Warhammer U.S. Masters 2016: Results and Winning Army List

The 2016 U.S. Masters Warhammer Fantasy Tournament is over and done with and after a weekend in Las Vegas only one man stood undefeated and in victory: my friend, Josh "Bad for the Hobby" Stuart. Josh took down the 1st Place trophy in a field of over 50 invited players from across the United States with his mid-comp Dark Elf army. His list surprised many of his opponents with its careful conservation of points and amazing amount of punishing damage that he could throw out every turn and with his ridiculous amount of dice re-rolling even the laws of averages could not tame him. Congratulations, asshole!

I, however, did not win the tournament. Although I did not end up doing as poorly as I did last year, two solid loses (including one ZERO) kept me out of the running (though I single play in Round 5 kept me out of the top 10). In the end, I ended up 27th overall with a final score of 53 battle points, 2 sportsmanship points, and 8 paint points for a final total of 63 (79 if I didn't screw up the last game). Next week I am going to delve into my games and where I made mistakes that could have saved or gained me a few additional points, but for now, I present to you the winning army list.

Warhammer U.S. Masters 2016: Army List

The 2016 Warhammer Fantasy U.S. Masters tournament is only a few days away. This year it is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be the last time that 8th Edition is played on a major tournament level.

As I wanted one more time to try and prove that Wood Elves can build decent lists for the 20-0 system, I settled on a high comping Wood Elf list that focuses on reducing the possible number of points that an opponent will be able to get without also suffering major damage in return.

My list is as follows:

U.S. Warhammer Fantasy Masters 2015: Tournament Overview

Depending on how active you are on the various Warhammer Forums, particularly the U.S. forum wargamersusa.com you may have heard a myriad of opinions about the U.S. Masters. Some decry that six games (four on Saturday) was too long. Others complain about the quality and armies from certain regions (most of which have never played this style of Warhammer before). And then there are the guys like me, whose main complaints relate to travel expenses and travel time, poor game decisions, and bad match-ups, but whose overall opinion of the tournament is that it is something work keeping and working to better with each year.

This post will not only go over my six (yes, six) Master's games for the weekend, but will also provide some information and opinion on the tournament itself. So be prepared for random comments and asides in my battle reports.

U.S. Warhammer Fantasy Masters 2015: Army List

So the Masters was over a month ago, but I never got around to posting my list. Going into the tournament, as it was a true Swedish tournament (where you get the difference between the army composition score in bonus victory points) I wanted to come in as high as I possible could. With that thought in mind, I built a Wood Elf list that came in at a maximum 14. Here is what I came up with:

Spellweaver [335 pts] [-31 comp] (General, Level 4, Lore of Heavens, Siverjir's Hex Scroll, Talisman of Preservation, Elven Steed)

Glade Captain [156 pts] [-17 comp] (Battle Standard Bearer, Asrai Spear, Starfire Shafts, Charmed Shield, Dragonbane Gem, Hail of Doom Arrow, Elven Steed)

Spellsinger [130 pts] [-12 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Metal, Dispel Scroll, Ruby Ring of Ruin)
Branchwraith [-75 pts] [-5 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Life)
Branchwraith [-75 pts] [-5 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Life)
Branchwraith [-75 pts] [-5 comp] (Level 1, Lore of Life)

Glade Guard [-225 pts] [-8 comp] (unit of 13 with Trueflight Arrows, full command)
Glade Guard [-220 pts] [-8 comp] (unit of 12 with Hagbane Tips, full command)
Glade Guard [-212 pts] [-6 comp] (unit of 12 with Starfire Shafts, musician, standard bearer)

Deepwood Scouts [190 pts] [-6 comp] (unit of 10 with Starfire Shafts, musician, standard bearer)
Deepwood Scouts [156 pts] [-4 comp] (unit of 8 with Starfire Shafts, musician, standard bearer)
Wild Riders [178 pts] [-9 comp] (unit of 6 with shields, standard bearer)
Wild Riders [178 pts] [-12 comp] (unit of 6 with shields, standard bearer)
Sisters of the Thorn [-253 pts] [-25 comp] (unit of 8, full command, Lichebone Pennant)

Great Eagle [50 pts] [-5 comp]

There is the army in all its mediocre glory. I am working on a post about my masters games, but I can state, without any doubt, that this army under performed and that with a little play testing I could have come up with something better roughly for the same composition score. In fact, I did with the list that I am taking to the West Coast GT (which comps a solid 14.2, but still manages to have some Waywatchers in the list).