Don’t miss the top tournament Warhammer 40k army lists for Necrons, T’au Empire, and Dark Angels from the Scorched Earth Open, and how their winning tech can help you.
Want “unbeatable” energy? The Scorched Earth Open had a very interesting top-8 placement of Warhammer 40k factions, tested under the kind of mission pressure that makes bad builds fold fast.
This breakdown of the latest top 40k army lists highlights the tournament tech worth stealing for your list this week!
Scorched Earth Open: Top 8 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
Updated March 6, 2026, by Rob Baer with the latest winning 40k army list breakdowns from this year’s event
Checking out these winning army lists and their tactical synergies can really help you sharpen your strategy, especially with the latest updates to the balance dataslate rules and points.
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1st Place: Ben Jurek, Necrons Army Lists
Ben’s Starshatter Arsenal build is basically Necrons doing the funniest possible version of “midboard control,” then stapling a galaxy’s worth of murder onto it.
It stacks multiple unkillable, high-threat centerpieces, then uses a tight little support package to keep those monsters standing long enough to grind the table into a slow-motion collapse.
C’tan Shard of the Deceiver is the list’s opening punch and tempo piece
It is there to start the “pick one bad decision” game early, threatening angles, counterpunching anything that tries to bully a flank, and generally making the opponent’s first two turns feel awkward. It is a damage dealer first, but it also functions as a pressure tool that keeps the enemy honest about screen placement and spacing.
C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer is the closer that shows up early
It is the “answer this or lose a chunk of your army” piece, and it forces priority fire even when the opponent would rather shoot something else. If the Deceiver is the shove, the Nightbringer is the follow-up that makes the shove matter.
The Hexmark Destroyer is a little speed bump with a gun belt
It is utility and board control: policing deep strike angles, punishing small units that try to score for free, and showing up exactly where a fragile scoring unit thought it was safe. The enhancement helps it stay relevant while it plays keep-away and forces extra resources to clear it.
Illuminor Szeras is the “make the whole machine hit harder” piece
He is not just a character that shoots; he is a force multiplier that makes nearby Necrons feel like they woke up angry. He also quietly changes the math on trades, because units the opponent expected to clear in one activation can suddenly cling on, and units that were “fine” at damage become a real threat.
Nekrosor Ammenta is a support that can flip matchups
Nekrosor Ammentar brings the list’s weird tech, and that Nullstone Field Generator (Aura) is the kind of rule that can flip matchups when it matters. He is a utility character with bite, leaning into disruption and anti-something pressure while still being capable of throwing hands with the Unmaker Gauntlet.
Psychomancer is the glue piece that makes trades uglier for the other side
It exists to sandpaper enemy units off objectives and add that extra layer of “this is annoying to deal with,” while the real monsters do the heavy lifting. Utility first, with a side of chip damage and control.
The Silent King is the list’s centerpiece and does everything at once
He is a damage dealer with the Menhirs, a buff platform that makes nearby pieces more efficient, and a bully that dares the opponent to take the midboard away. He also sets the tone for the list: big threats that cannot be ignored, backed by support that makes ignoring them feel even worse.
When he is positioned well, the rest of the army gets to play more aggressively because the opponent’s best answers are getting dragged toward him.
The Transcendent C’tan is a third large threat to divert attention
Two C’tan is already a problem; three is where opponents start making “wrong but necessary” choices. It is another heavy damage dealer that pressures objectives and punishes anyone trying to play cagey. It also helps the list keep momentum when the first C’tan goes down.
Two Canoptek Reanimators help with the list’s staying power
Moving into the support and scoring pieces, the double Canoptek Reanimator setup is the list’s durability engine. They are not here to be cute; they are here to make the opponent’s removal feel ineffective. With multiple huge threats on the table, the Reanimators force the enemy to either overkill units or accept that damage is not sticking.
Flayed Ones help hold the scoring game together
Finally, Flayed Ones are the cheap, practical table pieces that keep the whole plan from falling apart on points. They are objective holders and utility, acting as screens, action-doers, and “fine, go deal with this” units that buy time.
How This Necrons Army List Scores
The big C’tan and The Silent King take the midboard and bully primary by existing in the wrong places for the opponent. The Reanimators help those threats stick around long enough to win the attrition war. Flayed Ones handle the boring but necessary jobs, flipping or holding objectives, screening, and doing actions while the opponent is busy throwing their whole army at shards of angry starlight.
The plan is simple: shove problems into the middle, force the opponent to overcommit to removing them, then punish every trade with another brick that refuses to stay down.
2nd Place: Jason McKenzie, T’au Empire Army Lists (Tau)
How This Tau Army List Scores
This list plays like Tau showed up with a toolbox, a jetpack, and a personal grudge against anything trying to hold the midfield.
Farsight and the Enforcer quarterback two Crisis teams that pop in, line up the shot, and make a key unit disappear, while three Riptides plus a Ghostkeel sit on angles and basically dare the opponent to trade into a wall of wounds. Next, the Broadsides and Hammerhead keep the “big targets” honest, so tanks and monsters cannot just chill behind cover all game, and the Pathfinders and Stealth suits do the thankless work that makes the whole machine hum.
Then the Kroot, Vespid, and that lone Piranha handle the dirty jobs: snagging points, poking weak spots, and forcing opponents to spend real resources on problems that cost way less than the headache they cause.
3rd Place: Tanner Floyd, Dark Angels Army Lists (Space Marines)
How This Dark Angel Army List Scores
This list plays by parking two slabs of problem Terminators, and asking the opponent to politely waste a whole turn trying to move them.
Azrael keeps the engine humming with buffs and reliable fire, while Lion El’Jonson is the “nope” button that turns a midfield scrum into a highlight reel the second he gets a lane. Double Deathwing Knights do the hard part, sitting on objectives and refusing to leave, and Inner Circle Companions act as the follow-up punch for anything that thought trading was a good idea.
Behind them, Eradicators and the Thunderstrike handle the grown-up jobs like cracking armor and deleting big targets, while the Vengeance speeders throw out mean plasma pressure to punish bad angles. Scouts, Intercessors, and a Callidus Assassin round it out by handling the boring scoring and the annoying disruption, because someone has to do the dirty work while the heroes pose.
Final Thoughts from us on The Scorched Earth Open Army Lists
Scorched Earth Open was basically a clinic in “win the mission by making the table miserable.”
Ben’s Necron army list stacks multiple midboard nightmares and dares opponents to solve the wrong problem first, the T’au army list builds plays clean angles with suits and big guns while the cheap stuff quietly racks up points, and finally the Dark Angels army list is two Terminator slabs plus a Lion-shaped receipt for anyone who tries to get clever in the middle.
If there’s tech to steal here, it’s the same lesson across all three: bring real pieces that can sit on objectives without folding, bring real threats that punish anyone who overreaches, and keep a few low-cost utility units around to do the boring jobs that actually win games.
See the Top Warhammer Army Lists & 40k Tournament Schedule for This Year
What do you think of the results and top Warhammer 40k army lists at the Scorched Earth Open for Necrons, T’au Empire, and Dark Angels?
