The budding Kings of War Wisconsin group has an escalation league going currently, just entering its second month of play. It's got a fancy hex grid and map, and supply lines, and mercenaries and upkeep costs and all sorts of intricacies! I didn't think I would be able to get regular games in for this endeavor, so I ducked out. Fortunately, there is a good number of people playing, and league participants do get benefits for playing heathens like myself. I was able to make the drive out and get a pair of league games in recently. I was on the fence about reporting on these, but figured why not! I've decided not to report diligently on demo games, but the league games here are only going to be getting bigger and bigger, and with a good variety of armies, there could be fun things to highlight.
My first opponent was running Halflings. Technically, I have a Halfling army myself, though so much has changed since Second Edition that I have no good idea what they do or how they play these days., aside from that they like auras. Currently, the league is using Ambush rules, and once-per-month, on the first league game you play, your opponent nominates a VIP unit, and that unit gets to roll on a table for a stat or special rule benefit that it will carry on through the rest of the escalation league. For the Halflings, the Grenadiers were the VIPs from the first month, gaining 3 additional attacks going forward. My opponent ran the following:
It seemed like a great list for Ambush! You can't take hordes, so regiments reign supreme. Halfling Rifles have Steady Aim, so they can move and shoot and chaff things up, while three defensive infantry regiments are around to do the work. The Grenadiers are neat, but lacking CS or TC, seem more like a disrupting unit to me. The Juggers are scary, but are just typical TC cavalry. The Muster Captain and Sauceror are around to inspire and support, as auras seem to be the hotness with halflings now.
I opted to run the Varangur. A non-league "raiding" army seemed like a fun and fluffy idea! Plus I wanted to try and commit to a shooting list, to see a little bit how that felt, particularly with regards to the new Horse Raiders. My plan was to shoot and delay for as long as I could, and then charge in, as everything I have hits harder than it shoots.
Table and Terrain
The scenario for the day was Loot, which we played for both games, with three grabbable tokens starting along the center line. We were playing out at a shop, using scavenged terrain, including a Height 9 building, height 2 obstacle, height 6 forest, height 0 verdant pond and height 0 blobby river pond. The river pond was a kind of neat idea.
The table was oddly sized for our needs. We had 3 feet of width, and 40 inches for depth, so we shrank our deployment zones down to 8 inches, preserving the 24" no-man's-land between the initial lines.
My opponent won the roll of for picking sides, and eagerly picked the side he was on, as he really wanted the woods. Left-to-right we have Halfling Rifles, Juggers screening for the Sauceror, Spears screening the Muster Captain, Stalwarts screening the Grenadiers, more Spears, and then more Rifles out on the corner, ready to sneakily hop up and fight for that token.
The building didn't really help me, nor did the obstacle. Nor did the pond. With all the terrain, there wasn't much chance of me getting a clean charge with the Mounted Sons. I opted to go shoulder-to-shoulder with my units, giving the better field of view to the Night Raiders and their longer range, and hoping the obstacle would turn any fight there into a grind, which the Mounted Sons and their CS could hopefully bully their way to a victory.
Getting up to threaten the tokens with charges seemed like a good idea, so winning the roll off for deciding first turn, I opted to go first.
Top of Round 1: Varangur
So, things moved up for the Varangur! The Night Raiders do not have Steady Aim with the bows, and also do not roll well, landing just 1 damage between my two units against the Halfling Spears out on the flank.
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| A lackluster opening volley. |
The Varangur Cavalry moved up as well. The Horse Raiders can't get clear of the verdant pond, but should be in range to shoot at something? Only 1 damage between three units would be abysmal, but not unheard of for bow shots. In any event, only 1 damage is done in the ranged phase here.
In retrospect, it probably would have been better to put both Horse Raiders near the obstacle and really use that as a firing base, while running the Mounted Sons more centrally, but oh well. The Horse Raiders are new units for me, and I didn't have a good idea of what I wanted to do this game.
Bottom of Round 1: Halflings
The injured spears change facing, with the Stalwarts moving up to help block for them. With the Stalwarts moving, the Height 2 Veteran Grenadiers (and their extra attacks) can see the Horse Raiders, and manage a clear charge into them, dealing 4 damage. They get several on their d3 Brutal, but the Horse Raiders stick around.
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| A feisty charge from the Halflings! |
Top of Round 2: Varangur
The Night Raiders opt to shoot into the Rifles, since they can't focus on the Spears from the last turn with the blocking Stalwarts. They deal 5 and 4 damage respectively, and are able to pop them.
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| The Varangur shoot off a unit, and push the Grenadiers back. |
The Horse Raiders and Mounted Sons charge the Grenadiers, and trounce them, even though the latter was hindered. The Sons stay put in victory. They are on the obstacle, but given the angle, anything charging them will end on the obstacle too, and should be hindered, and I think I can endure things. The Horse Raiders overrun a mighty 1", to bait for me.
Finally, the other Horse Raiders shoot with penalty into the woods, landing 1 into the Spears there.
Bottom of Round 2: Halflings
I understood that Halflings dealt with auras, but the synergies that escaped me initially were revealed to me this turn. The Sauceror opts for the Brutal Aura, rolling a massive Brutal 3. The Muster Captain has a keyworded aura of Strider, which although keyworded, interacts with nearly all of his army too.
The Spears in the woods make a striding charge into the maimed Horse Raiders. I believe they are joined by the Stalwarts, who are hindered. Still, I believe they manage to land 6 damage together, and with Brutal 3, are able to easily break the Raiders here. If memory serves, the Stalwarts picked up a token at the end of the movement phase, and both Halfing units will cha-cha slide in victory, getting deeper into the pond.
The charge from the Spears opens the way for the Juggers to make their own unexpected and striding charge into the Mounted Sons. They hit with 15/16 attacks, and the damage is almost as crazy going into double digits. With Brutal 3 here too, the Sons are swiftly broken!
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| Sadly, that's not damage on the Sauceror. Just tracking Brutal 3. |
The remaining Rifles move into the woods now, and land 3 damage onto the other regiment of Horse Raiders, and will waver them with a lucky Nerve check.
Top of Round 3: Varangur
Well, that was a back-breaking turn! The Juggers are oriented to obliterate the cowering Horse Raiders, so I decide to go elsewhere. In retrospect, I could have charged in with the Lord to disorder the Juggers and buy time, but I don't know how effective that would even be. The Lord flees, ignobly leaving the Raiders to their fate.
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| The Varangur are in complete shambles. |
The Stalwarts in the pond are going to be about all I can take with me. Both Night Raider units charge in, and with Pathfinder, are able to best the elite Halflings, and steal the token. One tries to overrun, getting a mighty 1", and the other changes facing, to make sure the Spears are in their front.
Bottom of Round 3: Halflings
The Sauceror gets a Brutal 2 aura, and doesn't move much.
Juggers make their charge into the wavering Horse Raiders, and with Strider ignoring the obstacle as well as Brutal 2, will make short work of them. The victorious halflings will turn to face what remains of the Varangur raiding party.
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| The Juggers are on a rampage! |
The Rifles in the woods move up to secure a token, but have no shots, as the rest of the Halflings are doing the heavy lifting for combats.
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| Reforms for the Halflings. |
The Muster Captain and Spears will make a multi-charge into one of the Night Raiders units. The Strider aura is still in effect, and paired with the low defense of the Raiders, the Spears do work, and they land 7 damage all on their own. The Muster Captain also does his part, and with Brutal 2 effecting this combat as well, the Raiders are routed! The Spears pivot to face the Raiders and hopefully clean them up next turn...
Top of Round 4: Varangur
I ultimately opt for the fluffier play, with the Lord charging in against the Muster Captain. The Lord does not deliver in the slightest.
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With no good options, the remaining Night Raiders charge into the Spears. Phalanx will hinder me, and I only manage 1 against them, and spacing-wise, the other Spears are in my flank.
Bottom of Round 4: Halflings
The Spears do their thing, and poke down the Night Raiders and steal back the Loot token.
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| A duel to the death! |
Top of Round 5: Varangur
I'm out of scoring units, but we'll make my opponent earn his tabling victory! I charge back in against the Muster Captain, and bring him up to 4 damage.
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| The Horse Lord continues swinging... ineffectually. |
Despite the good stats, my Horse Lord has not been used well, and has been pretty underwhelming.
Bottom of Round 5: Halflings
While the Muster Captain spars, the Spears and Juggers sandwich the Horse Lord, and will drag him down on the second attempt.
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| Going down swingin'! |
Game Conclusions
My opponent had a great list for the situation, and played it very well. The little movements (getting the Juggers just enough into the woods to see out; shuffling around to give the short Grenadiers line of sight for their early charge) both caught me off-guard and were executed well. The Strider/Brutal auras also paid dividends on such a small table. A great list, and a very well-deserved victory!
Testing Conclusions
For the Varangur, things just did not work out for me this game. My opponent also had enough Phalanx to cause me problems in the long run. My early shooting was ineffective, and I paid a points premium for a lot of cavalry... which can't do much outflanking on a 3 foot wide table! The game quickly spiraled out of any semblance of control.
- Night Raiders. Lacking Steady Aim was a bit of bummer, but they did ok, all in all. I wanted to shoot stuff and then charge, and they did accomplish both goals this game.
- Mounted Sons. If I were to redo the list knowing more of the meta now (that is, the smaller table size), I'd still take these. They are quite strong, but got completely outplayed here.
- Horse Raiders. The small table and wide lines of battle meant I couldn't really use their maneuverability, so this was not a good showing for them! In larger games I think they'll work out better, but Ambush is definitely not the place for this kind of cavalry, let alone two units of it.
- Lord on Horse. He managed just 4 damage over two rounds against the Muster Captain, which is just bad dice. I should not have put him behind the obstacle; giving him clearer charge angles from the get-go would have been better, letting him disrupt things and interdict as needed.
It was great seeing a new army on the table, and playing against a new player. The Halflings are a force to be reckoned with, and have some very neat synergies. I look forward to seeing the army and the general across the table again soon! Congrats to my opponent on the win!
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