Kings of War 3rd Edition: #043 Varangur vs Sylvan Kin [Control]

Intro and Lists

For the immediate rematch, the army match-up was the same, but as usual for us, we each brought a second list to explore. The Sylvan Kin fielded the following:

Core of his army is essentially the same, with a strong verdant cohort supported by a few elven units and heroes. Two hordes of Forest Shamblers and two Hunters of the Wild to form the main line, led by a Tree Herder and a new Forest Warden. The elves contribute Nimue and a kitted Elven Archmage, as well as two Gladestalker regiments to pressure with their ranged shots. The new unit here was a regiment of Stormwind Cavalry and the Helm of the Drunken Ram, boosting TC to 3 to really plow through things on the charge. Last but certainly not least are two Greater Air Elementals, around for long flying charges and unexpected surge combats. Since the Sylvan Kin have a lot of overlap with my Herd, I want to keep any eye on a few of the things that they are running, and see what can be learned regarding:

• Hunters of the Wild. These are proving to be good generalist units, but we’ll see what other tricks or insight can be gleaned. 
• Forest Shambler Hordes. They didn't get up to much Surge plays yet, but the hordes are proving to be decent at holding a line so far.
• Tree Herder. A very strong defensive and supporting monster. I am liking it so far, but we’ll see how it performs this game and what else I can learn about it.
• Meta Elven Archmage. With Alchemist Curse, Boots of Levitation and a horse mount, this is a strong pick in competitive lists, but we’ll see how it does this game.
• Greater Air Elementals. After facing them last game, yeah, their reputation seems well-earned  indeed! They were able to get anywhere they wanted to be. We’ll see what carnage they get up to this game, and if I can figure out an answer to them.
• Sylvan Gladestalkers. Another very strong unit, and one that pairs well with my opponent’s usual approach. We’ll see if I can deal with them any better this game.
• Tree Warden. Given its low attacks, lack of Inspiring and focus on Surge, I had written these off for my Herd so far, but they still intrigued me, since they had a neat mix of stats and abilities. I am very interested to see how it performs!

My second list continued exploring my triple Mounted Sons approach, with some different supporting elements this time. I ran:

While my first list ran a lot of chaff, my second list ran much less of it, trying to get a better idea for how much chaff the Varangur need generally. Up to test for me are:

• Mounted Sons. They are great knights for their cost, but I'm struggling to get good results from them recently. So we’ll try to trio again and see what else we can learn about them.
• Lord with Stealthy Icon. Auras are neat, and this seemed interesting to play around with. 
• Night Raiders. I am still trying to learn these. We learned that they are not great against Gladestalkers last game, so will try to set them up against something else this time.
• Draugr. We’ll see what the scenario is, but they will likely play it, and block things if needed. 
• Tribesmen. These former Clansmen are revamped for 2023! The revisions push them from a more generic human (Me4+ and Def 4+) to a more elite human (Me3+ and Def5+). They cost more, but get a 1/1 Nerve boost now as well. They are expensive, but seem like decent generalist units, similar to the Hunters of the Wild discussed above.
• Horse Raiders. I am still trying to learn these, and we’ll see what else I can learn here. They are quick, but just haven't been doing it for me lately.
• Meta Magus. I am also taking a strong competitive pick here, so we’ll see whose wizard is the most impactful this game.
• Skald with Lute. The Skald has more infantry friends here, and should be sticking close to the Tribesmen and be a bit more impactful this game.

As with the previous game, I had a bit of a drop advantage, but my opponent was not lacking for Unit Strength. We'll see what the scenario is, but I was expecting another difficult game!

Table and Terrain

We reset the table. We rolled for side decision, but remained lazy gamers. We were using typical terrain rules, with the ruins as Height 9 blocking buildings, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3. 

My opponent deployed pretty compactly again. From left-to-right we have Forest Shamblers screening a Greater Air Elemental, a building, more Forest Shamblers, two Hunters of the Wild screening a Tree Herder with the Trickster's Rod, the Elven Archmage, two units of Gladestalkers with the Forest0 Warden (who is accidentally on a smaller base since we re-used the Master Hunter from the previous game) and finally, the new Stormwind Cavalry with the Helm of the Drunken Ram, giving them a scary-strong TC3.

The Sylvan Kin, and the center and right of the Varangur.

I tried to keep things late, but dropped some Mounted Sons on my far flank earlier than I would have liked to. For me, from right-to-left, we have two regiments of Mounted Sons, Lord with the stealthy icon, Draugr chilling in a field, Magnilde, and more Mounted Sons.

The left flank of the Varangur.

The center were some blocking Night Raiders, Kruufnir, and both Tribesmen. More Night Raiders skulked in the forest, and my left had both Horse Raiders and mounted Magus with some Draugr in reserve.

Scouting

My opponent was again pretty reserved with his available scout moves. Gladestalkers ventured into the forest to get some turn 1 shots, and most everything else just scooched up slightly. 

View of the center, after scout moves.

The two exceptions were the Tree Herder who moved up a few extra inches, enough to hop the line of Hunters, and the Forest Shamblers on the left who moved up maybe just 1 inch. 

My opponent secured the first turn, and decided to take it.

Top of Round 1: Sylvan Kin

Again hiding in the woods, the Gladestalkers loosed their bows into the central Mounted Sons, who were not protected by the stealthy aura of the Lord. In a strong opening for the Sylvan Kin, a total of 7 damage lands from the two Gladestalker regiments, and the Varangur cavalry unit is wavered!

Some hot dice to start!

Unable to get a spell off safely (that is to say, resolved with no charges against him next turn), the Elven Archmage reins it in. The only other thing to note is that both Air Elementals start shuffling towards my right flank in attempts to reposition.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

On the right, I move up, but the Mounted Sons hang back an inch from the Stormwind's range, with Magnilde limbering up nearby.

With the Greater Air Elementals moving on, My center moves up 4-5 inches, maintaining an angle, using the hills to hide from everything that wasn't a Tree Herder.

Being sneaky, the wizard moves to the left of the building, but we determine that the the Forest Shamblers would be getting cover for Alchemist Curse, so my opponent graciously lets me undo it, and move the Magus a bit to the right of the building instead, and Alchemist Curse lands against the other Forest Shamblers. Being the first damage they've taken, they are not concerned.

View from the left.

The Horse Raiders canter about on the far left, not doing anything yet, but both are looking to occupy the attention of the Forest Shambler Horde here.

Top of Round 2: Sylvan Kin

Nimue determines that he is in range of my Mounted Sons. Unfortunately for me, the Gladestalkers are not, and they fire with impunity into the same Mounted Sons unit, dealing a fresh 4 and will waver the cavalry unit again.

View from the Varangur right.

The two Greater Air Elementals continue the repositioning efforts, hopping the lines and make it to the center of the table, eyeing up all of the Mounted Sons units.

The Tree Herder uses the Trickster's Wand to hex my mounted Magus. If the Magus moves, he cannot cast spells. If he stays to cast, he'll take 2 damage for successful hits. With Alchemist Curse... this is likely 8-10 damage.

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

Discombobulated, the mounted Magus wheels around and moves to hide behind the building. The Horse Raiders and Night Raiders scooch up, but can't get in range too throw, so hold back. The Tribesmen and Night Raiders similarly scooch up, but are out of range for now.

Trouble brewing in the center of the battlefield...

Magnilde draws upon her legacy bloodline, and flies into the Stormwind Cavalry, landing a few damage and disordering them. The Mounted Sons move up, threatening charges into the Kin line next turn. 

Varangur pressure on the right, though the Greater Air Elementals are getting awfully close...

Seeing the Great Air Elementals moving up, the Lord tucks in behind the Mounted Sons. 

Top of Round 3: Sylvan Kin

Nimue wanders the ways, appearing just behind the Varangur Mounted Sons. Cloak of Death unnerves the three units here. The Gladestalkers continue to shoot, but get a little unlucky. The Gladestalkers and Alchemist Curse and Nimue's Fireball only does a grand total of 5 damage, and the Mounted Sons here stick around.

The Greater Air Elementals lurk, but hold back. With shooting dibsing the Mounted Sons, the only other target is the central Night Raiders, which doesn't seem worth it. Verdant units advance, to protect the Greater Air Elementals from being charged.

That could have been much worse!

The Stormwind Cavalry counter-charge mighty Magnilde, but striped of TC3, she only takes 5, and Iron Resolves down to 4, holding strong.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

With the Stormwind stuffed up, I crisscross the Mounted Sons into the Sylvan Kin, looking to get the wounded unit into the corner with Magnilde to try and preserve it a little longer.

The Mounted Sons get some charges off!

Having accrued some damage last turn from Magnilde, she and her unit trounce the Stormwind Cavalry, with Magnilde overrunning for better line of sight in the coming turn, and the Mounted Sons pivoting to face the Gladestalkers and the woods.

Old, silly habits are back.

Unfortunately, I am falling into some familiar sins this game. I am charging one regiment of knights into two shooter regiments that are hiding out in the woods. They do a surprising 9 hits into 9 damage, but unsurprisingly, the Gladestalkers hold. I should have made some different charges here.

The Lord with the icon smacks Nimue, disordering the caster.

Centrally, things are a bit messy. The maimed unit of Mounted Sons were left alone for a turn, and so move up to threaten things next turn. Kruufnir gets a clear charge into the Hunters of the Wild, and is joined with a hindered charge from the Tribesmen. Everything flubs, and only 6 damage is done here, and in retrospect, one of the Mounted Sons should probably have hit this unit instead of going in alone against the Gladestalkers.

The middle is indeed getting messy.

The Night Raiders make a hindered charge into the other Hunters of the Wild, dealing 1. This was another ill-advised charge, as the Hunters are made for shredding units like this, but I wanted to protect the Tribesmen from a flank charge.

Overview of the table as Round 3 concludes.

Some Horse Raiders have made it into the enemy deployment zone, moving at the double. Free from the Hex, the mounted Magus tosses an Alchemist Curse's into the isolated Forest Shamblers, dealing 4, but the unit hasn't been hit yet, and holds.

Horse Raiders move to block for the Magus. They throw into the Forest Shamblers, but no axes hit.

Top of Round 4: Sylvan Kin

On the right, Nimue disengages from the Varangur Lord, running up to hit the Mounted Sons in the woods with Cloak of Death. The Gladestalkers then collapse, with one charging the front of the Mounted Sons and the other the flank. A Greater Air Elemental moves and pivots to eye the rear of the unit, and the nearby diminutive Warden will surge them the last inch into the rear of the unit, which will be utterly destroyed.

After movement, Top of 4.

Similarly, Hunters of the Wild will countercharge some Tribesmen, and the Tree Herder will surge the second Greater Air Elemental into their flank, routing the Tribesmen.

Great surges from my opponent.

The Forest Shamblers will make a normal charge into the flank of the Night Raiders, and with the Hunters in the front, the Raiders are destroyed.

....and my hefty right flank is basically gone.

The Elven Archmage lands 3 damage with Alchemist Curse against the Mounted Sons near Magnilde, brining them up to 9 total damage, and will waver them.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

The Horse Archers and mounted Magus throw Axes and Alchemist Fire into the Forest Shamblers, but the unit holds. It's gotten some passive heals from the Herder, and this was a bit of a long shot if memory serves.

Desperate fights in the center now.

The remaining Tribesmen and Night Raiders multi charge the other horde of Forest Shamblers. I think I needed a 6 to rout it and got a 5 with the inspired reroll, which with Fearless, is not a great result for the Varangur! 

After movement, bottom of Round 4.

On the right, Magnilde is just able to see the maimed Gladestalkers. She gets in with a hindered charge, routs them, and then backs up and out of the woods. Kruufnir goes in against the other Gladestalker unit unhindered, deals a fair bit of damage, but falls 1 short of routing them.

Surprising victories out on the right flank!

Two near-misses! It's not all bad though. The Mounded Sons that endured the game's first volleys get an unhindered flank charge into the Greater Air Elemental, and manage to rout the elusive monster. The Lord charges in against the Elven Archmage. I think he is just out of range of Kruufnir's special rule, but manages to beat the mage anyways with some good dice. 

Top of Round 5: Sylvan Kin

A Greater Air Elemental takes a frontal charge into the Mounted Sons, and routs them, avenging the death of the other gaseous beast. Nimue shrouds Magnilde and the Mounded Sons with Cloak of Death, and the Forest Warden hits Kruufnir in the flank while the wavered Gladestalkers hold tight.

The Varangur center starts to fall apart.

Centrally, the Forest Shamblers move up and are surged into the flank of the Night Raiders, obliterating them. They will turn to face the mounted Magus and remaining Horse Raiders.

The other Forest Shamblers and Hunters of the Wild multi-charge the remaining Tribesmen, but the they get a bit lucky, taking just 4 from the Shamblers and only 3 from the Hunters, and will hold, despite the Skald being out of range for Inspiring.

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

Magnilde makes a hindered charge through the woods into the Gladestalkers. Kruufnir joins her, routing the unit, and the troll will change facing to fight the Forest Warden who has been bothering him.

The Varangur claw a bit back on the right.

The Lord with Icon will smash Nimue down, and the Mounted Sons will clip the woods and make a hindered charge into the front of the Greater Air Elemental, who will take some damage, but will hold.

The Varangur can't quite do anything in the center.

Finished beating down the Night Raiders, the Forest Shamblers are on 7 damage. The Horse Raiders don't have a charge, but I opt to move them up to throw axes along with Alchemist Curse. No axes even hit. Alchemist Curse does some damage, but I fall 1 short of the rout on the Inspired reroll, leaving the Raiders open to a charge next turn.

The Tribesmen catch a bane chant (as I write this, I suppose the Skald could have tossed into the Forest Shamblers too, but the Varangur are just stretched too thin right now), and countercharge the Forest Shamblers, rout them, and reform to face down some Hunters of the Wild.

Top of Round 6: Sylvan Kin

The Forest Shamblers are healed form 12 down to 11 with Radiance of life, and charge the Horse Raiders, dealing 6 and waver them.

The dance around the buildings... continues.

The Tree Herder is stalking around, but I think it needed to move at the double, looking to control the board for the end of the game.

One unit of Hunters of the Wild cut down the Tribesmen, while the other unit, joined by the Forest Warden, slams into Kruufnir, but the legendary troll holds.

The Greater Air Elemental counter-charges the Mounted Sons, and routs them.

Bottom of Round 6: Varangur

Magnilde and the Lord both charge the Greater Air Elemental, and will rout it.

The second Greater Air Elemental falls!

Kruufnir counter-charges the Hunters of the Wild, rampaging, but the unit holds.

A very verdant center. Good think we aren't playing Dominate.

The wavered Horse Raiders withdraw, and then move backward, creating space. The Magus unleashes another Alchemist Curse against the trees, and thankfully routs them.

The Skald charges the Hunters near the center of the board, hoping to get lucky or otherwise occupy them, should there be a Round 7.

View down the table.

As it stands, the Draugr should hold each of my front corners, and the Horse Raiders control the back left corner, for 3 points for the Varangur. The central hunters of the Wild Control my special central zone for 2, the Tree Herder should control my opponent's central zone for 1, and the other Hunters of the Wild overpower Kruufnir in the back right corner for another 1, making this 4-3 in favor of the Sylvan Kin as we wrap up Round 6. 

And then we roll up a Round 7! 

Top of Round 7: Sylvan Kin

The Hunters counter-charge the Skald, dealing 6 to him, but the Skald holds, keeping the Hunters in place.

End of the Top of Round 7.

Kruufnir also takes hits from the other Hunters of the Wild, but also holds.

Bottom of Round 7: Varangur

With the extra turn, I actually have a shot here!

With the Skald having stopped the Hunters, my Magus can make a dash towards the center of the field, lobbing an Alchemist Curst into the verdant unit. Unfortunately, the hits are pitiful. Still three hits convert into 2 damage and an uninspired Nerve check is forced... and is 1 short of the rout I needed here!

Several attempts are made for the win.

Kruufnir, Magnilde and the Lord with Icon all crash into the Hunters of the Wild. The unit is fresh, but it is a lot of good attacks with good CS. All the Varangur leaders will amazingly flub their rolls, and the unit will stick around as well. 

As Round 7 concludes, nothing has changed, and it is still 4-3 in favor of the Sylvan Kin, and they secure the victory! Congrats to my opponent on a second well-fought victory for the day!

Game Conclusions

It was another very close game, but I just couldn't get Nerve checks to fall in my favor, and couldn't quite get it done in the extra Round either! My opponent played a great game and got some fantastic use out of Surge to swing some combats decidedly in his favor and put me on the back foot.

I was able to take out both Greater Air Elementals for the moral victory! However I did fall back into some bad habits this game. I absent-mindedly deployed the two regiments of Tribesmen side-by-side. I charged Gladestalkers in the woods. And I made many little charges instead of dedicated multi-charges to swiftly remove units. The latter really let the Greater Air Elementals eat me up, particularly in Round 4, where each got a nice flank charge in separate combats resulting in two easy victories.

Testing Conclusions

• Hunters of the Wild. I again appreciated these more playing against them again. They don’t have the staying power to be your main line, it's not a really spam-able unit, but they do make great supporting elements to stronger units like the Shamblers.
• Forest Shambler Hordes. The Varangur were able to remove them this time, but they were still difficult. Fearless really helps them out as you can't get a lucky waver and need to devote enough things to actually remove them. They were strong and impressive.
• Tree Herder. With high Nerve, fearless, a passive heal and Def6, I had nothing in my list to fell him, so was forced to just ignore him. Thankfully my opponent again prioritized his supporting and casting abilities, rather than combat! But his presence was felt throughout the game.
• Trickster’s Wand. I have under-explored both items and magic, but this was an impressive little trinket! The interaction it forces on the table was impressive, and objectively I liked the decisions it forced me to make, even if it really shut me down for a turn. It’s a neatly-designed item and one I’ll try to remember to check out in the future!
• Greater Air Elementals. I was able to eventually take them down through piece-trading. Having more fighty units and less chaff helped me in this regard, but my opponent was still able to get good use out of both units, making back their points and then some. It's a strong unit for sure.
• Meta Elven Archmage. My opponent again ran his near his lines, and again it met a relatively early end. It did land some damage, but was not an impactful as one might hope. 
• Sylvan Gladestalkers. Shooters in terrain is something my opponent does very well, and even as just a duo, they were strong again here. Stealthy + Terrain makes them quite hard to shoot off, and so you need to make quite the effort to dislodge them. A good unit used well!
• Tree Warden. At 90 points for a scoring unit and decent stats, it is an interesting pick. Here, where my opponent really wanted to get those last 1” surges into units, it worked very well, casting and needed and and clobbering when called for. It actually got in a fair amount of damage on Kruufnir over those few rounds. In my Herd list, with far less shambling, I don’t think it is as impactful an option, but it was neat to see in action, and could be worth it.
• Mounted Sons. They got a bit unlucky, and while they did eventually contribute and do some work, they weren't used particularly well this game. I still like the unit and models, but think I need to rethink how I use them and how to support them effectively.
• Lord with Stealthy Icon. Despite missing so many rout values by 1, Brutal never tipped the scales as I recall. This is a more competitive pick as I understand things, and I can see why! The Stealthy aura was nice, and 150 isn't bad for the full loadout with the extra attack and Brutal so that he can bash things later in the game. 
• Night Raiders. The axes have been great pressure against other infantry, but I was struggling against the elves and other Speed 6 things today. These seem like they need more support against a quicker list, and can't really function on their own like I was thinking, so I will need to rethink some things with them.
• Draugr. They had a boring game! I don’t think I moved them at all after their initial deployment. They played the scenario, but at a bit of a cost, since they didn’t impact the game at all otherwise. Two was ok, but I think taking just one might be fine most of the time. You want units to do more than just sit around during the game.
• Tribesmen. I think it is fair to compare them to the Hunters of the Wild, as both have good stats and can be a bit of a generalist unit. However, these were my main battle line, and the regiments just couldn't cut it. They should be supporting a stronger unit, or run as a horde I think.
• Horse Raiders. Given the scenario and low cost, I wanted to preserve them and so tried leaning on their ranged attacks… but hitting on 5+ with only 12” range, this didn’t go well. I think axes are what you run when you want these as anti-chaff and a screening unit for other cavalry. Bows should fit this pressure and controlling playstyle much better, and is what I will try next time.
• Meta Magus. Despite being Hexed for a turn, I used this pick much better throughout this game., and while the last cast was a bit of a dud, the spell was doing good damage all game. 
• Skald with Lute. With the extra infantry around, this list was a better fit for him, but it still wasn't that exciting. If I run infantry I'll run the Skald, but otherwise, I need to find a better generic source of Inspiring to default to.
• No Snow Foxes. They proved to be effective last game in disordering the Gladestalkers. As everything collapsed into my (foolish) Mounted Sons unit, I was wishing I had taken some here. I think Snow Foxes are a solid pick for chaff, and 1-2 units is probably a must for me. 
• Chess Clock. We were trying the chess clock again for the rematch, and things went about the same as the first game. Deployment is probably the silliest time since you are trading 10-15 seconds. Overall, we had some minor pauses and snafus, but we started with one hour and ten minutes apiece, and both ended with time left on the clocks, so I think it is safe to say we are doing ok for our speed of play.

As before, win or lose it is always a pleasure to get these games in. A big thank you to my opponent for fitting the time in and for hosting, and congrats on another victory!