Lists of the Week: Top Performers Roundup 4/22/2024

I'm going up in points soon!
Hello battle brothers! Once again, I'm here to bring you the news of the Dark Angels lists that performed well over the weekend. As you may have guessed from the article photo, the high performing lists are all double Storm Raven Ironstorm lists that have been propping up the competitive win rates for Dark Angels in the meta. As they're all so similar, I'm going to show them all to you together and then discuss the particulars, rather than discussing them all individually.

We'll start with Kit Smith Hanna's list. Kit was the pioneer of the Dark Angels double Storm Raven Ironstorm, and he continues to be a contender at major events in Texas, in this case going 5-1 to score 4th place out of a 77-player field at The Wardome GT in New Caney.

Kit's list
Ironstorm Spearhead
Azrael
Techmarine: Target Augury Web
Techmarine: Master of the Machine War
Techmarine: Adept of the Omnissiah
Assault Intercessor with Jump Pack Squad: 5 jump pack boys
Assault Intercessor with Jump Pack Squad: 5 jump pack boys
Ravenwing Darkshroud
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
Stormraven Gunship
Stormraven Gunship
Callidus Assassin

The other two lists popped up in Quebec, Canada. Dominique Carette and Sebastien Geoffrion brought lists that were so similar I at first thought they were teammates (they're not). Dom went undefeated (4-0-1) to score 3rd place, and Sebastien went 4-1 to score 5th place out of a 75 player field at Grand Clash 2024 in Trois Rivieres.

Dominique's list
Ironstorm Spearhead
Azrael
Techmarine: Target Augury Web
Techmarine
Assault Intercessor Squad: 5 choppy boys
Assault Intercessor Squad: 5 choppy boys
Eradicator Squad: 3 chonky melta boys
Eradicator Squad: 3 chonky melta boys
Gladiator Reaper
Infiltrator Squad
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
Stormraven Gunship
Stormraven Gunship
Callidus Assassin

Sebastien's list
Ironstorm Spearhead
Azrael
Techmarine: Target Augury Web
Techmarine: Master of the Machine War
Techmarine: Adept of the Omnissiah
Assault Intercessor with Jump Pack Squad: 5 jump pack boys
Assault Intercessor with Jump Pack Squad: 5 jump pack boys
Assault Intercessor with Jump Pack Squad: 5 jump pack boys
Ravenwing Darkshroud
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
Stormraven Gunship
Stormraven Gunship

So, as you can see, currently there's a definite template for the list for Dark Angels players to be competitive with at GTs.  Indeed, the only difference between Kit's list and Sebastien's list is that Kit has the Callidus Assassin, and Sebastien instead has 1 more unit of Jump Pack Intercessors. Most of the common elements in these lists have already been discussed at length in earlier articles, so I'm going to refrain from talking much about Azrael, the Darkshroud, the Redemptors, and the Stormravens. Suffice it to say, collectively they are the foundation of the list. It's interesting to me that the Storm Speeder Thunderstrike is in all 3 lists. It popped up in a lot of the lists that made it near the top a couple weeks ago too. I think it's going to rate a review sooner rather than later.

I'm interested to see Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs turn up in these high performing lists. I think they may be taking over from Inceptors as the secondary monkeys of choice. A 5-man squad of Jump Pack Intercessors is 45 points less than an Inceptor Squad, which saves a lot of points per squad. To mitigate for not being able to Deep Strike just outside of 3", one can use Rapid Ingress to drop them in during the opponent's turn, and then move them in their friendly Movement Phase. I've actually been considering making the switch myself, seriously enough to have ordered some smoke trail stands for my old Firstborn Assault Marines to raise their profiles such that I can use them as Jump Pack Intercessors without anyone accusing me of modeling for advantage. 

Dominque innovated a little bit more with his list. He included a Gladiator Reaper and a couple squads of Eradicators. I'd imagine the Eradicators go into Strategic Reserve so they can pop out and deal with problem units that the rest of Dom's list has trouble reaching. I expect the Gladiator Reaper is in the list to generate Devastating Wounds. The Reaper's twin heavy onslaught gatling cannon can generate 4-5 Devastating Wounds a turn against an Oath of Moment Infantry target. Dom went with the cheaper foot Assault Intercessors, but also included Infiltrators for the zone of safety. Dom went undefeated, so clearly the tech he chose worked for him.

To discuss the game tracks, at Wardome GT Kit won against Orks, Necrons, and Death Guard. In the 4th round he lost to Necrons, then won against Blood Angels and Space Wolves in the final round. Dominique won against Dark Angels in his first round at Grand Clash, following with wins against Leagues of Votann, Aeldari (GOOD!), and a close win against Thousand Sons, ending the weekend with a tie against Adeptus Custodes. Also at Grand Clash, Sebastien opened his weekend by crushing a Space Wolves list (a Vanguard rather than a Stormlance), Tyranids, and Raven Guard. In the 4th round he had a close loss against Custodes, then ended the weekend with a convincing win against Thousand Sons. I suppose you might argue that our Canadian brothers had it a little easier than Kit, both of them having dodged Necrons whereas Kit got a double helping of them. But on the other hand, Kit didn't have to face Custodes, whereas both Dom and Sebastien did, and neither of them won against Custodes, which is interesting because you'd think lists with massed Damage 3 blast would be just what the Apothecary ordered for picking up elite 3-wound infantry.

There have been comments on social media about the Dark Angels Ironstorm being a DA list in name only. While I don't agree with that sentiment, I will admit I'm finding it a little tedious to see and report on variations of the same list over and over again. That said, it's the only detachment being commonly played with a win rate over 50%. The other Codex: Space Marine detachments being played with any frequency (the Vanguard, Gladius, and Firestorm) all scored in the low 40's on win percentage. The Unforgiven Task Force only had a 32% win rate, and the Inner Circle detachment had a pitiful 28% win rate. So, until Games Workshop takes some steps to improve the performance of the other detachments, tournament success is going to be coming most consistently through the Ironstorm. 

I'm not going to bother posting full lists in the article for this one. We've been seeing these lists often enough that it seems unnecessary to do so. If you're really interested, I've given enough information for you to find the lists on BCP.

As always, congratulations to brothers Kit, Dom, and Sebastien for their success! You have represented the legion chapter well, brothers! Good luck in the future, and may we all be able to uphold the honour of the Lion as well as you! 

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