Kings of War 3rd Edition: #055 Herd vs Sylvan Kin [Dominate]

Intro and Lists

I thought it would be a few weeks before our paths would cross again, but some unexpected March snow cancelled some of his travel plans, and friend, fellow blogger, and forum-goer Cartwright was able to squeeze in a quick game with me recently. We were playing over at his place, and he carted out some Sylvan Kin, running the following:

We haven't seen the Sylvan Kin in a few months. We'll see how the Clash changes effected the speediest elementals! Yes, both Greater Air Elementals are returning, along with the very versatile Nimue, a Tree Herder, and a Forest Warden. The Warden intrigued me last time, as a cheap source of Inspiring and Surge. With several targets for the spell, we'll see what he gets up to! Holding the line would be a regiment and a horde of Forest Shamblers, a horde of Air Elemental, all eager for Surge. Backing up the elementals were two regiments of expensive Gladestalkers, a normal Stormwind Cavalry regiment, and a brand new infantry regiment of Boskwraiths. The Boskwraiths are a berserker-like unit with a lot of attacks, good infantry speed and Wild Charge D3, but have no innate CS or TC, and this particular list had no way to grant that. We'll see how these crazy, amped-up trees do! The last entry in the list was an Elven King on a horse with a bow. Inspiring, good mobility and decent utility! The King seems a bit more on the disruptive / chaff side of things, and I expect him to be skulking around the periphery, but we'll see what he actually gets up to as the game unfolds! 

   

My Herd are still reeling a bit from the Longhorn change. I’ve got some new units in process and some list ideas bouncing around, but for now, I wanted to try out a list that focused primarily on flying and positioning, while also exploring a few things I think might become staples for most Herd generals. 

• Tribal Spear Horde. I am embracing hordes more and more thanks to my experiences with the Kingdoms of Men. These kind of generic mid-tier infantry really needs to be run in hordes. While I need to pay for Thunderous Charge on these now, I think it's worth it, and this new cost is mitigated by the cost reduction to spear units generally. I think hordes of these are probably the Herd's best battle line unit right now, offering a decent mix of survivability and threat, but it's my first time running these in a horde, so we'll see how they actually perform.
• Guardian Brutes. With the Longhorns so drastically different, I need something else in my lists to do damage. It's a short list of Herd units that get to 2 CS/TC, and these are one of the few options that I have, so we'll try them out!
• Lycans. I have a large collection of Lycans, but haven’t really explored them previously. They are quick, but with just CS1, they seemed underwhelming for their price. The Lycans recently got discounts though, so that's why they are here! With some points left over as I was finalizing the list, I decided to give them Mindthirst. I figured I'd be using these for outriding and outflanking, and likely away from my own sources. Maybe it will come in handy. 
• Scorchwing Hordes. Positioning the regiments just kept melting my brain. I get the same number of attacks here, but less to think about, and more Nerve to work with. Hopefully the hordes should be easier to use! 
• Woodland Critters. Their debut! They fly, so they got added to the list to test out. Flying can be amazing to have on chaff, but I don't expect these will actually do much. They Fly, but are just Speed 6, and just Height 1, so their only real move is to hang back and then fly up in front of something to die. For that, 80 points seems steep, and I'd probably rather have some Gur Panthers around, but we'll see if they surprise me.
• Flying Beasts of Nature. Their debut! They should function a bit like my General on Winged Beast, which is to say probably underwhelming! The hope is that my opponent respects a 20" charge range, and I can use these in the early game to pressure. As the game progresses, hopefully opposing units get stuck up on things like the Hydra and Spears, and they can get some flank or rear charges to break enemy units. 
• Hydra. It is still a conflicted unit, wanting to take damage for the extra attacks, but is also regenerating said damage away. It's a casual unit with all that variation, but I still like the Hydra on paper. It also hits the CS/TC 2 threshold, and is a lot of Nerve for the points. I have struggled to get good use out of it previously, so we'll see what insights I can pick up this time around.
• Druids with Bane Chant. I need Inspiring sources, and BC is nice to have with mid-tier infantry like the Spears. With the clash updates they lost their Heal spell, but it was only Heal 2, and  so weak, was unlikely to swing anything. Little Inspiring sources with Bane Chant should be good enough for my needs.
• Avatar of the Father. He has not had a good game yet. In theory, all the messiness of a typical heavy / titanic flier like a dragon is stripped away: no breath attack, just good stats and a solid charge range. In practice, he's run up against a lot of Insanely Courageous units, and I don't think he has actually broken a single enemy unit yet (though he's only been in a few other games). Between him and two Flying Beasts, I am hoping things get messy and my monstrous fliers can sneak around and be little damage multipliers as the game goes on. 

Cartwright and I have generally avoided our "near-mirror" match-ups for the sake of more variety, but these are the armies we wanted to play the most on the day, so we went for it. We both ended up wfairly evenly matched with exact drops, similar Unit Strength, and similar styles of lists, down to each running multiple flying monsters, and a towering thing to battle over the center. My games running the Herd have been rather bloody and quick, so it should be an interesting match-up! 

Table and Terrain

My opponent was hosting the game, so we used his terrain, including some nice newly printed ruins. We 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 rolled up Dominate for the scenario. I won the roll-off, and didn't see any big differences so I picked the side I was already on, lazy-gamer style.

Deployment for the Sylvan Kin.

From my perspective, left to right the Sylvan Kin had the Boskwraiths and Nimue in the forest, a Greater Air Elemental, Tree Herder, Air Elemental Horde and Forest Shambler Horde as the main line. A building split the deployment zone here, and right flank has speedier units with the Forest Shambler Regiment screening a Greater Air Elemental, Forest Warden, Gladestalkers, Stormwind Cavalry, other Gladestalkers, with the Elven King out on the flank. My opponent is great at running battle groups, and I probably should have guessed that with the Bow, the King would be near the Gladestalkers.

The Herd's Center, and sparse left.

On my far left I had a Beast of Nature, a building, and Lycans. These were my two final drops, as I wanted to zip into the forest and hopefully get an easy kill against the Def3 Boskwraith regiment. Screened by the forest and hills, my center had both Guardian Brutes, the Hydta, a Druid and the Woodland Critters in reserve. Nearby was the other Druid and the horde of Tribal Spearmen, angled to try and make use of the obstacle to hold at the periphery of the scoring zone. My fast stuff and shooting stuff was also on my right, with the second Flying Beast, both Scorchwing Hordes and the Avatar of the Father. 

The speedy flying right flank for the Herd.

This pairing up of shooting units was by design. Seeing my list, my opponent delayed his Gladestalkers until my Scorchwings started arriving. I remembered the Gladestalkers were shooters, but they had plenty of other S words going for them, including scouts and stealthy and steady aim. This was potentially a very good match up for his shooters, assuming I can't close the distance quickly.

Round 0: Scouting Moves

I didn't bring anything with Scout, but my opponent sure did! 

Scout moves, from the Sylvan Kin.

The Tree Herder and Forest Shambler horde hopped up around 4", careful to keep out of range of the Flying Beasts. Honestly, that was not something I was really even considering until my opponent started measuring! Charging the Beasts into the front of hordes probably isn't the best use of them, but it is a good habit to be aware of fliers.

The Forest Shambler regiment scouted up as well, and was just in charge range of the Flying Beast on my right but nothing else. The Forest Warden moved up, but stayed slightly back, safe from any Round 1 charges. Both Gladestalkers scouted up as well, to get into shooting range of their Scorchwing quarry, but were 21" away.

My opponent won the roll for deciding the turn order, and seized the initiative.

Top of Round 1: Sylvan Kin

My opponent was happy with the positioning granted by his scouting moves, and as a result, very little moved on his turn.

The Air Elementals catch up with the trees.

The Stormwind Cavalry held back, and only the Greater Air Elemental moved up, getting back behind the screening regiment of Forest Shamblers.

The Greater Air Elemental peeks through the forest.

Centrally, the Air Elemental Horde whirled up to get even with the scout moves from the Tree Herder and the Forest Shambler Horde.

The other Greater Air Elemental moved up to get its leader point into the woods to threaten my lines. Nimue flitted up a bit. The Boskwraiths were originally even with Nimue, but my opponent eventually thought better of it, and they moved up to the edge of the deployment zone, looking to zone-out my Flying Beast. This was wise, otherwise I had nice 20" to move and nimble pivot to look down his line with impunity. Well spotted!

A very unfortunate opening for the Herd!

Having scouted to get into range, the Gladestalkers loosed, and boy did they have the number for the Scorchwings. Near the table edge, the regiment did 5 and the King did 2, and the Sylvan Kin secured a Waver. The other regiment loosed into the other horde, scored 6, and secured another Waver. Ouch!

And with that, it was over to the Herd.

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

Have 400+ points of stuff wavering in the bottom of Round 1 isn't ideal. I opted to try and delay the seemingly inevitable. Both Scorchwings moved back 5" out of shooting range of the Gladestalkers. Sure, they have Steady Aim, but they will need to move, and they may open things up for me. Both the Flying Beast and Avatar moved up ever so slightly, covering the retreat while staying out of charge range of the Greater Air Elemental.

The Scorchwings retreat for now. 

The Hydra had deployed on the line with the Brutes about a half inch back. They move up a bit, but not quite their speed. The Woodland Critters hop up as well. The Greater Air Elemental in the forest can see things, but the Woodland Critters should complicate a charge into the Guardian Brutes, and nothing else should be in charge range here just yet, since it is a lot of speed 6 stuff staring each other down.

The Herd tries and dissuade the Greater Air Elemental

On the left, the Flying Beast tentatively moves up, with charges into the Boskwraiths and Greater Air Elemental. The Lycans move up tentatively, and end at a bit of an angle to face down the Greater Air Elemental. The unit is a flier, but it is Shambling, so I am just trying to box it in a bit. It can't land to fight the Guardian Brutes, but if it charges anything else, things are around to punish it. The Lycans have an 18" charge range, so my hope is to dissuade my opponent a bit this turn and then double-team the Boskwraiths next turn. 

My shooting is currently cowering, so it's a very quick Round 1.

Top of Round 2: Sylvan Kin

The Gladestalkers continue to roll quite well. Both inch up to continue the hunt against their prey. One regiment does 2 damage, along with 2 from the King to bring the Horde to 13 damage total before routing it, while the other regiment lands another 5 damage all on their own, bringing that horde up to 11 damage, before it routs as well. What a catastrophic start for the Herd this game! The rest of the Kin's right flank holds, as my opponent knows he has quite the shooting advantage, and doesn't want to risk my combat fliers getting behind his lines.

I mean, they're easiest to use if they aren't on the table anymore, right?

More centrally, the Greater Air Elemental leaves the woods, not wanting to start a piece trade. It is able to back up far enough to get away from the Flying Beast.

Nimue moves out of charge range for the Flying Beast too, and the Boskwraiths back up. They cannot get away from the Beast, but this does get them out of charge range of the Lycans and royals spoils my plans here.

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

With no charges the Lycans pivot and advance a bit. With just the Boskwraiths, as a possibly charge, I hold the Flying Beast back as well. It's not going to break them, and it seems foolish to charge the Beast alone into the front when things are about to go down.

The Herd moves into the center.

I make a move in the center, with the Woodland Critters hopping up to block in the Tree Herder. The Guardian Brutes enter the woods to threaten things, and the Hydra and other Brutes move up as well. Things can charge me next turn, but multiple charges will be difficult.

It's Round 2, and I am already down 400+ points now. I send the Beast in against the Forest Warden to delay. It's definitely not great odds, but if I can punch through him, I can overrun the 1" to safety and then keep this flank disorganized in the coming turns. It's a desperate charge. I forget Vicious, but the hit rolls aren't great. Only 2 damage lands, and he's stuck. Things will be delayed a turn, but it's not a great situation for him.

The Avatar of the Father nimbly pivots moves and pivots again to move down the line and get closer to the Tribal Spearmen. All alone, his usefulness isn't great, but he could maybe intercept something in the coming turn and help me in play for the middle.

Top of Round 3: Sylvan Kin

Nimue uses his one-a-game move to fly up behind the Lycans. Cloak of Death hits them and the Guardian Brutes, and the Waydancer prepares a spell... The Great Air Elemental moves 10" and pivots, to stare right at the flank of the Lycans. Oops. I guess I moved them too far up last turn... the Greater Air Elementals are notoriously hard to plan around! Nimue will get them the 1" needed via Surge, and the GAE will deal 11 new damage to the Lycans, and wipe the unit out and then overrun, to get out of the charge arc of the Guardian Brutes.

The Boskwraiths make a break for it.

The Boskwraiths roll max for their Wild Charge, and they are then able to escape the woods and hit the flank of the Woodland Critters, with the Tree Herder smashing in from the front. The Critters are sent running. The Herder will back up and the Boskwraiths will lazily turn to face things.

The Herd loses some more units.

The Forest Shambler Horde will make a front-charge into the Guardian Brutes, with the other Greater Air Elemental joining in. Each will deal 6, and even Inspired, the Brutes will be bested. The Brutes have Fury, so this is another bummer. The Greater Air Elemental backs up and the Forest Shamblers wheel to face the Hydra.

Over on the right, the Forest Shambler regiment will lurch up into the center. The Forest Warden will countercharge the Beast, dealing 1, with the Stormwind Cavalry hitting the monster in the flank for 19 damage, devastating the beast, and the routing it. The Warden will back up, and the cavalry will pivot. Attacking the Warden was a long-shot play from me, and at least the Cavalry are delayed.

The Gladestalkers move up and loose into the Avatar of the Father, joined by the King. The King misses, but the regiments continue to roll hot, and between them will deal 10 damage to the big guy. 

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

Going into Round 6, I've dealt a total of 2 damage (to the Forest Warden), while my opponent removed 400+ points of units. Top of Round 3, another 600+ points of the Herd is slain. I am not winning this game and have been thoroughly outplayed. But, I've got units to test, so we persevere! Something on the Herd's side needs to get into combat this game.

An awkward rear charge is still a rear charge! The Tribal Spears are doing their best.

The Tribal Spears had hunkered down behind the obstacle, but that proved to be a bad call with the Sylvan Kin playing more defensively. They are forced to clamber over the fence now, for a hindered charge into the rear of the Forest Shamblers. They roll a bit poorly landing just 12 damage, and the Nerve check is just shy of the Rout. With Fearless, the Shamblers are sticking around. 

The Guardian Brutes crash into the Air Elementals, and will pulverize them for my first kill of the game. They will spin around to face the tough Shamblers. Hydra goes into the front of the Tree Herder, with the Beast hitting the flank. 

In retrospect, this multi-charge is an error. The Herder is Def6. I am not going to break it. Nor am I likely to break the Boskwraiths in the flank. But charging in the Hydra alone and tying the tree up isn't a bad idea, as it limits the counter charge options for the Herder. The Hydra needs to be taking damage to be effective with its extra attacks, and the multi-charge here lets my opponent ignore the Hydra and countercharge the other unit. Lessons learned!

The Forest Warden is just out of range for the Avatar. It would be in the front, but charging the Stormwind Cavalry unit or the Gladestalkers nearest the edge of the table would have been a better call if things were going better for me. As it is, the Avatar is maimed, and not likely to last another turn. I opt to flank charge the Forest Shambler Regiment, and remove it to buy time for testing out what remains of my list.

Top of Round 4: Sylvan Kin

The Boskwraiths can't see anything, so they just pivot slightly. My opponent wants to ignore the Hydra completely, for the reasons described above. He considers withdrawing and rear-charging the Guardian Brutes (while writing the report... the Herder is engaged on two facings, so this would be illegal, so it's good we didn't do that!). He considers counter-charging the Beast with the Herder. But the Greater Air Elemental has limited options. It can nimbly move and get 1" away from the Hydra, so I talk him in to counter-charging the Hydra with the Tree Herder too. Nimue can surges the Elemental in, and the Hydra ends at 20 damage, and is devastated and then routed. The Tree Herder is Hight 5, meaning my Beast will be able to see basically just him next turn, making this a very effective play. 

The Herd takes some more hits as the game grinds towards a conclusion. 

The unbothered Forest Shamblers counter charge the Tribal Spearmen, swiveling around. The other Greater Air Elemental starts the turn an inch away, but facing the wrong way as I recall. I changes facing, the the Forest Warden is able to stagger forward and Surge it into the flank. My opponent dice finally cool off. The Shamblers do only 4, the Greater Air Elemental only 6. The horde is Inspired, but the Nerve check is an 11, wavering the infantry horde.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

Things have not improved for the Herd, but there is still testing to do!

The Guardian Brutes flank charge the Forest Shamblers, brining them up to 37 damage. Thankfully, the Brutes are able to best the shrubs, and will change facing 180 degrees to stare menacingly at my opponent's deployment zone.

Not much left for the Herd.

The Beast can't charge anything besides the Tree Herder, as discussed previously. I consider flying it up and over, but I can't get out of line of sight of the Stormwind Cavalry either. I charge in and take the big tree up to 6 damage, but it obviously holds.

Wavered, I'll eventually remember to change facing with the Tribal Spearmen, to face the oncoming elves.

Top of Round 5: Sylvan Kin

The Greater Air Elementals are surged into the flanks of the Guardian Brutes, with one taking a withdraw penalty as it extricates itself from the Tribal Spearmen. Still, the Brutes are easily obliterated. 

The final charges from the Sylvan kin.

The Tribal Spearmen take a triple charge from the Stormwind Cavalry, Gladestalkers, and the King. The Gladestalkers end on the obstacle, so everything is hindered heading in, and with Phalanx, all the TC is stripped. The damage is kept down to just 8, which would be amazing, if their total wasn't 18. The Spearmen are annihilated as well.

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

It's Dominate, and I am down to just two Druids. I have no units that can possibly score, but have finally gotten into some combats to get some testing done, and will concede here.

Game Conclusions

Well, that was a one-sided bloodbath! With Stealthy, the Gladestalkers should still have a good match up against my Scorchwings regardless of the turn order, but getting 1st turn really exacerbated the edge the elves had. The Gladestalkers then rolled amazingly well for 3 consecutive (early) rounds, first completely shutting down my shooting with risky split fire, then routing my shooting entirely with more split fire, and then grievously injuring my Avatar of the Father with focused fire, who just wanted one game where his combats didn't result in Insane Courage! He did finally break a unit this game, but it was far from impactful, and he has still yet to have a good time!

Keeping on with the Sylvan Kin side of things, the Air Elementals still hit plenty hard! They almost got exclusively flank charges, and Nimue was quite the enabler here, being able to pop behind my line and then surge one into the flank of the Lycans to open things up for my opponent. With nothing to duel or hunt him at that point, there was very little I could do against the Surge shenanigans, and Nimue has been surprisingly effective for my opponent thus far.

There is not much else to say. The game started out poorly for the Herd and never got better! My opponent came in with a good strategy and was able to execute it rather flawlessly. This was an overwhelming win predicated on some good strategy and I definitely cannot begrudge that! 

Testing Conclusions

• Tribal Spear Horde. I figured the Gladestalkers would be with the other elves in the forest in my opponent's deployment zone, and I did not want them shot off, so put them here instead of near the building opposit that forest. The charge was awkward given the obstacle, but overall, I was happy with them. I think a horde or two would be a great place for someone to start up a Herd list nowadays. 
• Guardian Brutes. The first rout was quite unlucky and a bummer, but that's why I run two units of things I want to test! The second unit made up for things, thumping two elemental hordes and showing that these are definitely a threat when they get the charge. They are a bit fragile with Def4 and typical Large Infantry Nerve, but can dish out the damage relatively well. 
• Lycans. The price decrease is good, unfortunately we didn't get to see these in action. Mindthirst did come into play though, with Nimue Inspiring them after surging the GAE into their flank, which was a bit funny. More testing is needed, but I conceptually I am still not sold on these yet.
• Scorchwing Horde. Nothing to say here. They never had a chance. 
• Woodland Critters. Speed 6 wasn't as bad as I figured, but that's mostly because everything else around them was also Speed 6. They still weren't good though. I would like them if they were more like Imps or Orclings? Paying for Fly doesn't seem worth it here.
• Flying Beasts of Nature. I was not able to execute well with them for their debut. I was on the the back foot immediately, while also jockeying for positions against two Greater Air Elementals, and this was just not a fun time for them. They might have done better against a different list, and do seem worth exploring, so we'll definitely give them another try sometime.
• Hydra. The Hydra is a very weird unit, but I like it and still want to play around with him, and I definitely learned some things here! I deployed him at the line and was decently aggressive with him, but I think he should be a distraction carnifex, as the Warhammer folks used to say. Keeping him Inspired would be nice, but I should be sending him in solo on these early turns and looking to tar pit something scary. They can grind for a few turns, and then I can hopefully reinforce with stuff like the Flying Beast.
• Druids with Bane Chant. They worked well enough. My opponent and I discussed this a bit, as I often run the spell while he does not. I think lower-tier units (Zombies, Penitents) don't really need it. Defensive units don't necessarily need it, with the points better-spent to improve their survivability rather than their fighting prowess. Higher-tier units (Soul Reavers, Huscarls / Hearthguard) don't usually need it, as they are destructive enough. Cavalry can make use of it, but it can be hard for a caster to keep pace. However, mid-tier infantry (units with 12ish attacks, CS1 or lacking it entirely, 4+ to hit and/or for defense, things like my KoM Foot Guard, Abyssal Guard and all these Tribal units) really want it, as the spell lets them actually contribute some damage during the game. These are units I seem to be running regularly, so a Lute on an ASB and such is very welcome in my lists. Here, with a la carte spells, the Druids function similarly, but I can take multiples.
• Avatar of the Father. This was only his third outing, but he has not been having a good time as the Herd figurehead so far! The first two saw him charge stuff only to find it insanely courageous, and while this outing he finally routed something, I think running him alongside other fast units, particularly other flying threats, is still a good idea, I was just unable to execute it well here.

Our last game ended with a draw, and this is about the farthest from that result you can get, but I still had a great time both times. Thanks for fitting this in and congrats on the victory!

Hobby Update: Horse Raiders / Sliksneer's Shriekers

Wisconsin had a few nice, albeit windy days back in February, and I managed to prime a small group of minis during one of them. Up now are some redone Varangur Horse Raiders / Sliksneer’s Shriekers!

The formation!

I’ve had Horse Raiders in some form for quite a while, and I had previously redone them into two troops of three minis, with a seventh bonus mini kept as a Mounted Skald drumming away, back from when that was an option. Since their last update, I have picked up a few ebay bundles, and aimed to expand these into regiments, though I wasn't able to prime them up to do over the winter.

The models are more GW Chaos Marauder Horsemen, and were all ebay rescues from the last year or so, all with broken javelins, missing pieces and such. I set my sights on these in the New Year, slowly replacing pieces and getting them off of their old bases. The previous owner(s) used a variety of glues, making all this more difficult than usual, since some things were cemented together, requiring snipping, sanding and the raiding of bits boxes to touch up.

For whatever reason, the primer was very hydrophobic. This was my first winter with a garage, and my primer cans are kept there, so this may have been a temperature thing, or a shaking thing. I’ll have more to prime soon, so we’ll see if I can troubleshoot things at all. For now, I ended up slapping a thin layer of light gray craft paint over everything after priming. The rest of the paint did stick a little better, but it still took forever to paint these up.

Two troops as a regiment.

The older models had a black primer, with the newcomers getting a far lighter color. I used the same paints, but things turned out a little differently, likely due to the undercoat. Thankfully, I was able to mix the old and new models together and it all looks fine.

A regiment, based as such.

The Horse Raiders haven’t had any impressive showings yet, but I still think they have a lot of potential as a unit, and that I’ve just been using them very poorly. So far, they’ve just been run as troops with throwing axes, which has seen them run up, maybe land a point of damage with a toss, and then get charged and routed. This could be ok I guess, if you are using them to instigate trades while supporting them properly with Mounted Sons or Frostfangs or monsters or something. However, even here, the cheaper Snow Foxes would likely be more cost-effective speed bumps if you just need a chaff unit to be dying for the cause. The Raiders are versatile, so you want to preserve them if you can.

Since the axes put them into charge range of too many things, I had resolved to use these with bows next time, though I was unable to get in a game with the old unit prior to finishing up the new models, since this took most of my February hobbying time. The bows should be less impactful (no piercing), but should keep them safer until you are ready to charge something with them. 

The new Lord, Sliksneer.

And if I can figure out how to use the units a little better, Sliksneer’s Shriekers look like a great formation to run. They are irrelegular, so they need to be unlocked, but that is not a difficult hurdle to clear, and can be done by some Draugr even.

In the formation, the Raiders get buffed to Me3, which should let them hit just a bit harder when the time comes, and Sliksneer himself gives a nice Brutal Aura to Barbarian Units, which covers the all human units in the army, even including stuff like the Huscarls/Hearth Guard and the Mounted Sons! The formation seems very strong and definitely worth checking out. At the very least, I hope to get some normal Horse Raiders on the table very soon!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #054 Abyssals vs Brothermark [Pillage]

Intro and Lists

I was treated to an unexpected weeknight game against friend, fellow-blogger, and forum-goer Cartwright the other day. He brought his Brothermark over to Madison, running the following:

Oh boy! That’s a unique take on the Brothermark. Not a cavalry unit to be seen at all, and none of the heroes are mounted either! Infantry, healing, and war machines looked to be the idea of the day. The Penitent regiments are one of his hallmarks though, and with their innate CS, have been able to deliver some surprises on spikey rolls. Three other infantry hordes (Bowmen, Paladins, and Spear Men-at-Arms) will all be hard to move, and the Ogre Palace Guard will be a threat to anything they can catch! Triple war machines should be able to threaten things at range, and two Phoenixes, Iron Resolve, and large collection of healing spells should easily keep all his units healthy and hale. 

I had been cooking with some more Abyssal MSU ideas when our correspondence for this meet-up popped up, and decided to go with a light iteration on my first attempt before I drastically changed things up. 

• Succubi Regiments. Squaring off against another Abyssals player last game, I noticed that basic Abyssal Guard, Flamebearers, and Succubi are all 150 points now. That ability to quickly mix-and-match should be fun to explore in the future! I haven’t been a big fan of Succubi before, but wanted to give them some tries again, given the points decrease. Getting Pathfinder via The Lurker is definitely a nice upgrade, and lets you stick them in the woods for -2 penalty to be shot at, but the upgrade almost seems like a trap since you aren’t preserving TC or anything, so I wanted to try them without it. 
• Abyssal Guard. I really liked how well they played with the ASB, but I dropped one regiment to try out the Succubi. We’ll directly compare these and see which perform better here!
• Flamebearers. The Flamebearers really underperformed last game, but I wanted to give them another try before veering into anything too extreme. 
• Oathbreakers. With so many regiments, it’s hard not to include these! Since I am constantly switching between armies, deployment is always tricky for me. Ideally I think you want these as a bit of a second line, but we’ll see where they end up this game.
• Gargoyles. These are always great chaff units. Being able to nimbly fly up and block something is huge, and hopefully I use them well this game.
• Tortured Souls. These arguably did too well holding things up last game, but thick chaff seemed like a great role for them. I’ll need to position these better this time around, and we’ll see what they end up fighting.
• Chroneas. I noticed these were the same exact points as the newly discounted Abyssal Horsemen. Since I have been completely unable to get the Horsemen to work for me, it was an easy decision to swap these out. I was musing that Abyssal MSU might struggle against Def6 or shooting-heavy metas, but the Chroneas should help against the former, using good stats, CS3 and Cloak of Death to help get through armor. We’ll see!
• Abyssal Fiend. I still like it, and think it is a fabulous support piece. We’ll see how it does this game and if I can learn anything else about it.
• Harbinger. Still just running the one, and I think that's alright given the number of Flamebearers around. We'll try to stick him by the Oathbreakers and see what good he can do for me.
• Despoiler Champion. He's a cool little model, but a bit odd to use. We'll try to instigate some fights with him and see what we can learn.
• Seductress. On paper she has a lot of utility. I'm bringing her again to enable some Round 1 shooting if needed. After that, we'll see what Fly and Duelist can do for me. 

It should be an interesting match up! No cavalry means I should be able to set the pace of most engagements, however, with all the heals and Penitents around, anything I do fight I need to rout, lest it get healed up or I get dogpiled in response.

Table and Terrain

We were out at a Madison area game store, making use of their terrain. We used the typical terrain rules, with the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, stone fences as Height 2 Obstacles, the Hills as Height 3, and the pond as Height 1 Difficult Terrain. 

We neglected about a third of the table. This is all the tokens and all the deployments.

We got Pillage for the scenario, and I rolled up a miserly 1 for our extra tokens, meaning we'd only have 5 immovable Objective Tokens to fight over. My opponent won the roll off for the initial placement. Opting to force me to pic and deploy first. 

I chose to swap sizes. Most of the tokens were on these two-thirds of the table, and I wanted a clearer battle line with all the units I needed to move.

A building split my opponent's line. On the left from my perspective he ended up with the Spear horde, Augustus, Bowmen horde blocking for the regular Phoenix, and the Exemplar Hunter. In the right corner, he had a stacked line, with Penitents alternating with heroes at the front. We had two Penitents and the Priest screening the Ogre Palace Guard, then the War Wizard screening the Ancient Phoenix, and then two more Penitents and the Exemplar Paladin screening the Paladin Monster Slayers. Both Artillery and the Arbalest were tucked into the corner.

My first few drops were the Tortured Souls. Against war machines, I wanted to keep the Gargoyles back for a bit to try and send them after those. Seeing the Penitents come down early, and with some good clear terrain, so I decided to try and shoot from the corner and push from the center early on. 

Left to righty I had Tortured Souls screening Gargoyles, Abyssal Guard, Despoiler Champion, Chroneas, Fiend, and the Succubi. I wanted to send the Succubi after the Bowmen, but was being out-dropped. Still, this didn't seem like a terrible spot for them. Then I had Tortured Souls screening the Oathbreakers, the Harbinger with Lute and some Gargoyles in reserve, then two regiments of Flamebearers, the Seductress, the Fiend, and the last unit of Flamebearers.

My opponent had better long range shooting, but when he won the roll, he opted to have me go first, potentially denying me a turn of Flamebearer barrages. 

Top of Round 1: Abyssals

Fortunately, I came prepared! On the right, The Seductress flitted ahead around 10", and Enthralled a unit of Penitents forward 2". The Flamebearers all advanced 5" and with Enthrall, that mean the lecherous Penitents were in range for Firebolts! I land 12 damage between the 3 units, and am able to scatter the unwashed regiment.

Movement in Round 1.

The rest of the line moved up haphazardly, since I was a bit indecisive. On the left, The Tortured Souls flew up as far as they could given the terrain, and the Gargoyles stopped just behind them. The Abyssal Guard advanced about 9" stopping a bit short of the forest. The Despoiler Champion zipped up 12" and would be just shy of a charge into the Bowmen since our deployments were apparently slightly back. The Chroneas and Fiend moved up, and the titan will have a charge into the Bowmen next turn, as the closest point is just within range.

Centrally, the Gargoyles flew up at an angle to lurk behind the woods. Succubi and Tortured Souls drew up behind them, with the Oathbreakers and Harbinger lagging behind, but being supportive.

Bottom of Round 1: Brothermark

On the left, the Spear Men-At-Arms move and pivot, but are keeping things in their charge arcs and trying to corral the Abyssals. The Bowmen, Phoenix and Hunter fire into the Despoiler Champion, putting him at 7 damage, and rout him off! The Champion had regeneration, so this is a bit of a shame.

The Champion falls!

One regiment of Penitents hangs by the building, while the other just gets into the woods in order to spot the Gargoyles and force them to move. The Ogre Palace Guard wait patiently.

Movement on the right for the Brothermark.

The Ancient Phoenix inches closer to get into Firespark Range against the Flamebearers on the hill. The war machines join in too, but the sights are not quite set yet and many of the artillery shots go wide. Only 5 damage lands, and the Flamebearers will hold. 

The War Wizard will land a Hex on the Fiend guarding the Flamebearers.

The remaining Penitents, Examplar Paladin and Paladin Monster Hunters will all hold, trusting in the artillery fire.

Top of Round 2: Abyssals

On the left, the Gargoyles nimbly fly around to threaten the flanks of the hordes while the Tortured Souls charge the front. They deal 4 damage, but I am certain we missed the Phalanx interaction with fliers here, so this is far more effective than it should be. 

Charges to tie up both Brothermark hordes. 

The Fiend charges the Villein Bowmen, landing 6 damage and disordering them. With both hordes occupied, the Chroneas and Abyssal guard move up, though the latter can only get into the woods this turn. The Chroneas is just in range for Cloak of Death to hit the Bowmen and Hunter.

Centrally, the Succubi sidestep. I kept bumping them and the Tortured Souls around, so opted to leave them both mostly where they were. The Penitents should be able to charge the Tortured Souls, should they wish.

The central Gargoyles are in an awkward position since I had pivoted them towards the war machines. I actually don't have the space to land them to threaten the Bowmen, and sight-wise, I can't see any of the war machines. I am also wary of the Examplar Paladin, so decide to just awkwardly fly behind enemy lines, landing safely, but unable to threaten anything next turn. 

I am equally indecisive with my Seductress. I would like to charge the War Wizard, but that seems suicidal. I believe the war machines are out of range. She hops up to get into range next turn, and then I try Enthrall on the Penitents in the woods, tugging them one inch towards the Ancient Phoenix. I didn't want to pull anything else around incase it was successful and would give my opponent a new charge on his turn. 

Hexed, but with the rest of the Brothermark holding, the Abyssal Fiend holds as well. The Flamebeaters all toss into the Penitents on the far flank screening for the Paladin Monster-Slayers, will land a combined 13 damage, and rout them.

Bottom of Round 2: Brothermark

On the right, the war machines and Ancient Phoenix fire at the same Flamebearers. The devils had regenerated a few damage, but the artillery has their number now, and the Flamebearers are brought up to 15 damage total, and then routed.

Middle of ranged combat for the Brothermark. The Hunter is lining up his shots against the Gargoyles...

Centrally, the Penitents side-step to get back into the woods, while the Ogre Palace Guard continue to hold still and be patient, and wait for the chaff to commit to something.

The War Wizard attempts another Hex onto the Fiend, but misses this time.

On the left, the Phoenix and Hunter target the Gargoyles swinging wide. The Phoenix lands 4 and the Hunter lands 3, and the Gargoyles are shot off, to my surprise. I was expecting the Phoenix to heal and the Hunter to charge something, but a good call from my opponent to pick away at units.

The Bowmen Countercharge the Fiend, landing 1 damage. The Spearmen catch a Bane Chant, and land 10 damage on the Tortured Souls, trouncing them, and pivoting more, now that both of the outflanking Abyssal units have been dealt with.

Top of Round 3: Abyssals

The Abyssal Guard make their hindered charge into the Spearmen, looking to keep them tied up. The Guard roll quite poorly landing just 3 hits which then translates to just 1 damage which is then Iron-Resolved back. Oops. 

I decide to try and take the Bowmen off. The Fiend countercharges and is joined by the Chroneas and the Tortured Souls, and at this point we remember to apply Phalanx. The Chroneas hits a lot of units with Cloak of Death, but rolls up just a single attack for its extra attacks. The Bowmen end up at 16, rallied and Inspired by Augustus, but I manage to just roll well enough to disperse the unit! The Fiend will have it's one wound absolved by the Temporal Ruptures of the Chroneas, and will victoriously turn to face the Spearmen, and the Chroneas and Tortured Souls will face to the right, ignoring the Phoenix and hoping to swing around to help the other side. 

Still wary of the Exemplar, the central Gargoyles will just change facing to spy the war machines, keeping their distance from the paladin.

Movement for the Abyssals.

Speaking of, the Seductress has a charge into the war machines now, and the Exemplar is not quite in range to charge her either next turn. She takes her charge, descending upon the Arbalest. She lands 5 damage, and wavers the crew. It's not nothing, but not what I was hoping for.

The Wizard wasn't able to land Hex last turn, and this is probably the best target I have at the moment, so the Fiend and both Flamebearers throw into the wizard. He's an individual, but apparently cuts quite an imposing figure. One regiment hits just once and then fails to damage. The other regiment lands no hits. Sheesh. The Fiend has his revenge though, landing 4 from the Fireball, and wavering the War Wizard thanks to Shattering. Again, it's not nothing, but not what I was hoping for here.

The Succubi, Oathbreakers and Harbinger sit back, at a bit of a standoff with the Penitents and daring them to advance first through the woods.

Bottom of Round 3: Brothermark

And apparently the Brothermark do dare! The Paladin Monster Slayers move up, threating my shooters now. Spacing-wise, I will not be able to back up to escape.

The remaining Brothermark infantry advance towards the objective tokens.

The Ancient Phoenix flies up, just into range for Cloak of Death to hit the Fiend and some Flamebearers. It will spray Firesparsk, and both artillery pieces will fire into the Flamebearers, bringing them to 7 damage, but the devils hold.

The Penitents advance as well, with the Ogres scooting up slightly as well, but careful to just give the Gargoyles a flank charge and not a rear.

The Spearmen issue a stern rebuke to the Abyssal Guard.

The Spearmen catch a Bane Chant, and countercharge the Abyssal Guard, showing them how it's done. They land 9 damage, but the inspired Nerve check is just shy of a rout. Being Fearless, the Guard will stick around for a second attempt.

The Hunter charges the Tortured Souls, with 3 blows connecting to disorder and ground them. 

The Phoenix will shoot into the Gargoyles, land 3 damage as well, and will waver them, which is pretty unfortunate for them.

Top of Round 4: Abyssals

The wavered Gargoyles stay put, and regenerate nothing. I can't think of anything clever to do with them.

The Tortured Souls will countercharge the Hunter, and Lifeleech some damage back. The Chroneas charges the Hunter as well, rolling another 1 for his extra attack, and hitting him and the Phoenix with Cloak of Death. The Hunter will be felled, with the Chroneas using the Temporal Ruptures to waive away the last point of damage on the Tortured Souls.

Charges for the Abyssals.

The Abyssal Guard will regenerate a surprising 5 of their damage, bringing them down to 4. They will counter charge the Spearmen dealing 9 damage this, and be joined by the Fiend dealing 6. Augustus is both Rallying and Inspiring, but I have Brutal to negate the former, and I am just able to squeak the Nerve check to see them off the table. Both will just about-face, with the Fiend ignoring the Phoenix. 

Movements in Round 4 for the Abyssals.

The Succubi make a hindered charge into the Penitents. Bane Chant from the Harbinger is missed, though he is just within range for the Rampage Aura to help the ladies out. The Succubi hit just 8 times, but land 7 damage, and manage to waver the Penitents.

I consider using the Seductress to charge the War Wizard, but with the Exemplar Paladin close by, opt to finish off the war machine. I didn't think of it at the time, but I could have used Enthrall to pull the Paladins backward and maybe escape with the Flamebearers. I think I'd need 3" from the spell though, which isn't reliable.

One unit of Flamebearers zips up as a sacrifice. The Paladin Monster Slayers can only charge this unit next turn. The unit on the hill cannot back away from the Penitents, so just changes facing. Both Flamebearers and the Fiend will sling their ranged attacks into the Paladin Monster Slayers. In retrospect, the Ancient Phoenix probably would have been a better target, given the lower Nerve, but I have learned to just ignore Phoenixes, for better or for worse. Targeting the hard also forces my opponent to use spells and such to help them, so it's not a terrible call either way. Some damage lands, but it's a horde, and they endure it.

Bottom of Round 4: Brothermark

The Paladin Monster Slayers charge the blocking Flamebearers, and will cut them down with ease, and then overrun in victory.

The Ancient Phoenix moves up, landing Cloak of Death against both Flamebearers and the Fiend. The bird then sprays Firesparks into the Flamebearers, joined by artillery fire. The Flamebearers had regenerated down to 4 damage, but took 10 new damage from Cloak and ranged attacks, and are routed!

The nearby Penitents choose to not charge, but just move up even with the bird to prevent a flank charge from the Oathbreakers into the of the Ancient Phoenix.

Movement for the Brothermark.

The War Wizard hexes the Fiend again, and the Exemplar Paladin moves up to support as well. I believe the Priest tries a Martyr's Prayer for the Penitents.

The Penitents fighting the Succubi are Wavered, and the Ogres enter the woods just enough to get line of sight for the coming turn.

Augustus and the Phoenix try to delay and contest things.

Over on the right, Augustus rear charges the Tortured Souls, hoping to ground them, and he does, landing 2 damage. He scoots down a bit, but ends 1" away from the Chroneas. As it happens, this may have been a game error. We were fighting an individual here last turn, so I think he should have slid to center and then bumped the Chroneas 1" back to keep the spacing. At the time this didn't cross our minds, as the Chroneas was a touch forward, preventing a clean slide.

The Phoenix rear charges the Garyogles and trounces them. In victory, the Phoenix will turn, looking to contest objective tokens in the final rounds.

Top of Round 5: Abyssals

It's been a bloody game! 

My shooting-heavy right has disappeared! With the Paladins overrunning, the Fiend can't back up and get away either. He is hexed, and just pivots. 

The Chroneas isn't nimble, so can't charge around Augustus to thump the Phoenix. I opt to bring the Chroneas back towards my lines. Should the Ogres advance much further, I might be able to flank them with my temporal monster.

The Succubi charge the Penitents and rout them. The ladies will victoriously back up 1", not quite getting out of the woods, and the Ogres can still see them anyways, and the Chroneas should be able to see the Ogres if they take the bait.

Supported by artilleryh fire, the Brothermark start to steamroll.

The Seductress charges the War Wizard, and lands 5, but the caster is merely wavered. I believe Radiance of Life from the Ancient Phoenix had healed him up a bit after the Fireball, and/or the Priest targeted him and not the Penitents with the Martyr's Prayer.

The Tortured Souls countercharge Augustus, with the fiend coming up to help out. Together, the duo knock down the legendary cleric, and together can keep control of this token against the nearby Phoenix. 

Abyssal Guard tend to their wounds, and guard a token.

Bottom of Round 5: Brothermark

The Ancient Phoenix upgrade removes Nimble, so it flies up with a pivot to try to play for a token in the coming rounds. Cloak of Death masterfully hits the Succubi, Oathbreakers, Harbinger and Fiend - all of my remaining units on this side of the battlefield.

A great Cloak of Death!

The Paladins charge the Fiend, land 12 new damage on him and lay him low. They are atop a token, but will spin around to see if they can fight anything in the final turn.

The isolated Phoenix over on the left flies down, looking to make a play for a different token, knowing it can't win out on either of these.

The Ogre Palace Guard make a hindered charge into the Succubi, who also have Ensnare. They are joined by the Exemplar Paladin, and will surprisingly best the temptresses. The Ogres rolled well as I recall, and the added damage from the Examplar is enough to doom them, even Rallied by the Oathbreakers and Inspired by the Harbinger.

The remaining Penitents started with a corner in the woods, so make a hindered charge against the Oathbreakers, and land 3 damage thanks to some hot hit rolls.

The artillery line up against the Seductress. She is an Individual and Stealthy, but one shot manages to hit, deal 2 damage, and waver her, saving the War Wizard.

Top of Round 6: Abyssals

The Oathbreakers decide to countercharge the Penitents and hope for the best. They can't reach any other token, so can hopefully contest this one. The Harbingers confers Rampage, and the Oathbreakers roll hot, landing 12 damage against the Penitents and rout them. They overrun 1" to claim to the objective token, since their US is greater than that of the Ancient Phoenix.

Movement for the Abyssals.

The Chroneas still has a flank charge into the Ogre Palace Guard, and with Strider to ignore the Obstacle, takes it. He rolls up 2 for his extra attacks (hey, finally not a 1!) and they apparent came to play! Those 8 attacks works into 8 hits and then 8 damage for some hot rolling, but he isn't able to best them. 

The Tortured Souls give chase to the Ancient Phoenix, looking to negate the bird's Unit Strength if there is a Round 7. The Fiend sits back on his objective token, as do the Abyssal Guard. 

Bottom of Round 6: Brothermark

The Phoenix flies down to claim the objective token the the Abyssal lines had left behind.

The Ogre Palace Guard will disengage from the Chroneas taking a penalty, and make a hindered charge into the flank of the Oathbreakers, dealing 9. The Ancient Phoenix is also in the flank, and lands 4, and the Exemplar Paladin joins in on the Ogre's side, contributing 3. The Oathbreakers are brought to 19, devastated, and then routed! The Ogres swivel about face to eye up the Chroneas, but it and the Phoenix are scoring this token. 

An unexpected sandwich as the Brothermark play for the win.

The Priest will syphon off some wounds from the Ogres (I think 4 is the number), bringing himself up to 12 damage, per the picture, but I haven't been documenting his use well this game. From Round 3 onwards he's been syphoning stuff off and dutifully punishing himself as I recall.

The Paladin Monster Slayers just hold, standing atop an objective token. Making this 3-2 for the Brothermark as the Round ends. But we roll up a Round 7!

Top of Round 7: Abyssals

I consider sending the Seductress after the Inspiring Priest who has been martyring himself, but the Examplar Paladin is also Inspiring the Ogres, so she can't really tip the tide there. Instead she goes in against the War Wizard again, and is able break him this time.

Final charges of the game.

I don't think I can break the Phoenix with just the Tortured Souls, nor break the Ogres with just the Chroneas. The only thing they can multi-charge is the Ogres, so in they go against the injured Ogre Palace Guard. The Tortured Souls do well, landing 6 damage and bringing them up to 10 damage. The Chroneas rolls up 4 extra attacks now, and while the details escaped my notes, I am able to best the Ogres in the melee.

Playing for the Scenario, both will overrun, and both need to get 2 inches closer to contest this objective token. The Chroneas rolls a 1. the Tortured Souls roll well enough, but we maintain a 1" gap between them and the nearby Exemplar Paladin, boxing them out as well.

Bottom of Round 7: Brothermark

My opponent does nothing for his turn. As we read it, the Fiend and Guards control 2 tokens for the Abyssals, and the Paladin Monster Slayers, and Phoenixes will claim 3 for the Brothermark in a narrow victory.

After the game, we checked the rulebook and were messaging, and determined we played the final overrun wrong. The Chroneas would still be out of range and unable to score. But the Tortured Souls should have overrun as far as possible. The Paladin will stop their movement, but he will be the unit pushed back to create the 1" buffer. The Tortured Souls would thus have been able to contest that objective token, and negate the US 2 of the Ancient Phoenix, meaning this is a ding-dang tie game!

Game Conclusions

It was a great game, and harder to get more evenly matched than a draw!

With so few objective tokens, we ended up ignoring about 1/3 of the table, turning this into a bit of a slugfest! The war machine firing lines weren't great for my opponent, but I had titans, and things worked out ok for him since I needed to take the hill in order to shoot with the Flamebearers. My opponent's no-cavalry list was a bit of a gamble, but with Iron Resolve and all the heals available to him, it didn't seem a bad take on the Brothermark at all. Neat to see a variety of heroes in action too.

Strategically, I think lining up the Flamebearers against the Penitents was the right call, as picking away at that unit strength was a good way for me to approach the scenario. Still, this was a lot of points invested into shooting, and I don't think the Flamebearers would have been nearly as effective if the Penitents were in hordes or my opponent was a bit more aggressive with them. I really lucked out with my Nerve checks to beat the Bowmen and Spearmen each so quickly, and was pretty happy with how that flank went, and how fun the Chroneas was to use.

Testing Conclusions

• Succubi Regiments. Fresh, and having their Ensnare paired with a Hindered charge, I really thought these could hold and survive against the Ogres! The brutes rolled very well though, and the Paladin in the flank didn't help matters. I'll keep testing them out for a bit, but they are a odd unit and very fragile considering their points. They might be best against things like shooting hordes (but those don't seem to be that prevalent) or stuff like Zombies, but I am just not sold on the utility of the unit overall yet. Lurker/Pathfinder would have been helpful in their initial fight against the Penitents, but also pretty expensive, and that still seems like a bit of a trap upgrade. I want to try them stock a few more times before exploring any upgrades or items.
• Abyssal Guard. Fearless is just amazing on them, and it is what makes the unit work. If they can just hold on the Nerve check, like they did here, they can do great work in a list. I'm not sure if the unit by itself is strong enough to spam, but I really liked the unit here.
• Flamebearers. This was a really intriguing game for them! Being unable to effectively shoot in Round 1 without trickery is undoubtedly good for balance, but makes them a bit harder to use well. I took the hill to shoot, and did manage to scorch off two regiments of Penitents without any additional support. Then they started taking return fire from the Brothermark via the Phoenix and war machines and loosing units and didn't have the numbers to effectively burn away much. 
• Oathbreakers. I think they want to be a second line unit (like my opponent was doing with the Ogre Palace Guard this game, but they aren't particularly potent. Reinforcing a Flamebearer battle group or something might be something for them to do in the future though. The legendary unit probably isn't worth the 25 points extra over the usual Abyssal Guard, but I do like my models and the aura is helpful, so I'll continue brining them along for a bit.
• Gargoyles. I forgot how useful the Phoenixes could be with their height and shooting, and just how fragile these units can be. I don't think I used these particularly well. One got shot off, and that happens, but had I not pivoted with the other in Round 1, it could have been charging war machines in Round 2. I think my mantra for using fliers offensively is you can never have a dead turn with them; you should always be positioning them in a way to threaten something and give your opponent something to think about on their turn. 
• Tortured Souls. Setting aside the Phalanx/Flying goof when charging the Spearmen, I was really happy with these and how I used them. They did more consistent damage this game, and were generally a nuisance for my opponent to deal with. They seem good as blocking chaff, and as "pinning" units, flying up to charge in disorder something and keep them in place for a turn.
• Chroneas. I've run them before, but I had honestly forgotten about this unit until I was scrolling through the army roster after the Abyssal mirror-match last game. The melee damage output wasn't quite here this game, but Cloak of Death was fun to use, and the damage negation was real slick with him coming in on a later turn instead of the instigator of the fight. I liked the monster, and think it has potential for this playstyle.
• Abyssal Fiend. I still like the unit a lot with this playstyle. 
• Harbinger. I am liking this unit as well. The buffs have been nice. I've only been running the one, but Rampage has been pertinent in the recent games. I forgot about the ranged attack this game, and it isn't much, but is potentially enough to justify running one stock.
• Despoiler Champion. Ouch! Not a great game for him. I think his place in a list like this should be over with the Flamebearers, intercepting threats and letting them do their thing. 
• Seductress. The first round shooting trick worked well here, but after that she struggled this game, needing multiple rounds to rout both a war machine and a lowly spellcaster and not even earning her points back when all was said and done. Assassin characters are in a bit of weird spot, but even with flying and the Periscope, she felt underwhelming as the game went on because her damage output just wasn't there and she kept getting bogged down. The legendary Seductress Mau'ti-bu-su has Brutal d3, but no spells. Maybe Pipes of Terror could be a possible upgrade for the Seductress in the future? 

The tweaked list was the right list to play this time. With more normal dice, this game gave me a lot to consider and plenty to learn from. It's always a pleasure throwing down with Cartwright, so many thanks for him fitting this in! We were very evenly matched with this draw result, so I am greatly looking forward to our next bout!