2023 World Championships AOS Player Profile: Tommy Miklos

The World Championships of Warhammer are next week and we’re prepping by talking to some of the key competitors at this year’s event – many of whom are also competing for top honors in the ITC. We sat down with to talk to them about their plans and expectations for the event itself. 

Competitor Profile

Name: Tommy Miklos
Age: 30
Country of Origin: USA
Where you won your ticket: American Team Championship (ATC)

Let’s start with the basics. What army are you bringing to the World Championships, and why did you choose them?

I’m bringing the Ogor Mawtribes to the World Championship! Ogors are the only army I collect and play, so it wasn’t a very hard decision!

Run us through your list a little bit. What made you choose this list, and why do you enjoy playing it?

Ever since the new book dropped late last year, I have had a blast playing with the Gutbuster side of the army. You still get the satisfying 4+ mortal wounds from Trampling Charge, with the addition of rolling buckets of dice in melee. The army doesn’t like getting hit, but oh boy do they pump out damage.

My list has a core of 3 units of Gluttons, and an absolute hammer in the form of 8 Ironguts. Hide all of that behind a screen of gnoblars and inside of a Billowing Ash Cloud from the Firebelly , and all those wounds can be annoying to shift! I am also bringing the new Gorger Mawpack and Mawpit. At 220 points, the Gorger Mawpack is a great unit that can deepstrike and eat command abilities on a 5+, opening up some fun utility that we didn’t have a ton of before. The Mawpit’s greatest strength isn’t in it’s actual rules, but because you can set it up anywhere on the table not in your opponent’s territory. This opens up a lot of opportunities to move block and create lanes with a giant piece of Defensible terrain.

What does the list do well against? What match-ups are you hoping to avoid?

Gutbusters love playing into other melee armies. Ogors have a potent combo of high mortal wound output, 2+ damage attacks across the army, and good bravery in combat. There aren’t many things that can survive staying in combat with them.

What they struggle with, and what I would like to avoid, are things that can do lots of damage before we get stuck in. Starborn, K.O, Blissbarbs, and Shark Spam are some of the harder matches. While the Gluttons do boast a nice -1 to be wounded to shooting attacks, a 5+ save means that anything that gets through is going to hurt.

Are there any battleplans that you’re hoping to avoid? Why?

I would love to avoid Fountains of Frost, as unlikely as that is, because it doesn’t suit my army very well. No objectives in the middle of the table means that I have to walk all the way across the board or hope for a 9″ charge from deepstrike to hold more. My Grand Strat is “Ready for Plunder”, which requires me to have more units wholly inside my opponent’s territory at the end of the game than them.

Fountains of Frost has very small territories, only extending 11″ from the back of the table, making getting my Grand Strat on this mission another challenge.

The World Championships of Warhammer isn’t the largest event ever, but it’s certainly the first of its kind. What was your road getting to the event like? Was it something you were aiming for?

With the first WCW being in Atlanta, my hometown, it was definitely on my radar this year! I didn’t travel very far chasing the ticket, but I attended all the events in the Southeast that had one up for grabs. While my team did not take first place at ATC this year, I walked away with “Best General” which included a ticket to the WCW!

How does it feel to be going to the event? Are you nervous? Excited? How does it compare to LVO?

I am super excited to be playing against people from all over the world who share a love for the same hobby as me! I haven’t been to LVO, but I have been to other large events like Cherokee. The WCW definitely has a different vibe to it!

How do you feel about the event’s unique country-based scoring? Does it add excitement to later rounds for you?

I think it’s a cool idea. It means that even if you are having a rough event you are still playing for something, even at bottom tables. For larger teams however, not every participant will be able to contribute to the country score, which might take away from some of the excitement.

How do you expect the competition to be different from other events? Is there anything you’re doing differently to prepare?

Unlike other events where you might get newer players in earlier rounds, everyone at the WCW earned their spot. It’s going to be tough games right from the start, and I am really looking forward to it! We have been able to see our pools for a while now, so I have definantly been going over lists. At the end of the day though I think it’s more important to just know your own game plan, and be comfortable with the list you are playing. Repetition, repetition!

How do you expect you’ll do at the event? What’s a “good event” look like for you, record-wise?

Making it into the top 8 would be amazing, but I think some of the harder matchups I could run into will really prove to be a problem. At the end of the day I would love to end the event with a positive record and Best in Faction, so I am shooting for 5-3!

How do you feel about competitive play in this GHB season? How does the meta feel to you right now?

As someone who only plays one army, I tend to look at the GHB and meta through a somewhat biased viewpoint. I enjoy running into the Khorne or OBR matchups, since they can be very favorable to my army, and on the other hand things like sharks, K.O, and Starborn are running around and can cause a lot of issues for me. Overall I think the GHB is good, but the problems in the meta lies with the difference in available battle tactics and grand strats for armies.

You’re one of the few, if only people, that have been invited to the championships for two games – Star Wars Legion in March and the WCW of Age of Sigmar. How do you maintain top level play at two games?

It has definitely been an exciting year of tabletop games for me! I think that while rules between different games can be vastly different, a lot of core concepts for winning translate between them. Understanding how to play for objectives, when to commit resources, and knowing your unit’s limits are some of the keys to success. I also only play one army in each game, which helps a lot. Remembering my army rules has become second nature, allowing me to focus on the mission without worrying that I am forgetting anything. And as always, lot’s of practice! There are a ton of fantastic players in my local communities, and playing against them all the time keeps me on my edge!

Thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions. Good luck at the event!

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