Benjamin Frederiksen’s Dark Angels went 5-0 at the BCB 40k Championship GT, beating Orks and Thousand Sons head-to-head.
A lot of tournaments get decided by tie-breakers, not this time, though. Frederiksen faced second place’s Isaac Clark’s Thousand Sons in round two and eventual third place Michael Rueff’s Orks in round four, beating both by at least 42 points.
This Golden Ticket weekend in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, was still using the rules from before the September 30th dataslate, and the event pack even told players not to update their apps. So this is one of the last big 40k army lists built on the old 11th Edition numbers.
BCB 40k Championship GT: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Benjamin Frederiksen’s Dark Angels went 5-0 and scored 98 or 100 in every single game: Even his closest game was a 25-point win.
- Frederiksen beat both podium rivals head-to-head, Clark 100-44 and Rueff 100-58: Round 2 and round 4 sorted out the top three before tiebreakers came into play.
- These 40k tournament lists ran on pre-dataslate rules because the event skipped the September 30 update: They’re a look at the meta just before the changes.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can go through how the weekend played out with real pairings and battle point data.
Company of Hunters Dark Angels Ran Over the Whole Podium
If you wanted a Dark Angels army list where the Ravenwing actually shows up, Frederiksen brought it with “Zoomies v7.” He paired Company of Hunters with Darkflight Pursuit (three Detachment Points) under the Reconnaissance disposition, made Lion El’Jonson his Warlord, and filled the remaining 1,995 points with things that fly low and move fast.
Company of Hunters Roster Breakdown
Start counting speeders, and you’ll see where that name came from. Three Land Speeder Vengeance, each with the Nightforged Battery upgrade, join two regular Land Speeders with multi-meltas and a Storm Speeder Thunderstrike. That’s six hulls before you even get to Sammael. He leads a Ravenwing Command Squad, with Recon Hunter on the Champion, attached to three Outriders.
Of course, something this fragile could use a couple of mechanics. Two Techmarines tag along to patch up whatever comes back smoking, and we’d guess they had plenty to do with keeping those speeders scoring into turn five.
The Lion and five Deathwing Knights, complete with the Watcher in the Dark, give the army something solid to hold the middle while everyone else moves around. Azrael joins five Assault Intercessors, and there’s a Scout squad that’s probably stuck babysitting the home objective.
How Company of Hunters Wins the Movement Phase
Frederiksen opened with a 100-10 win over Tyce Shirrell’s Emperor’s Children, then beat Clark’s Thousand Sons 100-44 in round two. TJ Jarnjak’s Custodes went down 98-49 in round three, the only game where Frederiksen didn’t score the full 100.
Rueff’s Orks were next, with a 100-58 win putting the Angels alone at the top after round four. Christof Blackwell’s Genestealer Cult gave him his closest game in the final round, and that still ended 100-75.
Brute Bosses Orks Buried the Board Under Grots and Flash Gitz
Rueff’s “Wrecka Runtz” is the kind of Ork army list you might laugh at until you’re the one trying to move through it. He stacked Brute Bosses, Runt Swarm, and Wreckas under Priority Assets, with Ghazghkull Thraka as Warlord.
Brute Bosses Roster Breakdown
You look at this list and immediately notice the fifty Gretchin. Zodgrod Wortsnagga and a Runtherd lead a mob of 20, with three more units of ten Grots spreading out to soak up shooting and sit on objectives. Then you get behind the Grots and find two Flash Gitz blocks, one with nine models joined by a Beastboss with Kaptin’s Hat and a Mek. The other is a five-model squad with Supa-snazz Dakka, led by a Big Mek with a Drilla and Traktor Blasta.
A Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun joins six Tankbustas for anything with armor. Ghazghkull and Mozrog Skragbad handle the big punches, while a Beastboss with Da Gobshot Thunderbuss leads ten Beast Snagga Boyz and a Warboss leads ten Boyz. There’s also one Trukk to get somebody where they need to go.
How Brute Bosses Win the Objective Game
Rueff beat Tom Worthan’s Drukhari 100-57 in round one, then faced Imperial Knights twice in a row. John Robinson made him work for a 94-85 win in round two, his closest game of the weekend. Axl Bryant’s Knights went down 100-41 in round three.
Rueff lost to Frederiksen in round four, then beat TJ Jarnjak’s Custodes 97-55 to finish second. The guy who won the event was the only one who managed to beat him. If you’ve been following Green Tide results, this fits right in with the Orks going 5-0 at Wars on the Shore.
Isaac Clark’s Grand Coven Thousand Sons Answered One Loss With Three Straight 100s
Clark called his Thousand Sons army list “One last time before it’s night night forever.” Sounds like he figured the dataslate was about to put it on the shelf. He brought Grand Coven (three Detachment Points) under Priority Assets, with Magnus the Red as Warlord. His Gravissima Schola teammate Cameron Eaton finished right behind him in fourth with Custodes.
Grand Coven Roster Breakdown
Magnus is the center of this list, with ten Scarab Occult Terminators walking up alongside him. A Sorcerer in Terminator Armor with Umbralefic Crystal leads the Terminators, and Magnus and those Terminators eat up a lot of the army’s 1,995 points, so Clark leans on Rubrics for the rest.
Each of the three five-model Rubric Marine squads gets a leader: two regular Sorcerers and an Infernal Master with Eldritch Vortex of E’Taph. An Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch with Incandaeum brings some speed. A Chaos Rhino, two Sekhetar Robots, ten Tzaangors, and three Enlightened take care of screening and objective work.
How Grand Coven Wins the Damage Race
Clark started with a 100-28 win over Michael Prell’s Chaos Daemons before Frederiksen handed him that round-two loss, leaving him a game behind the leaders. He didn’t stay down for long. Zach Johnston’s Drukhari fell 100-61 in round three, Stevie Tolliver lost the Thousand Sons mirror 100-50 in round four, and Axl Bryant’s Knights went down 100-52 in the final round.
Final Thoughts on the BCB 40k Championship GT Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta
Do speeder-heavy Angels keep this going after the update, or did Frederiksen catch their last good weekend? The next round of GTs should give us a better idea. But also, keep an eye on Custodes, too, because Eaton and Jarnjak both made the top six. There is a good chance that a few more Codex releases in early 2027 will shake up the 40k tournament lists more than any single dataslate.
So if you’re putting a list together for a fall GT, you’ll want your list ready to handle these armies until the new builds start showing up on BCP.
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Dark Angels
- How to Play Orks
- 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 BCB 40k Championship GT army lists, and can speeder Dark Angels survive the new dataslate?
