Lord-Relictor (150)* – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Prayer: Translocation – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
BATTLELINE 4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)* – Reinforced x 1 5 x Liberators (120)* – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield 10 x Vanquishers (220)* – Reinforced x 1
UNITS 6 x Praetors (280)* – Reinforced x 1
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS Holy Command: Call for Aid
Joel’s a really knowledgeable Stormcast Player and has been running a version of this list for most of the edition. You can check out the development of the list and how it plays on his channel Measured Gaming. Some of the most entertaining Battle Reps you’ll watch, but I warn you, it’s very definitely NSFW.
The concept is simple, go first and jam Karazai into something. He is either going to be a wrecking ball or serve as a fantastic distraction (you can’t let him run around). There are still 2 Galetian Champions for battle tactics, the Lord Castellant is one of the strongest here, with a 5+ ward to make him harder to shift. Scions of the Storm lets you get him where you want him if you keep him off the board. There is the choice of either the Vanquishers or the Fulminators to accompany him. 7 Units, only half are allowed in the storm chamber, giving a few options. The Praetors are along to provide their bodyguard to Karazai. Staying close to Karazai is the trick though.
The Praetors are probably a surprise for anyone who hasn’t played against them. With 3 attacks and 2 damage, they have solid output, especially into 4+ and 5+ saves. If your army relies on a big block of something or a couple of models, Karazai is your worst nightmare. Most of the lists Joel faced suffered from that issue or would struggle to affect Karazai as MSU (Bladegheists). If you have a lot of threats and enough units though, you can overwhelm this list and score where they aren’t. I’ll let Kieron cover how the Skaven list worked against Karazai. I’m predicting disposable clan rats helped clog up the works.
If you have the chance it’s worth watching how Joel plays this list, it’s fun if nothing else. He’s also one of the few people that seem to be perfectly fine with the standard Liberator.
This is the top three AoS lists for the London Open that took place in the UK on the 14th and 15th of April. 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: Kharadron Overlords – Sky Port: Barak Zilfin – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
Kharadron Code – Artycle: Honour Is Everything – Amendment: Trust to Your Guns – Footnote: Without Our Ships We Are Naught
Leaders Arkanaut Admiral (125)* – General – Command Trait: Ex-Grundstok Aether-Khemist (80)* – Artefact: Spell in a Bottle – Aspect of the Champion: Leadership of the Alpha Aether-Khemist (80)*
Battleline 15 x Grundstok Thunderers (405)* – 3x Aetheric Fumigators – 3x Decksweepers – 3x Aethercannons – 3x Grundstok Mortars – Reinforced x 2 10 x Grundstok Thunderers (270)* – 2x Aetheric Fumigators – 2x Decksweepers – 2x Aethercannons – 2x Grundstok Mortars – Reinforced x 1 10 x Arkanaut Company (100)* – 1x Skypikes – 1x Light Skyhooks – 1x Aethermatic Volley Guns Arkanaut Frigate (300)* – Main Gun: Heavy Sky Cannon – Frigate Regittings: Magnificent Omniscope
Units 3 x Endrinriggers (120)* – 1x Grapnel Launchers
Behemoths Arkanaut Ironclad (500)* – Main Gun: Great Sky Cannon – Major Installation: The Last Word
Russell Taylor: My list is designed around the ability to have one big turn so when I decide it’s the time to go which is usually turn 1 but can be delayed then I can devastate state my opponent’s army.
The key to this is being able to move my ships and get the thunderers out afterwards this is why I have included the soulscream bridge because it allows me to disembark the units inside the ironclad after bridging them meaning I can apply the extra rend from the khemist to my thunderers and also meaning that my 12 inch range guns are also in better range, I took the footnote that allows two commands to be given to a ship so I can fly high my frigate and disembark using two command abilities mirroring the use of the soulscream bridge. The admiral allows me to give another additional rend once per game which can also be used without disembarking if I don’t need to stack all the rend at once.
The combination of these tactics mean I can deploy in the corner out of range of my opponent and then strike with easy killing priority targets and then clearing up in the next few turns.
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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired – Holy Command: Call for Aid
LEADER 1 x Knight-Zephyros (100)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Aspect of the Champion: Stubborn as a Rhinox 1 x Aventis Firestrike (270)* – Spells: Thundershock
BATTLELINE 4 x Dracothian Guard Tempestors (440)* 4 x Dracothian Guard Fulminators (480)* 5 x Drakespawn Knights (110)* – Standard Bearer – Hornblower – Dread Knight 10 x Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows (380)* – 2 x Thunderbolt Crossbow 5 x Sequitors (120)* – Sequitor-Prime – Stormsmite Greatmace (Sequitor-Prime) – 2 x Stormsmite Greatmace
ENDLESS SPELL 1 x Everblaze Comet (90)
CORE BATTALIONS: *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1990/2000)
Dan Sidders: The One with the Goat The list is built with 3 things in mind: it needed to be 1 drop because of the battle pack, it needed to unlock some tome tactics & I wanted it to be a combined arms force that had melee & ranged damage.
The fulminators are battleline in Hammers of Sigmar and delete anything they hit but need a delivery mechanism. That’s where the Drakespawn Knights come in. 10 wounds on a 3+ save for 110 points on cavalry bases. Turned sideways they can screen enough ground to cover a block of 4 large dracoth bases. They also have 10” move the same as the Fulminators so can move up at speed and maintain the screen. They unlock the Pioneers of the Realm battle tactic to contest enemy home objectives with a Cities unit which I completed in 3/5 games. There’s no requirement to control the objective and often one lone survivor would just sneak in during the late game to score the points.
I wanted to get away from the Wildform, Translocate option I had been running because i was throwing the Fulminators forward too early and recently I’ve been trying to slow my gameplay down slightly to force myself to make better decisions.
The shooting hammer came from 10 Crossbow Judicators who have the Rapid Fire rule giving them exploding hits, which when buffed to hit on 2’s provides the highest output shooting available to Stormcast into anything but a 2+ save. It also provides 10 models to stand on an objective and fills a battleline slot. The downside being that they only have 18” range; so I needed something to screen them in order to deepstrike within range.
So my third battleline slot was filled with 4 Tempestors who, like the Judicators have crossbows with exploding hits and the benefit of some rend and mortal wound breath attacks. These guys were deployed out of scions 9” away from my opponents front line – the Judicators sat behind. Lots and lots of shots poured into the enemy. The Tempestors could then risk a charge or simply stand there – the unleash hell they put out is like getting a free fight first! Averaging 10 wounds into any target without a ward. With 24 wounds on a 3+ they generally took up my opponents attention for a couple of turns while the fulminators closed in.
The utility pieces in the list were provided by the heroes; the Zephyros innately teleports and counts as 10 on objectives with Stubborn as a Rhinox but always started the game right on the back line. The comet has 36” range so can be deployed outside of unbind range turn 1 due to the Arcane Tome. The Goat, Aventis Firestrike who dropped to 270 points in the recent battlescroll gives me a 2 cast wizard allowing for a mystic shield and Thunderstrike for a -1 to wound aura within 18” boosting the survivability of the fairly elite force. The fact that he’s a 14” flying monster means he can get into the action to supply a well placed roar and also shift from deployment up behind the shooting units to hand out +1 to hit which solves the need for AOA on both units to maximise the damage potential.
The MVP’s were the 5 sequitors who were a second screen for deployment and an objective holder in the early game. Activating their 5+ ward helped to make them stubborn when needed and then when they went down I used Call for aid to resurrect them further up the field and hunt a hero for the No Challenge too Great tome tactic using their exploding 6’s to hit. Perfect now there are lots of Galetian champions running around!
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Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords – Great Nation: Helon – Grand Strategy: Defend What’s Ours – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (720) – General Scinari Cathallar (120) – Artefact: Silver Wand – Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 5 x Hurakan Windchargers (140) 10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (150)* – Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Overwhelming Heat 20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (320)* – Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh – Reinforced x 1
Units 20 x Vanari Auralan Sentinels (320)* – Spell1: Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh – Reinforced x 1
Mo Ashraf:It’s a fairly standard Teclis castle build with 2×20 sentinels doing a lot of the heavy lifting. The changes to the standard list were taking only one unit of Windchargers and also taking Gnashing Jaws/Horrorghast as endless spells.
The biggest change is that I took sharpshooters on the sentinels, which meant I wasn’t a 1 drop and instead a 6 drop. Throughout the event, I was out dropped by everyone bar 1 player, so didn’t get the choice often to choose 1st or 2nd. I realised this was a mistake though, and in the future, I will go for the 1 drop as the one game I lost could have potentially been avoided if I chose to make them go first.
The extra endless spell meant that one of the book battle tactics of having 2 endless spells on the field was fairly easy to achieve, especially in the late game when opponent wizards were killed off. But the lack of extra units of windchargers/screen meant that the army did feel fairly small.
The list starts really starts to excel later turns of the game when it can start moving up out of the castle to score more objectives, so early game is about killing from a distance as much as possible.
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Allegiance: Fyreslayers – Lodge: Greyfyrd – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Master of the Forge – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders Gotrek Gurnisson (480) – Allies Auric Runefather (120)* – General – Command Trait: Leader of the Duardrazhal – Artefact: Axe of Grimnir Auric Runeson (80)** – Ancestral War-axe Auric Runemaster (130)** – Artefact: Volatile Brazier – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal Auric Flamekeeper (90)** – Artefact: Gryph-feather Charm (Galletian Champion) Grimwrath Berzerker (110)*** – Artefact: Draught of Magmalt Ale – Aspect of the Champion: Fuelled by Ghurish Rage
Battleline 10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (300)* – Poleaxes – Reinforced x 1 10 x Hearthguard Berzerkers (300)** – Poleaxes – Reinforced x 1 20 x Vulkite Berzerkers with Fyresteel Handaxes (320)*** – Reinforced x 1
Kevin Lathers: A rare Gotrek list hits the upper ranks of a GT. Gotrek seems like a natural fit for Fyreslayers: he’s a duardin, they’re a duardin, etc. But he doesn’t really provide much FS don’t already have, such as the ability to kill things in the combat phase. So it’s uncommon to see him.
This list leans hard into him with the Runefather taking Leader of the Daurdrazhal, a CT which allows Gotrek to benefit from the Fyreslayers’ runes (most importantly the movement rune).
He also has a natural buddy in the Grimwrath Berserker, who is basically a mini-me for Gotrek. Between the two of them there’s basically nothing in the game that can stand up to them in the combat phase.
The rest of the list is two units of HGB, brick walls to both screen and hold objectives and Vulkite Berserkers, another objective holder and infantry with a little more mobility. These are supported by a flamekeeper to add a little utility and/or damage to them depending on the situation.
What’s conspicuously missing from the list is a Battlesmith, so this army will be without 4+ Rally, a 5+ ward once per game, and the very helpful Nulsidian Icon which can block offensive/endless spells on a 4+ (almost needed vs. Tzeentch, Seraphon, or LRL). Instead, this list is going to really rely on the 4+ wards from the HGB and Gotrek’s ability to soak up damage as a distraction carnifex.
Oh, and the Molten Infernoth, which does the thing it always does: knock MWs into anything and everything for 40 points.
Overall, this list will take some skilled piloting, but if done right the infantry can hold objectives while Gotrek and Mini-Gotrek clean the board of pests.
This is the top three AoS lists for the Quest of Champions that took place in the UK on the 1st and 2nd of April. It involved 38 players vying to be crowned champion in a 5-game tournament.
Before I jump into the Top Three AoS Lists, I wanted to remind everyone of our friendly Discord server where you can join in the conversation with the Woehammer crew and suggest articles or series for the website.
If you like what we’re doing, why not join our Patreon and help keep it going?
Also if there’s a one day or two day tournament you’d like us to cover drop us a comment on this post and we’ll have a look at it for you.
Fabian Quinn: List theory and design – The list was actually played the weekend before by Tom Mawdsley at the Justice Series GT at Just Play Games. When I saw some of Toms games on Twitter and saw how much fun he was having I immediately wanted to play the list. I have played KO before in a few tournaments so had a general grasp on the army but not with the new book.
The list and interactions – This type of list really wants to be one drop to decide who is going first due to how fragile the list can be and how close some of the deployments are. Zilfin allows the Frigate to become battleline helping to have two behemoths in a one drop list.
Heroes Arkanaut Admiral – An absolute all star giving out +1 rend to a non Skyvessel, a free command ability to his flagship and the Thunderers every turn. Aether Khemist – Handing out +1 to rend to a Skyfarer unit every turn helps getting through armour, especially if used injunction with the Admirals Grudgebreaker rounds (+1 rend) units in the army can get up to 4 rend! Brokk Grungsson – He’s sooooooo much fun and adds a little combat punch to the list to help finish off units that may have been left after some bad rolls.
Units Frigate + Endrinriggers -15 wounds on a 3+ save with the healing of the riggers is amazing, especially with the +2” to move (from the second free Endrinwork, thanks Zilfin!) meaning placing Brokk in here adds a close combat threat that has not been seen in KO before. When your opponent hears the words I’m declaring a charge they often have to do a double take!
Thunderers – These guys are amazing to kick out of a boat and point at your opponents biggest baddest unit especially with +2 rend!
Ironclad – Still good to help protect and transport the Thunderers plus heroes. The Ironclad in this list is also a great defensive piece to disrupt your opponents charges with the great Endrinwork ”The Last Word” and Supremacy mine!
Overall the list was very fun to use and it really does reward great deployment and positional play. I would definitely say its a double edged sword where poor rolls, deployment and placement can lead to losing very easily.
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Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Astral Templars (Stormkeep) – Mortal Realm: Ghyran – Grand Strategy: The Day is Ours! – Triumphs: Inspired
LEADERS Karazai, The Scarred (550)* – General Knight-Vexillor (120)* – Meteoric Standard – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Celestial Blades Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (330)**
UNITS 5 x Vindictors (130)** 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (110)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Shock Handaxes 5 x Vanguard-Hunters (110)** – Boltstorm Pistols and Shock Handaxes 6 x Praetors (280)*
Brett: Hero hammer combined with some Vexillor madness for ranged Mortal Wounds. That doesn’t show how carefully this list has been crafted – Astral Templars has become the choice of Stormhost with the new books bringing monsters back on to the table. Vindictors for home plate and Vanguard Hunters to get out there and take exposed objectives. This is a Stormkeep so there is not air assault element, that inbuilt teleport is especially useful. You can back up the Tunnel Master easily. With ranged and melee attacks their output isn’t great but they have access to Unleash Hell and can prevent a Vexillor being sniped. The 4 Vexillors are all handy 6 wound Galletion Champions opening the new battle tactics to this list.
Hammers though, this list has them – Karazai is effective but needs protection and has it with the Praetors. 6 is unusual but will take a lot of punishment and can dish it out as well (19 attacks hitting on 3s). The biggest issue is keeping up with Karazai. And from Turn 2 or 3 the Prime is going to enter, auto charge and delete something. Stormcast are normally pretty worn down by Turn 3 normally so this is a really powerful way to preserve some offensive force. A very strong showing with a faction that isn’t seen as that competitive, drawing with Gitz is a very solid result. It says a lot that such a small army could hold Gitz back in their current state and with the pre data slate rally. Karazai is great anti-horde.
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Army Faction: Hedonites of Slaanesh – Army Type: Pretenders – Grand Strategy: Glutton for Depravity – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Contorted Epitome (190)* – Spells: Born of Damnation – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Sigvald (205)* The Masque (140) Keeper of Secrets (400)* – General – Command Traits: Strength of Godhood – Shining Aegis – Artefacts of Power: The Crown of Dark Secrets – Spells: Flaming Weapon
BATTLELINE Blissbarb Archers (150)* – High Tempter Blissbarb Archers (150)* – High Tempter Blissbarb Archers (150)* – High Tempter
OTHER Blissbarb Seekers (200)* – High Tempter Slickblade Seekers (400)* – Hunter-Seeker
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1985/2000
Phil Marshall: Slaanesh Pretenders – How did it work?
I decided to run a fairly balanced list that could perform a role in each phase of the game. Pretenders sub faction jumped out to me off the bat as a faction that was very strong due to the command point mechanics that I took advantage of. In Pretenders you receive 3 command points instead of 1 if your general is alive. This combined with the strength of godhood command trait is a super strong combo as one part of this allows you to issue the same command 3 times in a phase for the use of 1 command point which is a super strong mechanic which is what the list was built around. The other aspect of the command trait is that it gives the general plus 1 rend and plus 1 damage when it issues a command till end of the turn, which can make my general slightly obnoxious at potentially rend 4 and 7 damage. The artefact that I feel will be the most common is the crown of dark secrets due to the ability to potentially shut down the best hammer in your opponenets army. You pick a unit at the start of the game and if they are within 6” of your general they count as only having 1 attack. Helps when your general is a keeper of secrets, so maximising the rang of this.
How did the list play then? I myself am quite an aggressive player and I chose to play this list as an aggressive castle, pushing down the board. The Masque works really well for this with the mechanic to set up in your opponents territory 3” away from units to pressure people who out drop you taking the turn to mitigate them taking the early double against you before you have enough depravity to make your units more survivable. The other way of using it is to capitalise on deployment errors and taking off key pieces of having a good target to start the depravity train as you are wanting to get to the 36 depravity as quickly as possible to give the army the 5+ ward. In all my games the masque was my turn 1 depravity generator, popping finest hour, avoiding monsters means that it was consistently 9 attacks 2s&2s rend 1 (or 2) damage 2. Then the rest of the army was making the most of impassable terrain and setting up a tight screen of the blissbarbs and utilising the generals ability to auto 6 run all 3 units to get the maximum range out of the, all out attacking all three in the shooting phase to be 2s & 3s and in some instance triple unleash hell! The Blissbarb seekers really compliment the Blissbarb archers and are looking to do some chip damage to the main shooting targets and the unit that you are looking to gain depravity from the Euphoric Killers trait in the combat phase. Blissbarbs split firing is also great at handing out temptation dice to also try and gain more depravity or do additional damage if they decline. Its looking to pressure the table turn 1 and assert an aggressive position on the board. The Blissbarbs with the 63 shots have most likely cleared the screens in the 1st turn and the army is well positioned to unpack with a double going into turn 2. With the Speed of the Keeper and the Slickblades you are in a great position to get where you need to be and take off key pieces in the corresponding turns. The list has two great targets for the Keeper with the once per game double fight in either the Slickblades or Sigvald (depending how big his charge is). With the Epitome’s warscroll spell giving plus 1 to wound against D3 units and the ability to shut off command abilities within 3 its looking to follow those combat pieces as it essentially makes the Slickblades potentially rend 4 with the Blissbarb Seekers and the ability to shut off of all out defence. The Slickblades then become 31 (or 41) attacks 2s 2s either rend 2/3/4 depending on what you have been able to accomplish in the turn so far. With the 2” reach and potential fight twice you could have already generated the 24+ depravity so that on the second swing you are doing MWs on 6s to hit as well. There is some serious damage that can come out of this unit. Sigvald is a great hunter of units as well, due to the strike first mechanic, with getting attacks equal to the charges it is great when you role high, a lot of the time I was, this meant that I could have a great option again in the double fight as he strikes first and then the strike last is countered out and normal sequencing resumes so he would activate twice before my opponent and allowing no ward saves. Highlight was charging an unwounded Thanqoul, lifting him, piling in to an unwounded Verminlord and lifting him as well. Siggy did me proud on my way to a 4-1. The list was great at striking in waves and generating the depravity needed to summon a keeper in 4 of my 5 games.
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Allegiance: Slaves to Darkness – Damned Legion: Legion of the First Prince – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders Be’Lakor, the Dark Master (355)* – The Lore of the Damned: Daemonic Speed Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – General – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact) – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – The Lore of the Damned: Chaotic Conduit Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – The Lore of the Damned: Levitate – Aspect of the Champion: Tunnel Master
Battleline 9 x Corvus Cabal (80)* 5 x Chaos Marauder Horsemen (105)* – Flails – Mark of Chaos: Khorne 10 x Chaos Knights (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Reinforced x 1
Units 10 x Chaos Chosen (480)* – Mark of Chaos: Undivided – Ensorcelled Banner: The Dread Banner – Reinforced x 1
Behemoths Chaos Warshrine (185)* – Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh – Universal Prayer Scripture: Heal
Brett: Slaves to Darkness is currently the most played faction in AoS, Legion of the First Prince, though, isn’t being taken as often as some others. So it’s refreshing to see a very different list with a mix of units seen often and some less common ones (including BeLakor himself). Chaos Maruader Horseman and the Warshrine make a return with the more common Chaos Knights (and the OP Mark of Nurgle – how do you kill these things), Corvus Cabal and Chosen. Everything fits into a Battle Regiment to try and control priority. With 2 Chaos Sorceror Lords and Belakor, the Soulscream Bridge is a good investment to overcome the slow movement of the Chosen.
Mobile and tanky are a hard list to play against, particularly if it goes first and those chosen get to fight twice. But equally, avoid the knights and hit those Chosen hard, and this army will struggle (it’s relatively easy to take down an unbuffed Chosen unit). That’s why the Battle Regiment is such an important choice. With so few units and so few Galletian Champions, there is play to denying them battle tactics if you don’t think you can grind them down. The knights can move extremely long distances, making it harder to avoid them, though. Losing only to a Hedonites list that could both tie them up and doesn’t mind losing models (depravity baby) as well as archers (see Phil’s write up above for how he dealt with this list and the low drops). Taking both Kharadron and Gitz is fantastic. The shorter range on Kharadron and Deamonic Speed probably played into that result.
The steamroller that is Gitz doesn’t dominate the Nurgle Knights as well as they do other mounted units. And buffed Chosen on the charge with fight twice can clear a lot of chaff. 6th is a very commendable result, particularly with a unique list.
This is the top three lists for the Gallant Games AoS Store Championship, a 14 player event held in Singapore on the 7th and 8th of April. I think this may be the first time we’ve had the chance to cover an event from Singapore.
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: Slaves to Darkness – Subfaction: Host of the Everchosen – Grand Strategy: Take What Is Theirs
LEADERS Chaos Sorcerer Lord (120)* – General – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome – Spells: Daemonic Speed, Binding Damnation – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Chaos Lord on Karkadrak (220)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
BATTLELINE Chaos Knights (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne – Cursed Lance – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower – Ensorcelled Banner: The Banner of Rage Chaos Knights (460)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – Doom Knight – Cursed Lance – 2 x Standard Bearer – 2 x Hornblower – Ensorcelled Banner: The Eroding Icon Varanguard (580)* – Mark of Chaos: Nurgle – 6 x Ensorcelled Weapon Spire Tyrants (80)* Spire Tyrants (80)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
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Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz – Subfaction: Jaws of Mork – Grand Strategy: Chasing the Moon – Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig (140)* – General – Command Traits: The Clammy Hand – Moonclan Stabba – Artefacts of Power: The Clammy Cowl Squigboss (80)* Fungoid Cave-Shaman (90)* – Spells: Itchy Nuisance – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master Squigboss (80)** Skragrott, the Loonking (160)** – Spells: The Hand of Gork
Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Knights Excelsior – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Indomitable
LEADER 1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)* – Meteoric Standard 1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)* – Meteoric Standard – Aspects of the Champion: Tunnel Master 1 x Lord-Imperatant (170)* – General – Command Traits: Master of Magic – Artefacts: Arcane Tome – Spells: Celestial Blades 1 x Celestant-Prime (330)** 1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard 1 x Knight-Vexillor (120)** – Meteoric Standard
BATTLELINE 6 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (480)* 10 x Freeguild Guard (80)* – Sergeant – Standard Bearer – Drummer – Freeguild Sword and Shield 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)** 5 x Vindictors (130)**
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
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!
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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)
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.
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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)
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!
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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
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!
This article is a pilot (so to speak), if there’s enough interest and people find this informative then I’ll continue this with other factions. Let me know what you think!
Win Rate
While the most popular subfaction inside the Stormcast Eternals appears to be the Hammers of Sigmar, Hallowed Knights have the (ever so slightly) higher win rate. Both of these subfactions are inside the ideal 45-55% win range, although I’m sure some SCE players would rather that be on the other side of the 50% mark.
While Celestial Vindicators do have a 60% win rate, that’s only been driven by two players in the last month (two 3-0-2 results) and so is to early to judge.
The same goes for the Astral Templars, Tempest Lords and Anvils of Heldenhammer. There’s not enough data to draw conclusions from this, only that perhaps the fact they’re not being chosen would suggest that players believe they’ll have a higher chance of winning with the other subfactions.
However, players do appear to be struggling to get the wins with Knights Excelsior even though it is one of the more popular factions.
Only the Hammers of Sigmar have achieved five wins at tournament so far, while Celestial Vindicators, Knights Excelsior and Hallowed Knights have all also achieved 4 wins.
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Top Lists
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm) – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs
Leaders Celestant-Prime, Hammer of Sigmar (325)* Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos (300)* Knight-Relictor (140)* – General – Command Trait: High Priest – Prayer: Translocation Lord-Castellant (155)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Celestial Blades
Battleline 10 x Judicators with Skybolt Bows (400)** – Reinforced x 1 5 x Liberators (115)** – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield – 1x Grandweapons 5 x Liberators (115)*** – Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield – 1x Grandweapons
Units 10 x Protectors (450)*** – 4x Starsoul Maces – Reinforced x 1
Brett: A strong return to hero hammer, and after a year of experimenting it’s probably the best way to play Stormcast Eternals (SCE), with a very hero heavy list taking first. The list isn’t without it’s tricks however. Using a Knight Relictor vs a Lord Relictor, an uncommon choice, but when you are staying close to a particular unit – the judicators – the 6″ prayer range isn’t important. The model is more available and importantly saved the 5 points needed to make the list work. Bastian hits very hard (D4) and once per turn can inflict mortal wounds on a unit by rolling D6 against their wound characteristic, on a 6 inflicting a mortal wound. Into a Mega Gargant that’s an average of 6MW per turn. Anyone that plays 40k will recognise the Terminator block at the heart of the list, 10 Protectors. With half the models having Glaives they have +1 to save and can easily receive +1 to hit. As bounty hunters they receive a +1 to damage (D2 against Galletian Veterans). They are also inflicting 4D3 mortal wounds 80% of the time.
The Lord Castellan either stays with the Protectors (+1 to hit and +1 to Save) or the Liberators making the Liberators save on 2s with a 6+ ward near objectives. And Call for Aid means that there are 15 Liberators not 10 in this list. Even placing the judicators into Eternal Conquerors plays a roll, they will count as 30 models on objectives and attacking them exposes you to Unleash Hell. Usually they have the Relictor to translocate them to the rear, a real late game objective threat. The Celestant-Prime is a hero deleter, the trickiest part is whether to use him Turn 2 or 3. Usually in that turn Orrery will guarantee a successful charge. Without his shooting and arriving turn 3 that’s an average of 12wounds into the hero of his choice. Like Bastian he has a 4+ ward.
A very balanced list that deserves to go 5/0 it’s only real weakness is mobility. The combination of Scions and Steadfast March help a lot there as well. It was a very low scoring victory (65) indicating that board control and forcing the opponent off their game was a major part of the victory. In other words a very good general won using this list.
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Army Faction: Stormcast Eternals – Army Type: Scions of the Storm – Army Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Take What’s Theirs – Triumphs: Inspired
Brett: Another SCE list doing well, it’s only loss was to the eventual winner. In contrast to our first list this has brought some needed mobility. Interesting choices of Dracothian’s here; Tempestor’s (ranged) and Desolators (axe murderers). Tempestor’s will have an average of 4 hits from their 3 ranged attacks on top of their Dracothian’s breath attack. On top of that by using a unit of 2 for the Desolators they will almost always have an extra 2 attacks. Stormstrike Chariots are very mobile, hard to kill and their impact mortals make them dangerous to most opponents. Along with the Dracothian’s we have the Purple Sun and Krondys. The Purple sun is difficult to cast but Krondys gets a +3 to cast at his top profile making the Sun a CV of 5 and probably on the board from Turn 1. Importantly this list has 4 denies which is a big part of the current meta.
No Holy Command is included on the list but Thunderbolt Volley is likely, given the unreinforced unit of Judicators. All up a very different list to the winner with a lot of mobility but few units so a focus on killing your opponents. The lists he faced in this run up were interesting but ultimately until the last round very exposed to this combination of mobility and Mortal Wounds. Wound output into that Protector brisk wouldn’t have been enough. Well done on the 4/1 result.
Performance Against Other Factions
Stormcast success rates against other factions since the new GHB (Draws are considered 50% win and 50% loss)
Stormcast armies appear to have a great time against armies such as Cities of Sigmar, Hedonites of Slaanesh and Ironjawz. While they suffer against Disciples of Tzeentch, Kharadron Overlords and Slaves to Darkness.
Are you a long time 40k Space Marine pilot looking for a new, but familiar, challenge or someone that likes being good at everything but not spectacular? Do you long to be the bedrock on which a new world is built?
If the answer is yes then I have the solution for you. And it involves a lot of gold.
Stormcast Eternals (SCE)
These returning heroes have everything, stalwart infantry, Heroes that not only buff but also slap pretty hard, mortal wound shooting and if you want cavalry then they do it right – with dragons.
I am going to run you through a few options to get started in the faction and give you a solid base for a competitive army. SCE start collecting boxes are out of print now, they were the SCE half of the starter kits in 1st and then 2nd edition. But they are one half of the current AoS Starter sets and we will be looking at a list built from the Extremis or Harbinger Starter Sets. These lists are intended to be competitive but might not quite reach the top table. I won’t be featuring Vanguard Raptors, Fulminators or Storm Drakes. Or not yet (read to the end).
There are a lot of avenues to collect SCE models, they have been one half of the starter sets for all three (3) editions of Age of Sigmar (AoS) and featured in the Moral Realm magazine. They have the largest model range in AoS and can be allied into all order armies or take allies from all order armies.
Warhammer AoS Extremis or Harbinger Starter Sets
The Harbringer Set
The current AoS starter sets offer 2 armies, SCE and Kruleboyz Orcs as well as a core rule book and a special campaign book. The Extremis set adds some useful Terrain pieces. For SCE the set provides:
Slot
Unit
Leader
Lord Imperitant with Gryph hound
Battleline
5 x Vindictors
Praetors
3 x Praetors
Extremis/Harbinger Stormcast Eternals
The List
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm) – Mortal Realm: Ghur – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumphs:
LEADERS Lord-Castellant (155)* Lord-Imperatant (175)* – General – Command Trait: Shock and Awe – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Celestial Blades
UNITS 5 x Vindictors (130)* 5 x Vindictors (130)** 3 x Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers (240)** 3 x Praetors (165)*
CORE BATTALIONS *Battle Regiment **Hunters of the Heartlands
The Cost
To create this list I’ll start with the Harbinger set and a Warcry: Thunderstrike Stormcast Eternals. This great value box provides both a second set of Vindicators and our Annihilators. You’ll also need a Battletome. The prices by region are shown below;
SET
RRP AUD $
RRP USD $
RRP EUR €
RRP GBP £
Harbinger Starter Set
$120
$99
€80
£65
Lord Castellant
$65
$38
€31.50
£24
Warcry: Thunderstrike Stormcast Eternals
$98
$60
€50
£37.50
Battletome: Stormcast Eternals
$84
$55
€42.50
£32.50
Total
$367
$252
€204
£159
As always third party stores offer between 15% and 20% discount, which could reduce this to about $306 AUD.
(If you’re in the UK you could sign up to SCN Hobby World’s mailing list and receive 25% off the RRP – Peter)
Key Units
Lord Imperatant
Source: Games Workshop
Say hello to our General, the Lord Imperatant. While no slouch in combat he isn’t here for his combat ability so we’ve given him the Arcane Tome making him a wizard able to cast one spell and unbind an opponent’s spell. We’ve given him the spell Celestial Blades which casts on a 5 and gives a unit of your choice within 18” +1 to wound rolls. This means he can make Praetors or Vindictors hit on a 2+. But his best trick is his warscroll ability, Guided by Lighting
Guided by Lightning
Once per turn, at the end of your movement phase, pick 1 friendly STORMCAST ETERNALS THUNDERSTRIKE unit with a Wounds characteristic of 3 or less that is in reserve. When you use the Scions of the Storm ability they may be set up more than 7” rather than 9” from enemy models.
Your whole list, other than the Lord Castellant, are Thunderstrike.
He can also issue a command without using a command point once per battle on top of a handy little shooting attack and his companion animal.
Lord Castellant
Source: Games Workshop
Our second in command, he brings significant combat prowess (and a friendly gryph hound) but mostly he’s here for his Lantern.
Warding Lantern
In your hero phase either pick one STORMCAST ETERNALS unit wholly within 18” granting them a +1 to save rolls; or an enemy unity wholly within 18”, if you pick an enemy unit roll a dice, on a 2+ the target suffers D3 mortal wounds.
Drop him behind your Annihilators and they will be very annoying with a 2+ save.
Vindictors (Battleline)
Source: Games Workshop
Your basic 2 wound troop with a nifty spear giving them a 2” range and a 3+ save. They’ll lurk at the back or can be dropped in close to an enemy thanks to the Guided by Lightning. They have 2 attacks each, 3 for the sergeant (Prime), doing a Mortal Wound on an unmodified roll of 6. On average then you can expect:
Weapon
No. of Attacks
Avg Hits
Avg Wounds
Avg Damage (pre-saves)
Stormspear
11
5.5 (+1.8 MW)
3.6 (+1.8 MW)
5.4
With Celestial Blades this increases to 4 wounds plus the mortal wounds. This is equivalent to 2 ardboyz after saves.
Annihilators with Meteoric Grandhammers
Source: Games Workshop
Finally our hammer unit, these beasts cause mortal wounds when they land, charge and even die. And they hit very hard. WIth the Lord Imperatant on the Field you can place them just over 7” from an enemy unit and they can reroll the charge giving them an almost ⅔ chance of making the charge.
With the Lord Castellant to support them you can improve their Save to 2+ with 3 wounds making them much harder to remove. Shock and Awe also gives them +1 to their hit rolls when on the turn they arrive in and they are -2 rend. So if they make the charge:
Weapon
No. of Attacks
Avg Hits
Avg Wounds
Avg Damage (pre-saves)
Meteoric Grandhammer
10
8.3
6.9
20.8
With their arrival and charge contributing another 5 Mortal Wounds.
Used carefully this is something your opponent is going to have to play around. They can potentially delete a Mawcrusha in a round.
Praetors
Source: Games Workshop
Probably my favourite model of the new Thunderstrike line these are meant to be a bodyguard unit but it is a unique version of bodyguard. At the start of the battle you nominate a unit that they will protect. Everytime a wound would be taken by the unit they are protecting you roll a dice, on a 1 or 2 the wound goes through to the Hero they are protecting, 3 or 4 to the Praetors and on a 5 or 6 it is negated.
They are no slouches in combat either with a combined 10 attacks hitting and wounding on 3s and doing 2 wounds for a successful attack.
Concept of Operations
Our list is not an alpha strike monster, instead it allows you to control the board and make your opponent play to your strengths. There are 3 key feature that make the list harder to deal with and you need to keep in mind.
Hammers of Sigmar have a 6+ Ward save if they are near an objective
Scions of the Storm lets you place units in reserve and bring them on to the table at the end of any of your movement phases (so Turn 1).
Thunderstrike units inflict mortal wounds on death – for every wound killed in that Turn they roll a dice, on a 6+ that inflicts a mortal wound – a real kill me and I’ll hurt you.
For Scions of the Storm you need to have one unit on the field for every unit you put into reserve. And the Lord Imperatant must be on the field for Guided by Lightning to work. The ideal set up then is to start with one unit of Vindicators, Praetors and the Lord Imperatant on the field. The Annihilators, Lord Castellan and other Vindicators are deployed in reserves.
Set the units on the field up in cover and play to go second, your ideal start would see your opponent look to engage you and let you choose a unit to drop the Annihilators near and destroy. The Lord Castellan is there to give the Annihilators a +1 save just in case. You then have the 2nd Vindictors to drop in another round, they can’t reroll but they can still start just outside 7” from an enemy. Don’t drop them too early though – the value of the Annihilators and Vindictors increases the longer the game goes.
I would use the Lord Imperatant and the Praetors to cover one objective with the Praetors covering the Lord and the Vindictors another depending on the mission. If it was a 3 or 4 objective mission I would put all of them on the home objective.
Overall this is a flexible list that lets you get to the table with an effective force while you only need to build 18 models.
Next Steps
SCE are in a good place at the moment so you have a few options to build your list into a solid 2000 point. Another Warcry kit combined with vanguard raptors and a Knight Relictor gives you a straight forward 1985 list build on this base. But taking those same Vanguard Raptors and adding some Stormdrakes (2) or Fulminators (4) gives you a lot of mobility. If you are worried about the extra VP from the Fulminators then run them as Desolators. Lastly, there is a potentially cheaper option. AoS 3.0 was introduced with the Dominion Battlebox, this set included the same units as the Starter Sets we’ve looked at with more heroes, Vindicators and Annihilators. All up this box has 1415 points. If you look carefully you should be able to find an unsold kit or at the very least a Stormcast half and it offers a very affordable way to begin.
I’ve had many responses to my question on whether I should follow the Magazine steps or create my own using an original scheme. The opinion was unanimous in that I should create a guide for an original scheme.
Therefore I have come up with some designs below. These aren’t all original and one or two are other GW stormhost, but I thought I would include these in case people wanted a guide on those.
Below are all the schemes followed by a poll at the end.
Scheme 1 – Celestial Warbringers (GW Scheme)
Celestial Warbringers (GW)
Scheme 2 – Hallowed Knights (GW)
Hallowed Knights (GW)
Scheme 3 – Knights Excelsior (GW)
Knights Excelsior (GW)
Scheme 4 – Anvils of Heldenhammer (GW)
Anvils of Heldenhammer (GW)
Scheme 5 – Celestial Vindicators (GW)
Celestial Vindicators (GW)
Scheme 6 – Homebrew 1
Runelord Brass / Mephiston Red
Scheme 7 – Homebrew 2
Leadbelcher / Mephiston Red
Scheme 8 – Homebrew 3
Leadbelcher / Castellan Green
Scheme 9 – Homebrew 4
Pallid Wych Flesh / Stegadon Scale Green
Scheme 10 – Homebrew 5
Leadbelcher / Abaddon Black
There we have it. Ten schemes, five by GW and five by myself. All you have to do is vote for your favourite. I’m going to leave this poll pinned to the top o
