Kings of War 3rd Edition: #047 Herd vs Northern Alliance [Hold the Line]

Intro and Army Lists:

It's been a nutty start to the year for me, but things are starting to trend more towards normalcy. I was even lucky enough to get in a game with friend and forum-goer Cartwright recently! He decided to run his Northern Alliance, an army which has received a lot of interesting updates since last we saw it!

As-ever, my opponent had given a good amount of thought to his list, and was looking to play around with some keywords and the Frozen special rule. Frozen slows down the Speed on an afflicted unit by 1 to a minimum of 4. Frozen also triggers Tundra Fighters in the army generally (granting Vicious against Frozen units) and the Icy Blood of the Naiad's specifically (granting them Lifeleech 2 against Frozen units). Oddly enough, conveying Frozen from ranged abilities like the Ice Queen's Blizzard or the Ice Kin Bolt Thrower doesn't play well with Tundra Fighters and the like, since the unit would charged in the movement phase before it could be targeted in the shooting phase, and one cannot target a unit that is engaged in melee. However, Hrimm has a Chilling Presence special rule for an aura Frozen effect, and the Frostclaw Riders can impart it in melee if they hit a unit with their Ice Rune hammers.  

For his list, two pesky regiments of Pack Hunters make an appearance, as do some reliable Dwarf Clan Warriors. The latter recently gained Ordered March and the option to take for two-handed weapons, so my opponent opted to run one of each variant. The Ice Naiads were kitted out, gaining Lifeleech 2 against Frozen units from the new Icy Blood special rule, and then took a new spear option in addition with Tundra Fighters upgrade. The Naiads were joined by two hordes of Snow Trolls as the main line of battle. All three of these units have Regeneration, and will be very hard to shift! A brand-new unit of Frostclaw Riders debuts, and a solitary unit of Snow Foxes returns. A Snow Troll Prime and Two Thegns on Frostfangs are all around to be Nimble and annoying, with the Thegns also being Tundra Fighters. An Ice Queen with Heal and Blizzard, an Ice Kin Bolt Thrower, and the legendary Ice Giant Hrimm complete the list and all have abilities to convey Frozen onto units.

I ran my Herd, which had also received a bunch of updates, though many of which I was not enthused about! The Lycans got a points decrease, but I need to pay for Thunderous Charge on most of the tribal Herd units now, and a complete rework that hit my Longhorns, turning them from a little blender of a unit into more of a bland Def5 anvil unit. I suppose that change plays better with the Rallying rule they have, but it's a blow to how I wanted to run this army. Fortunately, I have only gotten a few games in with the Herd so far, and still have plenty of my collection to explore! 

Case in point is the centerpiece of this list, the Avatar of the Father. The Avatar was finished up way back in June, and it's been a crime that I haven't gotten him on the table yet as I really like how he turned out. Assisting the Avatar in Inspiring duties was a Duelist Great Chieftain, a Bane Chanting Druid, and a nimble Lycan Alpha. A titanic Hydra showed up again for fun, and I ran a lot of duplicates for better testing. We have doubles of Trappers for short bow shots, Hunters of the Wild for support, Guardian Brute hordes to try a explore blender unit, Panthers to chaff and interdict, and then triple Scorchwing regiments. Up to test is everything:

• Tribal Trappers. Hypothetically, I like the pressure these could bring to the table, but I am looking at the unit with fresh eyes after some time away. Their ranged attacks are lackluster, they lack Steady Aim, and I need to pay for Thunderous Charge now. The overall cost hasn't changed, but just from playing other armies, I am not sure if this unit is worth it, so we'll run it with an eye to re-evaluating it.
• Hunters of the Wild. These have not been too lucky for me previously, but again, hypothetically they seem like good units. They lack CS or TC, but will happily accept a Bane Chant and do well since the rest of their combat stats are good. They seem like a stalwart unit to have around and bulk out a battle line, so we'll try them again and see how they do here.
• Guardian Brutes. With the unfortunate Longhorn rework, I need to find something else that can deal damage in the roster. The second unit of these were hobbied up way back in April, so it's about time these hit the table!
• Wild Gur Panthers. These are what I have been running for chaff. I think they are superior to my only other option, a single regiment of Woodland Critters. We'll see what trouble the Panthers can instigate in this game.
• Scorchwings. These have hit the table before, but I've struggled to use them well. With several regiments and the Avatar, my hope is that this little air force can start effectively flanking things in the midgame for me.
• Hydra. It's still a weird unit with the Regeneration and Multiple Heads working against each other, but I still want to try some more games with it. 
• Great Chieftain with Cat. The Chieftain has done alright before, but I didn't have the points for the Dread upgrade this time. Having Duelist is nice though, and will give him a task.
• Druid with Bane Chant. With the Clash updates, they lost their innate Heal, but that seems fine? Heal 2 was ok to have, but isn't likely going to be swinging too many fights the way I had been running my Herd. The new Druid with just Bane Chant is just 65 points, which seems like a steal considering it Inspires and can be taken in multiples.
• Lycan Alpha. Nimble monsters are pretty popular. My opponent is even running several! The Lycan is a bit more expensive than most versions though, so we'll see how he stacks up. 
• Avatar of the Father. The blog has largely been unimpressed with "heavy fliers" like all the big centerpiece dragons. The Avatar is similar, but cheaper, since he doesn't have the extra breath attack and such. Depending on the list, I think the Avatar could be amazing. Let's get him on the table and see what he can do!

We had similar drops and Unit Strength, and we were both excited to see how this would go. I had a bit more chaff, and an edge in ranged shots. Whatever the scenario was, my hope was to apply early pressure, win the chaff war, and then take it from there.

Table and Terrain:

Already dealing with so many Clash 2024 updates, we decided to try one of the new Clash scenarios as well, picking Hold the Line. At the end of the game there is a 12" band running down the middle of the table in the no-man's-land between our respective deployment zones. The middle third is worth 3 points, and the outer thirds are each worth 2. 

We were over at his place, and so used his typical terrain pieces. We also used the 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. I won the roll off and picked the lazy gamer side.

Somewhat wise to his ways, I figured both of the Pack Hunters would occupy the woods near my opponent's deployment zone, so my early drops were here, with the Hunters of the Wild and Gur Panthers. The Naiad's came down relatively early, so my general plan became aiming to ignore the center generally, that unit specifically, and just try to win the flanks quickly.

Left-to-right, my opponent had cowering Snow Foxes, both Pack Hunters flanking the Ice Queen, and then the Bolt Thrower in the rear. The hills and building didn't give it great shooting lanes this game.

The rest of his list came down on the right. Starting in the center we have the Naiads, a Thegn on Frostfang, Frost Hammer Dwarfs, Snow Troll Prime, the shielded Dwarf Clan Warriors, Snow Trolls, the other Thegn, and the Frostclaw Riders. Hrimm the legendary snow giant sat in reserve behind the Hammer Dwarfs, and the second horde of Snow Trolls sat behind the Shield Dwarfs.

View from the left corner after deployment.

On my left, I had some Hunters of the Wild, Wild Gur Panthers screening the Hydra and the Great Chieftain with duelist, who was eyeing up his only ideal target, the Ice Queen. More Gur Panthers screened a Lycan Alpha, and a unit of Scorchwings waited near the Avatar of the Father. 

The crowded right flank, after deployment.

My right consisted of Scorchwings screening Guardian Brutes, the Druid, Hunters of the Wild, the second unit of Guardian Brutes, two units of Tribal Trappers, and my final unit of Scorchwings.

Scout Moves:

I remembered that had scout moves. I decided to be bold with them, and hope for the first turn. 

Scout moves on the left.

Over on the left the Hunters of the Wild moved up as far as they could. They weren't going to be quick enough to catch anything on a turn one, but paired with two units of Gur Panthers, I should have three things ready to charge the Pack Hunters on a Round 2, with the Hydra, duelist Chieftain, Lycan and Scorchwings in reserve. The plan was to bully flank this quick, leave something to claim the zone, and the move to hit another zone.

Aggressive scouting from the Trappers!

Over on the right, both Trappers scouted up into the forest. We had both expressly deployed on the line, so as we understood things, Turn 1 charges were possible from the Trappers. Nearer the center of the board, the other unit of Hunters moved up a bit to threaten anything that might charge the Trappers should I not get first turn. Several things can charge the Trappers, so I am probably being too aggressive with their scout move, but the hope was to isolate the Frostclaws early on so they don't become a late game threat.

As it happens, I do not win the roll for turn 1. Having won the roll, my opponent chose to go first.

Top of Round 1: Northern Alliance

Out on the right, my opponent doesn't want to get drawn into any melee combats yet. The Frostclaws, Thegn, and Snow Trolls back up, denying charges while the second Horde of Snow Trolls angles to threaten the Trappers as well. The Frostclaws toss their grenades into the Trappers near the edge of the board, scoring 3 damage.

The Norther Alliance repositions.

Hrimm lingers in reserve still, but the rest of the line moves up quickly in lock-step, stopping just out of range of the Hunters of the Wild.

Over on the left, the Bolt Thrower misses it's shots, and the Ice Queen lands 1 damage into some Gur Panthers from the Blizzard spell. The Pack Hunters both shoot into the Hunters of the Wild. One unit scores two damage, while the other spikes some rolls to land 7 more. Uninspired, my Hunters are shot off the field when it is time to test their mettle...

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

I stick to my plan on the left. Both Gur Panther units scamper up and into charge range. The Lycan Alpha zips forward as well, and should have his choice of charges next turn. The Hydra and Chief move up as far as then can go. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the Scorchwings, but with the Hunters unexpectedly routing, decide to keep them here. They try shooting into some Pack Hunters, but with 6's to hit (them being Stealthy, and in cover from being in the woods), nothing happens here, however, they too have their choice of charges for Round 2.

The Herd speeds towards the woods.

The Naiads had moved up quite aggressively. Much more so than I was expecting them to. They can see around the building, and with just a normal move, the Avatar can't sneak by. A double move to the right puts him in all sorts of danger. Spacing-wise, I can't legally land behind the Naiads, and committing more against the Pack Hunters in the woods seems silly. However it turns out I can fly and awkwardly land behind the building and beside the Naiads though, so I do that. The Naiads were directly in front of the Avatar, so my pivot puts me at a weird angle with only the Bolt Thrower as a potential charge next turn. It's peculiar, but this positioning still seems like the best idea.

The Trappers made it to the bottom of the round!

Over on the right, I am a bit shocked the Tribal Trappers weren't charged, but happily accept it. Not having any good charges themselves now, they shoot into the Frostclaws. I manage 6 damage between the two units, which is apparently above average, and the Nerve check results in a Waver.

The Druid zips over at the double to Inspire things. The Guardian Brutes move up while the Hunters of the Wild retreat slightly. Both units of Scorchwings position to shoot into the Dwarf unit on the hill. They both hit well, but from eight hits only one damage slips through since this is the Def5 unit. 

Top of Round 2: Northern Alliance

The Northern Alliance line inexorably moves up. The two Troll Hordes are hindered, but still trounce a unit of Trappers while the Thegn makes use of Strider to slip in against the other regiment. The Thegn valiantly lands 4 damage on his own, but only Wavers his unit.

The Northern Alliance start clearing out the woods.

Over on the left, the Snow Foxes scamper out to try and mitigate combo charges against the Pack Hunters. Both bow units will shoot into the already wounded Gur Panthers, getting a pretty reliable rout, while the Bolt Thrower and Ice Queen shoot into the other unit, each doing 2 and securing a Waver. 

I think the Naiads are going to be impossible to remove. It's an amazing anvil unit.

The main line of the Northern Alliance moves up in lock-step, with the Naiads then pivoting to start boxing the Herd into the corner. My plan was to ignore them; I don't think I can beat them without dogpiling them with a few hundred points. 

My Avatar isn't in a great place to pressure anything next turn. In a unique move, Hrimm pivots away to look down the rear of the Northern Alliance line. It seems odd, but this actually prevents the Avatar from pivoting and flying over and landing anywhere near the enemy's main line next turn. 

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

It is unusual to be feeling this much pressure in Round 2, but here we are. 

The Avatar of the Father has a charge into the Bolt Thrower, but that seems like a waste. The Thrower is about 20 inches away, so if I charge it, it will be a few turns before I can charge anything else. I need to get the Avatar of the Father into some meaningful combats here if I have a chance of winning. He pivots and moves only a few inches, keeping out of range of Hrimm's frosty aura while still eyeing up enemy units.

I have a lot of charge options with the Scorchwings, even some flank charges, but I know I need a little more than one flank charge to break these units, and I cannot get them both in against a meaningful unit. With the entire Northern Alliance line marching forward and nearly entirely undamaged, I start pulling back, hoping I can delay enough to get in some multi charges in Round 3.

It is the Herd's turn to be taken aback, and withdraw a bit.

The Scorchwings take some parting shots at the same Def5 Dwarf unit (better them than the regenerating Snow Trolls in cover), dealing 5 damage this time, and brining them to 6 damage total, but still fail to break the fighting spirit of the Clan Warriors. They've got good Nerve and are Inspired, so that should be expected.

The Herd disorders the Pack Hunters.

Normally, one should be multi-charging units, and making sure things are routed. However, the Pack Hunters can hit pretty hard on a charge, so I decide I want to disorder both units to pin them down and strip them of TC. Unfortunately one unit of Gur Panthers was wavered, so the Lycan Alpha is forced to ignore the Bolt Thrower this turn and go for one of the Pack Hunters instead. The Lycan is out for blood and ands all 5 possible damage, while the other unit is hit by the Scorchwings who deal 3. 

The Chieftain is about an eighth of an inch away from charging the Snow Foxes. So, he moves up a bit, hoping to make use of Duelist in the coming turn. The Hydra also has no charges due to range, but isn't as maneuverable. The titan hangs further back, but should be able to charge either unit next turn.

Top of Round 3: Northern Alliance

Over on the left, the Ice Queen completely heals the Pack Hunters fighting the Scorchwings, hitting 4 of the 5 Heal dice, and the Scorchwings and Lycan each take 2 from the scuffles, with the Scorchwings unexpectedly wavering, and thus completely blocking out the Hydra from helping out there. 

An unfortunate waver for the Herd.

The Bolt Thrower lands 2 damage against the Avatar of the Father, giving him the Frozen special rule, reducing his speed by 1, which for a flier, can be a pretty big deal. Having been ignored last turn, the Snow Foxes act out and smash up the Gur Panthers. 

Over on the right, the Thegn and some hindered Snow Trolls go into the Trappers, routing them this time. Both will victoriously pivot towards my remaining units on this side of the field.

A mess of combats over on the right.

The other unit of Snow Trolls hops the fence with a hindered charge and crashes into a screening unit of Scorchwings, dealing 6 damage, and just barely waver the unit. This effectively boxes out one horde of Guardian Brutes next turn, and is even more detrimental to my efforts than the waver out on the left...

Well, it turns out the Herd are pretty timid!

The Snow Troll Prime and other Thegn nimbly charge the Hunters of the Wild, whiffing a bit and dealing a combined 5 damage to the verdant unit, which holds. 

The Naiads take the hill, really boxing the Herd in. The injured unit of Dwarves move up to make any reprisals more complicated for me, while the hammering unit hangs back, daringly exposing their flank to the Avatar of the Father.

Hrimm continues to mill about, but pivots to get the Avatar of the Father into his front arc, dissuading a charge. The final positioning also lets Hrimm threaten the Avatar should I take the flank of the Frost Hammer Dwarfs and either fail to break them or fail to overrun far enough. The Frostclaws are unwavered now, and simply move up slightly and pivot to threaten any landing zone behind the Northern Alliance lines for the Avatar of the Father.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

The wavers are making an already bad situation even worse for the Herd...

Out on the left, I can't really help the Scorchwings. The duelist Chieftain charges the Ice Queen, and on 10 attacks lands a solitary hit, which is then a 1 on the roll to wound, so she isn't even disordered. The Hydra joins the Lycan Alpha in combat, since that is his only real charge, and huzzah, one unit of Pack Hunters is routed and the Herd finally draws blood.

Combat on the bottom of Round 3.

The Avatar of the Father can only see Hrimm and the two dwarf units. Naiads are off the menu. I decide to multi-charge the Def5 Clan Warriors with the Avatar in the rear and the Scorchwings in the flank. The Scorchwings fail hard, but the Avatar makes up for them, and the unit is left devastated on 26 damage, but is then found to be quite insanely courageous...

The Hunters of the Wild are Bane Chanted, and deal 4 damage to the Thegn. 

The Herd.... try.

One unit of Guardian Brutes is simply stuck behind the wavering Scorchwings. The other unit can't hit the Thegn in the flank since they cannot fit (the Def5 Dwarfs will box them out); and if memory serves there is not enough space to fit to charge the Def5 Dwarfs wither. So they charge into the ensnaring Naiads, which is never going to be worthwhile or effective for me. 

Top of Round 4: Northern Alliance

The Naiads roll well, and regenerate 4 of their 7 damage. The hammer Dwarfs sidestep to let Hrimm join the Naiads in a countercharge against my Guardian Brutes. Chilling Presence from Hrimm lets the Naiads lifeleech 2 damage back in the melee, bringing them down to 1. In combat, Hrimm rolls up a 6 for Slayer and a 6 for his normal giant attacks. The Naiads and Hrimm manage to do 11 damage each, and unceremoniously thump the Guardian Brutes.

The Scorchwings take a rear charge from some hindered Snow Trolls and a Thegn, take 39 damage and are obliterated. 

Devastating charges from the Northern Alliance!

The other Thegn and Snow Troll Prime slam back into the Hunters of the Wild, roll far better, and easily break the regiment this time. 

The Avatar is countercharged by the devastated Dwarf Clan Warriors, who deal 1. He is also rear charged by the Frostclaws, who deal 11, and the Avatar of the Father is easily broken with 5's needed to see him off.

The fight in the forest continues...

Things don't go much better for me on the left.

The Bolt Thrower fires into the Lycan Alpha, but misses. Engaged but not disordered, the Ice Queen disengages, and lands a few damage against the Alpha with Blizzard. 

After beating the Gur Panthers last turn, the Snow Foxes had wheeled about to face the forest. Now, they hit the rear of the wavered Scorchwings, with the refreshed Pack hunters joining with a clean charge in the front. The Scorchwings are shredded and we just have to chuckle as we've never seen Snow Foxes go on such a killing spree before. It's been quite a game for them!

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

Over on the left, the Lycan Alpha charges the Bolt Thrower, but I don't remember the result. We may not have even rolled it. Chieftain attacks the Ice Queen again. This time he deals some damage, but if memory serves, still fails to rout her. The Hydra goes in against the surviving Pack Hunters, but with 5 attacks, only lands 2 damage. Since they had been healed completely, this is looking like it will be a lengthy combat. 

The Hydra battles while the Snow Foxes eye up its flank...

Over on the right, the Druid successfully Bane Chants the Guardian Brutes, who finally get to charge some Snow Trolls. The Guardians deliver, and even with the Trolls inspired, are able to best the horde in one combat!

The Guardian Brutes prevail!

The game veered firmly out of reach long ago, but I wanted to get in one mostly-honest combat with the Guardian Brutes. With that not just done but clearly victorious, I concede.

Game Conclusions:

Well, that was certainly a beating! I started losing things immediately in the top of Round 1 and wasn't able to return the favor until with any routs until the bottom of Round 3. I didn't play a particularly good game, but the dice were also not with me in the slightest. Ultimately I don't even think I could have wrested control of the left had the game continued, since the victorious and menacing Hrimm was already making his way over to face the Hydra...

My goal was to try and quickly take one outside third and then swing round to influence fights to hold the other outer third. Despite deploying about twice as many points on the left than my opponent, I wasn't even able to secure that zone! Even with fliers, I think plan of playing for the outer zones was pretty flawed. This Herd isn't great in a grind, and it's hard for the flanks to actually support one another. It's a new scenario, but playing heavily for two adjacent zones seems like a better play.

Testing Conclusions:

• Tribal Trappers. Their ranged damage output is indeed poor, and they really need a good match-up in order to shine. Just scouting up with them isn’t really utilizing them well. Any scout moves should be supported by other speedy and threatening units, like Scorchwings. TC is nice to have, but if they are more chaffy / sacrificial units or objective holders, the upgrade is probably not worth it. I don’t think I have been using these well lately, and will try to pair them with more Scorchwings in the future.
• Hunters of the Wild. This was another rather unlucky showing for them. I don’t think I am using these well either. I know they can’t be main-line units, but the second unit seemed a bit more like blocking chaff as this game went on, which wasn’t good either. I don’t think my list building has been doing them any favors, but I still like them conceptually, and will try to crack them in the future.
• Guardian Brutes. These are similar to the Salamander Tyrants: large infantry with lots of attacks but just Def4. I have not been big fans of these kinds of units. I think my Salamander-playing opponent usually either ran them as regiments, which were squishy enough to take out; or as a horde, but as one of the only hammers on the field and without chaff support. In each of those instances, yeah, the unit isn’t going to do well. They are still a bit of a glass-cannon, but they did have good damage output. Running them in multiples, as hordes, and with chaff support, they should do ok, and are worth testing more in the future.
• Wild Gur Panthers. They got focused down and had some untimely wavers, but that happens. Overall they have still been decent chaff, and still my best bet right now for that role.
• Scorchwings. These took far too much brainpower to use, and were ineffectual given all the sturdy units opposing me. Unfortunately running a bunch of regiments didn’t pan out for me this time. I think that approach can be viable, but my Herd skills aren’t quite there yet.
• Hydra. The Hydra has only been run against Cartwright, and he very quickly figured out it’s best to just ignore it! It was a late drop here, and deployed back a bit so he struggled to make an impact this game. I think in the future my Hydras need to be deployed earlier, on the line, and then pushed up the field to instigate.
• Great Chieftain with Cat. The cheaper kit seemed fine, and keeping him as a later deployment let him match up against his only individual target. The dice were very uncooperative though! Not a bad kit, but not a great showing.
• Druid with Bane Chant. They are nice, cheap and you can run them in multiples. I am a fan!
• Lycan Alpha. He is a bit more expensive than many of his 50mm nimble alternatives in other armies, but even in such a quick game, that extra speed just feels so good.
• Avatar of the Father. Even setting the Insane Courage result aside, he didn’t have the best of games, and I didn’t use him well. His first move wasn’t threatening anything significant, so my opponent wasn’t forced to react, and could instead proactively work to denying me landing zone or threating retaliatory strikes if I committed to anything. 
• Scout. I haven’t run this army in a while, and it is apparent that I need to plan more around my Scout moves for them to be impactful. I didn’t use Scout well here, but I feel like I learned a lot.
• Northern Alliance. The updates have treated the army well! It was very cool (badum tss) to see not only the Frozen rule in action and a combined arms list across from me. Applying Frozen from range was a bit awkward for the melee units, but the rule has some neat facets to it, and it will be near to explore in the future. 

My opponent definitely had some good luck this game, but that doesn’t detract from his solid list and clever decision-making. Win or lose it is always a pleasure, and this was a great way to assert a little normalcy into a hectic start to 2024. A big thank you to my opponent for not just fitting this in but hosting as well!