Thirty-two players. Seventeen factions. Three very different ways to fill the table with Goblins. And my sixth post of September, which might be a monthly record.

The 2026 Ohio GT lists are in, and the field has more variety than any one faction count suggests. There are 32 armies at 2,300 points across 17 factions. Northern Alliance leads with four entries; Goblins, Undead, and Trident Realm each have three. Nobody occupies more than an eighth of the field. If you want the raw numbers right away, grab the spreadsheet below:

The first thing I noticed was the number of bodies. The three Goblin players bring 21, 21, and 25 units. If a game comes down to holding ground on the last turn, that matters more than an impressive damage total on a spreadsheet. Here are the questions I will be watching when dice hit the table.

A broad field with a Goblin problem

Seventeen factions in a 32-player room sounds like endless variety on paper. But an army book can have plenty of flavor while every player still spams the exact same three units (something I saw when tracking fourth-edition list repetition). Ohio is a textbook case.

Shannon Shoemaker brings 14 Rabble, four Big Rocks Throwers, and four Wiz (in an army that my too-early machine learning model absolutely loves). That army has 25 units and 41 Unit Strength, both tops in this field. Henry Richardson has nine Rabble but trades the rock throwers for Mincer Mobs, Luggit Gangs, and more character support. Erich Trowbridge has only four Rabble; his 21 drops include four War-Trombones, three Mawbeast Packs, and two Goblin Blasters. Three completely different lists, but they all pose the exact same brutal dilemma: can your opponent grind through that many bodies while still scoring scenario points? Ratkin and Goblins ran riot at US Masters this summer with that exact blueprint, and Ohio will show whether local players have found an answer yet.

Four Northern Alliance armies and no single template

Northern Alliance has the most entries, and its recent UK Clash of Kings results make this a natural faction to follow. The Ohio lists, though, do not all take the same route. Aaron Richardson has three Pack Hunters, two Hearthguard, and a ranged component. Darek Bienkowski takes two Frostfang Cavalry and two Tundra Wolves; his list leads the report’s calculated expected-damage measure at 95.7 (!). Nick Scibetta brings two Ice Queens, a broader unit mix, and the second-highest Heal measure in the field. Ryan McKalip takes five Human Tribesmen and leans into the grind with 29 Unit Strength. After Northern Alliance walked all over UK Clash, I want to see if the Ohio field can actually slow down these same core builds.

The long threat range race

Both Xirkaali players sit near the top of the report’s damage-weighted charge-threat ranking. Michael Carter leads at 15.6 inches and has the highest average Speed in the field at 7.6. Sam Moore ranks third at 15.0 inches, but has 15 units to Carter’s 12 and a different set of threats, including Warrior Packs, Wildfangs, and mortars. Having 15-inch threat ranges doesn’t guarantee you strike first or win the fight, but it forces your opponent to sweat every single inch of deployment and pre-charge staging. For a player’s view of the faction, Sam Moore has also written about his road to Masters with Xirkaali.

Shooting meets stealth and speed

My heuristics label ten of the 32 armies as Gun Lines. Jeff Franz’s Abyssal Dwarfs lead with 90 listed ranged attacks; Rob Sautbine’s Kingdoms of Men have 70. Bryan Trahan, Erich Trowbridge, and Devlin Smith also have substantial shooting. I have been tracking the changing role of shooting in fourth edition, and this event has several lists worth watching closely.

On the other side, Alexander Danylko and Jon Carter bring 29 Stealthy units and 15 flying units between their Nightstalker lists. The question is whether a gun line can buy enough time and space before those armies start dictating angles and targets. I’m curious to see how this particular angle plays out, given just how bad Nightstalkers have been in early 4e.

What I want to check after the event

When the dust settles, three things matter: Did the Goblin horde drown opponents in scenario points? Which Northern Alliance package actually survived the field? And did Xirkaali threat ranges choke out the board, or did opponents punch through? Looking forward to seeing the results and then no doubt hearing the always-entertaining Cyle Pool debrief later on the podcast circuit.