It’s a real slow week this time. After the last Games Workshop Open, and as we transition into the winter, things tend to slow down a bit. The Games Workshop World Championship is still a few weeks away but that doesn’t mean everyone is resting up. We still got one small event out in Alberta, Canada to cover.

Grudgefest GT 2023

28-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Lethbridge, AB, Canada on October 28 2023. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Daytond Obre – Bloodlords:
Army List - Click to Expand

vs.

Dom Elson – Big WAAAGH!:
Army List - Click to Expand

Thoughts

Just look, no Death anywhere, just people living the moment, khorne vs orks, as nature intended.

Both really fascinating lists here, while Gobbsprakk brings great anti-Magic that is naturally…not of much use here, and he doesn’t get any bonuses to cast which puts Khorne at a bit of an advantage on the anti-magic front. The Bloodletter centric list has a clear goal, get into combat first and try and procc as many 5s and 6s as they can.

The Orruks have a plan that isn’t too dissimilar, although maybe not as hard hitting overall, the Wurgogg Prophet, Maw-Krusha and Brute Ragerz can hold their own while the Brutes and Gutrippas have a lot of defensive options. The Orruks won out, likely by choosing their battles wisely and only swinging when they got to go first. Bloodletters may do a ton of damage on the first swing, but they can’t take a punch very well.

Result

Big WAAAGH! Victory – 520 – 8

Dom Elson – Big WAAAGH! – 1st Place

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Orruk Good Stuff, as Big WAAAGH intended

Thoughts

Over the past few months Big WAAAGH has really come into its own in how modular it is, no two lists look quite the same, though there are some standouts. The Weirdnob Shaman for access to a cheap teleport is popular, though giving them the Frost Lore is an interesting choice. Not a bad one though, Hoarfrost works great in orruks, and Blizzard is a great warning about getting too close. Gobbsprakk is excellent magic support in tandem as Kruleboyz have access to some excellent debuffs. The Prophet, a staple, is a very strong source of mortal wounds at range to remove dangerous targets early.

The Maw-Krusha and Brute Ragerz are excellent front line damage dealers, while Brutes and Gutrippaz can hang back on the point and turtle up to hold points.

The Best of the Rest

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

• 2nd – James Haagsman – Sylvaneth: A caster heavy list of Spirit of Durthu, Tree Lord Ancient, Warsong Revenant and a COS Battlemage (While they still can get the Ghur spell). Infantry includes Kurnoth Hunters with greatswords and some cavalry from Tempestor allies.
• 3rd – Iain Ferguson – Nighthaunt: Lady Olynder and Reiknor lead the usual cadre of Nighthaunt Good Stuff.
• 4th – Nic Fortin – Skaven: Triple grey seers lead a horde of Pestilens themed skaven.
• 5th – Daytond Obre – Blades of Khorne: See Showdown

Wrap Up

A slow one this week, but sometimes that happens. The meta might finally be balancing out away from Death, but I’d hardly call it this the best sample size. We’ll check in next week and see if the pattern holds!