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!