Welcome, Warhammer 40k fanatics! SaltyJohn from TFG Radio bringing you some exciting news, and memes, from the world of Competitive 40k!
This past week in the ITC has been pretty exciting. It’s provided us with some interesting results and our first real look at what Grey Knights are settling into meta-wise.
The top 10 hasn’t had a whole lot of movement lately. With Sean Nayden attending the So Cal Open this weekend though we might be seeing him jump a spot or two! The competition for the top team in the ITC is also heating up with the top 25 teams all being within realistic strike distance of the top spot, and definitely top 10.
One of the narratives to come out of last week’s events was the success of Grey Knights. Previously in this article series I wrote briefly about the success of Grey Knights at the GW US Open in New Orleans and specifically about the success of a GK list that utilized a Land Raider Crusader. This past weekend saw the top 3 spots at Crucible 9 Champions GT were all Grey Knights players!
Congratulations to David Ozawa for taking the overall top spot and going 6-0 in the process! A feat of 40k prowess to be sure. The lists all featured Nemesis Dreadknights, or Grand Masters in Nemesis Dreadknights, heavily. Ozawa’s winning list had 5, same with Nanavati, and Biggs’ list had 4. The differences in the lists were in the additional HQ choices and the mix of Strike Squads, Interceptor Squads, and Purifier Squads each player went with. Nanavati favored a Librarian and Techmarine over Ozawa’s and Biggs’ choice of including Draigo. Overall the lists are similar in that it seems they expect the heavy lifting to be done by the various Dreadknights. Ozawa’s winning list was not too surprising:
- Patrol Brotherhood: Rapiers
- Grand Master Dreadknight Gattling Psilencer, Heavy Psycannon.
- Draigo
- 5 man Strike Squad
- Apothecary
- 10 Purifiers
- 2×5 Interceptors
- Nemesis Dreadknight Gattling Psilencer, Heavy Psycannon.
- Patrol Brotherhood: Swordbearers
- Grand Master Dreadknight Gattling Psilencer, Heavy Psycannon.
- 5 man Strike Squad
- 2x Nemesis Dreadknight Gattling Psilencer, Heavy Psycannon.
These lists featuring 4, or more, Dreadknights and GMNDK have a lot of beef to chew through and throw out a lot of firepower and psychic attacks. The NDK and GMNDK aren’t a slouch in assault either and taking them out can prove more difficult than you first realize. When playing into Grey Knights, or Thousand Sons, remember that the Abhor the Witch secondary exists, and try to work on your target priority and focus down those high priority targets quickly. A trap many players fall into is splitting fire too often, thinking they will finish off a target easily with one weapon and then failing to do so. With lists that can heal, through Apothecaries and Techmarines for example, this can be a game-changing mistake.
Like I mentioned earlier the So Cal Open is this weekend starting on Friday and the playing field looks strong. Some great So Cal talent is going to roll dice and cross measuring tapes with some great players from far afield! Personally, I’ve been busy finishing up some new Knights to take in my Freeblade Lance Army of Renown. Anyone who follows TFG Radio, or the SaltyJohn page on Facebook, is already well aware that I have a lot of Knights but I found myself lacking Magaeras and actual Moirax models. I had converted Moirax very early on before the models had been released but I wanted the actual models so I managed to get them built, painted, and practiced with the actual models instead of just proxies with 3 days to spare!
I am not sure I can make it to the Championship rounds on Sunday with the list, but I have really enjoyed it so far. The field is stiff. As of this morning, according to BCP, there are 18 Drukhari players, 10 Adeptus Mechanicus, 10 Grey Knight, and 8 Thousand Sons. Good luck to all of you going to So Cal Open and I will see you there!
If you have a long drive, or flight, and want something 40k related to listen to you can try out the new lore-based podcast from those of us at TFG Radio called Pod Save the Imperium. You can find our episodes on your favorite podcast listening app including iTunes! The episodes are short and done in a debate-style discussion, not an open argument making it easier to listen to than normal podcasts with people interrupting and talking over one another.
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