First off, a big thank you to the organisers and everyone who attended. The event was held in a brand-new dedicated venue for the area, and for a first outing it was excellent, great atmosphere, smooth running, and a really enjoyable day of 40k.
Into the day itself:
The List
If you want the full breakdown and reasoning, check out my army list blog post:
https://roadtoglory40k.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-tournament-army-list-houndpack.html
In short, I brought:
3x Executioners (meltaguns)
5x Stalkers (melta, havocs, claws)
5x Huntsmen (meltaguns)
2x1 Beast of Nurgle
2x3 Nurglings
13 War Dogs and 4 Nurgle allies, a list I’m very comfortable with at this point.
Event Overview
Format: 3-round RTT, 2000pts, matched play
Players: 24
Terrain: UKTC layouts
A great mix of experienced tournament players and newer faces - exactly what you want to see. It’s good to see fresh energy still coming into 10th edition 40k.
I didn’t get any practice games in between this and March’s RTT, so I leaned on familiarity rather than making major changes.
Game 1 – Take and Hold (Search and Destroy)
Opponent: Orks (War Horde)
Originally meant to play Blood Angels, but my opponent dropped so Orks it was.
My opponents list:
Ghaz, Painboy and 20 Boyz
Weirdboy, Warboss and 20 Boyz
1x10 Grots
3x5 Meganobz, 1 Mek and 2 Warboss
2 Trukks
1x Warboss on Bike with 6 Bikerz
1x5 Stormboyz
Uppy downy Lone op Ork boss.
Key Takeaway: Early pressure wins games!!
This matchup played out similarly to what I expected from Blood Angels: two big pressure units backed by smaller solid melee threats.
I won the roll and went first, deploying conservatively behind UKTC ruins before making aggressive scouting moves.
Turn 1 was huge:
Took both expansion objectives
Move-blocked bikes with Nurglings
Tagged Ghazghkull’s unit in my opponent’s backfield.
That last play was massive. My opponent had positioned Ghaz’s unit in a way that let me slip a Stalker War Dog behind and tag them, effectively shutting down a Turn 1 Waaagh threat and protecting my expansion. That, combined with early board control, effectively won the game.
I did overcommit slightly on Turn 2, putting too many War Dogs into Ghaz’s threat range once it fought its way out of combat with the War Dog and losing four over the next couple of turns. That could have been punished harder.
From there, I stabilised mid-board and outscored consistently.
Result: Win 93–75
Post-Game Thoughts
Strong macro play, slightly shaky micro.
The early aggression was correct, but I didn’t need to overextend on my natural expansion. A more measured approach would have preserved resources and given me cleaner counter charges to potentially stop the flip of my expansion.
Still, a solid opener and a good way to shake off the rust, considering no practice games.
Game 2 – Crucible of Battle (Linchpin)
Opponent: Tau (Auxiliary Cadre)
Twin lance
Farsight and 3 Plasma Suits
Coldstar and 3 Fusion Suits
1x Breacher team
1x Kroot leader on dinosaur
2x10 Kroot
2x6 Rampagers
1x2 Krootox
2x5 Hounds
3x Hammerheads - 2x Rail and 1x Ion
Key Takeaway: Stick to the plan
This is a matchup I know well, and the plan is always the same:
Minimal exposure turn1 and push the screening, unless my opponent reserves too much, then it's full send.
Control expansions
Punish the fusion drop
I lost the roll and went second, but the game followed the script perfectly.
I pushed forward just enough to control space while staging safely. My opponent committed cautiously and held fusion in reserve and hammerheads way back.
When the fusion finally dropped, I was ready to counter hit them.
Reactive move denied melta range once they rapid ingressed and moved forwards.
Counter charging the units that attacked my screens removed key threats.
Follow-up turn collapsed their board, leading to a decisive Turn 3 saw, Fusion suits dead, Hammerheads picked off, Twin Lance exposed and removed. At that point, the game was effectively over and we super quickly did the key plays for rounds 4 and 5.
Result: Win 96–49
Post-Game Thoughts
Clean execution. No unnecessary risks. Much better than game 1, didnt over commit and lose unnecessary War Dogs.
Familiarity with the matchup showed here, not just in decision making, but in pacing and confidence. Once momentum swung, my opponent didn’t have a route back in.
Game 3 – Sweeping Engagement (Terraform)
Opponent: Black Templars (Bastion Task Force)
Judiciar and 20 Crusaders
Emperors Champion and 5 Assault Intercessors
Captain and 5 Assault Intercessors
Captain and 4 Sword Bros
2x5 JPI
2x5 Scouts
1x Combi Lieutenant
2x Repulsor Executioners
Key Takeaway: Small mistakes cost games
This was always going to be the toughest round. 20 Crusaders + Judiciar = extremely hard to interact with multiple units capable of killing War Dogs. Double Repulsor Executioners adding serious ranged pressure.
I won the roll and went first, both of us played cautiously early on. The game stayed tight and low-scoring into Turn 3.
At that point (18–16), I needed to accelerate the game as I was heading for a narrow loss.
I pushed to force a decisive mid-to-late game, setting up a two-wave attack to try and overwhelm and score late. This worked to a point.
The end game was pretty brutal, with heavy trades on both sides, as we grew very tight on time, one key misplay with CP usage, I used a reactive move when it wasnt needed. that small misplay cost me the chance to score
Storm Hostile Objective and Secure No Man’s Land. I was 1 wound away from controlling an objective, but was left in a drawn position by a single surviving model, would have enjoyed a 2+ with a re roll. But alas, that play turn4 cost me 7 pts.
Result: Loss 76–71
Post-Game Thoughts;
That 7-point swing hurts, but it was avoidable.
Earlier in the game, I exposed a War Dog unnecessarily. If that model isnt bracketed, I likely just walk onto the objective and win on OC alone, I dont need to chance the 4s to hit and 2s to wound.
That said, credit to my opponent, played the pacing perfectly, committed at the right time and took full advantage of openings, one of the best games I’ve played this edition.
Tournament Summary
Finish: 4th / 24
Record: 2–1
Very happy with the result overall. My only loss was to the eventual winner, and it was a very close game, with a play to win the event.
Final Thoughts
I absolutely love this list, it feels refined, flexible, and well-suited to the current meta.
There’s still room to tighten up micro decisions, but the macro game plan is solid and repeatable.
I’ve already signed up for the May RTT and will be running the exact same list again.
No changes, just better execution.
See you at the next one.
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