Take a look at the top Warhammer: The Old World lists from this years NOVA Open 2025 GT.
This past weekend saw the NOVA Open GT take place in Washington, DC. With 66 players and armies representing every faction save Chaos Daemons, it’s one of the largest Old World events around. I returned to the scene of my crimes this year not as a player, but as a judge. We had a great Judge team and the whole shebang went really well. A huge shout out to Blue Ford of SquareHammer for putting it all together and making it happen. As a judge I had a lot more chance to watch games and look at the lists there, and so today I wanted to talk about the top lists at the event. Interestingly, thanks to a number of draws no player went 5-0, which led to some big shake ups. Also thanks to the way prizes are done I figured we could look at a few lists. So lets dig in.
Best Overall- Egbert Stolk – Errantry Crusade
Errantry Crusade – 1997 points
Duke Geoffrey Barley is on a crusade to fill the Lady’s Chalice with the finest ale. He has returned to the battlefield to reclaim his glory and find the best golden liquid the world can brew, albeit a bit tipsy.
- 417- Duke Geoffrey Barley:
Shield, Virtue of Knightly Temper, General, Royal Pegasus, Ogre Blade, Sirienne’s Locket - 276 – Baron Tancred du Hops
Lance, Shield, The Crusader’s Vow, Virtue of Heroism, Royal Pegasus, Gromil Great Helm - 219 – Paladin Gerard Malt
Lance, The Crusader’s Vow, Virtue of The Impetuous Knight, Battle Standard Bearer, Royal Pegasus, Charmed Shield, 2x Obsidian Lodestone - 76 – Lady Elsa Springwater
Damsel, Bretonnian Warhorse, Wizard Level 1, Illusion - 311- The jolly day drinkers:
10 Mounted Knights of the Realm, The Crusader’s Vow, First Knight, Crusader’s Clarion, Standard Bearer, War Banner, Musician - 132- The bitter boys
6 Knights Errant, The Crusader’s Vow, Gallant, Standard Bearer, Musician - 107- The prancing pilsners
5 Knights Errant, The Crusader’s Vow, Gallant, Musician - 80 – The boozy boyz
10 Squires, Scouts - 40 – The draft kegs
5 Squires, Scouts - 339 – The brewer barrels
5 Pegasus Knights, The Crusader’s Vow, First Knight, Standard Bearer, Errantry Banner
How The List Played
Egbert fought his way to win best over all with a fairly normal Bretonnian list. You’ve got characters on Pegesui, Pegasus Knights and some supporting knights and peasants. What does stand out is that he did it with Errantry Crusade Army of Infamy and not Exiles. Previously this AoI was considered very uncompetitive, but has not come around. With it and Virtue of The Impetuous Knight he can get a 23 inch charge threat range (26 max charge) on his Pegs, which is pretty scary.
Some times just moving the army is the biggest challenge.
Over his five games he beat Empire, lost to Vampire Counts and then went on to beat Dwarves, Bret Exiles and Warriors of Chaos. There were some hard, and really good looking games in there. I think his Chalice of sometimes beer, and sometimes wine, helped him, but he’s also just a great player. Soft scores, painting, sportsmanship, cosplay, helped him jump up from 5th in battle points to first overall. Huge congrats to him for joining me on the shield.
Best General- Andrea Ninni – Grand Cathay
- 310 – Lord Magistrate, Dragon Fire Bombs, General, Sky Lantern, Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs, Alchemist’s Mask, Talisman Of Protection
- 150 – Shugengan General, Light Armour, Wizard Level 1, Lore of Yin, High Magic, Burning Blade
- 374 – Shugengan Lord, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 4, Lore of Yin, Illusion, The Monkey King’s Wisdom, Learned Feng Shi Bo
- 182 – 8 Jade Lancer, Ambushers, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer
- 182 – 8 Jade Lancer, Ambushers, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer
- 137 – 10 Jade Warriors, Shield, Drilled, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer, Icon of Heavenly Fury
- 165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
• 1x Ogre Loader - 165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
• 1x Ogre Loader - 165 – 2 Cathayan Grand Cannon
• 1x Ogre Loader - 170 – Sky Lantern, Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs
How The List Played
Andrea is another great player and he placed at last years NOVA. In fact we had a very epic and fun game. This year he piloted Grand Cathay to Best General scoring the most battles points. After drawing vs Warriors of Chaos in the first round he went on to play, and beat, Empire, Tomb Kings, Vampires and Fanatics (I mean Orcs & Goblins). While his list only brought 2 of the dreaded Sky Lanters, it does it’s best to make use of everything Cathay has to offer. The two ambushing cav units mean that he only has 4 drops, normally making it easy to get the +1 to go first should he want to. With three cannons with Ogre loaders, he can get off six shots a turn.
Now prior to the event it was decided by the TO that Cathay cannon’s -1 to hit would stack. This was a big help to him, as it allowed his army to basically shut down movement infantry movement if he wanted. I saw some VC units with -5 to move in one game. (I suspect it will not be ruled this was in future events.) Outside of the that its an army with a lot of movement, some good shooting and a pair of characters strong enough to finish off hurt enemies. All of this is run by a great player. Congrats to Andrea and check out his youtube channel for more.
2nd Best Overall – Kevin Morgan- Grand Cathay
- 290 – Lord Magistrate, Gunpowder Bombs, General, Sky Lantern, Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs, Armour of Meteoric Iron, Talisman Of Protection
- 344 – Shugengan Lord, Light Armour, Heavy Armour, Wizard Level 3, Lore of Yin, Elementalism, The Monkey King’s Wisdom, Learned Feng Shi Bo
- 273 – 10 Jade Lancer, Ambushers, Drilled, Jade Lancer Officer, Alchemist’s Mask, Standard Bearer, Musician
- 228 – 27 Jade Warriors, Shield, Jade Officer, Standard Bearer
- 130 – Cathayan Grand Cannon
- 130 – Cathayan Grand Cannon
- 130 – Cathayan Grand Cannon
- 135 – Sky Lantern, Sky Lantern Crane Guns
- 170 – Sky Lantern, Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs
- 170 – Sky Lantern, Iron Hail Guns and Dragon Fire Bombs, Sky Lantern Bombs
How The List Played
Flying into second best overall, with the second highest number of battle points we have Kevin Morgan. Kevin brought a really strong list with 4 Cathay Sky Lanterns (He has six, but showed restraint.) Keven was matched up against some great players all weekend. He managed to beat Dwarves, Tomb Kings, Warriors of Chaos and Brettonians, before narrowly drawing vs Fanatics (Orcs & Goblins I mean) in the final round. Despite what notions you might have of someone who brought four Sky Lanters, Kevin showed just some outstanding sportsmanship the whole event and is a really nice guy.
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As for the list itself, well there’s not any huge trick here. He’s got 3 cannons, though no Ogres, to take out big stuff and slow things down. Four Lanterns pin the enemy in and put out a ton of damage. A Shugengan Lord is there to bully things and finish off enemies (though I rarely saw it get into combat). A unit of Jade Warriors and one of Lancers round things out to score objectives and annoy things. Despite its power, it’s not a no-brainer list, and needs careful movement to play well, and Kevin did a great job of that. Congrats to him!
Second Best General- Phil Karl- Tomb Kings
- 420 – High Priest, Necrolith Bone Dragon, Wizard Level 3, Illusion, Serpent Staff, Warding Splint, Lore Familiar
- 124 – Royal Herald, Battle Standard Bearer, Skeleton Chariot, Great Weapon
- 452 – Tomb King, Shield, General, Necrolith Bone Dragon, Biting Blade, Armour of the Ages, Talisman Of Protection
- 270 – 5 Sepulchral Stalkers, Ambushers
- 60 – 12 Skeleton Archers
- 283 – 5 Skeleton Chariots, Master Charioteer, Obsidian Lodestone, Standard Bearer, Icon of Rakaph, Musician
- 195 – Necrosphinx
- 195 – Necrosphinx
How The List Played
Last but not least we have Phil Karl with second best general, bring Tomb Kings of Khemri. Phil scored the third highest in battle points, but as Kevin took 2nd best overall, Phil nabbed 2nd best general. Phil beat Bretonnians in round one, but then lost to Kevin in a tight round 2 game before beating 2 Chaos players and a 2nd Bret player. His list is a real TK powerhouse of big things. The main hitting power is the two dragons and two Necrosphinxs, which let him just over power a lot of enemies.
Backing that up he’s got a scoring archer unit, and a big scoring unit of chariots that are pretty tanky. A big unit of ambushing Stalkers also lets him have some tricks. But this isn’t some big combo-wombo list. It’s pure power with four big scary flying monsters around. Phil’s another great player and congrats to him as well!
Congrats again to all the great players and winners, and let us know what you think of the lists, down in the comments!
Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.