Kings of War 3rd Edition: #033: Varangur vs Salamanders [Plunder]

Intro and Lists

With the first game behind us, we decided to rerack and try again. The Scorchwings have a lot of potential, so my opponent opted to run the same list as before, giving them another try.

The Clan Lord and Rhinosaurs are here, as are regiments of Ancients and Primes. Closely supporting the sturdy units are an Ancient Phoenix, a medic Mage Priest, As-ever, the list is pretty strong on paper, with a lot of sturdy units and some nice supporting elements, like the Scorchwings, a Battle Captain on Rhinosaur, and some Ghekkotah Warriors. 

I switched a few things up for my second list, but the basic theme of my previous list was still here, with some cavalry units, cheap heroes, and some Draugr and Night Raiders to experiment with. Up to test in this game are:

• Draugr. I have two units, but no powerful infantry to support or block for. I wanted to see how this feels. Cheap Nerve and drops are good, but we'll see if and how they contribute.
• Night Raiders. They seem potentially awkward to use with their low Defense and low range on the Throwing Axes. We'll see how they do.
• Mounted Sons. I am taking these with no upgrades to keep it simple, and think a few regiments of these should be able to do some work. I really like the concept of cavalry with some Crushing Strength, as you should be able to do more and potentially grind smaller units out if the charges don't go as planned or even if you get charged instead. We'll take them for another spin!
• Frost Giant. I haven't played a larger game with the Kingdoms of Men in some time, so I haven't played around much with the new Cleaver/Club options for the Giants yet. We'll see how the Club does? Giants need to be supported, so we'll see how well I do at that, and if I get any Breath Attacks in.
• Lord with Stealthy Icon. As I understand it, this is more of a tournament meta choice. I had a model and wanted to try it out as another source of Inspiring. The Icon is likely not going to be too impactful, but there seems to be some potential for even just a basic Lord on foot, which is pretty neat. We'll see how he does this game.
• Thegn on Frostfang. The Lords are still demoted so I can focus on the positioning basics for these kinds of units. We'll see how tricky I can be with nimble in this game.. 
• Snow Troll Prime. I quite like the legendary Kruufnir, but felt that I needed to try out the basic version at some point too. So here we are.

As with the previous game, I had a slight advantage in drops (17 to 13), but my opponent had one with Unit Strength (26 to my 24, with a number of mine being monster-sized again). The first game went far better for me than I expected, but my opponent's dice were a little cold, stalling out some crucial attacks from the Rhinosaurs, so I was anticipating a tough rematch here.

Table and Terrain

We again used the Battle Maps website to help speed things up, generating the gist of a board and selecting Plunder for the scenario for us. We have some Height 3 Hills, Height 6 forests for Difficult terrain, some Height 6 Blocking buildings, and Height 1 graveyards.

The Salamander deployment, and my weak center.

My opponent opted for a pretty classical deployment of cavalry on the wings with infantry and  his titan-sized centerpiece units in the middle of his line. Left-to-right we have Rhinosaurs screening Scorchwings, Ghekkotah Warriors, Ancients with a Healing Brew Screening the Clan Lord, Primes, Ancients with the Aegis screening the Ancient Phoenix and medic Mage Priest, Captain, then Rhinosaurs screening more Scorchwings.

The chaff-heavy left flank of the Varangur.

I deployed rather haphazardly. My only goals was to get the cavalry near open terrain, and have the Night Raiders and Giant together to try and focus fire something. On my left we have two units of Snow Foxes, Mounted Sons, a Thegn and Magnilde.

My center has the Lord with Icon, Mounted Sons, Thegn, and Snow Troll Prime, and then my line continues on, with both Night Raider units, Frost Giant, Draugr and Skaald, Snow Foxes, and Mounted Sons on the right flank.

The stacked right of the Varangur line.

For these games, I throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks, rarely running the same list twice, and often not even following-up on things that performed well until a month or two later after a few other sojourns. I don't think in battlegroups, or optimize my lists very well. This deployment is ridiculous. I wasn't consciously aware of it at the time, but writing up the report, I am insanely looking to try and contest all the tokens. I even picked the left token as my two-pointer, really spreading things out for us across the board. 

I win the roll off for first turn. There is no long range shooting on the table, and I don't have an inkling of what my own strategy is going to be. With objectives in play, I decide to have my opponent kick things off for us.

Top of Round 1: Salamanders

My opponent is equally indecisive, and opts to just pass the turn back to me, and make big decisions my problem again. This messes with my sense of time throughout the report. I really need to finish up my report note template and start using it! Hopefully I get my act together soon in this regard.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

With the onus back on me now, I look to have a wider line, so decided to set about trying to envelop the Salamanders, still looking to contest every token. On the left, I respected charge distances, but moved up some Snow Foxes to screen things out, and everything of mine generally moved forward. 

Opening moves on the left.

My center also advanced, but was wary of the long charge range on the Clan Lord. Fortunately, he was tucked behind other units, and the center of the Salamander lines was infantry, so the Thegn and Kruufnir could move up a good bit while still being perfectly safe.

The center creeps up.

On the right, my units moved up as well. The Mounted Sons angle towards the center, the Draugr move up as far as they could with the terrain, and the Frost Giant moved up it's speed, just sticking its corner into the woods before needing to stop. The Night Raiders draw up nearby, but hold back, hiding behind their towering friend.

The right moves up, looking to collapse in on the Salamander line.

Top of Round 2: Salamanders

On the right, the Rhinosaurs inch up and the Scorchwings fly overhead. I forget that my Night Raiders are stealthy, and the flaming birds land 3 damage onto the raiders with no modifications. Oops. Stealthy is a nice rule for these and I keep forgetting about it!

Neither of us brings a lot of shooting, so we goof some rules.

The Salamander infantry will advance up, with some taking the hill. The Rhinosaurs over on the left will advance as well, with the Scorchwings flying up and over them to screen. Also out on the left, the Clan Lord will fly around, looking for good positioning to contribute in the coming turns.

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

I am not sure what else to do, so on my left I charge the Snow Foxes into the enemy screens. On the left, a unit goes into the Scorchwings and deals no damage, while another unit goes into the Ghekkotah Warriors, dealing a few but the small lizards hold.

I am not used to having Snow Foxes around.

The Mounted Songs and Thegn awkwardly shuffle about and the Draugr clamber through the difficult graveyard. Magnilde comes through though, popping her once-per-game wings, and booping the Clan Lord, grounding him. 

The Varangur center moves on up.

The Varangur center moves up in lockstep. Fortunately, the Giant and Night Raiders all went their speed, and are all able to toss into the Primes just touching the Graveyard. They won't be getting cover from being inside the Difficult Terrain since the majority of their base isn't in the terrain piece, but the Primes should still get it against the Raiders from the terrain being Height 1, which I am certain we didn't account for as I am writing. Neither of us tend to have much shooting in our lists, so are a little rusty. This is a very unfortunate error as the Primes will take some above-average damage rolls and then eat two 11's for the Inspired Nerve Checks, and will be routed. The dice seemed to have it out for the Primes, but I should have caught this shooting goof.

The Snow Foxes here charge the Scorchwings as well, and here too, the flaming birds are completely unscathed. My opponent got quite lucky with both Scorchwing units. Both were directly in front of the Rhinosaur Cavalry units, and both units are Height 4. Had either of the Scorchwings units even been just disordered, the Rhinosaurs would have been in a rough spot for moves and line of sight this next turn, especially on the right.

Top of Round 3: Salamanders

Since they were not disordered, the Scorchwings retain Fly, and are able to disengage and hop over the Snow Foxes do block other things up.

The Phoenix lands, making good use of the Cloak of Death!

On the right, the Scorchwings slip away, fly over the Foxes, land behind them, and shoot into the Mounted Sons while the Rhinosaurs mince the critters. The Ancient Phoenix joints the Captain in  frontal assault against the Giant, hoping to soften him up, since I cannot heal away any of my damage. The Cloak of the Phoenix deals a lot of damage, but the duo is unable to fell the Frost Giant in combat, who actually has the best Nerve values on my side of the table.

The Salamander infantry along the center move up, and we make sure to position them such that the Thegn or Snow Troll can't nimbly catch anything in the flank. 

No funny business. There's about 40-45mm between each regiment.

On the left, the Scorchwings also slip away, and hop over the Foxes, letting the critters die to the Rhinosaurs. Here as well the Rhinosaurs will easily win, and will overrun. The flaming birds will block out some Varangur charges here as well.

Typical, messy flanks.

The Clan Lord strikes back at Magnilde, dealing 7 but fails to rout her, so she Iron Resolves a damage back. The Ghekkotah Warriors cut down my final unit of Snow Foxes, removing all my speedy chaff pretty early in the game.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

The flanks are messy. On the left, the Draugr charge the Rhinosaurs to gum them up for a turn while the Mounted Sons charge the Scorchwings. I don't think I get them to devastated, but unfortunately, the Scorchwings are found to be insane, and they hold. I was hoping to set up a nice trade here by delaying the Rhinosaurs with the Draugr, but the insane Scorchwings throw a wrench into that plan.

Nice ideas from the Varangur, but lackluster results.

The Thegn is able to flank the Warriors and remove them, and will pivot to get the Clan Lord in it's arc. Magnilde lands a few more damage onto the Clan Lord, but I don't think she is long for this world.

Safe from the Clan Lord, I aim to tie up the enemy infantry. The Lord with Icon charges one unit of Ancients, while the Snow Troll Prime takes the other. With these units delayed, the Mounted Sons and Thegn charge in to try and remove the Primes, but will fail to do so since the Primes are found to be insanely courageous as well after taking a boatload of damage.

On the right, the Mounted Sons resign to taking out the Scorchwings, with the Draugr joining in with a hindered charge into the flank. The Mounted Sons will back up an inch, and the Draugr will reform to deny the Rhinosaurs a flank.

Lots of damaged units on this side.

The Frost Giant will choose to counter-charge the Captain, and rolls up 4 extra attacks from just being a giant, but none from the rampage-granting club, since the target does not qualify. The Night Raiders pile into the Ancient Phoenix with one getting in the flank, and I do get the mighty Phoenix into "insane courage territory" and will actually pop it! After the last few games, I wasn't sure it could be done, but apparently all I needed was 36 attacks. One of the Raiders is atop the Two Point Token nearby, and will pick it up.

The Skald does nothing this turn, as I was eager to get into combat and forgot about the spell until we were in the middle of the melee phase. The fights against the Phoenix and Captain didn't need the buff, but I could have used him better, say to help the Snow Troll Prime or even the hindered Draugr. This is definitely an error on my part.

Top of Round 4: Salamanders

On the left, Magnilde will fall to the Clan Lord, as will the Draugr to the Rhinosaurs. The insane Scorchwings will fight back, dealing an amazing 4 to the Mounted Sons. With the insane Scorchwings doing work, I think my opponent has a very good chance to take this flank from me. 

The Salamander infantry counter-charge, disordering everything but breaking nothing. The Ancients fighting the Lord with the Icon pop their Healing Brew and heal to 0, and the other Ancients, who have recovered some using the Aegis, heal more from the Mage Priest. The Ancients are doing well with heals, as should be expected with a Def6 unit! The Primes choose to disorder the Mounted Sons, popping the Thegn out of combat.

On the right, the Rhinosaur Cavalry will obliterate the Mounted Sons here, turning to face the center of the field. The Captain will continue to fight against the Giant, landing 2 more damage against it.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

On the right, the Draugr will charge the Rhinosaurs here, hoping to just delay them. The Giant and both Night Raiders pile in against the Captain, and will drag him down. The Giant and one of the Raiders will turn to face the Rhinosaurs and try to win this flank, while the second unit of Raiders will turn towards the middle. 

The Varangur are making some progress on the right flank.

In the middle, the Snow Troll Prime took 5, regenerated 1, and strikes back against the Ancients, dealing 3 and they should heal that down to 2 with the Iron Resolve item. The Mounted Sons and Thegn get another attempt at the insane Primes, and will finish them off this time. Both will move back to try and get options next turn, but both will only back up one inch. The Lord with Icon will land some new damage against the other group of Ancients while the Thegn charges into the Clan Lord, slowly ticking up the damage against the flier and keeping it grounded.

Mid-combat at the bottom of Round 5.

On the left, the Mounted Sons will finally cut down the insane Scorchwings, but the victory is a turn too late for the Mounted Sons on this flank, and the Rhinosaurs are eagerly eyeing my cavalry up. 

Top of Round 5: Salamanders

On the left, the Rhinosaurs indeed ravenously crash into the Mounted Sons, destroying them in one go as I've come to expect. As-ever, wounding on 2's is pretty great and the Rhinosaurs are a heck of a unit! They will pick up the Two Point token nearby. The Clan Lord eyes up the new challenger, but looks to have a very bad turn, only landing 2 damage against the Thegn.

The Salamanders grind out the left.

The Ancients will countercharge their respective adversaries, and will waver both the Lord and Snow Troll. Each will pick up the One Point Loot Tokens they are standing on, which we had both largely been ignoring until this turn.

On the right, the other Rhinosaurs will crash through the Draugr with just what they needed on the Nerve check, and will grab another Loot Token as well. 

At the end of the top of the round, I have 2 Points and my opponent has 5.

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

On the right, the Frost Giant and Night Raiders crash into the Rhinosaurs. The giant again only rolls up 1 on his extra attacks, and will still get nothing from the club. Thanks to Brutal, I am able to just rout the Rhinosaurs, here, and the Giant will secure their One Point token.

The Varangur prevail on the right flank.

Undaunted, the Thegn continues swinging against the Clan Lord. The Clan Lord has taken some hits, but is still around, if grounded. In the center, the Mounted Sons take the flank of one unit of Ancients, while the Thegn takes the flank of the another. Both units of old-timers are felled, and their tokens secured for the Varangur.

It was a big swing for the Varangur in the center.

At the end of the round, the Varangur have managed to wrest control of a few more tokens, flipping the score to 5:2 in favor of the old gods. We went into the round thinking it was Round 6, and had agreed to end it here, so the Varangur do not make any reforms as we resolve combat.

Yes, unfortunately, we appear to have donked up round count for this game, and this is as far as we managed to get. I wasn't diligent about the tracker in this game, and Salamanders doing nothing for Round 1 really got in my head with my internal pacing. We must have moved it twice at some point. 

Game Conclusions

It was not the cleanest of games, rules-wise. 

The round tracking error was unfortunate, but honestly, this was probably not that determinative. By carrying the token, the Rhinosaurs are reduced to Speed 5, and are unlikely to reach another combat to claim another token. 

My opponent played a good game here, getting a lot of value out of the very lucky Scorchwings, and getting both of the Rhinosaur units into meaningful some combats and cutting down a fair number of Varangar units in the process.

Overall, I was pleased with my play. Deployment was a mess, and there were some lapses in planning and judgement, like not utilizing the Skald, but as the game progressed I developed a decent fighting plan, and it mostly worked out! The insane courage on the Scorchwings messed up the desired trade over on my left flank, allowing my opponent to emerge victorious with the Rhinosaurs, but with a bit of luck, my delaying units did enough that I was able to win elsewhere, and trying to fight everywhere worked out this time.

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr. Two throwaway tarpits proved nice to have around! I was thinking they might be too slow to contribute, but that ended up not being the case  here, and they took the hits to protect important things like the Mounted Sons. For an infantry-focused list, I could definitely see the merit adding a third unit, but two seem fine for any general Varangur list.
• Night Raiders. They did well in this game too, though the rules goof benefitted them a lot. Their axes rolled a bit hot both games, so I think more testing is needed to see how they will typically perform. They still definitely don't want to face off against cavalry, but from the look of things can definitely apply pressure to infantry. 
• Mounted Sons. Deployment weirdness aside, these did work ok. I was feeling the pressure both games with only three real smashy units, but that is my haphazard list building at work. The units themselves did wonderfully.
• Frost Giant. The club ended up being the wrong pick this time! It didn't come up at all, and the Giant did not generate as many attacks as I would have wanted. The club seems to be a nice pick though? With CS4, the Giant is likely to wound anything that hits a monster, so you might want the club to make sure it doesn't get bogged down by infantry and the like, such as Draugr. Both options are nice to have, and this will be fun to explore more down the road.
• Lord with Stealthy Icon. He's proving to be resourceful! The higher-tier characters (like the Lord, or Magnilde, characters with 15+ Nerve) are proving to be decent delaying units. I got a lot of utility out of him both games, and the Icon is a pretty cheap upgrade. I can see why some tournament players would run him! 
• Thegn on Frostfang. With more drops than my opponent, these were able to operate without much interference. Still, they continued to do well, and cheap units to support and disrupt.
• Snow Troll Prime. I see the appeal? It is cheap, it regenerates, it Inspires, and it can throw around a few damage to help swing combats. I could see many lists running 1-2 of these for the utility, but for me, Kruufnir seems way more fun to run.

It's been a busy month for me, and it was good to finally get out and roll some dice! A big thank you to my opponent for fitting these games in.