Intro and Lists:
The previous battle was a demo game out at a local shop. It happened to be a 40k gaming day there, and as one does with wargaming days, folks were wandering about to see what other folks were playing, how games were going, and admiring models. I got to chatting with someone who had heard of Kings of War, but had not had a chance to play it yet, so we traded contact info. He was most interested in Nature as an army. I didn't have enough stuff to run them on their own, but was able to get some decent overlap from my existing collection of Herd. On the day I gave him a few variant lists to choose from, and he picked the following:
A regiment of Spirit Walkers unlocked some Wild Gur Panthers and Scorchwings. A powerful pair of Forest Shamblers make their battling debut, and the little warband is led by another newcomer, the Gladewalker Druid. I was happy my opponent chose this one as it was the only list that was able to fit the Ring of Harmony upgrade in, letting her cast her supporting spells twice per turn, which I figured would pair very nicely with the was keen to test out!
A bit foolishly, I chose to run an unusual army, the Undead! I've had them around for quite some time, but the collection still feels a bit weird for Kings of War. My main opponent faces them often in games with his boys, so I just haven't been inclined to run them much myself, but this seemed like an opportune time to do so! I was hoping that having two armies featuring some Surging units would open up some dynamic positioning and help demonstrate the rule more.
As is typical for my demo games, I deployed all my stuff first, and then let my opponent deploy his entire list afterward. Given the scenario, I wanted to leave the Skeletons safe in their corner. The remaining Undead deployed in a mirrored fashion with Wraiths flanking the Zombies and the towering Goreblight in the middle of the line.
My opponent put the Spirit Walkers opposite the Skeletons, the Scorchwings and Panthers in the center, and then the Forest Shamblers and Gladewalker Druid out on the flank, looking to make use of Surge and "surprise" flank charges. The Herd got their scout moves, moving close to the maximum distance.
Top of Round 1: Herd
Herd movement, top of Round 1. |
Unfortunately for my opponent, my Undead are all slow and shambling! They are not going to be advancing quickly to anywhere. Most things do move up a few inches though.
The Wraiths attack. |
The Wraiths make a hindered charge into the Wild Gur Panthers. The Herd's center is weak, so I am hoping to get a little lucky and remove some speedy unit strength early on. Only one damage makes it through though, but the unit is wavered with a high Nerve check.
Top of Round 2: Herd
Shaken, the Panthers disengage, and then back up, which creates spaces, and allows the Scorchwings to charge in against the Wraiths, though dice are cold and none of the hits translate into damage.
The Wraiths hold, unimpressed. |
Bottom of Round 2: Undead
I opt to commit against the Scorchwings, but the Zombies end up sliding down to touch the graveyard, and will be hindered. Unfortunately, the Necromancer didn't have enough inches to block out the difficult terrain. Still, he attempts a Bane Chant for the Wraiths, but whiffs. Four damage is done, but the birds are found to be Steady.
The Scorchwings take a hit, but hold. |
Elsewhere, the Wraiths make an unhindered charge into a unit of Shamblers, dealing no damage, and the central Zombies and Goreblight shuffle around awkwardly in the center.
Both Wraiths units hold, easily. |
Wounding on 2's is great and the Spirit Walkers do excellent work against the Zombies. |
The Goreblight gets prepper for Surge. |
The Wraiths countercharge the Scorchwings to keep them disordered and tied up, dealing 4. The other Wraith unit rolls well against the Forest Shamblers, dealing 5 damage with some hot dice. Even the Zombies manage a point of damage against their unit of Shamblers.
The Wraiths continue to hold. |
After movement, bottom of 4. |
The Wraiths land a few more damage on the Scorchwings, but fail to rout or waver them since they keep getting healed up. The Zombies and other Wraith unit return the courtesy to the Forest Shamblers and flub their rolls this time. I don't think any damage is done.
Testing Conclusions:
- Gladewalker Druid with Ring. We talked through Surge options a fair bit, but my opponent declined to cast it at all during the game, and I only cast it once. Still, the Ring was interesting, and the double heals for the Herd were rolling hot, and kept the army grinding well. We didn't fret on this in-game, but she could run into some line of sight and positioning issues in a larger game. I think sticking her back behind a battle line and looking sideways down it should be a good place for her though.
- Forest Shamblers. Scouting with them was neat, but they were a bit isolated this game. With only CS1, they need some support. As regiments they each unfortunately flubbed their rolls more than a few times during the game, leading to a lackluster performance, though that is on the dice, not them! Spamming regiments and utilizing Surge could be neat to try, and a horde or two could easily apply a lot of pressure in a larger game. Overall, a little disappointing for a first outing, but plenty of potential to continue exploring I think.
- Scorchwings. These probably could have been more cagey, flying around and shooting more, but they held their own in the melee better than I thought they would. They seem like quite the versatile unit and should be fun to play around with more in the future.
- Goreblight. I remembered Cloak of Death about halfway through the game, and just decided to ignore it for this game, rather than back up a suddenly remember a rule to my benefit in the middle of a demo game. Still, the Goreblight still impressed me. The high defense and high nerve makes this monster pretty attractive. Hitting on 4's is a bit rough, but I like the model, so if I run Undead again, we'll see the monster again as well!
- Kitted Necromancer. An Inspiring necromancer is a bit of an Undead staple I twould think, as having access to good Surge and other spells is important for the list. The vicious aura for keyworded zombies was neat and fluffy, but not impactful this game. I think I had 3 rerolls, and maybe one turned into damage, since the aura helped the Goreblight as well. The aura could be a fun option for larger units of Zombies though, where you are throwing around a lot of dice.
- Wraiths. They ended up being probably the most impactful units of the game, which felt bad since they were in my list - usually I'd like to empower the new player instead. I knew they were tougher than they might appear, but figured the lower Nerve would let the aggressive Herd grind them out over a turn or two. Unfortunately, that's not how it played out in the game.