The Manchester GT Winter: Ones to watch

Manchester’s 40k Super-Major is stacked top-to-bottom (306 players across 29 factions), but a few names carry extra gravity this weekend. Whether it’s a top-of-the-table title chase, a breakout into the elite ranks, or a faction pivot that could either look genius or brutal by round three.

Before we zoom in, here’s the shape of the battlefield:

• Necrons are the biggest chunk of the room (25 players | 8.2%)

• Space Marines (Astartes) are close behind (21 | 6.9%)

• Death Guard are right there too (19 | 6.2%)

• Aeldari are comparatively rare (9 | 2.9%) - but as you’ll see, rarity doesn’t mean weakness.

Now, lets take a look at four of my top picks for the event, who will be well worth keeping an eye on.

Team Stonehammer

The one of the local teams for the Manchester region, these players are well known in the UKTC scene, though their team name sometimes goes under-rated, I am sure we will see a strong showing from their 26 players attending this year.

Andy Mitten - UKTC Rank #23 - Marines

Andy is #23 in UKTC, and the highest-ranked Space Marine player in the Manchester field.

In a room where Marines are always heavily represented, being the top Marine is a target and an opportunity.

UKTC snapshot

• Rank: #23

• Points: 718.1

• Record: 13–4–1

• Club: Team Stonehammer

• Faction at Manchester: Space Marines (Astartes) (21 players | 6.9%)

Recent high notes

• 11th at The Leicester 40K Super Major (Space Marines)

• 25th at The Nottingham 40K Super-Major (Space Marines)

Andy’s history reads like a player who’s been orbiting the breakout weekend. With solid finishes, good points, and enough consistency that a clean run at a Super-Major can push him into a very different conversation.

Marines in a mega-event are also a meta test: you don’t get to rely on “gotcha” rules. You win with fundamentals: movement, target priority, secondaries, and discipline. That suits players who are comfortable grinding five (or more) high-pressure rounds.

Andy is bringing a common skew for the Ultramarines here, reliable long-range shooting platforms in the Ballistus Dreadnoughts, some very durable close range threat with the Redemptors and Vindicators look to leverage the ability to repeat the combat doctrines throughout the game.

What’s at stake this weekend?

Andy is about 8 points off the current top 20 threshold. That’s not a small gap, that’s a this weekend gap. If he strings results together early, he can be playing Sunday games with the UKTC ladder very much in mind.

Andy's list

Space Marines

Ultramarines

Blade of Ultramar

CHARACTERS

Captain in Gravis Armour (90 Points)

• Enhancements: Armour of Antoninus

Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70 Points)

Marneus Calgar (200 Points)

BATTLELINE

Intercessor Squad (80 Points)

OTHER DATASHEETS

Ballistus Dreadnought (150 Points)

Ballistus Dreadnought (150 Points)

Ballistus Dreadnought (150 Points)

Incursor Squad (80 Points)

Redemptor Dreadnought (195 Points)

Redemptor Dreadnought (195 Points)

Scout Squad (70 Points)

Scout Squad (70 Points)

Victrix Honour Guard (220 Points)

Vindicator (185 Points)

Wardens of Ultramar (90 Points)

James McMurray - UKTC Rank #27 - Necrons

Here we see a faction specialist at their peak, on arguably the strongest faction in the game.

James comes in as #27 in the UKTC standings, and that number hides how close he is to the next tier. He’s also piloting the most popular faction in Manchester, which means: mirrors, counters, and a lot of prepared opponents.

UKTC snapshot

• Rank: #27

• Points: 711.2

• Record: 16–5

• Club: Team Stonehammer

• Faction at Manchester: Necrons (25 players | 8.2%, and 3 top-50 ranked attendees)

Recent high notes

• 4th at The Coventry 40K : 2-Day  (Necrons)

• 18th at The Nottingham 40K Super-Major (Necrons)

Necrons being the biggest faction in the room is double-edged. On one hand, it’s proof that players trust the faction into a major. On the other, it’s a gauntlet: more players means more people who’ve tested the matchups, more tech floating around, and a higher chance you hit the mirror at an awkward time.

James, importantly, isn’t dabbling - his previous events show him repeatedly putting Necrons into serious placements. That kind of familiarity matters when the event gets deep and fatigue starts turning “correct” plays into sloppy ones.

What’s at stake this weekend?

James is within striking distance of the UKTC top 20 (he’s about 15 points off the current #20 line). A big Manchester finish is the kind of result that can flip a season from “strong” to “headline.”

James is running the starshatter arsenal - one of the Necrons fastest and hardest hitting detatchments, proving massive offensive buffs to the units when they target objectives. James has a strong core with Doomsday arks looking to leverage firing lanes and the speed of their assault weapons, with a large spread of scoring and skirminshing with smaller units making this a wider list than you might expect. Rounded out with a C'tan shard provides a strong durability platform.

James' list

Necrons

Strike Force (2000 points)

Starshatter Arsenal

CHARACTERS

Catacomb Command Barge (150 points)

• Enhancement: Dread Majesty (Aura)

C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer (315 points)

Nekrosor Ammentar (165 points)

Skorpekh Lord (100 points)

• Enhancement: Demanding Leader

Skorpekh Lord (90 points)

OTHER DATASHEETS

Doomsday Ark (200 points)

Doomsday Ark (200 points)

Doomsday Ark (200 points)

Flayed Ones (60 points)

Flayed Ones (60 points)

Lokhust Destroyers (40 points)

Lokhust Destroyers (40 points)

Skorpekh Destroyers (90 points)

Triarch Praetorians (90 points)

Triarch Praetorians (90 points)

Triarch Stalker (110 points)

Travelling Challengers

The UKTC super majors pull players from all over the country, and we see serious contenders making the journeys to compete at the biggest events they can. As the bigger the event, the more points you get for your finishing position.

Christopher Langton - UKTC Rank #85 - Death Guard

The dark horse with a faction pivot, recently known for his Daemons and Necrons prowess, Chris has surprised us with a change to the sons of Mortarion.

Christopher’s UKTC rank (#85) doesn’t tell the full story - because his historic results are legitimately spicy, and they come from a different faction identity than what he’s bringing to Manchester.

UKTC snapshot

• Rank: #85

• Points: 546.4

• Record: 8–3

• Club: Mind Goblins

• Faction at Manchester: Death Guard (19 players | 6.2%)

Recent high notes

• 3rd at The Nottingham 40K Super-Major (Chaos Daemons)

• 5th at The Autumn I.T.T. (Chaos Daemons)

• 12th at The Winter I.T.T. (Chaos Daemons)

That’s a real resume, and it’s why Christopher belongs in a hype piece even if the season standings don’t place him at the very top. The intrigue is the swap: from Chaos Daemons success into a Death Guard weekend.

Death Guard also sit in a fascinating place in this field: highly represented (third most common faction), which usually means they’ve got game into the meta, but not so dominant that opponents are resigned to it. If Christopher’s list is tuned and his reps are deep, he’s exactly the kind of player who can knock a top seed out of contention and then keep rolling.

What’s at stake this weekend?

With only 4 counted events on the standings file, Christopher has room to surge. A strong result here will drastically improve his trajectory and put him on the radar of everyone who’s not heard of him yet.

Bringing a highly durable list, Mortarion and the affectionately known "baby Mortarion", the revoltingly resilient daemon prince will be a challenge to dislodge and are backed up with plenty of shooting from the bloat drones and plague marines combination providing confident answers to the C'tan and Custodes bogeymen.

Chris' List

Death Guard

Virulent Vectorium

CHARACTERS

Biologus Putrifier (60 points)

Daemon Prince of Nurgle (215 points)

• Enhancement: Revolting Regeneration

Malignant Plaguecaster (60 points)

Mortarion (380 points)

Tallyman (50 points)

BATTLELINE

Plague Marines (190 points)

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Chaos Rhino (85 points)

OTHER DATASHEETS

Blightlord Terminators (370 points)

Chaos Spawn (80 points)

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points)

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points)

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points)

Poxwalkers (65 points)

Poxwalkers (65 points)

Scott Morris - UKTC Rank #3 - Aeldari

Scott arrives as the #3 ranked player in the UKTC rankings and the highest-ranked name in the entire Manchester field. That changes everything: every opponent gets to play the “I beat Scott Morris” game, and Scott gets everyone’s best punch.

UKTC snapshot

• Rank: #3

• Points: 827.8

• Record: 22–3

• Club: Carnage

• Faction at Manchester: Aeldari (9 players in the field)

Recent high notes

• 2nd at The Coventry 40K : 3-Day (Tyranids)

• 15th at The Leicester 40K Super Major (Aeldari)

Scott’s profile screams ceiling. The history shows he can spike into the very top placements, and his season record backs it up. And while Aeldari aren’t common in the roster, they are concentrated at the sharp end - a classic sign of a faction that rewards precision and punishes mistakes.

It's not just this season either; Scott is best known for his meteoric rise through the ranks last season with the Tyranids, even at times where the forces of the hive mind weren't all that dominant.

What’s at stake this weekend?

Scott isn’t here to “have a good event.” At #3 overall, a monster finish puts real pressure on the players above him. A Super-Major weekend is exactly where title races swing. And Scott’s the top seed in the room. If he converts, it’s not just a trophy moment; it’s a season definer. Scott has been chasing that first place for a long time. Will this be the time he gets it?

Scott has brought a unique Eldar list, moving away from the recently popular Aspect host lists and moving towards the Guardian Battlehost. A long time sleeper list that boasts sky high damage and objective control with the durable squads being lead by the warlocks, there will be a large knowledge gap here as many opponents will not be prepared for all the tricks that this list can pull off. All the right ingredients that can take Scott to a deep run.

Scotts List

Aeldari

Guardian Battlehost

CHARACTERS

Eldrad Ulthran (120 Points)

Farseer (100 Points)

• Enhancements: Ethereal Pathway

Farseer (70 Points)

Jain Zar (120 Points)

Warlock (45 Points)

Warlock (45 Points)

Warlock (45 Points)

BATTLELINE

Guardian Defenders (100 Points)

Guardian Defenders (100 Points)

Storm Guardians (110 Points)

Storm Guardians (110 Points)

Storm Guardians (110 Points)

Storm Guardians (110 Points)

OTHER DATASHEETS

Howling Banshees (95 Points)

Shroud Runners (80 Points)

Shroud Runners (80 Points)

War Walkers (85 Points)

War Walkers (85 Points)

Warlock Conclave (130 Points)

Warlock Conclave (130 Points)

Warlock Conclave (130 Points)

Save the date: THE LGT 2026

Last year, the community rallied to help make The London Grand Tournament 2025 the biggest Warhammer event ever. Not just in the UK but in the world. And we want to do it again.

The LGT 2026 is our 10-year anniversary, and we want to celebrate it with you, so mark your calendars and get ready, when tickets launch on Friday, 27th February @ 2PM.

We are making some big changes this year to improve on last year. You can find out more information in our previous blog post about it: here.