Recommendation: Death by Dragons

A recent Data and Dice post pointed me towards the Death by Dragons youtube channel, and I gotta say, I was not disappointed! He (Steve) is a quick-witted commentator and a pretty clever player, so the reports have been rather entertaining, with plenty of things to learn from, as he's going to tournaments and giving his play-by-play thoughts. I’m not sure how I missed this channel previously, but I am quite enjoying catching up on his recent exploits, and recommend you do the same!

…and I don’t normally deep dive in my recommendations posts, but he’s been playing his “Kingdoms of Meh” recently, and has a lot of insights worth exploring. I’m not sure when else I’d discuss these, let alone cover in a timely manner, so I guess we’ll tackle them here. I won’t critique the efficacy of the lists, I just want to point out some cool things and some general points of agreement.

This is the initial list that caught my attention, and yeah, as you can see it is infantry-centric and a little wild. He discusses it more in the videos, but essentially he’s using triple Ballistae to exert pressure and force the enemy to close in, then using the Monarch to rally the Foot Guard holding the line, with oodles of Fanatics around as a second line to deal the damage. As he notes his list has a very hard time dealing with high defense lists, so three (often more) units are usually needed to break something, and multi-charging and clever positioning is paramount for the Kingdoms of Men. 

• Triple Ballistae are solid picks. As war machines they have an additional bottleneck compared to missile units (hit rolls; Blast rolls; and damage rolls), but in my opinion are still our best shooting options. The Kingdoms of Men should usually be running several hordes, so they should be easy to fit in for unlocks, and are quite cheap in points. 
• Flying Generals are great. Their killing power isn't all that impressive, but multiple fliers are exponentially more difficult to contain a single one, so like Ballistae, they tend to perform better the more you run. Unfortunately they are prone to wavering, but are one of the few “hitty” things in the KoM list, and are very maneuverable, so very much worth taking, as you can see from my own reporting. 
• The Monarch seems slept on a bit? I have an “elite/knightly” list I’ve been wanting to test out for a while myself (oof checking my notes... this list has been ready since February yet is still untested, due to all the League stuff dominating my table time recently), as I had noticed the same interaction DBD is exploring with his list. The Monarch has a few modes, and an optional Fly. Even with no upgrades at all, it is a Very Inspiring titan with damage output similar to a Giant, which isn't bad. 
• Foot Guard are a bit of pet unit of mine, and when buffed by the Monarch like they are here, seem quite fun, and the regiments have a lot of staying power. It's nice to see a lot of these units on the table, and the interaction with the Monarch seems fun.
• Fanatic spam. Mine have typically just gotten shot off, but I will admit that I haven’t used them particularly well historically, as longtime readers can attest. One thing to note here, is that he is running multiple regiments, and they are getting the items, contrary to conventional wisdom. He expressly didn’t want an expensive Death Star unit in the Fanatic horde, so opted to make the regiments more threatening. They seem to be a pet unit for Death by Dragons, and he’s making them work here pretty well, so I should take note!

In Game 4 here, he played the Monarch list against another Kingdoms of Men list. He comments on things more deeply in the video, and seemed to take the lessons to heart. He’s got a new video up with a new list, utilizing triple Balliastae to pressure again, numerous Pike units to hold now, and triple flying Generals to help kill things, with support from a few Fanatic units still.

• Hero on Pegasus. He ran one in the previous list; played against two in Game 4 linked above, and ran zero in this new list. At 90 points, these seem just ok? I've tried the Heroes on Horses version before, and they are in a similar place. With just 3 base attacks, just 1 CS and no TC, they can reliably disorder most things, but aren’t going to be dealing very much damage. In combat, they do have a neat interaction with the Flying General, in that they are shorter than General, so even with one in front of the other, both can still see and fight. Damage dealing isn’t the reason to take these though, which is that the Pegasus mount gives them a Unit Strength, letting them score in scenario play.
• Ballistae. Again, triple ballistae are splendid. If your opponent has titans, these can be good late drops, otherwise, as DBD shows, if you have a game plan going into the game, deploying them all early to zone out parts of the board is a great option as well.
• Pikes. Mine have mostly just been shot off, but the more melee-focused your meta is, the better Pikes will be, and Indomitable Regiments can hold scary things up surprisingly well. Hitting either a critical mass of regiments or just running a horde that can’t be ignored seems to be the way to go with these, which was a shortfall of my previous approaches. 
• Flying Generals. He went from one to three, and these add a lot of options to the list and the army as a whole. I’ve kept my own lists down to just two to be on the friendlier side of things, but three is the better and more competitive choice.
• Fanatics. DBD is down to just two regiments here. Again, they seem like a pet unit for him, but are doing well enough, it seems.
• Beast Cavalry. These became the new hotness for KoM once you could tool them up with all the options. Expensive, but they are fast and maneuverable and gives them a better hammer unit, due to the CS and all of the minor buffs adding up.
• Pegasus Wizards. These are an older hotness for the KoM that I have yet to explore, due to a lack of models. The Pegasi are resin, but Fireforge makes a great looking box that has been sold out forever it seems. I might try these at some point myself, because they do look to be that good. Two seems like a great number, and if you utilize the Tricker’s Wand, you can get two flying Hexing units into a list, which seems strong. 

So, in summation, Death by Dragons is a great youtube channel, and especially worth exploring if you like the Kingdoms of Men. Check him out!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #066 Kingdoms of Men vs Imperial Dwarfs [Dominate]

Intro and Lists

I was fortunate enough to be able to stop by and play three League-adjacent games over the weekend. The league has some complexity to it, with a map and moves and supply lines, and both the games and their results grant gold, to then purchase your starting list or buy a new unit. Not being part of the League, I don't get benefits like upgrading units and such, but I also am not stuck running the same list over and over! I would go broke with how I build and test my lists. The day had started strong with 8 players, but our numbers had dwindled as the day progressed, and by the third game, we were down to just 4 players. Two were looped in to a special scenario contesting the halfling's farmstead, so my initial opponent Joe and I met up again for our game three. 

Joe was running the same immensely sturdy Imperial Dwarf list as before, with the powerful Royal Guard Formation, and lots of armor and Mastiffs.

My third Herd list was testing Lycan hordes, and while that did sound fun, we decided to take advantage of me not being in the league and switch things up, since my opponent had already faced the Herd once today. In addition to the terrain we didn't end up needing, I had brought 5 armies. My thinking was that with me not actually signed-up for the league, my games don't matter as much, and I could be around for demos and rules questions if we happened to have an odd man out. No demos were run, but my Herd and Kingdoms of Men armies were in the same box, so I took the humans out for a go to close out the day.

I tried to make the list generic and straightforward, as I was expecting someone else to play it, or me to play it against a newcomer. Nothing here is new to test, but it was run with some twists.

• Foot Guard with Blessing of the Gods. Kicking things off is a misclick! A Def5 unit with the Hammer is a popular pick in the league, and I was trying to copy that here. Against the high Defense of the Dwarfs, this wasn't likely to be a good pick!
• Crossbow Block. Plain. I just wanted to give them another try without Pot Shot.
• Ballista. Taking the crossbowmen, adding a war machine seemed like a good idea, particularly for a newcomer. 
• Giant with Slayer. I like Rampage, but opted to give Slayer here and encourage a monster-fight. Unfortunately, my personal approach would have been a much better choice, as he has no slayer targets here, so that's a bummer for me!
• ASB with War-Bow. Thinking I had the Hammer on the Foot Guard, I didn't need the Lute, and opted to try out the 5 point Bow, thinking a newcomer would place them near the other shooting units, and have a shooty battle group and a fighty battle group.
• General on Winged Beast. Kings of War has a lot of focus on positioning, and figured the General would be a good option to have. I like them, and since I'm the one that ended up running the list here, I was happy to have him around!

Table and Terrain

We were back on the homefield of the Imperial Dwarfs. We followed our usual terrain rules, playing the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, the fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and the Hills as normal Height 3 hills. I tried to set up a pretty fair table, and we got Dominate for a scenario, marking the center of the board with a purple token so we could reference the zone as needed.

I forgot to snap a picture of the board and of the initial deployment, so we'll get into that during the opening round! The Dwarfs won the roll for deciding first turn, and decided to stick me with it.

Top of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

For deployment, the Dwarfs had the Ironclad units and ASB known as Hansel the Pretty out on the left, with the Royal Guard arrayed in the center, with the Ironclad horde known as Marko's Marauders flanked by the Bulwark regiments. Heroes were late drops for the Dwarfs, so the Stone Priest  Markos Longstones took the interior, while the feisty Flame Priest known as Scrotash Firestones was out near the flank.

Opening moves for the Kingdoms of Men.

The humans had the Knights and Giant out on the left, and a building protected the Crossbowmen, ASB, and Ballista. The Foot Guard deployed at an angle pointed towards the center of the field. Instead of deploying him with the Knights and Giant, the General ended up on the right. My opponent didn't like the Beast of Nature previously, and I decided to distract with the General, to hopefully get more shooting in, and I should be within range of a Mastiff toss.

For Round 1, the Crossbows and ASB moved up one inch. The Crossbows shoot with a penalty into the Bulwark unit on the flank, dealing 2, and the Ballista fires in as well, landing 1. 

Bottom of Round 1: Imperial Dwarfs

The outer Bulwarks toss into the General, landing 4 damage. My opponent is able to get the Flame Priest Scrotash close enough to contribute a fireball as well, contributing 2 damage, and the dwarfs get as waver out of their opening shots against my General.

The Marko's Marauders, the Ironclad Horde, move at the double into the center, and the Bulwarks start to cross behind the horde to shore up their defenses on the flank against my cowering general.

Both Ironclad move up, slowly.

Top of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

The wavered General can't do much, so opts to move backwards.

The Ballista fires into the same Bulwark regiment, with no hits. The ASB tries as well, with no hit. So the Crossbows are forced to fire into them too, landing 4 damage, and securing a waver this time. 

The Knights and Giant inch up, but are wary. The Ironclad have a 4" move and a 12" toss, making the charge distances tougher here. If the General were here I could instigate better, but I got greedy with deployment.

Bottom of Round 2: Imperial Dwarfs

The Bulwarks shrug off the waver with Headstrong, and swing around the Ironclad. Both regiments re on that outer flank now. 

The Ironclad units inch up, also wary of the charge range of the Knights, and we are at a bit of a standstill.

The Flame Priest Scrotash is able to Fireball the General again, landing 3 damage, but the General is found to be insane this time. 

Top of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

I remember to start taking picture again! Sorry about that. I kept diligently taking photos of the turn dice, but not the actions themselves... In my defense, not much was moving in these early turns!

I decide to press the issue on the left. The Knights and Giant move up. Both are in charge range, and I just hope I can endure double-mastiff tosses. Statistically I can, but I am uninspired over here.

The Knights and Giant move up to face the Ironguard.

The shooting contingent fires again. The original Bulwark unit is mostly blocked by the building, so we fire into the second regiment instead. Again the ASB and Ballista contribute 0, and the Crossbows land 3 damage.

Having gotten something knocked into him, General can't charge anything good, so flies 10" away, positioning to threaten the flank of the Ironclad horde. The distraction is working, but the shooting dice have not delivered so far!

Bottom of Round 3: Imperial Dwarfs

The Flame Priest Scrotash is able to torch down the flying General with a third boosted fireball.

The Bulwark regiments form up behind the fences. Phalanx won't help them against the Foot Guard, but the fences definitely will!

The Imperial Dwarfs take the center of the table.

The less-damaged Bulwark regiment still has a Mastiff, and tosses it into the Foot Guard, but something spooks the dogs this turn, and this lands just 1 damage.

The final two mastiffs go into the Knights, landing a total of 2 against them. Checking the math for the report, all the dogs here do about half of what would be expected, but 2 into the Guard and 4 into the Knights would still be manageable. Still, I am a bit lucky here!

Top of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

The Foot Guard pivot. given the short legs of the dwarfs, neither Bulwark unit can reach them next turn!

Marko's Marauders prove a more tempting target than the Ironguard.

I consider grinding against the Ironguard units, but opt to go big against the Ironclad horde after checking the angles. For added reasons to do this, the Ironclad are about even with the horde, and won't have the KoM units in the front arc to charge anything next turn, so the Giant hits the front with the Knights able to hit the flank, safe from reprisals.

The Giant doesn't have its usual Rampage, and while it rolls up 4 extra attacks, only 3 damage is done, with some bad dice. The Knights to better with 13 damage, for a total of 16 damage. The formation gives them a 22/24 Nerve, and I get the waver, but not the rout against the Marauders.

The shooting continues, with the Ballista contributing 1 and the crossbows landing 6 into the newer Bulwark unit, and bring them to 9 damage, and get a waver here as well.

Bottom of Round 4: Imperial Dwarfs

The Dwarves are Headstrong, and pass all of their checks again. The Stone Priest Markos has Radiance of Life, and is able to assist both of the recovering units with a small heal.

The shaken Bulwarks gather their wits and hop the fence, with the other unit also moving up to threaten the Foot Guard.

Markos Marauders will shake it off, and countercharge the Knights. I think this is the right call. They are already damaged, have less Nerve than the Giant, and have Thunderous charge. The Ironclad have the Hammer, and roll pretty well to land 10 damage on the Knights, and do get the rout, since they are uninspired. 

Ouch! Not the outcome I was hoping for against the Marauders.

The Ironclad will make use of their Ordered March to start moving towards the center.

Top of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

The Giant charges the Ironclad horde, manages to slip 5 damage in, and at 20 damage total now, will be able to secure the rout against Marko's Marauders! He'll turn to face the Ironclad.

Some important victories for the Kingdoms of Men!

The Bulwarks hopped the fence, so the Foot Guard have a clear charge into them, and will take it. They were at 8, and it looks like I land just 2 damage, but I am able to get the rout here as well. (While Lifeleeching down to 3 damage! I remembered!) Looking at it all beforehand, the charge has them just out of the arc of the Bulwarks, so the Foot guard is able to victoriously side-step and still remain safe. 

The Ballista is out of the charge range of the Bulwarks, but unfortunately also has no shots. Also safe for now is the ASB, who takes aim at the incoming Bulwarks, hoping to land a point of damage and force a Nerve check, but he fails to hit again. 

The Crossbows move up, and manage to stick 1 damage onto some Ironclad. Looking at the picture, I should be taking a double-penalty here. The obstacle shouldn't block line of sight, but should be providing cover, and the move and shoot penalty applies here as well. 

Bottom of Round 5: Imperial Dwarfs

One Ironclad regiment is within range, the other is not, so only one makes it into the Giant, but both are close enough to score for the scenario. Combat delivers 3 damage to the Giant. 

With no charges, the Bulwarks maneuver to just get closer for Round 6, using Ordered March to threaten some flank and rear charges.

The Flame Priest Scrotash continues bring a nuisance with his boosted Fireball, landing 4 damage onto the Foot Guard, a little better and average.

Top of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

Things are a bit of a mess. Foot Guard don't have a charge, and need to change-facing to let the Crossbows maneuver. So they will turn around and then some to see the Bulwarks.

I have the inches, but cannot maneuver around things to charge the unengaged Ironclad with the Crossbows. They are just out of charge range of the Bulwarks. They move up, and should again be taking a cover penalty, but don't. I haven't run a ton of shooting, and I really only think of Obstacles in terms of charges, not cover. They deal 2 damage here, so apologies to my opponent for the oversight.

A very awkward movement phase for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Ballista does have a clean shot into the Bulwarks, but misses. I think it has contributed 2 damage this game? Not a great showing for the war machine.

Bottom of Round 6: Imperial Dwarfs

Markos the Stone Priest and his Radiance of Life aids the Dwarfs again. The Ironclad catch Bane-Chants as they go into the Giant (dealing 4 damage) and Crossbowmen (dealing 5 damage). The Giant holds, and the Crossbows are found to be insane... a regiment vs a horde is unlikely to be resolved in one combat, but this is still a bit of a bummer for the Dwarfs.

The regiments struggle to move 20+ Nerve units. 

The Bulwarks charge the Foot Guard, and bring them to 9 damage, but the Guard holds. Due to line of sight, the Flame Priest could not buff them this turn. 

Everything that can is scoring. At the end of Round 6, it’s dead even at 9-9 (Dwarfs: Ironclad 3, Ironclad 3, Bulwarks 3 vs KoM: Giant 2, Crossbows 3, Foot Guard 4). We do roll up a Round 7 though, and things are looking good for the Kingdoms of Men.

Top of Round 7: Kingdoms of Men

The Giant lands 7 damage into the Ironclad, with CS4 doing work against the dwarven armor. They are brought to 10 damage, and luckily I am able to pick up the rout here.

.

Two important pickups for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Foot Guard will counter-charge the Bulwarks, who start at 7 damage. Through weight of attacks, we are able to land enough damage to rout them off too, and they will victoriously turn to face the remaining Ironclad.

The Crossbowmen fight the Ironclad, and through sheer volume of attacks, will land 2 damage. They look to have left their old damage die behind, which is probably fitting, for the cover reasons discussed already! I also do not look to have done Lifeleech for them though.

Bottom of Round 7: Imperial Dwarfs

I think a spiteful Fireball from Scrotash goes into the Giant, but fails to get much through the defense. 

Final moves for the Imperial Dwarfs.

The Ironguard deal another 5 to the Crossbowmen in combat. I had forgotten to Lifeleech them, but they are still inspired, and in-game, my opponent needs boxcars twice to remove them, and doesn't get it. They stick around, and the Kingdoms of Men secure me my only victory for the day.

Game Conclusions

The game had some interesting dynamics. List-wise, I lacked Rampage and with the misclick, the Foot Guard weren't as offensive as I would have liked. However, I had more ranged options than the one-use Mastiffs, meaning I arguably still had an edge here. In-game though, my shooting refused to deliver. I got lucky with a few angles, and I was able to preserve both of my hordes into the late game. I would have been happy with a draw, but with the extra round, managed to secure the win. 

Testing Conclusions

• Foot Guard with the Blessing. Not a great pick for this horde, and definitely not against this dwarf list! Thankfully I noticed this during deployment, and really tried to keep them back, hoping they'd be hard to move in the late game. That proved to be a good call, and they were able to stick it out to the end and score.
• Giant with Slayer. While there are still some arguments either way, this game supports my  default choice of Rampage. If he hits, he's going to damage things, so the Giant really wants more attacks against things that can bog him down.
• General. He was a great distraction, unfortunately my opponent had the tools and rolls to see him off. Not a great showing for him, but given the scenario, he wasn't the worst thing to be eating Fireballs for half the game. He took the heat off my more valuable hordes, so he fulfilled his role here, despite it not being glamorous. 
• Crossbows. A few rules goofs with cover, and not the best output from them. Still, I think this demonstrates some good use of a shooting horde; trying their best early and then playing the scenario as the game goes on. 
• Ballista. Landed a few hits, but always Blasted into 1, and that didn’t always make it through. It can be a nice buy, but it didn’t have a great showing here.
• ASB with War Bow. He landed a few hits, but even with Piercing, needed 4’s to damage and could never bring it home. For 5 points, it was a neat idea, but not impactful, unfortunately.

Joe's list is quite tough, and I am quite enjoying playing against it! High-defense "spam" is definitely a competitive playstyle choice, and it's been really fun to play against that a few times now, and test myself a bit. I am loving his homefield board and the fluff he's going for, and can't wait to see more from him! Thanks for the games!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #065 Herd vs Halflings [Kill]

Intro and lists

I was fortunate enough to be able to stop by and play three League-adjacent games over the weekend. Not being officially part of the League, I don't get benefits like upgrading units and such, but I also am not stuck running the same list over and over! Up for the second game of the day was Rob and his Halflings, who I played back in Battle 056, in another league game. A new month meant a new list, and he brought the following:

The Halflings have a lot of intricacies, and look like a lot of fun to play. Last time Rob's list made very clever use of Auras and the Ravenous-keyworded units. The aura's and combined arms themes continued into this month, while the Halflings adding some speedy things and things with reach to take advantage of the larger board, and I should be in for another tough game! The Sauceror and Muster Captain duo returned, as did the mighty "Son Slayers" Juggers, which popped my Varangur Mounted Sons regiment in one go in our last meet-up. The disrupting Grenadiers returned, and the Stalwarts ahd been given upgrades and accolades, and also sported the Hammer of Measured Force. Spearspikes and Rifles were around, but in a diminished role to make room for a new Volley Gun and a regiment of Wild Runners with blackpowder weapons. Last time, Rob's list and his clever use of Auras utterly destroyed me, so I hoped to give him a better game this time!

I brought the Herd, looking to explore some more "neglected" that I haven't gotten around to exploring much yet. My second Herd list had the following to test:

• Tribal Spears with TC and Chalice. So far, I am liking the Tribal Spears. Wavering has been a bit of a problem though, so I wanted to try them with the Chalice of Wrath. This won’t help against wavers from shooting, but should help get a little more out of them once combats start.
• Harpies. I have new chaff to test! They should function pretty similarly to Gur Panthers, but should be able to fly out and disrupt stuff as well, provided I have room to land. This extra functionality could help chaff up the layered battle lines of an enemy… though I am not expecting too much out of them in this smaller game.
• Guardian Brutes. I am still figuring out how best to use them. On paper they look strong, but I am still struggling a bit to get good use of of them. Playing more games against a variety of players and opponents is the way! We’ll see what insights I can gain here.
• Minotaur Chariots. In my complaining about a lack of hammers for the Herd, I forgot about Minotaur Chariots. They basic unit doesn't have Pathfinder, but these could be something to explore more in the future. We’ll see how they do!
• Flying Beast. I want to get a little more testing out of him. Summarizing things quickly, a lot of his value in a list seems to be in positional pressure. The Beast isn't going to break things on its own, and for 200+ points, it doesn’t have the best hitting power, with just 7 attacks and CS2 (and Vicious). It seems one needs to get use out of Pathfinder and unusual situations to make him a good buy, so while I do like the pick generally, we'll continue to test and evaluate it here.
• Druid. I need Inspiring, and with my lesser unit quality, I feel I need Bane Chants. Thankfully, the druid does both for cheap, so has been making for a good "default" pick.
• Lycan Alpha. I think I need to be making long charges to get the most use out of him, so we'll continue to try and pressure and disrupt with him again, instead of keeping him nearer my main lines.

Table and Terrain

We were out at Oddwillows, a fabulous little gaming store, and were making use of my opponent's personal board. The Halflings have a fabulous farmstead going on. They even have some crops planted! The tops of he autumnal trees are kinda draped on, and come off, revealing the branches below. Neat stuff. Rob also cut (and lugged around) some plywood boards, allowing us to play on a regular 6 foot by 4 foot table. This was a "quality of life" thing the store was looking to adding for us, but they haven't done that yet. Thanks Rob!

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.

Plunder was the league scenario for the month, but since Rob just got one of those in already, we decided to mix things up. We tried rolling for the scenario, but got Loot (our previous game), Fool's Gold (no bluff tokens), Fool's Gold again, and then Kill, which we settled on. 

The halflings secure the homestead, grabbing some elevenses before going to war.

The Halflings picked sides, and dropped the Riflemen out early on the left. The rest of the list layered up near the center. Try as I might to entice them with my own deployments, the Halflings deployed very conservatively, with the building shielding a lot from view. Roughly left-to-right we have the shiny new Volley Gun, the powerful Juggers, the Muster Captain, Saucerer, very dapper Stalwarts and the Wild Riders. The veteran Gernadiers and Spearspikes sat in reserve.

I loved the amount of terrain on the board, but two obstacles ran down the center would make it difficult for the Herd. Obstacles will disrupt and hinder my Pathfinder, while the Halflings and their Strider-granting Captain won't care. I was going to be out-deployed and likely outmaneuvered this game, so I tried to castle up, with everything deployed out on the left. 

Deployment for the Herd, and a view of the table.

Left to right the compact Herd has the flying Beast, the Tribal Spears with supporting Druid, the Guardian Brutes, Harpies, basic Minotaur Chariot, and Lycan Alpha.

Top of Round 1: Herd

With so much of the Halfling list on the far side of the building, I try to be aggressive, hoping to close the distance before the Stalwart Heroes and such can swing round the building to pincer me.

The Tribal Spears and Guardian Brutes both move up at the double, crashing through the woods, with the Speed 5 Druid trying to keep pace.

The Herd opt to move up, hoping the pivot can be achieved with a later charge...

The Beast of nature is able to fly its 20" and nimbly pivot, spying the Halfling Rifles.

The Lycan Alpha slightly pivots and moves up a long ways, and my goal is to throw him into the Volley Gun, or disorder the Juggers next turn, depending on what my opponent does for move orders. 

The Harpies fly up to screen for the Minotaur Chariots, who also move up quite far. 

Bottom of Round 1: Halflings

The Sauceror chooses a Rally 2 bubble.

The Stalwarts move up cautiously, starting their trek around the building. The Wild Runners occupy the field, and shoot into the Lycan Alpha, and are joined by the Volley Gun. They deal 5 damage, but the Alpha holds. The Juggers back up, getting out of line of sight of the Lycan Alpha.

Opening moves and volleys for the Halflings.

The Grenadiers can spot the Harpies, and go in, trouncing them with ease and some nice d3 Brutal. They will victoriously side-step, cleverly forcing a hindered charge.

The Rifles opt not to ender the forest, denying charges to the Spears and Brutes, who can't see through the woods. They shoot and land 2 damage in against the Beast of Nature though.

Top of Round 2: Herd

The Herd needs to close in and do damage, but the Halflings are being very clever positionally, and are so far doing a good job at creating the space they need instead of coming out to meet me. 

A trio of charges from the Herd.

The flying Beast goes into the Rifles, dealing 4 but thankfully getting the rout on the uninspired unit.

The Brutes enter the woods, moving and pivoting. The Spears try the same, but don't have the inches, so won't be able to see through the terrain. 

The Herd Chariots are hindered, but deal 7 to the Grenadiers, and will rout them. They will pivot slightly to get the Wild Runners into their front arc. I don't think they'd take the flank, but that would have been a clear charge too, so it's better to play it safe.

The Lycan Alpha charges the Volley Gun, and connects with 7 damage, but the crew is found to be insanely well-fed. 

Bottom of Round 2: Halflings

I look to have missed a photo. Sorry!

The Sauceror chooses a Brutal 3 bubble, and the Juggers flank charge the stalled Lycan Alpha, easily devastating and then routing him. The Spearspikes hang out to offer moral support. Or maybe they are still snacking.

The Stalwarts continue trekking around the building.

The Wild Runners continue outflanking, and will land 4 damage into the Chariots with their guns.

Top of Round 3: Herd

The Beast of Nature now goes into the Volley Gun to remove it. The Chariots started on the obstacle, so are going to be hindered again. They opt to go into Juggers, if only to disorder them. They deal a pitiful 2 damage, but get a hot 11 on the Nerve Check to waver them.

Charges 'round the building from the Herd.

The Tribal Spears and Guardian Brutes continue to reposition, slowly, as Speed 6 isn't giving them a ton of inches to work with. I maybe should have pivoted them more in a previous turn, but these major repositions always seem rough no matter what.

Bottom of Round 3: Halflings

The Juggers Wavering is huge for me, but the Halflings have still have some clever responses. The cavalry need to stay put and so are engaged, but the Spearspikes can charge past them and into the flying Beast of Nature, dealing 4 damage to it. Meanwhile the Muster Captain will charge the Chariots, and deal the 1 damage needed to disorder them, which was a smart play, as like the Juggers, the Chariots really need their Thunderous Charge to deliver the damage.

The Halflings dish out some damage!

The Wild Runners will continue outriding, and will land 3 damage into the Guardian Brutes.

The Stalwarts will finally swing around the building to face the Herd. I say finally, but it seems like the delaying has been working out for my opponent.

Unfortunately, the Sauceror didn't get any successes this turn, and Brutal 0 doesn't contribute anything, and he swings around to hide behind the Stalwarts.

Top of Round 4: Herd

Since the Juggers didn't disengage, the Chariots countercharge them instead of the Muster Captain. Removing the Captain would be nice, but I think I need to focus on removing units.

The flying Beast of Nature doesn't want to be fighting a unit with Phalanx, so it disengages, and takes a penalty to charge into the flank of the wavered Juggers. The Chariots contribute just 2 damage, and the Beast contributes 4. This isn't great output for anyone, and with a low Nerve check to top things off, the Juggers shake things off and emerge fine and ready to fight in the coming turn.

The Herd finally squares up, with the Brutes just out of reach of the Stalwarts.

Fortunately, the facings are a mess back here. With the Beast disengaging, the Spearspikes have nothing to charge next turn.

I'm getting whittled away, and the Guardian Brutes are forced to offer themselves up. If memory serves they are just out of charge range for the Stalwarts, which should force the Sauceror to go for the Wild Charge Aura instead of Brutal, which might give them a slim chance. The Tribal Spears slowly swing around, looking to support something in the coming turns.

Bottom of Round 4: Halflings

The Sauceror does pick Wild Charge 2, allowing a charge from the Stalwarts into the Guardian Brutes, which resolves in 7 damage. I think the Stalwarts were just out of range for the Muster Captain's buff. But, like the Juggers earlier in the game, the Brutes catch a reprieve with a low Nerve check, and will be able to fight on my turn.

The fancy Stalwarts go in and go hard!

Not wanting to charge in yet, the Wild Runners will continue to outride, and will take shots at the Druid, trying to remove my meager source of Inspiring. I believe we rule she has cover due to the intervening Brutes, as just 1 damage is done, but she holds.

The Spearspikes will turn to face the flying Beast, while the Juggers and Muster Captain will charge in. They deal just 5 damage more, but a 9 on the uninspired Nerve check will see the Chariots off the field! 

Top of Round 5: Herd

The Beast is free, but angles-wise, can't see the Stalwarts. It opts to charge into the Juggers, deals just 2 damage, but this brings them to 10 damage total, and we are able to see the unit off the field. 

Charges for the Herd.

I am able to get a clear double-charge into the Stalwarts, but Bane Chant fails into the Spears. A respectable 16 damage is done from the 60 attacks, but the Stalwarts are wavered.

Bottom of Round 5: Halflings

The Sauceror gets Brutal 1, looking to try and close things out.

The Stalwarts have  Regen6+ from a league reward, and will regenerate 2 damage, taking them down to 14. They hold firm while the Wild Riders commit to a melee combat, hitting the Guardian Brutes in the flank, and bringing them to 17 damage total. With Brutal in the mix as well, there is no real chance, and the Guardians do fall.

The entirety of the battle at this point.

The Spearspikes and the Muster Captain go into the flying Beast, and each deal 2, bringing him to 10 damage total. The uninspired Nerve check is a 10, and the Beast is done for.

Top of Round 6: Herd

The Tribal Spears get a Bane Chant for the grind, and with some hot dice, will bring the Stalwarts from 14 to 28 damage, and will devastate and then rout the horde.

The Tribal Spears grind it out.

The Spearspikes are too far away to threaten my horde, to the Tribal Spears reform to face the Wild Runners.

Bottom of Round 6: Halflings

The Muster Captain will charge the Druid, and deal 1 to disorder her, and gets the waver as well.

After some finagling, we determine that the Wild Runners can't get away, so they opt to move onto the obstacle, and shoot into the Tribal Spears, landing 1 point of damage. 

The Spearspikes move up at the double, in case their is Round 7.

....and there is!

Top of Round 7: Herd

The Tribal Spears take the charge into the Wild Runners. it is hindered, but we are able to pick them up, and spin around to face the Spearspikes.

The Druid is wavered, and does nothing. 

Bottom of Round 7: Halflings

We talk things out, as there was some confusion, as Kill uses a lists points to determine victory, contrary to the scoring methods for a lot of other scenarios.

The final combats of the game.

The Saucerer goes for Brutal but gets no successes. The Muster Captain goes into the Druid again, but still routs her. The Spearspikes regiment charge the Tribal Spears cleanly, but don't pick them up.

As round 7 concludes, we are looking for a 120 point differential for a victory. The Halflings have killed 970 points of Herd, with the Herd killing just 860 of the Halfling's list. Our differential is 110 points (in the Halfling's favor), but this is just short of what is needed, so this is a tie!

Game Conclusion

Seeing all the obstacles in the midfield, I tried hard to telegraph my commitment to my corner and draw my opponent over. Even with the scenario being Kill, Rob wisely refused, and was able to greatly mitigate my Pathfinder, while putting his list to great use.

I have tried to get mounted ranged units to work on-and-off for a while now, with even some additional hobby projects paused, to get more units like them on the table to test. The hypothetical versatility is just so enticing! Jumping from a 3’ table to a normal 6’x4’ table, the Wild Runners were a brilliant inclusion by my opponent. Most lists aren't going to be able to spread out to effectively contain them, and in this game, while I had better tools than most armies would (Lycan Alpha and Flying Beast), both deployed far away, and I felt like I needed to prioritize shutting down the Organ Gun, since my Defense wasn't great. They had free reign this game, and were used exceptionally well. 

The Defense in my list was pretty low overall, and I felt like I had to prioritize removing the Volley Gun. The insane result against it was probably more unfortunate for him than for me in the long run though, as being out on the table edge, it ended up gumming up his line, and with a numerically inferior force, I was able to actually piece trade up there a bit before he was able to swing around the building and reinforce as the game went into the final turns.

Finishing up Round 6, the Halflings were winning, but with a Round 7, the Wild Riders just couldn't quite get away due to the angle of my Spears, letting the Herd catch them and even it up, if just barely. I think Rob had a good and interesting list, deployed wisely, and overall, played a better game than me, again. The dice weren't egregious, but writing up the report, enough bounced my way, including a Round 7, that the Herd was just barely able hold on for the tie result here. Well played Rob!

Testing Conclusion

• Tribal Spears with Chalice. The Horde and TC is definitely the way to go, despite being a bit unwieldy positionally. If you have the points, the Chalice seems like a nice way to keep the unit fighting just a little longer. 
• Harpies. They needed to be chaff this game, but then got out-chaffed by the Grenadiers and their gizmos. They did fine, but nothing spectacular.
• Guardian Brutes. They really suffer from chip damage, and I need to figure out how to protect them just a bit better. They did get to fight stuff here though. It wasn't decisive, but it was nice. Running them near Spears has been fun as well. Throwing 60 dice at a unit tends to leave a mark!
• Minotaur Chariots. The Stampede and its Strider would have been nice here, but I don't think it would have been enough to turn the tide for me. The basic option is ok, but still rather expensive. Lacking Pathfinder is a good balance call, but makes them just a bit more difficult to use, as while their stats are good, they aren't going to break anything on their own.
• Flying Beast. Unfortunately, I felt pressured to use them against the war machine, and so couldn't utilize them elsewhere. Still, I was able to get some good use out of them as the game went on, and I was happy with them.
• Druid. I wasn't able to keep anything besides the Brutes and Spears Inspired regularly. These worked out ok, but more Inspiring sources is something I need to look into for larger lists. 
• Lycan Alpha. I tried being very aggressive with him today, charging out and trying to hold stuff up like a speedier Kruufnir, and boy can he move quickly! The Nerve isn't bad, but he kept getting picked up early, before Regeneration had a chance to contribute. Aggressive might not be the way to run him, and he might be better as a cheaper version of the Flying Beast, primarily providing positional pressure instead? We'll see. 

I usually don't prefer the Kill scenario, but my opponent had a really tactical and engaging approach to it, and I quite enjoyed this game! The Halflings, especially with all this combined arms play, are a really engaging army, and my opponent has been putting them to some great tactical use. Well played Rob!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #064 Herd vs Imperial Dwarfs [Plunder]

Intro and lists

I was fortunate enough to be able to stop by and play three League-adjacent games over this previous weekend. Not being officially part of the League, I don't get benefits like upgrading units and such, but I also am not stuck running the same list over and over! I brought a few lists and then sum for the day. Up first was the gregarious Joe and his Imperial Dwarfs, who I had the pleasure of playing in a more normal-sized game a few weeks back in Battle 059. He ran the following:

Oof, it was definitely a strong choice for such a small game, and he even fit in a formation already! He certainly likes his sturdy dwarfs. We had two regiments of Ironclad, one with some league awards (extra attacks), the Royal Guard Formation with two regiments of Bulwark spearmen and one horde of Def5 Ironclad with the Hammer of Measured Force. The ASB had the horn to extend the Elite Aura (it won't work on Inspiring, or For the King, but is still a nice option for such a versatile aura), and we had a Stone Priest and Flame Priest to support all the infantry. 

I brought the Herd, as I had a few "neglected" units to try and test out still, and I figured that these smaller games should be good ways to explore them. Up to test were the following:

• Tribal Spears no TC. I think buying them the TC is the go-to choice, but I felt I should try them at least once without it, for the sake of comparison.
• Harpies. Their debut! We'll see how I like speedy flying chaff in this list.
• Guardian Brutes. Seem like good hammers, but I am also feeling like I am struggling to get enough out of them each game. We'll see how this one goes. 
• Minotaur Chariots – The Stampede! Back in 2nd Edition, the Stampede was just a unit. So of course I hobbied up two of them, because more is better. In 3rd they "became" Minotaur Chariots, with the Stampede added back in as an upgrade later on. The Chariots do not have Pathfinder, and the upgrade here give both Pathfinder and Strider, which could be powerful.  
• Flying Beast. The Beast seems a little expensive for their damage output, but has been pretty great at being a distraction and providing pressure. We'll see what it gets up to this game.
• Druid. Still seems like a good default Inspiring option, so we're defaulting to her again!
• Lycan Alpha. Their debut! In my hobby post, I felt that if you weren’t making use of the long charges, these were not going to be effective takes, so we'll try to flank or make long charges with them, and see how they feel.

Joe's list had amazingly high defense, and lots of mastiffs, but not a lot of speed or mobility. Hopefully the Herd 

Table and Terrain

We were out at Oddwillows, a friendly and fabulous little nerdy store. They are more board and card games, but are warming up to having us wargamers around. With the shop not quite ready for us, were bringing our own terrain. I had packed up two table's worth, but ended up not needing any as my opponent and I were the last to arrive and everyone was being so generous. We did use the mat and terrain my first opponent brought though. The mat was cobbestone, and my opponent's plan is to eventually build this up as a "homefield" for his Imperial Dwarfs, with this as an underground city. I can't wait to see this project progress!

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. This particular table was still shallow, so we shrunk our deployment zones down to 8", maintaining the no-man's land between the battle lines.

The scenario of the month was Plunder, and you get bonus gold for playing it, so that's what we chose. With the tokens spread out, my opponent nominated the center one to be a 2-Pointer, and I nominated the one out on the far left. 

For deployment, the dwarves split into two distinct groups to make plays for the two more valuable tokens. Out on my left both Def6 Ironguard geared up, supported by the ASB from the Formation. I had mentioned the wisdom of the internet noting that Sacred Horn doesn't boost Inspiring, and my opponent came to the same conclusion. Still, it is a nice upgrade for the the Dwarven ASB!

Centrally, the Royal Guard entourage mustered. Both Bulwarks drew up near the token, supported by the Stone Priest. On the flank was the Ironclad, with the Flame Priest nearby.

The sun shown down into the dwarf hold. 

For the Herd, I had the Lycan Alpha on the flank as a distraction, then the Stampede, Brutes, and Spears without TC with the Harpies and Druid in reserve. On the right was the Beast of Nature, my last drop. The Ironclad didn't have a Throwing Mastiff, so figured this would be a good spot for them. With multiple tokens in play, my plan was to fight the formation and play for the center token and the ones on the right. I won the roll off and opted to go first.

Top of Round 1: Herd

I advanced, but not too far. The Dwarfs are slow, but the Throwing Mastiffs gave the line a very respectable 16" threat range. Having poor defense and no healing, I wanted to try and not take multiple Mastiffs to the face, if I could help it!

An aggressive opening for the Herd!

The two notable moves were the Lycan Alpha bailing on the left flank, and the Beast of Nature able to move way up and threaten the flank of the Ironclad horde, with only the Flame Priest's Fireball around to dissuade it.

Bottom of Round 1: Imperial Dwarfs

The Dwarfs were grumbling and under pressure. Threatened, the horde of Ironguard pivoted to face the flier. The Flame Priest threw their boosted Fireball into the bird, but without Piercing, only 2 damage landed. 

The dwarfs get ready to address their problems by liberally applying dogs.

The Bulwarks each tossed their Mastiffs, with one stepping into the woods to get line of sight. One ripped into the Lycan Alpha for 2, and the other tore into the Brutes for a surprising 5 damage.

The Ironclad move their 8 inches, moving up towards the 2 Pointer on the hill.

Top of Round 2: Herd

I have some options this turn, and after some pondering, the Stampede goes over the fence and into the Ironguard. The only other charge for them is into the Bulwarks, and since they have Phalanx, that seems like a bad call. The Stampede fails miserably though, landing just 3 damage against the Ironguard, about half what would be expected. Thankfully, it is out of the charge arc of the second unit.

The Lycan charges the Bulwarks, looking to just tie them up while the other units do the heavy lifting. He deals two damage.

A wonderful, big charge for the Herd.

I don't feel like I have stuff for them to chaff up, so the Harpies fly up, though remain out of the charge arc of the Ironguard. The Harpies should be able to pick up some tokens in the coming turns while the rest of the Herd fights.

Reforms for the Herd. Things are a bit crowded.

The big play of the turn is a triple charge into the other unit of Bulwarks. The Brutes and Spears just barely have the inches to reach them, and the Beast of Nature hits them in the flank. The trio is able to rout the regiment, and luckily, the horde of Ironclad can't see anything to retaliate. 

Victorious, the Spears back up, the Beast overruns, and the Brutes pivot a little awkwardly, looking to support the floundering Stampede or the Alpha next turn. 

Bottom of Round 2: Imperial Dwarfs

The Ironclad spin around to face the Tribal Spears. 

The Bulwarks get Bane-chanted, counter-charge the Lycan Alpha, deal 5, and get a Waver.

The Flame Priest bombards the flying Beast again, landing another 2 damange.

The Ironguard countercharge charge the Stampede, and unsupported, deal 4 damage, disordering them, though the big unit holds.

Top of Round 3: Herd

Things are messy with the Lycan Alpha wavering. He can disengage, but then the angles are hard for the Brutes to go in. Given the starting angle of the Brutes, he doesn't have the inches to disengage and then back off and end up clear of them. He regenerates no damage, and stays engaged.

The Harpies fly away, to pick up the token on the far-right.

The Tribal Spears end up charging the Ironclad and getting a Bane Chant to help them out. This charge then frees up space for the Brutes to pivot and charge into the Bulwarks, hitting in the corner, aligning, and then sliding down. Phalanx strips their TC, and they do just 5 damage though, and the dwarfs hold.

Moves for the Herd.

I thought I'd have decent chances to break the Bulwarks, so the flying Beast heads out. Given the forest, it has the inches but cannot see the Stampede fight, so it flies up to gain vision. This is a pretty big error for me, and the bird should have gone into the flank. Insane Courage is a thing, but hitting the flank of the Bulwarks would have greatly increased the chances of routing them off, and put the Beast in essentially the same position I moved it to here. A poor decision on my part.

The Stampede tries, but without TC, it puts just 2 new damage onto the Ironguard. 

Bottom of Round 3: Imperial Dwarfs

The Ironguard are elite from the ASB, and one hits the front and the other the flank of the Stampede. The aren't Bane Chanted or anything, but land 14 damage, devastating the unit and then rout it. This is a little shy of double the damage that would normally be expected. 

The Imperial Dwarfs retaliate!

Still engaged with the Lycan Alpha, the Bulwarks charge him, roll hot here as well, and pick him up after devastating him. This pops the Brutes out of combat, which allows the Flame Priest to roast them. He too rolls quite hot, lands 7 damage, and gets a waver on the now-unengaged Brutes...

The fury of the Imperial Dwarfs is devastating.

About the only thing to roll average this turn is the Ironclad, who with the Hammer of Measured Force, manage 9 damage on the Tribal Spears.

Top of Round 4: Herd

It was a disastrous round for the Herd. With three statistically unlikely results back-to-back-to-back, there is not much I can do to salvage things in this smaller game.

The Harpies pivot twice and while lugging the token, start moving to pick up the second token on the right in the coming turns.

Bane Chant fails against the Tribal Spears, and they deal just two damage to the Ironclad.

The flying Beast goes into the maimed Ironclad, doesn't get lucky, and lands 3 damage to bring them to 8, though they are unbothered.

Bottom of Round 4: Imperial Dwarfs

Even hindered, the Bulwarks pick up the Brutes, and the Ironclad lands 20 hits into the Tribal Spears, which translates to 11 damage. Having accumulated 20 damage, the horde is obliterated.

The flying Beast is tall enough for both the Ironclad units to see, and they declare a multi-charge. The bird holds, but the game is effectively over, and I concede.

A victory to the fearsome Imperial Dwarfs!

Game Conclusions

Joe definitely likes his armored Dwarfs, and the formation is a very strong pick at this game-size, brining a lot of potent units to the mix. Such high defense across the board can be hard to overcome, especially for something like the Herd, who relies on Bane Chants or Thunderous Charges for most of its damage. The Throwing Mastiffs provide some nice utility as well, and I think are must-takes if he’s going to be doubling down on slow and tanky infantry units. 

I had a great opening, and my opponent was definitely feeling the pressure of an aggressive Herd! In Round 3 I should have charged the Beast in to help secure the rout, but despite the error, I still thought I was in a great position to close things out. The dice said “absolutely not” repeatedly though, and the Herd stalled out in spectacular fashion. That was quite unfortunate for me, but it made for a really fluffy game, with the Dwarfs holding strong, turning the tide, and ultimately triumphing in totality over an incursion down into the royal holds. Congrats on the win!

 

Testing Conclusion

• Tribal Spears no TC. If you are shy on points, I suppose it isn’t necessary, but it just adds such a nice offensive option to the unit, that I think the only way I’d not take it is if I was running the Hammer of Measured Force or something on them instead. 
• Harpies. They didn’t have anything I felt like I needed to chaff up and delay, so I figured they should be playing the scenario. About the time I made that decision, the game spiraled out of control, but they seemed good enough in that role. Nice to have some new chaff and I look forward to testing them out more!
• Guardian Brutes. Phalanx seems really strong against the Herd, since almost every unit is relying on TC to some degree, even the Brutes here. Phalanx is something I need to be mindful of. The Brutes are also wavering a lot out of combat, and I need to get better with them somehow.
• The Stampede! What a disappointment! Two combats and dealt only about half the average damage for each. Cold dice vs hot dice, they didn’t have a good debut. Getting up to CS/TC 3 is nice, but this is a big investment, and I am not quite sure it is worth it. Still, Strider is nice to have too, so maybe more testing is needed. 
• Flying Beast. The move 20” and pivot should probably be my signature move. I think the value the flying Beast provides most is mostly positional pressure: it’s is rarely going to break anything on its own, so I’m still not sold on the damage output for 200+ points. I think I may try dropping the extra attacks in some future lists, and seeing how the 5 attack distractors do. 
• Druid. I still think they are valuable additions to the Herd. Since the army doesn’t have a lot of Crushing Strength, we need BC to push our Thunderous Charges over the top, or help us out in sustained combat. Just being Inspiring and not Very Inspiring is a downside though, and while these continue to be decent default takes, I still need to find some additional sources.
• Lycan Alpha.  I knew I wanted him to juke the Ironclad units from the beginning, and was trying to utilize the Alpha’s threat range to keep my opponent wary and guessing. I was able to get them where I wanted, but they didn’t have a great debut, due to dice. They could fill a similar role as the Flying Beast (albeit it not flying, but much cheaper), and I might need to try swapping between them sometime.

Along with the homefield board, he's working up some nice fluff to his army, with a lot of things named. I was trying to catch up on reports and get them posted quickly, so opted to not to utilize the names, so an apology to Joe (and to Hansel the Pretty) for not doing his fluff justice this time. 

It was a heartbreaker of a game for me, but still definitely a lot of fun and this all led to a wonderfully fluffy result! A big thank you to Joe for throwing down.