As promised yesterday we are back, bringing you even more list review content from a blockbuster weekend. Unfortunately, scheduling issues have stopped JONK being able to join in, but Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones has stepped up to join me once more, and we'll be covering:

• A quick follow up look at Mark Perry's list from Orlando, because apparently GW placed the top four out of the undefeated players after the semi-finals, which isn't reflected in BCP (and also means that Jack Harpster should have been listed as 3rd).
• The Flying Monkey major.
• The Wargames for Warriors major in Utah, which Rob will be covering.
• The Your Hobby Place GT.
• The Auckland GT

One more quick follow up from yesterday - astute readers will have noticed that elf numbers seem to be up and the dominance of Ad Mech is down a bit. That had been my impression coming out of collating the lists, and I have thus consulted with the almighty stats bird that rules over 40kStats to check in on the win rates. Currently Drukhari and Ad Mech are essentially neck-and-neck at around 64% win rates, with Ad Mech a tiny fraction ahead. That's certainly an improvement in health on where they were, and the trajectory is in the right direction, but we'll have to see if new books arriving does anything to shift it further. If you love digesting stats, make sure to check in here next week too, as we'll be publishing an updated meta analysis digging into all sorts of juicy metagame details.

WIth that out the the way, lets get into today's lists.

Orlando - Followup

Mark Perry - Aeldari - 4th Place

Credit: BuffaloChicken

The List

The Standout Features

• A spin on the Aeldari/Drukhari mixed builds that's highly adapted for the GW terrain.
• Shadow Weavers for days.
• Big Reaper unit maximises Fire and Fade and Guide value.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Craftworlds/Drukhari is a real rising star in the metagame, and we've seen plenty of spins on this, but this one definitely has some unique choices in it. For my money, that's down to it being very highly tuned to the GW terrain setups, which are notable for providing lots of places to hide units, especially INFANTRY, which can stage themselves ready for a melee strike within the mid-board ruins. With that in mind, going absolutely ham on Shadow Weavers makes a lot of sense - you can easily and perfectly hide lots of them on your side of the table by putting them right up to the edge of the Obscuring area, and they don't give a damn about opposing forces being either hidden or in Light Cover (thanks to Masterful Shots). The list shows off a further concession to the terrain in the Shining Spears with Withdraw. These can do a couple of things on the maps - obviously they're pretty good for zooming over LOS blocks and taking stuff out in melee, but the very sharp Obscuring borders increase the value of Withdraw too, as you're more likely to be able to use it to pull out to somewhere that's safe from reprisal.

The final unusual unit that benefits from terrain is the Dark Reapers, though for them it's more of a two-edged sword, as obviously the ease of hiding stuff helps stuff hide from them. Because of the way the GW terrain is built though, being able to put your base onto the perspex, shoot, then Fire and Fade off can give you a significant boost in sitelines (while again staying safe). In addition, having them in the list is a huge asset if you run into opponents that can't easily hide on the maps like Knights, where Reapers are going to rack up massive damage with relative impunity, so having that bigger hammer definitely looks like a strong meta call. I'm not certain I'd go with this set of units if I wasn't playing on a very specific table setup, but for the GW tables I think this is a fantastic detachment.

The Drukhari stuff is much more standard for this kind of build, albeit with fewer points to play with than normal. With that in mind, it's been turbo-optimised down to pack in as many Raiders-full of trade-up units as possible, three Incubi squads and two brutal murder characters. The Shardnet/Impaler choice on the Succubus is another interesting one that's presumably aimed at at the expected metagame - she trades the raw infantry-levelling power of the Tryptych Whip version for being much, much more dangerous into large targets like Knights, and also adding the harrassment value of more reliably trapping people with boosted No Escape, potentially helpful if she can get amongst a backfield gunline of exactly the type this list is sporting.

Unique terrain setups throwing up unique builds is part of the fun of covering 40K, and Mark deserves big congratulations for piloting this to fourth place (and our apologies for denying him his due yesterday). With the terrain now more of a known quantity among the community, I can't wait to see what players come up with for New Orleans and beyond.

Flying Monkey (Major)

Matt Root - Drukhari - 1st Place

The List

The Standout Features

• Cronos and trade pieces earn Matt another Major win.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Sometimes you just don't need to mess with perfection, and that holds true here. This is the build that Matt used to win the Renegade Summer Meltdown, and this weekend he's picked up another big trophy by taking down an absolute nailbiter of a final against Dan's Orks. You can find Boon's writeup of this list's last outing in our coverage of the previous event, and massive congratulations to Matt on another win.

Matt Evans - Adeptus Mechanicus - 2nd ✪ Place

Pteraxii Sterylizor. Credit: Pendulin

The List

The Standout Features

• Planes and serried ranks of Skitarii sweep the battlefield in this hyper-optimised list.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

You may have noticed by now that Ad Mech have some tremendous datasheets, and one of the things that enables is builds like this - hyper-streamlined builds that take a small roster of units and use them to mercilessly crush the opponent. This build sports six planes, eighty odd Skitarii infantry and a scattering of Characters and objective utility units and that's it - and it's terrifying. Can't handle six extremely deadly aircraft soaring around the table blasting/bombing stuff? You're in trouble. Can't deal with 80 Skitarii opening fire after spending turn 1 on a 2+ save from the combo of Protector Doctrina and Shroudpsalm? Also very bad news for you. By essentially only opening up two target surfaces (planes and high-save horde) the list forces opponents to have come to the table with a good answer to at least one of them, ruthlessly punishing those that don't, and it makes good use of the array of traits and relics Ad Mech have access to to shut down potential weaknesses. Bully charges will have minimal impact thanks to both the Artisans upgrade and Programmed Retreat being in the list, and anything trying to rely on hit modifiers or similar will get blown to bits by a squad buffed with the Raiment of the Technomartyr (and that unit will also be able to fully exploit the new version of Galvanic Volley Fire by ignoring move/shoot penalties if it's a Ranger unit, or use the Magi trait for some extra reach if Vanguard).

Ad Mech being tough to deal with is no surprise, but this list is noticeably hyper-optimised even by their standards, taking a well-deserved second place finish for Matt.

Charlie Andre - Drukhari - 3rd Place

Credit: Wings

The List

The Standout Features

• Drukhari goodstuff earns Charlie another podium finish.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Nothing too surprising here - Charlie Andre is one of the season's breakout stars, putting up repeated strong finishes with Dark Angels and Drukhari, and that sure is a mean looking Drukhari list up there, bringing together all the tools needed to hit hard and fast while scoring highly on objectives. I think it's fair to say that Drukhari are having a good go at reclaiming their crown at the top of the metagame from Ad Mech now that nerfs have settled in for the latter, and builds like this remain the kind of thing you have to have a plan for.

Dan Sammons - Orks - 4th ✪ Place

Dakkajet. Credit: Rockfish

The List

The Standout Features

• Freebooterz bring some truly appalling damage dealing capabilities to the table.
• Dakkajets and Squigbuggies ensure the opponent has nowhere to hide from early destruction.
• Two super-tough tanky characters and ObSec-on-demand infantry lock in board control.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

We saw Freebooterz in some early action last week, and this list definitively shows that that wasn't a fluke. Apparently we now live in a world where the Dakkajet, of all things, is a serious metagame contender, and that's because in a build like this that also packs a whole bunch of shooting that ignores LoS and has the ability to call a Speedwaaagh, it enables a critical mass of early pain. Ork accuracy obviously isn't up to much normally, but when a Speedwaaagh and Competitive Streak are both up each plane is shooting 42 S6 AP-2 shots on BS4+, which racks up some spectacular hurt against a wide variety of targets. Even double-buffed Skitarii on a 2+ can expect to lose 9 models a go to this onslaught, and thanks to having good AP it's very lethal into most flavours of Marines, and S6 lets it cut through Raiders with brutal efficiency. Back that up with a terrifying volley of hurled squigs, and lots of armies are going to take an incredible hit right out of the gate when playing against this army, and hiding mid-field is going to be way harder than normal too. This list faced off against an Ad Mech horde in round 5, and from people watching the stream I'm told it took out ~75 Skitarii turn 1, which is absolutely unreal compared to what anything else out there can manage. Anti-horde Mortals from the Burna-bommer obviously helps too.

So, it deals atrocious quantities of damage and the units aren't brittle in return, either. If the opponent has lots of big guns and those either get first strike or survive till turn then sure, some of them are going to die, but thanks to Ramshackle mid-tier guns and many popular melee choices are awful at taking the buggies out. There's also a hard core of sterner stuff waiting beyond the first layer in the form of the characters. The Deffkilla trike sticks an invulnerable save and the ability to just run people down for Mortal Wounds on top of Ramshackle, while the Squigboss is sporting the full tanky build, which very few enemies are going to be able to cut through. With the Trike also sporting the Badskull Banner to switch off opposing ObSec, and supporting units of Stormboyz being able to switch ObSec on with Get Da Loot, the list also ends up with a potent ability to flip key objectives if an opponent tries to out-score it before they're blasted off the table.

Warbikers (another source of fast Dakka weaponry and good for objective play), Scrapjets (a solid core of heftier anti-tank) and Mek Gunz (cheap extra damage out of strat reserves) round the list out and readers - I'm pretty sure this is the next build we're going to be spending months getting big mad at. It's a noticeably different kind of wild than we've seen out of Ad Mech or Drukhari, but just as terrifying in its own way (and as mentioned, came within 2VP of winning the whole event. Congratulations to Dan for unleashing the power of the Speedwaaagh.

The Rest of the Best

Five more players finished on 5-1 records. They were:

• 5th - Ben Neal - Dark Angels: Spicy stuff going on here, showing off yet another new spin on Dark Angels. The mandatory Bodyguarded Talonmasters are present and correct, but they're backed up by a mix of Deathwing Bladeguard MSUs, Eliminators and VolCons, giving a much wide threat profile than you normally see, with the more common Plasmaceptor block and Azrael rounding things out.
• 6th - Zaak Kerstetter - Imperium: Apparently a bunch of Custodes Dreadnoughts just isn't enough guns for Zaak, because he's dipped into Astra Militarum to bring a couple of Full Payload Manticores and the cute choice of Harker along for support.
• 7th - Tim Doran - Salamanders: Amidst all the filth and horror that is the top tables right now, Tim brings along Salamanders to do what they're best at - showing up with a fairly innocuous looking goodstuff list and putting up a great finish thanks to how adaptable they are. Land Speeders with multi-meltas are some interesting tech to add a bit of extra reach to the list, and at only 10pts more each than Attack Bikes now I can definitely see the argument in a faction that's less reliant on CORE for re-rolls.
• 8th - Colin Kay - Orks: Turns out that if you add new Ramshackle  and access to a Great Waaagh  from Ghazghkull to the triple Kill Tank list it looks even nastier than it did already!
• 9th - Connor Haugen - Drukhari: Drukhari goodstuff with a heavier than normal Hellion contingent.

Wargames for Warriors Major

Wings has called me in for help on this one so buckle up people, I am about to give you a glimpse into the near future with this event.  The new boogie man on the table is now Orks and they so far have not disappointed.

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Rich Kilton - Orks - 1st Place

Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy. Credit: Rockfish

The List

The Standout Features

• Maximum Squigbuggies
• The Beastboss on Squasaur
• Triple Deffkoptas
• Two units of squighog boyz
• No dakkajets

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Here's some more of that rising Ork dominance we foreshadowed yesterday. Rich's list makes full use of the greatly improved Squigbuggies in the new book and their ability to toss out mortal wounds, with support from a trio of of the improved deffkoptas. One of the most interesting things about this list is what's NOT here rather than what is - the lack of Dakkajets shows that there's another perfectly viable build available to the new Orks, and that's typically a good sign that an army is one of the game's stronger factions. There's some decent speed in this list but it's not focused on calling a SpeedWaaagh! and is instead opting for the normal variety to put a ton of smaller Ork units into the opponent's face at the right time.

The two MSUs of Squighog boyz play into this as well, giving the army a unit of fast, durable models that can quickly close gaps and dish out some real damage with the ability to advance and charge, especially when you factor in the Evil Sunz boost. The list also packs three small units of Kommandos, though two of these are in the Deathskulls detachment, which helps them make the most of the trait.

Jordan Gledhill - Adepta Sororitas - 2nd Place

Credit: Starvolt

The List

The Standout Features

• A trio of Penitent Engines
• A single Bloody Rose detachment
• Three big units of Sacresants
• Kyganil and Stern for some extra mortal wounds and anti-Chaos firepower

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Jordan's Sororitas list goes all in on the Bloody Rose combat bonuses, running a single Battalion Detachment with the goal of maxing out its melee prowess.  Vahl and Celestine both return here, backed and protected by 30 Sacresants, but otherwise this particular list is much more of a glass cannon than the one we've seen from John Lennon, trading Rhinos and some slower forces (and the list's "trap door spider" style of play) for a much more aggressive force of melee combatants that crosses the table on foot. Said footsoldiers receive support from a host of characters, including a Dogmata, Canoness, Hospitaller, and Repentia Superior.

Ben Jurek - Orks - 3rd Place

Wazbom Blastajet. Credit: Rockfish

The List

The Standout Features

• Three Dakkajets plus a Wazbom Blastajet
• Max Squigbuggies
• A pair of Mek Gunz
• A trio of Megatrakk Scraptjets

Why it's Interesting in 9th

On the other end of the current Ork list spectrum is this list, which is very similar to the Dan Sammons list we already discussed. The idea here is still to toss out a SpeedWaaagh! with the Warboss on Wartrike and use that in conjunction with the jets to obliterate opponents. Unlike Sammons' list, Ben trades a Burna-Bommer for a Wazbom Blastajet, which has fewer guns but packs a much heavier punch with the ones it has, making it a better option against vehicle-heavy metas, particularly since the jet's two tellyporta mega-blastas are high enough strength to push through Ramshackle.

Preston Tomes - Chaos Space Marines - 4th Place

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

The List

The Standout Features

• Two Lords Discordant
• Two Lords of Skulls
• Some additional Daemon Engine support

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Preston takes fourth with a fun take on the Iron Warriors Triple Lord of Skulls list, trading out a single Lord of Skulls for two Defilers and another Lord Discordant, plus a larger number of ObSec bodies to capture and contest objectives. The net result is a list that's more versatile - the Lord Discordants can pair with the Lords of Skulls to give you some ability to split up if you need, but most of the time you'll want to stay by the Cursed Earth security blanket of the Master of Possession - but has less redundancy. The Defilers are a pain if they aren't destroyed but individually aren't as tough or deadly as the lord of skulls, particularly when it comes to shooting, and losing a Single Lord of Skulls too early can break the list. The upside is that it can go much wider than a typical lord of skulls list, using the cultists to hold backfield objectives and the Raptors to threaten objectives far afield or just jump around scoring Retrieve Octarius Data or Engage on All fronts, since an opponent will be hard-pressed to ignore the Lords of Skulls in order to kill some raptors.

The Rest of the Best

Three more players finished on 5-1 records. They were:

• 5th ✪ - Benjamin Cromwell - Necrons: Benjamin takes a bit of a different approach, making a go of using Ophidian Destroyers to achieve results.
• 6th - Edward Green - Imperium: Edward's list mixes a Skitarii-heavy admech force with knights.
• 7th - Derek Holder - Adeptus Custodes: Derek's Shadowkeepers list opts for more bodies and a Caladius over triple Telemons.

Your Hobby Place GT

All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Josh Shiben - Adeptus Mechanicus - 1st Place

Adeptus Mechanicus - Ironstrider Ballistarii
Credit: Pendulin

The List

The Standout Features

• AdMech Mars fun, with a bit of extra close-range punch.
• Technoarchaelogist and Battle-Sphere Uplink keep the main Skitarii units flexible.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

As mentioned at the start of the article, Drukhari seem to be pulling level with Ad Mech post-nerf, but that doesn't mean that Ad Mech aren't still kicking ass and taking names, and here we see them pick up another event win. What's definitely noticeable is the post-nerf drift towards Mars - while Lucius' trait didn't change too much, Mars' relative value has still increased substantially because it's now uniquely excellent at supporting Ironstriders, whereas before it merely gave them a marginal extra bump. In addition, Mars Rangers can put the new version of Galvanic Volley Fire to work in combination with Wrath of Mars, and in this build you see specific support for that via the inclusion of Battle-Sphere Uplink, which allows a Ranger unit to fully unleash hell while on the move (and even potentially while performing an Action thanks to the presence of a Technoarchaeologist).

Rangers aren't the only good user of Wrath that's here of course - either the large Infiltrator unit or the Pteraxii can both rack up plenty of mortals from it, and having three different potential sources makes it very hard for the opponent to hide their most precious toys. Going pretty big on more elite Skitarii is also probably the most unique thing about this build - whether Infiltrators, Sterylizors or Ruststalkers are best at taking out a specific target it has them up its sleeve, and packing all three gives the army considerable punch up close. Ultimately what we have here is still AdMech doing AdMech things, but it's an especially flexible and trick-laden version of that, and congratulations to Josh for using it to overcome his foes.

TJ Lanigan - Nurgle - 2nd ✪ Place

Great Unclean One - Credit: RichyP

The List

Note: This list needs to lose the Plague Skull, as in 9th books you can only use the extra relic stratagem for your warlord's faction. I don't think that changes much for the analysis, as it's very much a "nice to have" relic.

The Standout Features

• A different, far more disgusting spin on Daemons and Death Guard.
• Plague Drones trade durability for mobility as a secondary tarpit.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

With the slight reduction in how badly Enriched Rounds counters them, Nurgle Daemons blast back to an undefeated finish here in TJ's hands. This list has a similar basic plan to some of the Daemon builds we looked at yesterday, in that it has tools to gum up the mid-board while attrition damage from Plagueburst crawlers racks up (all while Epidemius provides ever more gifts), but the difference here is in just how sticky (in many senses of the word) the mid-board tools are, including the return of Beasts of Nurgle. These were hot stuff in early 9th, with anything up to 18 being seen in lists, but at this point in the edition they don't project quite enough threat, and with that in mind trading the second full unit out for Plague Drones makes a bunch of sense. These aren't that much less durable than Beasts, being down a wound apiece (and importantly still being north of the point at which a D3 weapon can one-shot them), and the mobility you get in exchange is pretty reasonable, as they're substantially faster and have FLY. They're also a bit more reliable as damage dealers, always swinging with at least four D2 attacks each plus their swords rather than the random numbers out of the Beasts (though admittedly without access to the MW strat). All this also makes them a great target for Virulent Blessing, as you can reach out for a big hit at a crucial moment.

For anchoring the board, these two big units are joined by a buffed up Great Unclean one, who is just a massive pain to kill through Revoltingly Resilient, especially with hit penalties from the Plaguefly Hive as well, which helps avoid him being detonated by some of the melee combos AdMech can rack up. He's also unusually mean on the offence thanks to bringing the powerful Effluvior relic, which is going to catch out people used to largely ignoring GUOs, and is also very strong against hordes thanks to its damage spillover.

All-in-all, what you see here is a good snapshot of how things have evolved over time in 9th - early in the edition you could kind of get away with builds that just filled the mid-board with walls of plague-encrusted flesh, but as damage capabilities have increased and the mechanics of end-game scoring have changed you need to be able to be a bit more pro-active. This list shows how you can update a fairly classic build to do that, so congratulations to TJ.

Stephen Fore - Adeptus Mechanicus - 3rd ✪ Place

Adeptus Mechanicus - Serberys Raiders
Credit: Pendulin

The List

The Standout Features

• More Mars fun.
• Cuts Characters and Troops to the bone in order to go big on power units.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Realistically you know and "love" the toys that are on show here at this point, but this build does sport some unique choices. Notably, it's a very unusual example of a build that completely passes up on any large Skitarii blocks, and with those out the way doesn't bother with any Tech Priests for buffing either. Instead, the bare minimum character loadout plus just enough Skitarii to ensure ROD etc. come along, and all the rest of the points are plowed into big exciting toys. That punishes opponents who've teched for Ad Mech by increasing the anti-horde tools in their list, as this list has neither the huge blocks of troops nor the Infiltrators/Ruststalkers that those are at least ok against (thanks to them still being T3). What massed models are here can easily hide themselves (either with their pre-game move or by going into Deep Strike), minimising the early damage this build takes, while the presence of four planes and a Skorpy D ensure that there's no escape from the big damage it wants to throw out in return. Wrath of Mars on Serberys Raiders does, also, continue to be extremely horrific and a huge nightmare for lots of armies to play against.

The fact that the faction can comfortably pivot to avoid the counters to its early builds really shows off the depth of power that Ad Mech have access to, and Stephen has put togehter a very nifty concoction here that keeps plenty of AdMech's strengths while giving the opponent far fewer angles to fight back. Nice work.

Mate Csaszar - Drukhari - 4th Place

Credit: Wings

The List

The Standout Features

• Turbo-charged Incubi via a Black Heart-lead Realspace Raid.
• Massed chain-snare Raiders and a bunch of Fight Last effects make the list an incredible grind to deal with up close.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

This list takes lots of popular Drukhari tools and puts them together in a somewhat unique way with a singular goal in mind - absolutely dominating the Fight Phase. To achieve that, it's sporting the following:

• Turbo-charged Incubi - there's lots of them and they've got Advance and Charge turn 1 thanks to being in a Black Heart Realspace Raid.
• As many Fight Last effects as possible - as well as Drazhar and the Incubi getting support from grisly trophies, the list has both an Ancient Evil Archon and Vexator Mask Haemoculus.
• Massed Black Heart chain-snare Raiders.

The last one is probably the thing that needs a little explanation and here it is - sticking chain-snares on Black Heart Raiders turns them into semi-legit melee threats, because from turn two they're sporting 6 WS3+ S7 AP-1 attacks, with Blade Artists for extra melee punch and a hit re-roll each. With seven of the damn things in the list that's a pretty hefty amount of damage over time, and it gives the army an extra source of pressure in situations where it doesn't necessarily want to commit all its infantry, or a way to make the boats useful over time if the passengers have gone rocketing off turn 1.

Ultimately it is, similar to the Ad Mech list above, an exciting new angle that might catch some opponents out, because just straight up getting rammed by Raiders while massed Incubi carve through tougher targets isn't going to be something everyone has planned for. Other hits like Trueborn and Wyches are, of course, here as well, and Mate has constructed a build that's a particular nightmare for melee armies to deal with, and that still packs in plenty of Drukhari's normal strengths.

The Rest of the Best

Four more players achieved 4-1 records at this event. They were:

• 5th - Austin Wingfield - Daemons: Maximum style points here as Be'lakor assembles the full Greater Daemon zentai force, ready to fight for all that is impure and wicked in the universe. While it is, obviously, kind of a meme, it's pretty deadly as they go, fully capable of bowling people straight off the battlefield and with reasonable staying power to boot.
• 6th - Leah Snider - Daemons: ...and as if to emphasise that the list is perfectly capable of wracking up some serious wins - here it is again!
• 7th - David Fields - Ultramarines: Bobby G and Tigurius march their three large Redemptor sons to war here, backed up by a whole host of Incursors to hold down the early game, and a big unit of Inceptors for cracking big threats.
• 8th - Matt Schuchman - Craftworlds: Maximum headaches for opponents here, with a Craftworld list that can go wide all over the board with Aspect Warrior MSUs, and that sports a mid-sixed Skyrunner Conclave as a hefty, hard-to-shift centre.

Auckland GT

All the lists for this event are in Down Under Pairings. This event was allowing the use of Legends, so imagine my eyebrow very slowly starts raising around now.

Sterling Arnet - Drukhari - 1st Place

Drukhari Mandrakes. Credit: Corrode

The List

The Standout Features

• Drukhari goodstuff, with Cronos.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

It's clearly the week of the Cronos, which to be fair isn't a massive surprise as they're a definite beneficiary of the Ad Mech nerfs. Here they're anchoring down a heady mixture of all the other cool toys that Drukhari can muster, and honestly what this list really shows off is just how much stuff you can cram into a Drukhari build, all of it absurdly deadly. No Legends on show here, just horrifying murder elves and the monsters they have created, and in Sterling's hands that was more than enough to take the win.

Haydn Korach - Drukhari - 2nd Place

Drazhar, the Master of Blades. Credit: Corrode

The List

The Standout Features

• More Drukhari goodstuff!

Why it's Interesting in 9th

No great upheavals here compared to the previous build - slightly fewer Cronos, a wider variety of other toys, still all horrific. Note here we see our first sight of why Legends stuff is kind of wonky at this point - all the old 8th Edition Legends PDFs assumed that there would be costs for every piece of wargear in codexes, so if you unleash those rules now then every Archon just gets to have a Blaster for free. The Forge World Legends PDF that was released in 9th is pretty reasonable, but my recommendation to anyone who does want to play with Legends rules is that at this point you should keep it to just that, as for the older stuff you'd essentially need to do a pre-event pass to assign a bunch of points costs.

Charlie Kang - Raven Guard Successors - 3rd Place

Raven Guard Phobos Captain Credit: Dan Boyd

The List

The Standout Features

• I mean a Captain with a D4 no-scope gun and a hit re-roll is definitely one answer to Skitarii Marshalls being too good.
• A whole host of efficient Marine toys ready to punish any weak-spots that sniping opens up.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

We've not seen the Raven Guard supplement for a while, but this list definitely makes some pretty cool usage of it. Eliminators are priced to move these days, and having them kicking around while the superdoctrine is up turns 2 and 3 is definitely going to be an annoyance for any opponent that's leaning on Characters, especially with Master Artisans shipping them some extra hit re-rolls. More urgently for players sporting any 4W characters (looking at you Skitarii Marshalls), the list features one of the more hilarious characters you can assemble in the form of a Phobos Captain with Korvidari Bolts and Master Marksman. There's an FAQ kicking around somewhere that shooting a Korvidari bolt doesn't count as using a relic, so this guy can cheerfully fire a D4 shot that ignores LoS and LoSir every turn, fully ruining the day of some armies (and it's not like reliable D4 shots are ever a bad thing to have around).

Beyond that unique gimmick this is mostly a fairly standard lineup of top quality Marine units - Redemptors and VolCons are fantastic, and VanVets are the flexible, mobile killers you need in this day and age. The only thing to call out with them is that in this build I think you're a bit more likely to chuck a squad (or part of one) in Deep Strike and use Raven's Blade to try and get them into the fight, because even just holding that threat over the opponent's head can help to slow them down while the snipers do their work, and unleashing them on a backline can be extremely effective.

I'm a huge fan of the Raven Guard supplement, so it's great to see it out and about on the tabletop again, well played Charlie.

David Hodgetts - Iron Hands - 4th Place

Imperial Fists Repulsor Executioner. Credit: Jack Hunter

The List

The Standout Features

• Lol, said the Legends PDF, lmao.

Why it's Interesting in 9th

Like, I can only applaud the audacity on some level, seriously. Obviously this list is essentially a curiosity - unleashing Legends on an event turns out to allow you to bring an all-vehicle Iron Hands list, complete with HQ Land Raiders that still give RR1s to non-CORE units and only cost you a base 215pts each because their price tag assumes you're eating 100pts of weapon upgrades. From a competitive play point of view, the main takeaway is that if a list can take super Land Raiders for 215pts a pop and still get taken down by Drukhari, then points cuts to these iconic models should flow harder and faster! Otherwise, thanks to David for giving me a real laugh-out-loud moment on opening this bad boy up to close out a mammoth week of CI.

The Rest of the Best

Two more players finished up on 4-1 records.

• 5th ✪ - Hamish Reeve - Imperial Knights: Pretty standard stuff for the best pure Knight builds right now - two Magaeras build for defence, a Castellan to annihilate whatever it gazes upon, and Warglaives (including an ObSec Freeblade) to fill.
• 6th - Koby Taylor - Deathwatch: A very unusual build that really leads into Deathwatch's general energy of blasting Ace of Spaces all the time as they do cool tier 1 operator stuff. Dreadnoughts on the ground, two Corvus Blackstars packed with shotgun veterans in the sky, ready to leap out, shout some catchphrases then start blasting.

Wrap Up

And with that, we're done for the week, leaving me once again contemplating the concept of "what if 40K, but too much?". Big thanks to Rob for helping out.

I'm on holiday next week, and after this marathon effort I'm probably going to pull together some sort of diet version just so I can have a proper break. You'll get some sort of competitive treat next Wednesday, then a full feast next Friday as Rob and the stats team bring you a meta update. Comments, questions and suggestions to contact@goonhammer.com.

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