Apologies for being a day late - I'm recovering from a bout of COVID!

Nephilim continues to be very popular, but it's fair to say that this week mostly feels like we've hit the point where the metagame has fully consolidated around the top builds. Not entirely - a few players have made some heroic runs with novel builds this week, and we'll dig right into those - but in general most of this week's lists we've seen before. There's still more diversity amongst that set of lists than there has been in any period since January this year, and it's clearly much easier to challenge for a top spot with a build that isn't from a top tier faction, but I'm now definitely looking forward to a balance dataslate to shake things up a bit, especially as the LGT at the end of this month would be a good way to send off the metagame.

Still, as I said, even in that state we've got some new spice to look at. This week we're covering:

• TNA Open (major)
• Smite Club Open (major)
• Harbor Heresy
• Fields Of Damnation
• Broadsword Wargaming
• Wasteland Wars 40k Grand Tournament
• Grand Tournament Grotkicken
• Perils Of The Geekery GT

Once again, I've asked the esteemed Goonhammer Patrons to vote on which showdowns they want to see, and with the results in, this week I'll be covering:

• Genestealer Cults vs. Orks at the TNA Open.
• Chaos Daemons vs. Tyranids at Wasteland Wars.
• Black Templars vs. Adepta Sororitas at Fields of Damnation.

Finally, I'll once again be participating in the LGT Invitational in a few weeks time, so if you want to affect the bracket seeding, go vote here (though ISTG if you bastards pair me into Malik again...).

TNA Open

76-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Bray Park, QLD, AU on September 09 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission - Secure Missing Artefacts

Erik Lathouras - Genestealer Cult: High-pressure Custom Cult that uses loads of bikes and Rockgrinders to get in the opponent's face and lock them down, then a big swing from lots of Neophytes to annihilate them.

vs.

Marcel Maujean - Orks: Goff Pressure with Ghaz and Kill Rigs

Thoughts

One of the things that has perpetually been holding Genestealer Cults back since their book dropped is the challenge of staying on the table against the kind of power many top armies are packing, but Erik's list here (and spins on it) seem to have finally cracked that equation. Stacking all the Custom trait parts on bikes and Rockgrinders makes them extremely durable for their price tag, and because GSC have good Secondaries with fairly passive scoring options, you can use this to force your opponent's hand somewhat - if you start pressuring the mid-board, they have to respond, and against this army they'll often have to respond with sufficient force that they'll expose themselves to a big shooting blowout on the second turn when the Neophytes can show up, helped by a bunch of different shooty Characters to set up Crossfire markers as needed. Alternatively, against some lists, just the fact that all the bikes plus the Purestrains can use their pre-game moves to get right up in the opponents face straight away, shutting down their mobility and allowing the cult to lock down scoring till the mid game can be incredibly difficult to beat. Thanks to frequent CI guest contributor, Innes Wilson, for providing some input on the plan here, as he's been rocking a variant on this recently.

In some ways, Goffs aren't a bad shout to try and push back against what the Cult are doing here - certainly it means the plan of trying to tie them up with lots of bike charges is out, because the Greenskins would be only too happy to counterattack en-masse and wipe the cult from the table. What's less good for them is that, as an army, they're unusually vulnerable to all the low AP firepower the Cults are bringing to the table - just a bunch of autogun shots with all the buffs GSC can muster is really going to add up here once the Ork transports go down. The Cults are, admittedly, not fantastically well equipped for killing the big vehicles fast, but they'll pull it off gradually, and it's not like the Orks can really afford to just hang around in their rides - the stuff that isn't mounted up is going to die pretty fast (and it's very hard to meaningfully hide from this army) and if the Cults can get them down to a low board coverage, they essentially win by default. Cults can also be pretty aggressive with the Rockgrinders (which would need a commitment from a big toy to kill), and the Atalan incinerators in the Jackal units mean that if the Orks are only charging one in a turn, it has to be with something that can soak the heavy flamer overwatch.

That adds up to mean that this feels pretty favourable for the Cults, so do the Orks have any plan to flip the script? I'd wonder, potentially, about trying to dismount many of the passengers of the big transports early (as hidden as possible safely back near deployment) and sweep out with the vehicles as the tip of the spear, simply because they're what the cult is least good at killing, and if they can demand an engagement from the Cult, maybe that opens up the opportunity for a Waaagh turn where the Orks counterattack hard? It also pushes back where the Neophytes can come in, though maybe not by as much as needed thanks to their Proficient Planning upgrades. This Cult list feels seriously challenging to beat for a lot of armies, and the Orks were not able to overcome it.

Result

Genestealer Cult Victory - 97 - 64

Erik Lathouras - Genestealer Cult - 1st Place

Atalan Jackals. Credit: Corrode

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Industrial Cult Pressure

Thoughts

Mostly covered in the showdown, but it's really worth re-stating how much more diffcult this army is to shift than most GSC builds, and it really feels like it's cracked their issues in that regard. It also looks pretty strong into at least some of the top builds out there - ObSec Necrons will have their work cut out pinning targets down, while stacking a bunch of buffs and just pushing through Tyranid Warriors looks at least somewhat plausible. Great to see the Cults tuned up, and well done to Erik on the win.

Simon Gojkovic - Tyranids - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Gargoyles. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Leviathan Board Control

Thoughts

This Tyranid list is genuinely somewhat unusual, forgoing a million Warriors (trust me, 20 or more feels like a million) in favour of lots of small bugs and Spore Mine generation, with an Alien Cunning Tervigon to lock down a crucial position, and a single squad of Warriors in a Tyrannocyte to act as shock troops. That leaves it less vulnerable to being punished by units that can trade up into Warriors (or mortals), and also helps if the opponent can't deal with an army that spreads out. It does lose the upsides that big Warrior blocks bring as well, of course, and there's nothing here that's quite so able to stand on a point and look mean, but with lots of Spore Mines to chip away at the opponents biggest units, that feels reasonably mitigated. It also clearly didn't hold the army back, as Simon finished as the second undefeated player at the event.

Hayden Walduck - T'au Empire - 3rd Place

Pathfinder Team. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Mech Tau

Thoughts

Trust Australia to give as an entire podium of unusual builds - the last one being a Devilfish-heavy spin on Tau. We've seen this a bit in Farsight Enclaves before, as Devilfish are very cost efficient and provide excellent board control, but Tau Sept is new for this style of list. I suspect the big draw here is access to Longstrike (who is always exceptional) and the Focused Fire stratagem, which allows all those Fire Warriors and Pathfinders to burst a key target down when it really matters. With lots of Pathfinders in play, it's also not short on Markerlights, meaning that not having the Farsight Sept Tenet isn't as bad as it could be. Finally, being able to re-roll a hit makes all those rail rifles in the Pathfinder teams that much better. The list ends up with a strong, mobile alpha strike, good adaptability to play either Mont'ka or Kauyon, and is really good at Aerospace Relays and Decisive Action on top of everything else. Fun Tau times.

James Webster - Imperial Knights - 4th Place

Armiger Warglaives. Credit: Kevin Genson

The List

Archetype

Freeblade Lance

Thoughts

Freeblade Lance had an excellent weekend, and James leads the charge here with this strong finish. This list is very cool - it makes maximum use of the fact that Noble Combatants/Strike and Shield/Hunters of Beasts is a really great suite of traits for two squads of Warglaives and some Helverins, constructs a neat infantry sweeper out of the upgrades on the solo Moirax, and puts the opponent under maximum pressure thanks to the High Monarch Errant, which can scream its furious rage at the sky, buff all six Warglaives with Advance/Charge at once, then lay about the enemy. Maximum chivalry, and a great use of the Army of Renown.

The Best of the Rest

There were 9 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 5th - Will Milton - Imperial Knights:  More Freeblade Lance, this time with both a Crusader and an Errant (here a Herald) leading the juniors around.
• 6th - Marcel Maujean - Orks: See showdown.
• 7th - Brent Piggott - Chaos Knights: The increasingly standard Chaos Knights package of a buffed up Desecrator and a bunch of Herpetrax War Dogs.
• 8th - Jacob Warn - Tyranids: Kraken Pressure with Warriors, Raveners and a Tervigon/Termagant block.
• 9th - Wayne Russell - Death Guard: Inexorable with two big Plague Marine units and lots of shooty Daemon Engines.
• 10th - Alex Terrason - Genestealer Cults: Pretty much the exact same list as Erik (same team name listed, so presumably a collaboration on design), and came pretty close to making it a double undefeated for the Cults, only losing in the final round to Simon's Tyranids.
• 11th - Tobias Hill - Creations of Bile: Lots of infantry of various flavours (Legionaries, Chosen, Possessed, Terminators), a buffed up Daemon Prince and a Heldrake.
• 12th - Brian Lakeland - Harlequins: Light Saedath with loads of Troupes and boats.
• 13th - Michale Mientjes - Craftworlds: An unusual Vengeful/Wrath of Khaine combo with tonnes of melee aspect warriors to squeeze value from it, plus Falcons and Swooping Hawks.

Smite Club Open 2022

68-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in Mesa, AZ, US on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Daniel Olivas - Harlequins - 1st Place

Credit: Docsucram

The List

Archetype

Daniel levels up from his GT win from a few weeks back with a major trophy, showing off the brutal power that Twilight Saedath can unleash in the hands of an experienced Aeldari player. Go take a look at the Showdown writeup from the linked edition for more thoughts on the army, and well done Daniel on the win.

Final Round Matchup

94 - 60 Victory against Jason Flanzer - Necrons.

Thoughts

Don Hooson - Death Guard - 2nd Place

Plague Marine. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Archetype

Inexorable Plague Marine Spam

Thoughts

So powerful are Plague Marines now that even well-known Daemon Engine fan Don has put those down in favour of a horde of diseased killers. This list puts an enormous amount of ObSec pressure on the table, potentially overwhelming armies that are relying on D2 weaponry to get things done, and uses the assets the Inexorable provide to patch some potential vulnerabilities - Ferric Blight lets chip damage from all the Marines take out big targets if the meltaguns and melee aren't getting it done, while Ferric Miasma makes it harder for opponents to bring powerful chargers that might be able to sweep a Marine unit to bear. Add in the buffs from a Biologus Putrifier and Tallyman to provide big damage spikes when needed, and lots of Mortal Wounds coming from the Plaguecasters, and you have a very flavourful and very potent Death Guard build, and with all his practice with the faction it's no surprise Don was able to take it to second place.

Jason Flanzer - Necrons - 3rd Place

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Double C'tan Eternal Expansionists

Thoughts

A slightly unusual Expansionists build here, mostly forgoing melee threats (only a single Skorpekh unit as shock troops) in favour of more ranged attrition - Transcendant C'tan and a Plasmancer to take out infantry, and Lokhust Heavies to pop vehicles. That does, of course, necessitate cuts elswhere, and the army is relying on lots of smaller fast units for its primary play rather than having any high wound tarpits. That does mean it's relying on putting meaningful damage on the opponent while they're held at bay, as it risks crumpling a bit if it doesn't, but there are at least a lot of the small units, and they're excellent at scoring Secondaries while denying the opponent Primary. That means this list can pretty reliably rack up a scoring lead that the C'tan and Silent King can defend, and that plan took Jason all the way to the finals, where he was finally defeated by Daniel's Harlequins (which seems plausible, as Starweavers are pretty good against both C'tan damage and single shot guns).

Benjamin Jurek - Goffs - 4th Place

Kill Rig. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Goff Pressure

Thoughts

No Ghaz, no problem - just an absolute horde of brutal Goff melee killers that can be in the opponent's face double time, flattening many off the table. The number of Kommandos here creates some real challenges for armies that don't have an option for forward deploying or taking them out early, as it means the Ork threat is imminent from the word go, and really helps push back against Necron-style scoring plans. Well done to Ben on rounding out the top four.

The Best of the Rest

There were 3 more players on 5-1 records. They were:

• 5th - Joel Wilson - Hive Mind: Do not adjust your browser - this is straight up mixed Hive Mind in Nephilim, and it put in a pretty strong performance. The gimmick is basically that it gets to field an ObSec Behemoth Maleceptor and Reaper Flyrant alongside a bunch of Twisted Helix Purestrains and utility infantry. As with any mixed build this is going to be up against it on Secondaries, but it can plausibly get away with it - RND/Interrogation/Behind Enemy Lines is likely to be doable in most games, so it does have a basic plan to work with. Got taken down by Dan's Harlequins, who are a tough matchup to try and play this plan against.
• 6th - Jake Nelson - Tyranids: Leviathan Warriors and Harpies.
• 7th - Jason McKenzie - Adeptus Mechanicus: Mars Veteran Cohort with lots of Ironstriders and Ruststalkers, plus one big unit of Skitarii Vanguard. Also defeated by Dan's Harlequins.

Harbor Heresy 2022

47-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Hoquiam, WA, US on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Zak Nelson - Creations of Bile - 1st Place

Possessed. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Creations of Bile

Final Round Matchup

84 - 76 Victory against Nicolas Ohlsen-Johnson - Necrons.

Thoughts

Bile's minions continue making a pretty convincing play for best Legion, with the incredible strength of Fight on death in the current metagame (and the best subfaction Secondary) making them a serious force. Only notable new thing to call out here (which also turns up in some of the other Bile builds this week) is the presence of Warp Talons, which provide the combination of an answer to damage reduction targets (especially when they're S5) and the threat to trap enemy units with a big multi-charge - notably, each enemy unit that wants to fall back has to roll off against them separately, so with the larget unit here tagging multiple targets can make it very hard for the opponent to escape. Congratulations to Zak on a glorious victory.

The Best of the Rest

There were 7 more players on 4-1 records or better. They were:

• 2nd (undefeated with a draw) - Jason Rider - Black Legion: General all-rounder Black Legion with a unit each of Terminators, Bikers and Obliterators, Abaddon and a murder Daemon Prince.
• 3rd (undefeated with a draw) - Linton Rowan - Space Wolves Successors: The Space Wolves Astraeus and Wulfen combo returns, getting even closer to the biggest upset win of the year.
• 4th - Nicolas Ohlsen-Johnson - Necrons: Eternal Expansionists with the Silent King, Void Dragon and massive numbers of Destroyers.
• 5th - Nicholas Fromme - Tyranids: Psychic-heavy Leviathan Goodstuff.
• 6th - Steven Trimble - Death Guard: Ferryman Plague Marine spam with Mortarion.
• 7th - David Bierek - Chaos: A completely wild list with a mixed Tzeentch detachment containing Flamers and Thousand Sons Leviathan Dreadnoughts, then a Super Heavy detachment of three Dreadblade Karnivores. I was going to say "how does it work without any stratagems for most of the list" but it starts on 0 CP so whatever. If anyone saw this in action (or David if you're reading this) let me know how this one played on the table.
• 8th - Tanner Bebert - Chaos Daemons: This list has been cut off because it has lots of fluff in it (which is always cool, but uh make sure it doesn't hide the actual list), but from what I can see it's monster mash central - Be'lakor, Kairos, and some fluff text heavily implying that a buffed Bloodthirster is just below the cutoff point. Also lots of Flamers, which are pretty spicy, as readers of our review will know.

Fields Of Damnation 2022

44-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Saskatoon, SK, CA on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission - Data Scry Salvage

Riley Tremblay - Adepta Sororitas: Bloody Rose Goodstuff with big Retributor units.

vs.

Kale Greenfield - Black Templars: Maximum Aggro Templars with lots of Assault Marines, a Centurion unit and a big Crusader block.

Thoughts

This Black Templars list rules, and definitely has the tools to put serious pressure on the Sororitas here. Repentia are, of course, great at trading up into any flavour of Marines, but they need to get the jump on them to do that or will get mown down by small arms, and the sheer number of Assault Marines in the Templar force (and both units having flamers) means that the Sisters have to tread pretty carefully. The Centurions and big Crusader block are also challenges here, as the Centurions can bounce most things (Crux Obsidian on a Centurion Sergeant is legit even against Repentia), and the full Crusader Squad with Litany of Divine Protection up is an ObSec block that even the nastiest Sororitas toys are going to struggle to crack. It's also worth saying that, although the Sisters do have more strictly sacrificial tools than the Marines do, the Templars having access to Strength of Conviction means that buffing something up with a Dogmata and sending it out to flip an objective is way less reliable than normal.

Just on how the armies stack up, in fact, I'd probably hand this to the Templars, but the Sororitas have two advantages to play with here. Firstly, this objective map is much better for them trying to play this game than one with a central objective, as it reduces the impact the Centurions and Crusaders have - they have to be either defending an objective or pushing into the Sisters lines, not just dominating the centre of the table with relative impunity. Secondly is, of course, Secondaries. The Sisters have much better options for passive scoring here - Riley passed on to me that the picks were Leap/Defend the Shrine/Banners for the Sisters and Grind/Shock Tactics/Banners for the Templars. The Marine Secondaries certainly aren't bad in the game, but they do mean that the Templars have to be actively and continuously pushing at the Sororitas, as if the game goes to a stalemate the Sisters are going to win. Apparently, that was critical - the Marines had to make a big play on turn three to try and take the initiative, didn't do enough damage, and got taken out by a big swing turn involving Word of the Emperor in response. From the scoreline, however, the Marines still had a really good go at the game, and I think either side could win this in a rematch - both have real advantages to play with.

Result

Adepta Sororitas Victory - 86 - 69

Riley Tremblay - Adepta Sororitas - 1st Place

The Emperor's Champion vs. Morvenn Vahl. Credit: SRM and Greg

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Bloody Rose Goodstuff

Thoughts

I know how this works, you know how this works, I know that you know how this works, you know that I know that you know etc. Bloody Rose Goodstuff is extremely strong, and Riley is on a tear with it - congratulations (and thanks for the notes on the game).

The Best of the Rest

There were 8 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Kale Greenfield - Black Templars: See showdown.
• 3rd - Morgan Smerek - Word Bearers: Two big Bike units are the standouts here, sporting the Mark of Khorne to take advantage of the Word Bearer re-rolls as they slam into the opponent. Also Abaddon and lots of Possessed.
• 4th - Cory Burns - Creations of Bile: Loads of Possessed and loads of Warp Talons, going for max mobile melee threat, plus the mandatory big Terminator squad and Abaddon to anchor the list. Also features Accursed Cultists in the troops slot.
• 5th - Adam Green - Craftworlds: Ulthwe with lots of small units of Banshees, a big Scorpion block and a bunch of Rangers and Shroud Runners (plus of course Eldrad).
• 6th - Garret Olson - Adepta Sororitas: Bloody Rose Goodstuff with bulked up Retributor squads.
• 7th - Nathan Scrazzutti - Black Legion: Abaddon with lots of big units to maximise his buffs, then a Land Raider (!) and Vindicator as extra crunch/anti-tank.
• 8th - Devin Stewart - Death Guard: Mortarion's Anvil with 3x5 Deathshrouds and three PBCs. Came very close to going undefeated, but was pipped by Morgan's Word Bearers at the end.
• 9th - Thomas Cruickshank - Creations of Bile: Daemonkin-heavy Creations, adding a unit of Obliterators alongside a tonne of Possessed, some Venomcrawlers and a Discolord.

Broadsword Wargaming

35-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Castlebar, County Mayo, IE on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Mark Morrow - Hive Fleet Leviathan - 1st Place

Tyranid Warriors. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Leviathan Goodstuff

Final Round Matchup

91 - 27 Victory against Michael Mc Carthy - Thousand Sons.

Thoughts

Yeah this is another list where you all very much know the deal - Tyranid Warriors as Leviathan are very, very good, and provide enough of an anchor that a Maleceptor is still very strong chilling out behind them. Congratulations to Mark on the win.

Daniel Ahern - Tyranids - 2nd Place

Credit: PierreTheMime

The List

Archetype

Kraken Pressure

Thoughts

Oh hey, a different way of burying the opponent under waves of chitin - Raveners and Pyrovores galore, with the latter able to deploy from a Tyrannocyte for maximum early pressure, and some Harpies for reach. All good stuff, and earned Daniel an undefeated second place finish.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on X-1 records. They were:

• 3rd - Michael Mc Carthy - Thousand Sons: Duplicity with one big Scarab block, a smaller unit, and Magnus leading his sons to battle.
• 4th - Colin Power - Craftworlds: Another unusual Custom Craftworld build that wants to go fast and shoot things with Swift Strikes and Masterful shots, and which uses a few melee aspect units and a pair of Phoenix Lords to max out Secondaries and pressure the opponent.
• 5th - Mike Tangney - Ynnari: A spin on the Ynnari mortal wound plan, with the mandatory two planes, massive numbers of Smites and a big unit of Shroud Runners. Finishes up with an interesting piece of tech - a massive court of the Archon as a central tarpit, which I think is quite nifty, and gives this a bit more ability to brawl for a point than some iterations have had.
• 6th - Richard McRoberts - Imperial Knights: Freeblade Lance with a super-charged Herald Paladin and lots of Armigers.

Wasteland Wars 40k Grand Tournament

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Stormcrow Games, Lubbock, TX, US on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission - Secure Missing Artifacts

Isaac Zapata - Hive Fleet Leviathan: Leviathan Goodstuff with a bit more of a ranged plan than normal, bringing a Maleceptor and two shooty foot Tyrants.

vs.

Derrick Ramsey - Chaos Daemons: New Daemons get their first showdown outing with a lot of the coolest toys from the book - Be'lakor, Soul Grinders and Flamers, plus a heavily buffed Great Unclean One.

Thoughts

So, I'm going to make my thoughts on this one reasonly quick, as Derrick has sent in some notes on both his list and the game, and my musings are no substitute for hands on experience with a new and exciting Codex. What I like about the Daemon list here is that it has a lot of tools that are hard to shift - Be'lakor, the Great Unclean One and T9 Soul Grinders all take some pretty substantial killing, and the list is going to be able to neutralise stuff that overcommits into it pretty effectively, while being reslient at range to almost everything (especially if it can put Descending Shadow up). Pretty much however the game goes, it's going to be a while before the opponent feels at all like they have things under control, and even once they do wading through the Plaguebearers that will now be on objectives is a non-trivial feat. Flanking smaller units can also be easily picked off by the Flamers. All that said, I think the Tyranid list here does match up pretty well against the Daemons - one big Warrior unit is ideal, as there isn't really anything in the Daemon Army that can body check it (even Be'lakor struggles with the Leviathan Transhuman). That feels like it lets the Tyranids do a better job of leveraging their attrition tools - but I'll hand over to Derek to tell the story:

Derrick: I’d playing Daemons for the better part of 8th and 9th - until Nephilim ruined it for me and I switched to other factions. When the book was announced for release and I realized it was going to make the cut off for this GT tough, I switched gears from running Deathguard back to proper Daemons. Because this event had player placed terrain rules that required ruins to be 6” apart *in order to be more equitable to knight sized models), I looked and saw that a monster mash style list would be able to get around the board well so started with that.

My first test lists were pure nurgle, running 3x Soulgrinders and even 2 GUO at some points. Plaguebearers felt more like a tax than a resource, and I went back to the drawing board and looked at what I had on the shelf/pile of shame. While I was used to running 10-15 Beasts of Nurgle, I opted out of this route and considered the Drones as well. Ultimately, I saw that Be'lakor was very much a bad matchup for so many armies (Harlequins especially), and I decided that I would use him in a Supreme Command in order to get access to all the Warpstorm abilities. This also meant I was not taking his or any Warlord trait - but that my other detachment could be mixed Daemons. I opted for a patrol to lessen the Plaguebearer tax, because I didn’t own or couldn’t get the pinks/blues/brims in time.

Two units of PBs gave me enough backfield obsec that wasn’t going to melt to indirect or incidental attacks from the things that could reach them, but if anything substantial ever got to them, they would die fast. I knew that I was playing a game of table my opponent with maximum pressure- and I had a clock of 4 rounds to do it, so I could score enough primary to stay ahead. This was highly intentional, as the lists I was expecting to be at the top tables at the end of day two were Necrons, Nids, Quinns, and Tau. I utilized both the GUO with the Corruption relic and Be'lakor to put on early pressure or go for first turn charges that put me in good positions. Since they can’t hide, I was using a strategy of threat saturation, where opponents had 2 Soul Grinders and 2 big Daemons intheir face to force them to split shots - which is much less effective. I usually deep strike the 2 units of 5 Flamers and the Khorne Daemon Prince to help provide follow up pressure.

As it was a 32 player 5 round event, only one player would end up 5-0, so I didn’t focus as much on the scores as I did just getting a win, which meant I scored in the 80s for most of my wins. However I faced Isaac and his Tyranids in the last round. One of my 5 pre-GT tests was vs. this list and it beat me handily that first encounter. Leviathan Nids just overpowered me with better movement, more obsec, better shooting, psychic, and melee even. There wasn’t a single phase of the game that I could outclass him in, and his list also meant I was strapped for good secondaries. I took Reality Rebels for all of my matches, and for most I took a Psychic secondary (Interrogation or Warp Ritual), but couldn’t risk it against Nids with their -1 to cast and many Denies.

Because he had 93 wounds for No Prisoners and I’ve seen him add more models with strats, I figured that would be around an 8-9 point secondary but I was destroyed by overwhelming firepower and a ton of Mortal Wounds for which demons have no protection. Be'lakor was cursed with terrible dice rolls, such as failing a re-rolled 6” charge and then whiffing into warriors with 5 missed attacks and then failing ALL of his saves on the strike back. I shot his Harpies with the Soul Grinders and just failed to ever do much to them. The Flamers came down, and did some damage and picked up some RnD points for me- but ultimately had little impact other than killing a few Gaunts/Gargoyles. Finally, the GUO whiffed into the hive tyrant and was murdered for his time, despite being nearly fresh. The dice rolls were horrendous over and over, but my opponent also just played the game a lot better, with an oppressive army that countered mine in almost every phase of the game.

In terms of general list thoughts, my plan for Warpstorm was mostly to get at least 3 for turn 1 to get a -1 to hit with Descending Shadow, and then on turns 2-5 I would hope for 4 and try to use both the Nurgle and Hhorne ones that do Mortals to nearby units on a 6. This was highly effective against many armies such as Harlequins and Necrons. I had the entropic Knell on my poxbringer, and it was ineffective at doing anything for all 5 games. Would not recommend it. The Khorne Deamon Prince was clutch in a few games, but Belakor was murdered quickly in most of my battles so was not able to pop out from Warp Logus to get 6” charges like I had planned.

The GuO killed Silent King in one round by himself -  Shooting, Psychic, and charge strat was helpful. Most games he lived, and was able to bully points in mid. Almost any other greater Daemon would have probably done better though. Flamers were mostly responsible for psychological warfare advantage as everyone was so afraid of them, as to make a lot of bad moves to avoid them.

Soulgrinders were amazing, did work in every game and lived for most all of them. Because of the terrain rules, they were able to get around to most places. Nurgle was key here and they tanked melta/fusion shots well and almost all other anti tank that were thrown at them. Sword is much better than a claw. Finally, Despoilers of reality is not as bad as people say- on missions like Scouring it was basically an auto 8, with a chance for a max.

I myself will admit my list is jank - partially built on what I owned and could paint (the Be’lakor was painted in two hours the night before the event, and I got compliments on stream for it). Pinks might have been better than PBs for some matchups- the PBs did have some use, but overall the troops for Daemons are not great at holding spots in the open, regardless of which ones you use. Nurglings are pure trash now, which saddens me because I own 30. They need obsec back, and/or getting to fill slots. I tabled almost all my opponents quickly and without hesitation, but when facing Nids - I had no chance.

Wings: Thanks for the detailed breakdown, and it's really interesting to hear what's working and what isn't. I hadn't spotted the trick of double-stacking the AoE Mortal options from Warp Storm, and I can see that it would be backbreaking for go-wide lists. Definitely agree that Daemon troops feel a bit too cautiously priced in general, and hopefully they'll get some improvements in the future. I should also say, an 84-69 defeat is a lot closer than you make it sound!

You can also see several of Derek's games on the Wargames Live Stream from the weekend, available ">here.

Result

Hive Fleet Leviathan Victory - 84 - 69

Isaac Zapata - Hive Fleet Leviathan - 1st Place

Maleceptor. Credit: Rockfish

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Leviathan Goodstuff

Thoughts

A nasty spin on Leviathan here, forgoing the normal Flyrant for pure, grindy damage output. That means that if an opponent can't crack through the wall of Warriors then they're very reliably going to run short of stuff, especially if (like in the Showdown) the opponent is vulnerable to Mortal Wounds, which this list has in spades. Another reminder that Tyranids can destroy you in a whole bunch of ways, and an excellent performance from Isaac.

The Best of the Rest

There were 5 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Matthew Casey - Harlequins: Light Saedath with lots of boats and 3x3 shooty Skyweavers.
• 3rd - Michael Mckibben - Harlequins: Pretty much same again only with 3/2/2 Skyweavers.
• 4th - Derrick Ramsey - Chaos Daemons: See showdown.
• 5th - Michael Fielding - Death Guard: Mortarion's Anvil with lots of Daemon engines and the big boy himself.
• 6th - Richard Mendoza - Tau: Farsight Enclaves heavy on Crisis Suits, Commanders and Sun Sharks.

Grand Tournament Grotkicken

31-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, DE on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Christian Breuer - Thousand Sons - 1st Place

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

The List

Archetype

Cult of Duplicity

Final Round Matchup

96 - 67 Victory against Patrick Schend - Harlequins.

Thoughts

Mostly your standard double-Scarab duplicity builds (with the Seeker After Shadows Tzaangor, a lock for a lot of lists in Nephilim), with the small extra spice that all of the Rubric units are packing flamers, which is a nasty extra surprise for anyone planning to keep infantry alive (and probably great in the final round against Harlequins).

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on X-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Ben Stevens - Imperial Knights: Freeblade Lance with an Errant and Paladin, the latter picking up Wisdom of Nobility from Master of Lore to allow Bondsman effects to be chained.
• 3rd - Patrick Schend - Harlequins: Light Saedath with one big shooty Skyweaver unit, and two small melee ones for objective play.
• 4th - Ruben Paul Goldmann - Creations of Bile: All the normal goodies plus Abaddon.
• 5th - Phillipp Wegener - Chaos Daemons: Be'lakor and a big Bloodthirster in one detachment, then Tzeentch casters and Flamers in the other, making sure to unlock the Tzeentch Warp Storm effects.

Perils Of The Geekery GT

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Shawnee, Kansas, US on September 10 2022. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

John Indellicate - Tyranids - 1st Place

Credit: BuffaloChicken

The List

Archetype

Leviathan Warrior Spam

Final Round Matchup

91 - 61 Victory against Kyle Lamperez - Tyranids.

Thoughts

John puts up another GT win with his extra board control-tastic spin on Leviathan Warriors. No Hive Tyrants, only bodies, just so many bodies.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Clint Eubanks - Imperial Knights:  A final showing for Freeblade Lance (a good week for that plan), this time on the "one big Paladin" plan.
• 3rd - Robert Bishop - Necrons: Shooty Eternal Expansionists with a full Lokhust block and a pair of Doom Scythes, then lots of Wraiths, some Skorpekh and the Void Dragon to play for position.
• 4th - Jeremy Capko - Space Wolves: Astral Claws as Warded/Whirlwind Wolf Successors, taking a bunch of Redemptors and Wulfen Dreads, Wolf Guard, and Huron in command.
• 5th - Benjamin McCarthy - Craftworlds: Transport-heavy Hail of doom, with a trio of Wave Serpents ferrying Avengers into battle.

Wrap Up

I'll be back next week in the normal Wednesday slot, so see you then to find out if any other spicy new builds break through!

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