Hobby Update: Mhorgoth the Faceless

The Undead ranks continue to swell! Up now is the legendary necromancer Mhorgoth the Faceless! 

The BBEG himself!

Fluff-wise, Mhorgoth is a bad bad evil guy for the setting, appearing on lots of older Mantic art. He's a big-time necromancer and one of the main legendary characters for the Undead that has persisted through the editions so far. 

I got some of the fog effect to stick to him.. but it probably won't last.

The model is Mantic's. It's an older metal model of theirs. Neat, but not too flashy. He is "faceless" due to alleged disfigurement and now sporting a closed helm, but all in all, he's actually a pretty bland mini. I do like that his pose largely matches the game art, but there is not much to him, and nothing really special on the paint job I gave him.

In the game, the Undead Liches recently lost Fly and Regeneration when the spellcasters were reworked, but Mhorgoth retains both, and comes with Very Inspiring to protect your units, Dread to debuff enemy Nerve, and the very wordy Unholy Levitating Arch-Liche special rule, letting him move at the double and still be able to cast spells, as well as letting him cast two spells a turn. And he comes with a wide variety of spells: Bane Chant, Drain Life, Mind Fog and Surge! The range on most of those spells isn't too far, so it seems likely that he will be supporting your units and utilizing fly to just keep the legendary character safe from reprisals. 

Mhorgoth seems neat! We actually got to see the character in action across the table pretty recently in Battle 049, where we saw him powering through some hexes to sling his spells and my opponent deemed him to be Mhorgoth the Must-Have. I have quite the list of things to test for the Undead already, so we'll add Mhorgoth to the pile, and hopefully we can explore that moniker and test him out for ourselves soon!

Hobby Update: Redone Kingdoms of Men Crossbowmen

Up now is an older unit getting a painting refresh and some new models to boost their numbers! Here are some updated Crossbowmen for the Kingdoms of Men!

The new, more orderly units.

Previously, these were hobbied up as a messier regiment back when I was just getting into proper multi-basing. I like my regimental play, but I have since really learned that running regiments costs a premium, and that the humans need more bodies to work well. So with the refresh, I decided to boost these up to a horde.

I wanted the horde a bit more orderly, like the Pikes and other KoM stuff I had hobbied up the last few years. So, I scraped the old minis off their MDF base, and built up some new minis to match, opting for 12 models per regiment, in order to keep the "aimed and ready" poses from sticking out over the front edge. Some of the previously used paint pots had soured, so everything got touch-ups to be matching as best I could, and then rebased.

Back in 1st and 2nd Edition, Crossbows had Reload, really forcing you to position them well. In 3rd, they received the more lenient Pot Shot rule, letting them move and shoot, but with an additional -1 penalty. Just hitting on a 5+, that meant they'd only get half their attacks and need 6's, which is technically better that Reload, but still very punishing. 

Fluff-wise, I actually like the Pot Shot rule, but it's just too punishing for 5+ ranged units (where it was most frequently seen). It was basically a more complex version of Reload.  Going from a 5+ to  6+ is already halving the effectiveness of the unit to hit. Maybe if there was a 4+ specialist unit with piercing, like the Streltsy from AOE4, the rule would feel better there?

The Crossbowmen got a nice buff in Clash 2024 though, losing the Pot Shot rule, which I definitely a agree with. Kings of War focuses on melee combat, but most shooting units don't really feel viable these days, so the gradual balancing approach (Reload > Pot Shot > normal penalties) makes sense, and hopefully we'll see these types of units on the table more often. The bar is low, but I've generally liked the Bowmen horde, so we'll see get the buffed Crossbowmen on the table sometime, and see how these shooting units compare!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #051 Herd vs Abyssal Dwarfs [Pillage]

Intro and Lists

The army match-up remained the same for our second game of the day, though both of the lists changed so we could explore some other things. Cartwright wanted to drop some shooting elements to explore the Obsidian Golems for the Abyssal Dwarfs, and brought the following:

This list leaned into some of the the sturdier units available to the Abyssal Dwarfs. The Obsidian Golems are Def6, as is the Hellfane, and will all be quite difficult for the Herd to fight through. Two regiments of Blacksouls and a horde of Decimators are around to hold the line, and two regiments of Halfbreeds and a horde of Grotesques make their second appearance today as speedier options for the evil dwarfs. A Supreme Iron-Caster is around to sling spells from the Great Winged Halfbreed, and a Hexcaster and Iron-caster are around as additional magical support.

With my second Herd list, I was looking to run a more compact list than the last few attempts, hoping it would be a little easier to pilot. I also wanted to try out some of the legendary / limited options the army has to offer. Since I am still figuring out how I want to play the army, basically everything is up to evaluate:

• Hunters of the Wild. They have good generalist combat stats, but I have already learned that these can't hold the line by themselves. We'll see how they do with the Forest Shamblers around to do the heavy lifting.
• Forest Shamblers. These Elementals have decent stats and Scout. We'll see if I can get up to any scouting or Shambling tricks with them, and if a -/17 unit is good enough to grind.
• Wild Gur Panthers. Still my only real chaff unit for this army. I tend to go a bit heavy on my chaff units, so I'm trying to slim things down here and see how that feels.
• Scorchwing Hordes. The regiments have been neat, but have not been effective. They require a lot of brainpower to position in order to shoot, and then the shots haven't been that devastating. I am trying to make it easier on myself here by taking some hordes.
• Gladewalker Druid. The Ring of Harmony lets them conditionally cast a second spell each turn, which seems like it could be powerful, and so worth exploring.
• Wiltfather. The Tree Herders did ok last game, but I wanted to check out the legendary option too. He gets some combat buffs and swaps Radiance of Life for Cloak of Death. He doesn't Shamble, so has the potential to get up the field quickly to tie something up. 
• Avatar of the Father. The last outing was definitely disappointing, as his only combat found his foes to be insanely courageous and he was quickly dog-piled. He's a strong flier though, so I am hoping he can redeem himself here.
• Tribal Trappers. I've been back and forth with these. I like the idea of scouting and shooting, but they haven't been terribly effective, and often just turn into speed bumps for my opponent. With the Clash updates, they lose Thunderous Charge, but can buy it back with points. I'm leaving it off and taking the Formation, to see how these feel as speed bumps.
• Silent Hunt. The aforementioned Formation. Deadly Snares is a fun rule, and Ensnare can really trip up enemy units, especially weaker ones. We'll see how the formation fares this game.

Table and Terrain

We were using his typical terrain, and followed our normal terrain rules, running the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, stone fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3. 

We rolled up Pillage for our rematch, with just a solitary additional objective token. I won the roll off, to placed one in what would be his forest, then one in my forest, and then the field, with his tokens being the ones in the center.

The Abyssal Dwarfs won the roll off for sides, and we continued being lazy gamers. Thankfully I had some terrain to work with this time!

All the tokens in one picture!

Left-to-right we have Blacksouls on either side of the Hellfane, Obsidian Golems with the ____ in the woods, Decimators, an then both Halfbreed Regiments, the Iron-Caster in reserve, and the Grotesques out on the far flank. 

View from the left.

Left-to-right I ended up with Hunters of the Wild in the corner, Forest Shamblers screening Scorchwings and the Wiltfather watching closely. Tribal Trappers from the formation ready to jump up into the Woods, with the Gladewalker Druid nearby. Then we had Hunters of the Wild screening for Forest Shamblers, Gur Panthers, Softfoot the Tribal Trackers, and the other Scorchwing Horde. 

A pretty empty right flank. 

Out on the far flank, I put the Avatar of the Father. I figured a flier would not do well against Shambling units, and figured having him way out on the flank would complicate things for my opponent.

Cautious Scout moves from the Herd.

This list had scout moves as well. With most of the fun terrain out on the left, I put my tokens out there, planning to fight for them. Unfortunately, my opponent had then done the same. As a result, the Scout moves were pretty reserved this time. The Trappers moved there full amount to get near the edge of the woods, but most everything else moved up about 5 inches.

I won the roll off for deciding first turn, and was very conflicted. I haven't gone first in a while, and that would usually be fantastic for the Herd. But with some hesitant Scout moves and an advantage in my volume of ranged attacks, I figured I should try to play more cagey, and ultimately opted to go second.

Top of Round 1: Abyssal Dwarfs

The evil dwarfs advanced warily. The left and center moved up in a measured lockstep. The Hellfane and Golems are both Defense 6, and the nearby Blacksouls are Defense 5, so it was a pretty sturdy line opposing me. 

Slow and steady.

On the right, the abominations made use of their greater speed. They moved up more aggressively, looking to hit this flank quickly and envelope the Herd.

The abominations move up aggressively.

The Hexcaster had moved at the double to get atop the hill, and none of the other Abyssal Dwarves were in range to shoot, so it was a quick and uneventful turn.

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

I need to stall the abomination wing. The Gur Panthers can see one unit of Halfbreed units, and charges in to delay. Softhoof charges down off the hill into the other regiment, and each of the Halfbreeds will take 2 damage. In a lucky break, the Wild Gur Panthers get a boxcars result on the Nerve check, wavering their unit. Unfortunately for me, all these units have regeneration, and the Halfbreeds have Fury, so even the waver doesn't really change anything: the Panthers will die, but I am hoping Ensnare, the disorder, and being Inspiring will let Softhoof clog up the other unit. The Scorchwings will nimbly move down the line, and shoot into the Grotesques, landing 2 as well while avoiding the possibility of being charged.

Moves to delay the abominations begin. So far, so good!    

The Avatar is able to speed up the line though, and nimbly pivot to see the flanks of these units. I think ideally, fliers should always be threatening something, and forcing your opponent to react, so am feeling good here with the positioning. The Avatar should hopefully be able to occupy my opponent's attention here for a few turns.

And some great shooting over on the left!

With the speedy things delayed for the moment, I shoot both Trappers and the other Scorchwing horde into some of the Blacksouls. Unfortunately the Scorchwings are getting a penalty from shooting over the Shamblers. I roll very hot, dealing about double the expected result, dealing 9 damage and getting the rout! 

Top of Round 2: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Grotesques pivot, hoping to dissuade the Avatar of the Father.

The Hexcaster had taken the hill last turn, and can see for days. He Hexes the Gladewalker druid, needling her for 2 damage as well with his Feedback special rule. 

The Abyssal Dwarfs return fire!

The Supreme Iron-Caster flies up in front of the Decimators, tossing a Fireball into the Hunters of the Wild for 3 and casting a no-look heal the Halfbreeds, though the rolls are a bit low. Still, through Regen, Heal and Radiance of life, the abomination wing is refreshed, with just one damage apiece on the far units.

By hopping up, the Iron-Caster could toss the fireball, but he is small enough not to block enough line of sight to give the Decimators a cover penalty as they fire into the same target, dealing 8. The Hunters of the Wild are blasted away.

The Halfbreeds counter charge their units, obliterating the Panthers. The Shamblers here have the Brew of Haste, and after measuring, could charge the regiment. My opponent decides then to victoriously back up, and gets away. Softhoof however, has Ensnare, and holds strong on the inspired reroll, ready to fight against his unit of Halfbreeds again.

The Hellfane and Golems in the left and center elect to hold, though the Hellfane fires his pistols and lands 3 damage into the Hunters of the Wild out on the far left.

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

On the left, the Hunters of the Wild move up, and pivot, holding the objective in the field for now.

The a unit of Trappers and the Scorchwings shoot into the other regiment of Blacksouls, but only deal 3 damage this round. One unit of Trappers can't reach, so shoots into the unengaged Halfbreed regiment, landing 1 damage. Out on the right, the Scorchwing regiment shoots into the Grotesques, landing 2 damage and bringing them to a total of 3. Unfortunately shooting for the Herd was cooler this round.

The Avatar of the Father hits the Halfbreeds in the flank.

Softhoof charges back against his regiment, and is joined by the Avatar of the Father! The Grotesques left a bit of an opening, perfect for the monster-sized flier. Unfortunately, I used up all my luck for the day last round in the shooting phase. Flanking like fliers should ideally do, the Avatar is hitting on 3's but misses with the majority of his attacks, then misses a few more times on the 2's needed to wound, and lands a pitiful 5 damage. Softfoot contributes no damage with his counter-charge. On a meager 6 damage, the Halfbreeds defiantly hold, ready to counter-charge.

Top of Round 3: Abyssal Dwarfs

Confident, the left and center of the Abyssal Dwarf line pushes forward. Nothing can charge this round, but the issue is being forced.

The disordered Halfbreeds ignore the puny Softhoof, and countercharge the Avatar, dealing 7 damage. The Nerve check is boxcars into Insane Courage, but unable to punch through last turn, the Avatar's days are already numbered.

Even with cover, the Iron-Caster and the Decimators shoot into one of the Tribal Trapper units hiding in the woods, each landing 6 damage, and routing the unit. The Iron-caster gets a no-look heal into the Halfbreeds fighting the Avatar, healing them down to 2 total damage.

The unengaged Halfbreed unit charges my Forest Shamblers, landing 7 damage, but the verdant elementals manage to hold.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

Softhoof can see the corner of the the Grotesques, and charges in, hoping to delay them. It is absolutely a long-shot play. He is yielding, but could get lucky and disorder them. If the Avatar can punch through (very unlikely now, with the heal), he could potentially overrun and get away.

The Scorchwings shoot while the Avatar swings his fists.

Unfortunately, I am fresh out of luck. Softhoof again hits no times, and the Avatar rolls a little poorly again, only landing 4 damage on the Halfbreeds, and bringing them back up to 6 damage, where he left them at last turn. He gets a lucky waver, but they have Fury, so his fate is sealed.

I did not think the Scorchwings could tip the fight here. They could have charged the Grotesques, but are unlikely to best them. They could have flank-charged the Halfbreeds, but the charge would have been hindered on the obstacle. I opt to preserve them, and both hordes will potion to fire into the Iron-Caster, landing 2 damage apiece, which isn't far off the expected result with typical dice. Dwarven defense is no joke!

Unfortunately, the Scorchwings did not start their turn in this position, and are forced to fire.

I make individual charges down the line. This isn't ideal, but I wanted to tie units up, certain that if I left the Hellfane or Golems unengaged, flank charges from them would clean me up.

Down the line, the Hunters clash with the Blacksouls dealing 5 and getting a lucky waver. The Shamblers hit the Hellfane, dealing 1 but getting the disorder to strip Thunderous Charge. The other Shamblers will deal 6 to the Halfbreed regiment, but they will hold. The Hexcaster missed his spell last turn, and the Gladewalker Druid gets a decent heal into this unit of Forest Shamblers, though no other Elemental unit is around to be aided. The Trappers leave the woods to occupy some Golems, but land no damage. 

The Wiltfather though is on a tear, looking to make up for the failures of the Avatar. Cloak of death hits all the units nearby, his attack deals 7 to the Golems, bringing them to 8, and then he gets 9 twice to rout the horde! This is all very unlikely, but I'll gladly take it. 

Top of Round 4: Abyssal Dwarfs

Let the back-breaking commence!

Softhoof is ignored. The furious Halfbreeds and unbothered Grotesques sandwich the Avatar of the Father, and he is seen off the field. Both cavalry units will victoriously position to mitigate the damage the Scorchwings can do in the coming turn.

The Iron-Caster and Decimators will shoot with cover penalties into my Scorwings on my left, bringing them to 13 damage, and will rout them. Radiance of Life and Heal helps the Halfbreeds fighting the Forest Shamblers.

The Abyssal Dwarves reload, eyeing the Scorchwings.

The Golems smash the Trappers, though I don't think I remembered Ensnare here. The Trappers take 8 and are Wavered. 

The Hellfane counter charges and deals 3 to his unit of Forest Shamblers, while the wavered Blacksouls opt to do nothing. The Hellfane is boxing them in a little, so while they can disengage, that's about as far as they can back up, so they can't do much to draw the Hunters away from the objective.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

The Wiltfather flank charges the Hellfane, dealing a hot 14 damage while the Shamblers contribute 2. The Hellfane hasn't received heals this game, so the Herd are luckily able to see him off. 

Hunters continue against the Blacksouls, failing miserably. They land a single point of damage against the evil dwarfs, but without the Hellfane to Inspire them now, I am able to take them off with a single good Nerve check.

A desperate rear charge from the Herd.

I don't think the Scorchwings can best either the nearby Halfbreeds or the Grotesques. They've both been regenerating very well, and have been healed by the Supreme Iron-Caster a lot this game. The Grotesques would be a flank charge, but that still seems dicey. The have a flank charge into the Decimators, but the horde is undamaged, and I don't think I can beat them. They also have a rear into the Supreme Iron-Caster, which seems like my best bet, and I take it. They deal 11 damage, and roll a 3 on the Nerve check, just wavering the Iron-Caster. Unfortunately, the Grotesques now have a rear-charge into the Scorchwings for free. 

Top of Round 5: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Grotesques take the rear charge to pick up the Scorchwings while the Decimators move up to claim the central objective token.

Brutal rear charges from the Abyssal Dwarfs this turn. That shouldn't normally happen!

The Golems and the Halfbreeds sandwich the last Trapper unit, removing them as well.

The other Halfbreed unit charges and routs Softhoof over on the right, as he was unable to get away with his moves, while also unable to land any good ranged hits.

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

The game is long out of my reach, but I want to finish the round and get a little more testing in. The Wiltfather charges the Golems, to see if he can go two for two on one-shotting hordes. He doesn't, but still impresses, rolling six 6's to wound, with the seventh being a 1, which Vicious turns into a 6 as well. It's statistically crazy, and a heck of a message, and I guess I need to run the Wiltfather again soon!

The Wiltfather tries to hard carry the rest of the list.

The Hunters of the Wild don't have a possible charge, so they hold the objective, and I charge the last Forest Shamblers into the nearby Halfbreeds for some more testing. Between their Regen, and the Radiance of Life and no-look heals from the Iron Caster, I believe they start the turn on 0 damage though, and the Shamblers are unable to move them. 

I concede here, and its a win for the Abyssal Dwarfs!

Game Conclusions

This was another difficult game for the Herd! I had 56 ranged shots, but only the Tribal Tracker had Piercing, and with the exception of the hot shooting dice in Round 1, what chip damage I was able to do from afar, was frequently negated already on the next turn by good regeneration rolls, and the powerful Supreme Iron-Caster. Even against moderately armored targets like the Halfbreeds, shooting proved to be pretty ineffective both games, and my only real successes were due to hot dice.

I think I made the right call deploying the Avatar of the Father on the flank, and he had an ideal position going into Round 2. Unfortunately, both he and Softhoof choked incredibly hard, and that was the beginning of the end of the game, despite the Wiltfather's best efforts. Looking through the roster, many of my hammers rely on Thunderous Charge like the Guardian Brutes, or top out at CS2 like the Beast of Nature or my favorite Hydras, so I might need to consider an Alchemist Curse caster in some of the future Herd lists as a way to deal with high armor. A wider line might be good to explore as well. We'll see what I end up cooking up for the Herd next time they hit the table! 

Testing Conclusions

• Hunters of the Wild. I still think that they should be a nice, reliable unit like the Blacksouls or the KoM Foot Guard. Compared to the latter, they get Pathfinder, Scout, and 3 extra attacks for just 5 points! They won against the Blacksouls here, but have still felt underwhelming, and I still don’t feel like I have found a niche for them yet.

• Forest Shamblers. I probably should have deployed these side-by-side, but didn’t want to square up against the superior Obsidian Golems, and figured spreading out a little might help me crack open the dwarven defense for stuff like the Avatar of the Father, or tricky Scorchwings to break through. But I think I was overestimating them in both games? They are a decent generalist horde, but lack the punch to be a hammer or the defense to really tie things up. Scouting with them was still fun though.

• Scout / Boots of Speed. Against such a sturdy battle line, I declined to Scout forward too much, as hitting the dwarfs in waves would not have worked. The Boots gave me the option for a Round 1 charge, but the output from the Forest Shamblers is so low I didn’t think it was a good idea here, and probably isn’t a good one generally. 
• Scorchwing Hordes. The high defense of the dwarfs proved hard to overcome with shooting, and I wasn’t able to get much melee use out of them since I was trying to preserve them and make use of said shooting. I did like the hordes better, since they were a little easier on the brain to use, and I think pairing each horde with some Gur Panther chaff might be fun in the future.
• Gladewalker Druid. I deployed a little awkwardly this time, not wanting to square up and go toe-to-toe with the superior Obsidian Golems using my own elementals, which then meant she couldn't double-cast. Also, she happened to be Hexed a fair amount of the time here. If you happen to be more thoughtful or more disciplined, I think the Ring and spells could be ok, but the elemental-only conditionality is a huge hurdle here, and 150 points is a big investment that didn't work out at all this game. Lesson learned!
• Avatar of the Father. This was another very unfortunate outing for him! Poor guy. I like my model but he hasn't had a good game yet. The deployment was fine and the set-up was right there, but the dice abandoned him (and Softhoof).
• Wiltfather. On the opposite end of the probability curve was the Wiltfather, who overperformed several times, thumping through two Def6 units with unparalleled gumption. While he wasn’t able to pick up the hat trick against the Def6 Dwarfs, he was still very impressive.
• Tribal Trappers. It was a particularly tough match-up for Bows, so I am trying to keep an open mind with them still. They had a hot round, but couldn’t take the rebuttal from the dwarfs. I did notice that troops of these are 85/90 points, which is on par with the Gur Panther chaff, so I might try troops out sometime, to block for Longhorns or something. 
• Tribal Trackers/Softhoof. I had given him duelist this time, and he had a good quarry across the table in the Hexcaster, but I unfortunately needed him to distract the Halfbreeds since I didn't have extra chaff units. I remembered Ensnare though! After both games, he doesn’t have enough attacks to be truly dangerous to units. I think the duelist approach is probably better, though I need a wider list or more chaff so he can sneak around more. 
• Silent Hunt. I mostly remembered Ensnare this game, though terrain and Deadly Snares were again unfortunately non-issues. Ensnare was nice, but the formation didn’t have a good showing here, as I had no real hammers to back them up, and they don’t do enough damage at range to really operate on their own.
• Halfbreeds. Again, they worked like I thought regenerating cavalry should work, and I was simultaneously impressed and a little jealous! I may need to give the Abyssal Horsemen another try or give them another unit. I thought I would do more damage to a Defense 4 unit, but they really performed for my opponent in both games.
• Decimators. The horde again performed very well for my opponent, and had some really good synergy with the Supreme Iron-Caster in the ranged phase. They were 
• Supreme-Iron Caster. As before, this guy was frighteningly effective, and I didn’t really have the tools to get him this time. The free no-look heal is really strong and he is quite a tough supporting character. The boosts from the Halfbreed Affinity rule are nice, but not needed, and he seems able to support any list.
• Obsidian Golems. Even without the Magma Cannons these were pretty scary. With Defense 6 and Crushing 2 they outclassed my Elementals, and should be able to grind very well against anything. The Wiltfather did work, and I got very lucky these were not more impactful this game, as I did not have the tools to deal with them. 

Well, it was clearly a couple of tough games for the Herd, but I had a great time, it was great to get these legacy list ideas tested. I definitely learned a lot! Scouting was a lot fun, Tree Herders (and the Wiltfather) are strong, and I am probably going to run my Scorchwings as hordes for a while! I am still a little salty about the Longhorns being redone, but Lycans got a price reduction, and there is plenty to explore still, as well as hobby on! Hopefully I'll get some ideas cooking and we'll see the Herd on the table again soon!

As-ever, another big thank you to my opponent for fitting these games in!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #050 Herd vs Abyssal Dwarfs [Invade]

Intro and Lists

Winter isn't quite over in Wisconsin, so the frigid temps were recently braved to get some games in! I was up against the gracious Trevor from the DataandDice blog, otherwise known as Cartwright on the forums, who wanted to explore the Abyssal Dwarfs some more:

My opponent likes the Grotesques, and had printed off some Abyssal Halfbreed regiments to explore as well, with the speedy abominations and the mounted Supreme Iron-Caster as the main things to explore with this list. Supporting these was a tried-and-true horde of Decimators, a pair of Gargoyles for disruption, a pair of Rocket Launchers for more ranged oomph, and a pair of Blacksouls as some reliable infantry to block things up. The literally tanky Hellfane makes an appearance with his contraption to help hold the line with the Blacksouls, and a Hexcaster makes an appearance as well, to help shut down enemy magic and needle things with his Feedback abilities. Neither of us are Abyssal Dwarf experts, but this looked like a pretty balanced list to me! It's got a variety of units and lots of things to explore!

Meanwhile, I brought the Herd, which have been a little difficult to pilot. I have some ideas brewing to switch things up, but I had a few legacy lists I really wanted to try out before I moved on, and my opponent was nice enough to oblige! The first list here was playing around more with Scout moves and more grindy and defensive units like some Forest Shamblers and Tree Herders. Up to test are:

• Tribal Trappers. I have been cooling on them a bit, but they have Scout so I am taking them again! We’ll see how they perform this time without Thunderous Charge.
• Silent Hunt. This was suggested in the forum, and thinking about it, this does seem like a good option for how I have been playing the Herd, with the Trappers used as speed bumps more often than not. So I tweaked the list to fit in and revisit the formation.
• Hunters of the Wild. Hypothetically, they seem good, but I have yet to have big success with them. I have learned that they cannot hold the line on their own, so hopefully they can do better alongside some stronger elementals.
• Forest Shamblers. I have played against these before, fighting the Sylvan Kin. I am hoping they can be a good front line unit for a more grindy Herd. We’ll see how they do!
• Wild Gur Panthers. Still my only real chaff choice for the army. Down to one unit here, as I tend to run a little too much chaff. 
• Gladewalker Druid. The Gladewalker looks really intriguing. The Ring lets her conditionally cast two spells a turn, which could be quite potent. 
• Tree Herder. I am running a duo because I have two, they Scout, and I am really going hard on the scout theme here. Ideally, they’ll get into combat with something, and then the Scorchwing Regiments can swarm in for the win.
• Scorchwing Regiments. Running the Scorchwings as regiments has taken up a lot of brainpower in previous games. I think this list should put the regiments in the best possible light, so we’ll see how I do with them.
• Scout! The whole theme of this list! A huge percentage of the list has the ability, so we'll see what additional things I can learn about tis special move.

Table and Terrain

My opponent was gracious enough to host, so we used his typical terrain, and followed our usual terrain rules, running the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, stone fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3. 

We got Invade for the scenario, and so would need to make it across the middle line with the most Unit Strength in order to win. My opponent won the roll off, picked the lazy gamer side, and kicked deployment off for us.

The battle line of evil dwarfs.

My opponent deployed slightly behind the line, to protect from any early charges from my eventual Scouting moves. On the left, we have the Decimator horde with a Halfbreed Champion in reserve, with the Hex Caster and both rocket launchers in the forest. Centrally we have both Blacksouls flanking the Hellfane while protecting both Gargoyle units. The right was speedy and scary with the Grotesques, and both Halfbreed regiments with the Supreme Iron-Caster in reserve.

The Herd's view from the right during deployment.

Left-to-right for me we had some Hunters of the Wild, Gur Panthers, Tree Herder, both Forest Shamblers, and Gladewalker Druid. There wasn't any useful difficult terrain on my side of the board, so the Trapper regiments from the formation came down across from the Dwarf infantry, looking to concentrate some fire. Two Scorchwing Regiments screened the second Tree Herder. Softhoof the Tribal Trapper from the formation led the right flank, with the second Hunters of the Wild regiment and two units of Scorchwings. 

The big scout moves on the left.

I then had Scout moves! On the left, everything went up their maximum. In the center, the Trappers moved up to get into range for some bow shots and the Tree Herder kept pace to protect them, and on the right, the Hunters and Softhoof just hopped the fence. Overall, I was pretty happy with my scout moves. The only bummer was the Gladewalker Druid. She can't scout up, and since she deployed back, she'd have a harder time catching up while casting spells. She should have been deployed on the line.

My opponent won the roll for first turn decision, and opted to go first, so as to not get boxed in.

Top of Round 1: Abyssal Dwarfs

On the left, things stayed put. The Launchers had their leader points in the woods and so could see out clearly. They will launch their rockets, and land two damage apiece into one of the Forest Shambler units. The Hellfane will brandish his pistol and land two damage, and the Decimators will also shoot at them, continuing the trend and also landing 2 damage. At 8 damage, the Shamblers will hold.

Opening moves just preceding the opening volleys.

Over on the right, the abominations move up very quickly. One regiment of Halfbreeds looks to slip behind the building, while the the other regiment and the Grotesques hold the woods, looking to limit the number of multi-charges the Scorchwings had open to them. The Iron-Caster moves up, but I think my opponent forgot the Tree Herders has spells, as my notes have him doing nothing this round.

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

On the right, the Scorchwings can't stop the very aggressive Halfbreed unit, so I opt to run them away for now. The other unit will pull up behind the Hunters of the Wild, and join Softhoof at taking some pot shots into the woods. In total, I think 1 damage is dealt to the Grotesques?

Delaying and repositioning on the right.

In the center, the Herder takes the hill, getting out of the charge arc of the Grotesques. The formation Trappers are in range for some shooting, and two regiments of Scorchwings pull up behind them. All will shoot into a regiment of Dwarf infantry, dealing a combined 9 damage, but the unit holds.

I really like this positioning for my shooters, but wish they had some softer targets this match up.

 
Out on the left, the injured Shamblers move and pivot, letting the Druid catch up to heal away 2 damage. The other horde of Shamblers moves up to threaten the Decimators, and the Herder, not Shambling, moves as close as he can to the shooters, though this is probably a bit too aggressive a move in hindsight. 

The Herd, on approach.

The Gur Panthers want to hunt the war machines, but don't want to get shot by the Decimators, so pull up behind the nearby Forest Shamblers. The Hunters of the Wild move their 10 forward, looking to get around the building next turn.

Top of Round 2: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Abyssal Dwarf abominations continue to push hard on the left. One regiment of Halfbreeds moves and pivots to see around the building. While the Iron-Caster hits a Scorchwing unit with 2 damage from a Fireball. The Grotesques regenerate one of the 2 damage, and the other is healed from Radiance of Life from the Iron-Caster. The remaining Halfbreed regiment and Grotesques multi-charge the Hunters of the Wild, scattering them.

The evil dwarven abominations crash in!

The center gets complicated. The Hellfane and a unit of Dwarfs multi-charge the Tree Herder in the front, dealing 6 total, but the Herder holds. The other unit of Dwarfs charge the wounded horde of Forest Shamblers, and slip 3 more damage in.

The Gargoyles flap up, looking to delay the Herd.

Gargoyles fly up, with one charging the Trappers and landing 4 damage, and one protecting the flank of the Hellfane.

On the left, the Halfbreed Champion is boxed in, and can't charge through the Decimators, so just moves through them to block up the imposing Forest Shamblers, who take a hefty volley from the rocket launchers and Decimators, taking 10 damage. Thankfully, everything holds for me this turn.

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

On the left, the Hunters of the Wild make it around the building, eyeing the flank of the Decimators, who endure a frontal charge from the Tree Herder. The Shamblers will charge the Halfbreed Champion, rout him and overrun. Unfortunately with spacing issues, the Gur Panthers can't charge anything, so just slip by, entering the woods and threaten to war machines next turn.

The Herd arrive, but not as forcefully as I would have liked.

In the center, Forest Shamblers counter-charge the Dwarfs, with some Scorchwings hitting them in the flank. The unit will be routed, with the Shamblers facing the center of the field while the Scorchwings looking to charge a war machine next round. The Gladewalker Druid will land a heal on each of the Forest Shambler units.

Melees in the center of the field.

The Tribal Trappers will each charge a unit of Gargoyles, and each trounce their respective unit. 

The Tree Herder opts to fight the Hellfane, landing a few damage, but nothing amazing. He will shuffle down to center up against the titanic tank.

Delaying on the right, with a lot of (ineffectual) shooting.

The three other Scorchwing Regiments will fly around. They are looking to delay the abominations, by setting up some lackluster charges for them. All three plus Softhoof will shoot into the nearest Halfbreed Regiment, with the Tracker making use of his Oil item. Unfortunately, the rolling isn't stellar, and only 5 damage lands.

Top of Round 3: Abyssal Dwarfs

The wing of abominations relentlessly advance. The injured of Halfbreeds makes a hindered charge into one of the Scorchwing while regenerating 2 damage. The Scorchwings will take 4, and waver. The other regiment of Halfbreeds moves through my deployment zone towards the center of the table, hoping for some future charges.

Messy combats out on the center/right.

The Grotesques make a clean charge into the front of another unit of Scorchwings. Things are messy on the hill, and we want to see things fight, so we let the dwarfs hit the rear of the Scorchwing unit while the Iron-Caster makes the more important flank charge into the Tree Herder, who is also taking a hit in the front from the disordered Hellfane. They each deal 3, taking him to 11 damage, and my opponent gets the 7 twice to rout him! I was expecting the Blacksouls to hit the flank of the Tree Herder, and thought I could endure that, so the charging Iron-Caster was a surprise to me! Well played!

The central anchoring unit for Herd is no more.

Out on the left, the Decimators counter-charge the Tree Herder for 2 damage, and the launchers land 3 on the impending Scorchwings, though both hold. 

Combats around the woods.

The Hex Caster is neat. He hasn't been able to Hex the Herd's druid all game, but apparently you can Hex anything. The spell normally does nothing to non-spellcasters, but his particular needling actually does damage on the hits as well, and he slips 2 damage onto the Wild Gur Panthers in front of him, wavering the beasts.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

The Panthers are wavered, but I don't mink where they are, so they stay put. The Scorchwing unit descents upon a war machine instead, but the evil dwarfs build them good. Only 4 damage is done, and the unit holds, though they are disordered.

Mid-combat around the war machines.

The Decimators take charges from the Tree Herder and Forest Shamblers in the front, while the Hunters of the Wild tear into a flank. The unit isn't devastated, but would need an Insane Courage result to hold, and doesn't get it. 

Delaying in the center.

Centrally, the Forest Shamblers and some of the Tribal Trappers attack the Hellfane. It has some damage on it, so I think I was just hoping for hot dice. 

. The Gladewalker Druid hides behind the wounded Trappers, and heals the Forest Shamblers and then her screening unit. Unfortunately, this is an illegal move, as both targets need to have the Elemental keyword. The illegally rejuvenated Trappers will shoot into the Iron-Caster, and land 1 damage.

More shooting and delaying out on the right.

Out on the right, the wavered Scorchwing unit disengages, forcing more hindered charges next turn from the Halfbreeds. Meanwhile the other unit flies out of charge arcs to harass again. It and the Tribal Tracker Softhoof will shoot into the regiment again, landing just 3 new damage. The regiment is only at 6, and holds. 

Top of Round 4: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Abyssal Dwarfs continue pushing hard. The Iron-Caster will nimbly fly away, landing a big fireball into the Tribal Trappers protecting the druid, delivering 5 damage and wavering the unit. Through his special rules, the Iron-Caster casts his free second spell, healing up the Hellfane.

The dwarven abominations keep pushing.

Both Halfbreed Regiments will make hindered charges into the plucky Scorchwing unit, routing it this time.

The Grotesques and Hellfane hit the Shamblers, besting them and overrun, while the Blacksoul infantry regiment comes off the hill hitting the Trappers for 6 damage. 

The Hex Caster will harass the Panthers again, dealing 1 and wavering them again with his Feedback damage.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

The Panthers will get a Radiance of Life from the nearby Tree Herder. With the Decimators gone, the Herder and the Forest Shamblers warily eye up the center of the field. The Grotesques are fresh and dangerous though, and they opt to stay out of charge range.

Central combats.

The Hunters of the Wild take down one war machine, while the Scorchwings take another. 

Softhoof and the remaining Scorchwings continue to harass the Abyssal Halfbreeds. They have been regenerating amazingly well, and were down to 2. Combined, I slip in 1 more damage, and get some lucky boxcars on the check to waver them.

Top of Round 5: Abyssal Dwarfs

The wavered Halfbreeds spin to deter the Scorchwings from any funny business, while the other charges Softhoof. It's a hindered charge off the obstacle, into Ensnare, and only 3 damage slips in.

Already scoring, the Halfbreed regiments aim to clean up the right flank.

The Grotesques hit one unit of Tribal Trappers, crushing them and then changing facing to regard the rest of the Herd units. The Hellfane will join the Blacksouls in grinding out the other unit of Trappers.

The scoring Herd and scoring Abyssal Dwarfs wheel to face off-again as the game winds down.

The Iron-Caster hits the Gladewalker druid with a Fireball, and no-look heals something else, either the Hellfane to full or one of the Halfbreed regiments to full.

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

Given the wide frontage, I triple charge the Grotesques with the Tree Herder, Forest Shamblers, and Scorchwings. They deal 14 damage between them, and are thankfully able to see the unit off. 

Round 5 charges for the Herd.

The Hunters of the Wild deal with the Hexcaster, and then overrun, trying to help out in one more combat as the game concludes.

And some unfortunately cold dice for a late-game rear charge.

The Scorchwings lingering out on the right can see the rear of the Blacksoul regiment, and I opt to charge that instead of either of the regiments of Halfbreeds. Even with a flank charge into one of the units, I don't think I could break the cavalry. The infantry have healed up, but still have one damage from earlier scuffles. Unfortunately, I only deal 2 damage. 

Top of Round 6: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Blacksouls countercharge the Scorchwings, with the Iron-Caster charging into their flank. They are devastated and then routed. 

Combats in the final round.

Spacing-wise, the Hellfane can't maneuver to score, so he charges my scoring unit of Scorchwings, and then backs up in victory.

Bottom of Round 6: Herd

The Hunters of the Wild charges the Hellfane, with the Forest Shamblers hitting the tank in the flank. Defense 6 is very hard to deal with, and while 8 damage is done here, the Hellfane endures.

A dicey end too Round 6.

The Herd are invading for 7, with the Tree Herder (1) Forest Shambler Horde (3) and Hunters of the Wild (3). The Abyssal Dwarfs are invading for 11, with the Iron-Caster (2), Blacksouls (3) and both Halfbreeds (3 apiece).

The Abyssal Dwarfs are winning 11 to 7, and things are as good as they can get for the Herd. Instead of exploring a round 7, I concede here so we can try to fit in a second game. 

Game Conclusions

It was a great game! Neither of us are super-familiar with the Abyssal Dwarfs, but they certainly have some good tools from the look of things here! It was very cool to see them on the table and all painted up, and very cool to play against a "balanced" list like this. It had a little bit of everything, and we had a good back and forth game.

The Herd was in a bit of a difficult spot with no appropriate terrain to utilize on the approach, but I was able to mitigate that somewhat with my own scout moves. Unfortunately my shooting could not get through the Supreme Iron-Caster's heals or the regeneration, and those speedy abominations never had more than a few damage on them at any given time. They survived, and eventually won the game decisively for my opponent.

Testing Conclusions

• Tribal Trappers. I liked them here with the scout move, where they were then able to layer up with the Scorchwings to focus-fire things nicely. Unfortunately, none of these units had Piercing, and the dwarfs had good defense values, so the volleys were not particularly withering. Mid-game they prevailed in the chaff war against the Gargoyles, and late-game they were used to chaff stuff up themselves, so not a bad use of them this game, I suppose.
• Tribal Tracker/Softhoof. Fire-Oil seemed worth trying out here since I had a few extra point, but unfortunately, he’s just a guy. The damage output isn’t there since he has so few attacks.
• Silent Hunt. I did not have good terrain to work with here, so the Deadly Snares rule didn’t come up, and out in the open, I forgot Ensnare in a few fights for the Trappers as well. The units did ok, but the Formation didn’t have great showcase here.
• Hunters of the Wild. The one on my left did well, scouting up quickly and then swinging around. The one on the right needed to be sacrificed, as has been their typical role. A mixed bag this time and so still a bit underwhelming.
• Forest Shamblers. In conjunction with the Gladewalker’s double-casts, I liked them. Healing a few points on each of them in the mid game was great. However, their damage output wasn’t impressive though, and they are just Defense 5, so one is really paying for Scout here. All-in-all, not bad for a debut.
• Wild Gur Panthers. They were boxed out and then perpetually wavered. Not a great time for them, but it’s a chaff unit, so it’s not the end of the world.
• Scorchwing Regiments. The regiments continue to take a lot of brainpower. Delaying and shooting with them felt like the right call, since I wasn’t going to best any of the abomination units in a one-on-one melee, but the evil dwarf cavalry endured my chip damage again and again, so these felt particularly underwhelming for most of the game. 
• Gladewalker Druid. She was taken to support the Scouting Shamblers, and so should have been deployed at the line to better keep pace with their scouting moves. Mid-game I forgot about the conditionality of the double-casting, and the Trappers got some heals they should not have. Among the Forest Shamblers, I liked her, but with the strict conditions, I was less impressed with her. At 150 points, she's doing some good support, but  
• Tree Herders. I probably could have blocked for or supported them better, but I also wanted to test them out in earnest. They aren’t invincible, but did fine, and it was fun to play around with a Def6 unit of my own! Radiance of Life is cool, but I didn't support them properly to make good use of the healing effect. Definitely worth trying again sometime though! 
• Scout. My opponent deployed back slightly to counter my scouting moves a bit, but overall I think I did a good job here, tossing a Tree Herder towards the isolated Decimators, and pressuring the center well enough. 
• Abyssal Halfbreeds. I am a little jealous because these functioned exactly like I thought my Abyssal Horsemen should have been performing the last year or so: shaking off chip damage, charging in, and then grinding things out. These did get babysat by the Supreme Iron-Caster though, which made a huge difference when shaking off the chip damage. My opponent wanted to explore these a bit, and I’d count these as a success!
• Decimators. They are very scary as a horde! Steady Aim gives them a large threat-range for the Blunderbusses. I was very lucky to shut them down so quickly this game, but I foresee this being a staple for my opponent.  
• Supreme Iron-Caster. This is usually where I disparage titanic fliers like this, but this thing was a beast! My opponent used him well, and he had a pretty good match up, seeing as I had no real monster-slayers or artillery. Fireball kept contributing here and there, but the star was the no-look free heal. Between that and Radiance of Life, he was able to do his own chip damage while negating most of mine. I had been treating him as just a big spellcaster as the game unfolded, but the flank charge into the Tree Herder proved he's got come combat chops as well. 

A big thank you to my opponent for hosting and for fitting this in! I had a great day, and we were even able to squeeze in a second game, which should be posted soon.