Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: The Best Armies to Win Big!
Goatboy here, with what you should play if you want to win bis at an event right now. Let’s talk.
We have 2 new books, another one incoming, a Campaign book, and even a somewhat problematic White Dwarf update. This is just another week in the saga that is competitive 40k. At the very least it isn’t just about how mean Ad-Mech can be am I right? So what should you play if you wanted to go to an event right now and win big?
Well – it is the army with the biggest monsters!
Crusher Stampede is… CRUSHING IT!
Crusher Stampede has reared its ugly head from the depths of a White Dwarf update. Thankfully it isn’t in a 50 dollar campaign book. So while it is frustrating to see the game get a bit bigger with a few pages of rules – it at least isn’t an army of the Imperium or Dark Eldar. Crusher Stampede is Nidzilla turned up a few degrees and then spiced with some Forge World goodness. I do get the feeling a lot of these rules might not have been nearly as played with FW stuff – but who knows. Either way this is probably one of the better lists to play. It has good match ups versus a ton of things. Plus – it plays fast as heck beyond just worrying about your resin monsters tipping over and breaking.
If you don’t have a good plan against this monster mash list I would suggest play the mission. They are tough, throw out a lot of damage, and can play the mission just as well as you can. Mix up some of the FW big monsters, 9 or so Tyranid Warriors, Swarmlord, a Flyrant, and whatever else you decide to fit in. Look for those band wagon players to try and bring a “converted for advantage” giant monster that someone fits on a Knight Base.
I have seen a few pics and think it is pretty terrible to even try to bring that to an event. They are trying to get around the whole – if you are not able to fully deploy into your deployment zone nonsense. I also have to question trying to break/change such an expensive Forgeworld model. Still – this will be at an event as we all have players that have a ton of giant monsters and can’t wait to play them for real. We’ll see how well it keeps up when the Nid Codex finally comes out.
Grey Knights HO!
Next up the other army you will see a ton of is Grey Knights. The last bastion of super strong Imperium lists is the Silver horde of nonsense. I expect when the new mission book comes out the army will have to change into a horde of silver first born bodies to compensate. It does well versus a ton of lists. But it isn’t nearly as amazing facing a Crusher Swarm or the other “Big Thicc” army of doom. Thus we will see it shift to less big guys and more bodies on the ground.
They will try and spike up most likely exploding 6’s for the Rapier Brotherhood mixed with trying to spike hard on the causing mortal wounds on a 6. This most likely will let it be better into other tough armies and just allow it to shift. Oh – and were you dumb like me and have 5+ Dreadknights? you might want to find a home for a few of them in the next few months. Still – this is the Marine like army to beat currently.
Drukhari Thicc City
Next up is always fun and inviting Thicc City with the Coven builds. This army is going to stay relevant until GW does something. The new points didn’t change to fix the “cheaper” version we have now. This seems to be a very easy army to push up the table top just like the Crusher Stampede. It is tough, fast, and produces a ton of damage while it holds onto objectives. Plus – like the Grey Knights – DE have a very easy to score secondary objective which allows them to have a “jump” on their enemies.
When you are looking at easily getting a 15 point bump when compared to others it is less of an issue trying to get all the other points you need. A few other options and the always easy enough to do primaries and you got an army that can kill you but doesn’t always have to kill you. A lot of DE are going to show up to any of the big events. So be on the look out for some Talos that look like they took a tumble down a hill as they are missing all their knives, pointy bits, and creepy face masks.
Knightly Spoilers
On the spoiler side of things I can expect to see some Knight builds show up. Until the Tau rear their heads there are some big Knight options that do well enough. Trying to cut thru the thick body of knights can be hard for a lot of lists. They also shoot pretty well with the FW lightning cannon so they can easily spike the damage as needed. Until we see a new book come out the Chaos side of things, they will run a ton of Wardawgs to cover the table as well.
I think these lists are easy to play, fast to move around the table, and can gift you the spike damage you need to be relevant in a match up. These armies will really need to dodge the poor matches and try to skate in. While they are good they can have some issues going 2nd into much more damaging armies. Oh – and I am sure the clock is ticking till Tau come in with their 12 damage guns that just punch a hole thru their dingus.
Waiting in the Wings
The rest of the pack has some issues with a lot of these best of lists. I really wish more armies fit into the middle but its just going to be a bit before we get there. I know there are some fun DG builds that are neat. There is DG chatter on points going up in the new release, so we’ll have to see DG players shift how they build their armies. Sisters shined well when they started but the return of Thicc city and most likely Crusher Stampede gives them issues as they are tough and take less damage than needed. It makes me think Multi-Melta should have gotten the 3+d3 adjustment to help keep their spike in damage in the right place.
Custodes are neat but their points shift again by the rumors so whatever we see at LVO will shift after the event is over. GSC also look fun as they can play the missions well so will see. Poor Marines are just in a weird place and I don’t know what to really do with them. They don’t spike enough damage mixed with not being tough enough. It is probably why the Iron Hand armies do the best. They have the method to be tougher with an extra save plus some spiking damage capability.
Place Your LVO Bets!
Alright – so what do you think is going to win LVO in a couple weeks? Do you think DE will take it all home or some kind of Tyranid monster mash? My thoughts seem to push some Tyranid options as while DE might be the better army a lot of players that know how to play Nids are bringing it. I mean the lack of practice for them will be less of a factor and they can easily burn quickly thru their turn. How many resin pieces are going to be lost by the Nid players on the tabletop?
Good hunting out there!
