4th Edition: Battle #049 Abyssals vs Abyssal Dwarfs in Raze

Intro and Lists

It had been a crazy-tough week for me both with work stuff and with home stuff, and I was running on fumes at best. Kings of War Wisconsin semi-recently set up a little Discord, and someone had posted, looking for practice games to help with a tournament coming up, and I blindly agreed, looking forward to a little respite thanks to gaming. Had I used a solitary brain cell, I could have remembered who this was, but they were in short supply this week. I thought I was gearing up for a beating from Rob, but as we got to planning the details in the days immediately prior, it was Will was attending the same tournament, and was the one looking for games. He had his Abyssal Dwarfs with the following:

I really like Golekh's vector for play - the exploding prisoners with jobs just seem super-cool, and I'm glad he's pursuing this! We have the splendidly painted Golekh on his chariot, two Iron Casters (without Surge) to heal and support things, a Horde of Blacksouls with CS1 weapon-swap, and the Brew of Sharpness to hit harder, two regiments of Lesser Obsidian Golems to take hits, two Gargoyles to interdict, and then Ratkin Death Engine and Tunnel Runners to round things out as other hammer-like units. Neither of us really liked the assortment of tiny items on the Ratkin or the Gargoyles, but the list was already submitted, so we can't really tweak it, and it's an awkward amounts of points left to paly with. 

For the first game, I brought the Abyssals, as I am eager to start exploring the buffed, returning Abyssal Guard more myself, as they were a pet unit of mine for quite some time. I think Rob’s approach with CS2 Hordes is really strong, but my aim for each collection of mine is to explore the army roster as fully as I can, so I gotta do my own thing, especially early on. We're using what we have painted, and going with a MMU approach with lots of regiments. Up to discuss here is everything.

• Abyssal Warlord. That's right, we’re giving the Warlord a try! The (slightly) longer Commands are ok, but we’re taking him mostly to unlock some different Core units, namely the Abyssal Guard. Stat-wise, he seems similar to the Herd’s Chieftain – with good stats and abilities, but too few attacks to matter much in a fight. Individual combat heroes have often been hard to justify, and we’ll see if that general assessment holds.
• Warlock, Veil and Sacred Horn. I really liked this used against me, and with Trevor’s NA also using lots of shooting via Javelins, this doesn’t feel explicitly tailored, so I wanted to try it out. It’s a bit of a miss this time, but that’s totally fine, and we’ll see if and how this Warlock can still be useful.
• Warlock, Dark Pit. I quite like the Dark Pit (when it goes off - the 4+ can be a little fickle). I explored it previously with Flame Bearers, but I don’t think the Abyssals quite have the volume of fire to make this work at range. I think it will work better supporting a melee push or grind, and so that will be the aim here – overwhelm with units, and then drop this for Cloak of Death and Dread to swing the fights my way.
• Lower Abyssals. With very expensive Guard regiments, we still need some blockers and token-holders, so here we go, as regiments to be more expendable.
• Abyssal Guard. And then there are the stars of the show and build, the returning Abyssal Guard. I went with a split between the Def5 and CS2 ones, as I couldn’t quickly find a tray to use, and this assortment are the full single-based regiments I have hobbied up right now. We’ll see how they all do and get a benchmark going for our understanding.
• Gargoyles. I have four troops of Gargoyles hobbied up, and I don’t think they’ve all hit the table together before, so we’re taking the lot of them! We’ll see what havoc they can cause.
• Berserkers. We had some spare points, so trying to really embrace the MMU idea, we’ll take some troops of Fearless Berserkers to prowl the battlefield.

Table and Terrain

Will and his wife were kind enough to host the practice session, and we made use of his table, very thematic matt, and home terrain, with the help of an extra hill from the terrain box in my car. We had nifty basalt rock Forests with Height 10, a ruined statue head and a skull monument for blocking terrain at Height 7, Hills with Height 3, two neoprene mats for Height 1 difficult terrain, and the Obstacles as Height 2. 

Overview of the table.

We got Raze for the scenario, which we have played recently. There is an immutable Objective token in the center of the board, and then we each place three tokens into deployment zones. Oddly, you can place in either zone, but only Raze tokens not in your deployment zone. If you control a token not in your deployment zone, you can "Raze" it for 1 point, and ideally, you whittle things down to fight over the center, as you get nothing for just contesting stuff in your own deployment zone.

View of the left.

Left-to-right for the Abyssal Dwarfs, we have Golekh and the Tunner Runner regiment, pesky terrain, both Golems flanking the Scorched Earth Iron Caster with perpendicular Gargoyles hiding behind them, as well as the Death Engine. On the right, we have Ratkin hordes screening for the Blacksouls, and the second Iron Caster.

View of the right.

I had won the roll for sides and for first token placement. I wanted to go wide, and to try and use my Gargoyle advantage to slow things down, and then nab some tokens once the lines closed.

View from the right.

Left-to-right for me we have two units of Gargoyles and some Berserkers, then Garboyles and the Dark Pit Warlock, then CS2 Guard, Lower Abyssals, the Warlord, the Def5 Guard, more Def5 Guard, the Veil of Shadows Warlock, Berserkers, and more Gargoyles. 

Overview of the table. 

I have a decent spread of Gargoyles, and while the Def5 Guard are both right next to each other, but I can play either side of the blocking ruined head. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the deployment, though it is hard to effectively fill the board at this points level. 

Will wins the roll for turn order, and happily kicks us off. 

Top of Round 1: Abyssal Dwarfs

Will is one of the most decisive players I know, with blisteringly quick turns, and this one was no exception! Keeping a tight line has been a trademark of his, and so each battle group moves with purpose.

The Abyssal Dwarfs inch out.

On the left, Golekh and the Tunnel Runners move up, but only slightly, wary of getting bonked / pinned by the the Gargoyles, and then smashed by the Berserkers. 

The center units inch ahead as well, slowed by Shambling or the terrain.

Centrally, the Golems trudge forward in concert, still flanking the Iron Caster, and pulling the Death Engine behind them. The Gargoyles each peel off to zone out my tokens, as the line moves up. The terrain slows the Ratkin hordes, up, which in turn slows down the Blacksouls, but all the hordes make some forward progress this turn.

Bottom of Round 1: Abyssals

On the right, the Gargoyles zip up, betting behind the skull shrine, and out of sight. I really want them to grab this token out here. 

The Berserkers peel out towards the right. I'm too far back to technically threaten anything yet, but if the Ratkin move at all, I should have a charge next turn.

The Abyssals start setting up a concave line, of sorts.

The Lower Abyssals are tentative, moving up, but not at the double, and staying on the hill. I should have another inch or two left to work with, and could have been a bit more assertive with them, but it's not a big deal. The Warlock hangs back, safe, and tosses at the inner Ratkin with Firebolts, but into cover, lands no hits. Regarding the ruined dwarf statue head, the Guard move up, staying out of range of the Ratkin, but looking to try and plug the gap between the ruins next turn.

A cautious advance from the Abyssal center as well.

Panning towards center the Def5 Guard hand back, with the Lower Abyssals taking the lead, and the Warlord staying protected between the infantry units.

The CS2 Guard and the Dark Pit Warlock inch up, with the Warlock landing a Dark Pit ahead of the Golems, hitting them and the Iron Caster. Gargoyles stand ready in reserve.

An assortment of troops on the left.

On the left, the Berserkers stay just out of 16 inches, just trying to deter the advance of the Abyssal Dwarfs. Using a laser line, I can get one unit of Gargoyles hiding behind the woods, and the other near the table edge, safe, and not in the woods, and threatening a delaying charge. 

We're not really using units efficiently out here, but we're just hoping to make my opponent think twice before running ahead, so this is probably fine.

Top of Round 2: Abyssal Dwarfs

On the left, the intent is to protect Golekh, who pivots and moves to effectively side-step. The Tunnel Runners do the same, with Golekh ending slightly behind the Tunnel Runners, safe from the Gargoyles. Technically, that's not how angles work, and the Tunnel Runners should be pivoted slightly towards the center, but whatever. I don't mind nor catch this at the time.

The eeeeevil chariots basically sidestep.

Centrally, the Golems inch ahead again, staying off the hill and out of charge range of the Abyssal infantry. I believe the Iron Caster heals the Golems from their experience with the Pit, putting them back down to 0 damage. In the back-field, the Gargoyles stay put, still zoning out my tokens.

The Golems inch up, again.

On the right, the Iron Caster gets clear of the woods, while the Blacksouls start their trod through the rocks. Departing the basalt forest are the Ratkin, who are awkwardly stacked up, due to the forest and the statue's noggin. 

The Ratkin swarm, in between the blocking terrain pieces.

He ultimately commits all three hordes to face the right, and try and push through the pass and towards that token. The Rats are slowed, but the leading unit is given the Last Breath Command, to explode if I hit them too hard. The Gargoyles actually had a charge into the flank of the leading Ratkin, but we'll catch that and adjust so that the fliers cannot fit. 

Bottom of Round 2: Abyssals

On the right, the Gargoyles sidestep, sliding behind the skull shrine, hiding. They can't see anything now, and the plan is to try and jump the line next turn? We'll see.

The Lower Abyssals offer themselves up.

The Berserkers force the angles, going wide and to the right, while the Lower Abyssals run ahead. We'll strive to keep both Ratkin hordes in front arc, which will only let one through the pass at a time. I consider the Ultimate Betrayal Command here, but the Ratkin are just as flimsy as the Lower Abyssals, so it's not really worth it.

More caution in the center.

We'll try and scorch the stalled Ratkin unit. The Warlock is Inspiring the Lowers, so he holds, and sticks a Fireball Command on the nearby Guard, getting 1 success for Fireball 3, which will result in 1 damage due to bad blasts. His Firebolts contribute a hot 4 damage. The Warlord gets 2 successes to help the other Guard Regiment on the other side of the ruined head, and their Fireball 4 results in 2 successes, gain due to low Blasts. The Ratkin end on 7 damage, and hold. With Def3, the Rats are a pretty ideal target, but the dice just weren't as cooperative as I could have liked.

Abyssal Fireballs are distributed across the line.

The Golems aren't a threat yet, and I don't want to move in and get charged, so the center of my line adjusts, but stays safe. The Dark Pit Warlock sticks it in front of the Iron Caster, damaging the Caster, Golems, and the Death Engine, and then gets two success gets the CS2 Guard a Fireball 4, which lands 0 into the Obsidian Golems.

More adjusting from the Abyssals on the right.

On the left, we're still awkwardly dancing, but we're doing a fine job of slowing things down, so I don't adjust too much. With the sidesteps made last turn, the Berserkers can safely adjust a bit, to face the center a bit more while avoid the terrain, and the Gargoyles behind the woods do the same, eyeing things in the center a bit more. The Gargoyles on the far left aren't threatened, so just stay put. 

Top of Round 3: Abyssal Dwarfs

On the left, the Tunnel Runners move up, and are granted a Mutated Mastiff from the Warlord, and the dogs manage to munch 4 damage against the gargoyles and get the waver against the fliers.

Mutated Mastiffs are flung.

The Death Engine spins up, putting its center point on the obstacle, and with a Mutated Mastiff from the Iron Caster, lands 3 damage onto the Berserkers, while baiting a charge from them as well.

The standoff in the center... continues.

The Golems continue some cautious play, shuffling around the hill. They are poised to take the hill in the late game, but don't commit just yet.

The Ratkin charge in, still gummed up.

On the right, the lead Ratkin unit charges, getting the Last Breath Command but staying alive for now, and claw 5 damage onto the Lower Abyssals. The second line of Ratkin adjust, and the Blacksouls trudge ahead, making progress through the basalt forest. The Iron Caster presses onward and tucks in behind the skull monument to land a Bane Chant to help the Rats, and both Gargoyles continue to hold in the backfield, still guarding some of my tokens.

Bottom of Round 3: Abyssals

It's been a slow game, but now is the time for me to start pushing just a bit. On the right, the Gargoyles can fly out from behind the skull monument, landing on and Razing the token at the end of the turn.

Charges.

I consider Withdrawing the Lesser Abyssals, but backing up doesn't really help me. They get a Fleshknit Command, and Regenerate 2 to get down to three damage against the Rats. The Berserkers come in with the flank charge, slamming 14 damage, and the Lower Abyssals contribute 2, and we will pop the Rats here, with both the Berserkers and the Lower Abyssals taking 7 damage for the trouble.

The Abyssal Guard have a charge into the second-line of Ratkin. These do not have Last Breath, and I decide to take it, carving 7 new damage onto the horde and taking them up to 14 damage, but it holds. I believe the Warlord tried the Blessing of the Dark Gods here, but failed. This surprise assault failed, but both the Fireball dice and the Guard's attacks were a little low for me, unfortunately.

The defeated Ratkin explode, landing 14 damage!

The Center is still a standoff, which I am ok with. My regiments are more numerous, so if that math doesn't change, I should be able to bully the center in the late game. 

The Abyssal Gargoyles here back up and pivot, just looking to see other things, and try to prevent my opponent's Gargoyles from snagging tokens freely in the late game.

More standoffs in the center. I am not eager to let the Golems hit me first.

The Dark Pit manifests for a third time, out to the left of the Golems. I waffle with Commands, but ty Fleshknight for the Berserkers instead of the Blessing of the Dark Gods. I stick the Command, but get no Regen successes. I don't want to just get charged by the Death Engine, so send in the Berserkers, with a hindered charge. They manage just 2 damage, and even with Cloak of Death and the Dread from the Dark Pit, the Death Engine isn't going anywhere.

The Gargoyles do what they can on the left, with one claiming another token.

Out on the left, the Wavering Gargoyles change facing, and Regenerate a strong 3, getting down to just 1 damage. The move makes sure that aggressors will be in the woods. Meanwhile the other unit of Gargoyles flies out from behind the forest, and is able to claim a second token for me this round, putting the Abyssals ahead, 2:0 for the scenario score. As I start claiming tokens this round, my opponent is realizing that his slow approach is not in his favor.

Top of Round 4: Abyssal Dwarfs

Both Golekh Skinflayer and the Tunnel Runners charge the Gargoyles on the far left, looking to finish them off. I angled a bit poorly, so that Golekh isn't hindered, due to the large footprint of the unit of chariots. The Runners (wisely) do not pop their Boots here, and indeed, the duo is able to land 10 damage combined, and break the unit. Reforms are a little messy, with the Tunnel Runners parallel with the long edge of the table facing the center, and Golekh spinning about, hoping to race back around the forest.

Chariots crash in against the Gargoyles.

In the backfield, there wasn't a way to better position my Gargoyles, so they take a hindered flank charge from the opposing Gargoyles, who land a strong 6 damage, and scatter my uninspired troop. 

Several victories for the Abyssal Dwarfs over lowly Gargoyles.

The Death Engine whirs to life, and grinds 6 more damage onto the Berserkers, who do mange to hold, thanks to a low Nerve check. 

The Golems take the hill.

The Golems take the hill, still flanking the Iron Caster. The intent is to be locked in and flush with the spellcaster, but that is a little hard to do with a rounded hill and metal models.

More Ratkin explode, and the Blacksouls make it into combat.

Also in the backfield, more Gargoyles fight in the back right corner, with the Abyssal Dwarf troop clawing 3 damage onto the Abyssal troop, and the latter holds.

Out on the right, the injured Ratkin are exploded, with the Abyssal Guard taking 5 damage from the Last Breath of the horde. With the Rats gone, the Blacksouls then make a hindered charge into the Guard, getting a Bane Chant to help out, and the melee will land 9 damage, taking the Guard up to 14, and they will break. The Blacksouls run ahead, getting a strong overrun to bump into the Lower Abyssals. Ouch! Had we been a little luckier last turn, the Guard might have survived and prevented this breakthrough.

Bottom of Round 4: Abyssals

On the right, the Abyssal Gargoyles regenerate down to 1 damage while clawing 3 onto the opposing Gargoyles, though the latter are Inspired and don't budge. Good thing I brought some extra Gargoyles, as I am not winning any fights against them!

The fighting continues!

The Lower Abyssals get another Fleshknight, and regenerate down to 4 damage, and charge the Blacksouls, landing just 2 damage, and taking the Abyssal Dwarfs them up to 3 damage total. The Berserkers shuffle ahead, getting into the flank of the enemy horde. Charging is an option for the Berserkers, but since we're tying to just delay things here, I think this is fine. Getting this flank charge is probably ultimately unlikely, but will occupy the attention of the Blacksouls and hopefully keep them off the tokens.

Fights against the Gargoyles.

The Warlock moves up 6", and lands another Dark Pit behind the Iron Caster on the hill. I can't really get good coverage trying to get the Death Engine, so just focus on the hill. And on said hill, we try to tidy things up with stairs, with some marginal success. 

The individual Abyssal Warlord can see and charge the Iron Caster. Lower Abyssals charge in to delay Golems on the left, and the Betrayal Order fails from the Warlock. Both Abyssal Guard variants chage the Golems out on the right. Gargoyles fly up and pivot, tying to cove the center, and see what can be done.

A brawl on the hill.

The Warlord lands 3, and with several Dark Pits over the turns, we're able to fell the spellcaster, and remove Inspiring from the center here. The two-handing Guard land 4 damage onto the Golems, with the Def5 versions contributing nothing, with my low rolls continuing. The Lower Abyssals manage a single damage onto their regiment, and both units of the Lesser Obsidian Golems hold.

The fight against the Death Engine continues.

The Berserkers got a Fleshknit from the Warlord, but are just out of range of being Inspired by the Warlock. I did not do Commands well this Round, and should have had the 3-dice Warlord attempt the harder Betrayal order. Oh well. The Berserkers regenerate just 3 of their 9 damage, and slam 6 damage onto the Death Engine, taking it to 12 damage. The contraption is uninspired, but a darn 3 on the Nerve check will have it sticking around.

The left is lost, but there are no tokens out here, and Golekh and the Tunnel Runners are stymied by the rocky woods. We'll hope it is enough.

Top of Round 5: Abyssal Dwarfs

Golekh swings around the woods for the most part, and the Tunnel Runners pop their boots to jump from one piece of terrain to the other, and they are just barely able to end and raze this token, putting the Abyssal Dwarfs on the score board.

The Tunnel Runners claim a token.

In the backfield, the Death Engine spins up again, and with Gargoyles in the flank of the Berserkers, the crazed unit of Abyssals is brought down. 

The Abyssals on the hill hold.

The Golems evidently don't need Betraying. The Brew of Strength is overkill, and they only thump 4 damage onto the Lesser Abyssals, who hold firm. The other regiment slams 5 onto the Def4 Abyssal Guard, and Brutal is involved, though the elite Abyssal unit holds.

The Abyssal Dwarf Gargoyles claw good damage onto the Abyssal Gargoyles, and will win that scrum, and reform to face the rear of the Abyssal Bersekers. The Iron Caster goes in, but can't land a damage against the injured unit.

The Blacksouls claim another unit.

The Blacksouls can't get Bane Chanted, but still slice 9 fresh damage onto the Lower Abyssals, who break. Maybe Betrayal would have been a better Command for the Lower Abyssals last turn. The Blacksouls overrun, trying to make plays for the tokens still.

Bottom of Round 5: Abyssals

The Iron Caster is Yielding, so the Berserkers can just ignore him, and take the flank into the Blacksouls. The Warlock tries to give them the Blessing of the Dark Gods, but fails, though the Berserkers hit hard anyways. With 10 damage expected, they deal 12, which is great, but not uite enough to break the inspired horde.

The Berserkers hit the Blacksouls in the flank.

The Warlock ties to tuck up to get nearer to the Berserkers. I did not measure, but the intent was to deny the Gargoyles a place to land. The fliers can't reach a token next round, so we'll see what I can do as the game concludes.

Gargoyles move in to delay.

On the hill, the Warlord hits the Golems the Guard regiments are fighting in the flank. The attackers will roll well to add 11 more damage onto the Golems, and will break the uninspired unit. The Warlord spins around, and the regiments turn to face the center of the board, and the oncoming Abyssal Dwarf units coming from the left.

The Lesser Abyssals regenerate down to 1 damage, and I think got a Fleshknit from the Warlock to accomplish this. 

We toss the Warlock out into the opposing Gargoyles. It is a bit of a desperate play, with the thinking being that shooting / Pit isn't going to do much here. The Warlock lands 2 damage, and we fail to break the unit. 

The Gargoyles can't delay too much now, but move up to block up the Tunnel Runners.

Top of Round 6: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Gargoyles fight back against the Warlock, with Golekh hitting him in the flank, the the Abyssal spellcaster will be easily broken.

Clever charges from the Abyssal Dwarfs.

The Tunnel Runners make their hindered charge into the Gargoyles, who get flanked by the Death Engine. I was not checking flanks, and this is a clever move to get the Death Engine more central. The Gargoyles are absolutely obliterated.

The Golems claim the Lower Abyssals.

The Golems on the hill slam an unexpected 9 damage onto the Lower Abyssals, and will break them. I was a bit complacent here, but the Golems are still fine at bashing through weaker units like this. They will spin around with their victorious reform.

The Blacksouls thump the Berserkers down and overrun.

The Blacksouls won't bother to reform as it would pull them away from the tokens, and will just throw all their attacks into the flanking Berserkers. They Dwarfs catch a Heal, getting down to 13, and land 15 new damage against the Berserkers, who are truly devastated, and will break. They overrun a few inches and are stopped by the Warlock. 

The Gargoyles fly over on 1 damage, but can't claim a token this turn. 

Bottom of Round 6: Abyssals

On the right, we're still trying to delay. The Warlock pivots to toss at the Gargoyles, and lands just 1 damage from the Firebolts, and they hold firmly on 2 damage. It's not a bad idea, but I was unlucky, and positioned  poorly, I think. I wanted to keep the Blacksouls in front arc, but they can just pivot through me, and I should be nearer to their mid-point. 

The Warlock attempts to delay.

Centrally, I have some options. The Warlord could run up and raze my last token, but that seems a bit risky if there is a Round 7 as he is way out of position. I am currently winning, and decide to just play for the center. 

The Warlord charges the Golems to tie them up, and add his US to the center. The Def5 Guard move up alongside, but do not charge, as their role here is to prevent the Death Engine from shooting the gap and Razing a token back here.

Charges from the Abyssals.

The 2H Guard charge the Tunnel Runners, who have their frontage out of the terrain, allowing for a clean charge. The Warlord misses a Blessing onto them, and the Guard only manage 7 damage, but the Runners are Uninspired, and we do get a lucky break against them, and are able to victoriously turn.

The CS2 Guard gift a surprise victory!

The Abyssal Dwarfs have Razed 1 token for 1 VP, while the Abyssals have Razed 2, and control the center objective currently, for 3 VP. At the end of the Round, the Abyssals are still holding onto their lead, and we do not roll up a Round 7.

A victory to the Abyssals!

Game Conclusions

It was a tough match-up, but I had a good plan going into the game, and was able to execute it pretty well, and without too many hiccups. 

We agreed that my opponent just misplayed strategically, hanging way too far back with everything for far too long. By the time he really started moving out and up, there was not not much too be done as the tokens and such were a bit too far away to reach in the late game.

Testing Conclusions

• Abyssal Warlord. Yep, he is a decent combat individual, with all of the "just okay" feelings that come along with that type of unit. Fighting alongside the Abyssal Guard regiments, he seemed fine, and did contribute. I don't know if the slot swaps are good outside of silly MMU play, but it is a nice avenue to explore, and the longer Commands can be helpful, to get off the harder-to-issue Orders, though I didn't utilize that well here.
• Warlock, Veil and Sacred Horn. He did ok, despite having the dud spell. The Firebolts are nice, but were not very impactful. The 'bolts do still have nice synergy with the Fireball Command though, so yeah, he's still got his uses and the Warlock is a nice Champion to have around.
• Warlock, Dark Pit. All the other Warlock comments apply here, and the Dark Pit is still a great spell when it goes off, and a lot of fun! The Dark Pit did pretty well this game, forcing heals, weakening the Iron Caster a bit over a few turns, and eventually helping me break through some units too, thanks to Dread.
• Lower Abyssals. They did ok - mostly just around taking up space. They play nicely with the Orders, even though I wasn't very successful with said Orders. I still miss their 4+ attacks, and reasons to give them CS1, but begrudgingly, the weaker versions of these units are working nicely with the new Commands and army as a whole. 
• Abyssal Guard Regiments. They all did ok, but not particularly great. As regiments, they are very much generalists trusting in their stats. We struggled against the Def6 Golems, and with our own staying power. We were asking a lot of them to be our line units as well, and while it worked out here, as regiments probably need to be supporting hordes of Lower Abyssals, and/or regiments of Molochs, letting them help out, but not needing to take the weight of doing everything.
• Gargoyles. Having four troops to play with did give me a lot of options. They didn't win any of the opposing Gargoyle fights, but did snag most of my objectives for me like I had hoped for, thus setting me up for the scenario win. I can't really complain about that.
• Berserkers. The troops were ok, and had a decent showing, but like the Abyssal Guard, we were asking an awful lot of them in this game. Like the Guard, these troops should ideally be supporting larger or scarier things, so they can fly under the radar a bit. 
• Commands. We got use out of most of them this game, though I didn't do a great job at giving myself good chances to stick the most-important 5+ Commands like Betrayal or Blessing. Those really seem to requires a Warlord or something with the Banner to be able to issue them more reliably. We'll try to take put general knowledge to use in future builds across all armies.

The game was a pleasure, and I felt right at home in the nerdy abode. It was really fun to see it all play out on such a thematic battle mat too! The Abyssal Dwarf army was making sense to me overall, it just needed to be a bit more aggressive, I think. We'll see if we can coax them towards a little more violence in the rematch!