Three Warhammer 40k army lists dominated the recent Onslaught Grand Tournament with one going undefeated over the weekend!
The Onslaught Grand Tournament is over and now we’re able to look at which lists managed to secure a place at the top! Check out what the winners brought in their armies.
Top 3 40k Army Lists From the Onslaught GT 2021
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings we are able to look back at the event as if we were there ourselves.
3rd Place: Will Taylor- Drukhari
2nd Place: Collin Watts- Custodes
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1st Place: John Lennon- Deathwatch
John Lennon is known far and wide as a fantastic tournament player who often brings extremely unique lists. This is no exception! There is a certain level of depth that can’t effectively be expressed with a simple list breakdown, so we highly advise you to try to take a deeper dive into the stratagems and relics and all the nitty-gritty, on your own if you are interested.
Moving forward, John went for a battalion of Deathwatch this go around led by a Lieutenant in Reiver Armour, a Primaris Captain, and a Primaris Techmarine. The Lieutenant and Captain combo give access to 6″ rerolls of 1 to hit and wound to core units, making them exceptionally good when together and near blobs of CORE units. the Techmarine on the other hand helps top off some of the larger list components that we will cover towards the end.
Moving to Troops, there is a base Incursor squad, which is the only basic option in the list so far, being ok bodies to sit back and hold objectives or soak wounds.
Then there is a Proteus Kill Team with Jump Packs made up of 4 Vets with shotguns, a Vanguard Vet with Claw and Shield, 4 Bikers with swords, and the Sergeant with Shield and Shotgun. This combination allows for a ton of versatility. The shotguns have a shorter range, but give access to decent chaff clearing and even decent Space marine clearing shot options.
At the same the bikers can go off on their own thanks to the Deathwatch special squad rules, allowing them to go sit on a distant objective with little to no risk. The Vanguard Vet serves as a mini smash captain, giving the squad a serious melee threat as they go in for their shotgun shells.
The next two Troop options are identical, giving the same threats and flexibility as discussed above. That brings the total number of bikers to 12, shotguns to 15, and mini-smash captains to 3.
That not all of the threats in the list though, there is a whopping 5 Dreadnoughts, all of which the Tech Marine will likely be topping off when he can. The first three are Redemptors, with Storm bolters, Incinerators, and Gatling Cannons, making for a large amount of flexibility in ranged support.
The Gattling and Storm bolters are great against smaller units like chaff or even space marines, while the Incinerator gives a decent threat to even heavy armored vehicles and characters with larger AP and Damage. All of this is on a mobile unit that is relatively tanky for the cost, combining to make a fantastic model. Hence why John went all in for three of them!
Finishing the list there are two Relic Contemptors, both of which are running Twin Volkite Culverins, which together bring in 32 S6 2 Damage shots, which can take out a ton of marines if they fail their saves.
Overall, this list features a ton of models with great flexibility, all while still being able to execute targets with efficiency, making it a hard list to play against if in the hand of a skilled general.
Deathwatch Victory- Congrats to John on the win!
Deathwatch have won this time, but what do you think about all three of these most recent lists?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
