Tournament Report: Warhammer 40,000 Seeing Doubles Event

TOURNAMENT REPORT

Date: November 22, 2025

Game: Warhammer 40,000

Size: 2,000 pt Doubles (1,000/1,000pt)

Missions: Chapter Approved 2025

Prologue:

2025 has been a bountiful war gaming year, but I never expected to be partaking in a Warhammer 40,000 Tournament again after my first 40k competitive experience. The experience I had with Tom back in 2019 was such a mixed bag that I never expected to be part of that scene again. While I've done a few Bolt Action tournament events, which have gone mostly smoothly, the hiccups I had from our first 40k doubles event stemming from the general requirements for tournament play, player etiquette, and very near non-game we had taught me that I was just not invested enough to perform in a tournament setting. Below are the two photos I snapped from our final game of that 2019 event during the "wooden spoon" match (which we also lost).

Flash forward to 2025. With the "second baby coping mechanism" plunge that my buddy Luke took into 40k (and specifically competitive 40k) it started to appear inevitable that I would once again find myself doing a Warhammer tournament event before the end of the year. A doubles event was being held at a local game store and this looked like it was going to be the on-ramp to may foray into the competitive event scene. 

I decided pretty early on that I would take my Tau to partner with Luke' Grey Knights. Partially because I think the pairing of big guns with the Grey Knights would more useful, and partially because I knew my Tau rules better than my Space Marines or Harlequins. We spent the month of November planning and tweaking lists, before having to rebuild the lists from scratch after the November Stealth Suits update blew my lists out of the water. I spent a little bit of time trying to study the current Tau meta which had shifted to the typical "Trip-tide" builds and working with Luke to plug gaps in our lists. We picked a team name, Bottom Feeders, based on our current Fortnite tactics and we eventually settled on the lists at the end of the prologue.

When the big day finally arrived I was very... tired. The night before I had been up till midnight hosting and cleaning up after our family's annual Dorksgiving event. I arrived fairly early to the store and took some time to sip my coffee and mull through the thoughts on what we would finally play. We had no idea what missions or terrain layout were going to look like, so we were going in blind.

When we finally got inside, we introduced ourselves to the tournament organizer (TO) and found that all the tables would be set up using the Games Workshop layout #1 in the 2025 Chapter Approved missions. People started pouring in and I spied on what our possible competition was going to look like. A few space marine armies, a Chaos Knight, Tau battle suits, an Eldar Wraighknight, and an Ork army featuring a Stompa...

Pairings where finally announced. It was time to get rolling some dice.

Tau Empire (Alex)

Detachment - Mont'ka

1x Commander in Enforcer Battlesuit (80 pts)
• 4x Fusion blaster
• 1x Battlesuit fists
• Warlord, 2x Shield Drone

1x Ethereal (50 pts)
• 1x Honour stave
• 1x Twin pulse carbine
• Hover Drone, Marker Drone

1x Firesight Team (60 pts)
• 1x Close combat weapons
• 1x Longshot pulse rifles
• 1x Pulse pistol

10x Pathfinder Team (90 pts)
• 1x Pathfinder Shas'ui
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Pulse carbine
• 1x Pulse pistol
• 1x Semi-automatic grenade launcher
• 1x Twin pulse carbine
• Shield Drone, Grav-inhibitor drone, Pathfinder Shas'ui (Shield Drone)
• 9x Pathfinders
• 9x Close combat weapon
• 6x Pulse carbine
• 9x Pulse pistol
• 3x Ion rifle
• 9x Pathfinder Team

5x Stealth Battlesuits (110 pts)
• 1x Stealth Shas'vre
• 1x Battlesuit fists
• 1x Fusion blaster
• 1x Twin pulse carbine
• Homing beacon, Marker Drone, Stealth Shas'vre
• 4x Stealth Shas'ui
• 4x Battlesuit fists
• 3x Burst cannon
• 1x Fusion blaster
• 4x Stealth Shas'ui

5x Vespid Stingwings (65 pts)
• 1x Vespid Strain Leader
• 1x Neutron blaster
• 1x Stingwing claws
• 4x Vespid Stingwings
• 4x Neutron blaster
• 4x Stingwing claws

1x Broadside Battlesuits (80 pts)
• 1x Broadside Shas’vre
• 1x Crushing bulk
• 2x Missile pod
• 1x Heavy rail rifle
• 1x Seeker missile
• Weapon support system, Broadside Shas’vre

1x Broadside Battlesuits (80 pts)
• 1x Broadside Shas’vre
• 1x Crushing bulk
• 2x Missile pod
• 1x Heavy rail rifle
• 1x Seeker missile
• Weapon support system, Broadside Shas’vre

3x Crisis Sunforge Battlesuits (140 pts)
• 1x Crisis Sunforge Shas’vre
• 2x Fusion blaster
• 1x Battlesuit fists
• Marker Drone, Shield Drone, Crisis Sunforge Shas’vre (Shield Drone)
• 2x Crisis Sunforge Shas’ui
• 2x Battlesuit fists
• 4x Fusion blaster
• 2x Marker Drone, 2x Shield Drone, 2x Crisis Sunforge Shas’ui (Shield Drone)

1x Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160 pts)
• 1x Ghostkeel fists
• 1x Cyclic ion raker
• 1x Twin fusion blaster
• Battlesuit support system

1x Devilfish (85 pts)
• 1x Accelerator burst cannon
• 1x Armoured hull
• 2x Seeker missile
• 2x Twin pulse carbine

Grey Knights (Luke)

Detachment - Warpbane Taskforce

Brotherhood Librarian (80 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Combi-weapon
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
• 1x Vortex of Doom

Strike Squad (120 Points)
• 1x Justicar
◦ 1x Nemesis force weapon
◦ 1x Storm bolter
• 4x Grey Knight
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
◦ 1x Incinerator
◦ 3x Nemesis force weapon
◦ 3x Storm bolter

Nemesis Dreadknight (210 Points)
• 1x Heavy incinerator
• 1x Heavy psycannon
• 1x Nemesis daemon greathammer

Nemesis Dreadknight (210 Points)
• 1x Heavy incinerator
• 1x Heavy psycannon
• 1x Nemesis daemon greathammer

Purifier Squad (250 Points)
• 1x Knight of the Flame
◦ 1x Nemesis force weapon
◦ 1x Purifying Flame
◦ 1x Storm bolter
• 9x Purifier
◦ 4x Close combat weapon
◦ 5x Nemesis force weapon
◦ 4x Psycannon
◦ 9x Purifying Flame
◦ 5x Storm bolter

Purifier Squad (125 Points)
• 1x Knight of the Flame
◦ 1x Nemesis force weapon
◦ 1x Purifying Flame
◦ 1x Storm bolter
• 4x Purifier
◦ 2x Close combat weapon
◦ 2x Nemesis force weapon
◦ 2x Psycannon
◦ 4x Purifying Flame
◦ 2x Storm bolter

BATTLE REPORT CARD

Mission: Scorched Earth

 
🟥Red Team: Alex & Luke (Bottom Feeders)

🟥Factions: Tau & Grey Knights

🟥List: Mont'ka & Warpbane Taskforce

🆚

🟦Blue Team: Nico & Evan (Burning River Gaming)

🟦Factions: Space Marines & Dark Eldar

🟦List: Vanguard Spearhead & Spectacle of Spite

 

Summary:

Game 1 pit Luke and I against a Space Marine and Druhkari pair. I recognized the Space Marine player, Nico, as being one of the players Tom and I fought round 1 back in 2019. They warned us about some of their army tricks, such as a DE unit that could move 21" and still charge, Up/Down strats, and a strat that could make the Dark Eldar player charge at the end of our movement phase (ouch!). The game was Scorched Earth, but My and Luke's focus for game 1 was to just get our heads wrapped around everything and make sure we learned as we went. 

Turn 1 went I OK for us. A neat Pathfinder scout and embark trick let us push some infiltrating Bladeguard Vets back. Winning the initiative roll meant that we could push a bit aggressively and really cripple the Bladeguard unit. Biggest error in this turn was not moving the Ghostkeel up enough to hold the objective, which meant the Grey Knights didn't have Hallowed Ground for Turn 2. It was also during Turn 1 that I learned about how poorly I positioned my Broadsides. This wasn't going to be the biggest mistake in this game, due to the other team's lack of heavy armor, but it also made them a non-factor when it came to just helping to kill anything.

Turn 2 went a bit south for us. I recommended jumping the Purifiers and their anti-infantry 2+ close to the Space Marine Centurions to knock them out a bit. It was a bad idea due to the terrain layout and, while they did get to kill some cheap Dark Eldar Units, the purifiers were torn up by some charging Wyches. 

Turn 3 we lose nearly all initiative and are put on the back foot, failing to foresee the trick of charging at the end of our movement and getting caught out. Turn 4 we are practically tabled and Turn 5 we are tabled.

Final Score: 🟥48 - 🟦97

At the end of Game 1, we felt just OK about everything. We recognized some drastic misplays and hope to correct these in future games. Our goal was to improve in the next game. Nico and Evan would end up winning the overall event. Upon reflecting at the of the event, I was pretty happy that we ended up just slightly below the average losing team score of 50 during our first match against the event winners.

BATTLE REPORT CARD

Mission: Take and Hold

 

🟥Red Team: Alex & Luke (Bottom Feeders)

🟥Factions: Tau & Grey Knights

🟥List: Mont'ka & Warpbane Taskforce

🆚

🟦Blue Team: Wes & Colleen (Betty's Fighting Havenicans)

🟦Factions: Space Marines & Tyranids

🟦List: Shadowmark Talon & Subterranean Assault

 

Summary:

With some sandwiches in our bellies, it was time to head into Game 2 which pit us against Space Marines and Tyranids. Both of these armies look to us like they were going to be itching to deep strike in our deployment area, so we planed on playing a bit cagey in some aspects. In addition to the deep strike abilities, there were going to be a few high toughness, high wound targets in the form of a Land Raider Redeemer, Predator tank, Norn Emissary, Exocrin, and Trygon that we were going to have to chew through. Even the assault terminators with stormshields were going to be a bear.

We win the initiative roll again, so Turn 1 is ours to move out and claim the center objective with the Devilfish. The Ghostkeel this time was also going to get in the fight and claim a no man's land objective. It was a cagey first play, but we were on the points.

Turn 2 goes with some mixed fortunes for us. I split up the Broadsides during deployment this time to help gaurantee at least having an angle on something. The lack of focus fire meant that the Predator takes a lickin' but stays up and all the shots at the Exocrin bounce off. Pathfinders were able to disembark and remove the Incursor team moving up, and the Devilfish locks the terminators in combat (which may not have been the correct play?). In return, my first Broadside is KO'd by some anti-tank fire and the second is taken out (by what, I cannot remember). Purifiers drop in the back field to help take out that Exocrin, while the Sunforge drop down to deal with the Norn, but only minimally damages it. The Tau missed out on a lot of damage potential, while the Grey Knights slightly misplay and lose durability.

Turn 3 has its own highs and lows. A great heroic intervention slays the deep strike menace while also putting pressure on more of the units trying to get into our home field. However, the Sunforge suits again fail to output any decent damage against the high toughness Norn and the Nemesis Dreadknight that is brought up to deal with it fails to seal the deal, leaving it low on wounds but still standing. Turn 2 saw some of the Tyranid burrowers brought back into their deployment zone to deal with the Sunforge and Dreadknight, which are dealt mortal blows. The Terminators in the center of the battlefield finally break free from the Devilfish and begin their march towards units harassing the Norn.

Turn 4, while we are keeping our deployment zone clean of hostiles, our last bastion in no-man's-land has finally fallen. We can do what we like to hold our home point, but we won't be able to outscore the other team anymore...

Final Score: 🟥50 - 🟦97

We took stock of our loss and tried to assess what went wrong. We came out of the gates swinging and, on the Tau end, we just didn't end up putting out the damage we needed to take our left flank away from the Tyranids and that big Norn Emissary. We noted a misplay in keeping the Purifiers dealing with the Exocrin alive, but other than that, we weren't sure what else we could have done. Putting the Broadsides together so they could focus fire could have been the option here. We did well to avoid sending things into the meat grinder that was the Redeemer, aside from the Purifiers.

BATTLE REPORT CARD

Mission: Purge the Foe

 

🟥Red Team: Alex & Luke (Bottom Feeders)

🟥Factions: Tau & Grey Knights

🟥List: Mont'ka & Warpbane Taskforce

🆚

🟦Blue Team: Alex & Marcus (Ruby's Riveting Knights)

🟦Factions: Custodes & Eldar

🟦List: Shield Host & Spirit Conclave

 

Summary:

Fatigue was starting to set in as we entered Game 3, so no photos were taken during the game. It looked like we were in another "Wooden Spoon" match at the bottom of the table. Our opponents in Game 3 took a lower model count Custodes and Eldar list which contained a Wraithknight and an assortment of other Wraith units. I was feeling pretty good about the match up, but then the mission was announced: Purge the Foe. Well now, that good feeling quickly disappeared. Going into a game with more units on the table meant we were going to have a damn hard time scoring half of the primary points.

 

Our Team won the initiative again and pushed hard out onto the no-man's land objectives. We didn't have much deep strike to worry about and just pushed hard forward to try to gain the momentum. The low model/unit count meant that our Opponents were well hidden, but if they wanted to step foot out they were going to take a whole lot of punishment.

 

Turn 2, the punishment was handed out. The Caladius Grav tank moved up to a firing positions which the Broadsides were ready for and eliminate. The Wraithknight and Wraithlord step out hoping to peel some Pathfinders off the middle objective while the Sunforge Suits drop down to eliminate the Wraithknight. After a little rewind on missing some rules, the Wraithknight keeps standing on 1 wound. A NemDread in the midboard does a great charge and consolidate move to take down the Wraithlord.

 

The rest of the game is a bit of a blur due to fatigue, but the Custodes and Wraithblades start to come out of their hiding spots to threaten the no-man's land while we hold on pretty steady. There was an attempt to talk-out the last turn of the game, believing that we were in the lead at the time we didn't see a reason to protest. But turns out it was a lot closer than it should have been for a talk-out moment and we should have been given a heads up.

Final Score: 🟥63 - 🟦59

 

Epilogue:

First off, I want to thank Dave the TO and our opponents for making this event head and shoulders more enjoyable than that event back in 2019. Luke and I both enjoyed ourselves immensely. The challenges that went into playing at a higher level and the learning we came away with all culminated in us eagerly looking forward for the next event (hopefully, with a couple months buffer for our wives' sake). 

I really appreciate the doubles format, allowing for multiple rolls with opponents and also just providing a greater socializing opportunity. Games still lasted quite a long time, each only just finishing turn 4 by the 3 hour allotment.

Taking a look back at our armies, we both learned a lot about what we could possibly bring next time, or how to play our lists better. The biggest criticism I had for my own list was that the new 110pt Stealth Suit team felt too expensive for what they did. I could look at possibly swapping it out for a 10 Breachers or an Firesight Marksman. One of the hidden gems of my list turned out to be the Pathfinder infiltrate and 7" scout combo with the Devilfish helped tremendously save ourselves from Infiltrating and alpha striking marines. I learned a lot on how and what my Ghostkeel wants to do while simultaneously learning I had no idea what to do with the 5 Vespids in my list.

Overall, I returned hungry for more. While the full 2000pt game is a time commitment that I find hard to justify as a parent of two kiddos, I look forward trying to connect with the smaller point tournaments being run at a local store that I've never been to.