Don’t miss the top 3 best Warhammer 40k army lists from Bay Area Open as one of 40k’s bigger tournaments just happened this Memorial Day Weekend!
The Bay Area Open was held in California with nearly one-hundred and fifty players. Out of the crowd, only three lists managed to finish on top with 1st Place winning every single round! Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can look back at all the details just like we were at the event.
Update: These were the best lists before the top cut that saw Geoff take overall followed by Jim Vesal, and Brohammers Richard Siegler with Tau.
Imperium- Geoff Robinson
So the main workhorse in this army is the Custodes. With the heaviest armor being the Calladiuses and the Telemon, they took up an entire quarter of the points. A few Terminators, a Vexilla, and Constantin Valdor also showed up to tie any “loose ends” on the battlefield.
As for the rest of the list, there were two Battallions fielded mainly for CP and extra firepower. A Catachan Guard company with the Emperor’s Wrath formation came out to play bringing the CP regen loadout on the characters. The cool thing about Catachans specifically is that they can reroll the number of shots before they fire. (Talk about getting the best bang for your buck).
And with the leftover points, he brought an Assassin using the stratagem to cherry pick whatever kind of operative he needed vs. his opponent. Great job bringing a unique list!
Alaitoc- Jack Harpster
With one of the most interesting Eldar lists we’ve seen so far, a Warlock Conclave was fielded bringing every Psyker in the area out to play. These guys linked arms and at only 67 pts a pop, were able to psychic their way to victory.
While the psychic phase is obviously under control, this list also brought along three Crimson Hunter Exarchs in an Alaitoc Fieldcraft detachment. These three models alone took up over an entire quarter of the list in points.
And last but not least, nine whole Windriders with scatter lasers were taken for some disruption. These are a fast unit that can cause a headache if the enemy doesn’t deal with them quickly. Of course, the Rangers filled in the cracks of the list but definitely weren’t a part of the heavy lifting force. They played lock down most likely.
Chaos- Jim Vesal
Right away, this list brought your standard Daemon package. (Cheap Nurgle characters and sixty total Plaguebearers with some Nurglings to flesh out a Battalion). Beyond that, a Daemon Prince and Changecaster led some Horrors and Bloodletters as part of a mixed detachment.
Last but certainly not least, Ahriman, a Terminator, and a couple of Daemon Princes led a Contemptor with C-Beams into combat.
The Bloodletter bomb could rush in turn two out of deepstrike and melt just about any screen with -3 AP weapons. Then, the Daemon Princes hiding in the safety of the Plaguebearers could swoop in and cut up the scary stuff that was once protected with their might in the psychic and assault phases.
All in all, this list is one that we are starting to see over and over. But hey if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, right?
What are your thoughts on these top three lists from the BAO? What does your undefeated list look like? Have you tried making one of these lists before? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
