With no RTTs in December, there’s been no traditional tournament prep... but that hasn’t slowed the steady stream of competitive games. I’m currently running the local Teams League, where teams of four compete using UKTC terrain and WTC scoring.
We’re two rounds into the league and now pausing for Christmas, with Round 3 kicking off on 10th January. So far, the team is 2 wins from 2, which is a great start.
My List
I’m running my now-standard Houndpack Lance. Regular readers will recognise it, but for anyone new:
Houndpack Lance
5× Stalkers with Daemonbreath Spears, Claws, and Havocs
5× Huntsman with meltaguns
3× Executioners with meltaguns
10× Plaguebearers
1× Beast of Nurgle
The Stalkers are carrying Preyslayer’s Mantle and Final Howl.
Round 1
Mission: Terraform – Sweeping Engagement
Opponent: Ultramarines, 1st Company Task Force
It’s fair to say my opponent didn’t have enough reliable anti-tank to deal with a wall of War Dogs.
Opponent’s List Highlights
Calgar with 10 Terminators
Biologus Apothecary with 6 Aggressors
Judiciar with 3 Bladeguard
10 Infernus Marines
5 Jump Pack Assault Intercessors
5 Intercessors
Land Raider
Predator (Lascannons)
Vindicator
This game was brutally one-sided on the scoreboard. I secured a 20–0 WTC result, winning 95–28.
I went second, which isn’t ideal, but in reality it didn’t matter. I built a strong early lead and never let off the pressure. The speed and aggression of the list clearly caught my opponent off guard. While he tried to play a trading game with his Jump Pack Intercessors and staged conservatively, I pushed hard up both flanks and Terraformed every midfield objective.
That pressure forced Calgar and the Terminators out earlier than he wanted and without proper support. Once I was able to gang up on them with minimal retaliation, the biggest threat was gone. A Huntsman shooting on death into the Vindicator sealed the deal.
The team won the round 77–3.
Round 2
Mission: Crucible of Battle – Purge the Foe
Opponent: Space Wolves (Gladius)
This time I paired into a Space Wolves list that absolutely had the tools to chew through War Dogs.
Opponent’s List Highlights
Logan Grimnar (solo)
Bjorn
Arjac with 10 Terminators
Ragnar with 10 Blood Claws
6 Thunderwolves
Vindicator
Lancer
Rhino
5 Scouts
5 Wulfen
5 Infiltrators
5 Intercessors
5 Fenrisian Wolves
Plenty of units that want to eat Wardogs.
There was a small list error: almost nothing could legally start in the Rhino. My teammate spotted it before the game, I spoke to my opponent, and he simply deployed it empty on his home objective—no issues at all.
The Game
I won the roll-off and went first… not ideal.
This was the final game of our pairing to finish, and the other games were extremely tight with the 3 other games ending on my top of turn 4. Going into the final 2 turns, we knew the maths:
10 points = draw
11+ points = round win
In the end, I won 80–69, a 12–8 WTC victory, which secured the round.
The game itself was a brutal grind. The key takeaway here is that my approach nearly cost both me and the team the round.
I played extremely passively, focused almost entirely on denying primary and taking “safe” scoring plays. I don’t think I attempted a single charge over 5". That caution gave my opponent, who swung hard and took risks, a genuine path to winning the game.
The turning point came late. Earlier, my opponent auto-passed a crucial Battle-shock for points. On turn 5, though, he failed a critical test in the centre within range of a War Dog and fighting a Beast of Nurgle. That failure killed a Terminator and then left him one wound short of killing the Beast. The result? He lost Area Denial, Secure No Man’s Land, and gave me Kill More.
A 13-point swing.
Lessons Learned
I learned a huge amount about teams play here. Playing passively isn’t always correct even when you’re protecting a narrow margin. I should have played this game far more like the Ultramarines matchup: aggressively, decisively, and on my terms.
Yes, I might lose two or three War Dogs—but I force the game wide open and make my opponent engage where I want them to.
Practice Game
Practice Practice Practice
With the league paused, I squeezed in a super casual practice game against Astra Militarum – Grizzled Veteran Grotmas detachment.
I experimented with 14 War Dogs, bringing Brigands back into the list
Practice List
5 Huntsman
4 Stalkers
3 Brigands
2 Executioners
Opponent’s Army
2× Dorn Commanders
3× Chimeras with Kasrkin
2× Catachans
26 Cadians (Command Squad + Commissar)
10 Cadians
2× 6 Bullgryn
As with many lists I’ve been facing, there simply wasn’t enough reliable anti-tank. That let me push aggressively and win the material war by turn 3. Using WTC scoring, the game ended 14–6—fairly low scoring early, as my opponent could out-OC me for several turns, but the gap opened up decisively in turns 4 and 5.
Final Thoughts on 14 Dogs
I really enjoyed 14 War Dogs. Daemons still feel close to essential in many matchups, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about running pure Chaos Knights with no allies. It’s definitely given me something to think about going into Round 3 of the league.
Thanks for reading!
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