Don’t miss the top tournament Warhammer 40k army lists for Astra Militarum, Thousand Sons, and Drukhari from the Chimera Gaming RTT, and how their winning tech can help you.
Want “unbeatable” energy? The Chimera Gaming RTT 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!
Chimera Gaming RTT: 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, Astra Militarum Army Lists
This Guard list isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s trying to run the wheel over the opponent, back it up, and do it again.
At its core, it’s a wall of serious armor with three Rogal Dorns and a Doomhammer pushing up behind a carpet of cheap infantry. While the tanks do the heavy lifting, bodies flood the board and fast-moving cavalry that exist to trade, screen, and steal points. The plan is classic Astra Militarum. Take space early, make the opponent fight through screens, and punish anything that steps out with way too many guns.
The Cadian Command Squad and Lord Solar Leontus hold it all together
This squad keeps the whole engine from stalling out. It hands out orders, pushes them further with the Master Vox, and helps nearby bodies stick around with the Medi-pack. The plasma loadout also means it can throw hands when something wanders too close and thinks support pieces are free.
Lord Solar is the reason the list feels unfair when it’s clicking. He’s the commander who turns the armored core from “solid” into “delete button.” In a list that’s basically a parking lot full of heavy metal, having a top-tier buffer making the tanks consistent is the difference between a good turn and a game-ending one.
Cadian Shock Troops help secure points
These are the troops that do the boring, important work. They move onto a point, take an order, chip in with special weapons, and force the opponent to spend real effort shifting a 65-point unit.
Catachan Jungle Fighters screen for the important models
Four Catachan squads are the list saying “no, there will not be free movement this game.”
They are the screen, the speed bump, the mid-board clutter, and the “sure, charge in” deterrent thanks to those flamers. They don’t need to live forever. They just need to live long enough for the tanks to keep shooting and for the opponent’s plan to get stuck in traffic.
Attilan Rough Riders and Death Riders are disposable mobility
These are disposable problem-solvers on horses. They hang back until something important pokes its head out, then they launch in like a guided missile. Best case, they delete a key unit and flip an objective. Worst case, they die after forcing the opponent to deal with them instead of the tanks.
Death Riders bring the same pressure with a slightly different vibe. They show up where they should not be, make a mess, and demand an answer. They are excellent for contesting side objectives and for being the “charge this instead” layer that keeps melee armies from touching the real valuables.
Doomhammer absorbs attention like a black hole.
This is the big brick that makes opponents start doing math and regretting it. The Doomhammer wants to rumble into a central lane and threaten anything that tries to hold the mid-board.
A lot of opponents will overcommit to killing it, and that’s fine. While they are busy pouring resources into the Doomhammer, the rest of the list is taking ground and blasting everything else off the table.
Krieg Combat Engineers are pure utility
They are not here to win a fair fight. They are here to do specific annoying jobs like clearing a small unit, threatening a corner objective, dropping a mine, or forcing the opponent to waste real firepower on something that costs basically nothing.
Krieg Heavy Weapons Squad helps defend from charges
Heavy flamers punish anything trying to bully the screens. Park them near the mid-board or a choke point, and suddenly the opponent’s “easy charge” turns into a crispy mistake.
Three Rogal Dorn Battle Tanks are the spine of the list
This is reliable, repeatable pressure that wins games. They don’t need fancy tricks. They need lanes, screens, and targets, and this list gives them all three.
The Dorns advance behind infantry, pick up whatever is holding the mid-board, and force the opponent into a bad choice. Deal with the tanks and fall behind on the mission, or play the mission and get erased by tanks.
How it all clicks together
Infantry floods the board early and blocks all the easy plays. The tanks roll up behind them and start removing chunks of the opponent’s army every turn. The cavalry waits for openings and then slams into anything that overextends or tries to sneak points. The utility pieces handle the dirty work, so the tanks stay focused on killing the stuff that matters.
It’s not complicated. It’s just mean. The opponent has to chew through layers of bodies while staring down a gunline that does not care about feelings.
How This Astra Militarum Army List Scores
It plays the mission the Guard way. Sit on home, swarm the mid, and trade for the sides. Catachans and Shock Troops do the standing-around-scoring part while the tanks remove anything that tries to contest. Rough Riders, Death Riders, and Engineers handle the “pop over here and take that” moments by grabbing objectives, flipping contested points, and punishing anyone who gets cute with positioning.
2nd Place: James McBeath, Thousand Sons Army Lists
How This Thousand Sons Army List Scores
This Thousand Sons Hexwarp Thrallband is all about planting a flag in the mid-board and making every attempt to shove them off feel like a bad life choice.
Big Scarab Occult bricks and Terminator Sorcerers stack pressure turn after turn, while two Daemon Princes act like roaming security guards who turn “contesting” into “donating units.”
Rubrics handle the practical stuff, scoring, torching anything that gets cute, and tossing in a Soulreaper sting, while Forgefiends sit back and pick up the targets that actually matter. Spawn do the thankless work, screening lanes, trading on objectives, and buying time so the real hammers keep swinging.
Toss in Sekhetar Robots for point-blank “nope” threat and Enlightened to poke, tag space, and keep the opponent honest, and the whole list plays like a slow choke that never gives a clean reset.
3rd Place: Hamza Syed, Drukhari Army Lists (Dark Eldar)
How This Drukhari Army List Scores
This Skysplinter Assault build plays like Drukhari at their most annoying in the best way. It clogs the mid-board with bodies and Venoms, then snaps a flank shut with double Archons, Malys, and Incubi when an opening shows up.
Lelith and the Wyches handle the “get off that objective” part of the conversation, while Kabalites do the unglamorous work with real guns and real OC. Mandrakes pop up to flip points and ruin plans, Reavers keep lanes messy, and Scourges make vehicles regret existing.
The Cronos is the quiet support piece that makes the whole trade game feel unfair.
Final Thoughts from us on The Chimera Gaming RTT Army Lists
Overall, the Chimera Gaming RTT featured three very different factions on the podium, but one shared lesson ranked among the top three. These lists are built to win turns, not style points.
The Astra Militarum army list’s plan is blunt-force mission bullying backed by armor that never stops firing. The thousand Sons army list turns the mid-board into a tax audit where every push costs a unit. While the Drukhari army list plays keep-away until they slam the door on a flank, the second someone gets sloppy.
Different toolkits, same payoff: pressure the score, punish the response, and keep the opponent reacting all game.
If any of this tech looks familiar, good. That means it is real. Steal the bits that fit your local meta, slot them into the collection, and get reps in before the next event.
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 Chimera Gaming RTT for Astra Militarum, Thousand Sons, and Drukhari?
