The week after a major event like LVO is often pretty slow: Players just finished a series of long trips and generally want to stay home and a large number of TOs are also in the player set, and they'll have attended LVO as well. That means that it takes a week or two for things to pick back up.

So this week we'll be doing something a bit different with our events: First up is a doubles tournament, the official Games Workshop Throne of Skulls at Warhammer World. After that we'll be looking at a smaller tournament in upstate New York, the Golden Sprue GT.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Throne of Skulls Doubles

78-player, 5-round Doubles Tournament in England, GB on January 27 2024 hosted by Games Workshop. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings. Due to how this event was entered, we only have the names of the Team Captains and the Team Name, so we'll be using those.

The Showdown

Matchup

Joseph Jones (Snack’a’Jacks and Khornedogs) - Blades of Khorne (Gorechosen) & Slaves to Darkness (Everchosen)

vs.

Greg Friggens (Chaos Fundivided) - Blades of Khorne (Reapers of Vengeance) & Slaves to Darkness (Knights of the Empty Throne):

Thoughts

A mirror match in faction, but these lists couldn't be more different. Slaves to Darkness and Khorne pair well together it seems, and it makes sense. Also couldn't ask for a better pairing for the Throne of Skulls! Khorne is a real glass cannon faction, and Slaves to Darkness offer some tanky resilience. The big difference between these is going tall vs going wide. Joseph and his partner went quite a bit wider (Well, Joseph did, Slaves to Darkness only offer so much) rocking Blood Warriors and Knights while Greg and his partner went tall, rocking Varanguard and a freaking Bloodthirster!

Going wide probably helps Khorne out a lot more, allowing them to snatch up more objectives and more units means more blood tithes, though the effectiveness of a Boomthirster is hard to argue with. The battle comes close with a victory toward Joseph and his partner.

Result

Everchosen/Gorechosen Victory - 23 - 18

Joseph Jones (Snack’a’Jacks and Khornedogs) - Gorechosen - 1st Place

Garrek's Reavers Credit: Alfredo Ramirez

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Khorne horde and Slaves to Darkness Knights

Thoughts

As stated above, these two factions pair well together. Khorne is a glass cannon, usually winning fights it starts but can just as easily be destroyed if they're hit first. Slaves to Darkness in this pairing offer a tanky vanguard force to ride up and hit the enemy first, or gather some objectives, while the Khorne Blood Warriors come up behind. The slaughterpriests offer support for their fellow Khorne while Eternus and his Furies offers the desperately needed bonus CP, as lack of Command points can be a real challenge in team games.

Phil Walter (Metabreakers - Vikings) - Flesh Eater Courts (Feast Day) & Slaves to Darkness - 2nd Place (Undefeated)

Abhorrent Arch-Regent. Credit: Rich Nutter

The List

Archetype

Crypt Ghoul Hordes and Elite Rider Slaves to Darkness.

Thoughts

Being a Games Workshop event, this is one of the last times the old Flesh Eater Courts book will see use, since they don't consider the book "out" at the time of this writing. Another horde list mixed with Slaves to Darkness riders, seems those guys pair with just about anything!

The ghouls function as good objective holders, while the Royal Terrorgheist offers some bite along with the triple Varanguard. The strategy here is simple but effective, slam into it with all your Varanguard, and clean up anything still left standing. Considering they didn't lose, I'd say it worked

The Best of the Rest

There were 11 more teams on 4-1 records. They were:

• 3rd: Greg Friggens (Chaos Fundivided) - Blades of Khorne (Reapers of Vengeance) & Slaves to Darkness (Knights of the Empty Throne): See Showdown.
• 4th: Nathan Watson (SPF 50 Team B) - Lumineth Realmlords (Zaitrec) & Seraphon (Fangs of Sotek): So much damn magic. Mortal Wounds all over the place.
• 5th: Josh Bunning (SPF 50 Team A) - Soulblight Gravelords (Vyrkos) & Kharadron Overlords (Grundstok Expeditionary Force): Wolves and Magic meets shooty foot dwarves.
• 6th: Michael Atkinson (Shoot Ya, Eat Ya, Beat Ya) - Gloomspite Gitz (Jaws of Mork) & Kruelboyz (Big Yellerz): Boltboys rain fire down on the enemy while Squig Herds charge in.
• 7th: Joe Wilkinson (Mothertruggers) - Gloomspite Gitz (Trugg's Troggherd) & Slaves to Darkness (Host of the Everchosen): Troggs and Warriors, anviling it up together.
• 8th: Marc Potter (The Last Crusade) - Flesh-Eater Courts (Hollowmourne) & Ossiarch Bonereapers (Petrifex Elite): Ghoul King on Terrorgheist and Arkhan lead a mix of elite and cannon fodder from their respective forces.
• 9th: Stew Hilton (Border Centurions Wargaming) - Ironjawz (Bloodtoofs) & Gloompsite Gitz (Glogg's Megamob): Megaboss and Warchanters lead Brutes and Gore-Gruntas alongside a Troggboss and Rockgut Troggoths.
• 10th: Ed Illsley (Team Bash) - Kharadron Overlords (Grundstok Expeditionary Force) & Slaves to Darkness (Host of the Everchosen): Shooty Foot Dwarves covering fire for Warriors and Chosen.
• 11th: Joel Kirk (Ilario's Guy Ron) - Skaven: Dual Grey Seers and Master Moulder with Rat Ogors (Second army is unfortunately not listed).
• 12th: Scott McSpadden (The Faithful and the Fallen) - Stormcast Eternals (Knights Excelsior) & Blades of Khorne (Reapers of Vengeance): Lord Relictor leads Liberators, Retributors and Raptors alongside a Herald of Khorne and Bloodletters.
• 13th: Isaac McBurney (The Depth Chargers) - Idoneth Deepkin (Fuethán) & Soulblight Gravelords (Legion of Blood): Akhelian King and Eidolon lead Allopexes, while the VLoZD leads skeletons and blood knights.

DaBoyz GT GoldenSprue 2024 AoS 1v1

30-player, 5-round Grand Tournament in Schenectady, New York, US on January 27 2024. All the lists for this event can be found in Best Coast Pairings.

The Showdown

Mission - Lines of Communication

Oscar Savastio - Ossiarch Bonereapers:

vs.

Sean O'Shaughnessy - Big WAAAGH!:

Thoughts

Shaun's list is a strange one but is well suited for dealing with OBR. OBR tend to chaff under ranged mortal wound damage, struggling to catch up to them. As a result the Wurrgog Prophet, while swingy, is laser honed in taking down a solid chunk of the army from the word go. Gobsprakk puts up a suitable battle against Arkhan, and the Orruks have a lot more mobility to work with than the OBR do. This all culminates in a real blow out for Sean.

Result

Big WAAAGH! Victory - 35 - 10

Sean O'Shaughnessy - Big WAAAGH! - 1st Place

Ardboyz. Credit: Mike 'Ellarr' Chadderton

The List

See Showdown

Archetype

Mostly Ironjawz good stuff, with some support heroes from the other Orruks

Thoughts

Sean runs a very unique list at most events, and it's hard to say it doesn't work. The Wurrog Prophet can laser focus down some important stuff early on, with little risk if it blows itself up early. While Ironjawz are slow, they still get their movement phase early, and Gobbsprakk offers serious casting potential in an army that usually doesn't get much of a magic phase.

The Best of the Rest

There were 4 more players on 4-1 records. They were:

• 2nd - Ross McCune - Ossiarch Bonereapers (Mortis Praetorians): Arkhan with Morghast and Immortis Guard.
• 3rd - Oscar Savastio - Ossiarch Bonereapers (Mortis Praetorians): See Showdown.
• 4th - Zachary McComb - Big WAAAGH!: Orruk Good Stuff
• 5th - Logan Vanderwarker - Slaves to Darkness (Knights of the Empty Throne): Karkadrak and two reinforced Varanguard.

Wrap Up

It's a slow week this week, but don't fret. The Warscroll is right on the horizon, based on rumors from Warhammer community which promises to be a big shake up after several months. Flesh-Eater Courts become tournament legal within the next 2 weeks as well, which will finally bring the game full circle with a battletome for every one. See you all next week!

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