Kings of War 3rd Edition: #032: Varangur vs Salamanders [Push]

Intro and Lists

March has been quite stressful for me and very hard on my schedule, so I was very excited to fit a few weekend games in recently against some Salamanders! My opponent brought the following:

My opponent generally kept with the sturdy units and heals approach. The centerpiece model of the mighty Clan Lord on Fire Drake with the Brew of Sharpness returns, as do the double units of scary Rhinosaur Cavalry hordes. The Prime regiments and Ancient regiments return to hold objectives. For heals he has the Ancient Phoenix and kitted Mage Priest. For new supporting units he has a Battle Captain on Rhinosaur, some Ghekkotah Warriors, and two regiments of very versatile Scorchwings!

I continued to experiment with my lists. The Mounted Sons did not do well on their last outing, but I maintain that it was not their fault! There is not much they could do against so many Insane Courage results, and I think the cavalry unit still has potential to form the backbone of a list. I decided to bring them, play around more with cheap, Nimble heroes to learn the basics there, and keep on trying to figure out my Draugr and Night Raiders. Up to test are:

• Draugr. I have two units, but no powerful infantry to support or block for. I wanted to see how they do on the own. Cheap Nerve and more drops are good, but they aren't likely to be out in front taking charges, so we'll see if and how they contribute.
• Night Raiders. I want to like them, but they seem awkward with the low Defense and low range on the Throwing Axes. I just need to keep trying them out! We'll see how they do here.
• Mounted Sons. I think cavalry with some Crushing Strength will do well still. I usually forget about magic items, so I am taking all these without upgrades. 
• Jabberwocks. With no real shooting in my list, and up against a list with healing, these seem destined to underwhelm, but we'll see how they do. 
• Lord with Stealthy Icon. I wanted to squeeze in one more source of Inspiring. In the tournament meta, this pick seems to have started gaining some traction. My opponent here doesn't tend to have much shooting, so we'll see how effective the upgrade is and if a little foot Lord is worth looking into more.
• Thegn on Frostfang. My Lords flubbed their attack rolls so hard, I'm keeping them demoted for a few more games. I will continue to focus on positioning and basics for Nimble monster-sized units, and see what they can get up to this game. 
• Kruufnir. I like the design of the Legendary Snow Troll, so wanted to try him out again. We'll see how well he gets used this time.

I had an edge in drops, but my opponent had an advantage in Unit Strength. Five of my Unit Strength this game is tied up on monster bases with US1 as well, so his units should be outclassing mine. I figured this was going to be a tough battle, but I am always wary of the Salamanders. Their innate, high defense makes it hard to break units without overwhelming force, and in a unit-trading game, I can quickly run out of fighting units to commit. Up against heals as well, there is a real danger of the Varangur being ground out if I don't target and then break Salamander units efficiently.

Table and Terrain

We've been to this shop a few times. It is new, and is better with every visit, but the terrain is still being built up, and the selection is not great for Kings of War needs. I brought my own again, with Height 3 Hills, Height 6 forests for Difficult terrain, Height 2 obstacles, some Height 6 Blocking buildings, and Height 1 graveyards.

We've used this before, but this was my first time remembering the name of the website. We used the Battle Maps website to help generate a map. Ta-da. It's a neat little site and even picked the scenario for us. I wish there was a little more customizability with it, like you could input the terrain you had and it would try to generate something balanced, but for quick-starting a game, this was pretty slick, and we made it work. 

The site gave us Push, and we set about deploying. Left-to-right my opponent had Primes with the Headstrong item, Ancients with the Healing Brew screening the Clan Lord with the Brew of Sharpness and the medic Mage Priest, Ancients with the Aegis screening the Ghekkotah Warriors, Primes with the Staying Stone screening the Ancient Phoenix. Out on the flank, Rhinosaurs had Boots and then the Lifeleech Scripture, and both units screened Scorchwings. 

The Salamander line, and my center.

I did not have a real plan. Seeing infantry early from my opponent, I aimed to preserve my Night Raiders and a Jabberwock for my far left, and was able to achieve that, with those as my final drops for deployment. The aim was to give the Night Raiders a fighting chance against an ideal target while everything else slugged it out. The Clan Lord could complicate that, but Magnilde deployed here too to Inspire and hopefully occupy the Lord for a time. Everything else of mine deployed a bit haphazardly, as I tend to do... 

The shifty left flank of the Varangur, eyeing up the enemy infantry.

My center had Snow Foxes, a Thegn and Kruufnir. We had rolled up just one 1 more Loot Token each, so the Draugr here held mine. I was able to juuust fit two regiments of Mounted Sons over here without getting blocked by the building. I was thinking I'd deploy them more on the left, in front of the Foxes, but felt I should deploy more here to fight the Rhinosaurs as they came down.

The right of the Varangur, squaring up against a lot of monstrous cavalry units.

My right ended with the Lord with Stealthy Icon, Draugr, Thegn, Mounted Sons, Jabberwock, and Snow Foxes in reserve.

We rolled up only 1 additional Loot Token each. My opponent gave his to the Ghekkotah Warriors, and mine went to the more central of my Draugr units. My plan was to fight, and hopefully the Draugr would keep ambling forward as the game went on.

I won the roll off for first turn decision. With no long-range shooting on the table, and no clear idea what I actually wanted to do, I figured my opponent should be making all those hard decisions and opening moves instead.

Top of Round 1: Salamanders

And I immediately forgot to take a picture. Everything moved up, but remained cautious, and stayed out of my potential charge ranges. Nothing of his was in range to shoot, so it was a quick turn. The flying Clan Lord and Phoenix both started moving over towards my right side though, and the token-carrying Ghekkotah Warriors just hunker down for now.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

My right moved up, with the Snow Foxes an inch or more ahead of the Mounted Sons to let them pivot, and protecting the Sons and the Jabberwock from anything scary. Draugr took the hill while the Lord with Icon and Thegn lurked nearby.

The Varangur's right flank moves up. 

My Mounted Sons in the center moved up, but out of the Clan Lord's charge range, but able to see around the building. A unit of Snow Foxes zipped forth, hoping to be ignored and chaff up some Rhinosaurs in the coming turns. The Thegn and Kruufnir moved up, looking for any openings in the enemy infantry line while the Loot-carrying Draugr just side-stepped. I wasn't ready to push forward yet, but it probably would have been better to change facing a move up to get around the fence fully.

The Varangur center awkwardly tries to reposition a bit.

Over on the left, the Night Raiders moved up a bit, but will be out of range this turn for their throwing weapons. The Jabberwock moves up and pivots, peering around the forest. 

Tricky moves over on the left. With no cavalry and no Clan Lord, I think I should be able to win this.

With the Salamander infantry unable to make any charges here next turn, and the Clan Lord looking elsewhere, my developing plan is to try and pen the Salamanders in with the threat of flank attacks from the Jabberwock, and let my Night Raiders throw some axes in the coming turns.

Top of Round 2: Salamanders

On the left, the Salamander infantry was indeed dissuaded, with the Primes on the end pivoting to get the Jabberwock into their front arc. The Ancients with the brew marched up alongside in moral support, again, keeping things in the front.

The Varangur lines are all blocked up.

The other Ancients moved up to stare down Kruufnir and the Thegn, while the Clan Lord spit fire at the latter, dealing 3 damage. The Primes take an awkward charge into the Foxes, spinning around. The Primes would pulp them and would barely reform, liking their position very much.

The Varangur's right flank is entirely stalled out as the turn concludes.

Over on the right, the Scorchwings flew up and over to block out the two central Mounted Sons units. I thought my opponent might shoot with them more, and was not expecting them to be so aggressive, but I think this was a pretty good move, occupying the attention of two powerful Varangur units. 

The Phoenix would throw fire at my most central unit of Mounted Sons, but only slips in 1 damage, thanks to the Lord with Stealthy Icon nearby. Joining the Ancient Phoenix in the reserves are the Battle Captain and the unit of Rhinosaur Cavalry with the Boots.

The second unit of Rhinosaurs will slam into the Draugr. The rolls were rather cold, and the Zombies hold after sustaining 8 damage, and will then Iron Resolve down to 7 damage. Typically the Rhinosaurs by themselves will delete anything they touch, so the zombies really lucked out here. Lastly, the Scorchwings will charge the Snow Foxes near the table edge, rout them, and will then change facing, effectively screening the Rhinosaurs from my third unit of Mounted Sons.

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

With all three of my potent Mounted Sons mostly blocked up this turn, I set about trying to protect them this turn, so they can strike next turn and get some value. On the right, the Lord with Icon charges the Rhinosaurs in reserve, dealing a few damage and disordering them, while the Draugr countercharge the other enemy cavalry unit.

The lucky Draugr counter attack, but don't do anything as I recall.

The Thegn, Mounted Sons, and Jabberwocky all charge the Scorchwings, dealing a ton of damage, and will remove them. The Thegn will just change facing to try and box in the nearby Rhinosaurs (more difficult to pivot through and around the Thegn), while the Mounted Sons and Jabberwock will both overrun a mighty 1". Still, they are out of the charge arc of the Rhinosaur Captain, so that definitely counts for something, and even the Thegn is safe from the Captain, due to the intervening Rhinosaurs.

Centrally, the Draugr with my Loot charge the Ancients, opening up space for one of the Mounted Sons to make a hindered charge into the Primes and then slide around into a better position. The other unit of Mounted Sons charges and trounces the Scorchwings. 

The Mounted Sons are able to charge, slide to center, and get some better positioning.

On the right, the Night Raiders both throw into the Primes, with a good number of axes landing between the volleys of the two raiding units. The unit is Wavered with a lucky roll. Meanwhile, the Jabberwock, Thegn, Magnilde, and Kruufnir will all charge into the Ancients. Everything has multiple modifiers to wound, and this seemed like the best chance to break the Def6 unit. 

The Salamander infantry take some heavy hits from everything. 

The Ancients are indeed routed with a lot of damage an average Nerve check. The Jabberwork turns to face the wavering Primes, Magnilde overruns, and both the Thegn and Kruufnir will turn to face towards the center, eying the flanks of the rest of the Salamander line.

The Ancients are broken, and a contingent of Varangur characters are breaking through.

Top of Round 3: Salamanders

The Primes shake off their Wavered status with the help of their item, and with their courage restored, will charge into the Jabberwock, dealing a respectable 4 damage to it, but the frenzied beast has some good Nerve values and is out for blood. It holds, putting the Primes in an awkward spot, given the Raiders nearby.

The Salamander infantry are in some trouble. 

Centrally, the Ancients counter-charge the token-carrying Draugr, and will deal 5, but the zombies will resolutely hold for now. The Draugr continue to impress with their decent Nerve and Fearless.

The Cloak of Death hit everything but the Thegn from the looks of it. 

The right is more exciting. Threatened now with some rear-charges by the Varangur breakthrough on the left, the The Clan Lord makes a charge into some Mounted Sons. The Varangur Cavalry take the hits, but will hold defiantly despite a close Nerve check.

The Ancient Phoenix lands over among the scuffles on the right. The Salamanders here are all rather healthy, but the Varangur units take a fair amount of incidental damage from the Cloak of Death. It is a disappointing turn for the Rhinosaurs though. Disordered, one horde only does 3 against the Lord with Icon. The other horde will shred the Draugr and change facing to stare down the Thegn. The Captain has no charges, and puts the scaly lives of his soldiers first, and will move up to block the Mounted Sons on the far flank and protect the Rhinosaur hordes, similar to how the Thegn was used on my turn.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

The Jabberwock's extra attacks are calculated at the start of the Melee Phase. The Primes are maimed already from the turn before, and the Jabberwock feasts. Both Night Raider units will assail the Salamanders in the flank as well, hitting very hard with their Thunderous Charge and removing the unit. 

Kruufnir will make a nimble charge into the flank of the other Primes, with the Mounted Sons counter-charging in the front. With the legendary troll in the flank, this unit will fall as well. 

I mistake with the Thegn, and forget about Magnilde too, but things are going well here.

The Thegn does nothing this turn. Kruufnir could have moved up 1" and then started his pivoting and charging, but I did not do that, so had to have the Thegn back up to make room for the troll. This is definitely an error by me. I also look to have forgotten about Magnilde entirely, which is another error from me, she should definitely be doing something this turn, and definitely had some options. 

The Salamanders 

On the right, the Jabberwock swings wide, eyeing up the rear of the wounded Rhinosaur unit while the Lord with Icon lands a few more damage against them, and disorders them again. The Mounted Sons break through the regiment of Primes, while their brothers land some good damage in against the Clan Lord, who should be in double-digits right now. The Thegn charges into the other unit of Rhinosaurs, and the Sons charged with the Battle Lord, but my opponent taps out before we fully make it through the Phase.

Game Conclusions

My opponent had some good opening moves with the Scorchwings blocking out my important cavalry units early on, but it unfortunately wasn't enough. Some cold dice on from the Rhinosaurs stalled him out, and I was able to put him on the back foot across the board as the battle lines clashed. Round 3 may feel a little soon to call it, but my opponent had quite the task ahead of him, so we opted to just reset and start up a new game.

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr. This was an ok scenario for them, though we only rolled up a single token! While theory-crafting, I was unsure how they would do, but they gummed things up nicely and let my other units do well. I was impressed again by their performance.
• Night Raiders. They apparently got a dream match-up, being uncontested against other Speed 5 infantry, and were really able to leverage their offensive abilities this game. I was impressed! The Axes (with Piercing) really helped against the high defense, so this was a good loadout for this particular matchup.
• Mounted Sons. I think I need to spread them out a little more in the future, but they worked well this game. Like any hammer unit, they need some protection, but I was thankfully able to do that  job well enough for them to get some good damage in.
• Jabberwocks. Surprisingly, these weren't bad. I would even call them good! Speed 7 was more than enough to exert some pressure, and their Nerve was surprisingly high. I didn't have much shooting to help them out, so their special rule didn't come into play much, but a tiny, fierce (and rather cheap) monster was run to have around. 
• Lord with Stealthy Icon. Surprisingly the Stealthy Icon came into play! I still think this option is likely the best all-comers choice, and is a very cheap way to protect a few important units. Lifeleech may have potential in some grindy lists, but paying for an aura of Brutal seems silly since he's an individual and likely to be charging in alongside other units, and the ability doesn't stack. I figured he would hold for just a turn against the Rhinosaurs, but being disordered was very tough on them as it turns out. He worked well and I may need to look at a plain Lord on foot sometime in the future.
• Thegn on Frostfang. I am still liking these cheap versions for now. I paid for, and remembered the 6 attacks this time, and they did some nice combo charges and disruption work. I like being able to bring more units too, so these Thegns might be sticking around for a while. The conga-line with Kruufnir was an error though, and something I will need to keep in mind for the future.
• Kruufnir. I still really like this pick. Rampage will come up against most armies, and you should be able to give him a good match-up. I have yet to use the "Bring me their Head" special rule because I misread it until I went to look it up just now, so that will be up to look at in the future sometime. Magnilde could have been really going to town in Round 3. Oops.

It was a brief but brutal game. A big thank you to my opponent for fitting both these games in. A report covering our rematch game will be up soon.