by the Plastic Craic team
One of the premium events in the Australian calendar, Vic GT has been capped at 50 players this year for a more boutique feel as 3rd Edition winds down. The event sold out rapidly, and the signature feature is Pat’s Saturday Night Quiz, featuring an intriguing blend of Warhammer and non-Warhammer rounds. The key to a great quiz is that you can have a crack at an educated guess if you don’t outright know the answer; the tables were buzzing last year as we all tried to figure out which unit in the game has the highest points cost per wound.*
And let’s be honest, it’s also quite funny to watch Old Man Pat struggle so badly to operate a simple PowerPoint.
We’ve assembled a Craic team of writers to analyse and bring you the best of the 50 lists – we slog through them so you don’t have to, but they are all on Stats and Ladders if you’re feeling it. We’ll bring you one Power Pick and one Coolest List for each GA – that’s one army we’re tipping to do well, and one that’s just frikkin sweet, to present the edited highlights of what people are running at the event.
And while Pat himself is sitting this article out as TO for the event, let’s take the opportunity to welcome Joel McGrath as a permanent member of the Plastic Craic writing team. Rapt to have you on board mate.
Ready? Let’s go.
Destruction, by Peter Atkinson
Power Pick: Will Walters, Sons of Behemat
– Army Faction: Sons of Behemat
– Army Type: Breaker Tribe
– Grand Strategy: Make the Land Tremble!
– Triumph: Inspired
– Fierce Loathings: Idiots with Flags
LEADERS
Gatebreaker (500)*
– General
– Command Traits: Monstrously Tough
– Artefacts of Power: Amulet of Destiny
Gatebreaker (500)*
– Artefacts of Power: Extra-calloused Feet
Warstomper (440)*
Rabble-Rowza (Braggit’s Bottle-snatchaz) (500)**
OTHER
Gobbapalooza (Braggit’s Bottle-snatchaz) (500)**
Squig Herd (Braggit’s Bottle-snatchaz) (500)**
Squig Hoppers (Braggit’s Bottle-snatchaz) (500)**
Suffocating Squigtide (30)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Bosses of the Stomp
**Regiment of Renown
TOTAL POINTS: 1970/2000
What’s more competitive, Brodd’s Stomp or classic Megas with the Bottle-Snatchaz? There’s a bee’s dick in it and both are capable of making the podium, and our guy Joel McGrath is repping Brodd’s Stomp at this event. I’ve gone for Will’s list today because I feel like the access to screens might help him out a little bit in a couple of matchups (such as David Sulava’s Boingrot spam), but I wouldn’t be shocked to see either or both on top tables Day Two.
They dominate Primaries because that’s what they do. The power of the ROR is that it brings you a couple of easy Battle Tactics: Surround and Destroy and Intimidate the Invaders both become supremely easy with this build, without overcommitting your scarce units. Good on objectives, good on Battle Tactics, good at Warhammer.
Worth mentioning here is that the Gobbapalooza is a Wizard, so this list won’t get cheap access to the new BT for walking around holding some Nullstone, but they’re still a net win for Battle Tactics. As we pointed out in our original review back in June of last year**, Sons was always going to be their natural home, because not only do they complement what the army needs (chaff and BTs) but there is some hard synergy with the run and charge thing, especially since the ROR allows you to just pop Braggit up where you need him.
Suffocating Gravetide gives some solid anti-horde (and another pseudo-screen with that ludicrous base size), the Gatebreakers are still terrifying and Will has a couple of Unbinds to spend those PMDs on while preserving Heroic Actions for best days ever. The 40 wound CT plus 6++ ward artefact keeps the classic Sons DPS test online and Will has all the tools he needs to compete at the highest level here.
One last thing: If you skim read the list, you might miss the unit that Will has named. I’m intrigued by the Suffocating Squigtide. Hopefully Will has modelled a swarm of undulating Squigs for this one and I’ll report back with photos if he has. Can’t wait to see it.
Coolest List: Gene Mills, Gloomspite Gits
When one goblin and all his mushroom-eating mates find a giant sitting in a field of mushrooms, there is only one thing they can reasonably choose to do…….. Get High.
– Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Subfaction: King’s Gitz (Extra roll on the Shrine)
– Grand Strategy: Spellcasting Savant
– Triumph: Indomitable
LEADERS
Fungoid Cave-Shaman (110)*
– General
– Command Traits: The Clammy Hand (Rerolls on the Shrine)
– Spells: Hoarfrost, The Hand of Gork
One-eyed Grunnock (400)*
Madcap Shaman (70)*
– Artefacts of Power: Moonface Mommet
– Spells: Itchy Nuisance, Merciless Blizzard
BATTLELINE
20x Moonclan Stabbas (120)
20x Moonclan Stabbas (120)
10x Boingrot Bounderz (320)*
– Bounder Boss
OTHER
10x Loonsmasha Fanatics (220)
10x Loonsmasha Fanatics (220)
10x Loonsmasha Fanatics (220)
5x Gobbapalooza (180)
– Spells: Itchy Nuisance, The Hand of Gork
TERRAIN
1 x Bad Moon Loonshrine (0)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
I love the little intro Gene has written for this army. Merc Mega-Gargants with Gits swarming around their ankles still look pretty baller on the table, and as the rest of the world slowly catches up with what I’ve been telling our Patrons for a year now, One-Eyed Grunnock is sliding into a few lists. The Neg -1 to hit certainly complements the Stabbas and the Gobbapalooza pretty well, and he’s a steal at 400 points.
Spamming Loonshmasha Fanatics is one of those things that every Loonboss talks about but nobody ever does – until now. They’re laughably fragile with 1 wound on a 6+ save, but the fights first and hiding in units gives them an element of protection, and I’m certainly intrigued to see how it goes for him.
They’re pretty good value now that they can be rezzed through the Loonshrine and the Clammy Hand x King’s Gits combo means that you’ll probably have to kill them twice, while the Boingrot torpedo plus Grunnock provides a stable platform to a pretty wild list. With fully a third of its points tipped into Fanatics, it’s one of those lists that looks trivial at first glance but might have something going on, and it’ll give you some unique games. Good luck mate and I’ll be checking in to hear your war stories.
I’ll finish off this section by mentioning that one Ur-Chad is running Spiderfang Grots at the event. I couldn’t exactly pick myself for Coolest List (and I’m certainly not touting myself to hit the podium), but I am running Grimscuttle Tribe and aiming for a 3-2.
Order, by Joel McGrath
VGT has a few interesting meta trends, and by interesting I mean anything outside of Order. No Cities, no Slayers and no Lumineth. Four KO lists make up 40% of the total Order armies. Shoutout to the two Sylvaneth guys, but even the new Belthanos can’t squeeze you into one of these articles.
Power pick: Nathan Thompson, KO
When I ask you to think of a top player in Australia, you may think of Dave Kerr, Joel Graham or Smorgan. But what if I told you they were old news? Nathan is currently riding the wave of competitive success here in Australia, taking out Cancon and then Summer Smash last weekend with an off-the-cuff Fyreslayer list. And he has VGT in his sights for the next notch on his belt.
Running a top shelf Kharadron Overlords list, he is no doubt using this event as an excuse to get reps in for Worlds in a couple months. The army consists of all the usual best pick suspects, such as 15 Thunderers in an Ironclad:
– Army Faction: Kharadron Overlords
– Subfaction: Barak-Nar
– Grand Strategy: Rule the Skies
– Triumph: Inspired
– Stick To The Code (Amendments): Always Take What You Are Owed
– Stick To The Code (Artycles): Honour is Everything
– Stick To The Code (Footnotes): Without Our Ships, We Are Naught
LEADERS
Aether-Khemist (110)*
– Nullstone Adornments: Hand-carved Nullstone Icon
Aetheric Navigator (110)*
Arkanaut Admiral (150)*
– General
– Command Traits: Stormcaller
– Artefacts of Power: Celestium Burst-grenade
BATTLELINE
Arkanaut Company (180)*
Arkanaut Company (90)*
Grundstok Thunderers (510)*
BEHEMOTH
Arkanaut Ironclad (480)*
– Great Sky Cannon
– The Admiral’s Flagship: The Admiral’s Flagship
OTHER
Endrinriggers (130)*
Grundstok Gunhauler (180)*
– Sky Cannon
– Great Endrinworks: Coalbeard’s Collapsible Compartments
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1940/2000
Lets break this list down in a way the guys on the Aethercast podcast would approve of.
- Barak-Nar for extra CP generation – which KO does rely on heavily, not only to increase their output, but to Zoomy Zoom around the table and all the other extremely interactive things KO do.
- Nathan’s interpretation of the Code is solid when you consider the rest of the list. The unit of 20 Arkanauts count as 2 on objectives, which can also charge with 3d6”, a true testament to Nathan’s list writing ability, correctly identifying a weakness in the KO playstyle and fixing it. Also, good luck pinning the Ironclad down while it retreats and shoots for 2 CP.
- The Navigator is an absolute steal at 110pts. Rerolling the 6 dice (thanks to Stormcaller Command Trait on the Admiral), he can splash some mortals and fuck with your movement, while greatly increasing that of his own gunboats.
- Speaking of the Admiral, the artefact Celestium Burst Grenades turns off your ward saves on a 2+. Something which was already amazing but indirectly buffed pretty heavily in the latest battlescroll with the changes to bodyguard saves. Don’t roll a 1 mate!
Without spoiling Christmas for Nathan, I’ll leave it there. Expect to get your toys shot off with the potential of alpha-striking, while whatever survives the early game salvos gets bogged down in counting-as-two Arkanauts with your halved movement. Coming in with probably the lowest points in the event for a guaranteed Triumph bid. Anything but a 5-0 is a fail.
Coolest List: James Anderson, DOK
Usually I wouldn’t pick a Daughters of Khaine army as the coolest one of the bunch. But there’s slim pickings in a sea of KO and other Order Wanker bullshit, so here we are.
– Army Faction: Daughters of Khaine
– Subfaction: Khailebron
– Grand Strategy: Bloodthirsty Zealots
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Melusai Ironscale (120)*
– General
– Command Traits: Eater of Magic
– Artefacts of Power: Arcane Tome
Morathi-Khaine (680)*
The Shadow Queen (680)*
BATTLELINE
Khainite Shadowstalkers (140)*
Blood Sisters (150)*
Blood Sisters (150)*
OTHER
Gotrek Gurnisson (480)
Khinerai Heartrenders (100)*
Khinerai Heartrenders (100)*
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Suffocating Gravetide (30)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: 1950/2000
Drops: 2
James has gone for Morathi and Gotrek. How good! Two unkillable badasses backed up by next to nothing. He’s gone some fighty snakes for screens, some Khinerai for objective shenanigans but outside of that, it’s all gas and I’m here for it.
Khailebron lets his snakes teleport around the board too, so everything apart from Gotrek is highly mobile. I don’t expect James to do particularly well, but I’ll sure he will have a great time, and I feel sorry for that one opponent where this list works perfectly. Fingers crossed it’s not me!
Chaos, by Michael Clark
So Editor Pete gave me the easy job this event, with the usually-popular Chaos being underrepresented at Vic GT and only 8 out of 44 (18%) lists to review. Unfortunately I can’t make Vic GT myself this year due to personal conflicts, but as I read over the field I do feel the pangs of regret at missing this cornerstone event of the season!
Power Pick: Josh Clark, Skaven
Josh is one of the nicest guys in AOS Australia….. but this event he seems to have turned on devil mode and brought the filth-filth with this Skaven list!
– Army Faction: Skaven
– Grand Strategy: Arch-corruptors of the Mortal Realms
– Triumph: Bloodthirsty
LEADERS
Grey Seer On Screaming Bell (240)*
– Artefacts of Power: Skavenbrew
– Spells: Death Frenzy, Levitate
Plague Priest (100)*
– Prayers: Rabid-rabid!
Master Moulder (80)*
– General
– Command Traits: Hordemaster
Grey Seer (110)**
– Spells: Death Frenzy, Hoarfrost
Grey Seer (110)**
– Spells: Merciless Blizzard, Skitterleap
Skabbik Plagueseeker (140)***
– Prayers: Disease-disease!
BATTLELINE
Clanrats (100)
Clanrats (100)
Clanrats (100)
Rat Ogors (390)*
Plague Censer Bearers (300)***
BEHEMOTH
Hell Pit Abomination (180)***
– Prized Creations: Toughened Sinews
OTHER
Skabbik’s Plaguepack (140)***
ENDLESS SPELLS & INVOCATIONS
1 x Vermintide (30)
CORE BATTALIONS
*Warlord
**Andtorian Acolytes
***Wizard-finders of Andtor
TOTAL POINTS: 1980/2000
Skaven have been stealthily and steadily creeping up the power rankings over the last few battlescrolls and ultimately got off really lightly with the latest meta changes, arguably even a net benefit when the already-effective Rat Ogors (‘Rogors’) dropped further in points to 130!
The list centers around 2 very hard to kill anchors: the Screaming Bell and the Hell Pit Abomination. As many players have discovered recently, Screaming Bells are nigh on unkillable in a head-to-head unless you have cleared out all the bodies, and smart play when allocating wounds and pulling models from the bodyguard can mean the Skaven player can control the damage up to that perfect 12 wounds to then pull a free Verminlord out from the void!
On top of this, the Rogor + Master Moulder whip + Death Frenzy + Gnawhole (add in Skavenbrew + Levitate + Hoarfrost + Mystic Shield + Bless for bonus lolz on the stack….) uber combo stack is amazing as a first wave threat projection….. they absolutely mince anything they touch, are incredibly painful to dislodge from the opponents line…. and then after they die there is a 91% chance they just reappear at full strength to come at you again. Rogor combos are one of the most all-round strategically efficient threats in the game right now.***
Now, after the opponent manages to get their head around Rogors and Screaming Bell problems, there is still the classic Skaven threat of buffed-up Plague Censor Bearers to deal with too, who also generally eliminate anything they touch.
The final piece of all of this filth-filth is Skabbik. The review is already long, but all I will say is “wow”. Skabbik’s prayer to control objectives is very close to auto game winning in certain missions with low numbers of central objectives. Skabbik needs to go high on the priority-kill list early in the game….. but one key problem opponents face is that Skaven have so many equally high priority kill targets that very few armies can get them all, and Skaven are ready to brutally punish any mistakes.
Josh is a very experienced Skaven player and this list is very close to power optimized when played well. KO shooting remains a counter problem for Josh, and Skaven have an achilles heal weakness with Battle Tactics (if the opponent carefully counterplays to deny BT’s, or Josh makes mistakes, 2 to 3 BT’s can be missed and Skaven can start struggling on points). Josh’s other key enemy here is The Clock, with this army being slow to play optimally due to complexity, which does create pressure for mistakes to occur.
May the Horned Rat be with you Josh for a real chance at a Podium run with this filth-filth Power List!
Coolest List: None of them
Unfortunately there is slim pickings here to be honest, with the limited Chaos representation in the field and the aging maturity of their books meaning that players are generally taking pretty regular and known builds.
Instead of forcing a pick, I’m just going to bow out and put in a pass for this category.
Peter Atkinson writes…
I hate doing this and when I saw Clarkey was wimping out, I was determined to step in and pick one for him. But he’s right: only 8 lists and not a single interesting one among them. I’m not going to run through the 8 people who have brought Chaos armies and list-shame them for bringing something competitive to a competitive event – it’s all just basic netlisty stuff and there’s not much to really be said about it. Skaven with multiple Screaming Bells, Blissbarb Archer spam, that sort of stuff. The closest we’d have to an interesting list is Tyson Gleeson’s Khorne, but there’s a limit to how many props I’m willing to give to a Khorne list with Skarbrand and Be’La’Kor.
The only valid criticism here is to Games Workshop for doing such an abysmal job at rebalancing these armies internally – it’s a sad indictment of the process that people are still feeling the need to spam that kind of shit at this late stage. They’ve systematically under-nerfed the builds that were too good, and left the rest to stagnate.
What I’m left asking myself though is whether Chaos are actually as popular as we’ve always assumed? Or have they just been propped up by a constant flow of new releases and S-Tier armies for the whole lifespan of AOS – an extended marriage of convenience between filth chasers and bent Battletomes? Again, this isn’t a criticism of the 8 people who’ve brought competitive Chaos lists – I’ve certainly been happy to bring some super-tough Destro lists over the years – it’s more that I’m left wondering where the rest of them are. Or to put it another way: it’s not the lists that are coming that I’m disappointed in, but the ones that aren’t.
Are there more than a handful of people who are really loyal to Chaos armies? Skaven and BOC players do seem to stick by their armies through thick and thin, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a cool Skaven list, and it’s certainly not for lack of options in that book. And as for the main Chaos God books – most people tend to just jump on them when they’re busted, then dump them just as quickly.
Eh, it’s only one event. But it really is a piss weak effort by the Chaos community, if such a thing really exists in the numbers we traditionally assume.
Death by Calvin Rarie
I’ll be honest here, Death by Calvin Rarie sounds way cooler (or lamer) than it should.
Anyway, I get the fun one Grand Alliance out of the group, because boy oh boy is there some wild ass lists out here for Death, and the coolest pick might just shock you!
Clickbait aside, let’s start with the Power Pick:
Power Pick: Jason Brown, Flesh Eater Courts
Army Faction: Flesh-eater Courts
– Army Subfaction: Hollowmourne
– Grand Strategy: Expand the Kingdom
– Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
LEADER
1 x Ushoran (460)*
– Spells: Deranged Transformation
1 x Abhorrant Archregent (150)*
– Spells: Hoarfrost
1 x Marrowscroll Herald (100)*
– General
– Command Traits: Cruel Taskmaster
– Artefacts: Charnel Vestments
– Prayers: Charnel Conviction
BATTLELINE
9 x Crypt Horrors (390)*
6 x Crypt Horrors (260)*
20 x Crypt Ghouls (160)*
TERRAIN
1 x Charnel Throne (0)
OTHER
6 x Morbheg Knights (300)*
3 x Crypt Flayers (160)*
CORE BATTALIONS:
*Battle Regiment
TOTAL POINTS: (1980/2000)
Boy oh boy could I wax poetic about everyone’s favorite cannibals–and I have in fact done so, feel free to check out my breakdown of the Flesh Eater Courts to get really granular into the book.
But at a zoomed out level, why this list? Well it’s simple:
It’s going to beat the shit out of you.
FEC relies on active recursion unlike SBGL which relies on passive recursion, meaning that you actually have to participate in the game and sometimes take risks in order to rack up the Noble Deed points required to bring units back, or to return slain models to units still standing. For the former, that recursion is tied to heroes with the ABHORRANT keyword, which is every hero in the list except for the Marrowscroll Herald, which is a COURTIER, who uses his deed points to put models back.
Basically, FEC heroes rack up Deed points in a number of different ways–seriously, there’s a lot of ways–and can spend them at the end of the movement phase to perform some recursion or hold on to them to activate a 12″ Feeding Frenzy bubble of +1 attacks to friendly FEC units wholly within range. The Cruel Taskmaster command trait beefs up the Marrowscroll Herald’s recursion–at the end of the movement phase for each Deed point spent the Marrowscroll Herald can return 1 slain Knight model or 2 slain Serfs models to friendly units of his choice within 10″. Not wholly within, just within.
The recursion doesn’t stop there, since the Abhorrant Archregent puts 1 slain Knight or 3 slain Serf models into a single unit within 18″ of him in the hero phase. Again, just within, not wholly within! And both Ushoran and the Archregent are ABHORRANTS, so at the end of the movement phase they can spend 6 Deed points to return a dead KNIGHTS or SERFS unit to the battlefield–who can then have any missing models returned from whatever flavor of recursion you’ve got.
Which is great because those KNIGHTS hit like fucking dump trucks in the HOLLOWMOURNE subfaction, which gives KNIGHTS units +1 damage on the charge. Oh and by the way, everything in that list that isn’t a hero or the Crypt Ghouls is a KNIGHT. Damage 3 Crypt Horrors on the charge, hitting on 2+ from a Hoarfrost? Yes please! Also good luck killing off those Horrors once they have a 5+ ward thanks to the Charnel Vestments artefact turning the Herald into a Priest, which lets him take the Charnel Conviction prayer, which slaps on a 5+ ward to one friendly FEC unit within range until the start of your next hero phase.
This all caps off with Ushoran, the Summerking, Big Papa and Grand Delusionist himself entering the arena. He does it all–hands out strike last to enemy units within 3″ of him based on a roll against that unit’s bravery, hands out stacking -1 bravery debuffs, hands out essentially board wide army bonuses like a deluded Katakros, to a 24″ Feeding Frenzy bubble of +1 attacks. He also hits like a brick shithouse–just don’t put him somewhere he doesn’t need to be. That 4+ save and 5++ ward isn’t all that it’s cracked up these days.
Good luck out there Jason, and hopefully you get to eat your fill!
Coolest List: Sam Morgan, Soulblight Gravelords
Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords
– Subfaction: Kastelai
– Grand Strategy: Lust for Domination
– Triumphs: NA
Leaders
Vampire Lord (150)*
– General
– Command Trait: Shaman of the Chilled Lands
– Artefact: Fragment of the Keep
– Universal Spell Lore: Levitate
Prince Vhordrai (440)*
– Lore of the Vampires: Spirit Gale
Lord Executioner (120)*
– Allies
Battleline
20 x Deadwalker Zombies (150)*
5 x Blood Knights (210)*
5 x Blood Knights (210)*
Units
16 x Askurgan Trueblades (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
16 x Askurgan Trueblades (360)*
– Reinforced x 1
Core Battalions
*Battle Regiment
Total: 2000 / 2000
Reinforced Units: 2 / 4
Allies: 120 / 400
Wounds: 150
Drops: 1
Look man, I’m a simple guy. I see Askurgan Trueblades and you are instantly a cool person in my opinion. And two reinforced units of them? Hell yeah!
Kastelai is a subfaction that doesn’t get enough love in my opinion, as there’s some real combo-y shit you can pull off there, and all of it balances around Vampires–which means in the army with THE most recursion, you’re purposefully playing in a way where you get none of the recursive beneftis, outside of the one unit of Deathrattle that Sam has taken.
So what does Kastelai do? It makes Vampires better when they kill things:
So why is this good? Because let me tell you, Askurgan Trueblades fuck.
First off, they’re a Warcry Warband, so have fun remembering how many of each base you should have in your list.
Second, when at the end of the charge phase, as long as the unit has the big ugly dog model (called a Curseblood), you can pick an enemy unit with 1″ of the Trueblade unit and a roll a dice, adding 1 for each Curseblood in the unit and on a 4+ that enemy unit gets Strike Last. So, a reinforced unit of Trueblades has two Cursebloods, and you have these guys running around charging enemy units handing out Strike Last on a 2+. Disgusting.
But wait, there’s more! Let’s imagine for a second that you have one of these guys and you’re fighting–say–a Mega Gargant and you manage to kill one with a unit of Trueblades. Not only does the unit get +1 damage from the battle trait table above, but they also get +3″ to their movement and +1 attacks for the rest of the battle too, and that last part can STACK.
Oh, and by the way, even if they don’t get the killing blow, enemy monsters are -1 to hit AND wound while within 3″ of them:
This is all in addition to the fact that Blood Knights are sweet (even if still a bit overcosted) and the fact that Vhordrai just beats the dogshit out of whatever he attacks–did I mention Kastelai has this awesome Monstrous Action, and Vhordrai is a Monster (both literally and figuratively)?
I’m super eager to see how Sam does, and overall how the Trueblades perform. Good luck Sam!
*Gotrek
**Self praise is no praise, but fuck we’ve got a good hit rate on this kind of stuff
***Anyone who thought they needed a points drop has got fucking rocks in their head
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