Stephen Dorfner’s 5-0 Orks took the OrktoberFest III army lists crown as melee lists from Orks, World Eaters and Drukhari swept the podium.
Shooting wasn’t getting much love at the top tables in Delaware this weekend. Forty-one players wrapped up five rounds of 40k at Blue Hen Comic Con in Harrington on October 24-25, and all three armies on the podium had one thing in common: they wanted to get into melee.
And yeah, the Orks-themed event went to an Ork player. Even better, he was playing under the host store’s team name. Member Hour Gaming ran its first full GT here, right as the community celebrated its third anniversary.
OrktoberFest III: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Stephen Dorfner’s Green Tide Orks went 5-0 with Ghazghkull and four Gretchin units: he gave up just 30 battle points across the entire weekend.
- Judo Shan’s World Eaters finished 4-1, with his only loss coming down to four battle points: Ben Stafford’s Dark Angels squeezed out a 97-93 win in round 4.
- Paul Miglino’s Drukhari lost their opener, then rattled off four straight wins with six Talos: three of those victories were 100-point games.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we’ve got the real pairings and battle point data to see how the whole thing played out.
Stephen Dorfner’s Green Tide Orks Buried the Field in Bodies
Dorfner’s 1,995-point list combines Green Tide, Runt Swarm, and Taktikal Brigade, and you can probably guess the plan. Put more bodies on the table than your opponent can deal with, then make them figure out what to do about Ghazghkull. It’s about as Orky as it gets, and it worked pretty darn well.
Green Tide Roster Breakdown
The real punch comes from two big Boyz bricks, each backed up by a Warboss and a Painboy. One Painboy has Ferocious Show-off, which gives an extra attack, or two if the unit still has 11 or more models. So even after taking some shooting, that mob can still hit pretty hard. Meanwhile, Ghazghkull is running solo as the Warlord, with Wazdakka Gutsmek tearing up the flank alongside him.
And then you’ve got the grots. Four separate Gretchin units take up a good chunk of the list, with Zodgrod Wortsnagga and two Runtherds joining the pair of 20-model squads. Both bigger units have Minefield Detail, giving them a 6″ scout move. That’s a lot of cheap bodies getting onto objectives and blocking space before the other player even gets going.
The rest brings some extra tricks and speed. Boss Snikrot and ten Kommandos can come in behind enemy lines, while Stormboyz, three Deffkoptas, and a Battlewagon give Dorfner more ways to get around the table. If you’ve been watching Green Tide results this year, this probably looks pretty familiar.
How Green Tide Wins the Objective Game
The Orks really got rolling early in the tournament and never stopped. He beat David Mowrer’s Imperial Knights 100-38, Chris “Mario” Rieth’s World Eaters 100-67, and John Work’s Tyranids 100-78 in three straight games, all with full 100 points.
In the final round against Ben Stafford’s Dark Angels, Dorfner won 90-65 and finished 5-0 as Stafford dropped to 4th overall.
Judo Shan’s Berzerker Warband World Eaters Came Within Four Points of Perfect
Shan’s 2,000-point World Eaters list mixes Berzerker Warband with Vessels of Wrath, and it’s all about getting daemon engines and characters into your face before you can screen everything out. And with Angron as the Warlord, you already know what kind of game this army wants to play.
Berzerker Warband Roster Breakdown
Backing up Angron are Khârn the Betrayer and three Slaughterbound. One Slaughterbound has Archslaughterer and leads a unit of Exalted Eightbound. Throw in another Exalted Eightbound unit and two regular Eightbound squads, and you’ve got twelve Eightbound models coming across the table with Angron. How many of those threats can you realistically deal with at once?
Interestingly, there’s only one Berzerker unit: ten models riding in a Chaos Rhino. That should tell you quite a bit about where the damage is supposed to come from in this list, lol. Two Forgefiends add some ranged support, one with ectoplasma cannons and the other with Hades autocannons. Then you’ve got two Jakhals squads and a unit of Goremongers handling screens and objectives while the bigger threats do their thing.
How Berzerker Warband Wins the Charge Phase
Shan actually started the weekend against another player who’d end up on the podium. His round 1 match against Paul Miglino’s Drukhari was close, but he pulled out a 98-93 win. From there, he beat Tyler A’s Chaos Space Marines 93-64 and Edmund Cataldo’s Black Templars 100-68.
Round 4 was the tough one. Ben Stafford’s Dark Angels edged him out 97-93, with just four battle points separating them. That’s how close Shan came to going undefeated. Either way, he didn’t let it slow him down in the final round, though, beating Jason Chang’s Space Marines 100-87 to finish 4-1.
Paul Miglino’s Skysplinter Assault Drukhari Bounced Back Behind Six Talos
Miglino’s 1,995-point Drukhari list combines Skysplinter Assault with Tools of Torment, and this one’s pretty interesting. Sure, it’s another melee army, but instead of relying on one approach, it’s got two very different ways to get into combat.
Skysplinter Assault Roster Breakdown
First up are the three Venoms carrying the fast melee threats. Drazhar is the Warlord and leads one Incubi unit, an Archon with Nightmare Shroud leads another, and Lelith Hesperax is bringing in the Wyches. That’s three nasty units Miglino can send wherever he needs some serious melee damage.
But here’s the part that really stands out: six Talos. They’re split into three units of two, each with Elixir of the Corpse Courts, and they can just walk up the table without worrying about transports. Most of the Drukhari tournament list builds we’ve seen tend to lean harder into boats rather than this much Coven muscle, so it’s nice to see a different approach actually work.
He’s still got plenty of other tools, too. Two dark lance Scourge units and a Ravager handle enemy armor, while another Scourge squad with shardcarbines and two Reaver units help with the quick objective plays. Finally, Mandrakes and the Hand of the Archon round things out.
How Skysplinter Assault Wins From Behind
Miglino’s weekend didn’t exactly start the way he’d hoped. He lost that opening game to Shan 98-93, so he was already chasing the leaders after round 1. But then he got moving, beating Kevin Maguire’s Space Marines 100-57, Benjamin Wildes’ Emperor’s Children 100-51, and James Campanella’s Necrons 100-44.
He finished things off with an 85-73 win over John Work’s Tyranids, putting him at 4-1. Not a bad recovery at all, especially with three straight 100-point games after that opening loss.
Final Thoughts on the OrktoberFest III Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta Now
So, three melee armies taking all three podium spots is definitely interesting. Does that mean melee is taking over? Maybe, but one 41-player GT isn’t enough to call it a trend just yet (although we were already leaning that way in a lot of ways).
Either way, we’d love to see whether Green Tide and those Talos-heavy Drukhari lists keep doing well at bigger events before the next dataslate. That should give us a better idea of whether this was just one weekend blip or something more.
And if you’re looking for a possible answer to these armies, Ben Stafford’s Dark Angels are worth a look. He managed to beat the World Eaters and still ended up fourth. That just goes to show you just how close things were at the top.
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Orks
- How to Play World Eaters
- How to Play Drukhari
- Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- More Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- 40k Tournament Guide
- Warhammer 40k Factions Guide
What do you think of the OrktoberFest III army lists, and is melee about to take over your local meta?
