Conan Jennings’s 8-0 Orks took the Warhammer Open Tacoma army lists crown with a Green Tide horde nobody could clear off the table.
Five hundred and twenty-five players showed at Tacoma, and after eight rounds Conan finished without dropping a game. Going undefeated at a Grand Tournament this big is hard enough before you even factor in the wall of Boyz opponents had to drag off every objective.
This wasn’t a random good weekend for the greenskins, either. Orks also won Tacoma in 2024, so the WAAAGH! clearly likes this venue for sure. Plus, the entire podium also leaned aggressive, which lines up with what we’ve been seeing across the recent Warhammer Open circuit.
Warhammer Open Tacoma: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Conan Jennings went 8-0 with a Green Tide Ork horde led by Ghazghkull and backed by a wall of Boyz: the best Warhammer 40k tournament result of the weekend.
- Orks also took second with Steven Pampreen’s Kult of Speed list: heavy dakka and fast movement carried the army to a 7-1 finish.
- Trenton Bates took third with an Emperor’s Children Carnival of Excess list: Daemonettes and two Defilers helped Chaos hold onto the podium.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can break down the event using real pairings and battle point data.
Conan Jennings’s Green Tide Orks Ground Down Every Objective
Conan’s list looks basic on paper but its probably miserable to play against. Ghazghkull Thraka is the warlord, Makari tags along, and the rest of the army brings Boyz; A lot of Boyz. Overall the plan is simple: flood the objectives with bodies and use characters to keep those bodies fighting.
Green Tide Roster Breakdown
Ghazghkull and Makari anchor the army, sure, but the list runs on the support characters attached to five units of Boyz. Conan brought three Bigbosses, two Warbosses, and three Painboys becasue each mob gets character support.
The Warbosses and Bigbosses keep the Boyz dangerous, and the Painboys make those 20-model bricks harder to remove than a normal battleline unit.
The rest of the list includes Wazdakka Gutsmek, Stormboyz, Gretchin, and Kommandos. So it isn’t just a slow wall of bodies becasue the army still has fast units and deep-strike pressure to reach the corners while the Boyz jam up the middle. Plus Bloodthirsty Belligerence on one Bigboss adds even more melee damage to the mix as well.
How Green Tide Wins the Attrition War
The problem for anyone facing this list is simple: there isn’t enough time to kill it all. Green Tide scores just by staying on the table, and Conan never scored fewer than 83 battle points during his 8-0 romp.
Even his lowest-scoring game was still a strong round, and that’s how you finish undefeated across eight rounds at a 525-player event. There isn’t some hidden trick here, Conan brought more green bodies than the field could remove and kept scoring while opponents tried to deal with it all.
Steven Pampreen’s Kult of Speed Orks Went 7-1 on Dakka
Conan’s Orks win by parking bodies on objectives, but Steven’s Orks win by staying on the move. His Kult of Speed list brought engines, guns, and enough speed to finish 7-1 in second place. That’s two completely different Ork armies taking the top two spots which seems to be the norm for 11th edition now.
Kult of Speed Roster Breakdown
Steven’s warlord is a Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun, and from there, the rest of the army works like a mobile gunline. Three Trukks move units around the board, three Deffkopta squads provide fast harassment, and two units of Flash Gitz join two Kill Rigs to supply most of the shooting.
The Tankbustas carry Dead Shiny Shootas, while two Big Mek Dakkarigs help keep the guns working. Finally, Gretchin handle the cheap screening jobs so the expensive shooting units can stay alive.
This is a straight dakka-styke list that picks an important target, removes it, and moves on to whatever needs to die next.
How Kult of Speed Wins the Movement Phase
The army wins by controlling where the fighting happens. It sets the range, picks favorable targets, and keeps moving before opponents can pin it down. Overall, Steven’s only loss came in round 8, when the remaining field was already packed with the event’s strongest players.
Anyone following the competitive scene knows how difficult it is to finish even 7-1 at an event this size. Taking second with a mobility-heavy shooting list shows the dakka was doing its job, and thensome.
Trenton Bates’s Carnival of Excess Kept Chaos on the Podium
Trenton Bates was the only player without Orks to make the top three. His Emperor’s Children Carnival of Excess army finished 6-1-1, earning third place and keeping Slaanesh’s favorite legion on the podium.
Carnival of Excess Roster Breakdown
Trenton brought three Lord Exultants, with the warlord carrying the Possessed Blade, plus a Keeper of Secrets as the army’s centerpiece. Infractors and Tormentors handle the objective work, while four units of Daemonettes bring the fast melee pressure Carnival of Excess wants.
The list also packs two Defilers, which give the army some serious hitting power. A Chaos Rhino keeps one unit mobile, but the main plan pretty much runs through the large threats and the wave of daemons pushing into the middle.
How Carnival of Excess Wins the Damage Race
Overall, this army wants to hit harder than its opponent can hit back. Trenton tied in round 3 and lost in round 7, but still finished 6-1-1 and made the podium in a field loaded with aggressive armies.
Either way, with Orks holding the top two spots, Emperor’s Children were the only Chaos army able to break through and stay in the top three.
Final Thoughts on the Warhammer Open Tacoma Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta Now
Two Ork armies took the top two spots using completely different parts of the factions and both beat the rest of the field at a 525-player GT.
That just puts an exclamation point on the fact that 11th Edition still favors armies that are either difficult to remove or difficult to catch. The next few major events should show whether Orks keep rolling or whether players finally figure out how to clear Green Tide units off objectives and run down their vehicle builds.
Either way, the Tacoma Open just gave the WAAAGH! another big trophy win!
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Orks
- How to Play Emperor’s Children
- Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- More Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- 40k Tournament Guide
- Warhammer 40k Factions Guide
- Latest 40k Balance Dataslate
- Munitorum Field Manual Points Updates
What do you think of the Warhammer Open Tacoma army lists, and is the Green Tide about to take over 11th Edition?
