Godsworn go for gold.
Welcome to another installment of my tournament round-up series. Today I’ll be going over the tournaments I played at this weekend just gone past. Read on for decklists, tactics and crits!
Saturday
On Saturday I went down to Wayland’s Forge in Birmingham. I’ve been down to tournaments in Birmingham before as well as knowing the area well. Recommendations from regular tournament goers such as Ready4Action meant I had no worries in popping down. After a quick search I finally made it the store with my Godsworn Hunt. Would I finally be able to cross my last warband off my list?
Decklist
Playstyle: Aggro
The deck is pretty much the same as the one I used at the July Warhammer World Grand Clash which itself was shameless based off of my good friend Jay Clare and his tournament-winning Godsworn deck. There were 2 main changes since the Grand Clash however.
First I swapped Oath of Denial for Oath of Conquest. I found running dual 3rd end phase objectives really successful but Denial I could generally score only in the first game of a best of 3 unless I pretty much wiped my opponent out. The games I lost by were generally only due to a single glory which would have been scored with Oath of Conquest. It was also really easy to consistently score in comparison to Oath of Denial.
Second was my choice to cut down to 20 cards. I dropped Acrobatic and Sphere of Aqshy just to help me more with the hard control matchups as that was the main weakness of the deck due to it becoming depending on my mobility cards.
Other than that the main concept remained the same. My deck had a lot of score immediately objectives but they all mainly involved killing. This helps in the “score immediately arms race” as while I can’t generally stop my opponent scoring those cards, I can out-score them with mine as each of them are worth 2 glory when scored individually compared to my opponent’s 1. With Oath of Conquest and Superior Tactician I can easily reach 19 glory.
The deck is heavily dependent on dice but that’s why I’ve loaded up with cards like Upper Hand (busted), Haymaker, Inspired Attack, Prized Vendetta and Challenge Seeker etc. Nullstone Spear helps against wizards and gives me a reliable range 2 attack. Heroslayer is just funny and works really well thanks to all my dice cards.
As for defence Rebound, Last Chance and Dark Destiny are all there to keep my fighters alive. Warhammer Underworlds is currently full of people throwing +5 dice attacks so those 3 cards get past that by changing everything to a single dice roll to keep me in the game while denying my opponent momentum.
Also a special mention to Oath of Murder. I really like the Oath cards but this one may seem like a weird choice. However I always reveal it as it can easily mess up your opponent due to mind games. Plus when combined with Worthy Kill that’s 5 glory to you off of a single kill. It’s oddly reliable even when not revealed.
The other main tip is I always place Grawl within range of 2 lethal hexes. This is so I can easily score Martyred and Calculated Risk. Occasionally you’ll get people who will refuse to engage so Grawl will happily do their job for them. It also helps score Superior Tactician!
Gloryseeking Hieroglyphics:
Round 1
Rushing down to the event I was paired against the Godsworn Hunt played by Oli. We had played before at Board in Brum where my Farstriders barely managed to edge out a win over his Cursebreakers. Oli mentioned he was undefeated here at Wayland’s Forge having beaten Bryce, Jamie Giblin and even Jay Clare at 4 separate tournaments at this venue. It was going to be a hard one. Winning the board roll Oli placed the Penitent’s Throne while I set the Ruptured Seal wide.
Jagathra managed to avoid an attack from enemy Shond as he rolled double smash. Revealing Oath of Murder, she then promptly charged Ollo with her spear and killed the enemy archer to score Precise Use of Force and Strong Start. The game quickly devolved into a killing bloodbath. However I was able to get going earlier and even managed to kill Threddra at the bottom of 1 to score revealed Oath of Murder. Once the game ended I had scored all my objectives to win 19/11.
For game 2 I lost boards and placed the Arcane Nexus while Oli placed the Molten Shardpit wide.
Losing priority again Jagathra managed to avoid early death again. I played Haymaker and had her charge Ollo only to completely miss with 5 attack dice. Oli quickly capitalised upon this and started to surgically take me apart. Before long both Grundann and Shond were dead. I was able to claw back some kills but now Oli had taken momentum. The game eventually ended in a 15/19 loss to me.
For the 3rd game I once again lost boards. I placed the Animus Forge while Oli set the Shattered Refractor wide.
Oli once again got momentum as I continued to miss attacks. He went onto surgically take apart my warband again but I was able to get just enough kills to kinda remain in the game. Going into phase 3 I had only scored 2 objectives and was on 5 glory to Oli’s 12. I thought I had lost. I had a small chance but it relied upon perfect draw order and scoring both Oath of Conquest and Superior Tactician which were currently in-hand. Drawing my last end phase objective, Shining Example, would spell doom. I revealed Oath of Conquest and went in. I managed to get early kills with Strong Start and the perfect draw order. Oli got some kills and ended on 15 glory. Threddra managed to survive which scored me Shining Example, Oath of Conquest and Superior Tactician for a 7 glory swing to put me on 16 glory. I had won by 1 on the skin of my teeth.
Round 2
Magore’s Fiends piloted by Roy would be next. This was a rough matchup for me that I rarely won with Godsworn. Winning boards Roy placed the Animus Forge while I set the Molten Shardpit in diagonal configuration.
Now I messed up here. I should have ditched my starting hand that had Oath of Conquest. I successfully starved Roy by not engaging but had no glory of my own. With my deck stalled, the Fiends quickly mauled my Godsworn in phases 2 and 3. I was able to get some kills back but ended up losing 9/15.
For game 2 I won boards again. Roy placed the Arcane Nexus so I set the Ruptured Seal wide. No more hiding for me now.
The Fiends went in early but the ability for them to miss kept me alive. Dark Destiny and Last Chance also denied crucial charges from Magore and Riptooth. The Fiends continued to miss so I was able to kill Riptooth with uninspired Shond to score Worth Kill. This momentum swing allowed me to snowball with aggro. The extra glory gave me the upgrades needed to achieve a 14/8 win.
Winning boards again Roy placed the Shattered Refractor while I set the Arcane Nexus wide.
Time was short so we went at it quickly. Magore inspired early with Blazing Soul but missed. Shond and Grundann quickly charged the exposed leader and killed him for revealed Oath of Murder and Worthy Kill. Riptooth charged wounded Shond. He won priority and attacked again but missed. Shond struck back with Concealed Weapon and multiple crits to hack the dog apart. Zharkus was quickly killed too but we had to call the game at the bottom of 2 due to time, leaving me on a 9/4 win.
Round 3
Finally I was playing against Dan and his undefeated Thundrik’s Profiteers. Winning boards Dan placed the Shattered Refractor. Knowing that I had to go all in I placed the Molten Shardpit wide.
Dan got Calculated Risk scored early and inspired Thundrik. His leader then charged Grundann and missed. I had scored Martyred via Grawl and Calculated Risk by then so I gave her Heroslayer then played Fuelled by Fury and Inspired Attack. I charged Thundrik as though it didn’t gel with my future objectives I had to kill him now. I rolled a crit and a smash. Thundrik only rolled a crit so he took 5 damage and died scoring me Precise Use of Force. Now the Profiteers had no one to inspire. I spent phase 2 cycling out objectives and then wiped out the Duardin to win 19/8.
For game 2 I lost boards so I placed the Arcane Nexus. Dan then set the Ruptured Seal wide.
Dan quickly took the lead while I failed to succeed with attacks and just moved up the board. By the end of phase 2 I was left 10 glory to my own of 3 and 2 objectives scored. Once again I had t. play greedy. I went first and revealed Oath of Conquest. Grawl charged onto objective 4 with Faneway Crystal, doing 1 damage to Lund via a fury and a crit. I then gave Grundann Nullstone Spear and Ready for Action. A smash and a crit killed Lund scoring me Worthy Kill and Strong Start. I then proceeded to not die and rushed everyone deep into Dan’s board. Grundann charged through a lethal hex for Calculated Risk while Ollo got me What Armour? I then managed to score Shining Example, Oath of Conquest and Superior Tactician for 7 glory. Dan stalled out so I was able to win 18/10.
After 3 rounds with 10 players I had managed to end up as the only undefeated player, I had won! Not only that but I’d finally completed my goal; winning Shadeglass Trophies with all current 16 Warhammer Underworlds warbands while being the first person in the whole world to do so!
Never has finishing a list felt so good
I was honestly speechless at the time. It’s hard to explain but I didn’t actually think I’d be the first to do it or that I’d achieve it that day. Not only that but I won best painted too (thanks to my terrain hexes). The real thanks goes to all my friends who helped me though, especially a certain few. As always I needed a lot of support to pull it off with a warband I struggled with. Those people are: Underworlds’ best stats man David Smee, the legendary Jay Clare, Tom Bond from Steel City Underworlds, Tony of End Phase fame and Laura from my local London scene who’s our resident master of the hunt. Wouldn’t be possible without asking for your awesome help and advice.
It’s been quite a journey. I only really started going for winning with every warband at the start of Nightvault. Before then I’d only won with Steelheart’s Champions, Spiteclaw’s Swarm and the Farstriders. In 10 months I was able to win with the other 13 but now my journey is complete.
Overall I had an amazing time at Wayland’s Forge in Birmingham. It really is a great store with an awesome local scene. If you’re after a really good tournament I’d highly recommend popping down.
Sunday
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
I had already locked-in to a tournament on the Sunday immediately after. This time I was at Wargamer’s Den in Gillingham for their first Warhammer Underworld’s tournament. As a treat to myself I went with my Thundrik’s Profiteers. It would be 8 players with 4 rounds of Best of 1.
Decklist
It’s my Grand Clash deck but now unfortunately pretty illegal due to the July 2019 restricted list update. My plan is score all my objectives, namely in a single action phase. Also I went up to playing at 22 cards because I like 22 card decks.
Round 1
Godsworn Hunt were first up played by Rob. I won boards so he placed the Soul Refractor while I placed the Arcane Nexus wide.
Lund began by shooting Ollo to score What Armour? The Godsworn proceeded to charge in but their attacks constantly missed. My disciplined fire allowed me to churn through their lines and wear down the Darkoath warriors. By the end of the game they were all wiped out and I had won 18/0.
Round 2
Ylthari’s Guardians were next being played by Sam. For boards I won the roll-off again so Sam chose the Shattered Refractor while I placed the Arcane Nexus in diagonal configuration.
Phase 1 started very cautiously. I had Death From Afar, Seeking Advancement and Combination Strike meaning Gallaghan had to be the fighter I killed. After surviving an onslaught of spells from Ylthari, Drakkskewer charged Gallaghan with a smash and a crit. Gallaghan missed with his own attack. He then took 1 damage from Toxic Gases. Lund charged and rolled 2 smashes, Gallaghan failed to defend and I scored all my objectives! With the ball rolling, Ylthari failed an early charge at the start of phase 2 and she was quickly killed along with the rest of her warband which put me on a 15/2 win.
Round 3
Thorns of the Briar Queen played by Pete were next. He lost boards and placed the Penitent’s Throne so I set the Arcane Nexus wide.
Phase 1 was tense as the Thorns were able to secure 4 objectives and tie me out at 6/6 for glory but at the cost of losing the Briar Queen and the Ever-Hanged. After that however I pushed up the aggro and had Drakkskewer hold a key objective. I wasn’t able to completely wipeout the Chainrasps but only 3 ghosts remained alive at the end of the game to secure me a 19/6 win.
Round 4
Thundrik’s Profiteers used by Adam would be my last opponent for the day. Winning boards again let Adam place the Shattered Refractor first while I set the Arcane Nexus in diagonal configuration.
The game started off as cat and mouse with the opposing Drakkskewer popping around the board to score Shortcut. I managed to score Keep Them Guessing and Live by the Code to stay ahead. I went first in phase 2 and had my Drakkskewer kill the opposing one to score Seeking Advancement. Adam continued to churn through his objective deck but I was able to stay ahead. By the end of the game Adam only had Thundrik left and I had won 19/15.
After 4 rounds I was the only undefeated player and had won again! My Thundrik’s Profiteers proved to be extremely consistent which was part of the reason I wanted to see how they’d function yet due to the new restricted list I’ll have to rewrite the deck if I stick with the Profiteers. This was probably them at their most powerful.
Other than that go to Wargamer’s Den. It’s a great new gaming store with a growing scene. Due to the surprise popularity of the event the next one should be on a Saturday and be best of 3 format. Amazing! Couldn’t ask for a better set of staff.
As for me, well that’s a good question. I’ve won 2 Grand Clashes and now I’ve won with all 16 warbands. Yes there’s always Dreadfane and Beastgrave but I’m reaching my limit in regards to what I can accomplish with Warhammer Underworlds. The only thing left really is to win an international event. Either way I’ll think about where to go from here. All that I know is that the future will hold crits 😉
Can You Roll A Crit? 
Congratulations on winning with every warband.
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I ha d a couple hour hrs on Profiteers and Ironhail more specifically. I thought of some cool interactions. Shattering terrain lets you damage 2 fighters if he’s equipped with rapid reload and can tag 2 different fighters. With fighter ferocity and/or glory seeker also, he can do some serious damage.
Also, using stand and shoot, iron hail, with rapid reload, could shoot the charging target and then shoot again and not necessarily having to be at the same target.
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Shattering Terrain only works during the next activation. As per the FAQ, anything after an action is not during an activation so only Ironhail’s first attack would benefit from Shattering Terrain.
But yes you can do that with Stand and Shoot.
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