Three new lists out there brought some pretty shocking units and didn’t do half bad! Check out our top three 40k army lists for the meta!
The Glasshammer Open brought in almost one-hundred players under a single roof to roll dice. While 8th edition’s meta is looking to settle down once again, there are some players that decided to bring some unexpected lists and didn’t do too bad at all.
Thanks to Best Coast Pairings we can look back at the events as if we were there ourselves.
Imperial Fists- Nick Counsell
This Imperial Fist list brought ALL of the Intercessors (40 in total) with every model armed with stalker bolters. These things hit like S4 plasma all game long and with the backed up exploding 6’s to hit and ignoring cover, the Fists are really able to lay down the heat. Note that a Siegebreaker Cohort with five Heavy Bolter Centurions hit the field and was able to dish out buckets of mortal wounds.
Between the mortal wound output from the Centurions, the sheer multi-damage shot output and numbers from the Intercessors, and even character-killing capabilities from the Eliminators, the enemy had some hard decisions to make in-game. A Thunderfire Cannon was also brought along to help slow down the enemy’s advance. With a halve-movement and fire twice Strat, it turned the enemy’s list into more bite-sized chunks for the Intercessors to rip apart.
To top it all off, a Primaris Ancient hung around the action and let the fallen battle brothers shoot once again before they died. Great job!
Genestealer Cults- James Mackenzie
Because it’s a GSC list, there’s a lot going on. However, breaking the main parts down, three Battalions were taken with normal T3 dudes (a mix of Neophytes and Brood Brothers) were taken for board control. These guys could ambush themselves onto the board and capture and objective for relatively no points at all.
Two Patriarchs, a Kelermorph, the Clamavus, and all the other essential characters for the list were taken. Their rules are incredibly useful for the points and are always used in every list we see. However, aside from the characters, the main workhorse of this list came from a massive squad of Aberrants being followed by a Biophagus.
The Biophagus could genetically enhance the absolutely YOKED GSC dudes and make them even more horrible to fight in melee. Patriarchs were also seeded around the force to give a fearless bubble. For a little extra armor stopping power, a couple of rocksaw Acolyte Hybrid units were taken along with Jackals armed with Demo Charges.
The tricky part about this army is that 99% of its use comes from melee. It’s a good thing that the whole faction specializes in getting up close quickly. The only thing this list had to ever worry about was chunky screens in the way. For the screens, an Acolyte squad armed with flamers were able to pop up 3″ away by turn two.
These would scorch the entire frontline and cripple any bubble wrap that was tasked with stopping charges.
Orks- Matthew Muscutt
Matthew put his own spin on the Ork meta with this unexpected Ork list. Bringing a Dread Waaagh! a Big Mek was given the Souped-Up Shokka. The damage output on this thing is totally random but the potential is too good to pass up. Filling out a Brigade, each Troops selection was loaded down with Gretchin. These are incredibly cheap objective campers and have proven themselves to be awesome screens.
Three Meks followed by nine Megatrakk Scrapjets were taken. The Megatrakk Scrapjets are a unit that came from last year’s Orktober and never made a big hit. They’re just a faster and lighter version of a Dreadnought. While they weren’t that popular in the meta, it looks like nine might be the magical number to get the point payoff!
And finally, a gunline of ten total Smasha Guns hit the board. These would give covering fire to the Scrapjets as they harassed the enemy units sitting in the mid-field. Overall, this is an awesome list! Way to go for going all-in on a unit not too many people go for!
With these three armies covered, do you have a list that looks similar? Did you expect to see an Imperial Fist list pop up before its supplement release? Is the Megatrakk Scrapjet the best Speed Freeks unit to choose from?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
