Kings of War 3rd Edition: #006: KoM vs Trident Realms [Invade]

I was fortunate enough to get in a game with Chop (Kevin) from Three Men and a Wargame. It was his first Kings of War game, so I tried to structure a good introductory game for him, like I have blabbered about before. We were playing at a local shop, Noble Knight Games, which also has a strong online presence as well, both as its own store and on ebay. Check them out! I stopped in over the pandemic, but the gaming hall was under construction at the time. It was open now, and looks great. I am hoping to get in some more games there very soon!

Lists and Set-Up

We chatted about our lists, the game, and then placed and discussed terrain. We decided on Invade for the scenario, since it did not deal with loot tokens, and could be downsized easily to our 4x4 board. He had picked 1250 for the points level, and did up his own very scary list. I didn't snag a copy of it, but it should be the following based on my notes:

This was a far stronger list that I would have expected to face for a first game. But then again he does have a wargaming podcast! Sheesh. Running through his list, the Thuuls are amazing chaff / screens, with both Ensnare and Stealthy and lots of attacks to deal with opposing chaff. The Depth Horrors are pretty strong for the points committed, and the Gigas look like amazing tanks, though will need help in a grind with so few attacks. A speedy Knucker and a monstrous Kraken also joined the ranks of the fish folk, and the force was led by a potent Thuul Mythican. I am pretty sure I heard this as "Magician" and thought she was a just caster with Bane Chant for the majority of the game. I didn't get a copy of the list ahead of time or for the game, so I mostly learned a lot about the army in-game. For a first game, this is quite a strong list, and Ensnare being so prevalent in the army makes them all a pretty fearsome army. Kudos to my opponent for hitting the ground running with a strong list and some good strategy!

I also snagged an army shot this time, since this was just fabulously painted up. 

I was not expecting such a strong list, so I brought what I thought would be a good "learner" list for a first-timer, hitting a lot of the notes from my introductory games post. It was all humans, so everything I have should be readily identifiable (oh hey, bows!), and pretty soft overall. I had a good variety of stuff to try and help nail down basic mechanics as that was the goal here. I could potentially win, but I would need some good plays and a fair amount of luck to do so. 

About the only thing my list really lacked from my introductory advice was repetition. Since this was a learner game, I decided that I wanted to explore some of the old TVI tactics I had reposted and then discussed, so I ran a greater variety of units that I normally would, just to try get a feel for different things. I have a few iterations of TVI lists done up now, so future introductory games will likely explore this playstyle further, allowing me to focus on testing other (arguably more orthodox) things in larger games. For this game I aimed to test:

• TVI Checkerboard. This approach can work in Kings of War, but I definitely needed some experience with it. How do I deploy? What goes where? Can Kingdoms of Men do this ok with some lackluster stats?
• Stronger Defenders. Version 1 of these lists has Foot Guard / Pikes forming a front line. Would these more elite units be able to hold the line and retaliate, or might it be better to have a cheaper front line instead like in my Version 2 lists? Against the multiple hordes and monsters of my opponent, this seems like a great proving ground.
• Jack of All Trades. Would taking a little bit of everything work?
• Mounted Scouts. The regiments have not performed well for me, so I wanted to go back to chaffy troops, and see if those worked better for me.
• Low Inspiring. I took no Indomitable Will, and only the ASB with Lute. Would that be enough sources? Should I spend the points on Indomitable Will in a list like this?

I definitely had a unit strength advantage as well as a drop advantage. I also had a nice assortment of "small arms" ranged options, which despite hitting on 5's felt like a good things to have against the Depth Horrors. However, my opponent had a few monsters, and was generally speedier than I was. He was also running hordes, which as discussed before, is generally how you generally want to run stuff, in order to get the points discount. Overall, I was relatively confident I could deal with the Depth Horrors given their low defense, but both monsters looked like trouble. So my general plan was to try and avoid the monsters, leverage my shooting against the Horrors, and take things on piecemeal where I could, since I'd need some good concentration of force to win any actual fight.

In-line with my introductory games advice, we skipped the deployment phase, and deployed all at once in a blob, while talking things out, since it seemed like he had a general plan of action. With all my extra drops, this put me at a bit of a disadvantage, but again, with an introductory game, the goal should be to learn the game and have some fun, so I am fine with that and would continue to recommend others take this approach as well for these kinds of games. It really speeds things up!

Deployment for the Trident Realms.

My opponent deployed pretty compactly, and pretty quickly. The Thuuls, with Stealthy, are great chaff. I think my only critique would be to make sure things are in front of the Depth Horrors when facing shooting. The Thuuls and Gigas should be able to screen them quite well from my potential shots, but the horde on the right is open.

Sorry for the perspective shift! The other picture was blurry and didn't get everything. This is looking down my entire line from the left flank.

I decided to checkerboard in the center, with Militia, Pikes, and Foot Guard going from left to right as defenders, and Pole-Arms and the two units of Fanatics as a second line. Instead of mixing them into the line, I put both Scouts on the left flank to try and get some shots and just delay that flank. I figured I should be able to outmaneuver the monster, and then force some decisions from my opponent. My right flank had the Bowmen and Ballista. The latter could shoot anything it could see, given the small board, and I figured having the Bowmen, who (hopefully) wouldn't be fighting in melee much, and therefore shouldn't be moving, should help keep the lane open for clear shots as the Trident Realms advanced.

Thusly all deployed, I then just gave my opponent the first turn as I have suggested for introductory games, to get them off and running with the game and the rules.

Top of Round 1: Trident Realms

The Trident Realm moves out!

Basically, everything moved up, as one does, particularly with this scenario in mind. On my left, the Knucker and a grouping of Thuul and the Depth Horrors with the Pipes moved to zone out the scouts from just running by. The Gigas moved up, with the other grouping of Thuul and Depth Horrors with the Brew moving as well. The Kraken wisely hid behind both the forest and hill, blocking it from view from my shooters entirely. Well played!

Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

My line advanced as well, but tentatively. With the Gigas out front, I was hoping I might trick him into coming at me piecemeal. If that happened, I thought I could actually win combats with the main line, and could break through. I felt that that plan needed me to kinda slow-play my advance and draw him out a bit. Hopefully the Gigas would advance, I could take it out, and then deal with the rest.

Shots were fired into the Depth Horrors here by the Ballista and Bowmen, as thankfully the Thuuls were not in a position to grant them cover. Thankfully, some damage was done, but with the Horrors being 16/18, they were not in any real threat of even wavering.

A tentative advance by the Kingdoms of Men.

In the center, the checkerboard advanced, but only moved 5" up. Knowing that this was an introductory game and that I would be giving up the first turn, I had deployed very far back. The Foot Guard took the crater (difficult terrain with Height 0) to hopefully give them a fighting chance to survive any charges in the coming turns. Hindered charges are no fun.

Scouts doing scout things.

My opponent was very kind in showing the threat range of his units. I should be more mindful of this and start doing the same. About the only thing that did move this turn were my Scouts, who were able to take the hill outside the charge range of the Knucker, and both shoot into the Thuuls, at which point I learn that they are Stealthy. Ouch. Still, removing chaff seems like a good call, and I get a lucky Waver for my troubles.

Top of Round 2: Trident Realms

Well, my opponent continues onward, making it to about the halfway point of the table with a fair amount of units. On the left, the Depth Horrors leave the wavered Thuuls behind, and join the Knucker in trying to pin down my Scouts. I am ok with this, as my Scouts are tying up 450 points of stuff, and I am hopeful that I'll be able to get dance around them for a few turns and delay it more.

The Kraken attacks!

The Gigas move up, using the crypt's obstacle fence to help shield them from my Militia. They ends up just inside of 10" of my Pikemen. We discuss this, but I can't recall if we discussed his thinking. I don't recall if he was trying to bait out a charge from the Pikes or just didn't care to back up and correct.

The Kraken can see over the hill, and charges the Foot Guard. I had moved them up into the crater, but I learn now that the Kraken has Strider. Oops. They only take 5 wounds though, and thankfully hold. 

Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

The Kingdoms of Men start to push back. The Pikes have their charge, and with the nearby Fanatics getting a 3 on their d3 Wild Charge, they can make it in as well. Attacking the unit with Big Shield in the front seems like a bad plan, but I was hoping the weight of attacks might help me. I attempted Bane-Chant on the Pikes to help out in this regard but failed to manifest the spell.

Trying to line up the shots... I was thinking this was a decent position for the war machine, but things get gummed up so quickly in the center...

The Ballista and Bowmen decided to shoot at the Depth Horrors I think, though they are in cover, and I think the former did get luck and connect for a few wounds. I think those Horrors are up to 6 damage now, and every little bit helps when its coming from afar.

I also make another double-charge this turn, into the Kraken. The Fanatics are hindered charging into the crater. Unfortunately, I also treat the Foot Guard as hindered. I had done a partial rules reread, and thought I had been playing wrong going into this game. My counter-charge ended in difficult terrain, so figured I was hindered. Rereading the Melee Phase rules as I wrote this up though, a counter charging unit is never Hindered, whether by terrain, special rules or any other reason. This mistake persists through the rest of the game. So here, both are hindered when only the Fanatics should be. Here, I also learn that the Kraken has Ensnare, so hitting on 6's, not a lot is accomplished this fight besides setting up a buffet for the boneless beast from the deep.

Go scouts go!

On my left, I try to be smart with my Scouts and fail. We'll discuss the errors and as they come up in-game. For now, they leave the hill and shoot at the Depth Horrors, but I don't recall if any damage was done. One turn they flopped hard for rolls and I think this was the turn.

Top of Round 3: Trident Realms

The first mistake of the scouts becomes apparent now. My opponent and I had been great about intentions talk, but I failed to keep up my end of the conversation here with my moves last turn. I had assumed the Scouts on the left were also out of the charge arc of the Knucker, but alas, I only eyeballed it, and I gave the Knucker about 20mm of my front. They charge in, but surprisingly only deal 2 damage, and the Scouts hold, which has never happened to me. Usually they just crumple no matter the unit size. While the Depth Horror's cannot charge, they do get up in my face.

Not going too well for the Kingdoms of Men. I learned a lot about the Trident Realms last turn.

The Gigas counter-charge the Fanatics, dealing 3 wounds I believe. They probably should have moved over even more, but the fence is a bit unforgiving. My opponent takes both the Depth Horrors and the Thuuls into the flank of the Pikes, which will not be good. Looking at the picture from the previous turn, they were pretty far back and their leader point may not have been in my flank, but I did not contest this in-game. The Thuuls being definitely in their flank should put enough hurt on the Pikes that it should not matter where the Horrors get in. And they are indeed obliterated. Both will victoriously pivot to face my deployment zone, and look to continue their advance in the coming turns.

*Angry Kraken noises*

The Kraken decides to countercharge the Foot Guard since they are wounded already, and this time sees them off the table with many fearsome tentacle undulations. The creature decides to overrun, but only moves one inch. 

*Confused Kraken noises*

Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

I take the chance and charge the Kraken in the flank, getting around Ensnare. However, this is a new charge, and the Fanatics are hindered, charging through the difficult terrain. I think they get the Kraken up to 13 damage, but I roll a 3 for the Nerve check. Regardless of the exact rolls, the Kraken takes a lot of damage, but survives.

Aha! A *Pincer* attack against the Trident Realms! Counting this as a moral victory.

The Hero charges the Thuul troop, desperately hoping to block things up. Surprisingly, the Hero scores two damage and routs them! We miss that the Magician Mythican has Inspiring, so only roll once. Though, looking at the picture, they might be be more than 6 inches away.

Lots of blurry pictures, but you remember what these look like.

The second and third errors with the Scouts now come to light.... The second error is with the left-most unit that survived the Knucker attack. It is trapped. I can disengage, but cannot pivot and flee due to the table edge, cannot maneuver the unit in any way to get away. I'm all blocked up. So I countercharge, dealing a single wound. The third error is with the other troop. I am so close to the blocking chapel that I cannot pivot and move 90 to avoid this fight either - I'll bump into the building. I'm not engaged so I can't back up to create any more space either. I am stuck here as well due to aggression. Very well played to my opponent here! This troop opts to not move at all, and just shoots into the Horrors, hoping the Pole-Arms can get lucky and finish them off. However, I don't think anything hit this time. The Ballista has no shots as the Kraken blocks sight to the Depth Horrors.

In the center though, things go well. The Fanatics countercharge the Gigas, and are joined by the Militia. The crustaceans still have their big shell-shelds, but again I am hoping that the weight of attacks might help me out. Bane-Chant does connect with the Fanatics, and indeed the duo of unkempt and disorganized units prevails, and then overrun, breaking through the center of the Trident line. 

Top of Round 4: Trident Realms

The Knucker is joined by the Thuul troop, and they shred through one troop of scouts while the Depth Horrors do likewise to the second troop, and overrun towards the Pole-Arms.

Although I did not play them well, the Scout troops did great work to tie up more than twice their points (and more than twice their  unit strength) for four rounds. Imagine if I had used them properly!

Depth Horrors crash into the Hero, and make short work of him. Seeing the Militia and Fanatics run by, it will victoriously reform to threaten them. I mean, the Fanatics were even wounded, so there was blood in the water, so-to-speak. Jokes aside... this is not a bad play at all. I haven't killed much, so if my opponent can remove one of those units, it will make it very hard for me to play the scenario.

The Kraken makes about half of its regeneration rolls, and opts to munch on the Fanatics, dealing 7 wounds, but the crazies are unfazed, and even seem eager for to wrestle and chop more tentacles. 

Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

The Fanatics indeed strike back. However, I again treat them as Hindered when they should not be, as they were counter-charging. Oops! Lessons learned here for sure. With so much damage having been regenerated just now, it is now very unlikely I will be able to deal with the Kraken. 

Not joining that fight are my Bowmen, who decide to disengage, moving back one inch. The Depth Horrors threatening my scoring units are within their line of sight, and just under 10 inches away, so the plucky Bowmen rear-charge the Horrors.

On the left, the Pole-Arms do charge in against the Depth Horrors. To my surprise, they are 4+ to hit. That makes sense, but I don't think these have ever made it to combat before, so yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised by the stats of my own units. However, the Horrors have ensnare, so these are back to hitting on 5's where I expected them to be.

With no unit strength himself, the ASB with lute lags behind, opting to try and cast Bane-chant again, with a choice between the Bowmen and the Pole-Arms, and either are good options. The Bowmen seem like the safer choice, hopefully removing a threat to my scoring units, while the Pole-Arms feel like a greedy play. I opt for the Bowmen, but it fails to cast. Still, the Bowmen roll well, landing close to 15 hits, with most of that going on to wound. The Horrors are deleted! The Pole-Arms attack as well but don't do enough to even waver the other horde of Depth Horrors. 

My Militia and Fanatics had pivoted and moved to get out of the charge arc of the threatening Depth Horrors, who were heroically slain by their Bowmen, so it's a moot point. Those two units are all set up now for scoring for the scenario, so we'll see what else unfolds!

Top of Round 5: Trident Realms

The Kraken regenerates to an amazing degree again, ending up with just one wound as it tears through the Fanatics. If only I had rolled just a little higher in Round 3! It still seems to be hungry though, and eyes up the Ballista, which has been silent for a few turns. 

The Knucker joins the Depth Horrors against the Pole-Arms, and the humans are cut down. The Thuuls follow, and all three units make it across into scoring position on my side of the field.

Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

The Ballista shoots against the Kraken. Looking at the picture though, I probably had a viable shot against the Depth Horrors, and if so, definitely should have taken that shot instead, in order to try and remove more unit strength from my opponent. Oops. The Ballista misses though. 

Yeah, looking at that, I probably could have aimed at the Depth Horrors.

The Bowmen had reformed after besting the Depth Horrors last round, and they join the Fanatics and Militia in running towards my opponent's deployment zone.

Top of Round 6: Trident Realms

The Kraken regenerates its final wound (!), and obliterates the Ballista. I think everything triples against the war machine, even monsters, so the undulating beast does something like 15+ damage to the engine, crushing the gears beneath its prodigious weight.

The Knucker (US 1), Thuul troop (US 1) and remaining Depth Horror Horde (US 3) move firmly onto my side of the table. They should have been scoring already, but now definitely are. With the Kraken (US 1), this gives my opponent 6 Unit Strength scoring for the scenario.

The Magician now reveals themselves as a warrior Mythican character, charging the Bowmen in the rear, but only dealing 2 or 3 damage. I lucked out!

Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

Scoring for me are all my remaining units: the Militia (US 2), Bowmen (US 2) and Fanatics (US 3), giving me 7 Unit Strength for the scenario.

We briefly entertain rolling for a 7th round, but my opponent decides to simply call it here. So we end up with a very narrow victory to the Kingdoms of Men!

Game Conclusion

I was not expecting such a tough list from my opponent, but they brought it and played it well! He came in with a very good grasp of the rules and strong understanding of unit roles. This will be a scary army to face in the future, but I am looking forward to seeing these on the table again. They were a pleasure to play against and just wonderfully painted up.

I definitely felt on the back foot for most of the game, but I did have some good luck. While not played optimally, the Scouts did some wonderful distraction work, and with some big middle turns, I managed to eventually punch through the center, and escape for the narrow victory. 

Testing Conclusion

• TVI Checkerboard. This went ok? I think I need to put a little more space between my front line units, to allow the second line to get into existing fights when the front-line holds. I definitely need more experience with this, but overall, yeah, this worked out ok. It doesn't fight particularly well, but I might be able to body my way to victory with high unit strength. Will need to test this playstyle out more!
• Stronger Defenders. These worked out ok as well. Things took a charge and survived. I do want to test cheaper front line though. Ultimately, a mix will probably be best, but we'll see as I get more testing in.
• Jack of All Trades. This worked surprisingly well, but I think it was mostly luck that he brought a lot of Defense 3 Depth Horrors. The Ballista was silent for a few turns, so I'll need to use that better in the future. But overall, this mixed approach worked out well enough, particularly against a very strong list for this points level.
• Mounted Scouts. I the troop-size just resonates more with me. These were rather misplayed, but still contributed a lot to the fight. I think troops are the way forward with these for me, and I'll try to focus up on using them better going forward.
• Low Inspiring. Hard to say. Having/popping Indomitable Will would not have made a difference anywhere this game, and when everything is meant to be cheap and dispensable, paying for it seems like a bad plan, despite it being a great rule. Having the Lute was good, but I think Bane-Chant only connected one out of three times, but it is nice to have, and should synergize well with a strong front-line of Foot Guard and Pikes. I will continue to explore the ability and Inspiring sources. 

This was a great game, and a fantastic introductory game. Things were close; lots was learned; and fun was definitely had! Many thanks to Chop for making it out and giving Kings of War a try!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #005: Group Game [Dominate]

I missed out on the monthly game in May due to marriage preparations on my end. With that event now behind me (wohoo!), I am starting to recombobulate a bit. We made up for it here in our June game with a 3000 points per side group battle, with both his sons joining in. When I arrived they had armies proudly presented, but I forgot to snap suitable pictures while we chatted about lists. As usual, my opponent built using Tactical Wargames, and I pulled an old list from EasyArmy.

My opponent brought the gist of his typical NA list: a horde of Naiads, two hordes of Ice Elementals, with a handful of fantastic supporting units. It's generally been a tough list and the three hordes have proven to be quite hard to deal with in my last few games.

My friend's eldest son supported his dear old dad with some Abyssal Dwarves, an army which I have never faced before, though quite like the look and fluff of. Essentially he had a horde of Decimators and a bunch of tanky Immortal Guard, with a few units being buffed by a formation choice. A pair of very tanky Mortars gave the Dwarves (and their NA allies) some reach. That'll be Team Older and Wiser.

Team Youngbloods was championed by my friend's youngest son, who fielded a wide Undead list that took up two thirds of our side of the table! Two hordes of Zombies eyed the center, and he had Mhorgoth the Faceless for support and a unit of Soul Reavers and a Vampire Lord on Undead Dragon around do to the heavy lifting. Not optimized, but certainly impressive on the table!

Based on the armies in play, going into the day I was assuming we'd have a team of "Abyssal Buddies" vs a team of "Zombies and Future Draugr," but this was not to be. My young team mate assured me he could count to over 1,000 though so to heck with the Abyssal Buddies fluffy battle! We'll try that another time. So lastly, supporting the sprawling and shambling Undead was me, and some Abyssals on their first ever outing to a table.

I was pretty happy with my list. I felt like the Molochs were the only real front-line unit though, I wanted to protect them with multiple Imp chaff. Gargoyles have been well-regarded for a long time, and two seemed like a good amount to have to test those out. The Abyssal Horsemen seemed like a great unit, particularly with the Scripture, and I had high-hopes for them grinding something out. The Fiend seemed like a very neat monster, and I needed source of Inspiring, so I brought an appropriate base along and figured I would test it out with a proxy. I like the model I have, but in retrospect it seems way too small to run as a titan-sized thing. Oh well. It was painted at least!

This was a more casual game, and missing most of the particulars like spells and rolls on the other side of the table, this report also won't be as detailed. However, this was a great game and there still seemed  to be stuff worth recording and worth discussing. So off we go!

Deployment and Set-Up

We all agreed to zip through deployment. We'd still trade drops, but both players on a team would each drop a unit. We quickly worked our way through the lists. Roughly, the NA ended up across from the Undead and the Abyssal Dwarves across from the Abyssals. While the youngest had final say, this mostly meant that dad was playing against himself.

Deployment from the far left.

The Balefire Catapult took a corner very early, and the massive Vampire Lord on the Dragon was the last thing to arrive for my ally, as I recall. The Undead's line is a little ragged, but that's not a huge issue. From the left for the Undead we have the Catapult, Vampire Lord, two regiments of Werewolves, my Succubi, the Skeleton troop, two Zombie Hordes with Mhorgoth lurking just behind and finally the Soul Reavers. My Succubi came down last for me. My corner of the table seemed cramped, and I figured they would be more useful here messing with stuff so my teammate could get some good positioning with his dragon than anything they would do with my side. Still, this seems like a fun unit and with the Hammer, these should be doing about 6 wounds a turn on their own. If they have support, they may even survive more than a turn! 

Deployment in my little corner of the world.

I set down my Molochs pretty early on in my deployment, as given the scenario, I felt their placement should be pretty obvious. I placed a unit of Imps behind them to keep the little guys protected until I needed them. Additionally, a unit of Gargoyles sat near a building. My plan was for this trio to work together, to make sure the Molochs accomplished something in the center. 

I realized the artillery of the Abyssal Dwarves had Indirect Fire, so if I was crafty, I could get in pretty close but out of charge range with some Gargoyles, so that was my main plan there for the second troop. As a backup, the Abyssal Horsemen would be close behind. The remaining Imps, Flamebearers and my Fiend would attempt to push up this flank, win, and then descent upon the center later on.

Basically everything on the opposing side but the NA Lord made it into this shot, so this is pretty representative of their deployment. The Ice Queen is lurking somewhere nearby as well. 

On the opposing side, the Lord on Frostfang was on our far left flank, looking to swing wide on the ground against the thin line of the Undead. The Clansmen helped anchor that flank. The Pack Hunters and a horde of Ice Elementals hid in the woods. The second horde aims to help the Naiads take the center, and the Ice Queen, nicknamed Elsa by the boys is somewhere around there too. One unit of pesky Foxes hides behind the Naiads, with the second one assisting the Dwarves, most likely waiting to run out and protect the war machines.

I was not too familiar with the Abyssal Dwarf list. As usual we exchanged lists ahead of time, but I didn't get as much prep as I wanted to in the days just prior, and so shorted reviewing the dwarf list as I was figuring on them being on my side. The list looks to revolve around a horde of Decimators (which as an old history buff I wish was called something else, as decimation was a thing. Call 'em Devastators or something), supported by mortars and a lot of Immortal Guard regiments, several of which were in a neat formation.

The Mortars had a decent firing lane into the center, and were protected by the Halfbreeds and a unit of plain Immortal Guard. The bulk of the Abyssal Dwarf looked to secure the center, maybe hoping to even box us out of it. The Decimators look like a solid unit, but with only 12" range, I was hoping they could be ignored for a while. 

Top of Round 1: Team Older and Wiser

Team Older and Wiser secured the first turn and decided to take it. They have a slight war machine advantage, and wanted to start cutting through the zombies as soon as they could, since that might take a while. 

The Naiads and a unit of Immortals from the formation took the hill. The Decimators scooted up, and the reserve unit shuffled around from behind the building to follow the horde, deciding to commit to the center as well and joining the dwarven queue towards the melee.

The Dwarves advance! Sort of. I think only the two Immortals in the formation (the front line) moved at the double. The rest shuffled.

The rest of the NA line advanced tentatively as well. He has been wary of my General on a Winged Beast from our prior games. He was keenly aware that this Vampire Lord can actually do stuff though, so he was hoping to mitigate the damage it might do by delaying the coming encounter. Most NA units moved up, but nothing moved foolishly into charge range of the foul, flying beast, nor outpaced their Abyssal Dwarf allies.

Wavered!? Ouch.

The only notable interactions this turn were some mortar shots against my Gargoyles on the right. War machines are fickle, but some shells land as intended, and some damage is dealt, and my opponent scores a waver.

Bottom of Round 1: Young Bloods

Our turn is also pretty quick. The wide Undead center shambles forward, only slightly quicker than the Abyssal Dwarves. Mhorgoth tosses out a Mind Fog against the Naiads, getting a lucky boxcars result on the check while the Werewolves and Vampire Lord jockey around on our far left flank.

Ha! Another Waver!

I let the Zombies move up, with my Molochs slowly moving to form a second line. I am perfectly alright with the Zombies taking the charge. With no immediate danger, the Soul Reavers pivot and move, waiting to do the same next turn to face back towards the center. 

My Abyssals, along the table edge.

My right flank moves up, with most things moving at the double. I thought wavering units really jammed things up, but my opponent didn't think so, and I couldn't find anything supporting my position, so the Horsemen scooched on through the scared Gargoyles and up a ways to get within 12" and threaten the war machines. They were in charge range of the Halfbreeds, but not the Immortals, and I was just fine with that. I figured with my Regen, Lifeleech, CS as well as just being a larger unit. I could take that charge and grind them out if he took the bait.

. 

Top of Round 2: Team Older and Wiser

I must not have snapped a picture of this turn. My phone camera has been acting up, and it might be getting time for an actual upgrade. On the far left, the NA Lord utilized nimble and scooted just out of line of sight of the Vampire on Dragon. The rest of the line held back, tentatively, not wanting to outpace the Naiads.

On the right, the Halfbreeds do charge my Horsemen, but the latter hold as intended after taking 3 damage. A unit of Immortals has no charges, but moves up at the double to help their Halfbreed associates out on future turns. The war machines lob shots into one of the Zombie hordes, and I think the Iron-Caster throws a fireball into the Imps to remove them.

Bottom of Round 2: Young Bloods

My Horsemen gladly counter-charged the smaller cavalry unit, and managed to bully and rout them, all while regenerating a wound and lifeleeching another back. The Horsemen are performing as I had hoped! The wavered Gargoyles recover their senses (and regenerate most of their wounds), but the Immortal unit coming to support has actually has boxed my Gargoyles out of a good place to land out beyond the Horsemen, so they just move up and lurk menacingly for now. 

A mixed bag here. Hopefully my concentration of force will prevail.

The Fiend tosses a fireball and the two Flamebearers throw their fiery bolts against the blocking Immortal unit, deal 5 damage, but do not rout them. Again, I didn't read the Abyssal Dwarf list carefully, so had no idea they Def5 and -/17 until I started rolling. Focusing fire is a good idea, but with Regen as well, these Abyssal Dwarves are sturdier than I had anticipated! Very cool stuff.

I am not sure what the other Gargoyle troop is doing this turn. I think think the Infernox had a long charge, but it would be into the flank of the squishy Flamebearers, so I wanted to either screen that out for sure, or if my opponent declined the melee, at least maybe draw some potential fire away from the zombies with them this turn. Typical chaff stuff.

Over the line, Lord on Frostfang! The Succubi are on the hill, but the neat hill-helpers are all in use.

Munching on the NA Lord would have been nice, but the Vampire Lord flies out and into the lines of the rest of the Northern Alliance in search of larger prey. As the turn wrapped though, we noticed the Vampire had nimble. So he was later pivoted to look down the whole flank of the Northern Alliance line. Very scary!

Top of Round 3: Team Older and Wiser

The Dragon is a very significant threat, and the NA move to interdict. The Clansmen move to face it, as do some Ice Elementals, with the latter flinging a number of icy shards into the flesh of the undead beast through the cover of the forest. Free from the terror that passed overhead, the Lord on Frostfang looks to do something similar to the Undead lines, and charges into one of the regiments of Werewolves. Unfortunately, the Lord fails to rout the monsters, fails to waver them, and sits, open to a retaliatory counter charge as well as a flank charge by the other regiment in the coming turn.

This wasn't going to end well.

In the center, the Pack Hunters charge but flub miserably against the Skelton Troop while the Naiads do better against a Zombie Horde, and start tallying up damage there despite having to charge through the nearby fence. I think they manage 5 damage this turn, which isn't terrible for being hindered.

The Abyssal Dwarves are more successful, and both Immortal regiments from the formation charge the second Zombie Horde, obliterate it and then both back up. Doing so prevents the Soul Reavers and Molochs from each charging an Immortal regiment. Given the wide frontage of the Molochs, if the Soul Reavers charge one Immortal Regiment, my Molochs simply can't fit against the other regiment with the Infernox where it is. The Abyssal Dwarves are proving to be a crafty bunch...

Top of Round 3 with everything pushing back. Or just trying to, in a few cases.

The Foxes charge into the Flamebearers, and do 6 damage to them. These Foxes are nasty little units! The Immortals counter-charge the Horsemen, deal 4 new damage, and get the waver. The mortars fire against my Fiend and score some damage as well. I believe the Decimators and Iron-Caster shoot the screening Gargoyle unit, removing it easily with that weight of fire.

Bottom of Round 3: Young Bloods

My young teammate and I strike back across the entire field. On the left, the Werewolves converge on the Frostfang Lord and tear both the rider and mount to shreds. The Vampire on the Dragon finds a long flank charge and shatters a unit of Ice Elementals in one go. Apparently that's how you beat that unit. I should be taking notes.

The center is a bit nuts, and the positioning is made so much worse with all the hills. The fearless Skeleton Troop swings back and manages three wounds, but my Succubi are jammed up behind this. The Zombies slap the Naiads, who keep regenerating the wounds they've taken.

Not a good photo of the situation with the Imps, but a pretty nice shot from the left flank. Those Werewolves worked well. I wonder if a more layered/ staggered approach with them would be useful with the dragon in the future.

We all talk things out, and I opt not to charge the Molochs at all. Instead, the Imps run up to block up both the Immortals and the Infernox, skewing itself awkwardly in front of them. I think we did it all correctly, but didn't get a good picture to demonstrate. Basically, to charge the Soul Reavers next turn, the units would first bump into the Imps, so the Imps need to be charged instead and thus the Soul Reavers protected. We typically have not been this jammed up before, so the particulars hers are a newer issue for us, rules-wise.

In the center then, just the Soul Reavers charge one of the Immortals in the formation, and cut them to bits. It is frightening how effective this unit is. The Imps just clog things up to protect the vampires, and the Molochs sit tight for now.

On the right, the scrums continue. The Fiend joins the beleaguered Flamebearers, but rolls very poorly against the Foxes. They are wavered, but that was definitely not the rout I was hoping for. And I think this is a misplay on my part, as the Fiend has Brutal, but I don't think that factored into the calculation. The perils of learning a new army!

Top of Round 4: Team Older and Wiser

The center starts getting messy, and it looks like I lack a picture of this turn as well. The remaining unit of Ice Elementals pivots and shoots into the Vampire Lord. I believe they are then surged into his flank, and ignobly drag the Vampire down. This kind of combo is what makes the Ice Elementals so scary to me, and the NA player is using them quite well here. 

Infernox and Immortals smash into the Imps, with the latter in their flank. The Imps die, but hey, they are chaff and they did their job well. The Naiads slam back into the remaining zombies, dealing 8 damage now, and getting them up to 13 while the Pack Hunters regiment finally best the Skeleton troop, moving up in victory.

I don't recall what the Fox on the right did. Wavered, I think it disengaged and moved back, which I think allowed the Decimators and hero a better window to fire into my Flamebearers, taking them off the field? Whatever happened, that group of Flamebearers is toasted and gone.

Bottom of Round 4: Young Bloods

The Werewolves rage along the left flank, one charging the Clansmen and wavering them, while the other finds a lucky flank charge against the Ice Elementals. The Succubi, several turns late, do finally close with the Pack Hunters and shred them. I believe Mhorgoth game the Succubi Bane-Chant this turn, which I am not sure is legal (I don't think the core rules have group game rules) but also not a great idea anyways, since they have the Hammer of Measured Force. In victory, the Succubi reform slightly, to face the flank of the Naiads with more certainty, given the jumble that is the center.

The messiest battle to-date. Hills in the dominate zone are a bit rough. Fortunately, these are quite gaming friendly, with their flat tops. 

Meanwhile, the Soul Reavers charge the remaining Immortal unit from the formation, and the Molochs finally charge in against the Infernox, and both units are destroyed. With the latter, I had to push through the ruins, but since that corner was missing, I was able to fit and do this. The core rules suggest this type of terrain has a set boundary for clarity. I don't tend to "hug" terrain super-closely, but it would probably be a good habit for me to briefly discuss each piece with future opponents.

A tight squeeze. 

On the right, the Gargoyle finally gets into one of the mortars, does 6 wounds, but fails to rout it. Those things have Def5, which was surprising! Still, now disordered, it won't be able to shoot, and the one remaining mortar hopefully won't be enough to make a big difference elsewhere.

The Fiend finally smacks down the wavered Foxes, and reforms in victory to face more towards the center, looking to play the scenario in future turns since it actually has a unit strength. The remaining unit of Flamebearers scoot around to throw against the Decimators, who are just barely in range. I believe 2 damage is done, which isn't much, but these guys don't regenerate, so any damage is  quite welcome in my book!

The Abyssal Horsemen continue their fight with the Immortals and prevail. I get distracted trying to help elsewhere though, and don't reform. I also don't notice until we are well into the next turn. That is a huge mistake, given the scenario. They can't even fit to charge the mortars in the corner, so yeah, this is just a big mistake from me.

Top of Round 5: Team Older and Wiser

I apparently failed to take any pictures this entire round. I was a little shy on sleep. 

The Ice Elementals turned to fight their Lycan assailants. Wavered, the Clansman tremble, but should be counter-charging, though nothing significant lands. The Naiads continued their slog against the zombies, regenerating a lot of wounds and dealing something like 12 to their shambling adversaries. The Zombies fall, and the Naiads attempt to overrun to get away. They don't go far, and the Succubi still have their flank.

The Decimators pivot slightly and turn to face the Soul Reavers and Molochs, choosing to fire into the former, dealing around 8 damage if memory serves. The first nerve check routs them, but we realize Mhorgoth is still around, and thusly inspired, the Reavers hold on their second test. The remaining unit of Immortals continues to scoot around the back line, trying to to get around the building in an attempt box me out of the center zone. 

On the right, the unengaged mortar does land at least one shot against the Fiend, taking it up to 5 wounds, but it is still quite hale, and unfazed. I haven't used it well but that things is a beast.

Bottom of Round 5: Young Bloods

The Succubi take the flank charge against the Naiads, but fail to rout the fishy folk. I think we get them up to 16 damage or so here? But the Ice Queen is still around, and the duly inspired, the Naiads hold. 

The Werewolves shred the Clansmen on the second attempt, and then turn to face the center, aiming to get into scoring position next turn.

The now-bloodied Soul Reavers and hearty Molochs charge into the Decimators together dealing 20+ damage and easily routing them. I think the Molochs tried to overrun? I think that was a mistake. I think I should have backed up instead. I was trying to get out of the way of the rest of my forces as they moved towards the center. The ruin zones out most of that already. Backing up towards that gets me out of the way much better I think, and would let the Molochs protect / avenge the Soul Reavers if the Immortals charge them, and otherwise just sidestep or change facing and still be scoring. So this is another positioning error from me.

The silly Horsemen turn and move as far as they can towards the center, while the Gargoyles deal another 5-6 damage to the Mortar, routing it this time and lining up the other war machine for some round 6 fighting.

The Fiend charges against the Decimators, hoping to delay them slightly, and keep the corridor open between the two buildings to let the Abyssals swarm the center in the coming turn.

Top of Round 6: Team Older and Wiser

The eldest wants to concede, but his dad suggests they keep playing. The Naiads countercharge the Succubi, but even ensnared themselves, manage see them off easily. That was disappointing, but my Def3 isn't all that great with so many attacks coming my way. The Naiads also prove their worth as an anvil unit, regenerating down to just 9 damage from something like 16 wounds they had going into the turn. In victory, the back up and into the center zone to be scoring as the game concludes.

The remaining Decimator unit actually withdraws from the Fiend, and then charges the bloodied Soul Reavers. More damage is dealt to the vampire soldiers, and the Reavers are soon dragged down by the Abyssal Dwarves, who are now scoring as well.

The remaining Ice Elementals fights the Werewolves, but apparently fails to rout them. I did not pay close attention to this fights, and unfortunately the lack of pictures can't help me out.

Bottom of Round 6: Young Bloods

The Werewolves shatter the last horde of Ice Elementals, with one Werewolf regiment now moving into scoring position, but only barely.

I really want the Molochs to get into the zone this turn, but they are slightly boxed out by the Fiend. So the latter actually needs to move away, to let the Molochs move and pivot to get into a scoring position. Again, if I had backed them up in Round 5 or victoriously repositioned the Horsemen in Round 4, I would be in a much better position now.

The Abyssals clamber over one another in an attempt to claim the center. It does not go well.

I eye up some potential moves. I look to move the Flamebearers into scoring position and the Horsemen eye a charge against the flank of the Immortals, but can't fit. The Iron Caster is slightly in the way, and can't fit if I move my Flamebearers into scoring position. So I charge the Iron Caster with the Horsemen, and Immortals with the Flamebearers. This is another pretty significant mistake on my part. The Horsemen have both a higher unit strength and better attacks, so it is way more important to get them in against the Immortals. I should have had them charge in instead. That would have won the game, even if the Immortals were not routed. Oops! I had tunnel-vision with the Flamebearers and just did not see this.

We were trying to wrap up, and so I do not roll combats for the mortar or Iron-Caster, opting to rewind and play the Iron-Caster at least if we go to a round 7. At the turn wraps, it's a 7-7 tie, due to all my movement and positioning errors over the last few turns. For scoring units Team Youngbloods has the Molochs 3, Werewolves 2, Flamebearers 2 vs Naiads 4, Immortals 3 from Team Older and Wiser. Despite the fierce fighting, the actual center is surprisingly empty, with most of the scoring units just barely meeting the scoring criteria.

Had we rolled up a 7th round, the Youngbloods would likely have seen a commanding victory. At the top of the round, the Naiads would likely need to reform to avoid some nasty flank charges from the Werewolves. The Immortals would likely countercharge the Flamebearers, and may even see them off with some lucky rolling, but Team Older and Wiser would likely remain at 7 unit strength as they are out of other scoring units. 

At the bottom of the round, the Youngbloods should have been able to have the Fiend pivot 90 degrees and move in to contribute, with the Horsemen likely getting in as well, maybe even with a charge against the Immortals this time. The second Werewolf regiment could have charged the Naiads, or just moved in to score. However, we rolled up a commanding 1, and there was no Round 7. 

Our first group game concludes with a surprisingly strong tie! 

Game Conclusion

This was a pretty casual game, so I will only dissect my own play and list. Game-wise, boy oh boy did I definitely make some mistakes! All my chief mistakes related to positioning: I should have remembered to victoriously reform the Horsemen Round 4; I should probably have moved back with the Molochs Round 5 instead trying to overrun; and charging with the Horsemen Round 6 to sneak in that little bit more of unit strength would also have been the better play there.  Plenty of chances to better secure the win, and I just didn't take any! Oh well. I am no pro, and had a few intervening months since the last battle, and with not having fielded the Abyssals before, I am still pretty happy. Lots was learned!

For my list, I think I did ok for a first outing. I liked the Flamebearers and am very glad that they are no longer irregular! Hitting on 4+ and having Piercing makes them a decent unit to form the core of the army. The Succubi did ok for being all on their own. The Molochs mostly took up space, but did survive. The chaffy Gargoyles and Imps were mostly used well. The Fiend floundered a bit in its melees, but I also misplayed it a bit, forgetting a few rules. It is so versatile I think it has a lot of potential, though I think my model is a little too small and I'm not sure if I'd proxy the Fiend in this way again. Overall, I was quite happy with my list.

Lastly, report-wise, my attention span definitely suffered. I was trying to learn an army, play against an army I had not encountered before, help keep the kids engaged, help out where I could with rules and stats and such, as well as take pictures. The latter in particular suffered greatly this time around, and I took about 60% of what I would normally take to document a battle. I am hoping to do some mega-battles in the future, and this seemed like a good trial run for figuring out possible pitfalls for a successful report of that nature. Lots for me to consider before I tackle a huge game I think.

All in all this was a great time and I am looking forward to the next group game! Many thanks to my opponent and his boys for a wonderful afternoon!