Intro and Lists
It has been far too long since we've seen Trevor of Data and Dice fame across the table from us! After several missed connections in February and then most of March, we finally connected for a pair of games as the month wrappedup. Post-tournament, we were both branching out into other armies for 4E, with Trevor fielding a nifty one-battalion Basilean list now that there is no time pressure to explore:
The Brothermark are no more, so the models are being pressed into service of Basilea proper. We've got two hordes of Spears, and two regiments of Paladins to hold the line and pay the core tax. Then, two regiments of Ogre Palace Guard to smash things, with one even having the Brew of Sharpness to hit on 2's. There was a troop of Elohi to threaten and pressure, three troops of Gur Panthers to chaff up opposing scary units, with an Ogre Captain and two War Priests to inspire, with the latter casting spells too, including the trusty Bane Chant and devastating Blizzard. Supplementing this powerful spell are two Cannons, which can hit on 4's, which seems powerful and unique for war machines. For Commands, the Basileans can heal and grant Elite, though both have limitations, and will mainly hit human units. The list has got a little bit of everything, so it should be a good introduction to the army in order to see what he might want to pursue more.
I brought the Abyssals. They’ve been an army I just can’t quite wrap my head around in 4E, especially with core options, so I also brought a variety of things, and up to evaluate and discuss is everything:
- Ba’su’su the Vile. I rebased him, so I want to try him out! The extra Nerve, extra CS, and Regeneration is more appealing to me than the variable Brutal on the comparable legendary Seductress Mau-ti-bu-su. We won’t get much use out of our Commands with him, but he should be very annoying if I can use him wisely.
- The Bloody Cardinal. He’s a weird little guy but my comparable Depoilers are all on the old monstrous 50s instead of 40s, so we’re taking him. No regeneration on him, but Lifeleech 3 compensates and Dread plus good offensive stats makes him pretty versatile. I had him used against me to good effect at the semi-recent Northwoods events, where he was held back to make use of Dread, and then charged in on subsequent turns to finish off units. That seems wise, so we’ll try to mimic that here.
- Warlock with Bloodboil. Unfortunately, this is the only spellcaster in the army. We’re taking a lot of shooting, and while the Warlock can contribute with Firebolts… Bloodboil seems like it will be more impactful.
- Flame Bearers Corps. The Core units of the Abyssals are a bit perplexing to me, and I wanted to kick off my testing with the most simple approach to the Core Tax, which is taking a lot of Flame Bearers. The 18” range is really tough though, and usually precludes any Round 1 shots. They are much more immobile than 3E, so we’ll see what we can do here.
- Gargoyles. I think the Speed 10 Gargoyles are in a really strong place. With good positioning they can be a terror at disrupting enemy lines. We hobbied up a few more units, but with a focus on shooting instead of melee, we’ll take just three units.
- Berserkers. They were over-tuned in 3E, and seem far more reasonable now. We’re taking a stock regiment to hopefully nail down the changes in my noggin and get a good feel for the unit.
- Tortured Soul Troops. I liked these a lot in 3E, but lacking Nimble prevented them from being too bonkers. With the movement changes now, I think these could be really strong. I think these will do best in a melee list, where everything is pushing up and being scary with other scary things ready to support them, but we’ll try them here with shooters, with the idea being that the Shooting can soften things up and maybe the Tortured Souls can finish it off.
- Abyssal Horsemen. They came out ok with the 4E changes, getting the extra attacks, losing their CS but kept Regeneration. It’s a mixed bag. With Just TC they need clean charges, so we’re going with the one unit of cavalry and the J Boots approach, which I still think will be the standard for using cavalry a while. As-mentioned in the forum’s Tactica, charging, withdrawing, and then using a Command Fireball with them seems clever, so that will be a goal of ours!
- Molochs. With the shake-ups in the new edition, there is much more of a choice to be made between them and the Berserkers now. They look like a very solid hammer unit and so we’ll try them out, and with some spare points, we are rocking the Blessing of the Gods. It's an unusual; pick for me, but we had an awkward amount of points left over, so we'll try it out.
We've got two combined-arms armies, and it should be a great time!
Table and Terrain
Trevor was hosting, and we made wonderful use of his terrain and spacious ping-pong table setup. We forgot to reaffirm the new heights, but I don't think there were any impactful game moments, so we can say that we had some Height 10 Forests, the blocking Buildings were Height 7, Hills with Height 3, fields as Height 0 and Obstacles as Height 2.
We got Seek and Destroy for the scenario, and scattered seven Loot Tokens across the battlefield to contest. Each one help will be worth one VP at the end of the game, but if a unit it routed while holding a token, the victor may choose to destroy it instead of claim it themselves, which is a neat feature.
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| Overview of the table. |
My opponent won the roll for first token and for sides. For deployment, infantry came down early, and then he surprised me with a strong and stacked left flank.
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| The table, with deployment. |
For the Basileans, we have two units of Gur Panthers, the Ogre Captain, and Paladins near the line, with both Ogre units in reserve for a very strong left. The center has Spearmen, Paladins, and more Spearmen with Elohi and Gur Panthers in reserve and both War Priests around. The Blizzard Priest is on the flank, and the cannons are back as far as they can be.
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| The view from the left. |
They Abyssals haven't seen the table much in 4E, and I've really been struggling to figure out how I might want to run them nowadays. With infantry coming down centrally, I dropped my shooters centrally too, and then split the rest on the wings, hoping to delay on one and push with the other. On the left, we have Tortured Souls, Horsemen, and Gargoyles in reserve, with Ba'su'su supervising.
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| The center. |
The center had Molochs, the Carginal, and supporting Gargoyles, with the Flame Bearers and Warlock nice and central, ready to fling fire all over the four middle tokens.
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| And the right. |
My right had Gargoyles hiding from the artillery, then Tortured Souls and Berserkers. I've only got three sources of Inspiring in the list, and did not spread them out very well. The right has nothing to keep them in line, but the Tortured Souls are Fearless, and the Berserkers have good Nerve, so it's a bit of a calculated risk trying to learn the army.
A bit surprisingly, I win the roll for turn order. I have a lot of points tied up in short-range shooting, and have been grappling with best-practices for playing with and against it. Surveying the table, I still think it wise here to seize the initiative and try to pen the Basileans in, even if I don't get to shoot this round.
Top of Round 1: Abyssals
The left of the Basileans has both scary Ogre units, so we need to delay here and push on the right. I forgot just how speedy the Gur Panthers are! My Herd really misses them. We don't want to give them many easy outs, but do want to try and deal with them. Tortured Souls inch up, baiting a charge from one and only one unit. If my opponent takes the bait, I should be able to beat the Panthers with the Souls for free, while adjusting elsewhere. |
| The Abyssals set a small trap for some chaff. |
The Horsemen and Ba'su'su hand back, just out of range, and the Gargoyles flap up, ready to interdict here, depending on how aggressive my opponent wants to be here.
I don't know where to be sending the Molochs, and forget to move them entirely. They definitely should be moving up, and could be in a very nice position, but spend their turn loitering. Oops.
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| The Flame Bearers struggle to sort themselves out. |
I'm not quite sure what to do with the center. I don't have any shots, and terrain stymies me a bit too. One unit takes the hill, and if memory serves the intent is to get the center point on the hill so we're not shooting with a penalty next turn, though it doesn't look like we physically achieved that. The rest of the line inches up, with the Cardinal hiding but grabbing a token, and the Gargoyles lurking. The Elohi are far enough back they don't have any charges next turn.
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| The Abyssals push out on the right. |
On the right, we need to push, and do so quickly. The Gargoyles are speediest, and zip their 20 inches ahead, already threatening a war machine if memory serves, with the Tortured Souls and Berserkers doing everything they can to keep pace.
Bottom of Round 1: Basileans
The cannons roar, but land just 2 damage into the Gargoyles. Still, I lack Inspiring over here, and a hot check wavers them. Aww nuts. Trying to blunt the push the Spearmen move out towards the right, presenting their poky bits.
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| The cannons deliver a tempo swing already. |
In the center, the Blizzard caster moves up and casts his spell, blasting into a strong 6 damage into a unit of Flame Bearers, and a pair of hot checks will waver this unit as well. Shooting is already paying off for the Basileans!
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| The Flame Bearers get frosted. |
The Paladins are slowed by the obstacle, but Spearmen move up to grab a token. The Elohi and Gur Panthers also reposition, looking to protect the Cannons.
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| The Basileans grab some tokens. |
On the left, the Gur Panthers take the bait, charging out and landing a surprising 3 damage into the Tortured Souls. I am accidentally not Inspired here, but I do manage to hold on. The various Ogres and Paladins move up as well, with the Paladins grabbing a token, but overall, the Basileans are taking things slow and steady out here.
Top of Round 2: Abyssals
Out on the left, the Tortured Souls fight back against the Gur Panthers, and will eventually pick them up. A bit out of charge range of the Ogres, they'll just hold and bask in their victory. My Gargoyles will charge the other unit of Gur Panthers, looking to just chaff things up, but we land some decent damage and pick the second unit up as well, despite it being Inspired.
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| Victory over the Gur Panthers! |
The Horsemen will just inch ahead, but the individual Ba'su'su spies an opening and flies out, jumping the Basilean lines. As an Individual, he won't be doubling or tripling his attacks, but a little extra damage never hurts, and he's going to be hard to block in.Since I forgot to move them last turn, the Molochs don't have a charge this turn into the intrepid Spearmen, like I would like. Before departing though, Ba'su'su gifts the Molochs a Fireball, and they'll move and toss into the Spears.
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| Hot command dice, for some mediocre Fireballs. |
The Cardinal will bestow a similar gift to the Gargoyles, who will move up to toss into the Spearmen as well, while stopping just in front of them and blocking them up. The errant Fireballs I believe land 7 damage in total this round, which will eventually be Iron-Resolved down to just 6 damage.
One Flame Bearer unit is wavering, and will hold while regenerating down to just 4 damage. The others hold and toss into the Paladins, landing a combined 10 damage, which looks to be a little hot. The Warlock also has Firebolts, but I want to try Bloodboil. Unfortunately, I look to be a millimeter out. In the spirit of trying things out, my opponent offers to roll for it, but we opt to just move the Warlock up, forgoing the benefit of halting, and letting him toss to add another 3 damage, taking the Paladins to 13 total, where they will waver.
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| Fighting out on the right. |
On the right, the Gargoyles hold, regenerating both damage, and are safe from the Elohi and Panthers next turn. They're still threatening a charge into a Cannon, but I would have loved to have gotten there this turn. Oh well. The Tortured Souls inch around. As fliers, I don't want to charge them into the Spears, and they'll stop to grab a token. They can always drop it later.
I solo-charge the Berserkers into the Spears, landing a strong 11 damage! It's risky, but we are hear to learn. The hope is that my high Nerve can endure a rebuttal and be a menace. And maybe we get to test out Retaliate too.
Bottom of Round 2: Basileans
On the right, the Gur Panthers hop ahead, and threatening the flank of the Berserkers. The Spearmen fight back against the Berserkers, poking 5 damage in. The Elohi join them, contributing 4, and taking the Berserkers up to 9 damage, which is still a tall order to remove. Luck is with my opponent's Nerve check rolls this game though, and another 10+ on the die removes the uninspired unit here. Shucks.
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| Booo, the Berserkers fall. |
In victory, the Spears overrun, and the Elohi I believe back up. They are wary of the Souls dropping the token and charging out, and this gets them safe. My push is over it seems...
The Cannons fire into the injured Flame Bearers, with Blizzard contributing more too, and the unit is brought up to 11 damage and wavered again.
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| The Flame Bearers are wavered again. |
The Spears don't like it, but will charge the Gargoyles, and thankfully, will pick them up. I believe command Heals and Spell heals get them down to just 1 damage at the end of the round, which is some great healing.
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| The Basileans destroy some Gargoyles. |
The Basileans don't want to be stuck up on Gargoyles, so commit to obliterating the unit, with the Paladins making a hindered charge and Ogres making a clean one. Mitigating what can get in to fight next, the Captain moves up to block. In victory, both units will overrun, but the Ogres will be stopped by their Captain.
Top of Round 3: Abyssals
Delaying is still the plan on the left, and I have good chances to achieve this I think. First, the Tortured Souls and Molochs charge the Paladins, with only the latter being hindered. Next the Horsemen charge the Ogre Captain, hitting cleanly and not needing to use their boots.
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| Fights on the left. |
When it is time for rolling the combats, we roll the Horsemen first, looking to remove Inspiring, and we'll land 11 damage and rout him. The Horsemen back up, clearing the Tortured Souls, as planned. Next, the Souls land just 2, though the Molochs contribute 11, and we'll break the now uninspired Paladins, and choose to destroy the token, and try to limit how much the Ogres can do for me opponent. In victory, the Tortured Souls will sidestep, blocking out a path to the Horsemen, and the Molochs will spin, landing atop a different token to claim it.
In the center, Ba'su'su can actually see and reach the injured Paladins, and we'll send him in over here, looking to pressure these center tokens. He'll land just 1 damage, but will get the rout here.
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| Ba'su'su hits the center. |
The Cardinal steps up block in the Spears, and the trio of unwavering Flame Bearers will all hold and toss into the Spears, with Bloodboil coming at the end with 14 dice, landing 6 more damage and taking the horde to 20 for a nice waver. It's pretty hot shooting dice from the look of things, but we're still not tipping things over into routing.
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| And Tortured Souls run and hide with their token. |
On the right, the Gargoyles take their charge, fighting and besting a war machine, and spinning around. After some measuring, the Tortured Souls can't get away, but can go and hide behind the hill from both the Elohi and Panthers, so do that.
Bottom of Round 3: Basileans
On the right, the Gur Panthers and Elohi take the hill and zone out the Tortured Souls. I can't really do much, but they're not going to get to me until Round 4, so maybe I can delay out here now. Token all but secure, the remaining Spear horde spins around and moves back towards the center to help contest the tokens here.
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| The Abyssal push on the right is definitely out of gas. |
The Cannon loads grapeshot, landing a crazy 9 damage, and the War Priest turns to cast Blizzard into the Gargoyles as well, contributing 6, which is enough to rout the fliers and protect the remaining war machine.
The wavering Spears take their token and inch back, getting a command Heal for 1, and perhaps a success or two from the spell. I do not recall. Individuals cannot carry loot tokens per the FAQ, so they support as they can, but can't really contribute to the scenario.
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| The Molochs take a hit and hold. |
On the left, the Ogre Palace Guards join the fight. The one with the Brew of Sharpness makes quick work of the Tortured Souls, and the other unit makes a hindered charge into the Molochs, lands 9 damage, but the Nerve check is finally average and I hold.
Top of Round 4: Abyssals
Out on the left, I can't multi-charge anything, so am forced into solo fights against the Ogres. The Horsemen land 9 damage. The Cardinal drops his token, pivots once and runs towards the woods, brining Dread and Inspiring, but only to the Molochs. They land a solid 10 damage, while regenerating down to just 6 damage themselves. I have Dread in play for the Molochs, but neither check spikes, and I fail to break either uninspired unit, which is super-unfortunate for me and my chances.
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| The Abyssals push back on the left, trying to make something happen. |
In the center, Ba'su'su charges the remaining cannon, lands 13 damage, and will indeed break it, relieving some shooty pressure against me. With a slight reprieve, all my Flame Bearer units are unwavering, and we'll try to capitalize on that this round.
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| Shooting in the center. |
One unit will move up on the hill, pick up the token dropped by the Cardinal, and will toss into some Spears. I believe the other three regiment holds. In total, I think two toss into the far Spears to take them up to 14, and the two toss into the nearer Spears but struggle, taking them just back up to 19 damage at the end of the volley. Bloodboil needs to go into the nearer unit of Spears, taking them up to 30 damage, and will break them.
It's an awkward round of shooting. The far Spears behind the building were a little out of range of some of the units, and some other had cover penalties. I was probably not shooting as efficiently as I could have been here, but was trying to stay still. We still claimed a horde of Spears though, and even if it wasn't efficient shooting, that counts for something.
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| The Tortured Souls make a last stand. |
On the right, I can't really do anything tricky, so the Tortured Souls just move towards the corner, then pivot to face, and drop the token. He'll claim it, but one unit will need to stay put next turn to claim it.
Bottom of Round 4: Basileans
Still out on the right, the Gur Panthers and the Elohi will land a combined 9 damage into the Tortured Souls, with the Panthers contributing a surprising 4 damage. The Souls are broken, and both units victorious spin.
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| The Panthers will grab a token and stay. |
If memory serves, the Panthers spin, land atop the token, and claim it. Arguably, I probably should have dropped the token on my left, leaving it for the Elohi, but honestly, with several rounds to go, the difference is immaterial. The Elohi aren't going to stay back and camp a token, we're definitely over-thinking things here. The Basileans have won, and the Panthers can claim the token in the coming rounds.
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| Positioning in the center. |
Centrally, the Spears get some attention with Command Heals, and the Blizzard War Priest lands another 5 damage onto the Flame Bearers, securing another waver against them.
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| The Abyssal left collapses now. Ouch. |
On the left, the Ogres with Sharpness land 12 damage into the Abyssal Horsemen, who are uninspired, and will break. The other Ogres bring the Molochs up to 14 damage plus Brutal, and while I am Inspired, I break here as well, and the Ogres will steal my token.
Checking in on the scenario, I destroyed one, so six tokens are in play. The Ogres on the left have a token, as to the Panthers on the right, with the Basileans holding 2 total. My outer Flame Bearer units each hold a token, for 2 for the Abyssals, and we have 2 tokens left to fight over in the center. A tie game at the moment!
Top of Round 5: Abyssals
It's a gamble, but I feel like we must risk the Cardinal out on the left. It's a hindered charge into the Ogres on the left, but they are on 9 damage, are uninspired, and are holding a token. I should deal a point or two of damage, have Dread, and that would tip the chances of them breaking in my favor. If I win, I can destroy this token, and effectively take the scary Ogres with Sharpness out of the game.
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| The Bloody Cardinal tries to earn his moniker. |
The Bloody Cardinal lands a single damage, taking them up to 10, and with Dread, we just need a six to bust the uninspired unit, but we don't luck out. Three essentially "even" chances to win a combat out here and we've flubbed them all. Nuts.
In the center, I think everything goes into the War Priest with Blizzard, with everything taking an penalty for him being an individual. The Flame Bearers land 7, and Bloodboil then contributes just 2 more, and although he is wavering, he is still around.
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| Positioning on the right and in the center. |
Ba'su'su can't claim tokens, but be can contest them, and he moves out to the right to menace the Gur Panthers.
Bottom of Round 5: Basileans
The Panthers run, trying to get behind the hill, but cannot quite escape. The Elohi fly out to threaten the flanks of my Flamebearers now. The outer one is holding a token, so this isn't great.
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| Positioning on the right. |
The Priest heals the wavering Priest, and I think a command heal helps the remaining Spears. Since the Panthers can't get away, they about-face to protect them.
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| And the Cardinal gets bloodied and sent home instead. |
On the left, the Molochs land 8 damage into the Cardinal, with Brutal, and my opponent does get the rout here, and breaks through fully on the left now.
It's is still 2:2 with two tokens up for grabs.
Top of Round 6: Abyssals
It the Gur Panthers are still carrying the token, Ba'su'su could actually destroy it instead of trying to hold it against the Spearmen. That might have been a better call, but instead he rear-charges the Blizzard War Priest, to no mechanical effect, but we do land 6 damage off his 7 attacks, and will remove the last of the counter-shooting form the Basileans.
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| The Elohi menace with their speed. |
One unit of Flame Bearers turns to zone out the Elohi. They can get into the front, hindered, but that's it. They'll toss and I think land 2 damage, which will Iron Resolve down to 1.
Another unit holds, and flings into the remaining Priest, and a third unit moves and does the same, taking him up to 5 damage, but I don't think we waver them.
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| The Abyssals try again to pop the uninspired Ogres... maybe ranged attacks will work this time? |
We're gambling a lot this game, and the final unit of Flame Bearers moves up to claim the token dropped by the atomized Spearmen, and will turn to face the oncoming Ogres while being about 13 inches away. They'll fling, into cover, landing no hits.
The Ogres are still on 10 damage, and the Warlock is able to just get into range for Bloodboil, and try that, also landing no hits, and now opening himself up to a charge. Esh. Maybe the Firebolts would have been the better play this round... but I just keep gambling out here on the left.
Bottom of Round 6: Basileans
The Ogres take their charge, going into the Warlock hindered, but will pile on a lot of damage, and break him, and reform, still holding their token and now menacing my lines.
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| The Ogres get yet another kill. |
The other Ogres try to help, but are slowed down by the woods. They have their Brew of Sharpness, but as-is, can't make it to any combats next turn.
Being the bottom of Round 6, my opponent feels the need to play for the scenario. The Spears again spin around to face the center, and the Gur Panthers take up position behind them, safe from Bassu-su.
Elohi have the inches to fly over to the center, and grab the token there, tying the game up 3:3 now. But we do roll up a Round 7!
Top of Round 7: Abyssals
With some quick measurements, the Ogres with Sharpness can't reach anything, and are more than 6 inches away from the Ogres Menacing me from the hill. The Flame Bearers all turn and fling, and will scorch the Ogres, who drop their token.
Ba'su'su charges the Elohi, dealing 3 damage, but more importantly locking them in place.
Bottom of Round 7: Basileans
The Elohi hold a token but are stuck in against Ba'su'su. The Panthers hold a token, and are quick, but can't do anything since they are starting behind the Spears. The Ogres can't reach the dropped token to reclaim it, so the lead slips to 3:2 in favor of the Abyssals as the game concludes!
Game Conclusions
The initial plan basically failed, as I wasn't lucky enough to push through on the right to be impactful with murdering, nor deft enough on the left to delay perfectly. Ogres in all forms are still premiere large infantry! Still, we adjusted, persevered, and somehow came away with a very cagy win! And thanks to shooting, no less!
Testing Conclusion
- Ba’su’su the Vile. I wasn't sure I would like him, as he's very similar to the Vampires on Pegasi that I was recently quite lukewarm on, but as a weaker individual. Sticking around to maybe break a unit of Ogres might have been more sensible, but actually making use of Individual and zipping him all around the battlefield proved worthwhile this game! Individuals are in a rough spot, especially as Warlords, but he did really well this game.
- The Bloody Cardinal. He isn't durable enough to be a front-line fighter, but he is still a neat little guy. More testing is needed, but I'd say he did fine.
- Warlock with Bloodboil. This seemed like a pretty good pick? Bloodboil is fun, and works very nicely with the shooting component, but it also feels a bit like overkill, but the spell seems like a good way to try finish off a unit to let your other shooting target other stuff.
- Flame Bearers Corps. The quartet is a massive investment, but did technically win me the game here. Their output seemed a bit hot, and only 1-3 damage expected most of the time, in pretty ideal conditions. I enjoyed the playstyle as it was pretty high-risk, and will try it again, even after today but it is definitely seem like a gamble, and probably not great for serious competition.
- Gargoyles. Wild wavers aside, these are very nice in 4E! Three felt great, and I'd probably go to 4 if I have more hammers that need protecting.
- Berserkers. They are ok, and great against Spearmen, but didn't have the Inspiring support nor luck needed to stick around, unfortunately. Their adjusted speed feels nice, and I do like the distinction between them and Molochs.
- Tortured Soul Troops. I like them a lot! Slots are tight though, and they can't fit into every list. Fearless is still nice, though and I think them plus Molochs would be a good build, if one can figure out the core tax.
- Abyssal Horsemen. I used them about as well as I could. Inspiring was an issue again for longevity, but overall, they were ok? The Boots seem mandatory though, which makes them harder to effectively use. About in-line with everything I was expecting for cavalry though. Fine for now, and more testing needed.
- Molochs. Aside from forgetting about them in Round 1, they were used decently well here, but probably want a little more support in the future. With Def4, they don't want to be front-liners, but rather come in late game to clean up units that are already injured.