The Battle for the Bend III GT delivered some great new factions to the podium. Check out the top Necrons, Adepta Sororitas, and Grey Knights army lists in 40k now.
The Battle for the Bend III GT results are real-time insights for anyone who likes usable tournament tech.
We’re breaking down the top 40k army lists from the event and calling out the choices that mattered so you can spot meta trends fast and tune your own roster.
Top Placings From Warhammer Battle for the Bend III GT
Studying these winning army lists for their tactical synergies can provide great insights for playing your army since the latest balance dataslate rules changes and points updates.
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1st Place: Travis King, Necrons Army Lists
This Necrons Starshatter Arsenal is basically a big neon sign that says “stand on an objective and get deleted.” The detachment rule hands out +1 to hit into enemies that are within range of objectives, and it gets even nastier when the list starts layering extra pressure like +1 to wound via Merciless Reclamation into the same “get off my point” targets.
Starshatter Trick: Reactive Reposition
Keep Reactive Reposition in your pocket. After an enemy unit shoots, one of your units can make a Normal move, and with the right keywords that can be up to six inches. That means key pieces can slither out of danger, or snap into better lanes after the opponent commits. The “fine, shoot it, now it is somewhere else” tempo swing is exactly how lists like this steal games.
C’tan Shard of the Deceiver: The Problem Starter
This is the list’s “problem piece,” and it is not here to politely trade. The Deceiver exists to make deployment and the early turns feel weird, shove opponents into bad positioning, then punish anything trying to camp a midfield objective. In Starshatter, that whole “I’m fighting you on the point” plan gets cleaner, because the detachment is already paying you for swinging into units that are hanging around objectives.
C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer: The Blunt Instrument
Nightbringer is the other half of the C’tan pitch: touch it, and it dies. The detachment wants opponents to score by standing in places, and Nightbringer wants to delete whatever is standing there. The list leans into the simplest loop possible: threaten the point, force the response, then punch straight through it.
Hexmark Destroyer: Utility, Angles, and “Stop Standing There”
Hexmark is the list’s utility pistol whip. It finishes units, screens angles, and makes it annoying to play small stuff anywhere near the Necron castle. The spicy part is the enhancement: Chrono-impedance Fields wants to buff a nearby Vehicle or Mounted unit by reducing incoming Damage by one. If the full list has vehicles or mounted units elsewhere, Hexmark is the babysitter that helps them live through the clapback.
The Silent King: The Anchor and Center of Gravity
The C’tan are the roaming nightmares, but Szarekh is the part that keeps the game plan honest. He anchors the part of the board that matters, pressures people just by existing, and helps you win the real fight: the turn-by-turn grind over objectives. He also loves Starshatter fundamentals, because so many of the most important shots in tenth happen into units parked near objectives anyway.
Transcendent C’tan: Turning Midfield Into a Haunted House
One Transcendent C’tan is already a nightmare to pin down. Two makes the midboard feel rude. These are the pieces that jump on angles, bully staging lanes, and force opponents into the worst kind of choices: deal with the C’tan and lose board position, or try to score and get hammered for standing near objectives.
The Glue: Two Canoptek Reanimators and Endless Servitude
Two Reanimators are here, so the expensive stuff sticks around long enough to matter. They are not trying to be heroes. They exist to make the opponent’s “I finally did damage” moment feel awful.
And Starshatter’s Endless Servitude ramps that misery up by letting a unit on an objective trigger Reanimation Protocols at the end of the Fight phase. That turns objective play into a war of attrition, which is exactly the kind of grind this army is happy to take.
Mission Grease: Flayed Ones
Flayed Ones are cheap, annoying, and perfect for doing the unglamorous work while gods and kings brawl over the middle. They screen, poke objectives, threaten lightweight backfield pieces, and generally make it harder for your opponent to play a clean game.
Tiny Utility Bullets: Two Lokhust Destroyers
These are disposable tools with a job description, not a personality. Hold the home objective, do an action, plink something wounded, or just exist in the right place at the right time. They do not cost real points, and that is the whole point.
How This Necrons Army List Scores
It scores by turning primary into a brawl; it is built to win. Starshatter rewards attacking units near objectives with +one to hit, and the list’s big threats are all about removing whatever is trying to claim those spots. Add in mission pieces like Flayed Ones and the cheap Lokhust singles to handle the boring jobs, and the army can keep scoring while the C’tan and Silent King bully the midboard into submission.
2nd Place: Scott Ketcham, Adepta Sororitas Army Lists (Sisters of Battle)
How This Adepta Sororitas Army List Wins
If someone wants to know what this Bringers of Flame build does, it is this: drive a pile of armored church tanks into the midboard, unload a truly rude amount of multi-meltas, and force ugly trades until the opponent is out of answers.
The Immolators and Rhino are basically delivery apps for Dominion and Retributor squads, while triple Castigators keep lanes locked down and shred anything trying to swarm the party. Then Morvenn Vahl and the Paragons roll up like the bouncer squad, deleting whatever thinks it can bully the center. Add in Seraphim for drive-by cleanup and cheap bodies like Novitiates and Arcos to gum up the works, and the list turns the table into a pressure cooker in no time.
3rd Place: Justin Hackert, Grey Knights Army Lists
How This Grey Knights Army List Wins
If a Grey Knights player shows up with Warpbane, triple Librarians, and two Grand Master Dreadknights, it is not subtle.
This list wants to squeeze the mid-board with teleport pressure, melt infantry off objectives with Purifiers and Crowe, then slam the door with Dreadknight bully charges once the opponent is out of position. The Razorbacks and Land Raider add the rude part of the magic trick: real lascannon reach that forces respect, so the army can pick fights instead of begging for them.
Final Thoughts From Us on Warhammer Battle for the Bend III GT Army Lists
Battle for the Bend III GT was a clean reminder that the podium is getting crowded, and the tools to win look wildly different from faction to faction.
The Necrons army lists showed up with the “stand here and regret it” plan, daring anyone to play primary into a wall of cosmic nonsense and reanimation math. Adeptas Sororitas, or the Sisters of Battle, brought the rolling bonfire, turning midboard into a meltagun tax and making every trade feel expensive. Firnally the Grey Knights army lists did the classic teleport-and-punish routine, popping up where it hurts, clearing bodies, then letting big suits finish the argument.
If the event had a theme, it was pressure that starts on turn one and never lets off. Not cute tricks for their own sake, just hard questions asked in every phase. The kind of lists that win games by making opponents spend resources in the wrong place, then charging interest.
See the Top Warhammer Army Lists & Latest 40k Tournament Schedule
What do you think of the results from the Warhammer Battle for the Bend III GT 40k Necrons, Sisters of Battle, and Grey Knights army lists?
