Dankboss

I've tried massed infantry, gunline and target saturation (using all min sized units) but felt they lacked focus or were otherwise compromised too easily. My current build allows for half to be aggressive cavalry, and the other half to be a core of infantry. I've certainly had the best results with my current list, in fact the last few games I've won before turn 2 is over due to my opponent conceding due to army losses/ the inability to respond to both threats at once. My regular opponent has played against this list numerous times using numerous builds with two armies, so it's going well for me so far.

So after 10 months of working with Freeguild of Hammerhal, I've now come up with my perfected Semi-competitive to potentially competitive list. I reckon it can go 3-2 at a tournament depending on matchups/ missions. It has a roughly 75% winrate vs StoD and so far a 100% winrate vs Tempest's Eye. Unfortunately I can't test against other armies due to the pandemic, but I go up against strong shooting or board control every game, both with high armor. The purpose of this post is to help other people with their lists, and not to improve what I already have. This list usually generates an additional CP a turn thanks to banners, 2 if I'm lucky, and combined with the 1CP from the battalion gives it a healthy number to work with. Note I do not have any retinues/ adjutants in this list, nor do I need one. Heroes: My list has just 2 heroes, however both are reasonably durable. The meta is not kind to single foot heroes with all the magic and shooting going on, and frankly, there are none that fit this aggressive list. I originally ran Saint's Blade on my Griffon, but found it to be overkill most of the time, so I've now opted for +1 save. The Griffon takes opportunistic high priority picks, but I try to reserve him for turn 2-3 if I can. His Knights will be doing most of the work, and so he needs to stay alive. Blood of the Twelve ensures consistency of damage. The Luminark is more valuable than the Hurricanum in this build, especially because I gave him Twinstone. I do not rely on its magic, but in the 50% of games I get to play in Hysh, it does become more reliable. In a single caster build, the Luminark does not need to juggle Wings of Fire with Cindercloud, thanks to Pha's Protection. While it's not a powerful caster, nor are its spells critical, it is a useful toolbox which has a spell for everything; an emergency hoard clear with Burning Gaze, durability with Pha's Protection, or mobility with Wing's of Fire. The Searing Beam of Light racks up good damage over the game and forces the opponent to move units in ways they wouldn't normally have to. This is also great for bullying small heroes. The Luminark is usually beside my Greatswords, and proxies as a Freeguild hero thanks to Twinstone. Core: My core consists of my 30 Greatswords and 20 Gunners. The recent points drop of the Greatswords put them back on the table, and in this build they are critical to the success of the Lancers. Through trial and error, I've discovered that Hammerhalian Lancers works best when there's a second big threat on the table, that being the Greatswords. They will blend whatever they touch, but actually serve as an extremely bright distraction, as if they're ignored they will annihilate a front line. When protected by a Luminark, they usually last long enough to do their job, and fight over objectives, but again, their purpose is to create breathing room for the Lancers. The 20 Gunners simply provide fire support, and in some circumstances, are used to screen. I do not have a Freeguild General in this list, as this list is too aggressive for standing still, and I find the game moves too quickly for him, and so he has no place in this list. Gunners are important for peeling stragglers off Demigryphs. Support Elements: Two units of 10 guard are my support in this list. They provide screens and objective holders. Note the reason I have 10 Halberdiers and not shields is because they're painted, and anything hitting either unit will destroy them anyway. (They're also Manann's Blades). The Hammer: My hammer is a minimum sized Hammerhalian Lancers battalion. I often deploy 1 unit on one side of the board, while 2 units work alongside my Griffon. One obviously won't be getting the benefits of the battalion, but some missions require the flexibility. I usually hide them in cover until they get the chance to charge, or against aggressive lists, I put out a screen to net fast units or stall them, and then counter strike. Sometimes, a bold unit sprinting up the center of the board with an At the Double can serve as a spanner and/ or distraction in the works, as they require a dedicated enemy unit to remove, and if ignored in favor of the main battalion, will be in a prime spot for later turns. The Lancers are great at coming from multiple angles, with the Griffon pinning targets while the Knights deliver the blow. They regularly run through 30 2+/3+ save Longbeards or StoD something with reroll saves and ward save. Their damage is great, and usually won't get bogged down unless caught out of position, which is another element which is critical to its success; positioning and foresight is the most important thing to consider when using this battalion, as it relies on them charging. This is why the Greatswords creating breathing room is so important, as without them, the opponent will just castle the side that the lancers are on. They can however fight better than most other cavalry off the charge, so a protracted fight is not always a failure. The goal of the Hammerhalian Lancers is to plow straight through a flank of the enemy, and to keep activating with Righteous Purpose to dig farther and farther into the center of the board. With good charge rolls and enough CP (which is likely), the whole battalion can be fighting twice, and carving through the flank. If multiple units are tagged they'll be causing a chain reaction of pile ins, blunted retaliations and 2nd activations that can win through causing the enemy's force to crumble frighteningly fast, while maintaining a strong infantry presence elsewhere on the board. Do be aware that in missions where the territories are smaller, you will need to be even more careful with your targets. Unfortunately, Hammerhal is weaker in these missions, but that's not to say they can't win. If playing the missions with full territory coverage, Freeguild of Hammerhal can be a very potent force. Weaknesses: Mortal wounds are a problem, and so the Luminark is important even just to save some wounds. Movement disruption is another weakness, such as Be'lakor, Khorne Daemon Princes and Endless Spell blocks, however Wings of Fire is a useful tool for these situations. I've become so used to these disruptions that they're rarely a problem for me anymore, and just add to the positioning game the Lancers need to play. With enough experience, they shouldn't be stopping you too often. Other Advice: This is a 6 drop list, so it's quite possible to decide who goes first. Unless the scenario requires a quick objective grab, aim to go second, even against a shooting army that wants to attack first. You need the opponent to move up first before you can commit to a Lancer charge. If they're not budging, throw your Greatswords forwards and bait them; they're a juicy target and open up areas to exploit if the bait is taken. Place your Demigryphs in cover during set up if you're concerned with alpha strikes; a 2+ save ought to keep them safe. Keep the Griffon safe at all costs. Use the Guard to create space.

Thought I'd come back and give my new views now that it's been 10 months and the points have changed. I've been running Freeguild of Hammerhal, and have been winning 75% of my games vs Duardin Tempest's Eye and StoD (usually with Be'lakor), in a semi-competitive environment. Unfortunately, quarantine has stopped be from playing vs other armies, but the two I regularly play against have together strong elements of shooting and board control, so they're decent indicators. Freeguild general: B I've dropped my Freeguild General from my list entirely, as I play aggressive and the game moves too quickly for my gunners to stand still. Still, he is obviously essential to gunlines, and if I took Crossbows then I would take him, but gunners don't have the range to be standing still from my experience. General on griffon: B/A in Hammerhalian Lancers. Saint's Blade on Runesword makes him overkill units of 30 Longbeards on the charge, so I've switched to Armor of Mallus (which is the standard choice of most people) for the durability. He's critical in Hammerhalian Lancers, so gains A tier due to his outrageous damage he and his knights will output. Him and 1 or 2 min squads of Demigryphs will plow through pretty much anything. I run Blood of the Twelve for consistency. Hurricanum: B/A in magic builds. The Hurricanum doesn't really do much for Freeguild, since most of our units hit on 2s under standard conditions. Good for hitting single targets, but I've actually come to prefer the Luminark outside of magic focused builds. Great for using Cinder Cloud. Luminark: B The ward save is important for Freeguild as it's our only source of protection, and it's more valuable than +1 to hit. Pha's Protection means that you don't need to juggle Wings of Fire with Cindercloud in a low caster army. 50% chance to get +1 to cast from realms helps. I don't rely on its casting however, but it is a durable enough hero. The searing beam of light racks up good damage over the course of the game, and can force enemy units to move to not get multi hits. I find it will be doing more damage overall than the Hurricanum, just not against single targets. I give it the Twinstone as my 2nd artifact, so it can double as a Hurricanum for melee units. It usually accompanies my Greatswords for the +1 to hit, as I only run 2 heroes in my list (Luminark and Griffon). Battlemage: C/ B in magic builds. I've downgraded the battlemage in my build (to not existing) due to the points increase and his vulnerability. He serves no purpose in my list, as he was usually running Pha's Protection, which the Luminark shares. Battlemage on griffon: N/A Freeguild guard: C They're guard. They screen. They tarpit. I run 2 units of 10 as objective holders and screens, but they don't do work. 40 Halberdiers are decent, as are 40 shields. Greatswords: B+ The Greatswords saw a new breath of life with their points drop; I now run a unit of 30 in my standard list. Cast Pha's Protection with 6+ ward and they should be getting where they need to go. Outrageously choppy, these guys have killed monsters with their mortal wounds before they even roll wounds. These are my new core, replacing the guard; I'm not too worried if they get hit, as my real punch is my Hammerhalian Lancers, however, they are instrumental in making Lancers work, as the battalion, from my experience, needs a second big threat on the board to draw heat for them. This duel threat gives the Lancers the breathing room needed to work, because 30 Greatswords can't be ignored either. The Greatswords are now in a good place and should not be underestimated. Freeguild handgunners: A The Handgunners are almost always useful, even in aggressive builds like mine. They can screen, or lend fire support to peel targets. Thanks to their ability to shoot when charge, they're harder to compromise than other shooting units. I have however reduced my unit from 30 to 20, as they're not a focus of my build and can get tagged easily at that size. Freeguild crossbowmen: N/A. Demigryph knights: B/ A+ in Hammerhalian Lancers. The only Freeguild unit that I'm giving an A+ to. I run a minimum sized Lancers battalion, and imo 3 is the magic number for maneuverability. These guys will eat almost anything alive; I've had a damaged unit of 2 wipe out 5 Chaos Knights, and again 20 Ironbreakers, in a single activation. If they're fighting twice, their target is gone. Even vs 2+ saves they can do significant damage. Their 3+ save gives them just enough durability to get hit back and tie up targets that survive, and they can fight well enough off the charge thanks to their mounts. Also resistant to penalties to hit, thanks to the General on Griffon making them hit on 1s (I usually only use Rousing Battlecry for the +1 to charge) Their weakness is mortal wounds however, so good positioning is important. Again, if they get charged first, they're in a better position than other cavalry at least. I can't understate just how much damage minimum sized units can do. Outriders: N/A Pistoliers: N/A Flagellants:N/A

I'm not saying he's the hero you want, but he is the hero that can resist being sniped, and the hero keyword has value in itself. The other thing you could do is body block your heroes; my Madcap can't be seen at all with 3 Fellwater Troggoths in the way, and Moonface Mommet does not require LoS.

You can take it more than once, but only cast once.

Look out Sir and cover ought to be enough; if they're focusing him down then they're not targeting your squigs. I don't see why he's vulnerable to shooting when every other option gets sniped off faster by every means. If you're concerned with losing heroes to ranged and magic, then he's the only pick who can resist that. A Madcap casting nightshroud would also be a good addition. I play against Tempest's Eye Irondrakes 50% of my games and they have never killed him.

The Troggboss is the hardest hero we have to kill, especially in this meta, so he'll have utility in being an anchor that can't be sniped off.

A unit of 20 stabbas in all lists is a must for me. I don't think you need 2 Madcaps, and I tend to run Itchy Nuisance on the one with the Mommet since he's going to be getting close to his targets more often than backline wizards. On another note, I'm glad the Mommet is picking up traction. I have it as a must take, especially against StoD (and OBR) and their reroll saves. They don't get to reroll if they don't get to save.

This ought to solve the squig's problem of being a glass hammer without glass hammer support, in that they'll be doing enough damage to prevent immediate retaliation. Squigs did decent damage as they were, but not enough to be a true glass hammer, like Slaanesh. Squig mounts with a damage potential of 4 each is actually really good; that makes them similar to Demigryphs and that's significant. Sneaky Snufflers will give them some crazy damage. I'm expecting this to bump Gitz up by a whole tier (to like, tier C or B).

This is a pretty good addition to Gitz; it was Squigs and Spiders that really needed help imo, so that's one of them fixed. Grots and Troggoths are fine for the most part. We do have a year of these rules being legal, and by then it would have been over 2 and half years since Gitz were released, so I can see this being applied to the next Gitz book; it might even be aligned to sync up with each other. It's a good thing we got this straight after the GHB. On another note I just had my Troggoth Hag humiliate Be'lakor by unbinding his spell and dealing 2 mortal wounds, feed him to the cauldron and then vomiting on him to finish him off.

In hindsight, in a squig army rerolls might be preferable if you want to battleshock squigs off early, cause mortal wounds and bring half back. If this happens turn 2 you ought to get some back during the game.

Well the Troggboss is becoming a good pick in this meta, so having him as an anchor point with these new rules for squigs could be useful, since he's granting them +1 bravery and rerolls.

I think that trait will be competing with Loonskin and Alpha Trogg, as they can all affect battleshock. The artifact kinda gives half a Ghyrstrike back to the Troggboss, but it is situational. Funnily enough, my Troggboss doesn't get to fight much since his Rockguts have already plastered the target across the board. Are these locked into the subfaction? I.e you can't take other traits/ the artifact must be the first?

Right, so the Moon works as usual; so we're effectively playing Gitz with extra rules? Could you share what the new trait and artifact is?

Wouldn't that prevent the Troggboss making troggs battleline? Are you able to give a rundown of what these rules are?

So you can take any Gitz unit in Jaws of Mork?

Could you explain? Surely they'd be locked into Jaws of Mork?

Am I right in what I heard, that the Loonshrine Warscroll has been updated to allow squig units to come back if the general is a Squig? Because that's a big deal for gitz.

I want to see people's Dreadsaurian lists. I know he can be somewhat viable with the right buffs, but I haven't actually seen someone utilize him yet.

The best analogue for their size in cities is Drakespawn knights.

This is technically a whole other allegiance; so Gloomspite Gitz rules/ battalions aren't in it.

Yeah, Squigs are great but not when it's all Squigs. They lack the glass cannon support that Slaanesh gets.

I can only hope that with the next GHB, they'll acknowledge WD publications. I know people have complained about it. It's completely illogical to create something with a one year lifespan, that is otherwise legal for matched play. I recall Warhammer Weekly discussing just having an archive on the website for these rules. Space Marine codices last longer than these...

Hammerhal has gold and mustaches.

I think a bluish dark grey with accents of orange on the weapons would work. I think the battletome has an example of a dark tone Rockgut.