With game two finished on both tables, one of the attendees had to leave. Fortunately, my opponent from last game had enough spare bases to run 2000 points of fierce Salamanders, and with plenty of time left in the day, we decided on a 2v1 Kill game to close out our tiny event.
Lists
The Salamander player ran something pretty close to the following 2k list, as far as I can recall:
It think I got everything right? I was 10 pts shy with units and stuff I knew for sure, and I think those 10 pts were made up by Effigies on each of the Whispering Scales units. It didn't have a lot of drops and felt like a more "quality" approach with a smaller number of elite units. It looks sturdy but should be surprisingly quick due to the formation and the hordes of Rhinosaur Cavalry. Add to all this the frightening Clan Lord on Fire Drake, the Pale Rider, and support from a fiery Phoenix... the unlikely duo of Abyssal Dwarfs and the Kingdoms of Men will have their work cut out for them I think!
My ally ran the same list as before. He was catching on quickly as the day progressed! This was going to be their first encounter with a flier though, so there would be plenty more things to learn before the day was over! The Lesser Golems can be an excellent anti-flier choice, but without a source of Surge, they weren't likely going to help against the flying Clan Lord unless we got really lucky.
And going into the last battle of the day, I still ran the same list and still had the same things in mind to try and test:
- Mammoth/Rampage. I think it is a bit of a bummer relative to the Giant, but could I make use of him and Rampage?
- Pikes vs Foot Guard. These are my go-to defensive units, but I wanted to test them out a bit more. With Regiments, I should get better at deployment and threat assessment, and wanted to see if I could use these well.
- Knights. I figured they might be able to bully something in a small game like this. I need to get better at positioning them, so let's take them and see what I can do.
- Hero & IW. I am still really liking this pick. I am still not great with IW use, so we'll see how I do with him, and when / how I use IW.
Quickly comparing lists, the Salamanders had fewer units generally but a higher quality to them, as well as a number of strong, scary monsters, and most things were sporting a very sturdy Def5. The Coalition of humans and Abyssal Dwarfs was less focused, but had more units, more ranged options, and a greater variety of options at their disposal. With smaller, more numerous units, we might be able to dog-pile some of the scary things across from us with some good planning.
Table and Deployment
We played on the spooky table, adding some more terrain from its box, and spreading out to the usual 6 foot by 4 foot table space. We had some Height 3 Hills, Height 6 Forests, Height 9 blocking terrain with the Mausoleum, a Height 2 Fence obstacle, and some Height 1 difficult terrain represented by the Graveyards.
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| Finished with deployment, though before the Whispering Scales units scouted ahead. |
I believe the Salamanders player won the roll-off for sides, and we deployed 2 things per trade, forcing the humans and dwarves to each commit something each round. We had the drop advantage, amplified by the Salamanders placing first.
The Salamanders were wary of spreading themselves too thin with so much opposing them, so they had deployed pretty centrally, with several stacked lines. The Whispering Scales secured the right-flank of the Salamander Line. The Phoenix majestically tried to hide behind the hill. The Ghekkos screened the Ceremonial Guard who screened the powerful and legendary Pale Rider. Lastly, both of the Rhinosaur Cav hordes and Clan Lord on Fire Drake sat on the the far left of the Salamander's line (our right). This positioning should let them be aggressive without being swarmed or flanked themselves.
The battle line of the Coalition forces was a bit jumbled. We had gone wide to press our unit advantage, and spanned almost from end to end of the table. The Abyssal Dwarfs were either eager to make some friends or to infiltrate the Regnum's lines to cowardly hid behind the taller humans... either way, our lines were intermingled. With more drops, I was able to put my cavalry down late, and had high hopes for some some flanking Knights this game. Going from our left to our right, the horde of Blacksouls then anchored this flank, supported by the Decimators. The Dino deployed nice and centrally to try and prevail against the Whispering Scales of Ceremonial Guard. The Hero stayed close, with my Foot Guard, ASB and Pikes taking the center. Then we had the Obsidian Golems, Halfbreed Champion and Halfbreed Regiment, the human Militia, and finally, the troop of Immortals.
With deployment complete, the Whispering Scales scouted ever so slightly ahead, and I believe the Salamander player won the first turn roll-off, making us go first. The glare was getting a little bad as the day went on, so apologies in advance as we get into this!
Top of Round 1: Coalition
We were looking to press our advantage. The Knights moved at the double, looking pivot in the coming turns. Most things moved up, though we decided to hold back on the right a bit, not wanting to give up any Round 1 charges to the speedy wing of the Salamanders.
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| Poor Phoenix! I like the paint job, and think it is a cool and fluffy support piece... but it has had a heck of a time surviving in-game. |
The mortar scored two lucky hits against the Phoenix which bloomed into a lot of damage with Blast, and we Def3, most of that damage connected. Amazingly, the fiery bird is popped, removing the source of Healing for the Salamanders, and theoretically making the fight to come far easier. And with first blood already drawn, we pass turn.
Bottom of Round 1: Salamanders
The Whispering Scales no longer hear the crackling inferno behind them, and cease their advance, drawing close to their commander and now looking to hold and delay.
The center of the Salamander line advances, with the Ghekko / Ceremonial Guard / Pale Rider stack intact. The Rhinosaurs and Clan Lord continue to hold back, advancing cautiously, not wishing to overextend without the healing fires of the Phoenix.
Top of Round 2: Coalition
We are a little overloaded on the left, and a lot of things move to threaten the Whispering Scales. Even with Stealthy, the Whispering Scales take 1 damage from the Decimator troop as the dwarfs leave the spooky woods, and the other unit surprisingly takes 1 damage from the Mounted Scouts.
The right largely holds, not wanting to give the speedy Salamanders any multi-charges. The mortar fires, and tickles the Ceremonial Guard for a few damage, but nothing serious. The Guard will chug their healing potions next turn..
Bottom of Round 2: Salamanders
The Pale Rider moves up alongside the Ceremonial Guard, making a formidable line. The Rider uses its Firebreath against the Pikes, who are just in range. Four damage will be dealt, but they hold. The Ghekko troop scampers forward to interrupt any group charges from my center units into theirs.
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| I think this is mid-movement on the bottom of Round 2. The other Rhinosaur unit and Clan Lord were last to move. |
One unit of Rhinosaurs charge the Militia, dealing 9 damage and removing them. While the Militia were in the terrain, both Rhinosaur units had magic items to mitigate it. The second unit and the Clan Lord crashed into the Immortal troop, removing it. The Rhinosaurs reformed to create a new stack of sorts, with the
Back on our left flank, the Whispering Scales held, and braced for the worst.
Top of Round 3: Coalition
The Scouts zone out the fence, allowing my knights an unhindered charge against one unit of the Whispering Scales. Unfortunately I do this block awkwardly, with the Scouts on the closer side of the fence, despite tons of available movement. Fortunately, there is enough room for the Knights to slide down without clipping the fence. I lucked out! After some waffling and discussion with the Abyssal Dwarf general, the Dino goes into the other unit of Whispering Scales. I believe the Knights (I think) get a lucky waver on their unit and the Dino (with 1 extra attack from Rampage but with Brutal), just barely routs its unit thanks to the 1 damage it took from the Decimators last turn. Victorious, the Dino turns to face the menacing Salamander center and the Pale Rider.
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| The 9 damage from the Militia. RIP. Many more units are about to die. |
The Dino's charge was probably a mistake. I was very lucky to Rout the one unit of Whispering Scales this turn, getting just what was needed to break them and reposition to prevent getting flanked by the Pale Rider. I think the better play would have been to flank with the Dino and to charge the same unit the Knights did. That would have obliterated that unit for sure, and really opened up some space. I should know by now that with my army, just knights or just a monster is usually not enough to rout a unit usually. We have a lot of stuff on this flank, so creating some some space might have been the better play. I lucked out with the move I made, but it was not the best move.
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| Some bad positioning with my Scouts, but I lucked out with the spacing. |
With the Dino charging away, the Decimators fire into the Ghekkos, removing them, and the mortar lands another lucky hit against the Pale Rider. We had discussed war machine positioned a bit in our first game. I am not expert, but for something with indirect fire, I suggested centrally with a good field of view, and that seemed to be doing well for my ally here.
On the right, the regiment of Halfbreeds and the Obsidian Golems multi-charge the leading unit of the Rhinosaur Cavalry, but the unit lives.
Bottom of Round 3: Salamanders
Our opponent wants to charge the front Rhinosaur unit into the Obsidian Golem and the rear Rhinosaur unit into the Halfbreeds, but this doesn't look legal on the table. The Height 4 Rhinosaurs are pretty tightly stacked, and the front units should be blocking the line of sight from the leader point of the rear unit, even when they move down. The Rhinosaurs are also not Nimble, so the rear unit should be clipping through the front unit when it would move to pivot, even if it could see. As pictured in the Coalition's Round 3, that all makes some sense, however, while writing this up, I notice we didn't shuffle the Abyssal Dwarfs to center to equally share frontage against the front unit of Rhinosaurs, thereby complicating the situation now. This was not caught at the time.
Taking the positioning as-is though, we do agree that the front unit can counter-charge the Halfbreeds, sliding way down to let the rear unit attack the Obsidian Golems. The Coalition's oopsies to share facing made this messy, so our bad, but both units do make it into combat, which feels good. I believe the Clan Lord will also charge against the Halfbreeds though? Which should have been declared at the same time... and the Clan Lord should have then ended up on the end of the combat given their position at the start of the turn. Sheesh This whole flank is a positioning mess as I try and write this up! These are the perils of a group game I suppose, and the turn is not even done! I think adding a few extra bases or cutting some out of cardstock or something might be good things to have on hand in the future, though I am not sure how much they would have helped here with all the Salamander units on top of each other and mere inches away from their desired targets.
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| After a whole bunch of discussion, the speedy salamanders get into combat. |
The Ceremonial Guard eye up the Foot Guard, and charge over the corpses of the Ghekkos. They manage 9 damage, but the Foot Guard hold. The Pale Rider attacks the Dino, but rolls far below the expected result, it seems only dealing 3 damage to its distant relative.
The remaining unit of Whispering Scales don't look to do anything against the Knights, supporting my thinking that they got wavered last turn.
Top of Round 4: Coalition
It's time to teach my ally a little about individuals! He opts to charge the Halfbreed Champion into the wounded Rhinosaur unit, and my Hero zips out to charge the Clan Lord. I get the lucky 1 damage in, grounding the Lord. I don't recall how the Champion did, but the Rhinosaurs unfortunately stick around.
The Knights charge the Whispering Scale Regiment again and don't rout them. I guess the Salamanders are just wavered again? I did not take enough pictures to help my memory. The Dino counter-charges the Pale Rider, but also doesn't rout it. That is expected though, as the Pale Rider is strong, and the Dino is disordered, losing Thunderous Charge.
The Foot Guard and Pikes go into the Ceremonial Guard, but Bane-Chant doesn't connect. The horde of Blacksouls go into the Flank of the Ceremonial Guard, but are hindered. The Salamanders hold. I don't think I have really appreciated this unit previously. Great Nerve, Def5, Phalanx and Crushing Strength are all fantastic abilities and this is a wonderfully tanky unit.
Bottom of Round 4: Salamanders
The Pale Rider charges the Dino, and makes up for his poor showing last turn, wounding with nearly all of of its attacks this turn and removing my monster. The Ceremonial Guard counter-charges the Foot Guard, removing them now. We are all pretty new to messy multi-unit grinding combats. They should be engaged on two facings, which would preclude a potential disengage move, so we don't believe they are allowed a victorious reform here. With such a wide unit, if they pivot around the center they are going to at least one of the enemy units as well. So, we think these are boxed in.
The unengaged unit of Rhinosaurs skirts behind the building, trying to avoid the infernal war machine. The Clan Lord rips through the Hero, and I am not sure if I remember to pop Indomitable Will on my turn. If I didn't, that's a mistake, as this is a "last stand" kind of situation for him. If I did, it makes no difference. I think I am going to do up some tokens for Indomitable Will. That might help me remember it in-game for sure. The Halfbreed Champion eats a countercharge from the Rhinosaurs, and is wavered!
Top of Round 5: Coalition
The mortar connects again, I think against the sneaking Rhinosaurs. The building is unfortunately not big enough to block line of sight completely. A shell explodes and this unit is shattered. I believe the Mounted Scouts loose and the Decimators blast at the towering Pale Rider, with the later doing damage and routing that as well. I probably should have moved the scouts down towards our deployment zone to try and make use of them in Round 6. But I don't.
Bottom of Round 5: Salamanders
The surviving Whispering Scales leader has been contributing in their own small ways this game. In Rounds 3 and 4 they poked at the Dino. In Round 5 they go after my ASB, though nothing connects. While this move didn't pan out, my opponent tends to get a lot of value from these random heroes.
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| That sneaky little Battle Captain... fortunately no damage is taken. |
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| Sweet revenge! |
Top of Round 6: Coalition
My Pikes move and pivot to look at both the Clan Lord and Rhinosaur Cavalry, ensuring front charges. The Decimators shoot at the Clan Lord I believe. For some reason, I thought the Clan Lord was pointed uls. Because of this, I didn't think to dissuade my ally from charging the Battle Captain with the Blacksoul Horde... they do damage, but on 4's and 5's, the inspiring captain easily holds.
Bottom of Round 6: Salamanders
To conclude, the Pikes take charges from the Rhinosaur and the Battle Captain, and are trampled. And the Clan Lord is just able to catch the corner in the blank of the Blacksouls, dealing an incredible amount of damage, and is able to obliterate the Blacksoul Horde all on his own and all in one go.
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| Ouch! Late game fliers are certainly dangerous. Let that be a lesson to us! |
We roll for a potentially spicy round 7, but it is not to be. As the dwarven curses fade and the Blacksouls exhale their last, the Coalition looks to have lost 1515 points of stuff, with just the Decimator troop, Knights, ASB and Scouts remaining. I am not sure on the Salamander's losses, and after conferring with my opponent a few days later, they have lost somewhere between 1335-1380 points of stuff, with the expensive Clan Lord, a unit of Rhinosaurs and the Whispering Scales leader all surviving. This gives the Salamanders the edge in the violence done, but still a bit short of the 200 point threshold they needed to secure a full win.
So, a definite advantage for the Salamanders, but technically a draw!
Game Conclusion
What a close game! Losing the Blacksouls at the very end was rough for the Coalition, but it turns out we were slightly ahead at that time, so losing them was just barely enough not to swing the game to a loss for us. With a big healthy flier still around at the end, something was bound to die to it on the last turn, and this was a good situation for my ally to get exposed to.
Testing Conclusions
Well, I ran the same list three dang times in a row. And on the same day no less! How did my testing go and what did I learn here?
- Mammoth/Rampage. My tests were rough all day, and Rampage rolled above 1 extra attack once, for a 2. I feel like this unit can have a place in certain metas or in tailored lists, or with a themed list of some kind, and I am glad I have some, but for 5 points more the Giant is just such a better buy and deals much better with the big scary things that my normal humans struggle to. I gave the Dino some good chances and this just felt weak.
- Pikes vs Foot Guard. I am really liking the Foot Guard in these smaller games, as they are more forgiving with their better stats. Pikes can take the charge but I need to be more aware of where I am positioning them. Both are good, but Pikes take more thought for me.
- Knights. This grind over a few turns is how I've used them to "bully" stuff before. It's not a great use of them to be honest. I need to get it in my head that these are not going to break anything on their own in one go, and I need to get better at using them alongside with other units.
- Hero & IW. He did well every game, but I struggled a bit with IW usage, and I think getting a better grasp of that will really push the Hero over the top in terms of usefulness.
- Terrain! Terrain tripped me up throughout the event. Difficult terrain near my deployment zone is just sooooo enticing, especially with Pikes, but I really need to keep the scenario and my opponent's list in mind. With few long-range threats over these three games, most of the time I was just sight-seeing around my deployment zone and seizing that difficult ground did me more harm than good.
- Turn Counter. I did well with this on the first game. The other games not as well. I would turn it, but with it being off the board on the spooky table, I wasn't getting it into frame unless I took a second photo. I think I will look into hobbying up a few more buildings to hold the counters.
- Pictures. There was not method to my picture taking as the day went on. I had enough pictures to quickly write up the first two games, but reconstructing this battle took some effort, as some pictures were taken mid-movement. I'll kick around some ideas and see if I can into a groove documenting some future games.
Thanks to the trio of other players that joined me for the tiny event! I learned a lot organizing this! I had a lot of fun playing in it, and hope they did as well. Hopefully we'll play some more sometime soon!
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