Dreadnoughts and Daemons: How Rhys and Mark Won the MMG 40K Doubles League
Rhys Jones and Mark Walker took first place in the MMG Warhammer 40,000 Doubles League – Summer 2026, winning all three games with an alliance of Dark Angels Dreadnoughts and Khorne Daemons.
Following our full Summer 2026 Doubles League results, we asked Rhys and Mark to explain what they brought, how their armies worked together and what they thought of the doubles format.
Rhys: Dark Angels Dreadnoughts
Rhys brought an all-Dreadnought Dark Angels army using the Ironstorm Spearhead detachment.
“I’ve wanted to run with a load of Dreadnoughts for a very long time, and I felt this was the perfect opportunity. We discussed our lists and the synergy between the two, and the stars finally aligned for me!”
Choosing a single standout unit was more difficult:
“Ermm, hard to choose one specific unit really – the Redemptors did OK in the end.”
Rhys was happy with how the partnership performed and would make very few changes if they ran it again.
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything I’d change if we ran the same partnership again. They worked well together. Maybe remove the Invictor Warsuit, maybe…”
Mark: Khorne Daemons
Mark ran a full Khorne Daemon army using Blood Legion with Purge the Foe as its disposition.
His army included:
- A Bloodthirster for heavy-hitting melee
- A Rendmaster to boost damage
- A Winged Daemon Prince for speed and melee threat
- A Bloodmaster and Bloodletters for dealing with infantry
- Two units of Flesh Hounds for secondary scoring
“Rhys was looking at playing an armour-heavy Dark Angels list with good shooting and tough stats to chew through. I figured that they’d sync well with melee Daemons.”
How the Armies Worked Together
The partnership combined the resilience and shooting of Rhys’s Dark Angels with the speed and close-combat threat of Mark’s Daemons.
“Rhys was holding the opponent in place with volleys of shooting, which gave me freedom to run around the board and pick up the opposing teams’ high-value units pretty much at will.”
Rhys also brought Infiltrators rather than Intercessors, allowing them to screen much of their back line while leaving the other units free to move.
Mark felt their complementary strengths were the main reason the partnership worked:
“We worked well together, even though we’ve never had different partners for the next league. I’m playing with Matthew Wright and Rhys is with Full Send Andy. We’ll no doubt team up again in the future.”
The Bloodthirster Takes MVP
For Mark, the standout unit was considerably easier to identify.
“My MVP was probably the Bloodthirster, as he can pretty much pick up anything he touches. With Rhys corralling the enemy, it was like shooting Tyranids in a barrel.”
Thoughts on the Doubles Format
Both players enjoyed the doubles format and the opportunity to build two armies that supported one another.
“I’ve always loved the doubles format, and it was fantastic having Mark as my partner.”
Mark also found the shorter doubles league easier to arrange than the longer singles competition.
“I really liked the format. It made it a lot easier to sort games than in a 10-week singles league. I’m fairly sure there weren’t many dropped games.”
What Would They Change?
Neither player felt that the winning partnership required major changes. Mark had considered a different Dark Angels detachment, but concluded that the existing approach had worked.
“We were lucky that both factions are currently strong in-game. Blood Legion is probably one of the strongest Daemon detachments, along with Plague Legion.”
“I didn’t even occur to us until the last game that Rhys could have played as normal Astartes, as he had no Dark Angels characters or specific units, so we could have also benefited from the plus one to wound on Oath.”
Daemons in 11th Edition
Mark’s early impressions of Daemons in 11th Edition have become more positive as he has gained experience with the new deployments.
“As for 11th, I initially thought I wouldn’t be a fan, but I’ve been won over and now find it an improvement on 10th, especially with the new deployments.”
Congratulations, Rhys and Mark
Congratulations to Rhys and Mark on winning the MMG Warhammer 40,000 Doubles League – Summer 2026, and thank you both for explaining how Dreadnoughts and Daemons combined to secure three victories.
You can see all 12 teams, the final standings and full Best Coast Pairings results in our MMG 40K Doubles League – Summer 2026 results.