Competitive Innovations in 9th: Adelaide Uprising

Week by week the amount of envy I feel for the Australian community grows ever greater, until soon it shall grow so large as to eclipse the sun itself. Which they have and I don’t on my frigid hell island. grumble. Anyway, sunshine aside, the main reason I’m so very envious right now is that for the second week running Australia has hosted a blowout three day 40K major, this time over in Adelaide. The Adelaide Uprising has given us another massive crop of juicy 40K data to sink our teeth into, and today we’re going to do just that, taking a look at the top four in detail then scanning through the remaining top finishers, as is our fasion.

Just before we get into it, don’t forget that this weekend we’ve got the Las Vegas Nopen coming up, and if you want to see some of the game’s finest players throw down on camera (and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you do) there’s no better way to do so. In fact, in an entirely unplanned bit of joined-up content, if you tune in at 10PM EST on Friday night you’ll be able to see one of the players in this very article put his list through its paces.

With that bit of foreshadowing out the way I’m sure you’re hungry for the hot details, so without further ado let’s get into it.

Matt Morosoli – Chaos – 1st Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• A truly horrific Chaos trifecta – the durable anchor of Beasts of Nurgle, fast hammer blows of Keepers and highly flexible reactive units in Chaos Terminators.
• Keepers pay the extra points for the Shining Aegis, skewing this list even further towards durability and giving up no good targets.
• Terminators lean on Honour the Prince and Excess of Violence to make themselves into incredibly reliable horde clearers out of deep strike.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

We’ve done it, we’ve finally hit the point where someone’s found a 9th Edition list that makes me want to throw up in my mouth a bit. There have been a few differerent factions vying for the top spot over the last few months, but this week’s results definitely add to a growing sense that Daemons and Chaos Soup are making a real play for the crown.

Lists like this are why. Chaos has a hard core of phenomenal units in the Daemon codex (most of which show up in this list), which can either support lists all on their own or be spiced up by powerful role players from other subfactions. Mimicking what we saw on top last week, Matt has chosen to go for an Emperor’s Children detachment to supplement his Daemons, but rather than the ranged powerhouse of Noise Marines he’s packed twenty Chaos Terminators into his list. These are fantastic right now – even before the FAQ they were one of the best units in the CSM roster, but now they’ve come down 3pts each when equipped with the “basic” tier of special melee weapon they’re an absolute bargain. Lightning claws have been everywhere since they picked up a bonus attack in the big wargear update and with good reason – they turn most units that can pack them into extremely general-purpose killers. 41 S4 AP-2 wound re-rolling attacks (as these squads put out on the charge) will put dents in hordes and elite units alike, and in Chaos the option of Veterans of the Long War means even against T8 stuff they can wreck house. Emperor’s Children pack some goodies for them too – if hordes are giving you trouble (and they’re one of the things the rest of this list is least equipped for) then you can pop Excess of Violence to mow them down, while Honour the Prince makes their charges out of Deep Strike eye-wateringly reliable. With a Sorceror also keeping them protected with Delightful Agonies, they’re going to be extremely effective brawler units, coming down into whatever gap needs filling then rolliing around the board just sort of murdering stuff until they’re stopped (no mean feat).

While they take out hordes and get stuck in to longer brawls, the other hammer units in the list can take out more elite targets. At this point neither Big Bird nor Keepers of Secrets need much introduction – they’re both incredibly potent in their roles, being “unleashing psychic firepower while near indestructible” and “rampaging around the board murdering elite infantry”. They’re best in breed units, and combine with the Terminators to mean that this list’s victims are going to have nowhere to hide on the table, forcing a confrontation many will lose.

Even if my some miracle they do chew through the big threats, they’re still going to find any attempt to pull back into primary scoring hampered by objectives being full of Beasts of Nurgle. This disgustingly cost-efficient sacs of wounds are great for providing a stable foundation while more mobile elements get the killing done, and as covered this list has plenty of those. They also provide a great wall for Big Bird to hide behind while throwing spells out if things get a bit tighter, and ensure that the few things that maybe could put one into the bin don’t get a chance. Imagine Nurgle and Tzeentch high-fiving over that one. It’s both disgusting and inscrutable.

Finally, a unit each of Daemonettes and Cultists provide some units that can handle Actions or hold objectives as needed. Although there’s only the two squads here, Tide of Traitors means it’s much more reasonable to swing for Deploy Scramblers regardless, because if there’s a safe ruin to hide in within your deployment zone, they can tick it off there turn one then redeploy elsewhere once the rest of the army have made a hole. And they’re gonna.

This list is horrific and Matt should feel bad, but in that really good way that can only be earned by putting together an absolute nightmare showcase of what a faction can do. Expect builds like this to be on the top tables for the forseeable.

Liam Hackett – Chaos – 2nd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Liam’s Las Vegas Nopen list flexes its muscles ahead of the big weekend.
• Possessed return in force, ready to overwhelm the opposition.
• Word Bearers buff characters provide reliable amplification of the Possessed’s capabilities.
• Bringing a mono-Slaanesh Daemon Detachment provides an Advance/Charge aura for the Possessed.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

For anyone who’s been keeping up with our Las Vegas Nopen previews there’s gonna be some deja vu here – this list is one of the two that the good doctor Hackett is throwing down with in the first round of the event, and we’ve already previewed it here.

Finishing 7-1 at a major is a strong sign that the army is exactly as nasty as it looks. Possessed haven’t been seen much in 9th, as the way they used to be played in late 8th was a casualty of the rules changes. However, they’re quietly remained extremely strong in Word Bearers thanks to the Revered Hosts stratagem and tools to amplify the capabilities of Dark Apostles and Masters of Possession, and here Liam has found a way to put that all together into something genuinely vicious. The secret sauce that’s been sprinkled on top to bring the dish together is a Slaanesh Daemon detachment with Syll’Esske, which does a lot of things for the Possessed all at once. Because they’re SLAANESH DAEMONS they get to drink deep of all the auras the deadly duo pack, meaning hit re-rolls of 1, +1S, re-rollable morale (surprisingly good now you auto-pass on a 1) and the all important Advance and Charge.

With the buff suite from the Word Bearer characters added on top, the Possessed are complete nightmares who are very well adapted to a metagame that’s been skewing more and more heavily towards melee. The big threat for a list like this is the opponent managing to deck whole units at range, but plenty of armies just aren’t equipped to go through one of these blocks any more (and the nerf to Plasmaceptors is especially great news), and they’re only really going to have one turn to try before it’s melee time. With the Possessed likely to be striding into combat fully buffed up, the sheer number of wounds they represent behind a 4++ is seriously challenging to deal with, and they’re going to rampage through many forces racking up an absurd body count. While that’s going on, Cultists are quite comfortable ticking off secondaries or holding objectives, and the list gives up almost nothing in the way of secondaries, making it extremely difficult for any opponent that doesn’t have a plan to meet the army head on to triumph – and that’s a tall order for many factions.

This exceptional finish with a very out there build means that this army goes into the Las Vegas Nopen as one of the ones to watch, though it has an equally brutal force to face down in the first round. Congratulations to Liam, and if you’re a Chaos fan itching to see this list put through its paces, make sure to tune in on the weekend.

Stuart Trainer – Grey Knights – 3rd Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Hell yeah.
• The Paladin/Terminator mixed bomb list combines with the 2++ Purifier trick for a Grey Knight force that means business.
• A Chaplain babysits two Purgation squads using psychic shenanigans to blast away with impunity.
• Strikes and Servitors round out the objective play.

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Continuing the theme of highly appropriate narrative timing, just as Daemon heavy Chaos forces are rampaging across the top tables, the radiant silver forces of the Grey Knights have suddenly re-appeared. Up front, massive congratulations to Stuart for taking them to a 7-1 finish, Grey Knights have had a rough ride of it in 9th and it’s fantastic to see them come out to play here. I’m sure many Grey Knight fans in the audience have perked up and are wondering what has allowed this build to burst back onto the top tables, so let’s take a look.

I really, really like this list, and what I think it’s managed better than any other Grey Knight army I’ve seen this edition is to strike the right three-way balance between big chunky threats, board control and support characters. This has been something the army has really struggled with – they came out of the 9th Edition points changes better than many, but there are enough tools they need in their lists to function effectively and contest the missions that it’s really hard to get them all in while still sporting giant bricks of Terminators that are their signature move. This list threads the needle extremely well with a number of smart choices. First up, rather than trying to pack two Paladin Bombs into the list (as was the fashion in 8th), the army splits the difference and goes for one block of Paladins and one of Terminators. That shaves a considerable number of points off the price tag while still being able to play a similar role in many matchups, and having access to ObSec on one of the two big units is actively highly desireable.

Backing those two up as a third unit that can be highly durable in the right situation we have a unit of Purifiers. As we looked at in another Nopen preview, a cunning trick with these has emerged. By combining their signature Untainted and Unbowed stratagem with Sanctuary and nemesis warding saves they provide you with that rarest of things – a 2+ invulnerable save. Sure it only works in melee, but as we’re seeing again and again the Fight Phase is where all the hottest action is right now and there are plenty of things that slam into those defences like a brick wall. Low numbers are one of the challenges that Grey Knights have to work around, so being able to put down models that are ridiculously tough when faced with opposing elites at a much more bargain-basement price than Terminators. I wouldn’t bet on this staying available for ever (2++ saves have generally ended up on the FAQ naughty list somehow), but right now it’s a tremendous asset to an army that I absolutely do not begrudge having access to a unique defensive trick. Adding this third unit on top of the two Terminator squads and adding in Draigo (still one of the meanest men in space) gives you a very powerful roving bully force that can cover a bit more ground than Grey Knights are used to.

Backing that up you ideally want some shooting units and some stuff for objective play. Let’s look at the former first. Here there’s another highly efficient setup worth highlighting. As long as it they have access to a piece of Obscuring terrain to hide behind, the two Purgation squads and the Chaplain can lay down continuous firepower with effective impunity. How that works is that, each turn, one unit self-casts Astral Aim and picks up the Chaplain Litanies (giving it the extra range to reach the enemy) while the other strides through the wall, then gets Edict Imperator cast on it to allow them to pop back into cover after shooting. Unless your opponent has guns that ignore LOS (much less common in the metagame than they were) this is going to continue unless something manages to break through the Terminators to shut it down, and is a great way to work around the relative fragility of these models.

Finally, you need stuff for objective play and because this list has found ways to punch above the price tag in the shooting and tarpit categories, it still has the points for a couple of Strike Squads, some servitors and a Rhino. They’re not as exciting as some of the other units sure, but they’re what bring the list to completion – once they’re added in, it feels like there’s enough stuff here in a way that many Grey Knight builds just don’t manage. This army ends up packing the punch and powerful tricks that make Grey Knights appealing while still being able to brawl and play objectives, and that’s an impressive feat of list design that I’m delighted to see rewarded with a third place finish.

Luke Pearce – Black Templars – 4th Place

The List

Army List - Click to Expand

The Standout Features

• Vanguard Veterans and Redemptors steal the show.
• Smaller units of the classic Inceptors and Terminators provide some precision ranged threat and melee durability.
• A whole host of buff characters keeps everyone operating at maximum power.
• …are Black Templars top tier Marines now?

Why it’s Interesting in 9th

Another week another…Black Templars list? And it’s completely different to last week’s? Neat.

It turns out that while Black Templars have a fairly narrow focus and limited set of rules compared to the full Supplement club, when what those rules are focused on is buffing up big bricks of elite warriors and dominating the Fight Phase they’re more than enough to make you a real player in 9th Edition. The basic principles in play within this list aren’t massively surprising – you use Black Templars unique set of Chaplain Litanies along with their powerful stratagems to create some rolling melee deathballs that knock the opponent down like skittles, back it up with some shooting and call the job a good one. The specific setup here differs from what we’ve seen though, and brings in some new toys.

First up, the list exploits the ability Templars have to effectively “double dip” on double litany Chaplains. Grimaldus may look like a Master of Sanctity and quack like a Master of Sanctity, but if you check the small print he isn’t one, meaning that the ever-popular option of a Bike MoS is still there, and this list takes it. That allows it to pack both the Black Templar litanies it needs and Canticle of Hate, meaning that when they drop the Veterans and/or Terminators in they’re going to be sporting a 7″ re-rollable charge, helping them reliably join the fun. I imagine the list, a lot of the time, chooses to start one Veteran unit on the board and puts the other two melee crunch squads into Deep Strike.

That would potentially threaten to leave it looking a little light on the table, a problem it solves by going for Redemptor Dreadnoughts in some of the shooty slots rather than other popular options such as Attack Bikes or Eradicators. These big thicc bois continue to be real all-stars in 9th, combining high durability, a powerful main gun and the ability to pick up key auras like Rites of War. Here they ensure there are enough places to safely park the characters out of the gate prior to the full force coming in, and can also soften the enemy up substantially (helped by the Plasma Inceptors).

A few more buff characters round things out. The Chief Apothecary continues to be a must-have in most Marine lists, while a Reiver Lt. is a powerful flex piece in an army like this. Able to switch on range-boosted Terror Troops at a key moment, he can completely confound the scoring maths on a crucial turn, able to guarantee control of an objective thanks to also being the Rites of War bearer, or empower a Redemptor to do the same. With its relatively low numbers being its only real weakness, that gives this list an angle to tilt the primary that bit more in this army’s favour, and I’m sure it helped secure this great finish – congratulations Luke.

Honestly, who even are the White Scars? Buncha chumps I say.

The Rest of the Best

After eight rounds played, six additional players achieved 6-2 records. They were:

• 5th Place – Andrew Penn – Orks: Deathskullz vehicle spam returns with a vengeance, packing in six Megatrakk Scrapjets, three dragstas, a Bonebreaka and a Burna Bommer to top it all off with Flying Headbutt.
• 6th Place – Brian Lakeland – Harlequins: Harlequins continue extremely powerful, and this list is another example of a recent trend favouring the inclusion of some tooled-up 10-model squads to provide a hammer that can crack open solid positions.
• 7th Place – Matthew Cross – Imperium: Bloody Rose Repentia and a big unit of Mortifiers team up with a giant brick of AdMech Kastellan Robots for an unusual but clearly potent spin on Imperial Soup.
• 8th Place – Augustus Hebblewhite – Aeldari: An ingenious Aeldari concoction that uses a massive horde of Prophets of Flesh Wracks to gum up the board and punish the opponent with Black Cornucopians, while some Soaring Spite Harlequins take care of dealing damage.
• 9th Place – Chris Boggiano – Adeptus Custodes: A flexible mixed Custodes build packing a mix of Infantry and Dreadnoughts, with the large unit of Venatari being particularly notable.
• 10th Place – Jay Hansen – Salamanders: A wild skew build that spends just under 1500pts total on Bladeguard and Plasma Inceptors, then fills out with some characters and a single big Intercessor block. Plasma Inceptors are still one of the games best ranged units and Bladeguard one of the best melee, so checks out!

Wrap Up

So, Chaos triumphant, Black Templars on the rampage and the Grey Knights returning from a sojourn in the warp – what an exciting metagame we’ve got, and one that promises to be shaken up further as Death Guard and Dark Angels properly arrive on the scene. This weekend is, of course, the Las Vegas Nopen, so I’ll be slightly playing things by ear for what this column does next week, but there will certainly be something in this slot! If you have any comments, questions or suggestions hit us up at contact@goonhammer.com, otherwise we’ll see you then.