Another week trapped in the endless loop of writing about 9th. Save me GW. Free me from this torment. For every week you don't, I will torture at least one poor, defenceless metaphor to death.

At least this week some other poor, doomed fools are trapped in here with me - Lowest of Men and Falcon will be joining me over the course of this week's two-parter, because we've got a whole tonne of stuff to cover as people get their last few reps in.

Today we're looking at:

• GT Andorra & Open Ordino (major)
• Motor City Mayhem (major)
• Rocky Top Rumble 40k Major 2023 (major)
• Spring Assault at Ironweld

On Friday we're covering:

• The Bay Area Open (major)
• BayernMajor40K (major)
• Midwest Conquest GT 2023 (major)
• Gothic Games Canterbury May GT
• Heroes Of The Mid Table GT 2
• Torneo Aniversario CJM
• South Yorkshire GT

For Showdowns, via a mixture of democracy and nepotism (I am British after all) we have:

• Craftworlds vs Space Wolves at Motor City Mayhem
• Genestealer Cults vs Votann at Midwest Conquest
• Adepta Sororitas vs Craftworlds at Torneo Aniversario CJM

GT Andorra & Open Ordino

174-player, 7-round Supermajor in Ordino, Ordino AD on May 27 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Raven 🦭🦭🦭 - World Eaters - 1st Place

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

The List

Archetype

Angron World Eaters

Final Round Matchup

99 - 51 Victory against Cuervo Marcos - Dark Angels.

Thoughts

Angron's late-stage rampage across the top tables continues, here linking up with a bunch of Eightbound and a few Berserkers to rampage through the enemy. As with all World Eaters builds here, the power is heavily driven by Secondaries - this army is going to come at you at speed and count up to 45VP unless you stop it very quickly, and plenty of foes will struggle with that, as seen here with Raven's triumph.

Cuervo Marcos - Dark Angels - 2nd Place

Azrael. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Ravenwing/Desolation Goodstuff

Thoughts

Deathwing may have lost their lustre, but Dark Angels still have fantastic synergy with Attack Bikes and Desolation Marines to work with, plus some very strong characters. This build shows all of that off - it can exert heavy pressure right out of the gate when needed (particularly as it's gone low on CP spend to retain some for early bike tricks), and it's extremely hard to hide from between the speed of the Ravenwing and the indirect from the Desolation squad. As ever with Dark Angels the strong Stratagem suite also helps, and it's rounded out with an Infiltrator unit to lock in Stubborn Defiance if the opponent has no good answer for it. Well done to Cuervo for keeping Dark Angels in the conversation, something we heavily endorse here at Goonhammer towers, at least those of us who don't want their accounts deleted.

Ivan Andres - Orks - 3rd Place

Kill Rig. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Deathskulls ObSec Pressure

Thoughts

All about the pressure in Andorra, it would seem, moving on to the forces of the Waaagh next. Like World Eaters, this list can score Secondaries very quickly, and thanks to the volume of speedy ObSec models it packs it's extremely good at denying the opponent's Primary as well. That's been a winning combination wherever it has arisen in 9th, but Deathskulls are definitely among the best at it, particularly with access to extra tricks like the ObSec super mek. Powerful Transports are the final key element here, with the Kill Rigs both ensuring the list isn't insta-dead if it's across from a bunch of castellan launchers, and also providing an overwhelming Waaagh turn where opponent's can't handle it. Congratulations to Ivan for taking third.

Manel Tulla - Ynnari - 4th Place

The List

Archetype

Ynnari Shrouds and Melee

Thoughts

Yeah see this right here is another good reason why kunnin' Orks bring Transports, because boy is that a lot of Scatter Laser shots coming right at you. Loads of Shroud Runners both gives this list some early power players and also gives it a way to lay out annoying bait for the enemy - stick Shield of Ynnead on them and they're quite a pain to remove (especially with access to Wireweave Grenade as well), and that might force opponents to commit units to within the considerable reach of the Harlequins or Hellions. When those hit they hit, able to sweep units of substantially higher cost and tilting the game inexorably towards the Ynnari. Make a single mistake while trying to avoid this fate? Enjoy getting ripped apart by the Yncarne, Troupe Master or some Banshees. Ynnari have had a great run in late 9th and this looks like an especially strong example, well done to Manel.

The Best of the Rest

There were 1 more player on a 5-0 record who missed the top cut. They were:

• 5th - Jordi Macià Dekkers  - Orks: Goff pressure with Kill Rigs.

Motor City Mayhem 2023

145-player 9 round event in Michigan. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission - Secure Missing Artefacts

James "Boon" Kelling - Aeldari: Triple Phoenix Lord fiesta with a bunch of D-cannons backing them up.



vs.

Brad Chester - Space Wolves Successors: Space Wolf upgrade/Wulfen spam.

Thoughts

Two very potent lists here at the top, with out own Boon sporting his latest Aeldari concotion, using a brace of Phoenix Lords to thwart the opponent's plans and steal objectives (plus potentially force the issue on Scout the Enemy by hanging out indestructibly), a bunch of pesty Aspect Warriors and Shroud Runners to keep the enemy on their toes, then lots of D-cannons to finish things up, blasting the enemy into the depths of the warp with maximum prejudice. Said enemy here is the Space Wolves, bringing their now traditional loadout of "every free upgrade they can carry", sporting a whole bunch of missiles and melta alongside classics such as Wulfen. Brad's smashed through plenty of events with them recently, so how does this latest final look?

Secure Missing Artefacts is a bit of a double-edged sword for the Eldar here - on the one hand, it makes it quite a bit easier for them to put in a good score on the priimary without committing too many units to it, helpful in a matchup where they're at real risk of just running out of stuff, particularly if they have to go first and move out. On the other, however, it's also very tricky for them to stop the Space Wolves scoring Primary, so this has to be duked out on the Secondaries.

That's never exactly where you want to be as Eldar right now, as theirs aren't fantastic, whereas the Wolves have a variety of plans available to them that will reward them for just going high pressure and trying to body the elves off the table. Particularly with the extra clip of damage from the Long Fangs, the Eldar probably won't win a direct slugfest, and need to focus on a surgical elimination of threats as they are presented, stopping anything getting too close, keeping their own Secondaries going, and looking for any opportunities to sneakily spike the Marines Secondaries whenever given a chance.

My man on the ground (Boon) informs me that the Secondaries picked reflected this on both sides - Brad went for the aggressive pick of Banners, Oaths and Shock Tactics, while Boon chose Ritual, No Prisoners and Scout (something that can be forced pretty well with Phoenixes), letting him play a defensive game. That definitely puts a lot of weight on the first turn roll, as two of the the Marine Secondaries are far easier to disrupt in that scenario (though at least Banners is maybe a bit easier to mess with going first), and the Aeldari are at a big risk of running out of stuff if they catch a bad counterattack and lose a few units. I am told that an early Warlock explosion (buddy, same) also didn't help with this, and while the Craftworlds fought valiantly to deny the Marine charge, the fact that Brad had set up to allow for a full-blown focus on elf obliteration allowed him to claim another trophy.

Result

Space Wolves Victory - 91-72

Brad Chester - Space Wolves Successors - 1st Place

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Wulfen/Upgrade Wolves

Why it's Interesting in 9th

You would think that with all of the claws, Space Wolves would struggle to hold up all these free upgrades, but that does not seem to be an issue for them. Wolves get access to one of the nastied alpha melee threats in the game in Wulfen, fantastic mid-field all-rounders from their various upgraded melta units, and extra durable, extra reliable heavy support infantry. If that sounds like it's pretty good - yes, it is, as Brad contines to showcase with this chain of victories.

James "Boon" Kelling - Craftworlds - 2nd Place

Credit: Greg Narro

The List

See showdown

Archetype

Ulthwe Phoenix Lord Fiesta

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Peak Aeldari play from Boon here - force your opponent to make a bunch of tricky choices about how to pin down the speedy harrassment units, and then when they make the wrong choice sound the extremely loud incorrect buzzer and delete them with D-cannons while Phoenix Lords floss on objectives. Boon has explored pretty much every angle that the Craftworlds roster offers since the book landed, so it's no surprise to see him putting in a super strong performance here - great stuff!

Riley Corbitt - Adeptus Custodes & Knights - 3rd Place

Trajann Valoris. Credit: Pendulin

The List

Archetype

Custodes/Knight Pressure

Why it's Interesting in 9th

A very aggressive build here, mixing a unit of Helverins that are ideally statted for scything through Marines (thanks to jumping to S8 up close) with a bunch of small Custodes units that are tricky to shift from objectives. Having the Helverin shooting makes some of the Custodes objectives quite a bit easier to play for, and also frees up the Allarus to go for Behind Enemy Lines rather than holding the home field when needed. Bringing the Castellan's Mark also gives the army plenty of flexibility during setup, something that's especially good with the bike unit, flexing between aggressive and defensive deployment as needed. Beyond that, this list is just ready to brawl - small Warden units have a great shot at sneaking through an assault by D3 stuff and do a lot of damage on the interrupt, while Trajann and the Bike Captain are as nasty as ever. Outside of the trait choice on the Helverins there aren't any huge surprises here, but I do like that choice for allowing the army to go properly all-out against something like Brad's Wolves. Good stuff overall, and nice to see the Golden Host thriving, well done Tim.

Sam Procopio - Blood Angels - 4th Place

Primaris Chapter Master Dante. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

Archetype

Board Control Blood Angels

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Plenty of familiar sights in our final list from this top four, but with a clear tilt towards adding slightly more layered board control than normal. Three units of Infiltrators gives the army a lot of agency to determine how things look at the start of the game, and also plenty of screening for deep strike-heavy matchups. Forcing the fight to happen on their terms allows the Blood Angels to squeeze maximum value out of the Sanguinary Guard, and having smaller units of those also makes them harder to kill with some popular Blast weapons. It also lets the list put a couple of extra stings in its tail - baiting opponents forwards potentially lets Dante-buffed Attack Bikes shoot a juicy targets, while the 6" Heroic Selfless Valour Judiciar is a brutal trap to spring at a key point. Altogether a slightly more cerebral Blood Angels list than the default, and nice to see that pying off for Sam.

The Best of the Rest

The rest of the top eight cut was as follows:

• 5th - Hootie Omidvar - Craftworlds: Ulthwe D-cannon spam, packing the full nine.
• 6th - Tim Deetlefs - Adeptus Custodes: Solar Watch double Warden brick.
• 7th - Matthew Dennis - World Eaters: Invocatus Eightbound spam.
• 8th - Matt Tarantine - Black Templars: Templar hull spam, sporting two Lancers and two Reapers, plus Impulsors and a big Desolation squad.

Edit: Also shout out to Jason Kavetsky in 9th place, who took Matt's place in the top 8 as Matt couldn't make the final day. Jason was playing Astra Militarum Born Soldiers Goodstuff with a Dorn.

Rocky Top Rumble 40k Major 2023

106-player, 8-round Major in Knoxville, Tennessee US on May 26 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Falcon is in charge for this one.

Mark Perry - Space Wolves - 1st Place

The List

Archetype

A Whirlwind of Furry

Final Round Matchup

95 - 56 Victory against Kyle Trayah - Chaos Daemons.

Thoughts

The Wolf-time is upon us and woe be ye who are caught unawares. It is fitting that the man who most looks and acts like he was raised by wolves would be one to bring them yet another accolade in the waning days of this edition. I know you may think that a mean thing to say, but I once watched Mark eat 40 Rice Krispie squares in a sitting, drink his weight in sweet tea and then sit on me when I was trying to have nap so he deserves it. The man fights alligators and walks barefoot in airports, he is the closest thing we have to Werewolf by Night in the community.

Mark's list is an absolute banger, taking all the things Blood Angels try to do but then doing them cheaper and with better fire support. The juiciest meat in this list are the 3 units of skyclaws packing plasma and fully loaded sergeants are nightmares for only 110 points, and 3 units of Wolf Guard running similar loadouts to back them up are the Saiyans to their Saibamen. All 6 units punch above their weight in just about any encounter and ensure Mark is always in position to harry opposing backfield units and, if the terrain is remotely kind, create massive zones of control over the board that make Warrior Pride an easy 12-15 secondary points. There is no fear in priming that plasma if it means taking out a desolation marine or 3. The Wulfen squad is the boogeyman and a great target for Cunning of the Wolf, ensuring that opponents have to make difficult placement choices from the get-go lest they open up their backfield to a raving lunatic (the Wulfen, not Mark, he's actually pretty coherent for a lunatic).

Eliminators with Bolt Carbines and Las Fusils are deceptively fast, able to move, shoot, move, and potentially charge a unit if need be, while still providing a modicum of anti-vehicle and perhaps more importantly, anti-elite firepower. 20! Scouts are combat squadded so that the stabbiest pups hop into Land Speeder Murder Boats while shotgun equipped littermates are able to advance around the midfield or hang back in missions with more homefield objectives. The 10 Desolation marines are icing on the cake, able to fully take advantage of the Keen Senses strat to negate their to hit penalties when launching fusillades from down town.

Congrats to Mark on the big win being the only player to go undefeated over 8 rounds, a great way to top off an eventful edition.

Kyle Parry - Aeldari - 2nd Place

Credit: Arranon

The List

Archetype

Weaver Council

Thoughts

Kyle ups the speed on an Ulthwe list he's already seen some success with in Arks, paring down the bigger blocks of Windriders he had been running in favor of putting his Seer Council on Skyrunners and adding in a stock standard Light Saedath Harlequin detachment for some surgical application of force. The key pieces are still here; Karandras and the small squad of Scorpions are a great tech piece for overpowering an objective and dishing out further mortal wounds to a list, Farseer Skyrunner with the Ghosthelm relic to tear up unsuspecting units with mortal wounds or apply Doom and allow their friends to do the dirty work, Eldrad manipulates fate dice, generates CP, and allows units to perform actions and still act as normal (and steal objectives in a pinch) with Will of Asuryan, Baharroth induces rage in opponents...it's a tightrope walk of a list that does everything everywhere all at once and definitely puts opponents through their paces. Kyle's one loss was to the eventual winner, Mark Perry, in a 92-91 nailbiter.

Ryan Karrer - World Eaters - 3rd Place

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

The List

Archetype

Just Fucking Kill Them

Thoughts

World Eaters are good y'all. A mostly standard take on World Eaters with multiple squads of Eightbound backed by minimum units of Bezerkers, Chaos Spawn and Lord Invocatus to make full use of Road of the Eight Bloody Steps. Pile the Skulls is a very easy 15 victory points in every match but the ones you were going to lose anyway and The Blood God's Due is not far behind it. Really the only bits of note are the inclusion of the 2 Worthy Offering Huntsmen adding a bit of anti-vehicle firepower to try to shore up the list's main failing and a Daemon Prince with the Helm of Brazen Ire in the hopes of having a model that might just last 1 more round than it should have to take more skulls.

Brandon Vallee - Dark Angels - 4th Place

Credit: Greg Chiasson

The List

Archetype

Ravenwing Good Stuff

Thoughts

Dark Angels are the worst legion. Don't play them. Yes, I have a bias. No I don't care what you think of it.

Brandon comes in with a mostly motorized 1st legion biker gang with Sammael and dual Talon Masters in the vanguard. Deathwing command squads can admirably hold midfield and backfield objectives while a maximum coterie of Multi-Melta Attack Bikes and Land Speed Tornadoes zip around the field and blow holes in the competition. The 2 Talon Masters as always pull a lot of weight in this list. Arbiter's Gaze makes for an excellent deterrent once the Talon Master has posted up on an opponent's objective, while the other Talon Master's ubiquitous Rites of War ensures there is a long distance threat to tip the balance of primary at all times.

The Best of the Rest

There were no more players on X-1 records. No one else was good enough. They left in shame.

Spring Assault at Ironweld

32-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Wakefield, MA United States on May 27 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

William York - Astra Militarum - 1st Place

Rogal Dorn. Credit: Rockfish

The List

Archetype

Dorn Soldiers

Final Round Matchup

99 - 72 Victory against Cary Gould - Chaos Daemons.

Thoughts

And now, blasting. Rogal Dorns are very good at it, and by packing an extra transport and deep striking Scions this list minimises the attack surface that it presents early on, giving it good resilience against enemy indirect and making life pretty tough for opponents relying on S8 anti-tank alone. Opponents need a very good start on a damage race to outpace the Militarum, and this build is designed to add plenty of extra hurdles in the way to pulling that off, so is a well deserved winner in William's hands.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd (undefeated with a draw) - Pat McAneeny - Space Wolves Successors: Upgrades, Wulfen and Desolation Marines.
• 3rd - Casey Glynn - Necrons: Angry Novokh with lots of Skorpekh and a Monolith.
• 4th - Jaime Paris - Space Wolves Successors: Upgrades, Wulfen and Desolation Marines, also some scouts for that faintest hint of variety.

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