Lists of the Week: 3/31/2025 Adepticon and others!
It was Adepticon weekend, which is a big deal for 40K enthusiasts. It's a big deal for us too, because we had Dark Angels list make the top cut! James Tilley of Rising Tide Gaming went 3-1-1 and scored 31st out of 296 with an Unforgiven Task Force! I would not have predicted the top DA list at Adepticon would be a UTF! You can see Jame's list on BCP, and we'll take a look at it below.
From the top rope - it’s Lion… The “El”…. J-J-Johnson!
Lion Dad
Azrael
Bladeguard Ancient: Pennant of Remembrance
Judiciar: Weapons of the First Legion
Librarian
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Assault Intercessor Squad: 5 choppy boys
Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys
Impulsor
Impulsor
Impulsor
Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs: 5 flying choppy boys
Bladeguard Veteran Squad: 6 awesome swordy-boardy boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Reiver Squad: 5 spooky knifey boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 10 bolter boys
James has definitely given us a much different kind of list than we've seen before. Instead of the usual squads of Deathwing Knights, James has Lion Dad, Bladeguard Veterans, Inner Circle Companions, and Assault Intercessors, with characters to buff their abilities as appropriate. They get to ride into battle in Impulsors, which can get them to mid-board in a hurry. James made the interesting choice to attach a Bladeguard Ancient with the Pennant of Remembrance to the Bladeguard Squad. That buffs the squad's OC, gives them a 6+ Feel No Pain (potentially a 4+ if the unit is Battle-shocked), and once per game the Ancient can give the unit extra attacks. Azrael is likely leading the Sternguard Veterans, because holy cow does that combo generate results!
For other elements of the list, there's Lion Dad, making a hell of a Heroic Intervention threat, and I'd imagine backing up the Assault Intercessors, as they are a 2-wound unit and the softer of the three Impulsor-riding targets.. Intercessors likely mind the backfield objective until opponents have committed their Reserves, then sticky it and come off it to riddle things with bolter shells. He's got Assault Intercessors, Scouts, and a couple of Invader ATVs to run around, score secondaries and make nuisances of themselves. Finally, there's the Reiver squad, which I think is primarily in the list to debuff opposing units' Objective Control
What I think James was going with was less about killing all before him and more about board control. It looks to me like the list is designed to make the most of the UTF's detachment rule. He's got three 6-man OC 2 units (counting the Bladeguard with the Bladeguard Ancient) and 3 Impulsors for them to ride in. I imagine their job is to sally forth onto midfield objectives and oblige opponents to pop the transports, thus spilling 12 OC out onto the objective. The Bladeguard and the Assault Intercessors with the Librarian then present 4++ save units to try and chew through, and while the ICCs with the Judiciar may not have an invulnerable save, they do have that -1 to be hit from the Braziers of Judgement, plus they have Fights First, so if an opponent has to charge them to clear them off an objective, they're going to have a bad day. The Bladeguard will be a nuisance to remove too, because they'll come out of a popped transport automatically Battle-shocked, which buffs the FNP conferred by the Pennant to a 4+.
On top of that, the UTC's detachment rule makes any Battle-shocked units have a minimum OC of 1 instead of 0, and can add +1 OC to a unit in James' Command Phase. So, Battle-shocked or not, the Bladeguard can be OC 3, which is nuts. On top of that, James can scoot his Reivers next to a squad contesting an objective to debuff their OC, and maybe even Heroically Intervene through a wall just to get their debuff aura in place. They are respectably knifey on their own too, so their contribution to a melee should not be discounted.
One thing I might have done differently if I were going to try this list would be to have Hellblasters for Azrael to lead instead of Sternguard, to better exploit the Grim Retribution strat. That said, they'd be 30 points more expensive just for the unit, and I'd want to include a Lieutenant for the Lethals. You can get Lethals on your turn with the Unforgiven Fury strat, but you can't play that in your opponents' Shooting phase when you'd be triggering Grim Retribution. Having the Hellblasters instead of the Sternguard is probably not worth the extra 90 points, not to mention the opportunity cost of not having the Sternguard.
As an aside, every time I look at the UTF's rules, I'm impressed with how good the stratagems are. I didn't notice till just now that Unforgiven Fury (confers Lethal hits and Crit 5's if there's a friendly Battle-shocked unit on the table) can be played in both the Shooting phase and the Fight phase, which is a hell of a buff. Fire Discipline gives a unit's guns Assault, Heavy, and Ignores Cover. I'd play a CP just to get Assault OR Ignores Cover. Getting both with the possibility of also +1 To Hit if I can afford to have a unit sit still to shoot is really efficient. Intractable grants Fall Back+Shoot+Charge, which is always useful. Grim Retribution is probably the best retributive shooting strat in any Space Marine detachment, and Unbreakable Lines, while expensive, can help keep a unit alive to swing back at whatever charged it. I've just never liked the detachment rule, but James has demonstrated how it can be made to work in our favor.
In the 1st round James beat Space Marines (Firestorm) 92-64. 2nd round he drubbed T'au Empire (Mont'ka) 86-45. 3rd round he had a 75-75 tie against Tyranids (Invasion Fleet). 4th round he squeaked out an 89-84 win against Genestealer Cult (Host of Ascension). Sadly, he lost his 5th round game against Orks (More Dakka!) 47-69.
Congratulations to James for being the top-scoring DA player at Adepticon and doing it with an unconventional list!
Our next list was played at Fantasia Fanatic XLVII played in Vasterbottens, Sweden, a 5-round, 82 player event. Tim Nordin of Draknästet SK went undefeated with his Stormlance task Force (4-0-1) and took 3rd place! You can see Tim's list on BCP, and we'll take a look at it here.
Wings of Purpouse
Azrael
Ravenwing Command Squad: Hunter's Instinct
Ravenwing Command Squad
Ravenwing Command Squad
Sammael - Warlord
Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys
Ravenwing Darkshroud
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
That is a hella lot of bikes. As you can see, Tim really went all-in on Black Knight spam. I'm actually a little surprised he didn't play this as a Company of Hunters, because the CoH detachment rule lets mounted units do practically whatever they want all the time, but the Stormlance definitely has better stratagems. The reactive move strat alone probably justifies playing the Stormlance instead of the CoH.
At first glance, I assumed the three Ravenwing Command Squads all get attached to Ravenwing Black Knight squads, but upon consideration I think only the RWCS with the Hunter's Instinct enhancement gets attached to a Black Knight squad. The other two and Sammael probably attach to outriders. I figure the Black Knights don't suffer too much from running without the Command Squads, whereas the Outriders and Command Squads mutually buff each other in a much more advantageous fashion. That gives Tim three units that have 3-damage dealing characters on the charge, and the big Black Knight brick can pop out of Reserves a turn early to deliver a fusillade of plasma to where opponents won't want it, and have +1 on the Charge roll afterwards, so a slightly better chance of sticking a charge than they'd otherwise have.
I'm ordinarily not in favor of including a Thunderstrike in a list, on the theory that the points are better spent on a unit that can deal damage to a large target on its own, rather than assisting another unit punch up into it. That said, Tim's list really needs it because he's spending so many points on Black Knights. The strategy does have the advantage of controlling against an opponent spiking Invulnerable saves. It's a lot easier to spike a couple saves against, say, a Lancer's laser destroyer than against a whole Black Knight unit's plasma talon shots. The downside is the list will have more difficulty against units with damage-reducing effects, but Tim could then send the ATVs with their their multi-meltas into that, and they'd also benefit from the +1 to wound into tougher targets.
It's also interesting to see a Darkshroud make it into a list, with so many things in the game that ignore To Hit modifiers and Cover. That said, it does make an opponent expend those resources, and it allows Tim to pull a bait-and-switch by having a unit hang outside the Shroud's area of effect, incentivizing a non-savvy opponent to line up shooting into that unit, and then playing Ride Hard, Ride Fast to inflict -1 To Hit and To Wound against all that shooting.
Azrael, sadly, is pretty much just in the list to generate CP, though it does seem likely he and the Intercessors will wind up mixing it up with units opponents send into Tim's backfield. He's also got the 2 squads of Scouts for uppy-downy scoring, and the ATVs can scoot around and do that as well when Tim doesn't have something more important for them to do.
Fantasia Fanatic XLVII used WTC scoring, so the 0-20 scale with each point of differentiation past 10-10 indicating a 5 point difference in battle point score. 1st round Tim crushed Combined Arms Astra Militarum 20-0. 2nd round he scored a modest 12-8 win against Liberator Assault Group Blood Angels. 3rd round was a 10-10 tie against Plague Company Death Guard. 4th round he smashed Windrider Aeldari 20-0. He ended strong with a 5th round 20-0 butchering of Dakka Orks.
This next one I'm not quite sure what to make of. Meta Monday has Jamie Wilkins of Chadmech going 4-1 to take 4th place out of 42 at Sydney GT Autumn – NSWTC held at Padstow, Australia. According to BCP, however, he went 3-2, but is still listed in 4th place. Either way, he did it with a Lion's Blade Task Force, so we'll take a look at it. You can see Jamie's list on BCP, and we'll discuss it below.
The claw closes
Ancient
Ancient in Terminator Armour: Fulgis Magna
Azrael: Warlord
Captain in Terminator Armour: Stalwart Champion
Sammael
Ballistus Dreadnought
Ballistus Dreadnought
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Hellblaster Squad: 10 plasma boys
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Outrider Squad: 6 choppy biker boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Storm Speeder Hammerstrike
Jamie struck up a pretty good balance of deep striking choppy Deathwing, shooty Deathwing, and Ravenwing. He didn't spend minimally in Ravenwing, having 3 units he can use to trigger the detachment rule, and the Hammerstrike has Fly so it can hop over screens. Another advantage of the Hammerstrike is that when it triggers Illuminating Fire, it can also strip cover with its own datasheet ability. Jamie invested in a big squad of Outriders instead of a minimal squad, so it's harder to chew through, and with Sammael attached will have a pretty good impact on its own when it lands a charge.
For the shooty Deathwing, we've got the expected Ballisti and Azrael-led Hellblasters. He's got 2 squads of Deathwing Knights, each with a character attached. The Captain is an obvious choice. The Ancient is a little less so at first blush, as is the Terminator Ancient, but they both shore up one of the main weaknesses of the units they're attached to, that being low OC. The Terminator Captain's enhancement also buffs his unit's OC, so in a sense Jamie's list has a similarity to James' from Adepticon, in that both lists are employing OC adjustments.
Not knowing why Jamie took 4th place with a 3-2 event and shows as having gone 4-1 on Meta Monday, I'm just going to report the results as I find them on BCP. He won his 1st round game against Liberator Blood Angels quite handily, 93-63. 2nd round he lost against Black Spear Deathwatch 67-77. 3rd round he had a comfortable win against Lions Custodes 89-69. 4th round he drubbed Aspect Host Aeldari 90-69. Sadly, he lost the 5th round against Plague Company Death Guard 61-95.
The next list we're looking at was played at the Welcome to ThunderMania GT, a 5-round, 34 player event held in Tipp City, OH. Dakota Schwan of Gem Wargaming went 4-1 with a Gladius Task Force and took 5th place. You can see Dakota's list on BCP, and we'll discuss it below.
Dakota's list
Azrael - Warlord
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Techmarine
Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs: 5 flying choppy boys
Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs: 5 flying choppy boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Inceptor Squad: 6 chonky flying plasma boys
Infiltrator Squad: 5 stay-off-my-lawn boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 4 awesome combi-weapon boys and 1 awesome heavy bolter boy
Gladiator Lancer
Gladiator Lancer
This is a fairly conventional Dark Angels Gladius list. It lacks ICCs, but Dakota has spent a big chunk of points on a nice big fat squad of plasma Inceptors. I suspect this is to address some of the boogeymen of the meta - Aeldari and Orks - with a squad that's hard to screen out, can pick up a problematic unit, and then be a challenge for opponents to remove.
Also, combi-weapon Sternguard are an interesting choice. Not what people usually choose, but there is an argument. They have Dev Wounds and Anti-Infantry 4+, so they can really take a chunk out of some of the harder Infantry units in the game, and can be relied on to plink a few Dev Wounds off bigger targets too.
I raise an eyebrow at the Techmarine. It doesn't seem like Dakota has enough vehicles in the list to justify it. I suspect Dakota probably just bought the guy because there wasn't much else to buy for less than 60 points.
1st round Dakota crushed Oathband Leagues of Votann 86-38. 2nd round sadly was a 61-92 loss against Noble Lance Knights. 3rd round Dakota collected some payback against Knights, pummeling a Noble Lance list 76-27. 4th round was a tight 75-66 win against another Oathbound Votann list. Dakota ended strong with 96-68 5th round win against Lion Custodes (Lustodes? Nah, sounds Slaaneshi!).
I've reached the end of the lists I can find on Meta Monday, but I'm going to give an honorable mention to Andreas Ådén of F.U.S.K, who went 3-1 with an Unforgiven Task Force at Fantasia Fanatic XLVII mentioned above. He contacted me because he correctly surmised I'd be interested in his list. He had to dip due to a family situation, but he was bullish on his chances in the 5th round, so I figured his list was worth a look. You can see Andreas' list on BCP, and we'll discuss it below.
Memelodifestivalen
Azrael - Warlord
Captain: Weapons of the First Legion
Judiciar
Assault Intercessor Squad: 5 choppy boys
Bladeguard Veteran Squad: 6 awesome swordy-boardy boys
Centurion Devastator Squad: 6 chonky laser-missile boys
Inceptor Squad: 3 chonky flying bolter boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 10 awesome bolter boys
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike
Vindicator
Impulsor
Callidus Assassin
Looking at the list, I realized I wasn't sure which character went with which squad because there's 3 characters and 4 squads they could attach to. I didn't have to guess though, because Andreas was kind enough to chat with me about his list. He confirmed that Azrael gets attached to the Sternguard, the Judiciar goes with the ICCs, and the Captain with the Assault Intercessors so he can reroll wounds on his go-turn. Sadly for the Bladeguard, he uses them as a sacrificial distraction unit.
Andreas also pointed out the UTF's strats are really good for Centurion Devastators, and darned if he isn't right about that. He can grant them Assault AND Ignores Cover with Fire Discipline, and any opposing unit shooting at them faces getting shot back at immediately via Grim Retribution. Cent-Devs also get to reroll all Hit rolls against an opposing target on an objective, so Andreas doesn't have to put Oath on their target.
Since the Centurions are the prime shooting unit that isn't in the list to generate Devastating Wounds, the Thunderstrike is in the list to support them. It's definitely worth spending some resources to buff them considering their potential damage output.
It's interesting to see another list completely devoid of Deathwing Knights, but Andreas doesn't lack for good assault units. ICCs with a Judiciar are a pack of stabby no one wants to mix it up with. The Captain with his 3-damage power fist will leave a mark on anything, particularly on his go-turn, and extra-particularly on his go-turn if he can be hitting a unit on an objective. Even Azrael and the Sternguard are not to be ignored as an assault unit, with base Sternguard having 4 attacks each and the Sergeant being able to take a power fist.
Just a reminder, this was a WTC-scoring event. Andreas scored a comfortable 1st round 13-7 win against Invasion Fleet Tyranids. 2nd round he scored a solid 14-6 win against Noble Lance Knights. 3rd round he showed he doesn't need improved Oath by beating an Ultramarines Gladius 13-7. Sadly, 4th round he took a loss against the boogeyman of the meta, Dakka Orks, 4-16, which he had to end on due to the aforementioned family matter.
Statistics
As a faction, Dark Angels had a 43% win rate last weekend. 30 players played 138 games and won 59 of them. We're continuing our cold streak of no event wins, but according to Meta Monday we had 6 X/1 results. I only found 4 such results, unless we're counting a list that went 3-1 at Adepticon and didn't make the cut to play Round 5.
The Unforgiven Task Force had the highest win percentage at 67%, with 2 players who played 9 games and won 6 of them. I actually discussed both those lists above.
The Gladius Task Force was the most played, with 11 players getting a 43% win rate and being credited with 3 X/1 results. But, again, I only found 1 of those lists.
Two optimists played the Company of Hunters and managed a 44% win rate. I feel you, guys.
5 players used the Stormlance, scoring a 42% win rate, but did manage to bring in a X/1 result.
4 players took the Lion's Blade and scored a 32% win rate. Meta Monday credits it with an X/1* result, but as according to BCP it actually went 3-2, it's getting an asterisk.
One interesting fellow took an Anvil Siege Force but managed only a 25% win rate.
Two diehards took the Inner Circle Task Force, managing only a 22% win rate.
Factions To Be Aware Of
I'm not basing this off of straight faction win percentage. If I did, Deathwatch would be at the top of the list with a 63% win rate, but only 8 players played Deathwatch lists last weekend, so the odds of you facing a Deathwatch list are pretty low. Instead I'm kind of vibing off number of players, win percentage, and number of high scoring lists.
Taking that more holistic approach, Dakka Orks are definitely the faction you should be most concerned about. 38 players played Dakka Orks, scoring a fairly reasonable 53% win rate, but taking 3 event wins and 12 X/0-X/1 results
Space Marines, as a whole faction, had 60 players, 17 X/0-X/1 results, and 2 event wins, though they also had a kind of low 49% win rate. A Gladius won Adepticon, and the other high results are pretty evenly distributed among the detachments, taking into account player numbers.
The Adeptus Custodes Lions of the Emperor detachment had 42 players and 5 X/1 results.
Chaos Daemons had 43 players who racked up a 54% win rate, 1 event win, and 11 X/0-X/1 results, with 10 of those split up evenly between the Shadow Legion and Daemonic Incursion detachments. The Shadow Legion detachment got the event win.
That, honored battle brethren, is what I have for you this week. Follow me if you like my work, and for similar work check out Dank List Wargaming over on YouTube. I hope to be able to discuss your lists in my next article. Until then, bring the pain to the xenos and heretics. For the Lion!
Comments
Post a Comment