Kings of War 3rd Edition: #018: Forces of the Abyss vs Salamanders [Pillage]

Intro and Lists

I choose to brave the first substantial snow of the season to make it over to the Milwaukee area again, fitting in a pair of afternoon games. At our last meeting, this opponent said that he had mainly been playing against the Kingdoms of Men and the Brothermark, so I took the opportunity of these multiple games to run some Abyssals. This let me test out, back-to-back, a few of the fancier new things I had hobbied on back in September, and would give my opponent something besides puny humans to fight! For these games, we transitioned into using Mantic's new Companion site and the updates coming with the Big Red Book. My opponent brought his usual Salamanders, fielding the following:

Readers of previous reports will recognize a number of the units facing me. My Milwaukee opponent continues to tweak and improve upon his lists like a savvy wargamer! After months of waiting for lost packages, he has purchased his own 3d printer, and is starting to print out the army he intended. I am excited to see more in the coming months! The hefty centerpiece units of the Pale Rider and Clan Lord on Fire Drake return to lead the list. The two Hordes of Rhinosaur Cavalry return as well, as they have consistently delivered for my opponent. A horde of Ceremonial Guard formed the main battle unit,  and was supported by a regiment of Salamander Primes, and a Regiment of Ancients. The Ancients had salvaged an Aegis fragment, giving them Iron Resolve, which with their Def6, should make them exceptionally hard to remove. Leaning into the "tanky" build was an Ancient Phoenix to heal, and two Mage Priests, one to Fireball and Heal, and the other to Bane Chant and Fireball. Rounding all this out was a Komodon, a kind of hybrid monster and medium-range war machine.

I brought the above, which I suppose is actually a pretty standard Abyssals list for me. Maybe I can be a savvy wargamer some day too! I don't have a terribly deep roster for the army, so some Horsemen, Flamebearers and Molochs form the core as usual for me, with some Imp and Gargoyle support. Up to test this time are:

• Triple Flamebearers. I have liked the unit, but need more experience with them. Is their shooting actually good and consistent? Can they help form the core on an Abyssals list? Is three a good number to field, or do I need more or less?
• Abyssal Horsemen. I continually donk up and loose my cavalry to grinding fights. I like the concept of this, with Regen and the Scripture to help win those grinds, but this has not been a stellar or reliable unit for me so far, so more testing is needed. 
• Abyssal Fiend. I think the titan has a lot of utility. It's got good combat stats, Inspiring and Fireball too! That said, it does not have Regeneration like so many Abyssals units. Is this strong enough to anchor a battle line without the Regen?
• Seductress. I still think the Seductress is great. We'll see what trouble she can cause. My biggest worry is how the dice will treat her. Will she survive to do anything?
• Manifestation of Ba'el. Previously the mini was a proxied Archfiend, but I really like that they kept a monster-sized demon option, as I do like my model and it looks silly on the titanic base. The Manifestation looks like just a ton of utility, and even has Regeneration, Stealthy and a huge Lighting Bolt, though that should do just under 2 damage most of the time. I am not sure how "From the Pit I Curse Thee" will play out, but we'll see how this monster performs!
• The Well of Souls. I need to syphon the damage before I move, so I will need to try and be smart about both positioning and activation.  This seems like a really interesting unit with a high ceiling for skillful use. We'll see how I do with it, and if I learn any tips.
• Molochs without the Sacrificial Imp. Hopefully with the Well of Souls around syphoning off wounds from my units, I shouldn't need the imps around? We'll see if this was a good idea.

Table, Deployment and Scenario

We tossed around some terrain from the shop, with some height 9 Buildings, height 3 hills, height 6 forests, a height 0 difficult terrain pond, and some height 2 obstacles. We decided we wanted to purposefully play with some objectives this time, to make use of my opponent's neat objective zone markers. We chose Pillage for the scenario, with my opponent winning all the rolls, and placing the odd-numbered objectives. 

View from my right.

My opponent deployed rather compactly, with the Rhinosaurs, Clan Lord and Phoenix overloading the right flank. The Primes, then Ceremonial Guard, then Ancients formed the main line of battle, with the Mage Priests and the Pale Rider forming a second line of reserve and supporting elements. The Komodon monster sat in a far corner.

The Center.

I had more drops than my opponent, but not a clear idea of how I wanted to play the list, and as a result, I was not super-pleased with my deployment. I ended up spreading the Flamebearers throughout my lines, with a smattering of supporting elements around. Nothing was really focused for me. One bright spot was that the Horsemen, Well of Souls, Seductress and Manifestation of Ba'el all came down really late, letting me get those where I wanted to help shore up the poor deployment.

The left. Hopefully, I have outmatched the Komodon (the white base) here.

I opted to drop the Seductress and Manifestation on the left flank. Things of mine were generally well inspired, so these two should be able to exert some good pressure with their flight. My opponent had won the roll for first turn, and elected to have me go first.

Top of Round 1: Forces of the Abyss

Forcing me to go first was a good call, as I must forfeit a full turn of Flamebearer shooting. My right cautiously advances, and the Horsemen and Well of Souls are joined by some Gargoyles. Knowing the fearsome strength of the Rhinosaurs and Clan Lord, I don't want them to be able to charge anything important.

The Rhinosaurs on the left (with the model) have the Blessing of the Gods.

Most of my center line scoots up a few inches, though I forget to do anything with the Imps. That's ok, as I was just going to park them on Objective 2 for the entire game. They'll make their way there eventually. I believe in them.

Oops. Sorry Imps. We left you behind.

The only real exciting things happened on my left, with the Manifestation and Seductress zipping forward and utilizing their wings. Both of these have Stealthy, so should hopefully be able to make very short work of the very isolated Komodon in the turns to come.

Just fliers being speedy and scary. And Stealthy.

With movement done (ignoring the Imps) and nothing to actually roll dice for here, I pass the turn.

Bottom of Round 1: Salamanders

I don't look to have a good picture of this turn. Much of the Salamander line mimics the Forces of the Abyss. Most things moving forward, but not too eagerly. The Pale Rider turns and strides towards the Komodon, looking to avenge it in the coming turns once battle is joined. The Ancients take the hill, not-quite-joined by the Ceremonial Guard. The Rhinosaurs move up, slightly, to threaten charges against just the Gargoyles on my right, with the Phoenix and Clan Lord in tow. The Komodon spews against the Manifestation, and although the target is stealthy, I believe it does score a few damage.

Top of Round 2: Forces of the Abyss

The Seductress goes into the Komodon, dealing a few damage, but the monster holds defiantly. The Komodon plays like a war machine but is categorized as a monster, so the Seductress unfortunately gets no extra attacks here. The Manifestation of Ba'el nimbly pivots and flies 20" back behind enemy lines, regenerating a bit and evading the charge arc of the tremendous Pale Rider. 

Most of the action is on these 2/3rds of the table. Almost fit it all into one shot.

On the right, things still danced around, denying any significant charges to the Rhinosaurs and mighty Clan Lord. The rest of my line again moved up a bit. The Flamebearers attempted many shots, but didn't achieve much. With the Flamebearers intermixed along my my line, they could not effectively focus fire. Two regiments threw against the Ceremonial Guard, but both were hurt by cover penalties, for the horde was partially screened by the hill and my own Molochs. My notes say 5 damage was done to the Guard. Since the Ancients were atop the hill, no concealment penalty was applied, and the Flamebearers manage a single point of damage. The Ancients then healed when testing Nerve, due to their magic item. Lessons were learned here for sure! My deployment was biting me a bit.

Bottom of Round 2: Salamanders

The Komodon strikes back at the Seductress, and I believe scores a hit over Ensnare, but fails to land the damage. The Salamanders slowly push the issues on my right, with the Clan Lord and Rhinosaurs again moving up slightly. They didn't want to commit to something as insignificant as the Gargoyles, over overextend, so were biding their time, especially given my ineffectual shooting.

Lots of positioning going on in the early turns.

Speaking of shooting, the Pale Rider has a breath attack, which I had forgotten about, and turns to roast the Manifestation of Ba'el. The Phoenix turns and fires as well, as does one of the Mage Priests. A variety of ranged attacks are levied at the Manifestation. I misjudged how many ranged attacks my opponent had at his disposal! The shooting brings it up to 5 damage, and the Nerve check rolls up a 10, and with Fireball's Shattering, this pushes the overall result to a 16 and a Rout, but the Manifestation holds with the Inspiring reroll. Phew! This could have been very bad for me.

The second Mage Priest heals the injured Ceremonial Guard. I don't know by how much, But I don't see a wound tracker anymore, so I think they may have got completely topped off. 

Top of Round 3: Forces of the Abyss

My Flamebearers haven't been as effective as I would have liked. This is due to a combination of factors. The first is me going first and missing out on a turn of shooting, but the second was poor positioning on my part, giving them suboptimal targets for the chances I do have. Too many things are within charge range of me now though, and I don't have the inches to withdraw to try and leverage my shooting much more. 

Feeling some pressure, I commit to some fights while I have another go with the Flamebearers. One throws into the Salamander Primes, who are concealed in the forest. No damage is done. Two throw clear shots into the Ancients, and combined, they deal 1 damage, which is overcome by the Aegis and Iron Resolve. 

The fights don't go much better for me. Forgetting that they got healed, I had decided to double-charge the Ceremonial Guard with my Abyssal Fiend and a horde of Molochs, even though the latter are hindered. This is foolish on my part, given the heals. I think a better choice would have been to charge the Molochs into the Primes since I'd be hindered already, and the unit is smaller and would be more easy to rout. The Fiend could have tried out it's Fireball and I could have leveraged a round of shooting into the Guard Instead. Alas... I haven't used the Molochs or even a proxy Fiend in months, so was greatly over-estimating their potency against the horde, and again forgetting about the heals. If I needed to commit to a melee combat, I think charges into the supporting regiments should probably be the default choice most of the time, so just poor decisions here from me.

Some poor decisions and worse results.

The Ceremonial Guard easily hold against the optimistic combined charge from the Abyssals. The second unit of Molochs slams, unhindered, into a unit of Rhinosaur Cavalry.  the Rhinosaurs easily hold as well and I don't get any spiky dice with my attacks, but I thought I might get lucky getting the first punch in to start this trade. If the Rhinosaurs are disordered to start, I figured I could get the better of them in a grinding combat.

On the right, the Gargoyles screen out the other Rhinosaur Cavalry and Clan Lord, protecting the flank of the Molochs and the front of the Abyssal Horsemen. I opt to not charge with the Well of Souls at all, though probably should have joined the attack into the Rhinosaurs. Being my first time running them, I was hoping something of mine might stick around and I could try out the syphoning heal rule next turn, but I probably should have just committed more to taking out a powerful enemy unit.

The Manifestation of Ba'el regenerates a few damage, and zips 20" past things, looking to contribute to the fights against the Rhinosaurs and such next turn, though the forest might block line of sight to a few things, depending on how combats go. Still, it is as far as he can do, and he manages to avoid the Pale Rider as best he can. It was a dangerous run behind enemy lines, but it is working out ok in the end.

Way off on the far left flank, the Seductress struggled to hit the Komodon, whiffing on most of her attacks, but still gets one damage in against the bile-spewing monster. I wish this was going faster, but the dice are not cooperating and I'm just getting the expected 1-2 damage per round. 

Bottom of Round 3: Salamanders

My opponent gleefully springs to counter attack on all fronts. The Komodon struggles to overcome the Ensnare of the Seductress, so things start out ok for me.

A bloody melee erupts in the center of the battlefield.

But the Ancients hit the flank of my Abyssal Fiend, I believe getting Bane Chanted. After discussing, my opponent takes my suggestion to send the Ceremonial Guard here as well, to more certainly remove the source of Inspiring here, and the Fiend is indeed sliced down ignobly. The Primes attack the flank of the Molochs, but are hindered from starting in the forest, and only deal two damage to them, which is another small something going in my favor.

The Clan Lord and Rhinosaur charge the upstart Molochs, and destroy them. Both they and Fiend got taken into needing 2-3 on their Nerve checks, so it was very effective fighting for my opponent! The second unit of Rhinosaurs charge and obliterate the Gargoyles, and if memory serves, will overrun, which given the short distance, will limit the charge options of my Horsemen next turn.

Not quite terrible. But certainly not good.

The other Mage Priest dutifully tends to the Ceremonial Guard, and I believe the Phoenix heals the Rhinosaurs, but don't remember for sure. The Pale Rider chases after the Manifestation of Ba'el, and I believe scores a few more damage with the breath attack. 

Top of Round 4: Forces of the Abyss

The Seductress prevails against the Komodon. The hybrid monster didn't do much, but I can see the appeal. It is neat as it avoids the extra attacks a typical war machine would suffer in combat, and the blast in combat is alright too, as it might survive and punch back. Fortunately for me, Ensnare protected the Seductress enough to grind that out. That fight could have gone very differently.

Opening moves at the top of Round 4.

The Horsemen charge the Rhinosaurs, and we give them the downhill TC bonus. The Manifestation of Ba'el regenerates a few damage, and can see the Rhinosaurs as well, but I would land squarely on the fence and be hindered. I decide I don't want that, and since I do have line of sight beyond the forest into the rear of the Clan Lord, decide to charge that instead. These are greedy plays. Neither pan out and both Salamander units hold.

The Flamebearers rear-charge the Primes, also hoping that the weight of attacks might result in a lucky waiver or something. They manage to get 6 damage in, and do we a lucky waver. The other two Flamebearers box in the Ancients, throwing against them, ineffectually. 

The Well of Souls syphons off the last few wounds from the Manifestation before joining the surviving Molochs in a charge against the Ceremonial Guard, who are dragged down. The Well of Souls changes facing, and are safe from the Primes, who are wavered. The Molochs are safe from the Ancients, and so change facing to get many things in their front arc.

It's not all bad for the Forces of the Abyss. 

Checking in on the objectives, Objective 3 sits uncontrolled near my opponent's deployment zone. The Imps continue to hold objective 2, and the Gargoyles sit on 4. With a Flamebearer regiment taking 5 and the Molochs holding 1, in the center. If we were doing cumulative and progressive scoring, I would be sitting quite comfortably! Alas the book scenarios don't work that way.

Securing the left flank a bit early. 

I didn't see a point in the Gargoyles charging anything, given the high Defense of the Salamanders, so chose to have them sit on objectives. In retrospect, using the Gargoyles to mess with the Mage Priests would have been a better idea, especially since the Seductress was occupied. More lessons learned with the Forces of the Abyss I suppose!

Bottom of Round 4: Salamanders

The Clan Lord hits the flank of the Horsemen while the Rhinosaurs retaliate with a frontal charge. Regeneration and the Scripture is is mute as the Horsemen are routed in one go. Both are injured, and both turn to face my Manifestation of Ba'el.

It was a high roll, and they were Inspired, so the Waver is just a terrible outcome for the Molochs.

The other Rhinosaur unit makes a rear charge into my Flamebearers, easily obliterating them and  quickly overrunning to support the Primes. The Phoenix positions to heal the Primes and Rhinosaurs for 1 with Radiance of Life, and hits the Molochs and Well for 1 with Shroud of Death. The Phoenix did a lot of fantastic support this game, and I never felt like I could commit anything significant to try and tackle it. In retrospect, being an Ancient Phoenix makes it Defense 2, so this could have been something else for my Gargoyles to have been doing the whole time. Lessons all over the place it seems.

A number of ranged attacks are aimed at the surviving Molochs. They take 6 more damage, and my opponent gets a lucky waver on them. The Ancients charge the Flamebearers presented before them, and deal 4, but the disordered Flamebearers hold.

Top of Round 5: Forces of the Abyss

The wavered Molochs just change facing ever so slightly, regenerating a few damage. I choose to syphon off the remaining damage with the Well of Souls to hopefully give them a fighting chance, though things don't look good for them. The Well then flies into the Flank of the Clan Lord, looking to remove a valuable and mobile piece from my opponent.

The Manifestation has a charge against the Clan Lord, and that is it. We rule that both Rhinosaurs are out of the Charge Arc. I think I could take the Clan Lord, but don't want to trade the Manifestation for it. Instead, the Manifestation flies 10" towards my lines, and uses his pivot to turn, and the bonus pivot from Nimble to turn again. 

A very lucky and very clutch Lightning Bolt. The model should probably be a little to the left, but since it's a heavy metal model it kept falling off.

Luck is on my side. The Manifestation uses its Lightning Bolt attack, getting in a spiky damage roll. These Rhinosaurs have been a little too far away to heal up, and I am able to rout them, even with the Inspiring presence of the nearby Clan Lord. The Well's flank charge proves strong enough to then drag down the Clan Lord in the ensuing melee. The Pale Rider lurks around the forest, but this flank seems won now too. The Well pivots, trying to get a lot into its front arc. I probably could have pivoted even more towards the center, but the Pale Rider is in charge range and is in the front, so this was good enough.

Finishing up the Top of Round 5.

The Seductress flies 20" to close with a Mage Priest. I believe this one had the Bane Chant. The enemy caster is unfortunately a bit too far away for an actual charge though. The Disordered Flamebearers I think back off, and the remaining unit holding the objective throw at something. I think I targeted the Mage Priest to soften it up for the incoming Seductress, but I see no damage marker, so they might have thrown against the Ancients again, likely to no real effect.

Bottom of Round 5: Salamanders

The Salamanders commit to a pair of devastating multi-charges. Phoenix flank-charges my disordered Flamebearers, and the Cloak of Death and Radiance of Life do a lot of work hitting a ton of units in the midfield. The Ancients charge the same Flamebearers in the front, and the unit is destroyed. 

Double-charges do a lot of damage I hear...

The Primes recover, and they and the Rhinosaurs charge the wavered Molochs, destroying that unit as well. The Rhinosaurs, as ever, are a terror against my lines. Victorious, the Rhinosaurs wheel around to threaten my strong fliers, as does the Phoenix. 

Yeah, those double-charges were both very effective.

The Pale Rider has just enough distance to close with the Well of Souls in the front. Damage is dealt, but the Well of Souls thankfully holds. 

And just like that, I am running a bit low on scoring units.

Top of Round 6: Forces of the Abyss

It's Round 6 and the game is winding up! I currently hold three of the objectives, but that does not seem too likely to last. The Imps had backed up to meekly hold the Objective 2 and try to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Flamebearers are on 5 and Gargoyles on 4. Objective 3 is unclaimed, and my opponent holds Objective 1 in the center.

I measure some things and decide to charge the Flamebearers into the Ancients. This is typically a bad move, but my opponent will need to prevail against the Flamebearers and then overrun 5" with the Ancients all in one turn, if he wants the Ancients to claim the Objective. 

The Seductress finally gets a charge in against a Mage Priest. Even with Duelist though, she only deals a few damage. No more Bane Chant or Fireball next turn, but it is a minor victory since scoring units are what is needed right now.

Wrapping up the top of Round 6.

I have two frontal charges into the Pale Rider, but don't think that is enough to break it. Even if it is, whatever fights there will be easy pickings for the Rhinosaurs next turn, so I decide to try and play for objectives and a potential Round 7.

The Well of Souls disengages, and swirls towards Objective three. The Manifestation flies 10" up, pivots, and I think throws some lighting at the Rhinosaurs, who are obscured. The Rhinosaurs hold. I figured the Well could handle some additional ranged fire, and the Manifestation could threaten Objective 1 on a potential Round 7. 

Bottom of Round 6: Salamanders

The Pale Rider and nearby Mage Priest shoot what they can into the Well of Souls. The Phoenix moves up and contributes as well... and unfortunately it turns out to be enough, and after the Nerve Check the entity dissipates right off the battlefield.

Still, the Well did ok this game. Pretty good for a very unique piece and first outing, actually.

The Primes sit on Objective 1. The Ancients attack the Flamebearers, and apparently have learned a few things this battle, getting some spicy rolls and rout them. They choose to overrun, but only get 4, and so are just shy of securing it. 

End of the game.

The Rhinosaurs pivot and move towards Objective 2, but seem stymied a bit by the terrain. We do not roll up a Round 7.

With the Ancients falling short, and the game concluding I think I control Objective 2 with the Imps and Objective 4 with the Gargoyles, with my opponent only controlling Objective 1 with his Primes. My opponent informs me though that his Rhinosaurs are just over the lip of the Objective 2 zone, technically wresting control of it from the weaker Imps. We let the dice decide, and the result is in favor of my opponent. I think we thought this was for a tie, but with the Rhinosaurs wresting control of Objective 2, then it is a 2-1 result in his favor, and this would actually be a win to him. 

Game Conclusions

It was obviously a close game! 

It's been neat to see this Salamanders list evolve. My critiques when we have discussed it have all been along the lines of "maybe drop a few magic items and add some chaff?" but his lists keep performing, so what do I know.

The Clan Lord on Fire Drake with the Brew of Sharpness took me a while to fully appreciate, but I am there now. With it's extra attacks on 4's, it's a standard heavy flier, but with the item and hitting on 3's... that thing can really bully it's way through almost any unit, and that is a nice choice by my opponent. The Rhinosaurs too are performing well every game. If they get the charge, they are often wounding stuff on 2's which is hard to deal with, especially when paired with the mighty Clan Lord to back them up.

It was nice to see the Phoenix again, and have it stick around! It has not been luck in some of the previous games. The Ancient Phoenix upgrade seems very neat as well. We joked that he should probably swap out the current model for something more serene, and maybe that will happen with the new printer, but overall it was still nice to see the Phoenix in action and really helping out the rest of the list. That seems like a fun and fluffy support piece for the Salamanders.

The Pale Rider is interesting, but I think we are both struggling to figure out how to use him well. With the short legs for a monster, and medium-ranged attack, I think it actually needs to be part of the first wave and front line? Helping to exert a bit of pressure on the enemy to let the Salamander infantry advance, or to use the ranged attack to up targets for them. Just be aggressive with it instead of reactive. After a summer of lost packages from printing shops online, my opponent recently bought a 3d printer to do it himself, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the new units coming out. The test model for the Rhinosaur looks amazing!

For the Abyssals, I wasn't really happy with my deployment. Everything was intermingled down the line, and that in turn messed with my ability to focus fire my shooting, and led to poor performances from the Flamebearer core of my army. Running some new stuff, I was overestimating how some things would perform, and holding some stuff back a bit to test out, so I had a lot of suboptimal plays. Double-charging the Ceremonial Guard horde in Round 3 however was purely a mistake though, given all the heals it had received, and all of the enemy units around and eagerly waiting. I just forgot it had gotten healed for so much, so that was just a mistake. Otherwise, I think I played an ok game and learned a lot.

Testing Conclusions

• Triple Flamebearers. They have promise in the right match ups, but missing out on a full turn of shooting was unfortunate. My deployment was bad, and they really need to be grouped together to focus their fire more easily. I think they have promise, and will need to test them out again. 
• Abyssal Horsemen. When they die in one go, I can't really make use of the Regen or Scripture! I haven't been giving them the best match-ups. I still like them as a concept, and feel like I need a speedier element to the list, but the single unit of Horsemen are not doing it for me right now. 
• Abyssal Fiend. It still has a lot of utility to offer, but I did not use it well here. Not a great test for it, unfortunately. With its ranged attack, protecting Flamebearers seems like an ok role, but I think it should be out of the flank. The Titanic base is just too awkward to maneuver around.
• Seductress. Against a normal war machine, she would have torn it up. The hybrid Komodon was able to hang on due to the unit type. I think I made the right call having her solo the Komodon and let the Manifestation threaten elsewhere though. 
• Manifestation of Ba'el. I liked it, and felt I used it ok, though I was lucky that it survived all the shooting in Round 2. Stealthy helped out immensely, but the Nerve on this isn't that high, so it seems vulnerable to spikey Nerve checks. 
• The Well of Souls. I probably could have been more aggressive with it, but I needed it to stick around to test out. There seems like a lot of skill involved, knowing how much to syphon off and when, but I really liked the unit and it seems like a lot of fun.
• Molochs without the Sacrificial Imp. Having the Sacrificial Imp upgrade is nice, but this doesn't seem to be a mandatory upgrade, especially with the Well of Souls around to help out. Will need to play around with their loadout more in the future, though I think the Despoiler Champ is probably a must-take for me, since I am relying on them to do damage and break stuff.

Thanks to my opponent for braving the first snow of the season to get these games in with me. I am very much looking forward to seeing all the cool 3d printed stuff that gets churned out and hobbied up in the months to come!