Meta Snapshot 4/13/2026


Hello fellow 40K enthusiast! I'm back with the meta snapshot of the past weekend. We're back to a more normal number of events, which allows frontrunning factions to clearly emerge. Unfortunately we do have clearly frontrunning factions, and they are what I think have emerged as the usual suspects: Ultramarines, Necrons, and Chaos Space Marines.

Top Faction of this week is Ultramarines, with one 1st Place result, four 2nd place results, and two 3rd place results. The 1st Place result and two of the 2nd Place results were Blade of Ultramar lists, and the other two 2nd Place results and one of the 3rd place results were Gladius lists. Those two detachments are so similar they may as well be considered the same detachment. The last 3rd Place result was a Reclamation Force list.

All of these lists featured some combination of Ultramarines Epic Heroes (though not all the same in every list), multiple Repulsor Executioners, and Victrix Honor Guards, with Roboute Guilliman and Ballistus Dreadnoughts making frequent appearances. I guess Victrix weren't nerfed hard enough to knock them from the top spot, and apparently RepExes are good when you've got access to Super-Oath.

Number Two faction of the week is Necrons, with two each of 1st Place, 2nd Place, and 3rd Place results. One of each of those was a Starshatter Arsenal list. TGhe other 1st Place result was a Cursed Legion list, the 2nd Place result a Pantheon of Woe, and the 3rd Place result an Awakened Dynasty list.

Necrons have a deep bench, so nothing significant stuck out at me as being in every single list. C'tan were in most of them, but one of the Starshatter lists didn't have any, instead having the classic Silent King and 3 Doomsday Arks. Nekrosor Ammentar appeared pretty frequently too, so don't sleep on that guy.

The Number Three faction of the week is Chaos Space Marines, with three 1st Place finishes and two 3rd Place finishes. I know that was more wins than Top and Number Two, but less overall. Two of the 1st Place armies were Pactbound Zealots lists with Vashtorr the Arkfane, a pair of Defilers, and a Venomcrawler. The other 1st Place army was a Huron's Marauders list focused around two 10-man units of Chosen and an 10-man unit of Warp Talons.  One of two 3rd Place armies was also a Huron's Marauders list with 25 Chosen and 20 Possessed. The last 3rd Place army was a Soulforged Warpack that I'm not sure is actually that instructive because it only went 3-2, but it did place 3rd, albeit at an even that barely broke 20 players.

After Chaos Marines, the drop off into the also-rans is pretty sharp. Three factions pulled 3 Top Three results: T'au, Thousand Sons, and Tyranids. T'au had two 1st Place results, a Kroot Hunting Pack that was legit all Kroot units, and that list did take 1st place at The South-Coast 40k Super-Major. The other 1st Place army was a Mont'ka list, and a Kauyon list got a 2nd place finish. Thousand Sons got one each of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place finishes, with the 1st and 3rd place armies both Grand Coven lists, and both scored at the Open Iberian Barcelona 2026. The 2nd Place finish was scored by a Rubricae Phalanx list. Tyranids scored three 3rd Place results, 2 Invasion Fleet lists and 1 Crusher Stampede list.

Here's the full list of events and their Top Three finishes

Anzac Cup 2026: 65 players, 5 rounds

  1. Chaos Space Marines: Huron's Marauders
  2. Ultramarines: Gladius Task Force
  3. Astra Militarum: Recon Element
Clash of the Titans x Gash Hammer Gaming 40k GT: 34 players, 5 rounds
  1. Necrons: Cursed Legion
  2. Leagues of Votann: Hearthband
  3. World Eaters: Berzerker Warband
Liègea Primus open for 50 players: 38 players, 5 rounds
  1. Orks: War Horde
  2. Ultramarines: Blade of Ultramar
  3. Tyranids: Invasion Fleet
Xtra-Schicht 5.0: 29 players, 5 rounds
  1. Genestealer Cult: Biosantic Broodsurge
  2. Thousand Sons: Rubricae Phalanx
  3. Aeldari: Aspect Host
OPEN IBERIAN BARCELONA 2026: 142 players, 5 rounds
  1. Thousand Sons: Grand Coven
  2. Blood Angels: Liberator Assault Group
  3. Thousand Sons: Grand Coven
THE SOUTH-COAST 40k SUPER-MAJOR: 251 players, 8 rounds
  1. T'au Empire: Kroot Hunting Pack
  2. Ultramarines: Blade of Ultramar
  3. Space Marines (Salamanders) Forgefather's Seekers
Bristol Vanguard presents: Vanquish 2026: 41 players, 5 rounds
  1. Chaos Space Marines: Pactbound Zealots
  2. Imperial Knights: Freeblade
  3. Necrons: Starshatter Arsenal
Battle For GreenHollow Singles: 79 players, 6 rounds
  1. Necrons: Starshatter Arsenal
  2. Adeptus Custodes: Shield Host
  3. Space Wolves: Gladius Task Force
NSGRC Warhammer 40,000 tournament: 34 players, 5 rounds
  1. Astra Militarum: Grizzled Company
  2. T'au Empire: Kauyon
  3. Chaos Knights: Infernal Lance
21st Legion Wargaming Presents: Battle to End Alzheimer's 2026 40K hosted by Away Games: 98 players, 6 rounds
  1. Ultramarines: Blade of Ultramar
  2. Orks: Kult of Speed
  3. Deathwatch: Black Spear Task Force
Warhammer 40K Spring Retreat: 21 players, 5 rounds
  1. T'au Empire: Mont'ka
  2. Leagues of Votann: Mercenary Oathband
  3. Chaos Space Marines: Soulforged Warpack
April GT: 30 players, 5 rounds
  1. Space Marines (Salamanders) Firestorm Assault Force
  2. Dark Angels: Gladius Task Force
  3. Tyranids: Invasion Fleet
Bedlam in the 'Burgh 2026 40k GT: 24 players, 5 rounds
  1. Deathwatch: Black Spear Task Force
  2. Genestealer Cult: Final Day
  3. Ultramarines: Reclamation Force
Fools Errand 2026: a 40k GT: 69 players, 5 rounds
  1. Death Guard: Virulent Vectorum
  2. Ultramarines: Blade of Ultramar
  3. Necrons: Awakened Dynasty
Battle for the Big Country GT: 32 players, 5 rounds
  1. Imperial Knights: Questoris Companions
  2. Necrons: Pantheon of Woe
  3. Tyranids: Crusher Stampede
CollectorMania's April Warhammer 40k GT: 23 players, 5 rounds
  1. Chaos Space Marines: Pactbound Zealots
  2. Necrons: Starshatter Arsenal
  3. Ultramarines: Gladius Task Force
Battle for LA (in Pasadena): 36 players, 5 rounds
  1. Adeptus Sororitas: Army of Faith
  2. Aeldari: Seer Council
  3. Chaos Space Marines: Huron's Marauders
That, fellow enthusiasts, is what I have for you today. I'll make the effort to keep you appraised of what's doing well in the meta. I hope you find the information helpful to you. May all your games be fun ones!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter Update: 7/7/2025

Image
Hello battle brethren! It was a lighter weekend than usual due to the July 4th holiday over here in the United States, but the rest of the world didn't stop having 40K events. We had four lists go X/0 or X/1 over the weekend, and all of them were Wrath of the Rock lists. Over three times as many players played Wrath lists as all the other detachments combined over the weekend. So, let's take a look at those lists, see what we can learn from them, and celebrate the achievements of our battle brethren! 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 a...
Read more

Chapter Update: 6/30/2025

Image
  Hello battle brethren! Another weekend is behind us, and over that weekend many of us did battle on tables worldwide (not me, I was NPCing a LARP). Statistics indicate that collectively we're struggling to keep our heads above water, but there are some good results to talk about. I have 4 lists I want to talk about, and 3 of them are bespoke Dark Angels detachments! Even more wild, 2 of them are Company of Hunters lists, and one of those lists is an event winner! Let's take a look at these lists and see what we can learn from them.  We'll do the logical thing and start with the event winner. Jofonz Blow of RBBR took 1st place with his Company of Hunters lists at Bigfoot GT, a 5-round, 22 player event held in Medford, OR. You can see Jofonz' list on BCP. We'll discuss it below. We are the Shadow Riders, born of night, We ride for the Emperor, wielders of might. Not for glory, nor for fame, In shadows deep, we etch His name. Our path is unseen, our strike is swift,...
Read more

Wrath of the Rock: First Use

Image
Hello battle brethren! I'm excited to tell you I used the new Wrath of the Rock detachment for the first time at an RTT this past Saturday, at Phantasm Gaming in Branford CT. If you're within a reasonable driving distance, I highly recommend it. They have a good setup on 40K days, with high tables so you don't kill your back, the tables have extra space for staging your stuff, they have good terrain, plenty of space to move around, and the registration fee for RTTs includes pizza for lunch. Anyway, there were 26 players at the event. I went 2-1 and took 4th place. You can see the BCP entry for the event here . Just as a reminder, I did a review of the detachment last week, which you can see here . I included a first idea for a list, which I modified somewhat before it hit a table. Here's the version I played on Saturday. Rocky Wrath Flavour 1.21 Azrael - Warlord Sammael Ravenwing Command Squad: Lord of the Ravenwing Assault Intercessors: 5 choppy boys Deathwing Knights...
Read more