Last weekend I attended a Spearhead tournament at Mighty Melee, and honestly, it was one of the most enjoyable Warhammer events I’ve attended in a long time.
For anyone in the area, I can’t recommend Mighty Melee enough. The owner, Phil, has put a huge amount of effort into creating not just a great hobby store but a fantastic gaming venue as well. The stock is competitively priced, the tables are excellent, and there is a genuine community feel every time I visit. I’ve been going there for around a year and a half now and it has quickly become one of my favourite places to play Warhammer.
The event itself was brilliantly organised. We arrived around 8:30am, started shortly after 9:00am, played two games before lunch, then headed over to McDonald’s for a quick bite before returning for another two rounds. After four games, the awards were handed out and I was delighted to finish in third place overall.
Game One – Sons of Behemat vs Stormcast Eternals
My first opponent was Henri, someone I originally taught how to play Spearhead. One of the fun rules for this event was that you could bring multiple spearheads and randomly choose which to play per game. I however added a little twist where I allowed my opponent to choose which spearhead I would play.
I told Henri he could pick whichever of my Spearheads he wanted to face, and he chose my Sons of Behemat (Gargants).
The luck of the dice gave me turn one and my charges came through. This meant I was able to really do some serious damage early on, as a result the game was surprisingly one-sided. The Gargants smashed through his army in the opening turns and by turn two most of the meaningful resistance had disappeared. From there it was mostly a cleanup operation.
Although I secured the win, I wasn’t particularly focused on running up the score. In tournaments I actually prefer what I call a “soft win” rather than a “hard win”. Winning comfortably without maximising points can often avoid immediately being paired into the absolute top tables, which sometimes creates a slightly easier path through the event.
Game Two – Sons of Behemat vs Ossiarch Bonereapers
My second game was against one of my regular rivals, Kieran (who often beats me).
Kieran plays both Ossiarch Bonereapers and the older Kharadron Overlords Spearhead. I absolutely did not want to play against his old Kharadron Spearhead. In my opinion it’s one of the strongest Spearheads in the game, especially if it gets first turn.
We struck a deal.
He could choose which of my armies I played, and I could choose which of his armies I faced.
Naturally, I picked Ossiarch Bonereapers.
Naturally, he picked my Gargants.
The game was bizarre.
I absolutely demolished his army. By turn one I’d removed a huge chunk of it. By turn two I had largely removed the reinforced units that had returned. Eventually I tabled him entirely.
And then I lost.
That’s one of the reasons I love Spearhead. Killing models doesn’t automatically win games. Kieran has an uncanny ability to score points even with very little models and I have to give it to him he played the mission brilliantly, scored consistently, and despite losing every model on the table, still secured the victory.
I remember him feeling quite down midway through the game because of how much damage he’d taken, but I kept telling him that he was still in it because his scoring was excellent.
Sure enough, he proved me right.
Game Three – Tyrant’s Bellow vs Fyreslayers
After a mandatory cup of tea and a lunch trip to McDonald’s, I returned for round three against Matt.
Matt is another player I originally introduced to Spearhead, although he already had plenty of experience from 40k. He plays the older Fyreslayers Spearhead and plays it extremely well.
I often describe Fyreslayers as a prison-style army. They flood the board with bodies, block movement lanes, and make it incredibly difficult to reach the places you need to be.
This game was brutal.
Matt rolled a six on his Fyreslayer abilities early, giving him additional movement and charge distance. Suddenly his supposedly slow army was crossing the board at incredible speed.
He charged almost everything into me immediately and completely trapped my Tyrant’s Bellow army in my own territory.
My Tyrant Hero died early to the infamous throwing axe ability, which remains one of the strongest abilities in Spearhead in my opinion.
Thankfully, I was able to use Final Breath to bring my hero back on four wounds. I placed him behind Matt’s lines and managed to assassinate his own hero in return.
The game remained incredibly close throughout, but Matt ultimately won by a single point.
Losing by one point always stings, but it was a fantastic game and thoroughly deserved.
Game Four – Tyrant’s Bellow vs Fusil-Platoon
My final opponent was Sam, a player I’d never met before.
Sam was using Fusil-Platoon, the Cities of Sigmar Spearhead focused heavily on ranged firepower. He also ended up winning Best Painted Army, which was completely deserved because his force looked fantastic.
Once again I fielded Tyrant’s Bellow.
Sam played extremely well, but the matchup felt difficult from the start. Tyrant’s Bellow simply has too much durability and damage for many of the newer Spearheads to handle.
The Ogres smashed through his lines and secured the win.
I don’t think Fusil-Platoon is a bad Spearhead. It’s actually very interesting and fun to play. However, when compared directly to some of the strongest older Spearheads, it can feel like it’s operating at a disadvantage.
Want to Play Spearhead at Mighty Melee?
Many of the BattleClash articles and tournament reports on this website come from games played at Mighty Melee in Market Drayton, West Midlands. If you’d like to meet me, play against me, challenge some of the local Spearhead regulars, or simply enjoy a fantastic day of Warhammer with a friendly community, I’d highly recommend checking out their upcoming events.
⚔️ View Upcoming Spearhead Events
Recommended Spearhead Board Upgrade
If you’re enjoying Spearhead and want to add more variety to your games, the City of Ash Gaming Pack is one of the easiest upgrades you can make.
I’ve been really impressed with it so far and it adds a lot of replayability to Spearhead. If you’re thinking of picking one up, Mighty Melee currently have it available at a great price.
⚔️ Spearhead City of Ash Upgrade – Mighty Melee
Final Thoughts
Overall, the event was outstanding.
Great venue.
Great opponents.
Great games.
And a third-place finish to top it all off.
One of the biggest things I took away from the event is just how important scoring remains in Spearhead. My loss against Kieran perfectly demonstrated that table presence and objective play often matter far more than simply destroying your opponent’s army.
The overall winner of the tournament was a Cities of Sigmar player using the newer Spearhead. He is also part of the YouTube channel All Out AoS, so congratulations to him on taking first place.
A huge thank you to Phil and the team at Mighty Melee for organising such a fantastic event. I’ll definitely be back for the next one.
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