Dylan Cowan’s 5-0 Dark Angels took the Calling the Banners 2026 army lists crown after running through three Adeptus Custodes lists on the way.
Bringing Custodes to your next 11th Edition GT? Dylan Cowan’s Ravenwing is probably the last list you want to draw. And here’s the other thing: Custodes were doing pretty well at this event because five of them landed in the top third of the pack, including Liam Stephens, who handed Leo Monty’s World Eaters their first loss in round 3.
So if you’re looking through Warhammer 40k tournament lists to see what’s beating the golden boys right now, there’s plenty to look at. And as we’ve seen a lot lately, none of the podium finishers went all-in on a single detachment. All three split their three detachment points across multiple 11th edition detachments.
Calling the Banners 2026: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Dylan Cowan’s Ravenwing-heavy Dark Angels went 5-0 and beat three Custodes lists on the way: His closest game all weekend was a 92-78 win over Liam Stephens in round 4, the same Custodes player who beat 3rd place a round earlier.
- Rhys Cunningham’s Aeldari also went 5-0 but finished 2nd on battle points: The two undefeated players never played each other, and Cowan’s 482 battle points beat Cunningham’s 465 for first.
- Leo Monty’s Angron and Berzerker World Eaters took 3rd after one round-3 loss: Monty dropped an 88-100 game to Custodes, then won his last two rounds to finish 4-1 with 466 battle points.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we’ve got the real pairings and battle point data to see how the whole event played out.
Dylan Cowan’s Assault Brethren Dark Angels Ran Over Three Custodes Lists
Cowan’s Dark Angels used their 3 detachment points on Assault Brethren, Darkflight Pursuit, and Stormlance Task Force. He picked Take and Hold as his disposition and made Sammael his Warlord. You’ve got a ton of Ravenwing here, but there’s also a solid chunk of Terminators, and that’s not a fun combination to deal with when you’re playing Custodes.
Assault Brethren Roster Breakdown
Sammael leads an Outrider Squad with the Ravenwing Command Squad along for support, giving his Warlord unit plenty of speed and a few extra bodies to work with. Meanwhile, a Librarian joins six Inner Circle Companions, and a Chaplain on Bike with Imperium’s Sword rides with the second Outrider Squad.
The bikes get to objectives quickly, but look at the firepower backing them up. Three Land Speeder Vengeance, three Ravenwing Black Knights, and a squad of melta Eradicators bring plenty of plasma and melta for dealing with heavy armor. And if those skimmers look familiar, it’s because the Dark Angels list that won Invasion used them too. Once the shooting does its job, five Assault Terminators with thunder hammers and storm shields can move in to finish things off.
The smaller units take care of objectives. Two Scout Squads, an Incursor Squad, Company Heroes, and an Impulsor give Cowan enough pieces to hold ground while the faster stuff goes hunting. Pretty handy when you’re playing Take and Hold.
How Assault Brethren Wins the Custodes Matchup
Cowan started with a 90-54 win over Orks, then beat Jeremy Parker’s Custodes 100-52 and Luke Beveridge’s Adeptus Mechanicus 100-51. Beveridge still managed to finish 8th, by the way. Round 4 was where things got a little closer, with Cowan beating Liam Stephens’ Custodes 92-78.
Then came Zach Campain’s Custodes in round 5. Campain finished 9th overall, but Cowan took that game 100-53 to wrap up his undefeated run. Across those three Custodes matchups, the winning margins were 48, 14, and 47 battle points. So, looking at those scores, we’d guess the Ravenwing were picking off enough units that the Custodes players just couldn’t keep up holding the board.
Rhys Cunningham’s Eldritch Raiders Aeldari Swarmed the Board With Aspect Warriors
Cunningham’s Aeldari list spent its three detachment points on Eldritch Raiders and Path of the Outcast, with Reconnaissance as the disposition and Prince Yriel as Warlord. It’s packed with Corsairs and Aspect Warriors, and it went the whole event without losing a game. Still only got 2nd, though. Ouch.
Eldritch Raiders Roster Breakdown
Yriel runs with ten Corsair Voidscarred, a Clanblade leads six Dragon Knights, Jain Zar joins the Howling Banshees, and Lhykhis goes with the Warp Spiders. So that’s four units with leaders already, and we haven’t even gotten to the Avatar of Khaine or Eldrad Ulthran.
There’s a whole lot of fast melee behind them, too. Two more Banshee squads, Striking Scorpions, two units of Shining Spears, and another three-model Dragon Knights unit all want to get stuck in on the charge. Meanwhile, two Rangers squads and a Voidreaver unit handle objectives while everyone else gets to have the fun.
And check this out: not a single enhancement. Cunningham put every point into units instead, and with that many things ready to hit hard, he probably wasn’t missing them.
How Eldritch Raiders Wins Without Close Games
Cunningham kicked things off with a 100-0 win over Ben Baschiera’s Death Guard, then followed it with a 100-44 win against James Hughes’ World Eaters. His closest game came in round 3, where he beat Adam Camilleri’s Imperial Knights 85-78.
After that, it was back to comfortable wins: 90-56 against Zac Milne’s Death Guard and 90-68 against Tyson Hobbs’ Sisters. He never got paired into Cowan, so we didn’t get to see those two undefeated lists go head-to-head. Instead, it came down to battle points, where just 17 points separated 1st and 2nd.
Leo Monty’s Berzerker Warband World Eaters Bounced Back After One Custodes Loss
Monty’s World Eaters army list combined Berzerker Warband and Vessels of Wrath, with Priority Assets as the disposition. The whole thing revolves around Angron and two full squads of Berzerkers. And here’s a funny one: Monty actually scored 466 battle points, one more than Cunningham. But that one loss meant he finished 3rd instead.
Berzerker Warband Roster Breakdown
Kharn leads one ten-man Berzerker squad, while the other ten-man unit has a character Monty calls the “Ruler of Executions,” equipped with Bigger Axe. You’ll notice a few names like that on his roster. We’re sticking with what he called them, including the “Expert of Executions” with Battle-lust, the “Boss of Executions,” and the “White Slaughterbound.”
There’s also a Slaughterbound with Archslaughterer leading three Exalted Eightbound, plus Angron right in the middle of the army. Two Rhinos help get those Berzerkers up the table without making them spend a turn getting shot while walking.
For support, Monty brought two Forgefiends to give the list some shooting, Goremongers for another melee threat, and two packs of Jakhals for screening. No point making your Berzerkers do that job when they’ve got other things they’d rather be chopping up.
How Berzerker Warband Wins the Fight Phase
Monty came out swinging with a 97-50 win against Boyd Morrall’s Necrons, followed by a 98-36 result over Jack Alford’s Leagues of Votann. Then round 3 happened; Liam Stephens’ Custodes handed him his only loss, 88-100.
He bounced right back with a 100-28 win over Lachlan Booth’s Dark Angels, then finished with a close 83-78 win against Adam Camilleri’s Imperial Knights. Yep, the same Knights player Cunningham beat 85-78. And when you consider Monty lost to Stephens by just 12 points, while Cowan only beat Stephens by 14, you can see just how tight things were between some of these top players.
Final Thoughts on the Calling the Banners 2026 Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta
Custodes are definitely worth watching after this event, although maybe not for the reason their players would like. They put plenty of armies near the top, but Monty’s World Eaters were the only podium list they managed to beat. We’d expect Custodes players heading into the next round of GTs to be thinking pretty hard about how to handle fast skimmers that can hit things and still play for objective too.
And don’t overlook World Eaters, either. Five players finished inside the top third of the field, so Monty’s wasn’t the only one getting results. They also grabbed 3rd at the ObSec Perth GT, but either way, we’re still early in 11th Edition, and it’ll be interesting to see how much better these multi-detachment builds get as players figure them out.
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Dark Angels
- How to Play Aeldari
- How to Play World Eaters
- Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- 40k Tournament Guide
- Latest 40k Balance Dataslate
- Munitorum Field Manual Points Updates
What do you think of the Calling the Banners 2026 army lists, and can Custodes find an answer to fast Ravenwing lists?
