Intro and Lists
I am in the middle of a bit of a protracted move, and in a much-needed boon to my sanity, I was able to squeeze in a game with the ever-accommodating Cartwright! He opted to run some of his powerful Brothermark for our meeting:
He's dabbled a few times before with the Defenders of Righteousness formation: a legendary Paladin atop a dragon and two buffed Paladin Knight regiments. This time, all three have Aegis Fragments for a slight temporary buff to their Iron Resolve. Thankfully though, these knights are just knights, and while still dangerous on the charge and buffed from the formation, are not from the fearsome Order of the Abyssal Hunt. I think an older version of a list builder dropped the dragon's breath attack for this legendary option, but that looks to be fixed now. We'll see if that gets used and how the heavy flier does this time around!
Assisting the formation is a horde of Paladin Monster Slayers with two handed-weapons, four mobs of Penitents, two Mean-at-Arms Spearmen regiments, a normal, nimble Phoenix and a troop of mounted Villein Skirmishers. Four heroes also support the list: a fighting Paladin (with a Rallying aura), a Chaplain with Hymns (Fury and Rallying aura), a mounted Priest (with heal and Bane Chant), and a mounted Exemplar Hunter, a combat hero.
I also ran a formation, deciding to explore some titanic Hydra monsters and some Herd MSU. Still being a very new army for me, up to test is everything and then some:
- Tribal Spears. I'm trying a little MSU, so these are generalist supporting units. Hopefully I can internalize my regimental lessons and not run these side-by-side! Phalanx should hopefully dissuade enemy cavalry while the extra attacks (over say, Tribal Warriors) should help a bit on the offense, but we'll see where they end up contributing.
- Spirit Walkers. The horde did well in the previous game, but had a good magic item and a ridiculous amount of support, about equal to the cost of the unit itself. We'll see how these naked regiments fare.
- Longhorns as Regiment. I think running troops and trying to max out Rallying is probably a bad call. The Longhorns look to hit quite hard though, and are a little comparable to Huscarls, so we'll try them as a regiment of fighters and not worry too much about Rally.
- Hunters of the Wild. Debuting now are some verdant newcomers with Scout! They have good general stats, but will really want a Bane-Chant at some point. We'll see how they do holding the line, and what use I can get out of their Scout move.
- Wild Gur Panthers. These are my chaff right now. They don't hit particularly hard, but they are speedy. They might be one of the only things quick enough to potentially ground the enemy heavy flier. We'll see what they die to and how they perform for the scenario.
- Hydras. It's a monster with good nerve, and while most of the army has Thunderous Charge, it has Crushing Strength. It think it has potential to hold the line and grind out smaller units, but as mentioned in the hobbying post, I don't think these will be competitive picks since the special rules of Regen and Multiple Heads work against each other. Still, monsters are fun, so we'll give them a try!
- Great Chieftain, Cat and Horn. My opponent has several sources of Rallying, so the Dread aura shouldn't be that impactful this game. The aura for Wild Charge should be nice though, and with duelist, the Chieftain should be able to find some way to help out.
- Druid with Bane-Chant and Heal. I still think these are good buys and likely a go-to source of Inspiring for my versions of the army. Being only the second game though, we'll see how they get used though. Will Heal or Bane Chant be cast more?
- Silent Hunt Formation. Tribal Trappers and Tribal Tracker. This formation grants the Ensnare and Deadly Snare special rules, with the latter damaging enemy units if a formation unit is charged while touching difficult terrain. This combination seems like a lot of fun, but will be highly dependent on the table terrain. With Scout, they should hopefully be able to make it into some terrain to claim it, but the bows of the Tribal Trapper units and Softhoof, the Tribal Tracker are probably going to have a tough time against all the Iron Resolve and heals across the table. Still, the formation seems fun, so we'll see what they can accomplish.
- Scout. I still don't know what I am doing with Scout moves, but I have a few more chances to try things out this time! We'll see if any of the fights I instigate go my way and if we have any Turn 1 charges this time.
- Herd MSU. I really do like the playstyle of lots of regiments, and so I must try it out with a new army. I think the Hydras will give the list some oomph, and Scout opens up a whole new aspect of play, so we'll see how I do.
My list actually had an edge in both drops (18:16) and Unit Strength (30:27), but the Penitent spam and multiple heroes have done very well for my opponent before, and with so much Nerve, it can be hard to break through the Brothermark's lines. On the plus-side for me, there is no Bowmen horde to pressure me and camp objectives this time! I don't feel like I have much to contain the enemy heavy flier though, so we'll see how it is used and what the scenario is. Perhaps I can just ignore it...
Table and Deployment:
We played at his place, with his usual terrain assortment. Fences are Height 2 Obstacles, forests are Height 6 Difficult Terrain, hills were Height 3 and the ruins are Height 9 Blocking terrain, though they may not look it.
We rolled up Raze for the scenario. In brief, there is a central objective token that can be controlled at the end of the game. We each spread three additional tokens on the opponent's side of the board, six-inches off the center line. From Round 2 onward, if we happen to control one of our placed tokens, we raze it at the end of the turn for a point. As the game progresses, our attention should narrow down towards a showdown in the center.
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| The table. My opponent favored my left, while I favored my right with our respective tokens. |
I won the roll off for deployment, and my tokens favored my right-hand side, which held the table's only two forests. Playing with the Herd, I felt I should try to make use of the terrain.
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| The left, with all the Brothermark's speedy units. |
Left-to-right, my opponent deployed both knightly regiments, the mounted Priest, and the Villein skirmishers. The legendary Sir Roderick and the dragon lurked nearby. The middle was the four Penitent units, mounted Exemplar Hunter, and Chaplain, with the Paladin Monster Slayers as a second line. The Spearmen stuck around the forest, and the Phoenix took the far-right flank.
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| The center and right. |
I wanted the Silent Hunt in the woods, and the Hunters of the Wild out on the flanks, so those were all early drops, while my opponent deployed all the Penitents and Spearmen. I ended up saving the Longhorns for last. I originally intended to place them alongside the Chieftain, near the center, but I was wary of the dragon opposite me, so deployed them in reserve.
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| View of the whole table, prior to any scout moves. |
I opted to use all my scout moves. Wary of the long-charges of the knights and dragon, the Hunters on my left moved up to just get over the obstacle and sit on the objective.
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| Just a little on the left. |
In the center, I was timid, and moved the Silent Hunt units up, but made sure to still be touching the woods. The Hunters on my far right took the initiative though, moving the full 10 inches forward.
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| More aggressive on the right. |
I won the roll off for first turn, and took it, hoping to apply some pressure early.
Top of Round 1: Herd
The ruin over on the left is actually a very tall blocking building. Largely save from the dragon, my layered line moved up. Not wanting to give multi-charges on the first turn, the Hunters of the Wild opted not to move at all after scouting.
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| Let's go! There are traps to set! |
In the center, the chieftain kept out of range of the dragon as well, moving up just a few inches. The Spirit Walkers did the same.
The Hydras each moved their max move, looking to instigate. Unfortunately, due to some sloppy play, the Tribal Trappers of the Silent Hunt were out of range for their bows. I opt to keep them where they are, in the hopes that I can use their special rules, and so the Longhorns awkwardly shuffle about behind them.
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| The Silent Hunt units are hesitant to leave the woods... |
In retrospect, I should have given up on the Deadly Snares, given the sparse terrain on the table, and either moved them up further during the Scout moves to make sure they had shots, or move them now to free up the Longhorns. I had two chances to figure this out, and have missed both so far. Minor mistakes with a new army.
On the right, On the right, things press on with more gusto. I offer up the Gur Panthers as a bit of bait, and should be able to start pushing up this flank next turn.
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| Forward! |
The Tribal Trappers are an inch out of range with their bows, and I have no offensive magic. The only shots are Softhoof, the Tribal Tracker, into the opposing Chaplain. Two damage is scored, but Chaplain continues his hymns unbothered.
Bottom of Round 1: Brothermark
Over on my right, the Brothermark's Spearmen charge out, piercing the hides of the Panthers. The Phoenix throws some Firesparks into the Hunters of the Wild as it nimbly shuffles towards the main line of the Brothermark, .
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| The Spearmen charge, hoping to delay on my right. |
The mounted Exemplar Hunter charges out from the battle line and into a Hydra, dealing 5 damage to the beast.
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| Oh yeah,, he's living his best life right now. |
While the building does screen my units somewhat, my opponent is still able to make contact. Sir Roderick's presence is felt, with 6 damage done to the surrounding units! The Cloak of Death on the menacing legendary lord seems like some nice tech against MSU play...
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| The dragon's presence is felt before it even gets to swing. |
The knightly regiments move up, with the dragon and the skirmishers cutting down each of their Gur Panther units. The Villeins overrun, boxing out the Tribal Spears, and the victorious Sir Roderick moves back, preventing the Hunters of the Wild from getting a flank charge into the dragon.
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| The Brothermark's swift cavalry achieves the first kills. |
Top of Round 2: Herd
On the left, Sir Roderick withdrawing to avoid the flank actually opens the lane a bit, letting the Tribal Spears and Hunters of the Wild attack the knights. Unfortunately, the Druid is too slow to get out of the charge arc. Defiantly, she sits herself in front of the paladin and dragon. Heroically, she attempts to Bane Chant on the verdant Hunters, but the magic fails to connect.
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| The Druid is is trouble, and with that casting result, should have just ran away... |
Thinking the Druid will soon be pulped, the Chieftain joins the other unit of Tribal Spears in a charge into the Villein Skirmishers. The cavalry troop is routed, and the Chieftain should be around now to inspire this flank as the game unfolds.
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| Final positioning on the left. |
The Spirit Walkers near the Chieftain charge and cut down one regiment of Penitents. Thankfully, they are hiding behind a hill to avoid all but one Penitent unit next turn.
Speaking of Penitents, my center is a bit of a mess. The Hydra's height actually prevents me from seeing the plucky hero attacking him, gumming up my lines and preventing any units from aiding the monster. The Hydra regenerates 2, and it and Softhoof, the Tribal Tracker attack the Exemplar Hunter, dealing 2 and 1, respectively.
I finally shuffle the Tribal Trappers around to free up space for the Longhorns to move up. The trappers shoot with penalties into the Penitents screening the Paladin Monster Slayers, dealing 3 damage to them.
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| Poor deployment plus stubbornness leads to a bit of a traffic jam. |
I charge the second Hydra into the Spearmen defending the woods. While I have Crushing Strength to avoid the Phalanx penalty, I've taken no damage, and have no support for this charge. I also have nothing to occupy the nearby Penitents or Paladins. This is a mistake. I got excited to fight things.
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| Let's put the Hydra's regeneration to the test... |
Our on the right, the Spirit Walkers and Hunters go into the Spearmen. The Walkers will get a penalty from Phalanx, so the Druid attempts a Bane Chant on the Hunters... which fails to manifest. Still, they are able to bully the Spearmen off the table. In retrospect I should have just reformed both, as there is nothing worthwhile in the back field, but the Hunters will overrun and only the Spirit Walkers will choose to reform. The Hunters are also able to secure a token here at the end of my round, making this 1-0 in favor of the Herd.
Bottom of Round 2: Brothermark
Centrally, the remaining Penitents all make charges. One regiment goes into the Spirit Walkers to avenge their brothers, dealing 6, but the Spirits hold fast. One regiment goes into Softhoof, the Tribal Tracker, deals 2 and get a waver, but fails to punch through for any fun overrun moves. The final regiment goes into the pinned Hydra, joining the Exemplar Hunter, but the beast only takes a few damage and dutifully holds.
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| Wow. Probably the blurriest picture I've had to use yet! |
The Phoenix flies over, hopping my lines, but I don't think any of the firesparks connect. I may have had to move at the double. Meanwhile, the remaining Brothermark descent upon the Hydra in the woods. The Spearmen countercharge, joined by the Paladin on foot and the horde of Paladin Monster Slayers in each flank... and the Hydra is ignobly sliced down. That's a consequence of my poor choice to charge, but is also why I like taking two copies on units to test out!
Over on the left, Sir Roderick begrudgingly shuffles towards the Druid, his only charge. Cloak of Death pings 4 units, but he only lands three combat damage on the Druid, and fails to rout her. Having failed to break the stalwart knights on the flank, that unit counter-charges the Hunters of the Wild, doing 6, and the other knightly regiment gets a flank charge into the stalled Tribal Spears, and is able to remove them with ease.
Top of Round 3: Herd
The Druid is shocked, but extricates herself from the weapons and claws of Sir Roderick and the dragon. I feel like ignoring the dragon isn't going to be possible given Cloak of Death, and that this is my best shot at beating him, so while the druid scampers away the Chieftain and remaining Tribal Spears hit Sir Roderick in the flank, dealing 10, though the legendary lord stays put. I felt like the Chieftain needed to get in on the action, but in retrospect, he is mighty and it may have been wise to send him into the untouched Knights to tie them up.
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| Alas, Sir Roderick holds. The shrubs will best the knights though. |
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| Pre-combat over on the right at the top of Round 3. |
The Hydra regenerates nothing, but counter-charges the Penitents, sliding down, and landing a few good hits. The slide allows the Longhorns to attack the mounted Exemplar Hunter, and cut him down, though the wavered Softhoof prevents any overrun. One unit of Tribal Trappers is able to get the corner of the remaining Penitent unit, landing a few more damage on them as well.
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| Lots of messy combats here. |
The Spirit Walkers charge the Spearmen in the woods, but Bane Chant fails to manifest again, and stripped of their Thunderous Charge from the Phalanx, the battered Brothermark regiment remains thanks to Rallying from the nearby Paladin on foot, but is wavered while the Hunters of the Wild nearby just turn and move. This highlights the mistake it was to overrun with them. Had they changed facing too, breaking the Spearmen this turn was very likely.
Bottom of Round 3: Brothermark
I am apparently not taking many pictures on my opponent's turns. The Paladin Monster Slayers counter charge the Tribal Trappers, taking one from the Deadly Snares. Chaplain has an aura granting Fury and Rallying, and the holy man charges into the flank Tribal Trappers to bring the aura to the Spearmen to then let them counter charge, though he also takes 1 damage for his trouble. Ensnare proves to be of little help, and the Trappers are routed.
Thanks to the aura, the Spearmen are inded able to countercharge the Spirit Walkers, and joined by the Paladin on foot, break them. Ouch. One Penitent unit continues to strike the remaining Hydra, while the other lands 1 damage in a counter charge against the Tribal Trappers, with Ensare negating a few hits from the crazies. The Phoenix repositions to shoot into the Longhorns, dealing 4 damage this time.
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| Sir Roderick continues to get good value from the Cloak of Death. |
Top of Round 4: Herd
The Spirit Walkers and Tribal Spears join the fight against Sir Roderick. The Druid has recovered her wits and attempts another Bane Chant to help the Spirits, but it fizzles again. She must be concussed or something. Still the units are able to topple the mighty Paladin from his dragon mount. The Tribal Spears overrun a strong 6, limiting the choices of the Brothermark's remaining knights.
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| Sir Roderick is bested! |
On the right, things continue to be messy. I am hoping to box out the Paladin Monster Slayers for a turn, so charge Softhoof into the Chaplain. The Chaplain has taken some hits, and unexpectedly I get a rout and remove his aura. Unsure what to do, I opt to overrun, rolling well and am pushed an inch away and in front of the Paladin Monster Slayers.
The Hunters of the Wild take their turn charging into the Spearmen in the Woods. Bane Chant is again attempted, and again fails, and the Spearmen fail to be even wavered this time.
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| My unfortunate final positioning over on the right. |
This whole flank was just... messy. I had a few earlier mistakes, all covered already, but I didn't realize how exposed the Longhorns were until it all came down to their overrun roll. I could have instead overrun with the victorious Hydra, for example, to try to deny the Paladins space, rolled less with Softhoof or an inch more with the Longhorns and the unit would have been totally safe. No luck and lots of minor misplays here on my part.
Bottom of Round 4: Brothermark
The Paladin Monster Slayers do indeed charge past Softhoof and into the Longhorns, who are thoroughly dismantled. The Spearmen continue their fight against the Hunters of the Wild in the woods, and with the Paladin on foot, manage a 4 damage and a waver against the living foliage.
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| The Longhorns meet their end. |
Over on the left, the knights take their charge into the Tribal Spearmen, but only deal 3 damage, and are kept at bay. Still, they are just within range to claim the token, and claim it. If memory serves, the Phoenix repositions now as well to take a second token for the Brothermark, taking it to 2:1 in their favor as the round concludes.
Top of Round 5: Herd
Things are not looking good for the Herd! On the right, engaged on two fronts, the wavered Hunters cannot disengage to free up space, and my Tribal Trappers have no good charges.
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| The nail in the coffin on my right. |
They take the only legal charge into the Paladin on Foot, joined by Softhoof. They deal only three damage, and then we get Insane Courage for the resulting check.
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| "For the lulz!" |
The Hydra is also in a bit of a pickle. I could try to play the angles game and skirt around the Paladins, but it won't be able to beat their unit strength for the central token when it comes to that. If I delay, I may regenerate too much and miss out on extra attacks. With how the last turn went, I don't know if I'll have any units coming to the rescue. So, for fun, I opt to charge the Hydra into the Paladins. I deal only 1 damage, which is immediately Iron Resolved back, which is fitting.
The Chieftain and Spirit Walkers charge the remaining Knightly regiment, and Bane Chant finally connects, buffing the Spirits. However, I roll abysmally, missing with most hits and dealing only 4 damage on 3's and 3's from 20 attacks. The knights are unimpressed.
Bottom of Round 5: Brothermark
The knights are disordered but receive a Bane Chant from the priest, and with 14 of 16 dice hitting, proceed to obliterate the Chieftain, and then overrun the 1 inch into the Spirit Walkers, and dispatch them as well. On the second overrun, they get within 3 inches of the Brothermark's final objective, and claim it.
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| The knights should have shuffled to the center of the Chieftain, but that would not have changed the outcome here. |
The Paladins counter charge the Hydra, and the Phoenix joins in too, and the Hydra is slain.
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| ...and that looks like the end to me! |
Down 3:1 with to just two Druids, Softhoof, and one unit of scoring Trappers remaining on the table, I concede.
Game Conclusions
Being a new army, I had a fair amount of misplays, and my dice felt cold. Still, it was a very close game for a while there! Not being able to protect the Longhorns Turn 4 and then failing to break anything on Turn 5 ultimately did me in without a way to recover, but I still think I put up a pretty good fight, and I really enjoyed how speedy and threatening the Herd can be!
My opponent persevered through a lot of early pressure, played a crisp game and managed to wrest momentum back for a decisive win. Sir Roderick did over a dozen damage with Cloak of Death before he was brought down, which is probably the best that he has done in any of our games. Special mention should also be made about my opponent's usage of heroes: the combat heroes did well to stymie and tip the combats, and the supporting heroes along with their spells and auras were put to very good use. The Penitent spam continued to serve my opponent well. As-ever, it was a very enjoyable army to play against, and I had a great time. Thanks for the game, and congrats on the victory!
Testing Conclusions.
- Tribal Spears. I did end up deploying them together, but with not enough room to go on the other side of the Hunters of the Wild, and with all the enemy cavalry on that side of the field, this felt acceptable. They did not have a great game, but did their generalist job well enough. They took up space and charged a few times, but luck just wasn't with them for any big plays.
- Spirit Walkers. Playing with Defense 3 is pretty stressful, and they only have Thunderous Charge 1 to help out on the offense. Still, they did ok, and if more of the Bane Chants had landed or the dice had been a little better, I'd probably be singing a different tune. I don't think these are worth the points in more serious lists, but I do like my paint job, so we'll definitely see them in some form again sometime.
- Longhorns as Regiment. True to my word, I ignored Rallying. So much so that I never took it into account for any combat, despite being surrounded by eligible units. We had a few close checks, but I don't think any would have been changed. They indeed performed like cousins to the more fearsome Huscarls, and I really liked them. We'll try them again sometime too.
- Hunters of the Wild. They never got their Bane Chant. I had some minor misplays with them (like not victoriously changing facing in Round 2), but I liked them. Without any offensive bonuses, they definitely need support, but they tanked things ok. Again, if any of the Bane chants had landed on them, I would probably have an even better opinion of them.
- Wild Gur Panthers. They all died in Round 1. I don't think this was ideal, and they did not get to play the scenario or frustrate my opponent's movements, but they did block for me well enough. I really enjoyed their speed, and they are growing on me as chaff.
- Hydras. Dice were just not on their side either, and I threw one away on a very ill-advised charge. With a little more restraint, these probably could have done much more for me. Their damage output wasn't that high, and I think they need support, but being so cheap, they still have potential I think, and so I'd say more testing is warranted.
- Great Chieftain, Cat and Horn. The Great Chieftain was a little underwhelming. Duelist never came into play, and a combat character with low Nerve proved to be a liability as the game progressed. I think either Cat or Horn might be the way to go in the future, to give him a more definite role? But I think he's worth testing out again sometime.
- Druid with Bane-Chant and Heal. One unexpectedly rebuffed Sir Roderick in Round 2, and gave me a fighting chance on that flank, but that's about the only positive thing I can say about their performance. Theoretically, they are still very good options, but only one out of six spell attempts was successful, and the dice were just not with them this game either.
- Silent Hunt Formation. I did not use the formation well. There wasn't much terrain to take advantage of, and I stubbornly held back and misused them while the rest of the army tried to move forward. It still looks like fun and worth trying again, but I didn't use it well this time.
- Tribal Trappers. I did not use these well. Knowing I was against infantry, I should have scouted up enough to get opening shots in, and instead I prioritized cheekily sitting just inside the woods to maybe take advantage of the formation's rules. Additionally, knowing I was against infantry, once I got the first turn and so much else moved up, I should have moved up with them as well, since they hit better in melee than they do at range. Given the table and terrain, I should have just been more aggressive with them.
- Tribal Tracker / Softhoof. He charged more than he shot, and that seems bad as he has Piercing but doesn't even get Thunderous Charge. The character did well tying some things up, but was not used well. I'll need to give the formation another attempt sometime.
- Scout. The Hunters did just fine, but the Trappers didn't move up far enough to get any first turn shots. Knowing I was against infantry, this was a blunder with the Trappers. I am still figuring out Scout moves, so some mixed results like this are expected. I think I am making progress in my understanding though.
- Herd MSU. I felt strong early on, and then bled away a few too many units too quickly to make it to the end of the game. So, I guess it worked about as well as usual for me, which I guess isn't very high praise! Still, some of the neater units (Trappers, Hunters, Longhorns) all top out at regiment-size, so I think the potential is there for some MSU shenanigans. With a little better deployment and decisions, I could have won this game, so we'll see what the future holds as I get more familiar with the army.
- Battle Report Template. I missed a few key pictures on my opponent's turn again, so that is something I will need to work on. I kept the sheet (and a pen) handy though, and mindfully jotted down at least something every turn to help keep pace, and overall, this went quite well. I still have a few of the original printouts to use up, and then I'll tweak and share.
I had a great time exploring the Herd a little more. Many thanks to my opponent for fitting in the game, and congrats on the win!
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