Tournament season is back in full swing, with games of Warhammer Age of Sigmar being played all over the world. As the dust settles, we catch up with regular Metawatch contributor Daniel Street from AoS Shorts, who has combed over the latest data and taken a look at the ups and downs in the new meta forming around the latest and greatest edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. Over to you, Daniel.
Worldwide Tournament Update
Daniel: Since the launch of the new edition, we’ve now had 37 events featuring 2,000 points of matched play across five rounds. So how have things changed since the last Warhammer Age of Sigmar Metawatch at the end of August?
We had the main FAQ in early September which, given the changes to Archaon, has caused Disciples of Tzeentch to be edged out of the top five, and shaken up a few other factions.
Sons of Behemat, Lumineth Realm-lords, and Daughters of Khaine continue to outperform their share of the tournament scene, gathering lots of 4+ win results, while Seraphon, Soulblight Gravelords and Disciples of Tzeentch win rates have all softened slightly. Idoneth Deepkin and Maggotkin of Nurgle are also starting to surge up the middle of the pack of results.
We’ve had a range of firsts with 5-0 results for Soulblight Gravelords (Legion of Night), Lumineth Realm-lords (Syar), Cities of Sigmar (Excelsis and Tempest’s Eye), Disciples of Tzeentch (Hosts Duplicitous), and Idoneth Deepkin (Ionrach) – as well as the first four-win results for Cities of Sigmar (Hallowheart), Ogre Mawtribes (Bloodgullet), Lumineth Realmlords (Ymetrica) and Fyreslayers (Lofnir) and (Vostarg) in the new edition.
It’s worth noting that the weekend after this data was compiled based on the New Orleans Open, we saw the new Stormcast Eternals battletome take its first 5-0 and three 4-1 results across four events, while the new Orruk Warclans got their first 5-0 (with Bloodtoofs) and six 4-1 results across the same events. Those results lifted the Orruk Warclans from 3.27% of 4+ results to 5.13% and the Stormcast Eternals from 1.22% to 2.56%.
Warhammer US Open: New Orleans Breakdown
Seventy-seven players attended the Warhammer Open in New Orleans, with armies from 21 different factions. The most popular were the Sons of Behemat (nine armies, 11.7%), Soulblight Gravelords (seven, 9.1%), and Disciples of Tzeentch (six, 7.8%).
Three armies went 5-0 at the event – Disciples of Tzeentch (Hosts Arcanum), Hedonites of Slaanesh (Godseekers), and Soulblight Gravelords (Vyrkos).
Nine armies got four wins – two Orruk Warclans armies (Big Waaagh! and Bloodtoofs) using the new battletome, Skaven, Idoneth Deepkin (Fuethan), Daughters of Khaine (Hagg Nar), Seraphon (Koatl’s Claw), Slaves to Darkness (Knights of the Empty Throne), Lumineth Realm-lords (Iliatha), and Sons of Behemat (Taker Tribe).
Impressions from New Orleans
All the successful lists from the Warhammer Open had common themes – high mobility, ranged damage (from shooting or spells), and usage of MSU (minimum-sized unit) choices.
These allow players to seize objectives and complete battle tactics while limiting opponents’ options and available targets. All these mechanics require high levels of player skill to pilot effectively.
All the top players mentioned the significance of building lists to achieve battle tactics in an edition that sees more games go to five rounds, and scoring between armies ending up closer than ever as objective points are traded through a game.
Effective game-state management is therefore key to keeping ahead of an opponent or staying close enough that late-game mobility or summoning will get you the result.
The New Orleans Open used the same five battleplans as the Orlando Open – Veins of Ghur, Marking Territory, Tectonic Interference, Survival of the Fittest, and Savage Gains.
Kaleb is a long-time Tzeentch general, having played the faction since the seventh edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. He enjoys their “Swiss army knife” approach to the meta – Destiny Dice allow you to manage risk, while spells and summoning allow Disciples of Tzeentch players the ability to react to whatever they face.
This is shown through three of the key parts of the army:
The Hosts Arcanum’s Spell Hunter command trait gives D3 units a pre-game 6” move. Often used on Kairos or the Lord of Change, the trait is perfect for baiting an opponent into poor deployment or for moving into casting range.
The Fanged Circlet allows you to bring six free Screamers to the board – a fast unit with attacks doing D3 damage against Monsters and Wizards (useful for taking Sons of Behemat down).
Finally, Thieves of All Things Arcane gives an automatic unbind of a spell on turns 1, 2, and 5, useful for shutting down the most crucial enemy spell.
Kaleb wrote his list to combat save stacking, Monsters, and large shooting units. Seven spells with mortal wound damage and the Screamers’ Slashing Fins ability against Wizards helped defeat save stacking. Kairos’ Gift of Change spell does six mortal wounds and creates a Spawn of Chaos within 3”, allowing you to tie up powerful enemy shooting units (such as Sentinels) and prevent them from using Unleash Hell.
All these mechanics played out in Kaleb’s crucial fifth-round match against the Sons of Behemat. The Sons player had fewer drops, so Kaleb deployed his Lord of Change forward as bait or for useful casting damage.
The Sons player took the first turn and Kaleb moved the Lord of Change away. The Mega-Gargant still made their charge, but Kaleb simply used the Kairos dice switch to mean the charge failed.
Having avoided combat, Kaleb could then focus fire on one Mega-Gargant, doing 27 mortal wounds from spells and a further three mortal wounds from Screamers’ Slashing Fins before finishing it in combat with the Screamers.
Bill Souza, the captain of Team USA at the Age of Sigmar World Championship, has a well-earned reputation for taking less competitively popular factions and dominating events. Bill has now gone 5-0 in the new edition at large events with both Flesh-eater Courts (only 1.83% of the meta) and Hedonites of Slaanesh (1.53% of the meta).
Bill’s two-drop Hedonites list was designed to maximise the benefits of MSU, speed, and the Hedonites’ summoning mechanic. It also had four Monsters for scoring bonus secondary points in the realm of Ghur.
Hedonites of Slaanesh armies can summon units to the table through depravity points earned by wounding but not killing units – access to ranged mortal wounds and the Burning Head meant Bill could damage his opponent’s units and even his own in the early turns.
This allowed him to bring on hordes of Daemonettes, Keepers of Secrets, or Exalted Chariots, depending on the needs of the game.
One advantage of an MSU build is that there are no clear single targets for opponents to focus their damage output on. The Hedonites’ speed is also vital on the smaller board sizes to allow them to avoid combat, seize objectives, maximise battle tactics, and work on farming depravity points through chip damage. For further protection, the Soulsnare Shackles allowed Bill to establish zones limiting his opponent’s run and charge potential.
You may remember Cody took first place at the Orlando Open with his Soulblight Gravelords (Vyrkos Dynasty). So what did he change for New Orleans? And what did he keep the same?
The list still revolves around Belladamma’s casting and buffs (both working well against shooting armies and maximising the impact of Cody’s Dire Wolves with the long pile-ins), along with a Necromancer. The Vyrkos Dynasty adds consistency to your casting rolls, the Spoor Trackers command trait gets your Zombies onto mid-board objectives quickly, and the bonus to wound for Deadwalkers units increases the threat of large blocks of Zombies.
Cody dropped Prince Vhordrai, Radukar the Beast, a Coven Throne, and a Corpse Cart to instead take Big Drogg Fort-Kicka the Gatebreaker Mercenary Mega-Gargant and a Vampire Lord. The Gatebreaker acted as a combat distraction piece, with Rend -3 attacks for taking out high-priority targets while being resilient enough to absorb an opponent’s attention.
He also added more bodies, doubling his Deadwalker Zombies and Dire Wolves after Orlando (for over 200 wounds in the list, to start…). The aim of the changes was to have a more conservative, resilient list given he expected the meta breakdown to be quite different in New Orleans from Orlando.
The combat threat of Vhordrai is offset with the Gatebreaker, which has less mobility but more staying power than the prince, while the solid Battleline choices just got even more solid and ensured Cody would get his Hold the Line grand strategy.
Notable Mentions for Beasts of Chaos and new Orruk Warclans
I want to give two special mentions to the fourth- and fifth-placed battle finishers – Gavin and Evan Millar.
Gavin used a Gavespawn Beasts of Chaos list. His list was built around maximising spellcasting and layering benefits onto his Tzaangor, such as boosting the mortal wound output of their banners.
Another key unit was his Khorne Daemon Prince, with its Bloodslick Ground command ability protecting the battleline from charges or trapping enemy units within threat ranges of spells and banners.
Beasts of Chaos tend to run an attritional play style that also relies on decentralised MSU, forcing the opponent to waste damage output on smaller units. Gavin also focused on battle tactics that he could achieve without relying on killing his opponents’ models – for example, Monstrous Takeover, Ferocious Advance, Savage Spearhead, Aggressive Expansion, and Conquer.
Evan finished fifth with a Big Waaagh! army from the new Orruk Warclans book (having also finished fourth with the Hedonites of Slaanesh at the Orlando Open). The new orruks performed well, with three armies going 4-1 in New Orleans.
Evan’s list revolved around applying a range of different abilities from across the Warclans to the Rogue Idol. Gobsprakk was there to hinder enemy magic, while the Wurrgog Prophet dished out mortal wounds from the Wurrgog Mask (just gotta keep rolling 3+). Having three Monsters helped Evan get up on points quickly from Savage Spearhead, Ferocious Advance, and Slay the Warlord.
Evan also took advantage of the Orruk Warclans battletome battle tactic Wait for It, Ladz, where he only needed to go from at least 24 Waaagh! points to 30 Waaagh! points by the end of the turn, which he was always able to achieve.
Thanks a lot, Daniel. As ever, the tournament scene for Warhammer Age of Sigmar remains incredibly exciting, with factions rising to the top that no one would have predicted based on previous results. Monsters are still riding high, but small units that can be moved with surgical precision by an adept player are also defining the game, especially when key support heroes are able to buff important pieces.
The meta continues to evolve, with armies of Stormcast Eternals and Orruk Warclans set to make their appearance now that their battletomes and FAQs are in the wild. Why not let us know your preferred angle of attack on the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Facebook page?
* Worldwide meta percentage statistics courtesy of DKHM Wargames. All statistics in this article are current as at the 4th of October 2021.