Don’t miss the top tournament Warhammer 40k army lists for T’au Empire, Ultramarines, and Leagues of Votann from the Cherokee Open 2026, and how their winning tech can help you.
Want “unbeatable” energy? The Cherokee Open 2026 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!
Cherokee Open 2026: Top 8 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
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: Nick Jagiello, T’au Empire Army Lists (Tau)
This is Mont’ka played the way it wants to be played: hit first, hit hard, and keep the pressure on so the opponent never gets a clean turn to breathe.
Commander Farsight is the “go time” button
He is there to turn one of the Crisis bricks into a problem that needs immediate attention, and he loves bullying anything that thinks it is safe because it has armor or a good save. In Mont’ka, the list already wants to be close enough to matter, so Farsight slots in cleanly as the dude who makes the close-range punch feel unfair.
Commander Shadowsun is the reliability engine
She does not need to be flashy because her real job is making everyone else’s output stop being “pretty good” and start being “okay, that is rude.” She hangs where she can project value, helps set up the core shooting turns, and makes the suit castle feel like it has cheat codes turned on.
She also plays the role of “please do not try to pick up my backline for free.” If an opponent wants to commit to the suit web, they are walking into layered threat ranges and extremely efficient return fire.
The Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit is the list’s hitman
The Coldstar frame lets that fusion brick show up where it matters rather than where it is convenient. This is the model that punishes exposed armor, mid-board monsters, or anything that steps out thinking it is trading.
A Commander in Enforcer Battlesuit is the steadier, meaner “mid-range problem.”
Missile pods mean it can contribute from safer positions while still threatening real damage, and Exemplar of the Mont’ka leans into what this army wants: early aggression with consistency.
If the Coldstar is the knife in the ribs, the Enforcer is the boot on the throat. It keeps pressure up while the rest of the army rotates and trades.
A Firesight Team is the quiet utility piece that makes everything else cleaner
This squad helps with angles, pokes at targets that thought they were untouchable, and generally adds that annoying “no, that character is not safe either” energy. They are also a handy backfield sitter that still does something, which matters when most of the list wants to be out there causing problems.
Three Crisis Fireknife Battlesuits units is a big statement
This list wants layered, flexible shooting that can trade efficiently over multiple turns. Plus, these squads are also a big part of how the list controls the pace. They can stage, peek, delete something, then force the opponent to either commit into the suit web or lose the board.
Two Crisis Sunforge Battlesuits are the dedicated armor removers
This is the part of the list that makes Knights, tanks, and chunky monsters start sweating the moment they deploy. They do not need to overcomplicate it. They show up, point fusion at the thing that costs too many points, and remove it.
Double Ghostkeel is the list’s board control and annoyance package
They are not just there to shoot. They are there to stand in places the opponent wants, soak up effort, and force awkward movement. They can pressure flanks, tag mid objectives early, and generally make the enemy waste time dealing with them while the Crisis teams line up cleaner trades.
Pathfinder Teams are the list’s “make the math work” unit
They help set up spotting and targeting so the suits do not whiff on the turns that matter. They can also do annoying mission jobs, screen out deep strike lanes, and generally be the disposable helpers that keep the expensive stuff operating at peak efficiency.
Two Piranhas are classic T’au utility missiles
They are fast, they are annoying, and they force early decisions. Seeker missiles plus a fusion blaster means they can contribute meaningful damage when the timing is right, but their best work is often positional: blocking movement, screening, threatening backfield angles, and being just annoying enough that the opponent wastes real resources on them.
Riptide Battlesuit is the big bully that anchors the shooting plan
The ion accelerator gives the list a heavier ranged punch and a way to threaten targets that do not want to play the close-range fusion game. It also helps keep the pressure consistent across turns. Crisis units can spike hard, but the Riptide keeps the damage floor high.
Stealth Battlesuits are the list’s setup crew
They are there to be in the right spot early, make the table awkward, and create the kind of forward presence that lets the rest of the army hit angles safely. The homing beacon is a big deal here because it turns “nice screen” into “that is cute, anyway.”
Vespid Stingwings are the late-game points thieves
They are fast, they can appear where the opponent forgot to leave a body, and they are perfect for snagging secondaries or flipping a lightly held objective. They also punish opponents who get too cute with leaving backfield units unsupported.
How This Tau Empire Army List Scores
The list is basically a guided missile made out of battlesuits. It uses fast angles, stacked rerolls, and spotting support, and just enough annoying board pieces to keep the enemy busy while the real damage dealers line up the kill shots.
This army scores by turning early damage into board control, then using cheap speed to keep the scoreboard moving. The Ghostkeels, Stealth suits, Piranhas, and Vespid handle the dirty work: screening, flipping, and stealing. The Crisis teams and commanders do the heavy lifting by removing whatever would have contested the mid-board.
Once the opponent is down key pieces, it becomes very hard for them to stop T’au from repeatedly touching objectives, trading off small units, and keeping enough suits alive to threaten anything that tries to take the board back.
2nd Place: James McBeath, Space Marine Army Lists (Ultramarines)
How This Ultramarines Army List Scores
If someone misses playing honest, punchy Ultramarines that just bully the middle and dare opponents to answer, this Blade of Ultramar build is exactly that vibe.
Calgar and the Victrix crew park on a key objective and turn it into a no-fly zone, while the support characters keep the core annoyingly hard to shift. Then the armor section does the rude part: double Repulsor Executioner and double Vindicator pick the biggest problem each turn and erase it, with a Ballistus helping crack targets that think distance equals safety.
Scouts and the Combi-Lieutenant handle the unglamorous work, snagging early points, screening lanes, and setting up angles that make the opponent feel like the board is shrinking.
3rd Place: Hamza Syed, Leagues of Votann Army Lists
How This Votann Army List Scores
This Hearthband list is peak Votann energy: park a tough core in the middle, hand out Judgment like parking tickets, then cash it all in with brutally efficient shooting and “nope” counterpunches.
The Kâhl with Bastion Shield and the Einhyr Champion are the glue that makes the midboard annoying to take, while the Hearthguard bricks show up where the fight is hottest and start erasing anything that thought it could trade up safely. Thunderkyn grav cannons punish high-save targets hiding in cover, the transports keep the pressure honest, and the Beserks are there to turn any overconfident charge into a highlight reel.
Toss in fast Pioneers and pesky Yaegirs for angles, screens, and mission play, and it all adds up to a slow, stubborn shove that gets meaner the longer the grudges keep stacking.
Final Thoughts from us on The Cherokee Open 2026 Army Lists
The Cherokee Open 2026 basically served up three different flavors of “play the mission, but make it hurt.”
T’au Army Lists showed what happens when the game plan is pure tempo and target removal, then the fast junk scoops up the points once the opponent is missing a few key organs. Ultramarines Army lists brought the classic midboard bully routine, where the center becomes a bad place to visit, and the tanks keep deleting anything that looks like a comeback.
Lastly, the Votann Army Lists planted the flag, stacked the grudges, then turned the tables into a slow-moving problem that only gets nastier as the rounds tick by.
Steal the lesson, not just the units. Each of these lists has a clear job for every piece, and none of them are wasting points on “maybe it will be cute.” If a build can hit hard, hold space, and still have enough cheap movers to keep the score climbing, it is going to make tables feel smaller fast.
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 Cherokee Open 2026 for T’au Empire, Ultramarines, and Leagues of Votann?
