Welcome back Age of Sigmar players! This week was the first GW Open of the year, which in addition to having the first full reveal of Spearhead and an exhibition Masterclass game of 4th edition it was a very big weekend for Age of Sigmar.

But that wasn’t all! It was also (maybe) the last GW Open of 3rd edition, the end of an era. With the next one in Tacoma in July there’s a real possibility this is the last one. So let’s see how big of a bang they went out on!

Warhammer Age of Sigmar GT US Open Dallas

100-player, 8-round Major in Arlington, TX, United States on May 17 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Frederick Schmidt – Big WAAAGH!:
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vs.

Gavin Grigar – Daughters of Khaine:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Two excellent players with two very high damage armies. Both want to try and settle the battle as fast as possible, though on paper I’d give an edge to the Gore-grunta focused Orruk list.

Fred’s list has Gobbsprak which Morathi hates. It’s a very high probability of doing the 3 mortal wounds to her per turn, which means being very careful with spellcasting. The Gore Gruntas can also cleave through the Daughters almost no problem with the Aelf’s delicate saves and the high speed for the pigs.

On the flip side, the Daughters only have one drop, meaning they dictate turn. There’s enough Chaff in here to build up a wall, and Shadow Queen is a huge enemy to Gore-Gruntas, locking them down and making them unable to Smash and Bash. A lot of it is going to come down to who gets the key charges in early, and it looks like it comes down to the Daughters.

Result

Daughters of Khaine Victory – 28 – 20

Gavin Grigar – Daughters of Khaine – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Morathi and the Bowsnakes

Thoughts

A classic list. We haven’t seen as many DOK in the top brackets, as the edition has gone on the damage output of Daughters of Khaine dropped off compared to later books, and they lacked the resilience to justify their strength. In short, they were all glass and very little cannon. After some recent point drops though they may have regained some measure of strength.

Morathi and the Shadow Queen stand to do their normal thing, Morathi casting spells and issuing orders to let bow snakes shoot twice, while the Shadow Queen is an implacable beat stick that will stand its ground against most enemies well if it gets to fight first. The Bow snakes of course can do some solid Rend -1 shots with mortals on 6s, while they cant snipe out heroes as easily as they used to, they can still do some gnarly damage with a squad of 15. The Melee snakes rip apart most things with a mediocre save (and follow it up with mortal wounds for those with better ones). At 2 wounds a piece even with their poor save, its hard to eliminate the whole squad and not have most of it rallied back the next turn.

The Best of the Rest

There were 15 more players in the top bracket. They were:

• 2nd – Frederick Schmidt – Big WAAAGH!: See showdown.
• 3rd – Matt Taylor – Ossiarch Bonereapers (Petrifix Elite): Katakros with 9 Immortis guard and 4 Morghast
• 4th – Nicholas Walters – Ironjawz (Bloodtoofs): Megaboss, Brutes and 2 6 man pig units.
• 5th – Emma Mangels – Daughters of Khaine (Draichi Ganeth): Morathi-less Witch Aelf blender list.
• 6th – James West – Flesh-eater Courts (Morgaunt): Herohammer and Crypt Ghoul spam.
• 7th – Thomas Ling – Sylvanet Elijah Ramosh (Heartwood): Belthanos, Warsong Revenant and Kurnoth.
• 8th – Zachary Shinn – Flesh-eater Courts (Morgaunt): Herohammer with Knights and Crypt Guard
• 9th – Daniel Patterson – Slaves to Darkness (Hosts of the Everchosen): Belakor leading chaos good stuff.
• 10th – Chai Tzola – Blades of Khorne (Skullfiend Tribe): Double Bloodthirsters and Skullreapers
• 11th – Elijah Ramos – Skaventide: Skaven good stuff
• 12th – Randal Brasher – Ogor Mawtribes (Meatfist): Kragnos and lotsa foot ogors.
• 13th – Jose Arredondo – Seraphon (Fangs of Sotek): Dual Slann good stuff.
• 14th – Douglas Klem – Hedonites of Slaanesh (Pretenders Host): Big heroes with minimal troops.
• 15th – Gunnar Fountain – Ossiarch Bonereapers (Mortis Praetorians): Katakros, two lieges with wizards and some elite troops.
• 16th – Stuart Angleton – Idoneth Deepkin (Ionrach): Eel spam.

The Last Hunt: Age Of Sigmar Grand Tournament

33-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Spokane, WA, US on May 18 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission – Geomantic Pulse

Brice Koppin – Greyfyrd:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Jarod Brown – Hallowed Knights (Stormcast Eternals):
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Thoughts

Oh this mission sucks for Fyreslayers. No two ways about it. Fyreslayers lack the mobility to keep up with the Pulse so they generally will try and win by getting themselves where the pulse will be later game and hold their ground their. They have the resiliency to play a risky game like that, but this list lacks a lot of troops to hold the whole thing together against multiple mortal wounds which unfortunately Stormcast are quite good.

Meanwhile, this is great for Stormcast. They can stagger their drops in to keep up with the pulse and Hallowed Knights with Gardus are extremely resiliant. It results in a major win for Stormcast.

Result

Hallowed Knights (Stormcast Eternals) Victory – 370 – 120

Jarod Brown – Hallowed Knights (Stormcast Eternals) – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Gardus Castle

Thoughts

Gardus is the centerpiece of this list, which pretty much the whole thing hinges on. Hallowed Knights wholly within 12″ have a 5+ Ward, combined with the Stormcasts generally good saves makes them a tough nut to crack. The dual Incantors can blizzard anyone who tries to charge and gets locked into combat with the Vindictors while the Questors and Yndrasta do a lot of the heavy lifting as hammers. The Zephyros can ping pong around to objectives as needed, giving some much needed mobility after landing.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd – Matt Beasley – Disciples of Tzeentch (Guild of Summoners): An extremely off brand list with allied Varanguard and Ogroid Theridons and your usual suite of casters and acolytes.
• 3rd – Michael Tunes – Ossiarch Bonereapers (Mortis Praetorians): Mannfred’s Regiment of Renown with Ossiarch good stuff.
• 4th – Kriston Broxson – Gloomspite Gitz (Glogg’s Megamob): TROGGS TROGGS TROGGS
• 5th – Jennifer Morningstar – Ironjawz (Bloodtoofs): Gore-grunta spam.

Wrap Up

Whew! Another exciting week, especially as Faction Focuses ramp up over on warhammer Community and we see more of what the game will shift to in 4th edition. Have a good week!