The Nottingham Super Major delivered some great new factions to the podium. Check out some of the top Space Marines, Custodes, and Chaos Daemons army lists in 40k now.
The Nottingham Super Major results are a gift to anyone who likes real, usable tournament tech. Space Marines are stacking efficient threats, Custodes are leaning into brutal consistency, and Chaos Daemons are doing what they do best, forcing fights on their terms.
We’re rounding up the top 40k army lists and calling out the choices that mattered so you can spot meta trends fast and tune your own roster.
Top 40k Tournament Army Lists: Nottingham Super Major
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: Innes Wilson, Space Marines Army Lists (Ultramarines)
This Ultramarines Blade of Ultramar list is basically a blunt instrument wrapped in a tailored suit. It rolls up with a wall of hard targets and sets up a mid-board problem that does not go away. Then it uses two Executioners to point at anything valuable and make it disappear.
First up, the Captain in Gravis Armour with Armour of Antoninus is the list’s “try and move this” character. He is there to be irritating. The enhancement is there to stretch his lifespan, so the opponent has to overcommit if they actually want him gone. He is a chunky counterpuncher and helps keep a grip on the mid-board while the shooting does the heavy lifting.
The Lieutenant with a Combi-weapon is a quiet menace. He is the unit that makes opponents start checking angles twice. It is competing for “most annoying model on the table” points. He pressures backfield scoring, threatens soft units, and creates that constant feeling that the Ultramarines player has one more piece than the opponent planned for.
Marneus Calgar is the foreman of the whole operation. He is a real threat in combat, he boosts the overall game plan by making the core more reliable, and he does it while being hard to peel off the table thanks to the Victrix Honour Guard. This is the kind of pairing that turns “chip him down over a couple turns” into “cool story, he is still here.” You want Calgar to live in the mid-board, pick fights that matter, and make sure anything trying to contest an objective gets punished.
Roboute Guilliman is the headline act and the closer. Early game, he makes everything around him feel more consistent and more dangerous, which is exactly what a list full of high-quality guns wants. Mid to late-game, he becomes the piece that flips the table state from “contested” to “owned.” He does not have to sprint forward like a maniac to be valuable. He wants the army to soften the enemy up, then he steps in and finishes whatever is still pretending it has a plan.
An Intercessor Squad is the boring unit that wins games. It plants a flag, holds a point, and quietly makes primary happen while the expensive toys do their job. The power fist on the sergeant is a nice little tax on anyone trying to steal an objective with some throwaway unit.
A single Incursor Squad is the early board control and utility piece that makes the first turns smoother. They grab forward space, screen, and help keep the opponent honest. The haywire mine is the kind of little trick that turns a casual push into a bad trade. They also help the army avoid getting pinned in by fast pressure, which matters a lot when the plan is “keep the guns firing, keep the bricks advancing.”
Two Redemptor Dreadnoughts are the mid-board bully with manners. Plasma and Gatling mean it can punish elite infantry, threaten lighter vehicles, and make anything standing on an objective feel extremely unsafe. It is also durable enough that the opponent cannot just glance at it with incidental fire and expect it to fall over. This is both a damage dealer and an objective holder because it can stand on a point and force a real response.
Two Repulsor Executioner’s heavy laser destroyer is there to reach out and ruin big targets, and the rest of the gun package chews through anything trying to play around it. It controls lanes, forces hiding, and punishes anyone who thinks they can just stage in the open and survive. Its a pure damage dealer, but also functions as board control because the opponent has to respect it every single turn.
A single Scout Squad is the unsung hero. They do the jobs nobody wants to waste a Redemptor on. The mixed weapon loadout is always relevant while they do actions, hold a corner, and block deep strike lanes. Scouts are the reason the list can play a clean game instead of constantly scrambling to plug holes.
The closing Victrix Honour Guard is the “come take it” brick that makes the mid-board even more miserable. Opponents are often forced into a bad decision due to these models. They also support the character core by making that whole area harder to crack. When something tries to bully into Guilliman or Calgar’s space, Victrix makes that plan feel like running into a brick wall covered in power weapons.
How This Space Marines Army List Scores
Primaries are scored by being annoyingly present. Scouts and Intercessors handle early claims and safe objectives. Then the Redemptors, Victrix brick, and the character core move into the mid-board and make those points hard to flip.
The list also wins by removing the opponent’s scoring tools. Two Executioners and two Redemptors wipe out units before they can swing the mission.
2nd Place: Sam Nash, Adeptus Custodes Army Lists
How This Adeptus Custodes Army List Wins
If a Custodes player ever wanted to roleplay as a rolling construction crew, this is the list. It drops brick after brick of Custodian Guard onto the mid-board. Then asks the opponent a rude question: “Cool, how are those answers working out?”
Triple Venerable Land Raiders bring the long-range punch and the delivery service. Prosecutors handle the unglamorous scoring chores. While the Sisters add just enough heat and hassle to make charges awkward.
Toss in a Callidus and Draxus for maximum plan-wrecking, and suddenly the other side is juggling tanks, golden slabs, and annoying utility pieces while the score quietly climbs.
3rd Place: Christopher Langton, Chaos Daemons Army Lists
How This Chaos Daemons Army List Wins
If dropping a parade of Greater Daemons on the mid-board sounds like a good time, this list is for you. Be’lakor holds everything together and prevents the entire force from being focused down.
Meanwhile, Skarbrand and the Great Unclean One bully anyone who dares to contest the center. Kairos and the Lord of Change do the sneaky Tzeentch thing, lining up nasty picks and keeping opponents guessing.
Nurglings and Plaguebearers handle the boring jobs like screening and sitting on points. While Beasts of Nurgle and Flamers act like the annoying clean-up crew that turns close games into bad trades.
Final Thoughts From Us on Nottingham Super Major Army Lists
The Nottingham Super Major made one thing crystal clear: the podium belongs to armies that can bully the mid-board, keep scoring through damage, and still swing like a wrecking ball once the trades start.
The Space Marine Army list pulled it off with a hero core and twin Executioners, deleting anything brave enough to peek. The Adeptus Custodes Army List did it with a Land Raider parking lot and Custodian bricks that turn objectives into private property. Chaos Daemons leaned into the classic monster mash, dropping multiple “answer this right now” threats on the table and watching opponents run out of solutions.
See the Top Warhammer Army Lists & Latest 40k Tournament Schedule
What do you think of the results from the Nottingham Super Major Warhammer 40k Space Marines, Custodes, and Chaos Daemons army lists?
