40k Meta Analysis: Breaking Down The Top Lists of LVO

Matt Castro

3 years ago

Today we go over the top lists of LVO and interview the players to see how they felt about the event and how their army did during the major.

**Thought of the Day**

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

Lists, data, and all stats are based on information pulled from either Best Coast Pairings, Down Under Pairings, or tabletop to. If you want to make sure your event is included in this weekly article series toss me an email at legiotitanicus at gmail dot com and I’ll make sure that I add it to my list for analysis during the week. I will also be reaching out to tournament organizers (TO’s) for event winner’s email addresses moving forward (or if you win at a GT level event let me know!).

Guest Writer: Nathan Henning

This week we had 5 GT or larger events taking place according to BCP, DUP, and Tabletop TO (Qualifying events had at least 30 participants):

The Las Vegas Open, or also known as the ITC season capstone, the tournament where the overall ITC champion is crowned
No Respite
FactorUM
Cape Town Throw Down
LVNO!

In today’s article we will be covering overall meta status and the following events:

The LAS VEGAS OPEN 2022, the ITC end of season tournament where thee overall champion for the year is crowned and faction leaders are celebrated.

You can find coverage of this week’s other tournaments in yesterday’s article.

My Predictions from my daily coverage of the LVO

– 60% win-rate for custodes is a thing

– Crusher Stampede crushes the competition, but doesn’t quite take the win

– Anthony V taking the trophy (I also originally thought that John Lennon could win, but you’ll see why he’s not here below)

– Top 10 consisting of Custodes, Drukhari, and a lot of Crusher Stampede or Forces lists.

However, after round 1 and a surprise Siegler appearance I wouldn’t put it past Siegler winning the whole thing.

Predicted Top 5 for the event:

– Anthony V

– Jack Harpster

– Richard Siegler

– Brad Chester

– Mani Cheema

If I extended to a top 10:

– Evans (the guy who beat Lennon)

– Alex M

– Malik

– Sean Nayden

– Jaime Paris

How did I do?

Not great, I did get a few things right though! I predicted that Richard Siegler would hit the top 5, but otherwise I didn’t do a great job of predicting where players would fall within the rankings or who would win the overall tournament (though I will say that Anthony came quite close losing only to Richard Siegler). I did predict that Siegler could take the whole thing and he did after his surprise arrival day one of LVO.

However, I did much better in predicting the overall participation of factions and performance of factions at the event.

Custodes did hit a 60% win rate at the event
Crusher Stampede did come up just short, but did make it into the shadow round
The overall faction makeup of the top performing factions was mostly accurate minus Siegler’s admech. The top performing factions consisted mostly of Drukhari, Custodes, Forces of the Hive Mind, and Crusher Stampede lists (though it wasn’t a lot of crusher lists).

Overall

Instead of our standard analysis I’m going to walk us through the tournament, the meta, and some interesting things to note as we cap off this season and transition into the 2022 season and missions.

Faction	Player Count	Win%
Forces of the Hive Mind	10	62
Drukhari	54	62
Tyranids	52	63
Chaos Knights	4	54
Custodes	61	60
Harlequins	6	49
Grey Knights	49	52
Chaos	10	54
Orks	53	54
Chaos Daemons	14	32
Tau empire	14	42
Thousand Sons	30	44
Mechanicus	33	45
Genestealer Cult	18	57
Death Guard	41	41
Black Templars	26	42
Imperial Knights	28	44
Dark Angels	28	43
Necrons	35	48
Adepta Sororitas	38	43
Space Wolves	19	47
Imperium	8	57
Iron hands	13	49
Deathwatch	13	49
Blood Angles	13	41
Astra Militarum	20	35
Salamanders	11	41
Space Marines	17	36
Chaos Marines	18	42
Aeldari	13	44
Ultramarines	10	49
Nurgle	2	44
Craftworld Eldar	6	37

Marine Participation	25.9
Aeldari	10.3
Tyranids	10.4
Necrons	4.6
Tau Empire	1.8
Orks	6.9
Chaos	15.5
non-marine Imperium	24.5

So, one of the first things we can take a peek at is overall faction participation and win rate in the first table and then the second table includes a breakdown of how much we’re seeing of the overall faction umbrellas. Even though win rate isn’t necessarily the best measure of faction performance it gives us an idea of the overall health of a faction prior to further analysis.

We can see that even though marines are doing relatively poorly (something that will be explained deeper in a moment) we’re still seeing the marine book (and it’s various supplements) make up the largest contingent of factions present at the LVO. Close behind we have non-marine imperium factions, followed by chaos, and then the various xenos factions who don’t work together.

For win rate performance we’ve got a pretty standard assortment of factions in the top 10 with a couple interesting factions doing really well. Forces of the Hive Mind, Tyranids (mostly crusher stampede), Drukhari, and Custodes top the list of high-performing factions at LVO which will not be surprising for anyone who has been reading my articles these last few weeks. We do have a couple outliers, specifically Chaos Knights and Harlequins, who performed exceptionally well but also had fewer than 10 players in attendance at the event making me question if those results are generalizable or not. At the very bottom we have Chaos Daemons, Astra Militarum, non-supplement Space Marines, and Craftworld Eldar. One of these is getting a new book soon, so at the very least we will hopefully see CWE brought out of the doldrums of being in the lowest tier of factions.

Also, I wanted to share something that I just thought was interesting. European (and one Kiwi who leaves in Europe, David Gaylard) players did exceptionally well at the event with an overall win rate of 80% and an average placement of 102.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next and expect the meta to change with new mission secondaries, new primary scoring methods, and points changes. We will see if the points cuts and an already aggressive 60% win rate and top placements at LVO indicate the dominance of the Custode and whether not Crusher Stampede has the flexibility to continue doing well in a new mission environment. We also have two more books rapidly approaching, with Tau dropping this week and Craftworld Eldar in the near future alongside whatever Nachmund supplements come out with new supplements and armies of renown.

Now onto our lists and player Q&A’s

First Place – Richard Siegler (Admech)

Expand for Army List

+ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Adeptus Mechanicus) [95 PL, 6CP, 1,997pts] ++

+ Configuration +

Army of Renown – Skitarii Veteran Cohort

Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)

Detachment Command Cost

Forge World Choice: Forge World: Mars

+ Stratagems +

Stratagem: Archeotech Specialist [-2CP]: 2x Archeotech Specialist

Stratagem: Artefactotum [-2CP]: 2x Artefactotum

Stratagem: Host of the Intermediary [-1CP]: Host of the Intermediary

Stratagem: Mechanicus Locum [-1CP]: Mechanicus Locum

+ No Force Org Slot +

Brotherhood of the Cog [5 PL, 85pts]
. Tech-Priest Enginseer: Magi

+ HQ +

Skitarii Marshal [3 PL, 55pts]: Relic (Skitarii Veteran Cohort): Cantic Thrallnet, Warlord, Warlord Trait (Skitarii Veteran Cohort): Calculate Without Diversion

Skitarii Marshal [3 PL, 55pts]: Mechanicus Locum, Relic: Exemplar’s Eternity, Warlord Trait (Codex 3): Programmed Retreat

Tech-Priest Manipulus [6 PL, 120pts]: Logi, Magnarail lance, Relic: Raiment of the Technomartyr

+ Troops +

Skitarii Rangers [9 PL, 219pts]: Omnispex
. Ranger Alpha: Galvanic Rifle, Host of the Intermediary, Warlord Trait (Codex 5): Firepoint Telemetry Cache
. 18x Skitarii Ranger: 18x Galvanic Rifle

Skitarii Rangers [9 PL, 219pts]: Omnispex
. Ranger Alpha: Galvanic Rifle
. 18x Skitarii Ranger: 18x Galvanic Rifle

Skitarii Vanguards [2 PL, 55pts]
. 4x Skitarii Vanguard: 4x Radium Carbine
. Vanguard Alpha: Radium Carbine

+ Elites +

Sicarian Infiltrators [4 PL, 95pts]
. Infiltrator Princeps (Stub/Sword)
. 4x Sicarian Infiltrator (Stub/Sword): 4x Power Sword, 4x Stubcarbine

Sicarian Ruststalkers [8 PL, 190pts]
. Ruststalker Princeps (Blades): Artefactotum, Relic: Temporcopia
. 9x Sicarian Ruststalker (Blades): 9x Transonic Blades

Sicarian Ruststalkers [8 PL, 152pts]
. Ruststalker Princeps (Blades): Artefactotum, Relic: The Omniscient Mask
. 7x Sicarian Ruststalker (Blades): 7x Transonic Blades

Sicarian Ruststalkers [8 PL, 152pts]
. Ruststalker Princeps (Blades)
. 7x Sicarian Ruststalker (Blades): 7x Transonic Blades

+ Fast Attack +

Ironstrider Ballistarii [4 PL, 85pts]
. Ironstrider Ballistarius: Twin Cognis Lascannon

+ Heavy Support +

Skorpius Disintegrator [8 PL, 145pts]: Belleros Energy Cannon

++ Total: [95 PL, 6CP, 1,997pts] ++

Key Features

Mars provides lots of little efficiencies by allowing your units to reroll a hit roll when a unit shoots or fights in melee, it also tacks on canticles for your skitarii units meaning you can take advantage of another layer of buffs like shroudpsalm to give your units cover or if you need to punch harder you can choose remorseless fist for +1 strength. Beyond that the Army of Renown for skitarii provides boosts to your ranger and vanguard units by giving them a 5++ in addition to leadership and additional special rules. It also gives access to some excellent warlord traits and relics.
The characters in this list provide excellent buffing for your units. The Cantic Thrallnet relic lets you pick a unit within 9” or with a data-tether to receive a Doctrina Imperative benefit, Calculation without Diversion increases the efficiency of your stratagems by reducing the costs of specific stratagems by one, and then you have exmemplar’s eternity giving a marshall both captain and lieutenant reroll auras, and as if you needed any more things you have programmed retreat letting one of your units fall back and retreat, and Logi giving you a significant durability buff by allowing a unit within 6” to ignore AP1/2
The ranger brick is extremely effective for both dealing damage and being a durable unit to hold points or the middle, especially with Firepoint Telemetry Cache letting you receive the benefit of light cover against ranged attacks and giving you and additional +1 to your save while wholly within a terrain feature
You’ve got a solid backing from disintegrators and ironstriders, the ironstriders being in single units means they can maximize their rerolls from Mars as well letting you gun down monsters and vehicles
Also don’t discount the sicaran units, both infiltrators and rust stalkers are dangerous in melee especially once you start piling on buffs from relics and stratagems, the tempercopia provides a fight last for one unit while the omniscient mask provides provides exploding 6’s in melee to core units within 6”. That means working in tandem your infiltration units will put out significant levels of pain.

TLDR

Firepower, melee, buffs, relics, and stratagems give you lots of tools to solve lots of problems.

Richard Siegler Q&A

What is the general Strategy for your list?

It’s a very balanced list that on the surface appears to be mostly guns, but hits incredibly hard when the opponent commits to the middle of the table. The list is designed to encourage the opponent to take the middle of the board, where the Sicarian ruststalkers advance and charge into the middle of the table and take out key threats that the shooting whittles down, contesting objectives and wrapping helpless units in the process. It’s very much a player’s army with a lot of strategic flexibility to commit command points to amplify the shooting or combat elements, so command point discipline is massive.

What was the most challenging matchup of the weekend and why?

Adeptus Custodes and Anthony’s Thicc City Drukhari were very difficult matchups with the explosive offensive of my army against their superior defensive mechanics. The bodyguard rule was also difficult to play around and forced me to commit ruststalkers much earlier than I would have liked to in each of the top 8 matches.

What was your MVP unit for the event?

My familiarity with playing 9th edition Adeptus Mechanicus and the Veteran Cohort style lists was definitely an advantage I had to utilize to win the event. But for units, the Skitarii Rangers and Sicarian Ruststalkers were clear MVP’s every single game. The objective secured of the rangers allowed me to contest middle objectives turn after turn and eventually take down my opponent’s primary with advance and charge plays, while the Ruststalkers blended even some of the toughest units in the game like those fielded by the Custodes.

Is there anything or anyone you’d like to shout out?

The Art of War 40k, where we have built a community dedicated to talking competitive 40k and bringing players from vastly different global metas into contact with one another to improve their game!

Second Place – Matt Lorah (Custodes)

Expand for Army List

Battalion detachment

Shadowkeepers

Trajann valoris 170 (warlord)

Shield captain on dawn eagle jetbike, misercordia, salvo launcher, tip if the spear 195pts

Shield captain in allarus terminator armour, unstoppable destroyer 135

3 custodian guard with guardian spears 135

3 custodian wardens with castellan axes 150

Allarus custodian 65

Contempter galatus 170 eternal penitent

Contempter galatus 170

Caladius grav tank with twin iliastus accelerator culvrins 205

Bike captain- relic: stasis oubliette, warlord trait: lock warden, superior creation

Terminator captain- relic: praetorian plate, warlord trait: radiant mantle

The emperor’s heroes -2cp
Open the vaults -1 cp
Victor of the blood games -1cp
Eternal penitent -1 cp
Trajinn +1 cp

Starting cp 8

Points: 2000/2000

Key Features

Shadowkeepers have lost perhaps a step in the new rules, but other pieces of the adeptus custodes codex have more than made up for it. With -1 attack from units within engagement range and being able to reroll the wound roll against characters your units become very effective against melee focused armies and beatstick characters by using your durability to give you the opportunity to kill anything that tries to engage you. The Shadowkeeper stratagem that reduces strength by 1 for non-vehicle custodes units also ensures that your custodian guard can just stand in the middle of the table yelling ‘come at me’ to your opponents army
They yell it even louder when you tack on no rerolls via Emperor’s Auspice or the custodes transhuman stratagem
Also, custodes heroes are impressively deadly, the shield captain on bike with tip of the spear rerolls those pesky 1’s to hit and to wound while the lockwarden trait lets them ignore invulnerable saves when their attacks are directed at characters, then tack on the stasis oubliette relic giving you a targeted fight last ability and Superior creation for a 5+++? You’ve essentially got a character hunter who flies and can move up to 14” meaning that no stone will be left unturned or maybe no Drazhar not killed perhaps?
A terminator captain with the praetorian plate has essentially infinite range for their heroic intervention meaning they can do all sorts of pesky things, especially when you combine the intervention with Dactarai and reduce pile-in and consolidates by 1”, the Radiant Mantle makes you -1 to hit to keep the captain alive, and then unstoppable destroyer lets you pile-in anywhere you want an extra 1” so long as you finish within engagement range
Finally, Trajann, he’s got several warlord traits, rerolls hits in melee, provides an aura of reroll hits and to wound for <Core> models. What’s more to ask for at a certain point?
The list also brings to caladius to form the firepower backbone of the list, and two contemptor dreadnoughts that are quite capable in melee

TLDR

A list meant for bullying you in the middle of the table while characters zip and zap themselves around the board murdering your things

Matt Lorah Q&A

What is the general Strategy for your list?

The list is a central board control list with lots of obsec. The praetorian plate and the heroic strat are key to this. Shadow keepers increase the durability vs combat armies a lot. The fight last also makes doing combat math for my opponent even harder. The dreads and Trajann often formed a deathball that ran around killing everything You can also use the plate any time during the heroic step so I could heroic Trajann in then put plate dude in after to get some extra threat range. (That’s how the judge ruled it during the finals)

What was the most challenging matchup of the weekend and why?

Challenging was Siegs obviously but outside of him I’d say my round 6 (the second out of 3 thicc city lists) most likely because of the mission (scouring….ew) but it was very close and came down to one dreads refusal to die

What was your MVP unit for the event?

MVP switched between games some it was Trajann, some dreads, and a couple games was the grav tanks.

Is there anything or anyone you’d like to shout out?

I’m on my own team with my family and friends called Short Stack Wargaming.

Third Place – Evan Tomchin (Custodes)

Expand for Army List

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Adeptus Custodes) [100 PL, 9CP, 1,998pts] ++

+ Configuration [12CP] +

Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points) [12CP]

Detachment Command Cost

Detachment Type / Shield Host: Adeptus Custodes, Emperor’s Chosen

+ HQ [19 PL, -1CP, 365pts] +

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike [10 PL, -2CP, 195pts]: (Emperor’s Chosen): Auric Exemplar, 3. Superior Creation, Castellan’s Mark, Interceptor Lance, Misericordia [5pts], Salvo Launcher [5pts], Stratagem: The Emperor’s Heroes [-1CP], Stratagem: Victor of the Blood Games [-1CP], Tip of the Spear [1 PL, 15pts]

Trajann Valoris [9 PL, 1CP, 170pts]: Misericordia, Watcher’s Axe
. Warlord: 1. Master of Martial Strategy, 2. Champion of the Imperium

+ Troops [17 PL, 345pts] +

Custodian Guard Squad [7 PL, 150pts]
. 3x Custodian w/ Sentinel Blade & Praesidium Shield [150pts]: 3x Praesidium Shield [15pts], 3x Sentinel Blade

Custodian Guard Squad [7 PL, 135pts]
. 3x Custodian w/ Guardian Spear [135pts]: 3x Guardian Spear

Prosecutors [3 PL, 60pts]
. 4x Prosecutor [48pts]: 4x Boltgun
. Prosecutor Sister Superior [12pts]: Boltgun

+ Elites [40 PL, -2CP, 745pts] +

Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought [9 PL, 160pts]: Achillus Dreadspear, 2x Lastrum Storm Bolter

Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought [9 PL, -1CP, 170pts]: Galatus Warblade, Stratagem: Eternal Penitent [-1CP]

Custodian Wardens [7 PL, 150pts]
. 3x Warden w/ Guardian Spear [150pts]: 3x Guardian Spear

Vexilus Praetor [6 PL, -1CP, 105pts]: 4. Impregnable Mind, Guardian Spear, Stratagem: The Emperor’s Heroes [-1CP], Vexilla Magnifica

+ Fast Attack [24 PL, 543pts] +

Vertus Praetors [12 PL, 273pts]
. 2x Praetor w/ Salvo Launcher [8 PL, 180pts]: 2x Interceptor Lance, 2x Salvo Launcher [10pts]
. Praetor w/ Salvo Launcher & Misericordia [4 PL, 93pts]: Interceptor Lance, Misericordia [3pts], Salvo Launcher [5pts]

Vertus Praetors [12 PL, 270pts]
. 3x Praetor w/ Salvo Launcher [12 PL, 270pts]: 3x Interceptor Lance, 3x Salvo Launcher [15pts]

++ Total: [100 PL, 9CP, 1,998pts] ++

Key Features

So Emperor’s Chosen was the consensus pick as best subfaction for custodes by a number of top-level players. It gives you the most flexibility via a 4+++ and the ability to reroll a hit or a wound roll when a unit attacks. The real flexibility comes in when you consider the stratagem that allows one of your units to become another Shield Host for a turn, meaning you can become Shadowkeepers and be extra tanky in the right moment of the game.
In this list we’ve got another Bike Captain with Superior Creation for the 5+++ alongside the Castellans Mark which provides you with a pocket redeploy for two units, tip of the spear also gives you the reroll hit and wound roll that you desperately want because eventually you will roll a few one’s, probably. The Auric Exemplar also makes hordes significantly less irritating since you get up to 4 bonus attacks, 1 for each enemy model you kill
Trajann GODDAMN Valoris, as was detailed in the previous custodes list
Triple Contemptor-achillus dreads who have 5 D3+3 attacks with their spear in melee, and flat 3 damage at range as well in addition to 2 S5 AP1 D1 stormbolters just in case you know.
A pair of 3-man vertus praetors are also coming along to the party armed with the salvo launcher (those are the D3+3 damage guns, intended for murdering pain engines and big bugs).
Finally, as if that wasn’t enough you have the Vexilla, with impregnable mind giving you a deny in case you need it and the Vexilla Magnifica giving your <Core> units the benefit of dense cover as well to bump their durability up a notch
Also, while being surrounded by golden armored heroes mean you often don’t get remembered a squad of Sisters of Silence prosecutors comes along as well, dampening psychic powers and also providing some much needed screening or backfield objective holding for the army. Or maybe an action here or there… sometimes.

TLDR

More Bikes, More Trajann, More golden armored pain train this time with Bikes, dreads, and Sisters of Silence

What is the general Strategy for your list?

The general strategy for the list is definitely influenced at the Choose Secondary step and is of course mission/opponent dependent but usually relies on Stranglehold, Grind and Banners when feasible. I want to punish my opponent at range with highly efficient high damage shooting in the 7 Melta shots from the bikes and the spear shots from the Achillus Dreads. Usually, the sister squad and one Custodian Guard squad will hold my back to objectives while the dreads are the first wave. The bikes will then collapse on the midfield and usually provide the killing blow.

Custodes trickery is abundant and the flexibility from Emperors Chosen is vital. Being able to switch shield hosts to fall back and charge for 1CP means that the bikes, after collapsing on the mid-board, can then jump into my opponent’s deployment zone and threaten their backfield holders (which are usually much weaker than them). The 1CP Heroic intervention stratagem on any unit (or 6” heroic on a character) and Tanglefoot grenade can make the charge phase and fight phase more complicated for my opponent than they would like it to be. Additionally, the bodyguard rule on the Wardens can set up my beatstick characters as unshootable objective holders which require a dedicated melee unit to shift.

Lastly, every unit is highly efficient because of rerolls either due to my HQs or in-built Emperor’s Chosen rerolls. When I shoot 7 meltas, I often expect 7 to hit and 7 to wound. The same thing goes for combat, where bikes may take 12 attacks and get 10-11 wounds.

What was the most challenging matchup of the weekend and why?

The most challenging matchups were definitely “thic city” but also the only game I lost was against Siegler’s admech so I can’t forget to mention that. The thic city matchup just feels a bit reliant on who punches harder first and if invulnvs can mitigate that damage. They also have so much speed that holding my own backfield objectives can be difficult.

The matchup into Siegler was tough because he shoots better than me and also trades up in melee. That said, it was my game to lose because of the mission and because he went first (giving me the final chance for scoring). I lost that game by the smallest margin and I’m (almost) over it.

What was your MVP unit for the event?

MVP unit would probably be the dreadnoughts? Honestly everyone performed so well the entire codex gets a shoutout from me. But the dreadnoughts’ ability to run off on a mission and punk anything they touched independently from the rest of the army was pretty critical. Moving 9” and being unduly resistant for their points cost makes them standout. One other mention is the bikes, which are able to move and advance 20” to threaten melta shots anywhere on the board. When combined with the redeploy, you can really throw off your opponent’s deployment.

Was there anyone or anything you wanted to give a shoutout for?

Quick shoutout to the Carcosa club in NYC where I’m located – the outpouring of support I received was unparalleled. I’m also going to revive my Youtube channel where I make batreps with some other great local players so if you want to watch more high level warhammer content check out The Competitive Standard 40k – new content coming soon! Thanks for having me!

Fourth Place – Alex Macdougall (Forces of the Hive Mind)

Expand for Army List

+ Patrol Detachment -2CP (Tyranids – Genestealer Cults – 2022) [52 PL, 10CP, 991pts] ++

+ Configuration [10CP] +

Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points) [12CP]

Cult Creeds: The Twisted Helix

Detachment Command Cost [-2CP]

+ No Force Org Slot [4 PL, 80pts] +

Kelermorph [4 PL, 80pts]: 3x Liberator Autostub

+ HQ [8 PL, 165pts] +

Patriarch [8 PL, 165pts]: Familiar [10pts], Meditations in Shadow [1 PL, 15pts], Patriarch’s Claws, Power: Mass Hypnosis, Power: Might From Beyond, Power: Mutagenic Deviation

+ Troops [13 PL, 240pts] +

Acolyte Hybrids [7 PL, 150pts]: A Trap Sprung [1 PL, 15pts]
. 5x Acolyte Hybrid [45pts]: 5x Autopistol, 5x Blasting Charges, 5x Cult Claws and Knife, 5x Frag Grenades
. Acolyte Hybrid w/ Industrial Weapon [19pts]: Blasting Charges, Frag Grenades, Heavy Rock Drill [10pts]
. Acolyte Hybrid w/ Industrial Weapon [19pts]: Blasting Charges, Frag Grenades, Heavy Rock Drill [10pts]
. Acolyte Hybrid w/ Industrial Weapon [19pts]: Blasting Charges, Frag Grenades, Heavy Rock Drill [10pts]
. Acolyte Hybrid w/ Industrial Weapon [19pts]: Blasting Charges, Frag Grenades, Heavy Rock Drill [10pts]
. Acolyte Leader [14pts]: Autopistol, Blasting Charges, Cult Bonesword [5pts], Frag Grenades

Acolyte Hybrids [3 PL, 45pts]
. 4x Acolyte Hybrid [36pts]: 4x Autopistol, 4x Blasting Charges, 4x Cult Claws and Knife, 4x Frag Grenades
. Acolyte Leader [9pts]: Autopistol, Blasting Charges, Cult Claws and Knife, Frag Grenades

+ Elites [16 PL, 305pts] +

Purestrain Genestealers [8 PL, 155pts]: Cult Claws and Talons, Our Time is Nigh [1 PL, 15pts], 10x Purestrain Genestealer [140pts]

Purestrain Genestealers [8 PL, 150pts]: Cult Claws and Talons, 10x Purestrain Genestealer [140pts], They Came From Below [1 PL, 10pts]

+ Fast Attack [6 PL, 106pts] +

Atalan Jackals [3 PL, 53pts]
. Atalan Jackal [17pts]: Atalan Small Arms, Blasting Charges, Demolition Charge [5pts]
. Atalan Jackal [12pts]: Atalan Small Arms, Blasting Charges
. Atalan Jackal [12pts]: Atalan Small Arms, Blasting Charges
. Atalan Leader [12pts]: Atalan Small Arms, Blasting Charges

+ Dedicated Transport [5 PL, 95pts] +

Goliath Truck [5 PL, 95pts]: Cache of Demolition Charges [5pts], Heavy Stubber, Twin Autocannon

++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (Tyranids) [50 PL, -2CP, 1,006pts] ++

+ Configuration +

Detachment Command Cost

Hive Fleet: Leviathan

+ Stratagems [-1CP] +

Progeny of the Hive [-1CP]

+ HQ [5 PL, -1CP, 95pts] +

Neurothrope [5 PL, -1CP, 95pts]: Claws and Teeth, Power: Catalyst, Power: Smite, Stratagem: Alpha Leader-Beast [-1CP], Warlord, Warlord Trait: Strategic Adaptation, Warlord Trait: Swarm Leader

+ Troops [23 PL, 456pts] +

Termagants [9 PL, 196pts]
. 28x Termagant (Devourer) [196pts]: 28x Devourer [56pts]

Termagants [9 PL, 182pts]
. 26x Termagant (Devourer) [182pts]: 26x Devourer [52pts]

Tyranid Warriors [5 PL, 78pts]: Adrenal Glands [3pts], Synaptic Link: Bioweapon Bond [1 PL, 15pts]
. Tyranid Warrior [20pts]: Lash Whip and Bonesword [3pts], Scything Talons
. Tyranid Warrior [20pts]: Lash Whip and Bonesword [3pts], Scything Talons
. Tyranid Warrior [20pts]: Lash Whip and Bonesword [3pts], Scything Talons

+ Elites [22 PL, 455pts] +

Hive Guard [12 PL, 270pts]
. Adaptive Physiology: Enhanced Resistance
. 6x Hive Guard (Impaler) [270pts]: 6x Impaler Cannon [60pts]

Maleceptor [10 PL, 185pts]: Massive Scything Talons, Power: Onslaught, Synaptic Link: Focal Essence [1 PL, 15pts]

++ Total: [102 PL, 8CP, 1,997pts] ++

Key Features

Leviathan and Twisted Helix. Twisted Helix gives you +1 movement and +1 strength, and mini-transhuman (only wound on 3+) along with a few key powers as well. Leviathan provides a FNP within synapse (very useful for gants) and then a bevy of stratagems that kick your firepower to 11.
First let’s talk melee, the Genestealer cult list is headlined by a Patriarch who has meditations in shadow letting him know 1 additional power and a familiar to let you re-roll a psychic test once per battle. His powers are what he brings, Mutagenic Deviation the Helix-specific power makes all 6’s to hit auto-wound your target which is very useful in a meta featuring demi-gods in golden armor or giant monsters. Mass Hypnosis subtracts an attack from the models in a unit and fight last, then Might from Beyond lets you give a unit +1 attack. Now you might be thinking these have a limited range, but for 1 CP your Patriarch can cast a power anywhere on the board (provided it’s a blessing like say mutagenic deviation)
Two barebones hybrid units provide some board presence, objective stealing, and action performing. One large hybrid squad provides combat punch with 4 industrial drills that automatically wound if they hit and then cause two mortals in addition to normal damage if you roll a 6 to hit, capped off with A Trap Sprung which lets them roll 3D6 for an 8” charge out of deep strike
Yes 8” charge, GSC models can get extra close to you if they want to charge or even closer (6” if they don’t want to)
Two units of Purestrain Genestealers provide more melee presence, with one having They Came From Below letting them pre-game move 9” and then the other with Our Time is Nigh giving them +1 attack
Rounding out the GSC you have two units of atalans who have a wide variety of uses from screening to board control to just generally being a fast moving menace
I talked a lot about GSC but the Tyranids portion of this list is vicious. The Devourer armed gants each have 3 shots at 18” at S4 with reroll 1’s to wound as long as there are 20 models left, then if you toss on Swarm Leader for full rerolls to hit , and then you tack on Relentless Fury which gives you 6’s to hit exploding into 3 hits. That means these Devourer gants can put out ludicrous firepower and then fire again. If you saw the game against Mani Cheema, it kills wracks to the tune of over 90 in the first two turns.
Hive Guard as always are good, especially when you give them +1 to hit from bioweapon and reroll damage from the Maleceptor via their synaptic trait.
Uffdah, that was a lot

TLDR

How many dice was that you were rolling? And how many of them exploded? You know I think I’ll just pick that model up if that’s alright with you.

Alex Macdougall Q&A

What is the general Strategy for your list?

General strategy is to take board control with minimal units to layer the big haymakers of the purestrains and drills all while buying time to maximize Hive guard output.

The key things for the purestrains and drills was using the flat 6 advance strat to ensure charges and Gestalt consciousness to throw might from beyond to a unit from infinite range

Biggest decision making is usually when to pull the trigger on the super aggressive turn. A turn where a pure strain squad goes out, the drills get sent in and the devils go for an advance and relentless flurry move

And then general strategy is still very much cp control

The gsc pieces are all trading pieces. Trading for threats, primary or time for the Hive guard

What was the most challenging matchup of the weekend and why?

The most challenging match up was definitely custodes. They are just so insanely durable. And depending on what they bring and how they layer defensive strats they can just turn off so much damage. When they are all obsec you have to kill to steal primaries most times

What was your MVP unit for the event?

I mean the obvious answer is probably the HG. But in general, it was the purestrains most games. They bought way more time than I expected with the 4++ and hit so hard and since they killed, they took primary back

Is there anything or anyone you’d like to shout out?

The Art of War 40k, where we have built a community dedicated to talking competitive 40k and bringing players from vastly different global metas into contact with one another to improve their game!

And that’s all for this year’s coverage. Tune in next week for coverage of more events and possibly an indicator of what we should expect for factions in the new tournament season.

And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!