Kings of War 3rd Edition: #060 Herd vs Northern Alliance [Fool's Gold]

Intro and Lists

Springtime is kicking off and schedules are filling up, but friend, fellow blogger, and forum-goer Cartwright and I were able to get in a double-header recently! He was kind enough to host us, and he fielded some Northern Alliance for our matches. For the first game, he ran the following:

This list was actually pretty typical for my opponent, and explored, through some small tweaks, a lot of the combined arms play that he has been doing so well with! Single regiments of Snow Foxes and Frostclaw Riders were brought to harass, with a single Bolt Thrower to play the odds and apply some pressure. Two regenerating hordes of Snow Trolls and one regenerating horde of spear-wielding Ice Naiads were around hold the line, and should be tricky to fight, due to regeneration. Two Dwarf Clan Warriors are around to play the objective game, along with two regiments of Pack Hunters to do the same while contributing from afar with some bow fire. He brought 5 sources of Inspiring, which should make things very difficult to break! The first is a Healing and Blizzarding Ice-Queen, two more are Thegns on Frostfangs, one is a regenerating Snow Troll Prime, and the last is Hrimm, the Legendary Ice Giant, who can smash things very well, or even contribute a bit at range with his breath attack too. The legendary giant is a very versatile unit, and brings a lot to this kind of list.

I brought the Herd for our double-header. I am still struggling to figure them out, and I had a lot of ideas bouncing around for this army! I really needed to get some testing in before I twisted myself into a dozen list alternatives or my hobbing got ahead of my untested lists. Thankfully, we were able to fit these games in! Up to test are:

• Double Spear Hordes. I need something to take up space on the field, and the Tribal Spears looked promising enough that I recently hobbied up a second horde. Being able to purchase TC means they can do ok on the charge… but will still want to get that initial charge. Buying the upgrade will be my default for now, and we’ll see how they do today.
• Guardian Brutes. Running the math, these should actually function similarly to the old, smashy Longhorns, just on a Large Infantry 40mm base. They will void my “regiments-max” MSU approach to the Herd, but so it goes – that’s a pretty hard playstyle. We’ll see how they do here!
• Scorchwing Hordes. I have struggled a lot to use Scorchwings effectively. Running many regiments has not been effective for me (too little damage output for how much effort they take to position), so I wanted to keep try hordes again for now. Additionally, the Scorchwings also hit harder in melee than at range, so I’ll try to keep shooting with them to a minimum and prioritize multi-charges when I can. I don’t have chaff in this particular list, so I also want to see if early Scorchwing shooting is powerful enough to fill an “anti-chaff” role.
• Flying Beasts of Nature. A flying, nimble monster is always nice to have around! Their damage output is less than a General on Winged Beast though, so we’ll see what trouble he can cause.
• Hydra. I have gotten some great feedback about these on the forum, and will try to put the advice into practice here. Summarizing that advice, essentially, all of the special rules should be viewed from a defensive lens – these things all add up to make it a very unattractive target for my opponent to engage with. So I should be aggressive with it, and treat it more like a tar pit than a hammer. We’ll try to do that this game.
• Druid. I need sources of Inspiring, and am feeling a little lost for my Herd options. These little Bane-Chant casters look like good default units to have around. 
• Wiltfather. My units don’t have great defense, so are likely to accrue damage pretty fast. This means that Radiance of Life will be less impactful (not much difference having, say 9 damage vs 8), so I opted for the legendary upgrade here. He did quite well for me when I tried him against the Abyssal Dwarfs, and even better against me in the recent game against the Sylvan Kin! We’ll see how he does back on my team again today.  

Overall, this was an unusual list for me! I had precious few drops, and no chaff or really disposable units. Just a staggering six hordes and supporting monsters. We’ll see what the scenario is, but the overall goal will be to use the Wiltfather and Hydra aggressively, use the Scorchwings to shoot off any enemy chaff, and let the rest of the list smash as best it can. Hopefully that will be enough!

Table and Terrain

My opponent was gracious enough to host us, and we made use of his typical terrain. We followed our usual terrain rules, playing the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, the field as Height 0 difficult terrain, the fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and the Hills as normal Height 3 hills. 

We wanted something more complex to kick things off, and settled on Fool's Gold for our first scenario, as we haven't used Bluff Tokens in a while. To summarize quickly, we each have and secretly deploy 5 Bluff Tokens on the table-side opposite our deployment zone. Two tokens are worth 0 VP, two are worth 1 VP, and one is worth 2 VP. At the end of Round 3, all the tokens are flipped face-up, revealing what each token is actually worth. We then fight over various objectives using Unit Strength.

My opponent won the for determining sides, and picked the lazy gamer side. Most of his shooters ended up on the left, with the Bolt Thrower near the smaller table edge, both Pack Hunters about an inch back from the line, and the Frostclaws held in reserve.

Deployment, over on the left. The mysterous tokens are scattered far and wide.

In the center he had a Snow Troll Prime, both Snow Troll Hordes, and a Thegn in reserve. Hrimm continued the battle line, with the Naiad horde extending it towards a building. Everything was deployed just off the line here. The Ice-Queen stayed close to support, and some Snow Foxes and Dwarfs were in reserve here. On the other side of the building was the second unit of Dwarfs, and the second Thegn, both deployed back a ways.

The main deployments for the Northern Alliance.

With so few drops, I ended up placing a token flying Beast on the left, but committing everything else to my right, with a building to help anchor my lines. Left-to-right for me we have the Hydra, some Brutes, Tribal Spears, more Brutes, more Tribal Spears, the Wiltfather, and the second flying Beast of Nature. Dryads supported the Tribal Spears, and both Rimewing/Scorchwing units were in reserve.

The main deployments for the Herd, after the Scout move.

The Wiltfather Scouted up aggressively. I won the roll for deciding first turn. Not really having a plan myself, and figuring I could endure his early shooting, I stuck my opponent with the first turn,.

Top of Round 1: Northern Alliance

Over on the far right, the Dwarf unit moved up to support the Thegn, but both kept their distance from the Wiltfather, and the Thegn declined to charge in.

The dwarfs and Thegn are wary. Unfortunately, I don't have a charge on my turn.

The other unit of Dwarfs stayed behind to guard an objective, but the strong, defensive center of the Northern Alliance moved up around 6 inches. The Ice Queen casts blizzard into the Guardian Brutes, and lands 3 damage. 

On the left, the Bolt Thrower came down after my Beast, so my opponent has shots into it, landing 3 damage. The Pack Hunters move up, and can shoot into the Beast, but taking a penalty for the intervening hill. The Hunters land 4 more damage combined, bringing the Beast to 7 damage, which I was not expecting!

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

I seem to have missed some pictures while moving all my units.

Fear not, I found one picture for this turn.

Out on the left, which I do somehow manage to document, the Beast of Nature just backs up. I felt like the last turn was a fluke for damage output. Backing up I can force the Hunters to move again, and hopefully this maimed monster can survive another round, and draw things out until Round 3.

Centrally, The Hydra moved up. It was threatening a charge into one of the two Snow Troll hordes. It was in turn threatened, but only by the same horde, due to some irregularities in the battle line.

Having no charges, the Wiltfather moved up and pivoted slightly. He's threatening a charge into the Dwarfs or Thegn next turn, with the Thegn having a front charge into him as well.

The rest of the Herd line played coyly. One horde of Tribal Spears pulled up behind the hill, safe from enemy charges. The other horde of Spears entered the woods and pivoted, looking to constrain the enemy advance. If I can hold the line between both buildings, I might be able to rout things and do stuff.

The Scorchwings try to position for shots, but the regenerating Naiad horde is unfortunately the best option. One of the Height 4 hordes is shooting over Height 3 Brutes, earning a cover penalty. My bow-like shooting is less impressive, and I manage just 2 damage into the Naiads this turn.

Top of Round 2: Northern Alliance

Over on the right, the Thegn zips up, getting around the Wiltfather. The Dwarfs back up to prevent a charge for my legendary tree monster.

The Thegn makes a move.

I'm a little shy on pictures again, but not much happens. Nothing charges, but all of the Snow Trolls inch up to threaten the Hydra. 

The Ice-Queens lands another 3 damage Blizzard into the Guardian Brutes, taking them to 6 damage, but they are found to be Insane.

The Frostclaws move up to offer a charge for my Beast of Nature. Understanding that I want to delay here, the Pack Hunters moved out. With great reluctance, they shoot with a penalty into my Hydra, landing 4 damage total. The Bolt Thrower lands 4 damage this time, and manages to shoot the uninspired Beast off. 

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

I don't really like my options for the Hydra. I am unlikely to break even the Snow Troll Prime in combat, and if I charge anything, I will be dog-piled. The Hydra regenerates nothing, and instead of fighting, backs up to mitigate incoming charges.

The Hydra is a bit pensive with all the trolls around.

Centrally, I don't charge anything, but the Tribal Spears defiantly take the hill, offering themselves up and forcing the issue next turn. Flanked by both hordes of Guardian Brutes, I am hoping for a bit of a bloodbath next turn.

Some Scorchwings pull up behind the Spears, getting their leader point onto the hill to see. The second horde gets away from the Brutes, but is traversing the forest, and will get a shooting penalty. A total of 4 damage lands against the Naiads this time, but this is still not good output, or a great situation or an ideal target!

Spears take the hill while the Scorchwings try to contribute.

With the Thegn juking him, and having no charges again, the Wiltfather moves up again to threaten the Naids in the coming turn. The Dwarfs that backed up are too far away to charge him next turn, so he can move up with some impunity.

The remaining Beast of Nature charges the Thegn out on the right. Getting the charge, I think I can grind him out, and I get off to a good start with 5 damage and a surprise waver.

Top of Round 3: Northern Alliance

The Northern Alliance close the distance. Dwarfs move up to guard a token and threaten the flank of the Wiltfather. Snow Foxes hop up to prevent the Wilfather from charging the flank of Naiads. The Ice Queen nestles in between the Naiads and the Snow Foxes, lands another 4 damage against the Guardian Brutes with Blizzard, taking them to 10 and wavering them. They have Fury, but are not engaged, so this is very bad for the Herd!

The pesky Snow Foxes are able to gum things up nicely. Well played!

The Naiads, Hrimm and the Staying Stone horde of Snow Trolls triple charge the Tribal Spears, who take 22 damage and then scatter, as expected.

A massive triple-charge against the Spears!

The Bolt Thrower continues to roll well, and lands 5 damage into the other horde of Guardian Brutes. This is their first damage, and they hold. 

The Snow Troll Prime hexes my nearby Druid near the hill.

The Pack Hunters land 1 damage on the Hydra, and with a 11 on the Nerve check, get an unexpected and unfortunate waver the titan, further stalling out potential Herd counter attacks.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

With the Hydra and a horde of Brutes wavered, the Herd doesn't have a great rebuttal to offer.

The remaining Guardian Brutes go into the Snow Trolls, joined by the Scorchwings. The Brutes deal a meager 7, while the Scorchwings catch a Bane Chant and contribute 5 damage. The Brutes have Brutal, but the low rolls continue, and I get a Nerve check of 3 for a total of 15. This unit has the Staying Stone, which my opponent remembers. The Guardian Brutes have Brutal, but I appear to have missed that in the tally at the time. They should be wavered, but are not. That is unfortunately a big deal for the Herd, as I am reeling already.

The Northern Alliance takes some unimpressive counter attacks from the Herd line.

I can't really do anything good with the Wiltfather, so he joins the Tribal Spears in a multi-charge into the Snow Foxes. The Tribal Spears don't want to be here, but angles wise, they can't pivot to connect property with the Naiads. Thankfully, the Snow Foxes do rout.

The Beast of Nature continues against the Thegn. I only land 2 damage this time, bringing him to 7 damage total, and the Nerve check goes from boxcars to snake eyes.

The Scorchwings in the forest opt to go into the Dwarfs to protect the Wiltfather from getting bogged down. I resolved the Thegn combat first to try and help the Scorchwings here by removing the Inspiring source for the Dwarfs, but that did not work out as I had hoped. The Scorchwings deal 4 damage, but the still-inspired Dwarfs hold. 

At the end of the round, the tokens are revealed! And it doesn't look good for the Herd.

The Frostclaws made it into my deployment zone, and are sitting on a 1 Pointer. Some Pack Hunters dawdled, and are found to be holding another. A third 1 Pointer is held by some Dwarfs hiding near the building. The last 1 pointer is in the far right corner of my opponent's deployment zone, uncontested.

Both 2 Pointers are central. The Snow Trolls hordes are fighting for one, with the other 2 Pointer uncontested in my opponent's deployment zone.

Upon reveal, it's 3-0 in favor of the Northern Alliance.

Top of Round 4: Northern Alliance

The Northern Alliance push hard, pressing all of their advantages. 

Charges in Round 4.

Centrally, the accidentally unwavered Trolls, Hrimm and Thegn go into the Scorchwings, dealing 7, 4 and 1, and will rout them. The Trolls elect to hold, Hrimm turns, and the Thegn overruns.

The Snow Trolls with the Chalice charge the Hydra. They came at him through the field, so are hindered, and just land 3 damage against the titan, who hasn't regenerated much this game, but manages to hold this time.

The Dwarf units fight back. One lands 1 damage against the Wiltfather, while the other regiment is apparently preoccupied and misses entirely against the Scorchwings.

The Top of Round 4, after combats.

The insane Thegn lands 3 against the Flying Beast, who holds, while the Naiads get to swing into the Tribal Spears with a clean charge, landing an amazing 12 damage! My Spears were just inside the 6" bubble for Hrimm's Chilling Presence, granting the Naiads Vicious, but this is still some pretty hot dice for damage, and a hot Nerve check to waver the Spears here doesn't feel great either.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

The Herd fights back, but the army is feeling pretty crippled at this point. There are a lot of tokens to paly for, and I am quickly running out of units to contest with!

The Hydra's heads are cumbersome. He's really facing forward.

The Hydra finally regenerates a few damage while sticking 4 onto the Snow Trolls with the chalice. 

The Guardian Brutes land 9 into the Snow Trolls with the Staying Stone, and thump them off this turn. Victoriously, they'll turn to face Hrimm. 

The Herd ... tries.

The Wavered Tribal Spears will disengage. This creates a tiny bit of forest the Naiads will need to traverse to reach them, so the next charge should be hindered.

It's not all doom and gloom though. The Flying Beast manages to best the Thegn this time, and will turn to face the center field. The Scorchwings aren't disordered, and will charge back in against the Dwarfs, catching a Bane Chant and will rout the now-uninspired unit. The Scorchwings will also turn around.

The Wiltfather thumps the Dwarfs, and with Cloak of Death, brings them to 7 damage and gets a waver. It's something, but he hasn't been very impactful this game.

Top of Round 5: Northern Alliance

The Northern Alliance are well into clean-up mode by this point in the game.

The Pack Hunters and Snow Trolls go into the Hydra. Damage is low but the Nerve check isn't and they'd rout the titan. Hrimm easily slays the Guardian Brutes with 2d6 extra attacks, and turns to face the cowering Tribal Spears.

Charges at the Top of Round 5. Both the Hydra and Brutes will be bested.

The Naiads take that hindered charge against the Tribal Spears. They deal 4 damage, bringing them to 16, and will secure another waver against my horde. 

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

The Herd have been a cowardly bunch today, and I am running out of units that can score for the scenario. All the wavers in Round 3 really put me in a bad spot, but I am playing on to see what else I can do or learn.

The Beast of Nature doesn't want to charge the Naiads. The only other charge is against the wavered Dwarfs fighting the Wiltfather. Still, I take it, hoping to pick them up. Cloak of Death takes them from 7 to 8, and the Wiltfather's attacks brings the Dwarfs to 13. The Beast charges in to join, but contributes nothing. Thankfully, I am still able to rout the unit. Victorious reforms are rough though, given the height of my monsters and with Hrimm so close. Both will turn to face the legendary giant.

What is left of the Herd's scoring units.

The Tribal Spears disengage again. The remaining Scorchwings had triumphed over the Dwarfs, and charged the flank of the Naiads, conveniently avoiding Ensnare and Phalanx. They do 17 and do manage to rout the horde.

Top of Round 6: Northern Alliance

Hrimm charges the Beast of Nature, but lands just 4 damage and fails to rout it.

Some Pack Hunters take the hill, and shoot into the Tribal Spears, but land no damage. The Ice Queen attempts a blizzard, but the shooting dice have finally cooled off too. The Bolt Thrower does have line of sight, but surprisingly not the inches. In short, the Tribal Spears survive!

Ooooo, what could have been!

The Thegn repositions in case there is a Round 7, and the rest of the Northern Alliance holds onto their tokens.

Bottom of Round 6: Herd

The injured Beast disengages from Hrimm. It will take one 90 degree pivot, and move its speed out to contest a 2 Pointer token against the Snow Troll Prime. 

The Herd ... continues to try.

Cloak of Death triggers, hitting Hrimm for 1. The Wiltfather charges Hrimm dealing 6 in melee, with the lucky Tribal Spears catching a Bane Chant and hitting the giant in the flank. They do 11 damage with the first roll, and we fast-forward here, since Hrimm is at 18 and will need some Insane Courage to hang on no matter what. He doesn't get it and is gone.

The Scorchwings have some charges, and maybe should have gone in against the Pack Hunters on the Hill, but opt to back up, and make sure I get on the score board as the game concludes. 

At the end of Round 6, the Herd have but 1 point (Scorchwings), while the Northern Alliance have 4. (Frostclaws holding 1 on the far left; Pack Hunters holding 1 out on my left, and the Pack Hunters on the central hill holding a 2 Pointer.) The Herd clawed its way back somewhat, but the Northern Alliance is still firmly in control of things as the Round concludes.

We do roll up a Round 7, but I concede. The first order of that Round is going to be the Prime flank-charging my flying Beast, and almost certainly claiming the token as I already have 7 damage. It's a friendly game here, and this is as good as it's going to get for the Herd, and we'd both rather get in a second game.

Game Conclusions

Given the scenario, and my unusually small number of units, I was hoping to endure any early shooting and then formulate a plan to contest tokens as the game progressed. However, the spread shooting was way more effective than I was anticipating! I didn't have any way to heal up, so all the chip damage just kept accumulating until things started wavering under all of the ranged attacks, and then the game spiraled out of my control with a pretty darn disastrous Round 3. Having multiple unengaged units wavering was rough, and then cold dice while forgetting Brutal just put me in a bad spot. We could have have a closer game if I was a bit more attentive, so that's definitely an error on my part there, but given the scenario, I had an uphill battle from the start I think.

Even without committing all that hard to it, the shooting of the Northern Alliance was strong right up to Round 6, and really carried the day, softening up the Herd unit up and down the field before the battle lines eventually closed. As-ever, the dynamic combined arms of the Northern Alliance proved to be a very potent threat on the battlefield! My opponent played a smart game, and prioritized his shooting targets very well! Having shooting units able to hang back and still contribute as the game progressed worked really well for him, and he made great use of everything in his list. 

Testing Conclusions

I'm still learning and fumbling with the Herd, and losses give us a lot to reflect on! Hanging back in Round 2 was a good tactical call, but not being aggressive enough early enough was a bad strategy, and this all stems from a low-drop list. Without any shooting or healing, I was too passive and picked apart as the game went on. 

• Double Spear Hordes. The Northern Alliance isn't much of a cavalry faction, so the spears / phalanx didn't have much to interact with. They weren't lucky, but did endure a lot, and that's what I need them around for. I think this should be a good default battle-line unit for me, especially if I can learn to use them a little bit better. The Chalice of Wrath was suggested as an item for them online, and Dwarven Ale might be something to consider as well as a future upgrade for them.
• Guardian Brutes. They look like one of the Herd's only hammers, but still suffer from having a combination of TC and CS. These Melee 4+ large infantry "bezerker" units aren't always that reliable, but Pathfinder makes these much more attractive than many other similar choices, and running multiple hordes should be a good way to make sure something gets into combat. Still, my opponent did a great job at targeting them with the shooting he had, and I'll need to figure out better ways to run them and protect them. 
• Scorchwing Hordes. Against a regenerating list, they didn't have a lot of great shooting targets, and my opponent was wise to protect the Snow Foxes until they were needed. I didn't use these well early on, but lucked out a bit later in the game. They are a versatile unit, but I am not having the best of luck with them. Coupled with the recent cost increase, these might not be good fits for me, but I do want to play around with them a bit more.
• Flying Beasts of Nature. Not a great showing for either of them, and neither of them was used particularly well. Beating the Thegn was ok, but also just a showcased  how one wants to commit multiple units to win fights quickly, as well as how swingy low amounts of dice can be.
• Hydra. Against my opponent's best judgement, the Hydra was soaking bow fire well early on, and the waver was just unfortunate. Not a great time for him either, but the titan was performing as expected and I can't hold the dice results against him.
• Druid. I felt a little shy on sources of Inspiring, but these two did well. Running the Brutes and Spears so close together, important things were Inspired most of the time, and the Bane Chants landed pretty reliably, so they did well. 
• Wiltfather. Yet again, another good unit not used particularly well! Eh, it was my second outing piloting him, and there are definitely still things to learn! The Scout move was good, but then I struggled to get use out of him, and even free damage like Cloak of Death barely made a ripple due to my poor positioning. I think either deploying him more centrally or keeping him where he was but marching him up as far as he could go in the early rounds to force the issue would have been better uses for me. 

My opponent played well, and I learned a lot! It was a great game to kick off a double header!

Hobby Update: Herd Lycan Alphas

 Up now are some Lycan Alphas for the Herd!

Both of the new heroes.

The models are Fey Werewolves from WizKid’s Critical Role line. I’ve had my eye on these for a while, but could never find them in the local shops, so ordered them via an online shop as a little treat to myself a few weeks back. The minis come “pre-primed”, but I had to scrape a lot of mold lines on them, and so I ended up waiting to for the Wisconsin weather to trend in a favorable direction and priming them again before hobbying them up recently.

One, with a green tunic.

The sculpts are a little weird. They have the “mane” approach for the hair, but from the promotional pictures, it also seems like the sculptor wanted to show that the body was furry too, with some fur textures on the torsos and such. The sculpt didn’t take those details at all though, so following the rest of my arctic Herd, I went with my usual “Andorian” painting scheme, with light blue skin and white hair.

The other, with a purple tunic. Hopefully this can differentiate them on the field for my opponents.

The Alphas have comparable units in a lot of other armies, such as the Northern Alliance Snow Troll Prime (120 points) or Thegn on Frostfang (125), or the Ogre Sergeant (110) or the Undead Lykanis (150). Large Infantry and Monster-sized single entity units abound. All of these examples have comparable combat stats. All Inspire. Some even regenerate. But the Lykanis and Alphas have incredible speed, increasing both of their prices dramatically, though the  Alpha still takes the cake as the most expensive of the bunch here, coming in at a tough-to-swallow 160 points.

Nimble single entity units show up in a lot of armies and popular with a lot of generals, as they provide some amazing utility (decent combat stats, unexpected charges, additional sources of Inspiring, even contributing unit strength to help score scenarios…), but the Alphas might actually be too expensive to be worthwhile. Unless one is consistently making some very long charges with them, something like the Snow Troll Prime can do similar things for 40 points less! That's quite a premium to pay. Speed and Pathfinder will need to be utilized well to get the most out of them. Testing is needed to see how worthwhile they actually are on the table, and hopefully I’ll get some testing in soon!

Hobby Update: Herd Harpies

Up now are some Harpies for the Herd!

Both units.

The models are Chaos Furies from the Chaotic Beasts Warcry box. I picked up a box of assembled minis via ebay, and I have used the Rapyoryx minis from it for my Herd Rimewings (Scorchwings), but wasn’t sure what to do with these. I think it was one of Boss_Salvage’s reports that I saw them used as Harpies and figured I’d steal the idea… The models fall far short of the usual acceptable model count for a unit, but with only three possible sculpts, I am stuck with them for now. Fortunately, they do fill do up the base well enough for some casual games.

This unit is something out of an animation handbook. Figure 2: The Harpy spots prey and takes flight.

Hobbying-wise, I did the bases up first, including the snow. The minis came assembled but needed priming, and the spring weather has largely been uncooperative. Once primed, they got my usual Herd paint scheme of MSP’s Glacier Blue for skin, a blue shade, and then white hair. A second layer of snow effect was added afterwards to hide the join to the base in places, especially with the ruins.

This unit is a bit more chaotic.

Herd have some peculiar chaff. The Gur Panthers have been my go-to, since they are what I have had access to. Fortunately for me, they have done well! They are amazingly quick and can keep up and block for everything in the army, but with only 6 attacks, their ability to hunt war machines or reliably disorder something has been questionable.

The Woodland Critters is slightly cheaper, but far inferior to the Panthers. As discussed in their hobby post as well as their debut game, you are paying for a lot of special rules that just bloats the units price. At Speed 6 they are actually one of the slower things in the army, and might not be able to get where you need them to block threats.

Excluding additional options like Centaur troops, for Herd chaff, the Harpies look like the best of the bunch? For 5 points over the Panthers you gain fly and two extra attacks, making them a little more reliable in potential disruptive or offensive roles while still retaining the speed you need to get them where they need to be. 

The Gur Panthers have been solid, but the Harpies should be on par with them, and might even get some additional tricks in during games due to having Fly. We’ll need to get some testing in!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #059 Abyssals vs Dwarfs [Invade]

Intro and Lists:

I ended up with an unexpectedly free day on the weekend, and was very fortunately able to arrange a game to fill it on short notice! Answering the call was the gregarious Joe, who I had met previously but had yet to play against. He's been on a tear in the league games with his Imperial Dwarfs, running a Flame Belcher and some Ironguard and Mastiff spam, but this was his first larger game. He brought the following for his debut with Imperial Dwarfs at a tournament points level:

I am a fond follower of Darkblack's battle reports, and his Tales of the Fools Hold saga, but have never actually faced off against the Imperial Dwarfs before, and was excited to do so, even with all of the Def 6 units across from me. This man knows what he likes! Building off of his Ambush lists, we have an incredibly sturdy line with a ton Ironguard, and the powerful Royal Guard infantry formation for the dwarfs. All six of the Dwarf infantry units have throwing Mastiffs, and the horde had received the Hammer of Measured Force, which is a neat trick on an good quality anvil unit! Two hordes of equally defensive Earth Elementals and even a Greater Earth Elemental take the field. The only war machine is the Flame Belcher, but that could easily roast much my low-defense list if I am not careful! For inspiration and support the Dwarfs had a rifle-toting Warsmith, a Flame Priest, a Stone Priest, and nifty ASB, with their Sacred Horn bringing the (very) Inspiring bubble out to 12 inches, and the Elite aura from the formation out to 9 inches. (Edit: after publication, it was pointed out that Inspiring is it's own special rule, and while functionally similar, doesn't interact with the Sacred Horn.) Overall, it was an incredibly sturdy army. Not a lot of offensive picks, but throwing Mastiffs and Fireballs should weaken things up, and the Defense 6 wall paired with the Bane Chants should be able to grind out many things.

I brought the above, continuing my exploration of Abyssal MSU play, and taking no unit larger than a regiment. To briefly recap the thinking, one gets a discount in King of War for running a larger unit, so I am thinking that one way to approach MSU is with units that max out at the regiment size, since you are getting the best cost you can for the units you are taking. For this game, I eased off on my usual Flamebearers (and the Seductress/Enthrall combo) in order to focus more on the melee aspects of the army, and brought a lot of doubles to help with testing. For evaluating MSU, I am still interested in everything:

• Abyssal Guard. I still feel like spamming them is a bit odd, but that they are still the best unit for me and this playstyle, so I need to take some. Since they, the Succubi and the Flamebearers are all 150 points base now, I am still tweaking my infantry lineup. Fearless and Regeneration should hopefully keep them around longer than usual, and the CS should let them punch back.
• Succubi. Still testing these out. I am still running these without the Lurker, and I think these need to be more instigators and blockers than damage dealers themselves.
• Flamebearers. The Flamebearers have been great, but have struggled for a few games. With average dice, they need about three units to reliable one-shot a regiment, and that's a very wide and unwieldy frontage to manage. We'll see what I can do with two units. Depending on the scenario, they may be decent objective holders for me.
• Oathbreakers. Unlike the Guard unit they are based on, these didn't get a points discount, so I've debated whether or not to run them. Twenty-five points is a big upgrade cost. Still, I like my models and my unit, so I'll keep bringing these along more often than not.
• Gargoyles. The Gargoyles have been nice flying chaff. I've tricked myself a few times with Nimble though, so we'll try to focus on the basics here, keeping them back until they are needed to block.
• Tortured Souls. As fliers but lacking Nimble, these have been hard to use as flankers and outriders. There just aren't enough pivots to get them around things! They've worked best as instigators, charging in and holding something up, so we'll try to use them in that role here again.
• Double Chroneas. 
• Double Fiend. The Fiends do a little of everything, and have been great for this style of play. 
• Double Harbinger. Since I was dropping the Seductress, I wanted another source of Inspiring for the army. Rampage is a really interesting aura, and the Firebolts might be of use here and there too. One got the Lute, and the other got the Torc of Dissonance, since I had 10 points left and wasn't sure what to take. We'll see how each of them do, but the Harbingers seem like they'll provide some good support for this style of play as well.

I brought my own terrain, and 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 graveyard as Height 1 Difficult Terrain. The store's tables are only 40 inches deep though, so we shrank our deployment zones down to maintain the buffer between the initial lines of battle. Also of note, our playmat was a section of camouflaged cloth that works very nicely on the table. For anyone looking to get some cheap battle mats, consider stopping by some craft stores and checking this out!

We rolled up Invade for the scenario, which is nice and simple. Just get the majority of a unit's footprint over the center line, and do this for more unit strength than your opponent does in order to win. I was forced to pick sides, did the lazy gamer move, and got things going for deployment.

The Imperial Dwarfs. Nothing in the list is below Defense 5... though I don't realize this until later.

From left-to-right for my perspective, we have the Greater Earth Elemental, the Stone Priest nestled in there, then both Elemental Hordes. This was a rock-solid flank (har-har). There was a small woods, and then the formation took center field, with the ASB and a unit of Ironguard in reserve. Out on the far-right were two more Ironguard, the Warsmith, and the Flamebelcher cannon.

The center and right of the Abyssals.

I was hoping to consolidate my forces a bit, but given the scenario and with my opponent going wide, I needed to spread out a bit myself. On the right, I had Succubi hiding behind a hill to delay, and Gargoyles to yolo into the Flame Belchers and hopefully take it out quickly before it could roast me.

The stacked left and center of the Abyssals.

The dwarven spears and formation came down early. At Def5, the formation is the weakest part of the opposing force. Instead of trying to play the scenario with them and sneak them across the table, I opted to put both Flamebearer regiments opposing the formation, supported by the Lute ASB, the Fiend on their left, and some Abyssal Guard on their right. Hopefully I can burn something with them.

It might be foolish given their high defense, but I ended up committing a lot to fight the elementals. They are slow, so I may have been able to ignore them entirely, but that's a lot of Unit Strength to just avoid. From left-to-right we have Tortured Souls screening a Chroneas, another Abyssal Fiend, the legendary Oathbreakers, more normal Abyssal Guard with the Tonc ASB and Gargoyles in reserve, and the Tortured Souls screening the second Chroneas. Screening the Chroneas was a bit on an accident, but I kind of like it. The Tortured Souls have worked well as a small tarpit, so hopefully they can do that, and then let the Chroneas pile in and do work.

Given the scenario, I was pretty happy with my deployment overall, as I wasn't going to get any dwarf unit march across the field for free. Still, this was my first game against Imperial Dwarfs, so we'll see how it goes! My opponent won the roll-off for deciding first turn, and stuck me with it.

Top of Round 1: Abyssals

With nothing in shooting range myself, the Abyssals just moved up. Over on the right, the Gargoyles and Succubi tentatively move up, wary of the range the Flame Belcher can spew its fire. Both should be out of range of the fires of the machine next turn, though the Gargoyles should have a charge into it on my next turn even if it doesn't move for some reason. That's the plan here. The Gargoyles will charge the war machine and the Succubi move up to help delay.

Movement for the Abyssals, Top of Round 1.

The center moved up. I didn't want to push too hard here given the power of the Royal Guard formation and the weakness of my own center. The Guard moved as far as they could, getting into the woods. The Flamebearers move a little over their base Speed, and the Fiend moves up as well.

Movement on the left is a bit more aggressive.

Out on the left, the Chroneas moves at the double and passes the Tortured Souls. I want to do everything I can to make sure she has a charge next turn in order to start putting Cloak of Death on all these Def 6 Elementals. 

The rest of the line on the left moves up aggressively as well. It's going to take a lot to break the elemental group, so I want to start those fights as quickly as I can. 

Bottom of Round 1: Dwarfs

Dwarfs are Dwarfs, but they waste no time! The Royal Guard line advances much quicker than I was thinking it would. The Elementals move as swiftly as they can with their Shambling, and the Stone Priest Surges the Greater Elemental a few inches closer to the Chroneas, but far short of making a surging charge. The Flame Priest in the woods is able to reach the Abyssal Guard, and his massive Fireball lands 4 damage, but the Fearless Guard holds firm. In later discussions with my opponent, I apparently received an early Insane Courage result at some point. I didn't write it down as it wasn't any big upset. This check may have been it. 

Quick aside: My opponent had a fabulous "mithril" look to many of his weapons. I like it!

The Royal Guards in the center mostly moves up at the double. I think it was just some wishful thinking of mine that they were going to be hang back! Hanging back might be my own tendencies showing themselves again. The aggression makes sense given the scenario and what is opposing them.

The Dwarfs move up, very aggressively. 

Over on the right, the Ironguard keep pace with the Flame Belcher, moving up slightly. Most of the Dwarfs moved at the double, so can't toss their Mastiffs this turn.

The Warsmith apparently trains Sharpshooter regiments in his free time.

The Warsmith can also shoot this turn, and does so into the Stealthy Succubi, and lands 3 damage. The Nerve check is blazing hot as well, and the Succubi are wavered! A great start for the Dwarfs.

Top of Round 2: Abyssals

The wavered Succubi elect to hold. The Gargoyles follow the plan though, and throw themselves into the Flame Belcher, and do barely manage to rout it, since even the war machine is Defense 5. The Gargoyles can't really overrun (they'll clip the Ironguard and be stopped immediately), and can't really get out of the charge arc of the nearby infantry unit either. They reform, trying to spin awkwardly so the Ironguard will need to spin around too, potentially opening them up to a rear charge from the Succubi, if the ladies can get their act together and the Gargoyles somehow hold.

I didn't expect them to hold, but should have been more precise with the victorious positioning. 

Centrally, the Abyssal Guard moves out of the woods. They are Inspired, and this should force some choices from my opponent. The Flamebearers back up to deny charges, and both fling into the Bulwarkers, joined by the Abyssal Fiend and his fireball. I am surprised to find out that the Bulwarkers are Def5, and that nothing in the list is below 5. The dwarfs sure are sturdy! For damage, both Flamebearers roll a little lower than expected, landing 2 apiece but Fireball somehow makes up for their poor performance, and they are brought up to 8 damage. I forget that the Harbinger has a Firebolt attack as well, otherwise he should have tossed in here too, as there is nothing to Bane Chant. The Bulwarks are inspired, and needing a 7 twice, the Nerve Check toys with me, swinging wildly from Doomed to Insane Courage for the results.

On the left, I don't want any surprise flank charges if I can help it, But I can't get anything in against the Stone Priest to disorder him. I eventually decide to engage against all the Elementals with a lot of charges, and make use of all my extra units here!

Mayhem! My charges took a lot of time to figure out.

First, the Chroneas and the Fiend charge into an Earth Elemental Horde. Then, the Abyssal Guard that took the Fireball gets into the flank of the Greater Earth Elemental, joined by some Tortured Souls in the front. The Oathbreakers just had the inches but not the line of sight (Height 3 Unit behind a Height 3 Hill) to hit the reddish Elementals, so they take the hill, ready to charge off of it for the Thunderous Charge bonus next turn.

Cloak of Death manages to hit all of the Elemental battle group. The Chroneas rolls up 4 extra attacks, but the monster and the titan falter, dealing just 4 damage between them, with the Fiend contributing just 1 damage. The Greater Earth Elemental ends the turn at 10 damage. The Tortured Souls catch the last Elemental horde in the front, landing 2 damage. Nothing breaks, but that's expected, and some good progress is made, especially against that Greater Elemental.

The Abyssal Guard regenerate 3 of their damage, with the last one being "timed" away by the Chroneas! Its nice to have some healing in a list for once.

The other Chroneas didn't have a charge this turn. With the dwarf center pushing up so aggressively, she lines some charges up for the coming turn, with the Gargoyles sticking close to interdict.

Bottom of Round 2: Dwarfs

On the left, the Greater Elemental counter-charges the Tourtured Souls, landing 5 damage, but the Nerve check is low and the spirits stick around. 

The Elemental horde counter-charges the Fiend, dealing 5 and Wavering him with a hot 10 on the dice.

My opponent figures out his ranged targets with tokens, and the Fiend takes a very strong charge.

The other Elemental Horde is a wily bunch of rocks. They disengage, letting the nearby Flame Priest Fireball the Abyssal aggressors while the Bulwarks introduce them to their throwing Mastiff. Just six damage is done, and the Elementals are then surged back in and then Bane Chanted, thanks to the special upgrades on the Stone Priest. A very solid play from my opponent! 

The Stone Priest double-cast is new, but I'm aware of this Shambling trick, although it's been a while since I've encountered it. Touching on some of the rule's highlights for anyone unfamiliar: since the horde needed to withdraw, it will still take a -1 penalty in the coming melee. (Big Red Book, pg. 27) The optional withdraw rule doesn't care that the horde is fighting the same unit, just that it made the withdraw move here. I take damage in the ranged phase, but since I am now engaged with a unit, I don't take a Nerve check at the end of the phase here. (Big Red Book, pg. 31). 

Edit: Boss_Salvage on the forum has this to add: "Those elementals were most likely just Disengaging (i.e. backing up under their own movement), which doesn’t incur a Melee penalty and can be done regardless of Withdraw existing. Assuming they didn’t back up over 2.5", in which case they would indeed need to use the extra 1" from Withdraw, but that seems excessive and unlikely when the goal was to get shots in from other targets before surge-charging back in."

The Ironclad Horde with the hammers go into my central Fiend. With the Sacred Horn on the ASB, they are in range for the auras, and 21 of their 25 attacks hit, and 10 damage is done to the poor devil. He is wavered after the beating.

The Imperial Dwarfs are already hitting hard! We're just in Round 2!

Three Mastiffs are thrown into the Abyssal Guard lurking near the woods, and the dogs each land 3 damage apiece, but the Guard are Inspired, and manages to hold with a low check.

The Warsmith shoots his shot at something, but nothing hits. I don't think he had line of sight to the Guard, so this may have been at the Succubi again.

Top of Round 3: Abyssals

Out on the right, the Succubi can see some Ironguard, who have not yet thrown their Mastiff, and so the ladies will charge in, and they will land a solitary point of damage onto the dwarf defenders, who are then found to be Insane. This charge takes them even with the flank of the nearby unit, making this a one-on-one fight for now. Both Ironguard on still on his side of the board, so the delaying tactics are working out well here!

Charges from the Abyssals.

The ranged phase is disappointing. The Flamebearers can't quite get 50% of the Bulwarkers into their field of view, so they fling with cover penalties into the unit... with nothing hitting. Bane Chant in to the Guard fizzles as well, and both of the Fiends are too preoccupied to Fireball anything.

Thankfully, the Fiends have Fury, and they will both countercharge. Centrally, one is joined by some Flamebearers against the Ironclad. They can't toss into anything this turn, and a second unit should help to hold the horde in place in the coming turns. Both they and the Fiend will each deal 2 to the horde, which holds, obviously.

I do spy some flank charges though. I think I have good odds, so the Green Chroneas takes the flank of some Ironguard, while their other flank is assaulted by some Abyssal Guard (who don't get the Bane Chant). Indeed, I am fortunate enough to take the unit off! The Chroneas opts to heal up the Fiend, who is just within range. 

The Abyssals rack up a few victories out on the left flank.

The remaining unit of Gargoyles fly up, trying to prevent the Bulwarks from aiding the elemental fights.

On the hill, the Torc Harbinger should still be able to see the Flame Priest, and is within 12 Inches, so decides to stop the Fireball for a turn.

The good news for the Abyssals continues out on the left. Cloak of Death hits the elemental battle group again. The Stone Priest has been getting healed via Radiance of Life, but damage on all the elementals is amazing for me. The Fiend furiously counter-charges, with the Chroneas joining back in. They decide to try and use the pointy ends of their weapons this time, but are still having some issues, landing just 6 damage between them this turn. Still, at 12 damage total, the Inspired Nerve check happens to go my way, so I can't complain. The Chroneas heals the Fiend for 3 as the titan backs up, and the monster itself decides to change facing.

The Tortured Souls will countercharge the Greater Earth Elemental, Lifeleeching some damage off, and with the Abyssal Guard again hitting the flank of the rocky titan. They bring it up to 18 damage, and manage to best the titan! 

The Oathbreakers gain Thunderous Charge as they leave the hill to fight against the Earth Elementals who have been Blessed by the Gods. The tactics are with me but the dice are little reluctant, and they deal just 3 damage, bringing the Horde to 7 damage total, who hold. At Def 6, I wasn't going to rout them, but I was hoping to make a little more progress against them. Still, I didn't think I'd be able to rout the other horde nor the Greater Elemental this turn, so things are going very well here!

Bottom of Round 3: Dwarfs

Out on the right, the Ironguard counter-charge the Succubi. I forget that I have Ensnare, and 5 more damage is done to them, but the ladies hold. 

More charges from the Imperial Dwarfs.

The Abyssal Guard that helped flank the Ironclad take a multi-charge from the dwarfs, with the maimed Bulwarks and Ironclad going in against the elite Abyssal unit. The Bulwarks catch a Bane Chant to help them out. The Guard do surprisingly well, but take just enough damage to be devastated, and then routed. As is proper.

The Warsmith shoots into the Flamebearers, landing 1 damage.

The Ironclad horde thumps the Fiend and then reforms, eager for more.

The measured Ironguard Horde goes into the Fiend again. The Fiend got a heal, and the dwarfs do struggle a bit, but do manage to bring him up to 15 damage, and rout him. The horde will reform to threaten the Flamebearers.

The Elementals fight on, but are unable to take any units with them.

The Blessed Earth Elementals land 8 damage on the Oathbreakers, but thanks to Fearless, they are able to hold on despite a very close Nerve check.

Positioning in the center at the end of the Round.

The other Bulwarks charge the Gargoyles, and catch a Bane Chant from the Stone Priest, who is trying to escape from the left flank. They started in the woods, so should be hindered, but we don't look to have accounted for that. It's ok, it's chaff. The Bulwarks land 13 hits, which translate into 12 damage against the Gargoyles, and the fliers are skewered. Safe from any reprisals next turn, the Bulwarks will pivot to try and chase down the green Chroneas. 

Top of Round 4: Abyssals

Out on the left, the Tortured Souls start to swing around with 45 degree pivot. The Chroneas hits the Earth Elementals in the flank, with the Oathbreakers and Abyssal Guard hitting the rocks in the front. Defense 6 is still Defense 6, and I struggle to land the blows, but they are still brought up to enough damage to be devastated, while the Chroneas heals the Oathbreakers for 3 with temporal rift silliness.  Unfortunately, the Elementals are found to be quite Insane, and this is my third Insane gift to my opponent.

The last Elemental Horde continue to fight on valiantly.

The Green Chroneas sees the flank of some Ironguard, and charges in, escaping the threat of the pursuing Bulwarks. Both of the Chroneas monster have been rolling mostly 4's for their extra attacks, but failing on the combat rolls. I'm in the flank with 20 total attacks, and only deal 5 damage to the unit (a total of 6 with Cloak of Death). Mathing it out for the report, Defense 6 is still bonkers, and I never had great odds to break them. Going against the maimed Bulwarks (who would be starting this combat at 10 damage) would have been a much better choice I think.

The Abyssals start to get overconfident... it's a flank charge, but a risky one.

The Flamebearers are unengaged, and will turn to focus-fire on the Ironclad, with the remaining Fiend contributing a Fireball, and the Torc Harbinger a Firebolt of her own. They start the ranged phase on 5 damage, and I am able to bring them up to 13, but they do stick around. 

The Lute Harbinger get up enough to inspire both the Succubi and the Flamebearers. The Succubi catch a Bane Chant, and bring the Ironguard to 8, from 1, making up for the previous turn. The Ironguard are then found to be Insane again... a fourth gift to my opponent, though this one hurts less, as routing them would be unexpected, as they are Inspired from the nearby Warsmith.

Bottom of Round 4: Dwarfs

The flanked Ironguard disengage, taking a penalty, and will charge into some Flamebearers. Then the the Ironguard horde flank the poor Chroneas. The maimed Bulwarks perform a forced march to end clear of the Ironguard, while the other unit will just change facing, to stare at the flank of the stalled Oathbreakers.

A strong, if awkwardly positioned line of Imperial Dwarfs.

The Chroneas will take 19 damage, and be devastated and routed. As is proper. The horde will simply spin 180 degrees. The penalized Ironguard will still land 7 damage against the Flamebearers, but they will surprisingly hold.

It's the Abyssal's turn to be Insane again Not nearly as impactful, but I'll take it!

Thanks to his items, the Flame Priest will land another larger-than-normal Fireball into the other unit of Flamebearers., but the dice are a little cool. They'll take just 5 damage, and will now be found to be Insane. Sheesh. Still, they are not Inspired, so I am lucky here.

I will remember Ensnare this time, but the Ironguard don't care. They have good stats, and I am still Defense 3, and the dwarfs will cut the Succubi down this turn.

The insane Elementals are still devastated, but still manage to land 3 into the Oathbreakers, who to hold again, having received the time heal from the Chroneas last turn.

Top of Round 5: Abyssals

The Elementals holding was unfortunate, as three valuable units were fighting them, and all are facing the wrong way now. So this turn I just try to mitigate the damage from the crazy hold. The Elementals had countercharged the Oathbreakers and shuffled to center against them last turn, popping my other units free.

The Chroneas charges the Stone Priest, landing 3 damage and disordering the caster while Cloak of Death hits him, the Elementals, the nearby Bulwarks and even the Flame Priest if memory serves.

The Oathbreakers disengage, and change facing to see the nearby Bulwarks. I would rather have been charging them this turn, but it's the best I can do. They heal a bit with regen, and the Chroneas sends the time heals towards them as well.

The Abyssals scramble to try and deal with the Royal Guard.

The Elementals had to shuffle down to against the Oathbreakers. The Abyssal Guard that had been in that fight were popped out, but due to the shuffle, now have a flank charge into the insane Elementals, and take it. The Elementals are devastated and can't be healed, so we skip the damage and go right for the check... and they are found to be insane again. That's five Insane results for the Dwarfs so far. They all really want to fight!

The Tortured Souls continue to tour the deployment zone of the dwarfs.

The insane Flamebearers regenerate some wounds, and will throw into the maimed Bulwarks. They are brought to 15 damage. They will thankfully be routed off. The other Flamebearers don't have the inches to get into the woods to force a hindered charge from the Ironguard next turn, so they countercharge, hoping for something, but they are unable to get anything through the dwarven armor.

With the Flamebearers throwing into the Bulwarks first, and with them at 15, both Harbingers will Firebolt into the horde of Ironclad, with the Fiend contributing another Fireball. The horde is taken from 13 damage to 15 damage with some very disappointing ranged attacks, and will hold. Still, the Flamebearers here are messing with the horde's charges. The horde can't pivot through the enemy unit, so the Flamebearers are their only charge next turn.

Bottom of Round 5: Dwarfs

I apparently failed to get a picture for this part of the round. At the shop we had our game going, plus a smaller league game, plus a demo game. By this point, the other games had wrapped up, and my reporting and picture-taking took a hit from the socializing.

The still-devastated-but-still-insane Elementals counter charge, changing their facing to fight the Abyssal Guard unit attacking them.

The Bulwarks will charge the Oathbreakers, but the latter will hold on another close Nerve check.

The Stone Priest disengages and eludes the Chroneas, fleeing into the safety of the forest (though the Chroneas can still see them).

The Flame Priest will Fireball the unengaged Flamebearers, who had regenerated down to 2 damage last turn. The Mastiff from the Ironclad horde will be tossed in as well, and the unit will be routed. 

The Ironguard fighting the Flamebears will countercharge and rout them this turn. 

The Ironguard that had defeated the Succubi move forward, hoping to score, but not quite there yet.

The Warsmith fires at and hits the Harbinger with the Lute for 2, wavering him with a good and unexpected Nerve check. The Harbinger is not disordered, so this waver is a bummer, and he won't be able to contribute in the coming round.

Top of Round 6: Abyssals

The Abyssal Guard charge back in, and will finally rout the insane Elementals! The Nerve check is a terror-inducing 3 though. Sheesh. They've earned a sobriquet or fancy title or new paintjob or something at this point. Good riddance!

I finally get to make use of the Rampage aura from the Harbinger, with the Oathbreakers counter charging against the Bulwarks. But they struggle against the armor, and the Bulwarks hold against the attacks.

The touring Tortured Souls make a very hindered charge into the Stone Priest hiding in the woods, but will still land some damage, and will still Waver him.

The Fiend opts to try another Fireball, and the Torc Harbinger tries a Firebolt, both into the horde, which is just barely scoring. We bring it up to 19 damage, but I roll up a  total of 4 on the dice, and they are just wavered, having had their Nerve scores increased by the formation benefits.

The Chroneas lives the dream, and is able to get into two combats in a single turn! 

The Chroneas can see the Flame Priest, and charges in. I did so just to get Cloak of Death onto the horde in the shooting attempt to rout it. However, I am able to land 7 damage against the Flame Priest, bring him to 9, and even get the rout. I realize I need 2" to overrun into the flank of the Ironclad... and get 5! The Chroneas overruns and is able to tip the scales here, dealing enough damage to devastate and then rout the horde. As is proper.

This was unfortunately a “feels-bad” situation for my opponent, as one of his previous opponents had erroneously said this kind of charge was illegal. Joe took it in stride though. I thought the confusion might have been due to a wrinkle with either a Mighty individual, or with resolving the order of melee combats in that particular game, but checking the rulebook for writing up the report, neither seems to be the case, and it was just a wrong call.

Individuals have complex rules, but Mighty doesn’t seem to apply here. Unless I am missing something, it appears any individual can be used as a speed bump into a second combat.  I was surprised to see that the order of combats also doesn’t apply here either. In fact, if the unit overrunning the individual would connect with an enemy unit whose combat that has already been resolved, your overrunning units still gets to have their fight, and this could be a rare instance of a unit needing to take two Nerve tests in a single phase. (Big Red Book, pg. 40.) Good to know!

Bottom of Round 6: Dwarfs

It's been a very bloody battle, and there is not much the dwarfs can do as the game concludes. The Bulwarks charge back into the Oathbreakers, looking to remove some unit strength, but the latter holds again with yet another close check.

The Ironclad that bested the Succubi make an ordered march into scoring position, and use their pivot to look at the Harbinger, their only target. They still have their Mastiff, and throw it against the Harbinger, with the Warsmith shooting at the Abyssal character too. Character hunting isn't a bad use for Mastiffs from the look of it, and Mastiff spam is very strong. The Harbinger is mauled.

The last toss from the Dwarfs. Pen should be the Round 7 charge range of the Fiend.

For scoring units, my opponent is reduced to just two damaged Ironclads for the scenario. Each unit contributes 3, for a total Unit Strength of 6 for the Imperial Dwarfs.

The Fiend isn't scoring, as the center line is running very nearly parallel to his flank facing and is just between him and the graveyard. Still, the Oathbreakers (3), Abyssal Guard (3) Tortured Souls (2) and Chroneas (1) are all scoring for a total of 10 Unit Strength for the Forces of the Abyss.

We do not roll up a Round 7, so the routing of the Ironclad horde brings this from a tie to a solid victory for the Abyssals!

Game Conclusion

I think this holds the record for most Insane Courage results in a single game for me. I received 2, and my opponent got a ridiculous 5, which might have secured the infamous title on its own. Statistical tomfoolery aside, this was a great game!

For a first attempt at a larger list, Joe did great! I was excited to see the Imperial Dwarfs in person, and they definitely did not disappoint! The Mastiffs are an amazing tool, and Ordered March really helps the Dwarfs move around the battlefield. Defense 6 “spam” is definitely a choice, but a strong and competitive option for the Imperial Dwarfs, and the list is a great foundation to build off of for future games. He played a great game here, and I am looking forward to the next one already!

I haven’t sat down and thought things out in any analytical manner, nor am I a competitive tournament player to be in an authoritative position to do so, but metagame-wise, it seems like Gladestalker-like shooting lists and Def6 spam and should both give Abyssal MSU some serious problems. Shooting should be able to focus-down the smaller regiments quickly, and tackling Def6 units requires some specialized tools (Monsters or Alchemist Curse or very heavy-hitting units), which cannot be everywhere at once. Coming up against such a sturdy list, and against a new army, I was immensely happy to come out of this with a win, and overall, I was pleased with my play.

Testing Conclusions

• Abyssal Guard. I think the Def5 version has potential in the average list, as so few units in the roster can get up to Def5, but given the playstyle of my particular list here, the CS version still seems best for me right now. I need all the CS I can get! The unit “works” due to having both Fearless and Regeneration, which has let them stick around and do work every game. Seemingly, they still my best infantry option here.
• Succibi. Well, I need to do better at remembering their rules, though even with Ensnare they should still be taking about 5 damage in that combat. With no regeneration and just Def 3, they are just so darn fragile. Overall, they did ok with delaying my opponent, and could operate well instigating for an Abyssal Guard unit, running up and taking the early hits. I’m still not a big fan, but am still trying to brainstorm a role for them. Upgrading them with the Lurker for Pathfinder, giving them an item, babysitting with a BC Warlock all makes them better, but my gut still says this would be good points chasing bad. 
• Flamebearers. I really like the unit, but as mentioned before, you need about 3 to reliably do enough damage to rout regiments, and that’s a huge frontage to manage. Two regiments seemed fine, and they found ways to contribute. They did not have good rolls this game, but still did ok overall. I still think I want to run regiments over troops, as the extra Nerve lets Regeneration work better.
• Oathbreakers. They must have heard me doubting them! Nearly every Nerve check landed at a total of 16, and they just shrugged it off. Rally is still nice to have around for the extra safety. They are probably over-costed, but I am still liking them. 
• Gargoyles. They had a great game! I didn’t realize the war machine had Def 5, so I was very lucky to rout it in one go. And flying on chaff is great, letting the other unit get just where I needed them to be. I think I did good with them this game.
• Tortured Souls. Knowing that they are better at holding things up than at flanking and outriding, I decided to commit hard to fighting the Earth Elementals, using the Tortured Souls to instigate head-on. I gotta say, this worked out well for me, and better than expected! The surviving one probably should not have gone touring, but I still found a way to get some use out of him in the late-game. It seems I am slowly figuring out this unit.
• Chroneas. Obviously the MVPs. Against all this Defense 6, Cloak of Death did a lot of work and CS3 helped too, despite some low rolling. They still did enough damage to get great use out of the Temporal Fissure healing something every combat. These were great for this playstyle.
• Abyssal Fiend. I tried leaning into the ranged attacks more this game, with middling success since my Firebolts kept fizzling. Other lists can get better value from other units, but the Fiends are still good for this playstyle!
• Abyssal Harbingers. I committed a lot to beating the Elementals, so Rampage didn’t get to proc too much this game. Two recent games have demonstrated the potency of the Sacred Horn though, and extending two different auras (Rampage and Very Inspiring) could be very helpful for me. (As noted in the intro, we got this wrong, and Inspiring is its own thing, and not an Aura, and won't be boosted by the Horn.) I remembered they had a Firebolt attack a few turns in, and this might even be enough to justify running some without items, if need be. Overall, I am still glad ASBs got buffs, and I like the Harbinger buffs in particular! They do seem to work well with this MSU playstyle here too.

My opponent played a great game and took the edge case in Round 6 in stride. It was great to see a new army across the table, and the “mithril” armor looked really slick and unique. I greatly appreciated him fitting this in on short notice, and had a very wonderful afternoon. Signing off with a very big thank you to my opponent!