Chapter Update: 7/14/2025
We'll start with the Wrath of the Rock lists. The first one we'll take a look at was played at the Geek Shack Farewell Taylor GT, a 5-round, 33 player event held in Las Cruces, NM. Edward Salas took 5th place with his Wrath list. You can see Edward's list on BCP. We'll discuss it below.
Wrath
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Chaplain in Terminator Armour
Chaplain in Terminator Armour
Lieutenant
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Ravenwing Command Squad
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky swordy boys
Eradicator Squad: 3 chonky melta boys
Hellblaster Squad: 5 plasma boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 3 awesome plasma biker boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 3 awesome plasma biker boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 3 awesome plasma biker boys
This list strikes me as somewhat unconventional. For starters, holy cow characters! Maybe it's because I started playing in 3rd edition when the max Headquarters choices (aka Independent Characters) you could take was two, but seven is a lot even by 10th edition standards. They don't all seem super-necessary either. When I saw the two Termi Chaplains, I was expecting two DWK squads with swords, but one has maces. I suppose they help into the mirror match and pairing into Death Guard, but those points could be a whole additional unit each. Similarly, the Lieutenant seems like he's getting attached to the Hellblaster Squad, but it's a 5 man squad, so Edward isn't getting as much benefit out of the Lieutenant as he would if he was attached to a 10-man squad. Maybe Edward figured he didn't need the plasma because of all the Ravenwing Knights running around, but then why have the Hellblasters at all? You'd think another squad of Eradicators would have served him better under those circumstances.
Another thing I find unsual is the fact that Edward didn't field full squads of many of his more potent units. Maybe he didn't have the points and/or models for a full 10 Hellblasters, but he certainly could have fielded a 6-man Ravenwing Black Knight squad to attach to his Ravenwing Command Squad. There are certainly challenges to using a 9-man bike brick, but it also makes a better squad to slap buffs onto - I'm specifically thinking of Relics of the Dark Age. I found having a squad of just 6 Ravenwing Knights underwhelming, even with Sammael attached to them. My guess is that Edward was using his Ravenwing Knights as action monkeys, since he lacks most of the usual suspects for that besides the Combi-Lieutenant. In that regard, they would compare favorably to Vanguard Veterans, being 5 points less, only 1 wound less, having a worse Invulnerable save but higher Toughness, and better potential damage output.
I'm also not quite sure what unit Edward used to sit on his backfield objective, unless it's the Combi-Lieutenant. I suppose if it is the Combi-Lieutenant, Edward would have the option to move him when an opposing unit moves within 9", possibly denying charges onto his backfield objective, but the lone character wouldn't screen out much of his backfield, and it seems a waste to tie him down to that task when he could be running around the table actively scoring Secondaries.
Criticisms notwithstanding, this list went 4-1, so it certainly performed. 1st round Edward drubbed an Iron Hands 1st Company list 90-52. 2nd round he took his loss, a bruising 45-92 against Awakened Necrons. 3rd round he bounced back with a comfortable 71-48 win in a mirror match. 4th round he avenged himself against Awakened Necrons with a comfortable 92-66 win. He ended strong with a solid 90-74 against Anvil Ultramarines. Well done Edward!
The next list we're looking at was played at Brawl in the Hall 2025, a 5-round, 78-player event held in Lockport, IL. James Tilley of Rising Tide Games went 4-1 and took 8th place with his Wrath list. You can see James' list on BCP, and we'll take a look at it here.
The innerest circle
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Captain in Gravis Armour: Ancient Weapons
Librarian
Librarian in Phobos Armour: Tempered in Battle
Heavy Intercessor Squad: 5 chonky bolter boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Infiltrator Squad: 5 stay-off-my-lawn boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs: 5 awesome flying choppy boys
Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs: 5 awesome flying choppy boys
One thing I find interesting about this list is it has almost no shooting of any significance. The heaviest firepower in the list is the Heavy Intercessor squad, which is not inconsequential, but no one is going to expect much from it. I think the squad is in the list to act as a delivery vehicle for the Gravis Captain, who is a good bearer of the Ancient Weapons enhancement. With the power fist and relic chainsword, he's swinging 8 Damage 3 attacks, which makes opponents not want to send their units anywhere near him. Unfortunately the Heavy Intercessors' datasheet rule doesn't really benefit the Captain much, and is a pretty marginal rule overall. Their main virtues in this list appear to be OC and relatively inexpensive ablative wounds around the Gravis Captain.
James really went all-in on punching things to death, to an extent where changing the detachment to a Stormlance would probably at worst be a lateral move. Between Lion Dad, 2 units of Deathwing Knights, and 2 units of ICCs, there's not much this list will struggle to kill in the Fight phase. Using VanVets as his action monkeys gives him more stabby goodness if he needs it, and even his Scouts are fitted out with the combat knives instead of the random missile launcher and sniper rifle we often see.
The army also presents opponents with a bit of a stat-check, as almost everything in it has at least a 4+ Invulnerable Save. Only the Scouts, Heavy Intercessors, and Infiltrators lack it, and as the Infiltrators are being joined by a Phobos Librarian, their lack of an Invulnerable save is only likely to matter if they get charged, or if James feels the need to pitch them into a fight. Mass 4++ saves and Wrathhuman Physiology have good synergies with each other.
Speaking of the Infiltrators, I suspect James isn't just using them as his backfield objective holders. They don't really need the Phobos Libby for that. My guess is James is using them to zone out Deep Strike around the area of the board between his expansion objective and the middle table objective. This is actually a pretty important consideration with Death Guard being so dominant in the meta. Preventing Deathshroud Terminators from getting a charge off a 6" Deep Strike is worth spending some points on. Either that or James is facing a lot of opponents with Indirect shooting and got tired of his backfield objective holders getting shot off the table.
James started strong, crushing Kau'yon T'au 92-47 in the 1st round. 2nd round he took a 55-100 drubbing against Imperial Knights (Noble Lance natch). He avenged himself against the big boys in the 3rd round with a close 86-77 win against Imperial Knights (Noble again). 4th round was also close, 82-74 against Army of Faith Sororitas. He wrapped up the event with a solid 87-61 against Seer Council Aeldari. Good job James!
Our next list was played at Rose City Rumble, a 5-round, 40 player event held in Portland, OR. Tanner Hebert of Rose City Ruffians went 4-1 and took 3rd place with his Wrath list. Here it is on BCP, and let's take a look at it.
schoolofthehouseofthewrathoftherock
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Judiciar: Ancient Weapons
Librarian
Ravenwing Command Squad: Lord of the Ravenwing
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 6 awesome plasma biker boys
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 5 awesome bolter boys
Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs: 5 flying awesome choppy boys
Ministorum Priest
It's easy to see similarities between this list and the previous two. Lion Dad, Azrael, 2 units of DWKs instead of 3, 2 units of ICCs, Ravenwing Knights. In Tanner's case, he didn't go so fully all-in on punching things, as he's rocking a full 9-man brick of Ravenwing plasma bikes, giving him a good target for Relics of the Dark Age and something he can have fall back and act with Tactical Mastery.18-27 Strength 10 AP -3 Damage 2 shots are going to pick up a lot of targets, and the squad can do some pretty significant damage in the Fight phase too, especially off the charge. The Sternguard Veterans will do some damage in the Shooting phase too, particularly with Azrael attached as he's likely to be, since he synergizes well with the Sternies. That said, the Librarian would not be a terrible choice to attach to them either, as his Focused Smite is also a Devastating Wounds shooting attack.
That said, the Librarian probably winds up attached to ICCs more often than not, providing them a 4++ and activating their Brazier of Judgement rule. The Judiciar gets attached to the other squad, and we all know what a tasty combo that is, especially with him having Ancient Weapons. Two squads of ICCs plus two squads of DWKs plus Lion Dad equals a lot of enemy units punched to death. Azrael and the Sternies are no slouches in that department either.
Tanner skimped on utility units though, having just the one squad of VanVets as action monkeys, and he had to settle for the 40 point Ministorum Priest to stand on his backfield objective, which will tend to be fine as long as opponents don't have any Indirect shooting, but he'll evaporate in a second if they do. He won't fare much better against any kind of Deep Strike shooting threat either.
The week's last X/1 list was played at Saskatchewan Open 2025, a 5-round, 37-player event held in Saskatoon, SK. James Walsh of Coors Light Saedith went 4-1 and took 4th place with his Company of Hunters list. Yay Ravenwing! You can see James' list on BCP, and we'll discuss it below.
Dark Angels Goodstuff
Ravenwing Command Squad
Ravenwing Command Squad: Recon Hunter
Ravenwing Command Squad: Master of Manoeuvre
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Ballistus Dreadnought
Ballistus Dreadnought
Centurion Devastator Squad: 3 chonky grav-missile shooty boys
Centurion Devastator Squad: 3 chonky grav-missile shooty boys
Devastator Squad: 5 grav shooty boys
Infiltrator Squad: 5 stay-off-my-lawn boys
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Invader ATV: melta buggy
Storm Speeder Hammerstrike
Storm Speeder Hammerstrike
This is a much different style of list from the Wrath lists. The Wrath lists largely rely on being tough and punchy. This list relies on being fast and shooty. James started off with three Ravenwing Command Squads, with three squads of Outriders to attach them to. That gives him three squads with 18 OC he can rapidly move onto objectives. They aren't particularly shooty, but are good in the Fight phase on turns they charge, and in a CoH Mounted units can pretty much do whatever their player wants them to do all the time.
The shooty comes from practically everything else. There's the two Ballisti, which are solid shooting platforms. Two squads of Centurion Devastators provide some devastating long range firepower. Interestingly, James went with grav cannons instead of lascannons. Grav does give him a higher damage ceiling, particularly into Vehicles, but the Damage 3 shooting will also do a number on most elite Infantry and Mounted units. James even included a Devastator Squad full of grav cannons. There's also a pair of Storm Speeder Hammerstrikes. These throw out a pile of Strength 9 shots and strip cover. I consider the Hammerstrikes to be the best value out of the three Storm Speeder variants.
Other features of the Ballisti and the CentDevs are they're all 2+ save units and are Oath-agnostic, coming with their own built-in rerolls To Hit.
For scoring Secondaries, James went with a pair of Invader ATVs, which he can uppy-downy as he sees fit with Rapid Reappraisal. For sitting on his backfield objective, he included a squad of Infiltrators, ensuring nothing is entering play particularly close to his home objective.
1st round James drubbed a Combined Arms Militarum list 92-50. That poor Militarum player was probably horrified at how rapidly his tanks evaporated under all that grav fire. 2nd round he crushed Kauyon T'au 100-41. 3rd round he took his loss, but it was a close one - 74-79 against Skysplinter Drukhari. 4th round he ruined another Militarum player's day, this time a Mechanised Assault list, 97-67. 5th round he got a solid win over Creations of Bile Chaos Marines, 90-72. Way to go James!
There are a couple lists I'd like to give honorable mentions to that went 4-2 over the weekend as well. Both of them were played at the Silver State Major '25 - Warhammer 40K event held in Reno, NV, a 6-round, 57 player event. A Company of Hunters played by Jofonz Blow of RBBR took 11th place, and a Wrath of the Rock list played by Glenn Webb-Lopez of Care Bears took 12th. You can look up Jofonz' list and Glenn's list both on BCP. Well done gentlemen!
Statistics
We had a middling-low performance over the weekend. It certainly wasn't one of our low points, but neither was it particularly inspiring. We had 39 players who played 194 games and won 89 of them, earning a 46% win rate. Meta Monday is attributing us 5 X/1 results, but I only found 4, so I'm going with that. We didn't have any event wins, and our 5-week win rate is a pretty dismal 43%.
I'm introducing Overrepresentation/Underrepresentation for the weekend. This is a measure of how likely we are to get an X-result versus the overall player average. I'm aware I'm basically reinventing Overrep from Stat-Check.com, but they don't calculate that on a week-by-week basis. I'm arriving at a baseline by taking the total X-results reported by Meta Monday and dividing that by the number of players for the weekend. The total X-results of all armies over the weekend was 161, divided by a total of 861 players, gets us 0.18699 - basically 19%. 19% of all players scored an X-result over the weekend.
Now we take our 4 X-results and divide by 39 players we had, which gets us 0.10256, or 10% of Dark Angels players scored X-results. Dark Angels players scored about half as many X-results as the overall average.
So, if we assign the overall average a value of 1, then Dark Angels representation in X-results is 0.54, which mean Dark Angels armies are severely underrepresented in X-results.
Our winningest detachment was the Company of Hunters, because it was only played by a couple of Chads who between them won 8 out of 11 games, scored a 73% win rate, and picked up one of our X-results.
Wrath of the Rock was the most played detachment by far, with 27 players who earned a 47% win rate and picked up 3 X-results.
One player each used the Stormlance and Lion's Blade respectively. They both earned 40% win rates, though technically the Lion's Blade player maybe should have a 50%, as he went 2-2-1 rather than 2-3.
Finally, there's the Gladius. 8 players played it and earned only a 36% win rate.
Factions/Detachments To Watch Out For
Imperial Knights are up there again, with 60 players who scored a 57% win rate, took 14 X-results and 3 event wins. Their representation figure is 1.25
Chaos Knights were not far behind their loyalist brethren, with 46 players who scored a 56% win rate, 12 X-results, and 3 event wins. Their representation figure is 1.4. The most played detachment was Lords of Dread, with 24 players, a 56% win rate, 7 X-results and 1 event win. It was followed by the Infernal Lance, with 19 players, a 53% win rate, 4 X-results, and 1 event win. The last X-result and win was picked up by a Traitoris Lance list.
Death Guard continue to be near the top, with 85 players, a 53% win rate, 18 X-results, 2 event wins, and a representation of 1.13. Virulent Vectorium was the most played detachment, with 42 players, a 51% win rate, 6 X-results and 1 event win. Mortarion's Hammer had 22 players, a 56% win rate, and the same number of X-results and event wins.
That, honored battle brethren, is what I have for you this week. My thanks to Meta Monday for the work they do tabulating tournament data. For some video Dark Angels content on YouTube, check out Dank List Wargaming and Black Crow Gaming. I hope you find my work informative and enjoyable, and that it helps you rise to the upper echelons in your meta. May you strive ever for glorious victory! For The Lion!
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