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. |
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. |
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment