Welcome to Competitive Innovations, our weekly feature for a number of game lines across the tabletop wargame space. Each week our army list and tactics experts canvass the top tournaments for their game of specialty, looking at the week’s top match-ups and how they played out on the tabletop to let you know what’s hot, what’s not, and what might be coming next as the competitive meta evolves year-round.

Rob: We’re on to part two of this week’s action, where we look at another absolutely jam-packed week of events. Honestly, there’s too much Warhammer now. Please eliminate ten of these. I am not a crank.

Wings needed help this week, so it’s up to me and Goatboy to step in and save him. Fortunately, I play a lot of Death Guard and I’ve played against a lot of Knights, so I’m more than equipped to talk about all these matchups.

Part 2 on Friday (That’s Today):

• The Kent Major 2025: Warhammer 40,000
• Alpine Summer Sprint GT – WTC 2025
• Loch ‘n Load GT2
• Clowns Massacre
• Conclaribe Mix 2025

Part 1 on Wednesday:

• The Salt City GT IV Warhammer 40,000
• 1ST – SAW MUST GO ON
• Grand Onslaught 10: Carnage
• Valley of the Moon Open GT
• NIGHTWOLF’S MAJOR 40K SOLO TOURNAMENT

Part 3 on Saturday:

• ECDC Present: The BIg Sky Open 2025
• One Thicc Grand Tournament at Motor City Gaming
• Slaanesh Summer Slam 2 Shalaxi’s Revenge. Ironman GT
• BC BBQ BRAWL
• Baja Open

The Kent Major 2025: Warhammer 40,000

99-player, 6-round Grand Tournament in England, United Kingdom on August 02 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Christopher Radford – Blood Angels (Liberator Assault Group) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Liberator Assault Group Blood Angels

Thoughts

When we talked about the changes to knight toughness/wounds a month ago in Hammer of Math, we mentioned that the biggest point of concern for big knights would be Blood Angels, where the ability to hit S6 on the charge lets them break the key breakpoint to get 5+ to wound against T11 threats. Enter the Liberator Assault Group, one of the few potential predators for knights in the current meta, where the ability to combine S6 melee with [LANCE] from the Red Rampage Stratagems means you can wound big knights on a 4+ in melee with Death Company marines, and the ones who don’t can get [LETHAL HITS] from Lemartes. The net result is an army that, without a character, will average 16w to an Oaths target knight with a unit of ten Death Company marines with jump packs going full shooting and fight with [LANCE] on the charge. Add in a character and some additional support and you can see how it can make quick work of a knight or two in one round while hiding in terrain until it needs to poke its head out. They’ll likewise make easy work of smaller knights, where Eviscerators and Power Fists will cross the threshold to get them wounding on 4+ and 3+, respectively, before needing to use Red Rampage.

The irony is that Christopher never had to face knights at the event: He faced Death Guard twice, Daemons twice – including in the final round, Thousand Sons, and Chaos Space Marines, covering a healthy variety of traitorous forces. The good news is that an army tooled toward taking down high-toughness targets is also geared toward taking down Death Guard and Daemons.

Harry Addy – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance) – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Triple bigs

Thoughts

The Acheron is an interesting wrinkle here, opting for a gun that’s theoretically great into marines but can’t overwatch due to being on a TITANIC chassis. The Reaper chainfist has a massive advantage over some other weapon options however in that it has a fantastic sweep profile, throwing out 12 attacks at S9 , AP-3, 2 damage – comparatively more effective against anything that isn’t a 3-wound target than the Lancer’s sweep, and nearly as deadly on the strike. And the good news is that there’s a Lancer in this list too, which gives it plenty of opportunity to choose. Neither is quite as good as the Atrapos for taking out other knight targets but they’re both pretty versatile and capable of moving fast.

Tristan Spencer – Death Guard (Virulent Vectorium) – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Mortarion Vectorium

Thoughts

There are basically two varieties of Vectorium list, depending on whether you want to run Plague Marines. Tristan has opted for a unit of ten in a Rhino with a Biologus Putrifier and a Malignant Plaguecaster, giving him a solid unit with a good mix of shooting and melee firepower. It’s the third big threat in a list that has several, including the two units of Deathshroud, the Daemon Prince, and Mortarion, with Drones and Blight-Haulers to move around the table and pick up key targets.

Rob Elver – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance) – 4th Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Four Bigs Knights

Thoughts

The current terror of big knight lists, the Atrapos, is on full display here, flanked by a Lancer, Canis, and a Knight Errant. It’s a little bit of everything for dealing with key threats, and Rob had the misfortune of playing against Death Guard three times at the event, losing his first game in round 3 to Virulent Vectorium and winning his games in rounds 5 and 6 by a combined 3 points against another Vectorium list and Mortarion’s Hammer.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 5-1 records. They were:

• 5th – Thomas Dobson – Orks (War Horde): Double beastboss and two 10-man units of Beast Snagga Boyz plus two units of Squighog Boyz to take down big vehicle targets.
• 6th – Ciaran Furlong – Thousand Sons (Grand Coven): Ciaran’s list is notable for ditching the Exalted Sorcerers in favor of a trio of Tzaangor Shamans for +1 to hit on his Fatecaster Enlightened.
• 7th – Byron 🔥🎲 Sidhu – Chaos Daemons (Daemonic Incursion): Byron lost on the top table in the final round, packing a list with five bigs – Be’lakor, LoC, GUO, Rotigus, and Skarbrand.
• 9th – Tommy French – Death Guard (Virulent Vectorium): A Vectorium list running a 10-man unit of Plague Marines in a rhino.

 

Alpine Summer Sprint GT – WTC 2025

50-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Proleb, Steiermark, Austria on August 02 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Matchup & Mission – P (Scorched Earth + Crucible of Battle)

Luis Stiemerling – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance)
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Niklas Frerichs – Chaos Knights (Infernal Lance)
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Rob: Hey look it’s the classic matchup of Knights vs. Chaos Knights. Infernal Lance is by far the better competitive play for Chaos Knights into other knight lists, since being able to stick objectives at OC 5 is meaningless in that matchup. Here it’s five bigs for the Chaos Knights vs. for for Imperials, and that’s a meaningful distinction, even with the Imperial player running triple Atrapos. Those battle cannon Despoilers are no joke, and they’re the perfect target to use Diabolic Power on, giving them LETHAL HITS against other big knights to make up for wounding on 5+, and you can use the Warp Vision Stratagem to tack on Ignores Cover to ensure they’re saving on 5+ against your AP-2 shots. Pushing through 8 damage on a big knight on average isn’t a ton but it’s a good starting point for the rest of your army to finish one or two off.

On the Imperial side, the extra Helverins provide more movement and objective holding utility, but will struggle to get damage into big knights and are easy prey for Karnivores. Though ultimately, this one is liable to be a classic “who goes first?” matchup, since killing two big knights early is more important than having late scoring, or at least can make up for it. The likely scenario here is one player goes first and cripples the other, who then retreats and uses end-of-game scoring going second to keep it close.

…which is what happened. Chaos Knights went first and won 55-50, which is a draw in WTC format. Sounds boring.

Result

Chaos Knights (Infernal Lance) Victory – 10 – 10

Niklas Frerichs – Chaos Knights (Infernal Lance) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Five bigs Infernal Lance

Thoughts

I gotta admit I’m a fan of the double gatling Despoilers, who can throw out an eye-watering 36 shots each with either SUSTAINED HITS 1 or LETHAL HITS. At Lethal hits with no cover they’ll still manage 8 damage on average per volley to a big knight and they’re devastating into smaller targets that might otherwise cause knights problems like GSC or Blood Angels.

Goatboy: Man I won’t lie the idea of throwing that many dice with a Gatling Cannon does sound like a lot of fun.  It’s the little Ork that lives inside of all of us that loves to throw fistfuls of dice into the “problem” on the table top.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1+ records. They were:

• 2nd (4.5-0.5) – Luis Stiemerling – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): The aforementioned triple bigs list running Atrapos. This is seen as a “knight killer” list – and with good reason – but can also just get out-biggsed.
• 3rd – Philip König – Astra Militarum (Combined Regiment): Combined arms with two Dorn Tank Commanders and two Vanquishers, plus a lot of Kasrkin.
• 4th – Sam Nowrouzi – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty): A wild, super character-heavy list running 40 Necron Warriors and only a single Ghost Ark for its vehicle support.
• 5th – Mathias Peterlin – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Triple Atrapos knights.
• 6th – Christophe Hardenne – Aeldari (Ghosts of the Webway): A highly mobile list that maxes out on fusion pistols, dark reapers, and Swooping Hawks.
• 7th – Jonathan Fagnoul – Chaos Space Marines (Renegade Raiders): A raiders list running three full-size units of Accursed Cultists supported by Dark Communes.

 

Loch ‘n Load GT2

36-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in North Kessock, Scotland, United Kingdom on August 02 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Gerry Wheeler – Necrons (Awakened Dynasty) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Silent King Awakened Dynasty with 12 Wraiths

Thoughts

There’s a little big of everything here – Doomsday Arks for shooting big targets, Wraiths for tying things up in melee forever, Ophydians for uppy-downy and melee punch, and the Silent King to hold it all together. There are some cut tricks in here, like the solo Skorpekh Lord with a 4+ Feel No Pain to move around the table causing problems, and it lacks the pieces to score well – but it can stall opponents at mid-table while picking them apart well enough with units that are very annoying to kill.

The Best of the Rest

There were 6 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Kenneth Mackenzie – Space Marines (Astartes) (Gladius Task Force): Calgar-led Ultramarines with double Ballistus, double Vindicator.
• 3rd – Adam Spicer – Tyranids (Invasion Fleet): Double Tyrannofex and two big units of Genestealers with Broodlords.
• 4th – Dean Brannen – Necrons (Starshatter Arsenal): Silent King Starshatter with two units of Skorpekh Destroyers.
• 5th – Karl dowling – Dark Angels (Wrath of the Rock): Azrael and the Lion lead a lot of marines on foot.
• 6th – Jamie Dickson – Death Guard (Champions of Contagion): 2×10 big units of Plague Marines in Rhinos with character support.
• 7th – Duncan Brown – Space Marines (Astartes) (Ironstorm Spearhead): Guiliman-led Ultras with triple Ballistus and triple RepEx.

 

Clowns Massacre

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on August 02 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Jensen Goh – Death Guard (Virulent Vectorium) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Morty Vectorium, no Plague Marines

Thoughts

This list trades out Plague Marines for additional Bloat-Drones and poxwalkers, giving it surprising speed and versatility when it comes to engaging around the table. Its answers to big vehicles are limited, but Jensen managed to dodge knights en route to his event win, beating most infantry-heavy lists to get there. Triple poxwalkers are a big help against GSC, Space Wolves, and World Eaters, and they’re not bad into Eldar, either.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Xabi Sevi – Space Wolves (Stormlance Task Force): TWC and Wulfen supported by Predators.
• 3rd – Cat Le – Necrons (Starshatter Arsenal): Silent King Starshatter with 12 Wraiths.
• 4th – Carlos Trinh – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Four bigs running an Atrapos, Lancer, and Castigator.
• 5th – Vinh Tran – Imperial Knights (Noble Lance): Triple Atrapos and a Castellan to make five bigs.

 

Conclaribe Mix 2025

26-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Talavera de la Reina, CM, España on August 02 2025. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

Terroxer El Rojo – Thousand Sons (Grand Coven) – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

Archetype

Thousand Sons Good stuff

Thoughts

Goatboy: This is an interesting list when I compare it to other Thousand Sons armies I see or play against. I always like seeing a mash up of a bunch of different things surrounded by a ton of Rubrics to help “hold” the line.  It feels like it can easily turn on the gas and just wreck things as a ton of the parts can just go ham and pour out the damage.  I would think facing this list I wouldn’t understand how it all works together and then watch it tear apart my poor World Eaters in waves of psychic nonsense.  There doesn’t feel like one single thing you would target and each part seems like it could easily counter whatever nonsense was thrown at them. Looking at the win path Terrorex even took down the 3rd place finisher with a pretty rough Mortarion’s Hammer list at the end.  Thousand Sons can just do a ton of damage and this list can stack it between Magnus, Infernal Master, Mutalith, and Forgefiend as needed.

Rob: Sekhetar always feel like a waste of points to me but it’s legitimately interesting to to see a list go this heavy on Rubrics with support from a Forgefiend.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd – Manue WargamesAdictos – Drukhari (Reaper’s Wager):
• 3rd – Chejuan . – Death Guard (Mortarion’s Hammer):
• 4th – Aranda . – Chaos Knights (Infernal Lance):
• 5th – Borja FM – Space Marines (Astartes) (Librarius Conclave):

Wrap Up

That wraps up part two of this week’s Competitive Innovations but check back tomorrow when we’ll wrap things up with part 3 and the rest of the week’s events.

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.