Age of Sigmar Matched Play Event was a five game event that took place at Willow Road (GW HQ) on 19th and 20th March. It saw 58 players fight it out to be crowned champion.
1st Martin Morrin – Stormcast Eternals
Martin won all five games beating Slaves to Darkness/Hosts of the Everchosen in Round 1, Legion of the first Prince in Round 2, Soulblight Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in Round 3, Beasts of Chaos/Allherd in Round 4 and Daughters of Khaine/Khelt Nar in the last round.
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals
– Stormhost: Hammers of Sigmar (Scions of the Storm)
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders
Knight-Draconis (300)*
– General
– Command Trait: Master of Magic
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Mount Trait: Thunderous Presence
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos (300)*
Battleline
5 x Liberators (115)*
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1x Grandweapons
5 x Liberators (115)*
– Heavens-wrought Weapon and Shield
– 1x Grandweapons
4 x Stormdrake Guard (680)*
– Drakerider’s Lance
– Reinforced x 1
Units
6 x Vanguard-Raptors with Longstrike Crossbows (480)*
– Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Additional Enhancements
Holy Command: Thunderbolt Volley
Total: 1990 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 87
Drops: 1
Declan: Martin has been playing for ‘a while’, and I’ve even been lucky enough to play against him before COVID at the Team Brotherhood event – his team smashed us… and you can see when this is the list taken. It’s got everything I’ve spoken about before – the Thunderstrikes with Thunderbolt Volley dish out mortal wounds 6 times a game, and the lack of teleport isn’t hurting too much with their obscene 30″ range.
These are backed up by four dragons, and a hero dragon – for when speed is necessary. It’s got all the tools, a one-drop to ensure he chooses who goes first (most of the time) and even the 87 wounds have a lot of resilience (either because of distance or armour).
The Battlescroll March patch looked to hurt two of his units (Dragons and Longstrikes give up 2 additional VPs each if they die), but that obviously did affect him adversely. Still need more playing time of course, but it it doesn’t tone this down I’m not sure it’s going to work.
It’s not possible to go 5-0 without beating some of the other top armies and Martin has done this as well – congratulations to him.
2nd Laurie Hugget-Wilde – Lumineth Realm-Lords
Laurie managed an impressive four wins and one draw, drawing against 3rd placed Andrew Currie and his Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men list in Round 5. He beat Sons of Behemat/Taker Tribe in Round 1, Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe in Round 2, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in Round 3 and tournament veteran Freddie Leggett and his Cities of Sigmar/Hallowheart in Round 4.
Allegiance: Lumineth Realm-lords
– Great Nation: Alumnia
– Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
– Triumphs: Indomitable
Leaders
Archmage Teclis and Celennar, Spirit of Hysh (740)*
– General
Scinari Calligrave (115)*
– Artefact: Waystone
– Lore of Hysh: Total Eclipse
Battleline
30 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (435)*
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Reinforced x 2
20 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (290)*
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
– Reinforced x 1
10 x Vanari Auralan Wardens (145)*
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
5 x Vanari Dawnriders (140)*
– Lore of Hysh: Speed of Hysh
Endless Spells & Invocations
Emerald Lifeswarm (60)
Umbral Spellportal (70)
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 1995 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 3 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 91
Drops: 1
Declan: Laurie HW has been smashing up tables and opponents since we were allowed to see each other again… and with lots of different armies. Here he is again with LRL with zero (yes nil) Sentinels… was he mad, or did he just click the wrong unit on Warscroll Builder? Well it seems to have worked – who knew that 30 Wardens with -1 to hit, great speed and all backed up by a caster who can’t be dispelled would be good?
The good news is that there are alternative builds, the bad news that is a lot of pikes to accidentally break – I would be in fear with my hamfists that I’d break half the army by accident. An impressive run to remain undefeated at GW’s flagship UK event.
3rd Andrew Currie – Maggotkin of Nurgle
Andrew also managed to get four wins with a single draw during their weekend, drawing to 2nd placed Laurie in the final round. Along the way he beat Fyreslayers/Greyfyrd in Round 1, Daughters of Khaine/Khailebron in Round 2, Kharadron Overlords/Barak Zilfin in Round 3, and another tournament veteran James Eveleigh and his Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe in Round 4.
Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle
– Subfaction: Drowned Men
– Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders
Festus the Leechlord (150)**
– Lore of Malignance: Gift of Disease
The Glottkin (700)**
– Lore of Malignance: Rancid Visitations
Lord of Afflictions (210)**
– General
– Command Trait: Overpowering Stench
– Artefact: Arcane Tome (Universal Artefact)
– Universal Spell Lore: Flaming Weapon
Battleline
2 x Pusgoyle Blightlords (220)*
10 x Plaguebearers (150)*
5 x Putrid Blightkings (250)*
Units
1 x Pusgoyle Blightlords – Single (110)**
1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)**
1 x Mindstealer Sphiranx (95)**
Core Battalions
*Hunters of the Heartlands
**Battle Regiment
Total: 1980 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 0 / 4
Allies: 0 / 400
Wounds: 117
Drops: 4
Declan: Nurgle are back … and they have changed significantly. No more rushing across the board faster than a stead of Slaanesh they are much more resilient than before and the disease points is a very thematic rule – they really do feel like Nurgle.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Chaos list without some cheeky allies and Andrew has gone for 2 monsters in the form of the Mindstealers. I’ve written about these in other lists and in a game where they can be used to get extra points and give access to Monstrous Takeover, they are very good value! With the Glottkin I imagine Andrew got lots of bonus VPs for doing things with monsters.
What is interesting here though, is that there are no Beasts of Nurgle in the list which I haven’t seen since the booked dropped. All the Nurgle players I have spoken too swear by them – so it’s even more impressive that Andrew has gone against conventional wisdom and remained undefeated.
Wildcard – Adam Sinclair – Kharadron Overlords
Adam finished 8th overall with a very impressive 4 wins with Kharadron Overlords! Losing only in the 3rd Round to Andrew Currie who eventually finished third. Along the way he beat Legion of the First Prince in Round 1, tournament veteran Pete Brizio and his Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar list in Round 2, Maggotkin of Nurgle/Drowned Men in Round 4 and Flesh-eater Courts/Gristlegore in Round 5.
Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords
– Subfaction: Barak-Zilfin
– Grand Strategy: Hold the Line
– Triumph: Large-calibre Augmentation
LEADERS
Aether-Khemist (90)*
– General
– Command Traits: Collector
– Artefacts of Power: Staff of Ocular Optimisation
Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit (180)*
– Artefacts of Power: Phosphorite Bomblets
BATTLELINE
1 x Arkanaut Frigate (250)*
– Heavy Sky Cannon
1 x Arkanaut Frigate (250)*
– Heavy Sky Cannon
10 x Arkanaut Company (100)*
– Volley Pistol
BEHEMOTH
1 x Arkanaut Ironclad (490)*
– Great Sky Cannon
OTHER
1 x Gotrek Gurnisson (485)*
1 x Grundstok Gunhauler (155)*
– Drill Cannon
CORE BATTALIONS
– *Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 2000/2000
Declan: 4 wins with KO – and with a little Ginger Ninja (Gotrek) as well. Okay he is Duardin, so it’s difficult to argue with his inclusion but he is a great addition to the list allowing Adam to close off large chunks of the board. Sure he only moves 4″, but if a double turn is possible his exclusion zone is huge.
I played against a similar list run by Ben at Reading Warfare last year and it’s a good mobile list which can pick it’s target, kill it and then move to the other side of the board, making it very difficult to catch.
A great result to take KO to 4-1 though and Adam should definitely be proud of the achievement.
Tournament Placings
