These 3 40k army lists hit the meta by surprise last week. It’s fun to bring homebrews that give top armies a run for their money.

Every now and then, there is a hobbyist that shows up to a tournament rocking the anti-meta units that most others would overlook. However, more often than not, those units actually perform better than anyone ever expected. Check out these three unique lists that were spotted at different events recently. Maybe it’ll inspire you to venture out from the safety of the obvious “meta” choices!

Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we can look back at these events as if we were there ourselves.

Krampus Klash: Chaos- Duncan Ensminger

Rolling in deep with the Traitors, this list is different from what you might expect out of Chaos. Bringing a few blobs of Cultists and being preached to by a Dark Apostle, this list was very board control-heavy with a dash of backfield shooting.

While Cultists hit the board en mass and camped objectives/screened, a wrecking ball squad of Possessed led by a Master of Possession was the insurance policy of the list.

Meanwhile, this list also ran two squads of three Obliterators marked with Slaanesh so they could fire twice in a single turn. One squad was Alpha Legion for the Stratagem support making them essentially untargettable. Meanwhile, the others were Iron Warriors so Cultists could jump in front of them to soak up enemy shots. Overall, this list is intricate and is completely different from what we normally expect out of Chaos.

Finally, Nurglings were spotted starting the game mid-board and netting objective points in the first few turns. And although Nurglings are just 54 pts apiece, they are deceptively tanky…It’s almost always a trap to devote firepower to them when there are other scary units on the board like a Possessed wrecking ball, Daemon Princes, and Obliterators.

Krampus Klash: Harlequins- Marcus Guerra

This Harlequin list brought the pain in almost every kind of firepower spammed to the max. Troupe after Troupe was loaded down with fusion pistols and shuriken pistols to pop armor and shred light infantry alike.

While Harlequins are lightning fast, the Troupes with fusion pistols are literal glass cannons. And just as insurance, if the Fusion squads were wiped off the board, one fatty squad of Skyweavers armed with Haywire cannons backed up the anti-vehicle aspect of the force.

However, to help the Troupes get into lethal range, Starweavers were brought and zipped up the board. They unloaded units as quickly as they could before hunting down an objective to sit on and remain relevant by firing the shuriken cannon.

A few Troupe Masters, Shadowseers, a Solitaire (because duh), and some Death Jesters were sprinkled throughout the force to provide psychic/sniper support and some added damage. Awesome list!

Whiz Store Monthly: Salamanders- Gil Fuhr

Despite Salamanders not being able to deal 50 mortal wounds with Stratagems anymore, Gil still rolled out the Chapter in full force. Adrax and a chain Captain with Jump Pack led a Battalion of all-Primaris units. While Incursors started up the board to nab an objective early game. Intercessors held the backfield and provided cover for the flamer Aggressors to get into range.

Another Battalion was taken bringing more cheap units that could infiltrate. On top of this, two Warsuits were brought to act as a serious speed bump for the enemy army trying to gain ground.

Finally, a Leviathan and Repulsor Executioner were brought as a back-field firing platform and were babysat by two Techmarines (one with a Thunderfire Cannon). Overall, great job showing the pride of your Chapter and going all-in on the sons of Vulkan.

Another 40k tourney is under our belt and the top three army lists turned out to be all Imperium. Check out what these players brought! Read More

What is your favorite list covered from above? Do you prefer to choose your two Chapter traits over taking the base Chapters’ rules? Are Harlequins secretly a meta-stomping army that’s going unnoticed?

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