Don’t miss the top 40k homebrew army lists that surprised the meta this week. These armies bucked the trends and did well in competitive events.

With 40k tournaments constantly being held, we’ve got plenty of lists to look over. Check out these armies that did very well in their tournaments on June 1-2 by taking unique units in builds that, perhaps, we never would have expected.

Thanks to Best Coast Pairings, we’re able to look back at the event as if we were there ourselves.

Bad Moonz GT 2nd Place: Custodes- Konrad Bartkiewicz

A Battalion detachment of Guard was taken (which is pretty standard issue). However, what makes this list really unique is that it’s especially armor-heavy. Three Tank Commanders with Punishers and a Battle Cannon were brought along. Punishers are able to dump forty shots a pop on the table with the right order and any kind of screening unit would have a hard time withstanding all of that.

Of course, there’s a Knight Crusader for some decent T8 dakka. And lastly, there’s the Custodes workhorse. The Custodes list didn’t take anything that we would expect from a traditional list, however. With three Caladius Grav-Tanks partnered up with the Tank Commanders, this list was able to shrug off most small-arms fire and bring down even the most stubborn of units. Great job!

Bad Moons GT 4th Place: Blood Angels- John King

A brigade was brought along opting for the cheapest Troop available for Space Marines. Six squads of Scouts were sprinkled across the board before the game even started. Remember BA are +1 to wound making these little guys, not so little in combat…

Now, this is where the list gets really interesting. Lemartes, The Sanguinor, and a Captain all buffed up a massive Jump pack squad of Death Company and Sanguinary Guard. Death Company are relentlessly fast and can shred any kind of lightly-armored units that get in there way. As for the Sanguinary Guard, they’re a bit more difficult to kill and all have fancy armor and power weapons.

Finally, some Scout Bikers intercepted any units trying to get fresh and were also able to snag some objectives quickly. Three Devastator Squads with a single Heavy Bolter were also fielded. This was for the reliable D3 mortal wounds a turn per Hellfire Rounds stratagem.

All in all, this is just another funky list that brought units we never thought we’d see. Great job!

Plains of War 3rd Place: Astra Militarum-Travis Jacobs

This list loaded down on Tempestus Scions with Plasma. While Deepstriking isn’t what it used to be in 8th edition, this army was still mobile enough to bring units down roughly where they needed to be beyond turn 2.

Moving on, a Valkyrie and two Vultures supported an all-plasma Command Squad once they dropped in on the table. Branching off outside of the Scions, Yarrick, a Primaris Psyker, and a Tank Commander with an Executioner were fielded. And finally, a Banehammer and Knight Crusader made up the T8 backbone.

Overall, this list was surgical with deepstriking plasma. It also had some reactive firepower with Flyers having a presence immediately anywhere on the board. And lastly, the T8 LOWs acted like a stubborn quarter of the list that was able to soak up a majority of firepower.

Great list!

See what we mean by unique homebrews that we wouldn’t normally expect? Overall, these lists run the same structure as most competitive lists. However, there are a couple of units here and there that we haven’t seen anywhere in the meta since the start of 8th edition! Keep experimenting with your models. You might have a competitive list that’s just not put together yet!

Do you have a favorite unit that you always squeeze into your list? What units have you found to be surprisingly competitive? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.