Spitewood Smash-Up September 2026

On Saturday 19th September 2026, I once again headed to Redhill, England, for a local Warhammer Underworlds tournament organised by the Agents of Sigmar. This event represented the final opportunity for players to earn a Golden Ticket to the World Championships, and I knew several of my friends were hoping to secure their place.

For me, the day carried a little more significance. At the time of writing, the Warhammer Underworlds community finds itself in an unusual (or possibly usual) position. We have had very little news from Games Workshop regarding the future of the game, leading many players to wonder whether Underworlds may be approaching the end of its journey. Hopefully that is not the case, as it remains one of my favourite tabletop games and one that has provided me with years of enjoyable tournaments, memorable opponents, and good friends.

With that uncertainty in mind, I wanted to make the most of the event. There is a real possibility that this could be my final Warhammer Underworlds tournament, which would be an awful shame. Regardless of what happens next, I wanted to give Blackpowder's Buccaneers another outing and see whether the pirate captain still had one more strong performance left in him.

Once again, I brought Blackpowder's Buccaneers paired with Blazing Assault and Edge of the Knife. I have been playing Blackpowder solidly for the past year and, in my opinion, have become a bit of a menace with the Ogor and his crew. I hoped that would prove true once again at this tournament.

Warhammer Underworlds Warband Reviews

Warhammer Underworlds Competitive Play - including Other Tournament Reports

Game 1 v Stuart Ellis - da Kunnin' Krew

Decks: Wrack and Ruin and Deadly Synergy

Stuart won the roll-off for board choice and first turn. I started the game by sending forward my Gnoblar minions with the aim of grabbing some Swag, which Kagey did. Blackpowder immediately used this to fire Swag Shrapnel. The shot missed Krookgrin, but the shrapnel shards injured Torka and Mannok.

Unfortunately, the rest of my attacks for the round, including Gorlock's two-hammer attack against a staggered Mannok, missed. By the end of the round, I had used two Swag counters but had no more to inspire. I did, however, score Keep Chopping, Go All Out, and Calm Before the Storm.

At the start of the second round, I drew into Trial of the Tempered, Critical Effort, and Aggressive Defender. I could have made another swing with Gorlock and injured Mannok further, but this would not have killed him. Instead, I chose to charge Kagey onto a Treasure Token and shoot Mannok instead.

This would grant the glory for Aggressive Defender, which I could then use to equip Gorlock with Brawler. Brawler would slow Stuart's scoring of his Deadly Synergy cards and reduce the effectiveness of his attacks. Kagey attacked and scored a critical hit on Mannok. With this attack, I wounded Mannok, gained two Swag, and scored two glory from Aggressive Defender and Critical Effort.

Mannok then beat a hasty retreat, choosing to attack my minions rather than stand in Gorlock's way. By the end of the round, Pegz and Mange had been eliminated, but I had taken Torka out of action with a Commanding Stride followed by a Charge from Gorlock.

Additionally, the pirate captain was now well equipped with Great Strength, Accurate, Keen Eye, and Great Fortitude. I had also moved Shreek onto Stuart's Aqua Ghyranis. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that Krookgrin has three wounds, and this stopped me from scoring Trial of the Tempered, but I still scored Risky Position and Fields of Blood.

Round 3 started with the score tied at 12 apiece and I had drawn Usurper. Mannok was now a priority target. Krookgrin charged first and landed a hit on Gorlock, dealing two damage. As the underdog, Gorlock used a Healing Potion and recovered two health before smashing Krookgrin into the ground. All fighters on the board were now Tempered.

Ignoring Gorlock, Mannok charged Shreek and caused one damage, driving him off the Aqua Ghyranis. Mannok was then equipped with Desperate Defence, meaning that a charge from Gorlock could not kill him.

Instead, the Ogor crumpled a pile of Swag into his Grunderbuss and fired a Swag Blast at Mannok, stripping Desperate Defence and dealing another wound to the Orruk. He was back in one-shot territory.

Shank then eliminated Shreek. For my third turn, I charged and killed Mannok, securing Usurper and triggering Branching Fate. Stuart's last turn was used to Focus. For my final turn, I used Scream of Anger to charge with Gorlock and kill Shank. He then used Duelist followed by a Sidestep to get onto the Aqua Ghyranis.

In the final End Phase, I was able to score Trial of the Tempered and Usurper, as well as gain glory from the Aqua Ghyranis, to finish the game 22-18.

Result: Win 22-18

Game 2 v David Wing - Ephilim's Pandemonium

Decks: Countdown to Cataclysm and Wrack and Ruin

The game began with Flamespooler shooting at Pegz, who was driven back into Mange and Kagey, causing all three fighters to receive Warping tokens. Pegz then charged forwards to try and gain some retribution on Flamespooler and steal some shiny Swag.

Blackpowder fired his Swag Shrapnel to injure Kindlefinger, Flamespooler, and the Starefish, bringing the Buccaneers a step closer to inspiring. The Starefish then charged forwards and attacked Blackpowder before Shared Mutations was triggered, killing Pegz and injuring Kagey and Mange.

I charged Mange forwards with Wings of War to attack and injure Ephilim, gaining more Swag. I finished the round by killing Flamespooler.

By the end of Round 1, Flamespooler had been eliminated, while Ephilim, the Starefish, and Kindlefinger were injured. Spawnmaw was inspired, equipped with Visions of Ruin and Sundering Weapon, and positioned to charge forwards. I had injured Ephilim, Kindlefinger, and the Starefish, as well as killing Flamespooler. Ephilim scored Alone in the Dark, while I scored Calm Before the Storm in return.

Round 2 saw me draw into Usurper. It was time to hunt down the sorcerous leader. Spawnmaw charged first, deep into my backline, to try and kill Shreek, who had been deployed in an edge hex. Fortunately, Spawnmaw missed and I scored Immovable.

I then used Commanding Stride to push up to Spawnmaw before killing the daemon. After this attack, the Warping tokens triggered, killing both Mange and Kagey.

For the rest of the round, Blackpowder weathered attacks from the daemons and the ping cards, aided greatly by a Healing Potion and Great Fortitude.

Gorlock used Illusory Fighter to return to the centre of the board before firing his Swag Mortar to further injure Ephilim, inspire, and Duelist across the board. He then fired a second shot and killed Ephilim. The final turn of the round saw Blackpowder kill the Starefish, leaving only Kindlefinger alive.

Round 3 began with only Kindlefinger remaining for my opponent, facing Gorlock and Shreek. However, Kindlefinger had been upgraded with Desperate Defence, Unstoppable, Utter Conviction, and Desperate Rage. He was now a real problem to deal with.

I used my first turn to charge Kindlefinger, hitting him multiple times, but failed to roll any critical hits. Kindlefinger failed his save roll, but he did have a single critical defence. This reduced the damage to two, which was then reduced to one by Desperate Defence before finally being ignored by Unstoppable.

For my second turn, I charged with Shreek, who also failed to get through Kindlefinger's defence. Kindlefinger then killed Shreek.

Blackpowder attacked again and successfully hit with all his attack dice. However, there were no critical hits, so I rerolled a die with Accurate and found a critical. Kindlefinger failed to out-crit the attack in his defence roll and was flattened by the Ogor.

For my final turn of the game, I moved Blackpowder onto the Aqua Ghyranis and secured a 22-16 victory.

Result: Win 22-16

Game 3 v Imogen Lidbitter - The Thricecursed Discord

Decks: Countdown to Cataclysm and Wrack and Ruin

Imogen is a regular opponent at our little club here in Redhill, and I knew I was in for a tough game. I lost the roll-off for first turn and took the first activation.

I sent Pegz in to try and grab some Swag, wounding Vexmor in the process before he was summarily killed for his trouble. Kagey then jumped onto a Treasure Token in the middle of the board and attempted another attack. Again, I succeeded, meaning I had the Swag necessary to inspire.

I then made a mistake and Delved the Treasure Token. Vashtiss charged onto the other Treasure Token and, along with a ping card from her power deck, killed Kagey.

My fourth turn of Round 1 saw Gorlock charge forwards and fire a Swag Blast at Vexmor, wounding him for 2 damage. I then used Duelist to jump onto the cover hex in neutral territory. Imogen scored Shocking Assault before charging Lascivyr into Gorlock. Lascivyr critically hit him for 3 damage and did not drive him back.

I lost the roll-off for the second round and Lascivyr attacked Gorlock again, once more scoring a critical hit for another 3 damage. I upgraded Gorlock with Great Fortitude, but he still only had 3 wounds remaining.

I decided to charge Gorlock into Vexmor and put some more damage onto him. I injured Vexmor and drove him back into a Stagger hex before using Duelist to move onto Vexmor's original hex. I then used Commanding Stride to put 5 hexes between Gorlock and Lascivyr. Lascivyr could no longer reach the Ogor.

Imogen played Great Speed on Lascivyr and then charged the Ogor. Thankfully, this time I survived with a critical defence and took no damage. I quickly attacked and killed Vexmor.

Imogen then used the Discord's warscroll ability to ping Gorlock before charging in with Vashtiss, armed with Sharpened Points, and killing the pirate captain.

From this point onwards, I could do very little. Basically, everything I tried to do Imogen had a counter or a back-up plan for, and she was able to maintain the pressure, especially with the speed and range that the Discord possess.

I tried putting Mange on Guard while standing on the Aqua Ghyranis, but Vashtiss's 2 Damage attack with Sharpened Points made short work of the monkey. There was little else I could do, and Shreek was eventually finished off by a combination of ping cards.

The game ended 14-22 and handed me my first loss of the day.

Result: Loss 14-22

Game 4 v Luke Trower's Skinnerkin

Decks: Deadly Synergy and Blazing Assault

This was a very one-sided game. I followed my usual plan for the first round, trying to score a little glory, gain some Swag, and make progress towards inspiring.

Luke went first and shot at Pegz, injuring him. Pegz attempted to attack Gristella and failed but still scored Aggressive Defender and Get Stuck In before being killed by a ghoul.

I upgraded Gorlock with Accurate and Duelist, then fired Swag Blast at Gristella, dealing 2 damage to her. She used a Healing Potion to recover 1 wound.

Pewdrig then charged Shreek at the back of my territory using Wings of War, but missed. I responded with Commanding Stride to move adjacent to Pewdrig before killing him.

For my final turn of the round, I charged forwards and fired Swag Shrapnel at Gristella, injuring three ghouls, including Gristella, and inspiring in the process. I then used Duelist to move next to another ghoul, ready for the next turn.

So far, I had lost a single fighter, used Blackpowder three times, and inspired.

The second round saw me kill all of the remaining ghouls in short order. Gorlock had been upgraded with Deadly Aim, Keen Eye, Accurate, and Duelist, which combined perfectly with Lure of Battle and Sidestep. Each turn resulted in another dead ghoul.

The only mistake I made in the game was healing a wound on Gorlock, which meant he was no longer Tempered. During the third round, I would have to Focus to find Dark Horse in order to score Trial of the Tempered.

The game ended 19-6, securing my third win of the day.

Result: Win 19-6

Game 5 v Tom Stranc's Wurmspat

Decks: Blazing Assault and Countdown to Cataclysm

Tom won the roll-off for boards, which resulted in him deploying his fighters first. I used my numbers advantage to place Pegz and Kagey first, allowing me to identify the position of all the Wurmspat before placing Blackpowder away from them. This would allow me to use my ranged attacks to put some damage onto them without risking any retaliation.

In addition, I placed Shreek within 7 hexes of Tom's Aqua Ghyranis, as I had drawn Wings of War in my opening hand.

The first round saw Tom move his Wurmspat forwards, killing Pegz and then Kagey. I eventually managed to put a point of damage onto Fecula and grab some Swag with Mange. Fecula attacked back, but Mange rolled a critical defence.

By this point, I already had two glory from Get Stuck In and Critical Effort, so I equipped Gorlock with Accurate and Duelist. For my third activation, Gorlock charged forwards and fired Swag Shrapnel at Septimus. The attack ultimately missed but still wounded both Ghulgoch and Fecula. Blackpowder then retreated with Duelist. Fecula responded by killing Mange.

For my final turn, I played Wings of War and moved Shreek onto the Aqua Ghyranis. Not only would this start generating glory, but it also meant Tom would have to move one of his Wurmspat out of position to deal with him, reducing the pressure on Gorlock.

To finish the round, the Wurmspat used their warscroll push to bring their fighters closer to my Ogor.

Round 2 saw Tom take the initiative, and Septimus came charging in onto the Waystone token. With his inspired 3-damage attack, boosted further by Grievous, he dealt 4 damage to Gorlock and drove him back.

I responded by firing Swag Mortar at Range 5, inspiring Gorlock and driving Fecula back so that she was no longer within charge range. Fecula then moved onto the Aqua Ghyranis.

Gorlock fired again at Septimus, damaging him before using Duelist to move away. Tom had little else to do but Focus. Gorlock fired once more and injured Septimus again.

By this point, all three Wurmspat were injured: Septimus was on 2 wounds, Fecula on 3 wounds, and Ghulgoch on 1 wound. With one activation left in the round, Gorlock still had not charged and I had Duelist available to move away from Fecula, who had gone on Guard while standing on my Aqua Ghyranis.

I had Trial of the Tempered, Usurper, and Illusory Fighter in hand. I decided to try to score Trial of the Tempered by further injuring Ghulgoch. The reasoning was simple. He was the fighter furthest away from Septimus, meaning Septimus would still be out of the action at the start of Round 3.

I teleported Gorlock across the board and charged Ghulgoch, hitting him with a four-dice Hammer attack with Cleave and a reroll for 3 damage. This Tempered him, drove him back, and allowed me to Duelist away. At the end of the round, we were tied on 12 glory.

Moving into Round 3, Tom once again took the initiative. He appeared wary of simply throwing his injured fighters at Gorlock and instead chose to shoot the pirate with Fecula.

I used Lure of Battle to pull Fecula into a Stagger hex adjacent to Gorlock. I then attacked and missed with all four dice. After rerolling two of them, I still missed.

I followed this by using Commanding Stride to pull Gorlock away from danger. Tom then moved Fecula away from Gorlock and back onto the Aqua Ghyranis. At this point, no fighter other than Shreek could charge and reach her.

Tom spent his third activation Focusing and upgraded Ghulgoch with Great Fortitude. For my third activation, I charged onto a Treasure Token and shot at Fecula, leaving her with 2 wounds remaining.

Tom Focused again for his final activation, unable to kill Gorlock or reach Shreek, who was still sitting on the Aqua Ghyranis. To finish the game, I played Scream of Anger and charged Fecula, killing her. Combined with Usurper, the resulting glory swung the score firmly in my favour.

The pirate had won again, 17-13.

Result: Win 17-13

Final Placing

I finished the day with a record of four wins and one loss, good enough for second place behind Imogen in first. More importantly, I had won a Golden Ticket to the World Championships.

Unfortunately, I am unable to take up the place. I had really hoped to take the Buccaneers plundering in Spain, but it is not to be.

I really enjoyed the tournament run by Pete and Robin, the Agents of Sigmar, and I hope this will not be their last. Equally, I hope this is not my final act in Warhammer Underworlds, but if it is, Blackpowder has certainly done me proud over the last year.

Related Guides

• Warhammer Underworlds Competitive Play - including Other Tournament Reports
• Warhammer Underworlds Deck Reviews
• Warhammer Underworlds Warband Reviews

• Warhammer Painting made Simple

Discussion

What do you think is likely to happen to the Warhammer Underworlds game and tournament scene next? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Hobbying!