Battle 18: Invasion of the Varangur

It was a quiet Sunday. Too quiet! Trash talk ensued over morning tea, and a rematch game was soon in the works with my girlfriend. This time she insisted that I play the Undead and see what silliness I could get up to. Maybe I'd give her ideas for using them in the future. Meanwhile, she'd take some of the Varangur for a spin, as they seem pretty user friendly.

I have a handful of reserve lists waiting around, so I pulled some up, and away we went. The Varangur had the following:

The list was rather slow. Lots of infantry, but lots of Crushing Strength too. I figured the Bloodsworn horde, Sons, and Reavers would be a main battle contingent, inexorably moving forward and grinding things out. The various Warband would be securing the flanks with their numbers. The Fallen and Horse Raiders would try to flank/intercept as needed. If I count correctly, the list had 13 drops and 17 unit strength.

I am not a very experienced player, so my lists generally aim to test some things out to expand my knowledge of the game. The Magus Conclaves were new to me here. They seemed like a very neat unit, but I only recently finished mine up. I didn't have the points for Famulus, but figured for a first run, stock would be fine. I was excited to seem them hit the table!

The other new unit to test was my Jabberwock. The monster seems very cool, and I was interested to see how Feeding Frenzy might interact with the numerous Undead. Hopefully it wouldn't get into the flanks of my zombies...

The Undead, played by me, had the following:

I wrote the list with my girlfriend in mind. She likes the Wraiths, so all three of mine are in. She likes Soul Reavers over the Wights, so the Wights were demoted from hordes to regiments. I still thought they'd get up to some fun with Surge and didn't want to exclude them entirely. Overall, 15 drops and  23 Unit Strength, so more than the Varangur.

The only real experiment here is the the Giant Rats upgrade. I wanted the zombies to stick around, and added them to the hordes. With 10 points at the end, the regiment got the upgrade as well. We'll see how it does.

Three heroes seemed about right. I figured the Kings would park themselves behind the main lines. The Necromancer, with his better Surge, was going to go with the Wraiths, and see what trouble he could cause.

We wanted to try a scenario, but didn't want to deal with loot tokens, so decided on Invasion. Basically, you need to get stuff entirely over the center line. All the stuff you get to your opponent's side gets you sweet sweet points. I set up the table while she poured the last of the tea.

That's about the halfway point.

I won the roll off, and decided I didn't have that detailed a plan, and just picked the side I was near. And then we started deployment.

I am not a whiz with the Undead. I think this is actually my first game playing with them instead of against them! Originally, I wanted to try a refused flank, but as deployment went on... I just spread out like a donkus.

For deployment, my only goal was to get the Wraiths against the Magus Conclaves. If I could toss one against the Horse Raiders too, swell, but the Conclaves were a priority. I felt if I could pick those apart quickly, I would be in a good spot with future combats, as the enemy shooting would be greatly reduced.



All three Wraiths would up on my right, and I was feeling great until my opponent's last drop; the Chieftain on a Direfang. With his stats, my Wraiths could be in for trouble. Still, I needed to get the Conclaves gone, so I decided to do commit to it.

Across from me on the right were also the Horde of Fallen, and two Warbands. My opponent didn't want to get stuck behind the tomb, so she decided to stack the bands up.

In the center, I ended up with two hordes, side by side. The Zombie Regiment was my first deployment, something cheap and disposable. Then the horde on the other side of the tree. Then the Revenant King in the woods, and then the second horde, if memory serves. My opponent dropped the Bloodsworn horde in response to my first horde. Knowing both lists, I should have saved the second horde to deploy against something scary. Alas, I did not.

Zombie hordes, side by side. I am not a clever man.

Yeah, I would have loved to have saved a horde for the left here. The Jabberwock came down late too, as the second to last drop. I figured it would be supporting her horde in any grinds... instead, she really wanted to try and flank something with it. Shucks.

The left. From the start of the game, I figured this side was going to be trouble for me. 

I was most worried about my left. Early on, I stuck my archers here, hoping to pot-shot the Reavers. Despite claiming to not have a plan, my opponent loaded up pretty heavy on this side with killy stuff. Her regiments will beat mine here. No contest. After deployment, I guessed this was where the decisive combats would be. My fear was that the horde would be a fulcrum; pivot slightly, and advance to protect the flanks of this push. These regiments would then just steam roll my whole flank.

Turn 1: Undead

I had won the roll off, and waffled, eventually electing to go first, which was probably a mistake. I didn't have anything pressing I wanted to do. Still, it mitigated the Conclaves a bit...

It was a quick turn. On the left, I inch up and surrounded the hill. I don't know. I tried to Surge the Arhcers into range, but failed. My opponent and I both deployed back a bit, so the extra inches didn't matter. I angled he Zombies. I wanted to try and "accidentally" move/surge them onto the hill next turn to bait an angled charge from the Sons. The Crushing Strength of the Sons of Korgaan would be wasted on the zombies... but if the zombies could hold for  a turn, I could maybe flank with the Wights... grand plans.

Ew. The left is frightful. Turn 2, we discovered that the Skaald should have had a horse, and the model is replaced.

My center did not move at all. I wary of getting my left rolled, but the right was dangerous too, and I didn't want to commit yet. The warband were pretty well positioned to advance past the center chapel, and then hit my precious zombie flanks if I wasn't careful.

The stray dice should be the 16" charge range of the Horse Raiders.

On the right, I take advantage of being able to measure things! The Wraiths all shamble up, but stay out of any potential charges. I'm not too worried about duking it out with the horse raiders, but you never know. I had the longer reach (excluding the Conclaves), so decided to play it moderately safe.

Shambling is hard to mitigate. The Wights are a little out of position, so I start to swing them around. I feel like the Wraiths are strong enough that they will push past the chapel, and the far right will be secured. I figure the Fallen and Warbands might be coming, so I move the Skeletons and Soul Reavers into position to intercept.

Turn 2: Varangur

Sorry about the glare.

On the right, the Varangur move up. The Fallen are quite aggressive, but it's probably an error prepping them for a head-on attack. They're meant to be swift flankers after all. My opponent realizes that I'm gunning for the Conclaves, and after measuring from her Chieftain... she's concerned for him too.

Due to careful measuring, the Horse Raiders have no charges. However, they still choose to interpose themselves, blocking sight to the Chieftain. Unfortunately they forget that they have throwing weapons.

We'd have some issues with height and line of sight. I am not great with terrain rules yet. I just don't have the experience to hammer those rules into my noggin. Being the only one who has read the rules, I double-checked as much as possible, by may have missed a few things. Where we encountered issues, I'll try to explain it. If we goofed anything, please let me know!

The view from on high.

We played the hills as height 2, though gave the hill the Conclave was on an additional 1" for the peak. A hill on a hill basically.

The high and mighty Conclave tries to blast my far right Wraiths, and miss. The lower one fires against the Zombie horde on the right, but only slip one damage through. We ruled that the zombies had cover, from the forest. My opponent was unimpressed with the Conclaves.

On the dreaded left, my opponent brazenly advances, with most things moving at the double. The Sons choose to hide behind the hill. The speedier Reavers pull ahead of the Warband. The even speedier Jabberwock zips ahead...

"Bring it!" - Revenant King

Turn 3: Undead

Ideally, I'd have something around to punish the brazenness a bit. I want to deal with the Jabberwock before any grinding combats arise... unfortunately, I have bupkis. On the left, I inch the Skeletons back and pot shot the Reavers for... 1, I think. Yay.

The Zombie hordes shuffle up, with the right horde entering the small woods. Skeletons charge the front Warband, but fail to do any damage. The Soul Reavers gladly charge the Fallen, but don't deal nearly enough damage. Iron Resolve triggers.

Obligatory blurry shot. Every report needs (at least) one!

The Wraiths spring into action! ...after some discussion. We agree that the leftmost Wraiths can see the Conclaves on the hill, given their great height. One is charged. I swear there was some online FAQ nerfing the Conclaves, and having attacks tripled against them too, but I failed to find it at the time. After the battle, I found it in the CoK 2019 book. (It is also clearly stated in the easyarmy printout...). So we definitely played that wrong. Those Conclaves should have been dead to rights!

Another unit of Wraiths charge the Horse Raiders, and the third just moves around, lining up charges for the next turn.

Turn 4 Varangur

On the right, the Horse Raiders charge back, dealing 1. The Fallen charge the Soul Reavers back, but deal only 3. I'll take it!

Sllliiide to the left. 

Undamaged, the front Warband decide to sidestep and let their brethren get into a better position. They can take another hit from the skeletons. Spooked by the Wraiths, the Chieftain decides to start fleeing. Fliers are hard to deal with, but I personally think it's an error to have used the Chieftain this way.

In the center, the Bloodsworn advance. On the left, the Varangur are hesitant to charge and potentially expose any flanks.  All the regiments advance in a line, with the Sons laying a commanding claim on the hill.

"Yikes bikes." - Revenant King

All those units on the left are scoring now for my opponent. That's not good for me. It's too early in the game for this. I can't push this back...

Turn 5 Undead

I decide I need to delay. It's messy. I don't think my Wights can charge the Warband. With just that tiny corner on the hill, I don't think they gain the benefits of the hill, and my LOS would also be blocked. So, the skeletons charge in to delay. The Zombies and Wights charge the Sons... The Archers shoot at the Reavers, whiff, and then are Surged in.

Not a powerful battle line for the Undead at all...

All in all, things go ok, all things considered. The Archers actually do some damage in melee. The Skeletons as well. The Wights contribute 4 against the Sons, with the Zombie regiment showing some gusto and adding 3 of their own.

Unfortunately, nothing on the left is remotely in danger of routing, and the Skaald is back there to inspire most of the line anyways...

My right, pulling their ghostly weight.

Fortunately, the right is making up for it. Er, trying to at least. Making progress! The Necromancer unfortunately can't make use of Surge on anything, so walks up to try Heal on the Soul Reavers. He misses with everything. The Soul Reavers have another go at the Fallen, and clean them up, healing themselves for 2 via Lifeleech. I decide to overrun, and they make it 1". The Skeletons bring it (barely), dealing a singular point of damage against the Warband in their second attempt.

The second charge routs the Horse Raiders, as well as the Conclave. Both position to face the center. The third troop just leap-frogs up, looking to pressure the middle of the field.

Turn 6 Varangur

The Varangur Chieftain is apparently really spooked, probably afraid that the Wraiths are going to go all LOTR on him. He's bailing. The remaining Conclave will continue generally retreating, but being Individual, get their free pivot in the shooting phase... however they fail to connect.

Admittedly, this is rather spooky.

In the center, my opponent tries to delay, but there's not much she can do. One Warband will push against the Skeletons. The second will advance, and try to delay the hordes?

It's not a greatplan.

Unfortunately, she moves the Warband up too far. Their flank is exposed to the one horde; while the other horde still has a shot at the flank of the Bloodsworn Horde, which is currently charging the Zombie Regiment. Still, the Warband gets out of sight of the Wraiths, so their advance will be slowed. While arguably this move didn't do much, it did slow them down by not giving them a chargeable target. Still, there looked to have been a middle ground, where she advanced even with the other Warband and didn't expose the flank to anything.

Another blurry shot. The Varangur push back.

On the left, the Bloodsworn Horde do go into the Zombie regiment, but don't roll all that well. Only 8 damage gets through, and the zombies are unfazed.

The Wights however, are obliterated by the counter-charging Sons of Korgaan after an obscene amount of damage. They decide they like their position well enough, and sit back.

The Reavers and the Jabberwock both charged the Skeleton Archers, and they are also destroyed. My opponent elects to overrun, with the Reavers getting the better roll.

Turn 7 Undead

The zombies see flanks, and the zombies go for them. The unfortunate warband will be seen off the field, with the zombies choosing to overrun. The Wights try to get around the right horde, but can't move too far. Unfortunately, the Necromancer is too far away to surge them this turn.

Boxed out, the Soul Reavers will change facing, hoping to use their speed to scoot around the hordes next turn... time is running short, but I'm hoping I can get some more use out of them still. This was totally an error on my part. They should have charged the Warband. It would have put them into scoring position, and gotten them both facing the right way and further up field. Definite error on my part here.

Meanwhile, the Wraiths descend. One goes into the flank of the other Warband (instead of the Soul Reavers); and the other charges the delaying Conclave. Again, an error here, but I was curious as to how much damage a Wraith unit can do in the flank... we'll call it a mistake in pursuit of knowledge and make me feel better.

It all looks good but...

Unfortunately, I roll for absolute garbage with the Wraiths. Again, we goofed the rule with the individual war machine, so only the normal 10 attacks are coming. From that, 1 damage eventually makes it over to the Conclave...

The Wraiths in the flank of the Warband do no better, even after doubling their attacks. That warband stays, and will delay the Soul Reavers. Ugh.

I try to push back on the left, but I don't have any killy units here anymore. The remaining Skeletons attack the Warband, and will surprisingly waver them!

Delayed... for now. They'll all still scoring though...

The zombies claw against the Bloodsworn Horde in the center. The regiment in the front does 3; the horde in the flank does 6. With the number of attacks involved, 9 damage is underwhelming. But, the horde did average, and the regiment about twice what would be expected. That little regiment is dishing it out today! Still the Bloodsworn hold. Unfortunately for me, I forget to apply Lifeleech to both the Skeletons and the Zombie Regiment. You never know. It could have made a difference.

Turn 8 Varangur

My opponent starts the turn and is bit miffed. There's been some confusion with the movement rules, and/or she's used to playing Undead with more (sneaky) options with Surge.

She wants to flank charge the triumphant Skeletons with the Reavers, but there's no way that's in their line of sight. Likewise, the Jabberwock can't pivot 90 degrees and then charge in either. I've apparently failed to properly explain some the game mechanics.

A grumpy Jabberwock and Reavers that decide they just can't EVEN.

The Jabberwock makes the Skeletons reallllly uncomfortable, staring them down while the Skeletons eye up the wavered Warband. The Reavers decide they want to avoid any Shambling/Surging silliness, and move far away.

The Chieftain continues to flee. He's obviously afraid of ghosts. He makes it into the woods.

Seriously dude. You gotta learn to lead by example.

The Bloodsworn Horde will counter-charge the Zombie horde, and will deal 10 damage on their own. This is not a fight my zombies will likely  win. But maybe two hordes can? I'm hopeful.

The hordes are struggling to shift into meaningful positions...

The Warband will batter back and rout the Skeletons, and will turn to face the Wraiths. The Conclave can't do much. They aren't wavered, but are disordered, so they can't shoot. With no melee attack at all... they elect to stay put, and delay the Wraiths more, buying time for the "brave" Chieftain...

Turn 9 Undead

In the center, the Wraiths will charge the Warband; joined by the Soul Reavers in their flank. An unspeakable amount if damage is inflicted, and the Warband is vanquished. The Soul Reavers will change facing, and the Wraiths will overrun.

In the rear, the Wraiths attack the conclave, and deal enough damage to waver it. Yeah, missing that individual war machine rule has been a killer.

Yeah, hordes can't really turn on times.

The Zombies push back against the Bloodsworn. I don't know what to do with the other horde, so they just stay put.

The Revenant King decides to try bringing it himself.

On the left, the Skeleton Warriors charge, and again waver the Warband there. I rolled a bit high last time... and very low this time. Shucks. The Revenant King has nothing to surge, and can't really get away safely. If he swings towards my deployment zone, the Sons could pursue and overrun, potentially into the remaining Wights. Getting behind the Bloodsworn maybe preserves his poings, but doesn't really accomplish much. I decide to have him charge the Sons of Korgaan.

My typical Undead list includes some Revenant Kings. I consider them nice all-rounder heroes. They can surge a bit, they can hit a bit, and they can Inspire.

It's a desperate move, but I figured the Revenant King could probably put a wound on and at least force a test. They have 7 damage already... it's not great odds, but maybe they can waver him. Or even distract him, and get a counter-charge next turn.

Nothing. No damage at all. Thanks Revenant King. Way to discredit me on the internet.

Turn 10 Varangur

The Jabberwock gleefully tears into the Skeleton Warriors. The bonus attacks aren't much (3), but in the flank, they're doubled too, and the Skeletons are tossed jostled about and destroyed.



The Sons are decidedly unimpressed with the Revenent King, and change facing to present their flank to him. Game-wise, that doesn't mean anything, but it's a pretty big slap in the face.

In the forest, the Chieftain will pivot to face my side of the board, ready for a mad-dash into a scoring position on turn 12.

The Bloodsworn Horde have at the zombies again, and will rout them, and then overrun. This is arguably a mistake. She had enough space to get the Chieftain in scoring range already, and her flanks are still vulnerable. The Reavers mill about, waiting to threaten maybe the Wights, should they expose themselves. The Skaald makes it onto my side of the field, Inspiring the Bloodsworn, barely. At the end of the turn, here's the board.

End of turn 10, leaving my Wights with a nice juicy flank charge.

Turn 11 Undead

Ignored by the Sons, my Revenant King charges the newly arrive Skaald. I thought it wouldn't hurt to try and remove the source of Inspiring for the Bloodsworn? I probably should have had another go at the Sons. It was a long shot against either of them, but still, the Sons are wounded and can score points, so trying to plink away at the Sons may have been better.

Second zombie horde does the trick against the Bloodsworn. With a little help.

I could have have been more clever with the second zombie horde over the last few turns. Or played the objective earlier, simply moving them into my opponent's side of the table. Instead they've hung back hovering around the dividing line, ready to step up against the Bloodsworn.

The Bloodsworn horde has 14 damage on it as I start the turn. The overrun is a godsend, as the Wights can flank charge to their heart's content without being hindered. I could still play it smart and pivot and move into the scoring zone. I don't even think I would have needed to Surge.

Meh. The Zombies go in the front, and the Wights go in the side, and the Bloodsworn Horde is popped. I think they needed a 3 to stick around.

The Wraiths arrive in force in the middle of the field. Unfortunately the Conclaves held them up too much to contribute in the final turns as I had hoped.

I am still catching up on competitive Kings of War. At the time I had forgot that unit strength was the thing nowadays, so dutifully scooted two of my heroes across the line. In reality I only had 5 Unit Strength on my side.

Turn 12 Varangur

The Chieftain bolts from the trees and across the line. The Jabberwock leaves his wound tracker behind and charges into the annoying Revanant King as the Skaald runs away to safety.

Look at you Chieftain. Scoring points and doing stuff. We knew you had it in you.

The Warband scoot around and the Reavers move up to potentially smash the Wights if they leave the safety of the trees in any potential bonus turn. ...but there isn't one, and the game is over.

The Varangur close it out.

The final score is... 5 for the Undead (3x Wraith troops and the Soul Reaver regiment), vs 8 for the Varangur (Chieftain, Jabberwock, and regiments of Warband, Sons and Reavers). A resounding victory for the Varangur!

The Varangur are pretty user friendly, and my opponent made great use of them. She played the scenario like a champ; from Turn 4 on, she had a dominating 7 Unit Strength. Well played. My only gripe is personal. I again put a combat hero in her list that never saw combat. Sheesh. Build better lists TastyBagel!


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As I mentioned, I try to test stuff with most of my lists. I'm not experienced enough to be worrying about fine detail or tweaking this or that.

The the Varangur, I wanted to explore the Jabberwock and the Magus Conclaves. The Jabberwock is pretty solid! Increasing the base attacks to 8 was nice. It's decent from the start, and then gets scarier as the game progresses and damage adds up for Feeding Frenzy. I'll definitely be including it in future lists. The Magus Conclaves... did not have a good test. They didn't get to shoot at much, and playing the Individual rule wrong is too much to try and evaluate. They're quirky units though. We'll see how they do next time.

For the Undead, I hoped to explore the Giant Rats upgrade, and I ended up giving them to all my zombie units. I did forget to trigger the ability on Turn 7 for the regiment though. I'm not sold on the upgrade yet. At Defense 3, the zombies, even at horde strength just weren't durable enough to really make much use of it. When everything wounds you on 3's or better... you're generally going to be losing far more ground than you can make up with Lifeleech. While I'm not sold on it, I'm also not discarding it yet. An objective-camping Zombie Legion could potentially make some use out of it. For 200 points, that's not a bad investment. Additionally, I have some more skeletons to paint once spring arrives. Perhaps their (admittedly slightly) higher Defense and Nerve might let them better utilize the upgrade. We'll see!

This was my first time playing the Undead, and while I lost, I don't think it was a bad first outing. Still, there are plenty of things to learn from here, and lots of room for improvement! Let's pick apart my play a bit...

First, I don't think I deployed well. I dropped both hordes early, and side-by-side. This was bad deployment. Compounding the error, I had no hammers nearby. Even working together, the zombies aren't scary. They need scary friends to help pressure things. In game, they sat back, waiting, and then got gummed up when they needed to react and change positions. Bad deployment.

In the future, I don't think I'll deploy zombie hordes so close together. I think deploying separately, in more distinct "battle groups" (them, a hammer unit and probably a source of Inspiring) would be the way to go. 

Second, I don't think I got much use out of Shambling/Surge. That's a key feature of the Undead army, and something good Undead players need to get a good command of. I think newer Undead players misuse the spell; Surging things forward just because they can. I avoided that pitfall, but didn't really get much use out of it besides and extra inch here or there. On Turn 7 or 9 I had tried to set up a chain of Surges to catapult the Wights along the back to reinforce mt left, but got my hero positioning off, and it didn't work. Surging takes some extra effort and attention, and while I didn't goof anything, I also didn't make much use of it.

Third, I think I used the Wraiths well. Last game my opponent spread them out; I tried to stack them together. I think both approaches are viable! They are a versatile unit, so their use depends on what you need. They are strong enough to demand attention from your opponent, and require concerted effort to get rid of.

When run separately, they can stall the enemy in multiple places along the field. Together, they can potentially tear up a disordered or weak flank. Unfortunately, since we played the Individual rule wrong, their performance was severely hamstrung; one unit took two combats to best a Conclave, another took three. Imagine if their final positions on Turn 11 were their positions even a turn earlier? I'd recommend deploying them late; either in trouble spots to help delay, or weak spots to help push. They seem like very dangerous units, and I am considering maybe buying and building up a regiment or two come spring...


Overall, not a bad first first attempt from me, but still plenty to improve upon! My girlfriend was quite interested in the stacked Wraiths, so I think I'll be in for another tough game next time!