LVO, (the Las Vegas Open), has come and gone, and with it, another ITC season comes to an end. Personally I’m excited to see where competitive Warhammer 40K goes from here. Team Ettin has taken so much responsibility upon themselves and is already playtesting the new Nachmund mission pack as I type. It certainly is looking like we’re gearing up for one fun & competitive Warhammer ITC Season and I can’t wait to see what the Team and I can accomplish going forward. Let’s cover some of the exciting things going on in Warhammer 40K so you don’t miss out on any of the news!
WARHAMMER & THE ITC
That said, in all the excitement of LVO, a huge bit of news about the future of competitive 40K was released: Games Workshop is providing more prize support & a clearer winpath to those interested in the ITC circuit. It cannot be understated how big of news this is. As someone who has played many competitive games in the past and attended a lot of large events for other games, you rarely see a company provide support for an established tournament series that is not their own.
One of the many things that Games Workshop rolled out with this announcement is the chance for many people, for various reasons, to receive a fully paid invite to a Games Workshop Invitational event. They’re also promising more prize support for those who participate in the Hobby Track, the ITCs Hobby-focused reward system, full 2000 point armies to those who do well in their respective game system for a season, and the opportunity to participate in the Balance Dataslate, GWs game balancing system the implemented recently in 40K.
Even though I’m not in 40K for the hobbying aspect, I love the idea of rewarding those who are. Making an army really look exceptional is a talent that should be rewarded higher and it’s huge to see a company recognize that. Also, who better to get involved in the balancing of your game?, the people who have consistently broken that game open, over and over again.
ADMECH WINS LVO, CUSTODES WIN BIGGER
Richard Siegler yet again confirms the theories that he is a robot and that the flesh is weak. Siegler took a hard-hitting Mars Veteran Cohort list all the way to the top table at LVO in beautiful fashion. As always LVO had some shocking twists, some relatively unknown names make a name for themselves, and lots upon lots of dice.
One of the breakout armies at LVO was the Adeptus Custodes, taking 1/4th of the total top 16 spots, 2 of those making the top 8, 1 of which got 2nd! This is an amazing showing for the refreshed golden boys codex, especially coming off the heels of new rules, but before points drop previewed for them in the 2022 Munitorum Field Manual. We’re personally excited to see what the future holds for the army and how many more events they can put their mark on going forward. Here’s Matt Lorah’s 2nd place list:
Battalion detachment
Shadowkeepers
Trajann valoris 170 (warlord)
Shield captain on dawn eagle jetbike, misercordia, salvo launcher, tip if the spear 195pts
Shield captain in allarus terminator armour, unstoppable destroyer 135
3 custodian guard with guardian spears 135
3 custodian guard with guardian spears 135
3 custodian guard with guardian spears 135
3 custodian wardens with castellan axes 150
Allarus custodian 65
Allarus custodian 65
Allarus custodian 65
Contempter galatus 170 eternal penitent
Contempter galatus 170
Caladius grav tank with twin iliastus accelerator culvrins 205
Caladius grav tank with twin iliastus accelerator culvrins 205
Bike captain- relic: stasis oubliette, warlord trait: lock warden, superior creation
Terminator captain- relic: praetorian plate, warlord trait: radiant mantle
The emperor’s heroes -2cp
Open the vaults -1 cp
Victor of the blood games -1cp
Eternal penitent -1 cp
Trajinn +1 cp
Starting cp 8
Points: 2000/2000
AELDARI MODELS & CLOWN PATROLS
Warhammer Community has unveiled that Codex: Aeldari is right around the corner, most likely having a late February early March release. During LVO Games Workshop made some new model announcements, showing off some great & dynamic new sculpts for your favorite space elves. All in all this is looking to be one of the biggest re-roll outs of an armies rules & model lines since Orks late 2021.
One such rule shows a glimpse into how Harlequins have been folded into the Codex, in the form of a special army detachment called Traveling Players:
This rule is huge for me and has a lot of applications going forward. As I’ve written in past articles, I’m very familiar with the concept of what Harlequins + Craftworlds can and does look like. Where my interest is piqued is the ability to add fast objective play from Harlequins into, say your Thick-City Drukhari list. As you can see this rule still allows you access to Power from Pain, (Drukhari’s battle-forged rule), as well as allowing you to pick from the Drukhari’s secondaries. Most notably this allows for you to pick Herd the Prey, an amazing Battlefield Supremacy pick from the Drukhari Codex. Here’s an example with current points and rules of what this style of list could look like:
++ Patrol Detachment -2CP (Aeldari - Harlequins) [35 PL, -4CP, 745pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Detachment Command Cost [-2CP]
Masque Form: The Soaring Spite: Serpent's Blood
+ Stratagems +
Enigmas of the Black Library (1 Relic) [-1CP]
+ HQ +
Troupe Master [4 PL, -1CP, 70pts]: Choreographer of War, Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Blade, Stratagem: Pivotal Role, The Twilight Fang, Twilight's Grasp
Troupe Master [4 PL, 75pts]: Choreographer of War, Domino Shroud, Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
+ Troops +
Troupe [5 PL, 120pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
Troupe [5 PL, 120pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
Troupe [5 PL, 120pts]
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
. Player: Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Embrace
+ Dedicated Transport +
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
Starweaver [4 PL, 80pts]
++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (Aeldari - Drukhari) [75 PL, 12CP, 1,255pts] ++
+ Configuration +
Battle Size [12CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Detachment Command Cost
Gametype: Matched
Obsession
. Custom Coven: Artists of the Flesh (All-Consuming)
+ HQ +
Drazhar [8 PL, 145pts]: Hatred Eternal, Warlord
Haemonculus [5 PL, 90pts]: As Detachment (Coven), The Animus Vitae
. Alchemical Maestro (Custom): Alchemical Maestro
+ Troops +
Haemoxytes [8 PL, 105pts]: As Detachment (Coven)
. 7x Haemoxyte: 7x Wrack Blade
. Haemoxyte Acothyst: Electrocorrosive Whip
. Haemoxyte w/ Special Weapon: Liquifier Gun
+ Elites +
Grotesques [12 PL, 180pts]: As Detachment (Coven)
. Grotesque w/ Liquifier Gun: Liquifier Gun
. Grotesque w/ Monstrous Cleaver
. Grotesque w/ Monstrous Cleaver
. Grotesque w/ Monstrous Cleaver
. Grotesque w/ Monstrous Cleaver
+ Heavy Support +
Talos [18 PL, 315pts]: As Detachment (Coven)
. Talos: Talos Gauntlet, Talos ichor injector
. . Two heat lances
. Talos: Talos Gauntlet, Talos ichor injector
. . Two heat lances
. Talos: Talos Gauntlet, Talos ichor injector
. . Two heat lances
Talos [18 PL, 315pts]: As Detachment (Coven)
. Talos: Talos Gauntlet, Talos ichor injector
. . Two heat lances
. Talos: Talos Gauntlet, Talos ichor injector
. . Two heat lances
. Talos: Talos Gauntlet, Talos ichor injector
. . Two heat lances
+ Dedicated Transport +
Raider [6 PL, 105pts]: As Detachment, Dark Lance
++ Total: [110 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++
I think a list like this could have some real teeth. Of course, as stated above, we would obviously need to have point values on hand but I look forward to diving more into the amazing amount of mission play a rule like this adds!
That’s all for our weekly article folks. It was a fair bit of news and good ol’ Games Workshop keeps bombarding us with more and more. If you liked this weekly round-up style of article make sure to let us know in the comments. As always you can find more articles like this at Ettingames.com as well as our new coaching service and tons of great products. Last but not least check out our weekly podcast on Buzzsprout or Spotify: Tabled Talk. So far we have reviewed the new Custodes & Genestealer Cults rules and have our Chapter Approved Nachmund review dropping this Saturday!
