We were at the March meetup for Kings of war Wisconsin, still struggling a bit with Daylight Savings, but I was lucky enough to get in a second game, this time against Rob and his Halflings! Even I will admit that the Halflings got hit pretty hard in the new edition, and Rob is still trying to adjust his old approach. He ran the following:
We’ve got Mama Beata to issue double commands with three dice, a special Champion Engineer with the Banner, and a normal Engineer to assist. We have a horde and two regiments of rifles, a horde of Spearspikes, four units of Grenadiers, which the FAQ says can stack variable Brutal to their little hearts content, and then two Harvesters, and two Iron Beasts around to smash.
I continued on with the Varangur! The army has lost essentially all of its uniqueness, and as a result is not likely to see too much play in 4E from me until and unless they get a book, but there is a little bit worth exploring still, and up to comment on is everything:
- Magnilde of the Fallen. She’s ok, with good fighting stats, though has lost a bit in the edition transition, including the one-time Fly and an attack, going down to just 6. I need the Warlord Magnilde to run the Varangur properly though, so we’re forced into taking her, thankfully, she is not too expensive.
- Thegn on Frostfang. I liked the leaders on Frostfang before, and they are neat in 4E. You can’t buy additional attacks anymore, but you do get Rallying, which should be neat, and we’ll try building around a bit.
- Human Tribesmen. With good stats, these impressed me in my early, learner games. Data and Dice showcased them as an efficient unit, and so we’re testing them out ourselves, with some regiments, as well as a horde with Elite.
- Snow Foxes. A list needs chaff, but the list is wonky, so we’re only taking one. We’ll need to use it well!
- Snow Trolls. This time we’re leaving the more-straightforward Hearthguard (heavy) infantry behind and taking two units of Snow Trolls to better explore the weaker unit. The Trolls don’t hit as hard, but I think they might do alright as a grinding anvil unit. We’ll put them in danger and see what happens.
- Hearthguard Thunderers. One of two Varangur-only units, and by far the least interesting. They are boring, no-frills Knights. They lost the Brutal/Stealthy options, lost CS, all knightly units were bumped up to their attack profile now, and you can only take these as Regiments. I just don’t think there is much here worth getting excited about, but we’ll take them for a spin and see. As one does in 4E, we’re giving our one unit of Cavalry the J Boots. How original.
- Fallen. I like a lot of their stats and rules, but 4E spun down their attacks to just 16, and still just CS1 is a little rough. Sure, they can pin stuff down, but that doesn’t seem worth it, so we’re taking the Brew of Strength (again) to make them more dangerous.
- bn. They have Strider, which is even better now in 4E! They are rather expensive though, and in the very demanding Support slot, so we’re only taking one unit, and giving them the Brew of Sharpness to try and make the most of things.
Table and Terrain
We were out at Gamers Realm in New Berlin, WI, and making use of their tables and terrain, Unfortunately the store's selection seems to be in a bit of flux, and I couldn't find any obstacles, but we had some Height 10 Forests, the blocking Buildings with Height 7, Hills with Height 3, and a field and rough terrain as Height 1.
We got Loot for the scenario, with a token in the center, and then we each play one more token on the center line. My opponent wins the roll and places to one side, and after some measuring, I double down on that same side. We’ll see what happens!
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| Overview of the table. |
My opponent wins the roll for sides, and chooses to switch! We’re playing the structure and not the base, but the lane is still a bit troublesome on the edge for his liking. Left-to-right the Halflings had an Iron Beast and a Harvester, with Grenadiers in support, an Engineer (I think the normal one), a regiment, then a horde, then another regiment of Rifles, with two units of Grenadiers and Mama in reserve, then Spearspikes in the woods, then I believe the named Engineer, Harvester, and Iron Beast on the right, with more Grenadiers in reserve.
The building was indeed a bit troublesome! I deployed Trolls there early, and then later reinforced with a reserve unit of Tribesmen and a Thegn nearby. The Tribesmen horde came down near the middle token, with Trolls and Thegn in the woods with their center points in the terrain, then Tribesmen and Hearthguard Thunderers, struggling to see around the hill. The Frostfangs were next, with the Foxes in support, and Fallen out on the far right flank.
The half-baked plan was to deploy wide, and then try to collapse into the Halflings. Winning the roll for turn order, the Halflings chose to seize the initiative and kick things off for us.
Top of Round 1: Halflings
On the right, the Iron Beast chugs forward, but stays safe. The Harvester pulls in behind, and the right contingent with the Spearspikes and such all inches ahead.
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| The Halfling contraptions move up on the right. |
Centrally, Mama uses the Nimble Feet command on the horde of Rifles, getting 2 successes, which lets the horde move up 7" and then shoot with their 18” weapons since things are just now in range. Neat move! They shoot with a cover penalty into the Snow Trolls in the woods, and with Fire-Oil, they eek out 2 damage against my monstrous unit.
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| The rest of the right moves up, with the horde of Rifles taking some surprise shots. |
Nearby, the remaining Rifle regiment, and Engineer move their speed and set up for next turn. On the far left, the Harvester, Iron Beast, and Grenadiers do the same.
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| More contraptions steam ahead on the left. |
It was a neat opening round! With an eye for my Abyssals and the Flame Bearers, it's been neat to see how Rob has approached the shorted-ranged shooting.
Bottom of Round 1: Varangur
On the left, it’s not great distance hopping the Tribesmen ahead, so the Trolls take point, moving ahead and touching and picking up a token. We’re trying to test their durability after all, and might as well force the issue. The Tribesmen pull up to support, and the Thegn positions to help. I’m pretty sure he could have gotten closer – I think I was measuring 20” off the Grenadiers out of habit. Oh well, this is good enough.
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| Movement on the left. The Varangur take the lead! |
The Tribesmen horde moves up, a little over their Speed. The building is awkward, but eyeballing things, I think I can still see anything that hits the Snow Trolls, and that could be a nice trap.
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| The center inches up, and the Snow Trolls regenerate. |
In the woods, the Snow Trolls regenerate 1, getting down to 1 damage, and they move up as far as they can while keeping their center point in the woods. The Thegn cautiously does the same. He has fighting stats, but with just 5 attacks, keeping him around to Inspire and play the late game is much more important to me than threatening any early charges.
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| The Varangur try to pressure and contain out on the right. |
The Tribesmen move up. The Thunderers touch the very beveled hill, as we are playing the full piece as elevated, so they can now see things. The Foxes though cower behind the hill, hiding from the Grenadiers, who I believe are just within range of things. They can be shot, but are out of charge range of the Iron Beast too.
With slightly longer charge ranges, the Fallen and Frostfangs pivot move and pivot, threatening but staying safe themselves out on the right.
Top of Round 2: Halflings
The Iron Beast backs up, and pivots, denying I believe both charges out here. The Harvester likewise hangs back. The Beast is still just within range to hit the stealthy Foxes though, and fires, landing 2 damage.
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| The Foxes take some shots. |
After some discussion, I reiterate that the Thunderers are trying to touch the hill and see, so the Grenadiers go in. I am ok with this. I’ll be disordered, but likely to survive and should (hopefully) be able to push back and pick them up. The Grenadiers land no damage, and while the knights are engaged and will lose TC, we’re otherwise fine and unbothered.
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| As do Snow Trolls, and the Tribesmen. |
I believe the named Engineer dings the Tribesmen regiment for 1, while all the Rifles and the other Engineer shoot into the Snow Trolls. I have cover, but 11 new damage piles in, and I am wavered. The Bear Trap command hits the Rifle Horde.
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| The Snow Trolls take a multi-charge and hold. |
On the left, the Iron Beast and Harvester to go into the Snow Trolls, but when we're checking things on his turn, my Tribesmen are out of position, and the fight is just out of arc. Whoops! I should have double-checked that. If I was back an inch I’d have the flank of the Harvester. If I was ahead another inch, I’d be threatening the Rifle horde, and if I have pivoted slightly, I could be doing both. Alas.
The mechanical duo flub though, and with low rolls only 5 damage makes it in against the unit of Snow Trolls. As-mentioned, I can’t punish the commitment here, but at least I am holding.
Bottom of Round 2: Varangur
The Snow Trolls thump a surprising 4 damage back against the Harvester, despite the Big Shield. I can’t get the Thegn into the fight here due to the darn table edge, but he runs up. The Grenadiers can’t fit, and we’ll be threatening things next turn.
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| The Varangur adjust on the left. Not off to a great start, but we are holding. |
The Tribesmen horde now move up and adjust slightly, actually threatening things with confirmed arcs and inches.
The Snow Trolls regenerate a few, ending on 8 damage. They are wavering though, and I opt not to do anything with them. They have a Wild Charge and should be able to hit something next turn, if they stick around.
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| Tribesmen move up to instigate. |
The nearby Thegn and Tribesmen move out, threatening things. And meanwhile the unblemished Hearthguard Thunderers strike back against the Grenadiers, with Magnilde joining in, and the knights roll well despite no TC, and we’ll pick the unit up. Both units sidestep, and the Thunderers remain touching the hill and seeing over it.
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| Foxes get in against the Iron Beast! |
On the far right, the Foxes go in against the Iron Beast. The Foxes have some overhang, and the Harvester will need a pivot to get around, so both the Fallen and Frostfangs hide behind that line, trying to be safe.
Top of Round 3: Halflings
On the far right, the Grenadiers make use of flying, leaving the woods, moving at the double and block out my Fallen and Frostfangs while the Harvester and Iron Beast crush the Foxes. Fliers and terrain came up at the first meetup for 4E. With charging rules being more lax, and fliers not being hindered when ending on or starting in terrain, I don’t think fliers can move out of terrain at the double, and the FAQ has been poor so far. We’re playing it this way, though I disagree.
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| Ope, the Halfling contraptions break through. |
Spearspikes and Grenadiers hit the Tribesmen, with the former hindered, and the latter getting a Brutal +1 from a command. The duo will take them up to 5 damage, but the Tribesmen will grimly hold.
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| Some surprise charges from the Halflings. |
Another salvo fires into the wavering Snow Trolls. I was a bit surprised that the Grenadiers weren’t “Brutaled” and flown in instead, allowing for shots elsewhere, but they would have been Hindered, and with the Snow Trolls regenerating down to 8 damage, that does seem chancy and greedy. It's good for me though, as the Snow Trolls eat up a third round of shooting.
With the Snow Trolls confirmed devastated, a few errant shots hit the Tribesmen horde, taking them up to 3 damage, and Grenadiers fly out to block them up.
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| The Foxes break and Grenadiers interdict. |
The Snow Trolls on the left had regenerated down to 3 damage, and take 7 more, going up to 10. They are Inspired, but will break all the same. Nuts. The Iron Beast confiscates the token and then sidesteps to create space, and the Harvester pivots as much as it can with the Thegn taking up space so nearby.
Bottom of Round 3: Varangur
On the left, the reinforcing Tribesmen step up to delay things, will charge the Harvester. It received some heals from the Engineer, but the barbarians will do well and take it up to 8 damage. Not bad! But it is inspired, and does hold.
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| Charges from the Varangur on the left. |
The Thegn moves to go into the rear of the Grenadiers. I can see a darned third or their rear facing, but we’re playing by intent, and my opponent had measured them safe on his turn. I must not have been paying attention here and agreed, rather than check things myself. I acquiesce, and we’ll charge the Engineer instead… dealing just 1 damage. The Thegn's 5 attacks just don't really cut it.
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| Only the horde gets to victoriously reform, which tracks. |
The Tribesmen charge the Grenadiers, and are ordered to be Vicious. My opponent is a carpenter, and after finagling, had put the leader point of the Grenadiers 4” from the terrain, meaning, I will overhang the field by what ~0.07 inches and be hindered here, which is clever, but why I wanted the Thegn in the rear. Sheesh. I don’t like messing with millimeters. With Vicious, we’ll thump them and reposition, getting the Rifle Horde into front arc. I don’t want the horde to be pinned down.
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| The Frostfang Cavalry find a good flank charge! |
Centrally, the Tribesmen held against the Spearspikes and the Grenadiers. The Tribesmen hold, and Thegn comes to their aid against the Grenadiers. After some measuring, I can get the Frostfangs into the flank of the Spearspikes, and that becomes a priority this turn. I think that will do it, so opt to hold the Hearthguard Thunderers back in reserve.
Magnilde will join the Fallen as they brutalize the Grenadiers.
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| Reforms on the right for the Varangur. |
It is very close quarters out here. I am excited and roll the Frostfang fight first, but can’t really pivot them since Magnilde is so close. My choices are to hold, spin around and face the contraptions out here, or overrun. Given the tokens are all on the left, I overrun, getting just an inch or two. The Thegn I believe sidesteps, and the Tribesmen get all the good dice for a ridiculous 6 on their overrun.
The Grenadier fight is last, with Magnilde in the flank and the Fallen in the front. We’ll break them. The Fallen try to change facing, trying to block the contraptions in, but aren't quite touching the leading Harvester. I think Magnilde steps back, trying to create some space for the Fallen, and avoid the hill.
Top of Round 4: Halflings
The Frostfangs are giving a rear and have a small corner in-arc of the Iron Beast since I rolled so low on the overrun. Where there is a will there is a way with Rob, I will give him that! He can’t back up or move around, but after we’ll say several minutes of thinking, the Harvester will nudge ahead, enough to pivot and then move ahead more to park itself in front of the Fallen, flank exposed. The forward motion lets the Iron Beast make a full 90 degree pivot to steam ahead and connect with the other corner of the rear of the Frostfangs, landing 14 damage when all is said and done. The Frostfangs will rout. It was a lot of fiddling over millimeters here, but it is what it is, and kudos are due for figuring out a solution to the goal here! Had I just rolled better on the overrun this could have been avoided!
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| The Iron Beast crushes the Frostfangs. |
A regiment and the horde of Riflement shoot into the overrunning Tribesmen, taking them up to 12 damage, but they are Rallied and Inspired and hold. They end atop a token, but don’t pick it up.
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| Both Tribesmen units endure some heavy fire. |
A Rifle regiment moves into the small field, and will shoot the Tribesmen horde. The Engineer will withdraw from the Thegn and do the same, taking them up to 6 damage.
On the left, the Harvester will get a Brutal 2 but just 1 damage, and Iron Beast will roll hot with 9 damage, and while also Rallied and Inspired, this regiment will break. The Harvester and its treads will comically sidestep, and the Iron Beast will reform to face the center.
Bottom of Round 4: Varangur
There are only 3 Tokens in play this game. The Halflings hold one, and I am not doing well to grab the others. The surprise rear-charge and subsequent breakthrough on the right changes things for me, and removes a big striding hammer that was set to get into the center of the board for me. It being Round 4, the plan now is to just fight, and hope for a Round 7, as I think I need more time to fight for these tokens.
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| A hindered flank charge into the Harvester. |
The Tribesmen horde takes the flank charge in the damaged Harvester. The Engineer has brought Radiance of Life over and tried the Running Repairs order a few times, healing a few damage. The Tribesmen started a bit in the terrain, so this is hindered, but it’s still 50 attacks into the Def4 flank, and we will pick the unit up, and hold, as we are Rallied and Inspired for now. I am not going to be able to fight this Iron Beast, so the horde’s job is to get in its way and prevent it from grabbing a second token.
The Thegn originally went far enough ahead to threaten a rear-charge into the rifle horde next turn, but needs to back up an inch or so to keep the Tribesmen supported. Threatening the flank seems ok too.
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| The Varangur pin down the Rifle horde. |
The other Thegn hits the horde in the front, with the severely injured Tribesmen regiment hindered, but hitting the horde in the flank, which will prevent any withdraws or reforms. The duo land 13 damage, but the horde holds firmly.
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| And the other Harvester is flanked and felled on the right. |
On the right, we’re fighting for positioning for the late game. The Hearthguard Thunderers make a front charge into the Iron Beast, hitting cleanly, while Magnilde hits the flank to prevent withdraws or reforms here, and 9 damage lands, which seems pretty good against Def6.
The Fallen take the flank of the parked Harvester, and will then reform. Their leader point is in the rear arc of the Iron Beast, and with it stuck in, we should be able to pick it up next turn.
Top of Round 5: Halflings
The Iron Beast on the right crunches its gears and grinds 4 damage into the Hearthguard Thunderers, who hold strong. The named Engineer here hops out to shoot at the white Thegn on the other side of the board, joined by the other Engineer and the regiment of Rifles, who move up and double-pivot to spin around to grab a token while shooting. Just 4 damage lands against him.
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| The Hearthguard Thunderers hold. |
The Rifle horde gets Brutal 1, and lands 2 damage into the Thegn. Ther other regiment of Halfling Rifles makes a hindered flank charge into the maimed Trimbesmen regiment, lands 1 damage to take them up to 13, and my opponent gets what he needs to break this unit. They will overrun to get nearer to the token, and protect their flank from the white Thegn.
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| And the Tribesmen horde hold too, though the maimed regiment does break. |
On the left, the Iron Beast grinds against the horde of Tribesmen, taking them up to 10 damage, but they hold.
Bottom of Round 5: Varangur
We get Vicious on the horde again, and they bonk a few damage into the Iron Beast, but again, we just need them to hold, and hopefully the can do so for just one more turn.
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| The Thegns fight the injured horde of Halfling Rifles. |
The Thegns double charge the horde, and will that them up to 22 damage, about as-expected, and the horde will break. Both will turn to face the middle token and that fresh regiment of Halfling Rifles.
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| The Iron Beast and Riflemen horde are both picked up! |
The Fallen take the rear charge into the Iron Beast, and we’ll break it this turn, though Def6 makes it closer than I’d like! The Fallen sidestep, facing the center and moving toward the opposing deployment zone, Magnilde overruns onto the hill, and the Hearthguard Thunders wheel around with their victorious reform, eager for another charge before the game ends.
Top of Round 6: Halflings
The named Engineer enters the woods, and the other Engineer does his free individual pivot and then receives the Halt order. They and both regiments of Rifles will shoot into the more damaged white Thegn, landing 6, but they fail to waver him.
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| The Tribesmen horde hold fast! |
The Iron Beast on the left grinds against the Tribesmen horde, but only produces 5 new damage, and the horde is Rallied and Inspired, and does hold.
Bottom of Round 6: Varangur
I don’t quite have the inches to get the Hearthguard Thunderers into a good charge. They move up as far as they can while still touching the token, when they will stop and then pick it up. Agonizingly, I am just over 10 inches away from the flank of the Rifles.
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| Charges for the Varangur to close out Round 6. |
Also fighting for position, the Fallen make a striding rear charge into the departing Rifles in the woods, will pick them up, and reform, also eager to fight for the middle token, though time is short.
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| ...and only one regiment of Rifles breaks. |
Both Thegns charge the Rifles holding that middle token. We have Strider, but flub, dealing just 3 damage, about half what is expected. The Rifles here hold on, clutching a token, and the Iron Beast on the left still has one, making this 2:1 in favor of the Halflings at the bottom of Round 6.
…but I manifest a Round 7 for us!
Top of Round 7: Halflings
The FAQ basically says you can just ignore Yielding individuals in all cases unless you happen to share space and overlap with them. Unfortunately, sticky combats won’t help the Halflings here. If seems the Halflings need units to actually tie my units up, and those are in short supply for the tinkerers.
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| The Halflings best the horde but not the Thegn. |
The Iron Beast gets a Brutal and grinds out the Tribesmen horde. The Saucer charges in, hindered, into the rear of the injured white Thegn, hot soup flying in every direction. She contributes no damage, and the Rifles also fails land a blow through the armor.
Bottom of Round 7: Varangur
I can only fit two units into a units facing nowadays. The Thegns aren’t cutting it, so I want to practice some of the new options. I aim to Withdraw with the black Thegn, to let the Fallen get in, do grisly work, and win the game. I’m on 2 damage and… roll boxcars for the Nerve check. We’re reading through things, and I still pass, but take an additional 1d6 of damage as self-doubt creeps in. (We’re at the bottom of Round 7 and don’t actually roll the damage). I then roll up snake eyes for the distance traveled, which will prevent the Fallen from getting into the front here. Ugh.
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| Final charges from the Varangur. |
Very fortunately, I have a backup plan here. The Thegn flubbed it, but the Hearthguard Thunderers can drop the token, pop their books and make a glorious flank charge into the Rifles. The Fallen are then able to hop over to pick up the dropped token.
Thanks to the Boots, it’s a clean flank charge on a damaged unit, and we fast-forward, and the Rifles are not found to be insane. The Thunderers hoist the loot high.
The Iron Beast holds a token for the Halflings, but the Thunderers and Fallen each hold one for the me now at the bottom of Round 7, making this a 2:1 victory for the Varangur!
Game Conclusions
As-ever, it was a hard-fought game against Rob! It's been neat to see the Halflings play more into their shooting components. I was outplayed early, but the list the list has some staying power, and I was lucky enough to get the extra turn I needed to endure everything and to come away with the victory here.
Testing Conclusions
- Magnilde of the Fallen. Again, Magnilde is just ok now in 4E. She’s strong enough to add a damage or two into most combats, and getting her into a flank (preventing reforms and withdraws) seems like a good use of her, though that can be hard to do. She did very well both games but individuals, particularly fighty individuals, are in a very rough spot right now.
- Thegn on Frostfang. As in the previous game, being stuck on 5 attacks really limits their potential output, and two damage feels like the most I can ever really expect out of these. With only two units fighting per facing, adding these into fights is a bit dubious, unless the unit is relatively weak, or you are just trying to tie them up, or you are finding flanks. Rallying plus Inspiring is quite nice though, making them a little more impactful as a supporting unit lurking behind the main line. With the new FAQ really limiting individuals now, and 4E already hitting the type with cost increases and all sorts of limitations, I think the Frostfang mount is quite desirable, letting the character fully play the game. They really should have just done away with Individuals.
- Human Tribesmen Horde, with Elite. As in the previous game, I completely forgot about the item and Elite here. The Vicious order was used a few times though, and I was lucky enough to have it go off on just two dice several times. The Blessing still seems like a nice item for a horde, despite my forgetfulness. And still, the horde did well for itself and does indeed seem like a great pick for the army help anchor down a line.
- Human Tribesmen Regiments. The regiments really shone in smaller games. In “proper” games, they lack the attacks to really carry a list, but again, the a few simple regiments were able to each take some hits and each hold their own. They are very fine for filling out a battle line or core tax.
- Snow Foxes. They got to charge in and tie something very scary up for me. I couldn’t quite get the follow-up and contain accomplished, but they at least did their jobs and were used well.
- Snow Trolls. I totally forgot about Vicious, which can definitely help in the grinds that I was hoping for. I’ll try to remember that in the future! Here though, they took a fair amount of punishment, regeneration was actually decent, and they were able to endure it.
- Hearthguard Thunderers. These actually impressed me this game. I used them as bait against some Grenadiers, but they were still able to get two clean charges off and gave me options at the end to win the game. One unit, aggressive and on the line with Boots seems the most common, but I’m wondering if aggressive, expendable infantry units paired with second-line knights might be viable. I think this could be something for the Kingdoms of Men to explore, as I am still overwhelmed by all their playstyle options.
- Fallen. They are decent pressure piece for the army, but unfortunately really need the Brew to be an effective threat, and even then still aren’t that great of a hammer. They are still the more fun and interesting of the two Varangur units to field though, as Strider is so valuable now. I could see maybe a “quality” build, with Tribesmen and Fallen and going wide maybe.
- Frostfang Cavalry. Where there is a will there is a way it seems! Sheesh. I couldn’t quite protect them here, but the overrun was still the right call I think, I just needed to roll average. Overall, these were still used well though, and their sacrifice set up the charges for the late-game piece trades I needed to win, and thankfully the extra turn let me get there.
- Varangur, generally. The Varangur lost a lot of their uniqueness with the transition to the new edition. Magnilde is just ok, and the two units she unlocks are neat, but I’m not sure is worth getting too excited about. Despite the grumbling, this was still a very fun list with a little more depth than I was anticipating. There are definitely some fun ideas to still explore, but from a Varangur-perspective, I don’t think it’s really worth digging in or trying to optimize anything or dig too deep until their book comes up. This is a big shortcoming of the new edition. I know a lot changed, but I really hope the codex-lite approach is done away with once all the armies are brought up to speed, and the yearly Clash update returns. That wholistic approach to the game and to balance was a huge selling point for the game, and I hope it comes back.
The shift of the Halfings over to Rifles and heavier shooting combined arms has been really intriguing to me, as I know from my own Abyssal play over the years that 18” shooting can be unforgiving to work with! Taran Bligh or the striding Aeronauts and a more Tinker-heavy and positional game could be neat for Rob to explore though, and we’ll see where the Halflings go next. It's always a tough game, but always lots and lots to learn from. Thanks for the game Rob!