Weekend of September 24, 2021
One of the consistent articles I hope to have on this site is a weekly dive into the top new/innovative list(s) in the world of 9th edition Warhammer 40k that popped up over the previous weekend’s tournaments. Sometimes these lists will be lists that won tournaments, and sometimes they will be lists that I thought were particularly new and/or innovative. With that said, on to the lists.
Warzone Houston GT – Russell Tassin’s Black Legion
Abaddon leads the way
Mr. Tassin pulled off a win at a large GT with mono Black Legion. Yes, you heard that right. I have to be honest, I love the sheer audacity of this list. From Abaddon to the 30 cultists to the Lord of Skulls to the Termite Drill. It has it all. For those of you that are sick of seeing volkite-armed contemptors, note the loadout here.
On a serious note, this list has a definite bully factor to it. There is a significant amount of firepower, and combined with the Black Legion ability to really tarpit opponents with cultists, can create quite an obnoxious list. It appears, given the massive amount of high strength shooting, that Russell was expecting Ork vehicles, and it appears he was right, taking down a Freebooterz list to take the crown.
One really neat tech piece is the Terminator Armor clad Chaos Lord with Mark of Slaanesh and the Angelsbane relic. That guy can really put out some hurt, especially into Imperium targets.
Another point is the continued rise of the Lord of Skulls. In a meta that can struggle to deal with models like Knights, the LoS can really do some work. I would be very interested to see the terrain from this event and see how the list would perform on a dense board like we saw at the GW events.
Overall, I can’t adequately express how happy this list makes me. Lists like this show that there is much more meat in that old CSM codex to be picked at (although to be fair, this list is more then half Forge World).
What would I change?
I really think this list could benefit from a Dark Apostle to toss with those cultists and Abaddon. Giving that fearless mass of bodies a 5++ could be very beneficial.
London GT – Euan Bedford-Cooper’s Mixed CS
Iron Warriors/Death Guard lead the way
This list performed well at the London GT which, as I mentioned in an earlier post, had some pretty interesting terrain layouts. The list features your standard Iron Warriors Lord Discordant + Master of Possession + Decimators bomb, allowing for reroll on those sweet soulburner petards and the potential of the increased invuln save from a well-timed Curse of Earth. Then the list is rounded out by a Lord of Skulls making another appearance. I’ve personally witnessed what these monstrosities can do when properly supported, and it can be incredibly unpleasant. Essentially the play is as follows:
Iron Warriors Daemonsmith WLT allows Daemon Engines (Decimators, Disco Lord, and LoS) to have exploding hit rolls on 6s. This combined with Infernal Power Psychic Power allows you to reroll hit and wound rolls of 1. The Disco Lord also gives out a +1 to hit aura. The Master of Possession can further buff the blob, increasing their invuln saves by 1. This creates an incredibly deadly castle that moves around the board deleting everything it comes into contact with. In my experience, adding the Lord of Skulls gives this strategy a little more versatility, as you can split up some or all of the castle into 2 groups if needed.
This doom blob is supported by a Death Guard detachment that boasts 58 poxwalkers and 3 squads of deathshroud terminators. The Iron Warriors can delete the enemy while the Death Guard come behind and claim the objectives, perform actions, etc.
Overall the list feels like two things we’ve seen before: Scary Iron Warriors Castle and durable Death Guard. I think the list does combine the two in a unique way, and I can’t begin to imagine trying to shift that many poxwalkers with the terrain layouts at the event.
Thanks for reading, and make sure to stay tuned later this week for a deep dive into the Thousand Son’s Cabal Point system!
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