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.