Jordan Raney’s 5-0 Grey Knights took the Warpfire Minis GT army lists crown by winning four of five games by three battle points or less.
Four of Raney’s five wins came down to five points or fewer, which makes you wonder what was keeping his Grey Knights on top when every point mattered. Was it the units he brought, how he played the missions, or just finding a way to scrape together enough points when things got tight? Either way, the Grey Knights have been getting results this year, as we already saw at Warhammer Open Edmonton, so something’s clearly working.
Whatever the answer, it’s worth looking at what he brought to Warpfire Minis, because this wasn’t a weekend where he could just steamroll his way through the field.
Warpfire Minis GT: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Grey Knights army list with four Nemesis Dreadknights went 5-0 by a combined 42 battle points: Raney beat three other top-8 players, and only his round 2 game finished with more than a 3 BP gap.
- Adepta Sororitas army list packed with Castigators and Immolators finished second at 4-1: Sam Lonbaken’s lone loss came against the Salamanders in round 4, 100-90.
- Salamanders under Vulkan He’stan scored the most battle points of anyone in the top three: John Kevill banked 482 BP but dropped the final round to Raney by three points.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we’ve got the real pairings and battle point data to see how everything shook out.
Warpbane Task Force Grey Knights Ground Out Five Close Wins
Raney’s “Grey Rats” list isn’t exactly trying to be sneaky. He’s running four Nemesis Dreadknights, and pretty much everything else is there to hold objectives while those big guys go smash whatever needs smashing.
Warpbane Task Force Roster Breakdown
First up, you’ve got two Grand Masters in Nemesis Dreadknights, with one taking the Warlord slot. Both have daemon greathammers and heavy psycannons. Then there are two regular Dreadknights, one swinging a greatsword and the other packing a hammer. So right from the start, your opponent has four big psychic walkers to worry about. That’s a whole lot of trouble to deal with over five turns.
Meanwhile, two Strike Squads in Razorbacks can get onto objectives and hang around, while two Purifier Squads bring flamers to keep anything annoying off the home objectives. There’s also a Land Raider, because apparently four Dreadknights weren’t enough tough targets to worry about. A Brotherhood Librarian and Techmarine finish off the support, and the whole Warpbane Task Force comes in at exactly 2,000 points with 3 Detachment Points.
How Warpbane Task Force Wins the Close Games
The first round was a 92-90 nail-biter against Christopher Madison’s Sororitas. Round 2 gave Raney a little breathing room with a 95-63 win over Theodore Boorum’s AdMech, but that was about it for comfortable games. Brian Butler’s Imperial Knights nearly caught him in round 3, losing 96-93, and Jon Dismuke’s Tyranids made him work for an 89-87 win in round 4.
That left John Kevill’s undefeated Salamanders waiting in the final round, with everything still up for grabs. Raney pulled out the 88-85 win and finished on 460 BP, the lowest total among the top three players. But when you’ve beaten three players who finished in the top 8, who’s going to argue with the result?
Bringers of Flame Sororitas Rolled Through the Swiss in Tanks
Lonbaken showed up with the kind of Sisters list where you start counting the number of tanks before you even look at the infantry. Seven tanks, Morvenn Vahl and her Warsuits, plus some cheap units to screen things out. It all worked pretty well, too, with a 4-1 finish good enough for second place.
Bringers of Flame Roster Breakdown
Lonbaken went with Bringers of Flame alongside Chorus of Condemnation for three Detachment Points. Morvenn Vahl is the Warlord, leading a unit of Paragon Warsuits, while Intranzia Fraye gives the army another big character to push up the table. That’s already a couple of units your opponent can’t really afford to ignore.
But let’s be fair, the tanks are doing a lot of the work here. Three Castigators, two with autocannons and one with a battle cannon, team up with an Exorcist carrying the Symphonic Payload enhancement for the ranged firepower. Then you’ve got three Immolators, one with immolation flamers and two with twin multi-meltas, hauling troops around while still threatening enemy armor. Battle Sisters, two Dominion Squads, a Seraphim squad, and two Arco-flagellant units fill out the rest. And if you’ve been keeping up with the 11th Edition Sororitas detachments, those Seraphim probably aren’t much of a surprise.
How Bringers of Flame Wins the Objective Grind
Lonbaken came out swinging. Travis Maupin’s Custodes went down 100-32 in round 1, followed by Thomas Drake’s AdMech 95-52 in round 2. Then Chris Bonura’s World Eaters nearly spoiled the party in round 3, with Lonbaken just sneaking through 87-86.
Round 4 was the rough one, with Kevill’s Salamanders taking a 100-90 win. Still, putting up 90 points in a loss isn’t exactly a bad showing. Lonbaken came right back in round 5 and beat Dismuke’s Tyranids 100-62 to grab second place.
Forgefather’s Seekers Salamanders Burned Down Everyone but the Champion
Kevill brought 18 units loaded with fire and melta, led by Vulkan He’stan, and for most of the weekend, it looked like he might just run away with the whole thing. Three games scoring a full 100 points, including one against the eventual second-place player, plus a 97-point game. That’s 482 BP, more than anyone else in the top three.
Forgefather’s Seekers Roster Breakdown
Kevill combined Forgefather’s Seekers with Ironstorm Spearhead and put Vulkan He’stan in charge as Warlord. And yeah, this is pretty much what you’d expect from Salamanders. Six Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, two Infernus Squads with pyreblasters, and a Land Raider Redeemer packing flamestorm cannons. They want to get close enough to set things on fire, plain and simple. If you remember seeing Salamanders top Napalm Hobbies this summer, some of this should look pretty familiar.
There’s plenty of melta backing them up, too. Two Eradicator squads have melta rifles and a multi-melta each, while a third squad brings heavy bolters. Add two Gladiator Valiants, a Land Speeder, and Invader ATVs with even more multi-meltas, and that’s a lot of firepower to worry about. Three Impulsors, two Incursor squads, and an Intercessor squad take care of getting around the board and grabbing objectives. And considering we just covered two Marine lists going 6-0 in Denver the same week, Space Marines look to be back on top.
How Forgefather’s Seekers Wins the Damage Race
Kevill started by flattening Hayden Kohr’s Black Templars 100-21, then kept it rolling against two Necron players. Jesus C lost 97-43, and Cal Batz went down 100-77. Round 4 was the big matchup against Lonbaken’s Sororitas, and Kevill came away with a 100-90 win to set up a showdown between the two undefeated players.
And after all that, Raney took the final 88-85.
Final Thoughts on the Warpfire Minis GT Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta
So what do we take away from this one? Well, you don’t have to blow everyone off the table to win a GT. Raney just kept getting the mission done, staying ahead on points, and making those Dreadknights count when it mattered. That’s a pretty good way to win in 11th Edition, even if every round feels a little too close for comfort.
If you’re playing in a GT this winter, don’t be surprised if more Grey Knights players start showing up with four Dreadknights either now. And for the Marines and Sisters players out there, Kevill and Lonbaken gave you plenty to work with, too. Heavy melta and lots of armor are still putting up pretty good results.
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Grey Knights
- How to Play Adepta Sororitas
- How to Play Space Marines
- 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 Warpfire Minis GT army lists, and are four Dreadknights the new Grey Knights standard?
