Jack Murphy’s 7-0 Emperor’s Children won the Salt City GT with a triple Lord Exultant list that flexes hard.
One hundred players battled through seven rounds at the Salt City GT, and Jack Murphy was the only undefeated player. Sure, a melee-heavy Emperor’s Children army probably wouldn’t have been most people’s first guess for the winner, but Jack’s list did a ton of work at the event.
He was followed by a Dark Angels Ravenwing speeder list and a two-Hekaton Leagues of Votann gunline that both finished 6-1, but neither could catch his Emperor’s Children sitting at the top. We saw something similar at last year’s Salt City GT too, becasue over a long event, the army that keeps functioning round after round can beat the one built around just one nasty opening punch.
Salt City GT: Top 3 Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- Jack Murphy’s Emperor’s Children were the only 7-0 army in a 100-player, seven-round field: the melee attrition plan held up all weekend.
- Jeremy Atkinson’s Dark Angels Ravenwing and Quentin Chapman’s Votann gunline both finished 6-1: two very different armies ended with the same record.
- Reconnaissance and Priority Assets mission decks carried all three top lists at the Salt City GT: the disposition choices helped each army do what it already wanted to do.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can look back through the event using the actual pairings and battle point data.
Jack Murphy’s Carnival of Excess Emperor’s Children Took the Crown on Pure Attrition
So how did an army with barely any shooting go 7-0 at a 100-player GT? Well, Jack made nearly every unit something his opponents had to deal with more than once, then kept pushing bodies into the middle of the table. That’s the overall play with the Carnival of Excess, and his scores show how consistently it worked, with a whopping six rounds at 100 points and one round at 88.
Carnival of Excess Roster Breakdown
Three Lord Exultants form the core of the army, but Jack didn’t leave any of them wandering around by themselves. Each one sits inside a unit of Infractors or Tormentors, so an opponent has to chew through the bodyguard before getting a clean shot at the character. One Lord Exultant is the Warlord with Possessed Blade, another carries Dark Blessings, and all three make engaging with those units awkward.
The rest of the list fills the board with more threats and scoring units too. A Keeper of Secrets gives Jack a monster he can send after whatever needs to disappear, while four Daemonette units spread out across objectives, and a Chaos Rhino helps push one of the infantry bricks into the middle early.
And finally, two Defilers provide most of the army’s ranged firepower, though they’re still perfectly happy getting into combat as well. So while there is very little traditional shooting here, the list doesn’t need much when nearly everything wants to be fighting at close range.
How Carnival of Excess Wins the Attrition War
Jack used Reconnaissance as his disposition, which means he didn’t need to table every opponent. He just needed to keep enough units alive, hold more ground, and keep scoring while the other army slowly ran out of threats.
So overall this wasn’t a list relying on one great matchup or a lucky blowout. It’s an army that kept doing the same job every round without falling apart, just like the grind-heavy builds from Clutch City GT.
Jeremy Atkinson’s Company of Hunters Dark Angels Ran a Ravenwing Speeder Wall to Second
Jeremy Atkinson brought a completely different kind of army and came within one game of winning it. Company of Hunters is all about Ravenwing speed, using fast units to get around firing lanes, take favorable fights, and show up where the opponent doesn’t want them. He finished 6-1, with his only loss coming in the final round.
Company of Hunters Roster Breakdown
This list is built all around speeders. Three Land Speeder Vengeance units with Nightforged Battery handle much of the heavy lifting, backed by two Land Speeders, a Storm Speeder Thunderstrike, and Ravenwing Black Knights. Plus a Darkshroud stays close enough to make them all harder to shoot at.
Jeremy also brought the major Dark Angels characters as well. Azrael himself leads the Inner Circle Companions, while Sammael works with a Ravenwing Command Squad and Outriders. Lion El’Jonson is the Warlord and gives the army a serious melee answer when something manages to catch the speeders.
Finally, two Scout squads and an Intercessor squad handle the less glamorous objective work.
How Company of Hunters Wins the Movement Phase
Obviously this army wants to control where every important fight happens because speeders can reposition quickly, find angles, and avoid getting dragged into bad engagements. Anything fast enough to catch them still has to also deal with the Lion waiting behind the rest of the army.
All that aside, Jeremy scored 84 points or better in each of his first six games, so the plan was working consistently. Unfortunately, he scored 45 in round seven, which ended his run at the top spot.
Quentin Chapman’s Hearthguard Covenant Leagues of Votann Parked Two Hekatons and Dared You to Move
Quentin Chapman took the gunline route, planting a base of fire on the table and making opponents come deal with it. His Hearthguard Covenant brings two Hekaton Land Fortresses and several Einhyr Hearthguard units that can shoot enemies off objectives, then finish the job in melee if they have to.
Hearthguard Covenant Roster Breakdown
Ûthar the Destined is the Warlord, while the Kâhl carries Oathbound Speculator to help keep judgement tokens moving. The army’s main block is made up of two Hekaton Land Fortresses, one unit of ten Einhyr Hearthguard, and another unit of five. The Kâhl and an Einhyr Champion support that core and make it even harder to shift.
The rest of the army protects those units and handles scoring around them. Brôkhyr Thunderkyn add more ranged firepower, while two Hernkyn Pioneer units and a squad of Hernkyn Yaegirs push out early. Ironkin Steeljacks provide melee support, and a Kapricus Carrier and Defenders help screen the sides of the army. Buri Aegnirssen and a Memnyr Strategist round out the characters.
How Hearthguard Covenant Wins the Long Game
This Votann army is built to punish opponents for overextending. The Hekatons take massive work to remove, the Hearthguard can trade into a wide range of targets, and the rest of the list keeps on scoring while the opponent tries to crack the center just like the armies at the Glass City GT earlier in the year.
Quentin’s lowest score was the 84 he posted in his round six loss, but every other round landed between 88 and 100, giving the list the steady scoring floor it needed to finish on the top 3 podium in a 100-player field.
Final Thoughts on the Salt City GT Army Lists & the Warhammer 40k Meta
The three armies at the top of the Salt City GT don’t look much alike at all. One is a Chaos melee wall, another is a Ravenwing speeder list, and the third is the Votann gunline. However, what they all share is the ability to keep working late into the game. Plus, they all focus on staying on the table, holding objectives, and forcing opponents to earn every point as they grind against them.
So, for anyone building toward a GT this summer, that may be more useful than arguing over which of these factions is strongest. A list has to survive seven rounds, recover from bad fights, and keep scoring throughout the game.
Either way, until a dataslate update or points changes drop that disrupt how these armies operate, we’d expect more durable, steady lists to keep showing up near the top.
🔗 Related Reads:
- How to Play Emperor’s Children
- How to Play Dark Angels
- How to Play Leagues of Votann
- Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- More Top Warhammer 40k Army Lists
- 40k Tournament Guide
- Warhammer 40k Factions Guide
- Latest 40k Balance Dataslate
What do you think of Emperor’s Children going 7-0 at the Salt City GT, and is there anything in the 11th Edition meta that can crack a triple Lord Exultant wall?
