Chapter Update: 7/7/2025
I'd like to start at the Geelong 40k Town Open, a 5-round, 61 player event held in Victoria, Australia.I There, Jamie Wood of The Dirty D6 Dozen went 4-0-1 to take 2nd overall! Going undefeated at a GT is a major accomplishment! You can see Jamie's list on BCP. We'll discuss it below.
Jamie's list
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Chaplain in Terminator Armour
Judiciar: Ancient Weapons
Lieutenant: Tempered in Battle
Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky swordy boys
Hellblasters: 10 plasma boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Invader ATV - melta buggy
Gladiator Lancer
Repulsor Executioner
Culexus Assassin
This list feels a little spare with only one squad of DWKs in it, but it's because Jamie brought Lion Dad and a Repulsor Executioner, which are some expensive purchases. He also has a lot of characters in the list, which eats up the points pretty hard too. That said, everything in the list save for a few utility units is hard hitting and hard to pick up in one way or the other. Lion Dad is, of course, Lion Dad. His new abilities give him unparalleled ability to uppy-downy around the board and present a dire threat from inconvenient directions Jamie's opponents have to take seriously. Picking him up is not a trivial challenge either, especially with his new Emperor's Shield ability mimicking the detachment rule.
I think I'm going to start calling that rule Wrathhuman Physiology, or just Wrathhuman, as a nod to 9th Ed's Transhuman Physiology strat.
The ICCs and the Judiciar ride into battle in style in the Repex. The Judiciar having Ancient Weapons makes him a dire threat to enemy characters, and opponents with 3-wound models aren't going to be happy to see him either. Their ride isn't something opponents can take lightly either, with the heavy laser destroyer able to pick up all but the biggest, toughest targets with just a few shots, and the rest of its weapons giving Jamie a bucket of dice to throw at chaff.
Azrael and the Lieutenant accompany the Hellblasters. The Hellblasters are a prime target for Relics of the Dark Age, and having Azrael and a Lieutenant attached to the squad not only greatly enhances their shooting output, but makes them a credible threat in the Fight phase too, between their own melee weapons and conveying their offensive buffs to the rest of the squad in the Fight phase. The Lieutenant has Tempered in Battle, letting nearby units reroll Battle-shock and Leadership tests, which is an okay way to use those last 10 points. (As an aside, it would be nice to have that enhancement in the Unforgiven detachment, because I'd want to reroll Battle-shock tests to get units to fail.) Plus, the Lieutenant allows the unit to Fall Back and shoot and charge, which is an ability the detachment only confers on Ravenwing units.
The Terminator Chaplain links up with the DWKs to make a scary ball of murder with more and better output into more things than a mace squad would have. Only a Toughness 12 target would have less to worry about from this unit than from a mace squad, and there aren't too many of those running around.
Supplementing the Repex is the Gladiator Lancer, which also packs a nasty laser destroyer to put into big targets and a bucket of dice to throw at chaff.
Jamie's utility units are his Intercessors, Scouts, and ATV. The Intercessors doubtless hold the backfield objective for Jamie, with the Scouts and ATV scoring Secondaries for him, maybe occasionally holding down objectives for him.
Finally there's the Culexus Assassin. I think the primary purpose of the Culexus is to snipe characters out of squads with his Animus Speculum, which has a 24" range, Assault, Precision, and can potentially do up to 9 damage with ideal rolls, and it's not unreasonable to expect 4. He's got Lone Op, so he can just stand behind the Deathwing Knights and gun down squad-enhancing characters. If those characters are Psykers, his damage ceiling goes from 9 to 18, with both his shooting and melee profiles having Anti-Psyker 2+. He also has Stealth, Deep Strike, a 6" Deep Strike ability, and a once-per-game ability to make all enemy units take a Battle-shock test at a penalty, with the penalty increasing against Psyker units. Finally, he's got a 2+ FNP against Psychic attacks.
The Culexus is a bit of tech I have to remember. Thousand Sons are pretty popular in my area. I might want to throw him into my list to see if he helps against them.
Round 1 Jamie scored a comfortable 78-57 win against an Aeldari Aspect Host. 2nd round he drubbed an Aeldari Seer Council list 90-60 (I'm sure having to hide Eldrad from the Culexus hampered his opponent no small amount). 3rd round he scored a solid 83-55 win against a Militarum Combined Arms list. 4th round was his tie, 83-83 against an Ultramarines Gladius. 5th round was his lowest score, but still a win, a tight 50-46 against Vectorium Death Guard. Well done Jamie!
Next I'd like to present you with the top performing list from THE LEEDS 40K SUPER MAJOR, a
5-round, 286 player event held in (presumably Leeds) England. Toby Bennett of Black Crow Gaming went 4-1, tying for 12th and barely missing placing in the playoff rounds. You can see Toby's list on BCP, and we'll discuss it below.
Last DILF standing
Azrael - Warlord
Captain: Ancient Weapons
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Sammael
Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys
Impulsor
Ballistus Dreadnought
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 5 awesome bolter boys
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 5 awesome bolter boys
Vanguard Veteran Squad: 5 awesome flying choppy boys
Callidus Assassin
I compared this list to the one Toby went 4-1 with last week, and the only difference is he dropped a squad of Incursors and included the Impulsor. Either way, I think Toby's list is fairly conventional for a Wrath list that's likely to do well at competitive events. Three squads of DWKs with Wrathhuman Physiology going for them are going to be a nightmare for opponents to pick up, and opponents sending units anywhere near them run the risk of losing their units on their turn.
Sammy and the Outriders can run around the table, dodging units they can't handle and picking up units they can. That list is going to be pretty long, with Sammy getting 6 Damage 3 attacks with Sustained 2 and the Outriders throwing 12 Damage 2 attacks on the charge. Sammy also provides a unit that can Advance+Kill Things through his datasheet ability, which gives Toby the ability to Advance+Kill Things with two units.
The Ballistus Dreadnought is not super-exciting as far as damage output goes, but it can sit on the expansion objective, be a nuisance to pick up, and send some heat downrange, maybe popping transports so the Deathwing Knights can crunch them.
Toby went with two squads of 5 Sternguard instead of one squad of 10, so he can attach Azrael to one and the Ancient Weapons Captain to the other. There is not much downside to doing it that way. Toby is only missing out on a few Sustained Hits from Azrael, but gaining more flexibility, a second power fist, and both squads have a character that can swing Devastating Wounds. Additionally, the Captain has his once-per-game Super Saiyan mode, and can use discounted-cost Stratagems. I expect the Captain's squad goes in the Impulsor, as it lacks the protection of the 4++ Azrael provides. The Impulsor also has a nice bucket of dice it can throw at chaff, and once the embarked squad has un-assed it can go forth and score Secondaries.
The Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs can serve double duty as a skirmishing unit and utility unit. It's got pretty good damage output for the points, better-than-expected durability with the optional storm shields and Wrathhuman, have Deep Strike, and can move quickly around the table.
The more dedicated utility units are the Intercessors, Scouts, Combi-Lieutenant, and the more-conventional Callidus Assassin. Plus, as previously mentioned, the Impulsor and Van Vets can pitch in.
Toby started strong, spanking Berserker World Eaters 97-59 in the 1st round. 2nd round he drubbed another Berserker Warband 96-49. 3rd round he took his loss, 66-77 against Canoptek Necrons. 4th round he bounced back to score a comfortable 91-72 win against Vectorium Death Guard. He ended strong with a tight 100-95 win against Champions of Faith Sororitas. Way to go Toby!
The next event we had a list perform well at was sort of the polar opposite of Leeds - the Throne of War GT held in Honolulu HI, a 6-round, 15-player event (33 players were registered, but apparently only 15 showed up). One of the hosts of Dank List Wargaming, Heath Hooper of TableWar Hawaii, went 4-1 (he wasn't able to play the last game) and took 5th place. You can see Heath's list in BCP, and we'll discuss it below.
May the Emperor forgive you, cause the Rock will not
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Ravenwing Command Squad: Ancient Weapons
Sammael
Intercessor Squad: 5 bolter boys
Ballistus Dreadnought
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Deathwing Knights: 5 awesome chonky macey boys
Outrider Squad: 3 choppy biker boys
Ravenwing Black Knights: 3 awesome plasma biker boys
Sternguard Veteran Squad: 5 awesome bolter boys
Okay, so we've already talked about Lion Dad, Deathwing Knights, Sammael with Outriders, Azrael with Sternguard, Ballisti Dreadnoughts, Intercessors, and Combi-Lieutenants. The unique innovation Heath brought to his list is the Ravenwing Command Squad attached to a squad of 3 Ravenwing Knights. That gives him a couple of units he can have turbo their way across the table and Advance+Kill Things. The Ravenwing Black Knights are a good unit to use Relics of the Dark Age on, and the Ravenwing Champion is a good character to hang Ancient Weapons on. The Command Squad+Black Knights are a solid unit in this detachment because they can have two solid activations in a turn between the Shooting phase and the Fight phase, with potential buffs in both phases. The only downside is that Black Knights are 3 wound models in a meta full of 3-damage weapons, but they do have an Invulnerable save and benefit from Wrathhuman, mitigating the vulnerability somewhat.
Heath's list is a little light in the utility units, having only the Intercessors to mind the backfield objective and the Combi-Lieutenant. His two mounted units will often be able to give him positional Secondaries without having to tie them up with actions though, and I suppose one could uppy-downy Lion Dad to score a Secondary if it would make sense to - like if it would score Heath 5 points and not lose him Lion Dad in the process.
Heath scored himself a 1st round 73-60 win against Experimental Prototype T'au. 2nd round he drubbed Lords of Dread Chaos Knights 86-44. 3rd round he took his loss, a 44-98 beating against Mortarian's Hammer Death Guard. 4th round he avenged himself against Death Guard, with a solid 89-67 against a Vectorium list. 5th round he scored a comfortable 71-54 against the impertinently-named Lions of the Emperor Custodes detachment. I guess they wilt when the real Lion of the Emperor is on the table!
It's too bad Heath didn't get to play that 6th round. I'm confident he'd have gone 5-1. His 4-1 record is nothing to sneeze at though. Way to go Heath!
This last one is kind of wacky because it's a list that went 2-1-2 - that's 2 wins, 1 loss, 2 ties. Scoring one tie at a competitive event is unusual enough. Scoring two, and having that put you in a position to go X/1 is nuts, but that's what happened. Not WTC scoring either, which would make it a little more likely, but straight battle points.
This unusual sequence of events occurred at CQ Exterminatus 2025 - Warhammer 40k Tournament, a 5-round, 40-player event held in Rockhampton City, Queensland Australia. The Chad who pulled this off is Duncan Rogers of Grim Dark Gamers Roma. You can see Duncan's list on BCP. Discussion below.
Why you always Lion???
Lion Dad - Warlord
Azrael
Librarian: Ancient Weapons
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
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
Hellblaster Squad: 10 plasma boys
Infiltrator Squad: 5 stay-off-my-lawn boys
Inner Circle Companions: 6 spooky awesome swordy boys
Scout Squad: 5 sneaky lads
This strikes me as a pretty conventional build for a Wrath list that will place well. It's got the three units of DWKs to make approaching objectives a nightmare, a couple units that can conduct supporting charges and move past the objectives to take the fight into the opponent's backfield (Lion Dad and the ICCs), a good shooting unit that can exploit Relics (Azrael and the Hellblasters), a backfield objective holder, and some utility units.
Being able to buff Hellblasters from Strength 8 to Strength 10 is a net +1 to +2 to wound a wide variety of targets in the game. Only against Toughness 11 or better will it not help. So, it wasn't helping Duncan pick up big Knights, but certainly was helping him pick up the smaller ones.
Pairing the ICCs with a Librarian is a list choice that's gaining in popularity. It's certainly easy to understand why. The ICCs need an attached character to trigger one of their datasheet abilities, and the Librarian gives them a 4++, which combined with Wrathhuman makes them a pain for opponents to pick up. The Librarian gives the unit a decent shooting attack, and giving him Ancient weapons improves his melee output from mediocre to fairly good. Plus, every once in a while that 4+ FNP against Psychic attacks is going to be clutch.
Duncan took 12th place at this event. A few people who went 3-2 placed higher than him with his 2-1-2, but he still got an X/1 result for his efforts.
Duncan got his best score of the event 1st round, scoring a solid 90-67 against Noble Lance Knights. That list had 4 big Knights in it, so Duncan clearly didn't have much trouble with them. I bet Lion Dad was instrumental in that. Anyway, 2nd round he picked up a tight 79-75 win against Grand Coven Thousand Sons. 3rd round was his loss, a bruising 50-82 against Liberator Blood Angels. 4th round he had an 83-83 tie against an Ultramarines Vanguard. 5th round he had a 50-50 tie against Biosantic Genestealer Cult. Well done Duncan!
Statistics
We managed to claw our way out of the basement this weekend, entirely on the strength of the Wrath of the Rock detachment. We had 27 players who played 133 games and won 68 of them, scoring a 51% win rate and 4 X/0-X/1 results. Our 4-week win rate is still a dismal 43%, with only 1 event win over that period. For comparison's sake, Death Guard topped the 4-week event win category with 14.
The Wrath of the Rock detachment was the most popular by a huge margin, with 21 players who scored a 53% win rate and earned all 4 of the X-results. We'll have to see if this is a blip in the statistics, or if it represents an emerging understanding of how to win with this detachment.
The next most popular detachment was the Gladius Task Force, but it wasn't very popular, with 5 players who scored a 44% win rate.
Once in the running for the most played detachment, the Stormlance Task Force was barely a blip this weekend, with just 1 player who went 2-3 for a 40% win rate.
Factions To Watch Out For
Imperial Knights were by far the most successful faction of the weekend, with 51 players who scored a 59% win rate, 20 X-results, and 2 event wins.
Death Guard were the other widely-played, winning-big faction of the weekend, with 64 players who scored a 54% win rate, 18 X-results and 1 event win. The Virulent Vectorium detachment was the most popular with 32 players and 6 X-results, but only managed a 47% win rate. The winningest detachment was Champions of Contagion, with 12 players, a 67% win rate, 7 X-results and the event win. Mortarion's Hammer's 14 players picked up the last 5 X-results and a 61% win rate.
That's all I've got for you today, honored battle brethren. Thanks to Meta Monday for the statistical analysis they provide. Check out Dank List Wargaming on YouTube for Dark Angels video content. They break down frequency of unit choice, which is some interesting data to be aware of. I hope you enjoy my work and find it helpful. Strive ever for glorious victory, my battle brethren. For The Lion!
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