Battle 17: Occupy This

My wonderful girlfriend humored me with a recent game! Hashtagged blessed or whatever the younguns are saying these days. I convinced her to play 3000 points, as it was the weekend and we didn't have any real time limitation. She likes the Undead, and ran the following list:

The list is unfortunately pushing the limits of my Undead collection at the moment. Some Wights, extra Zombies and a few characters remain unused... but this is majority of my collection right now. About another thousand points of stuff should be added in the coming year though.

The Undead list ended up being pretty "elite;" taking Wights and Soul Reavers over endless hordes of shambling skeletons due to model availability. I also opted to include a proxied Lady Ilona. I figured the legendary, aggressive vampire gal would pair well with my opponent's more aggressive play style. Plus, it let me get the Thirstful Coven formation for the list. My girlfriend likes the Soul Reavers already, so a formation to boost them seemed like a good idea to me, especially for a larger game.

The more unusual elite things are supported more traditionally; two big throngs of Zombies to eat charges and tarpit; Wraiths to pin and harass; and groups of basic skeletons to scoot around to support as needed or camp objectives.

I figured Ilona would be beating face, so I picked a Necromancer to focus more on Surging. Then to round out the choices, I added two Revenant Kings. I feel like the Kings are good "all around" heroes for the Undead, and a good place to start. I may be a little light on inspiring sources, but I am still figuring out the Undead options.

Finally, I decided to explore magic a bit too, and gave out some legendary spells. One Revenant King got Blood Boil and the other got the Alchemist's Curse. I figured they were more likely to be in range of things than the Necromancer. I don't typically run a lot of magic, so we'll see what the spells can do.

Overall, the Undead have 18 drops, 4 heroes (3 sources of Inspiring), and a unit strength of 29, if I counted correctly. It's a little more elite than a typical list I think, but felt like it had a decent number of tools at it's disposal.

I opted to run my Regnum Aeternum (KoM), as I really wanted to try out the Berserkers and Crossbowmen. I ended up with the following list:

I ran a bunch of infantry regiments, which is pretty typical for me. Supporting them would be my Beasts of War (newly buffed with Steady Aim and Strider), along with the typical Knights and Scouts on the wings looking to flank my opponent. A pair of mounted ASB's would be around to help Inspire and hold the line, and my General on a Winged Beast was included as well. I'm not great at using fliers yet, and figured I could use the practice.

I also added a horde of Spear Phalanx, and a bunch of wizards. The horde is a first for me (as far as I can recall), and the wizards were unusual. The one on foot ran the once "mandatory" Inspiring Talisman and Bane-Chant, looking to make the most of having a horde to support, while the other two were wielding Lightning Bolts and riding horses, looking to supplement my ranged attacks. 

Overall, the Regnum has 26 drops, 6 heroes (4 Sources of Inspiring) and coincidently, a unit strength of 29, again, if I totaled everything correctly. It's going for a more swarm approach. Against the Undead... I feel like that may be an unusual tactic for most armies.

I'm not a tourney player, but overall, I think the lists are pretty even? I may give an edge to the Kingdoms of Men due to the additional drops and better ranged options, but the Undead do have some soft counters, and tricks of their own. 

Specifically, I didn't feel like I had a good counter for Lady Ilona, who as an individual with a small footprint, could sneak into combats to contribute a handful of wounds to ruin things; tarpit effectively by herself with Defense 6; or just sit back and protect the lines of the Undead with her huge charge range and 360 degree line of sight... If used well, I felt like she could confound any plan I could come up with.

My heavy hitters, mainly Knights, desperately needed Thunderous Charge to do their damage; whereas the Undead relied on tons of Crushing Strength. Any grinds (particularly between the more "supporting" units would likely favor the Undead and their Life Leaching powers. While generally I was hoping to pincer of flank with all my knights... the Undead and their shambling tricks can somewhat counter flanking maneuvers and fliers. Small units can be useful, but can also bleed points away. I felt that my biggest strength was my Militia. If I used them well, I figured I could win some engagements and give myself a fighting chance in the game.

Fortunately, my opponent had agreed to rolling off for a scenario! Depending on the objectives, perhaps I could play smart get a win. We rolled up #9: Occupy. Paraphrasing:

"Place an Objective Marker in the exact center of the field. Place two more Objective Markers fully within 6" of the center line. These are Secondary Objectives, and worth 1 point at the end of the game. Then, you each place a Primary Objective token on your opponent's side of the board, with some spacing limitations. Claiming this is worth 2 points at the end of the game. Claiming the one on your side of the board is worth nothing... though contesting it could be worthwhile."

With all the talk of the center line, I wasn't too excited. That sounded like a lot of grinding combats to me...

Secondary objectives in yellow; Primary in pink. 

I placed the objectives on the left. I figured out on the flank I could nab a Secondary one easily. My Primary one I felt would be easy for a cavalry unit to nab late in the game. My opponent opted to place her Secondary one really close to the center, and her Primary one up front too. Her plan was just to steamroll and camp the center it seemed.

Fortunately, I was cool with what I presumed was her plan, as it opened up the possibility that I could surround her forces, which would increase my chances of winning. As we deployed, my plan swiftly crystallized.

My left, and center/left.

I ended up with a pretty heavy left. I wanted the Crossbowmen to eventually camp the secondary objective while the scouts bid their time to zip out and claim my primary objective. I wanted my Berserkers to sneak up, be screened by the chapel, and prepare to muck up any advance.

My center, and I believe, first ever horde for the Kingdoms of Men. I would immediately forget that my Wizard was inspiring. I could have spread those bubbles better...

My center would delay. The Beasts and Ballista would try to focus fire on something; the militia step up as needed, and the Foot Guard and Spear Phalanx hold the line for as long as possible.

My right.

I wanted my right to flank. The regiment of Knights went to the far right of the field. I hoped to use the little chapel to funnel the enemy troops into the center and swing around...

While my opponent had a general plan of "attack and hold the center" her deployment was rocky. After the third unit deployed, she started second-guessing everything. From then on, every deployment was coupled with the reshuffling of at least one other unit. The deployment phase can be hard to master, and my opponent is still pretty new to war gaming. Things shifted around and units occasionally swapped places on the other side of the board, but I didn't mind. I kept to my plan and soon we were ready to play.

Turn 1: Undead

My opponent won the roll-off and elected to go first. Probably a good call, as it would mitigate my shooting a bit. Everything on the Undead side of the table basically moved up.

In the center, everything advanced as far as it could. Then a Wight horde and the Zombie horde were Surged forward from multiple sources.

Four different Surge spells pushed them around. 

All three Wraith troops moved up as well, getting out in front of most of the Undead forces with their higher Speed and likely hoping to charge something next turn. At the time, I was fine with this. On the flanks I had Lighting Bolts and lots of arrows, and figured next turn my opponent would simply be down two troops, and I could start pushing the flanks. Spoiler alert, the Wraiths have Defense 6!

Turn 2: Regnum

On my turn, my opponent is already moving up, so I start positioning to try and pincer the Undead in the coming turns...

On my right, the everything moves up. The troop and regiment of Knights on the far right advance at the double, and the General too uses his full move to get up. There is a lot of heavy hitters here, but they need to get into position.

Pesky Wraiths...

To deal with the Wraith troop, I move up both mounted Wizards, the other troop of Mounted Scouts on my right, and the second Knight troop, just in case. The Wizards toss Lightning Bolts; the Scouts shoot, and I discover Wraiths are Defense 6+. Two Bolts slip through... but this is not going as smoothly as I thought it would.

Moving the General that far up is likely a misplay on my part then. I was assuming the Wraith troop would be obliterated... but I think I may have left the flank of the General exposed.

I have high hopes for the left wing.

On my left, the only thing stopping me is the Wraith troop. Ultimately, I want the cavalry to swing around, and the nearby Secondary Objective to be camped by the Crossbowmen. Everything moves up, with the Shield Wall moving around too. I'm hoping the left regiment can advance behind my cavalry to camp my Primary Objective later in the game...

First things first though, and that is getting rid of the Wraith troop. Suddenly aware of the Defense 6... I am in trouble. Nothing from the Scouts hits, and the Crossbowmen moved, and cannot contribute.

I am more reserved in the center. A brave Militia troop advances, trying to bait a charge from the Wraiths or Wights. The regiment of Berserkers follow close behind, ready to avenge the Militia. Nothing else moves. The Beasts and the Balliste all fire at the imposing Wight Horde, but only three damage is scored. I can't remember what hit.

That Ballista is pretty well camouflaged. It hit, so I must be doing something right. 

At the end of my turn, I've scored some damage, but removed neither of the Wraith units I was hoping to. I control the secondary objective on the left, but my opponent controls both the central and right ones.

Turn 3: Undead

Unexpectedly, the brave Militia have drawn out charges from both the Wights and the Wraiths... they take an obscene amount of damage and are easily routed. Both Undead units will reform in victory.

The other nearby Wraith troop attacks the nearby Mounted Scouts, rolls high, and wavers them. I was hoping if I couldn't shoot the Wraiths off that they'd at least kill my screening units so I could counter-attack... Shucks. The knights are delayed...

Reforming, victoriously. Yikes bikes.

The Skeleton Archers loose against my Crossbowmen and score a wound from far. The rest of the nearby Undead advance. A regiment of Skeleton Warriors move up to threaten my Crossbows and further gum up my left wing. Supporting them is the much-feared Lady Ilona herself. Behind the chapel, a regiment of Soul Reavers sneak closer, hoping to charge into the middle next turn.

On my right, my opponent shoots at a Wizard from the archers on the hill, rolls very, very well, and deals 2 damage. He will be wavered. My opponent also charges the Mounted Scouts, and will waver them too. Pretty high rolling for Nerve checks so far...

Ouch. At least the Knights and General are making headway.

The Undead continue to advance generally forward. However, my opponent knows the flanking attempt is coming, and starts to react. The legion of zombies pivots and moves to claim the right Secondary Objective, then is Surged forward a bit.

Turn 4: Regnum

I start to push on my right. The unwavered Wizard tries to hit the scary Wraiths with more Lightning, but it fizzles.

The menacing regiment of Knights pivots, eyeing up the legion, but does nothing else. I'm hoping that I can draw the legion out more and off of the objective... The accompanying troop of Knights smash into the flank of the skeleton archers, and will rout them. They are in a good position, so they sit tight.

The General flies far, far back into the Undead deployment zone. He hasn't done anything by actual combat yet, but the mobility has my opponent spooked. She's left some Wights and a regiment of Skeleton Warriors uncommitted in her center, uncertain where they would be needed. That's all great news for me.

The flanking is working!

The delayed troop of Knights behind the wavered Scouts back up. Next turn they should be able to charge either the Wraiths or the Soul Reavers, depending on what the victorious vampires do after slaying the poor Militia...

More brave Militia...

In the center, the Berserkers charge the Wraiths, will avenge the Militia slain last turn, and then will fall back D3, hiding from the lurking Soul Reavers using the nearby chapel to block charges.

The remaining Militia troops advance. One offers themselves up as a little banquet for the Soul Reavers. The other moves up to make things complicated for my opponent... messing with both the Wight and Zombie hordes. From the reserves, a regiment of Foot Guard will advance, ready to plug the lines.

More ballistae shots are fired at the oncoming zombies, and a magnificent seven wounds are dealt, softening the horde up a bit.

My Scouts can't see Lady Ilona. Thankfully, she can't see them either!

That one silly Wraith troop has fouled up the entire general advance of my left wing. The knights sit patiently behind the wavered Scouts. Lacking targets, the crossbowmen pivot, and the Shield Wall pivot as well, looking to support something next turn, though they will be Hindered charging through the graveyard.

The biggest threat is Lady Ilona. I know I don't have a great counter for her, so she's going to stick around all game, and these weak Defense 3+ and 4+ units is really what she wants to be fighting. I absolutely don't want her here, but consider it an inevitability.

We played the hills as a simple height 2, so I decided to park my undamaged Mounted Scouts behind the hill, out of sight. My hope was that whatever else happened over here, I could preserve these Scouts for a few more turns, then pop up and go claim my Primary Objective in the final turn.

Turn 5: Undead

On the left, my opponent happily charged a regiment of Warriors into my Crossbowmen. They thankfully held, but were not doing great. The Wraiths had another go at the Mounted Scouts, and this time rolled low, wavering them. The left is still all gummed up.

Even hindered... I probably would have charged instead of lobbing Lightning Bolt 3. I suggested it at the time, and my opponent declined.

Fortunately for me, my opponent did not charge with Lady Ilona. Instead the vampire opted to toss magic at the Shield Wall, dealing 1 damage via Lightning Bolt. The left was still fouled up, but for now, I was in a good position.

The traffic jam had my Shield Wall sitting on the Secondary Objective, with an untouched Knight troop to help clear things up in the coming turns. Most importantly, my sneaky Scouts were still hiding behind the hill and my plan for my Primary Objective still intact.

Silly dead-eye archers scoring hits on my Berserkers...

In the center, my opponent kept it simple. The Soul Reavers had no charge since my Berserkers fell back, so shuffled sideways to line stuff up for the next turn. The blocked Wights and Zombies simply fell upon the poor Militia and then reformed as best they could.

The Undead, a little cramped but pushing up the center.

In the rear, the second Wight Horde advanced to claim the central Secondary Objective and threaten to reinforce the Undead lines in the coming turns. The Wight regiment pivoted and moved to try and cover more of the backfield.

The other Soul Reavers took a page from the Berserkers. After destroying their Militia speedbump, they fall back, hoping to get out of sight of my reserve Knight troop and maintain a good battle line.

Sneaky Soul Reavers... will it be enough?

On the right, the Wraiths broke through the Scouts and overran, ending up directly in front of the reserve knights. They had no real choice but to charge them now... Oh well.

Yeah, fine. I guess we'll fight ya.

In the rear, the Legion was Surged forward, closing in on both knight units. My opponent then moved the Skeleton Regiment towards my General, but the Revenant King's Surge fell short. They did not make contact.

The General likely would have survived, but still. Phew.

My opponent was not too happy with her position. She was getting surrounded. She was starting to push the center as planned, and getting close to her Primary Objective, but hadn't quite made it there yet. Kill-wise, she had only bested my Militia and one troop of Mounted Scouts at this point in the game. Meanwhile, my General and Knights were making great progress on my right, and I outnumbered her 2:1 with units in the scuffle on the left.

Her heroes were getting a bit aimless. Lady Ilona could make a huge difference on the left, but hadn't done so yet, and the Revenant Kings and Necromancer were milling about the middle, almost debating where to go and who to Inspire...

And it was my turn next.

Turn 6: Regnum

In the center, where my opponent had made some progress, I started pushing back. I double-charged the Wight Horde with the Berserkers and one Beast; the Zombie Horde with the Spears a Foot Guard regiment; and the Soul Reaver infantry hiding by the right chapel with the other Foot Guard and Beast. It was bedlam.

Thankfully, there was enough space!

On the right, I needed to be tricky. I wasn't ready to deal with the zombie legion just yet. I moved up my wounded Mounted Wizard as a sacrificial speed-bump, and hit the legion with some lightning. Only two wounds were dealt.

One knight troop charged the Wraiths, and flubbed a bit, only getting through 2 damage. Wraiths are Defense 6, but they whiffed more attacks that usual.

Even alone, the legion is pretty scary. I can't take it with a frontal charge, so I need to wait.

The brave knight troop flanked the Skeleton Warriors that had been threatening the General, and unfortunately whiffed too. Fortunately, being in the flank, they doubled their attacks, did better, and would win and then overrun. I wasn't sure yet if I wanted them against the legion, or if they might be better used rear-charging the center. The General moved, and pivoted to face the rear of the Undead lines.

The left is still a mess. 

The left is still a mess, and the proxied Lady Ilona is still looming menacingly. The Crossbowmen counter-charge the Skeleton Warriors... dealing 1 damage. The Shield Wall may be able to get in their flank, but I also kind of want to draw Lady Ilona in if I can, and keep her away from the center. While the left is a mess, I'm feeling good about the game as the turn goes on.

I took 2 pictures of the center, because I felt the outcomes of these combats would be important. Believe it or not, this is the less blurry of the two. Sorry.

The center combats go very well for me. The Berserkers and Beast demolish the Wights. I believe the Berserkers advance, looking to take the hit from the Soul Reavers next turn. I believe the Beast tries to fall back, to avoid them.

The Zombie horde is also obliterated, and my Spears are sitting on my opponent's Primary Objective now... they change facing slightly while the companion Foot Guard run up to take it from the Wights. I did try to get Bane-Chant off on them, but rolled a 1 and a 2. No Bane-Chant for me.

The third combat doesn't go as planned, as the dino whiffs most of its attacks. The Foot Guard, sans Crushing Strength, put 3 of the 5 wounds on the Soul Reavers.

I'm getting better with this army. These center combats were basically perfect. I used my Militia well to delay to get decent fights and decent positioning. Victorious, the army is able to immediately tackle the next units of my opponent. I was very happy with myself as I passed the turn...

Turn 7: Undead

My opponent is reeling, and looking for a little payback... and I apparently don't have any good pictures of this turn. Sorry.

On my right, the Wraiths charge the patient Knights, and will Life Leech a point back (bringing them down to just 1 damage), and will waver the Knights. Oops. The Zombie Legion just inched back to sit in earnest on the objective. They are a legion after all. They might be able to survive. Still, they were "controlling/contesting" it already, so it probably would have been better to change facing to get both flanking knight units in the front arc. Or to charge the Wizard, and overrun; potentially getting away from the objective, but also getting out of line of sight of my flanking knight troop... to be fair, I think she thought I'd throw those at the Wight regiment, that just arrived to try to help the Legion, or that the Legion could survive the hit.

On the left, the Skeleton Warriors again charge my Crossbowmen, but fail to rout them. The Skeleton Archers pivot and advance to get close to my Primary Objective, and then shoot at my Shield Wall. With so many penalties (well, moving, cover), the archers don't hit anything.

My opponent decides to embrace the dysfunction on my left, and doesn't charge the Wraiths into the Scouts. Personally, if she wasn't going to attack, I'd have flown them over all the horses and taken my pivot to face the center of the board. Threatening the rear of my vital center infantry seems like a good idea. I suggested as much, but she was content to have them stick around and at Defense 6, continue to gum up my lines. Unfortunately, I'm holding that Secondary Objective, so I'm perfectly content with this.

Spooked by the failing center, Lady Ilona retreats, getting close enough to Inspire the Soul Reavers, who hack threw the Beserkers (seriously, like, 20+ wounds; just about everything hit), who then overran out of sight of the dino. Smart play I think.

Equally smart is the Revenant King, who gets into range to cast Alchemist's Curse on the unaware Beast. My opponent rolls pretty average, and 5 hits translate into 5 wounds. Yeah, not a bad spell!

Also in the center, the Wight Horde charges the baiting Foot Guard, but fails whiffs a bit, only doing 5 damage and failing to rout them. The Soul Reavers by the other chapel have their choice of Foot Guard and Beast. They decide on the easier-to-rout Guard, though this could be considered an error. I think my opponent was going for the more likely kill. However, while the Beast does have a higher Nerve, it is also the big damage dealer for me in that particular fight. Attacking it to disorder it and mitigate the damage coming next turn would probably have been the right call in retrospect.

Turn 8: Regnum

On my right, I think I goofed the rules. My Mounted Scouts are still wavered, and do nothing. But they shouldn't be wavered, as they were not attacked last turn. My bad. A gift for my opponent I guess.

Yeah, whoops. Sorry Scouts.

Unfortunately, even with them holding up my Knights, without Lady Ilona threatening me, I charge the Shield Wall into the flank of the attacking Skeleton Regiment. The Skeletons hold.

In the center, things continue to go badly for my opponent. The Soul Reavers on my left, who cleverly snuck past my dino, have survived, but are getting boxed in. The only target for charges next turn for them is a group of Shield Wall. Unfortunately they've been camping in the woods, and the Reavers will have their charge hindered. Waiting nearby is my unblemished horde of Spears and a patient knight troop. The Soul Reavers can chew through a lot... but their future is debatable.

Ouch.

My opponent still has their heroes sitting around in the middle, but my General is looming right behind them now. If I still have a rear-charge on the Archers, my plan is to take it next turn, and have my cowardly Scouts run to snag my Primary objective. That should remove the biggest threat to contesting the objective, and free my General up to support in the final turns.

The unobservant dino decides to come to the aid of the Foot Guard, and hits the Wights pretty hard. The other Beast retaliates against the other unit of Soul Reavers. I reoll low for both Nerve checks, and both combats come up 2 shy of routing the Undead. I remember that the Beasts have Brutal, but that still puts me short.

Spoiler pic...

On my right, the wavered Knights fail to be truly Headstrong, and continue to be wavered. That's ok. The two wizards move close and blast the ghastly Wraiths with magic! Nothing hits. Well. I tried. I really like the idea of these wizards, but they are not doing much this game. Sheesh.

Some good, some bad.

I have decided that it is time to deal with the Legion though; I don't think I'm going to get a better chance with the Wight regiment arriving. In retrospect, this could have gone poorly, with the Wights waiting there. I charge both available Knight units into the legion of zombies, hoping the troop in the flank will be enough.

Fortunately for me... I end up to be overthinking it a bit. These are just Zombies against Knights. Defense 3 doesn't cut it, and the Zombies are skewered with numerous lances. Even with the re-roll, they are driven from the table without issue.

With the loss of the Legion, my opponent decides to concede. 


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While I can't really fault her, I would have liked to see what she could have killed on her next turn.

Soul Reaver units are some of the most powerful in the game. They were in for a rough time, being mostly surrounded and all, but could have done a lot of damage in the turns to come. Additionally, the spell-combo of Alchemist's Curse followed by Blood Boil on my wounded Beast would have been fun to see. Plus two of the Wraiths were still causing trouble, and Ilona had yet to hit anything.

However, killing wasn't the issue; we were fighting over objectives, and my opponent didn't see a way to win, and wasn't interested in fighting towards only a minor loss, as this was a casual game. What units she currently had were wounded and/or in my cross hairs for my next turn. I had good control of the objectives right now, and that control only looked to increase in the coming turns.

I think I played very well. I was patient, and used the Militia to delay and get the charges in the center that I needed. Luckily, the dice were favorable, and the subsequent combats went well . The ballsy flanking maneuver on my right ended up working well, and despite not getting into any combats, this was probably my best use of the General so far. Overall, I had a plan from very early on, and I was able to execute it rather well. I'm quite happy with my play.


My opponent didn't play as well. I had made no secret of wanting to either pincer or simply flank the Undead, but her objective placement and subsequent deployment were very much focused on the center. Unfortunately, this allowed me to execute my general strategy. I think she just got out maneuvered, and then things started to snowball.

Still, she didn't take any terrible fights, and I think the only significant error I think she made was not fully utilizing Lady Ilona. I had included the legendary vampire in the list thinking that my opponent, a fan of aggressive strategies, would use her aggressively too. Had she committed to fighting on my left, she could have turned the tide there. Alas.

All things considered, she played a good game overall. Talk throughout the evening kept veering (at her insistence) towards what she wanted to run for the next battle, so I think we may be in for a rematch soon. I think I'm going to be in for a tough game!