Kings of War 3rd Edition: #074 Herd vs Imperial Dwarfs in Hold the Line

Intro and Lists

I was lucky enough to get in a pair of league-affiliated games in recently, out at Oddwillows in Mukwonago. It's close to the majority of the player base, and not too bad of a drive for me. It is worth a stop if you are in the area! I picked up my opponent on the drive over, and the first game of the day was against Joe and his ever-stalwart Imperial Dwarfs! He ran what he was calling the "King's Patrol", which consisted of the following:

Yikes! The Dwarfs are out in style with a lot of legendary picks, and every unit that can take Throwing Mastiffs brought one. I have encouraged Joe to look at Mastiff Packs, which he has been using to great effect the last month or two. In June, I encouraged Joe to look into the Shield Breakers, and he brought two regiments to try out here. We'll see how my recommendations do! His list is almost all infantry, but the variety of units (Def6 Iron Guard; Bulwarks with Phalanx and Shield Breakers with CS2, plus the Def5 horde of Ironclad) gives him a nice toolbox to work with, and I think Dwarfs can do the MMU style I have been enjoying really well. coming in at a staggering 25 US at 1700 points. As-ever, the Dwarfs were going to be hard to budge!

Not being officially part of the league, I missed a memo, and had built for 1600. Somewhere along the line, July was bumped up to 1700. Fortunately, I was looking to explore some items on the Forest Warden, and one of the lists I brought to play had a second 110 Pt Centaur Chief, so I was able to make some quick revisions to come up with the above for the first game. The Herd have gotten over 2000 points of new stuff the last few months, so I was trying to test a little bit of everything:

• Tribal Spears with the Brew of Sharpness. Tribal Spears have been amazing for me, and a great place to start lists. They look like they should take items well, and I was encouraged to give the Brew of Sharpness a try by Blood-Fire's Boss Salvage, so we'll start here.
• Harpies. When I run chaff, I tend to lose them all in one turn. That's bad, so I've been trying to run "just enough" chaff in my recent lists, usually taking just 1 and trying to block out the scariest thing when the time comes. We'll see how one unit of Harpies do this game.
• Guardian Brutes. They feel like one of our few hammers, so I've been running them constantly. They tend to do ok, so long as they are not shot at. We'll see how they do against all these dogs!
• Centaur Bray Striders. Testing them out again. From their Hobby update, they seem like great Medium Cavalry, but that's hard to intuit. So I'm thinking of them more like a speedy infantry block. Quick, but not able to break anything on their own.
• Centaur Bray Hunters. I like the concept of these shooting cavalry units, but have had troubles making them work. These are expensive, but Ra4+ and Thunderous Charge 1 gives them much more versatility than my old Kingdoms of Men Mounted Scouts. I doubled up on them here, so we'll see what thy can do.
• Greater Earth Elemental. A brand new addition! The Herd has been difficult to play. Its performance depends on the table, and then still struggles against high armor, obstacles, and things with Phalanx, so the hope is the GEE can help me against all three, while being a Fearless Def6 anchor for my lines. The goal is to survive the game and get a surging flank charge with this new titan, but we'll see how things go!
• Druid with Bane Chant. My go-to supporting source of Inspiring, as Bane-Chant has been nice to have for both the Tribal Spears and the Guardian Brutes. I've been running two in my larger lists, so trying to keep them without items. 
• Forest Warden. Sources of Inspiring have been a shortcoming for my Herd. Alongside the GEE, I think these should work nicely, providing Surge, Inspiring, and some Unit Strength. At Height 3, they should also be able to carry some magic items as well, though I needed to drop those tests today do my goof in only building to 1600 instead of 1700. 
• Centaur Chief(s). I haven't been too impressed so far, but needed to add the second hero in due to my list-building goof. This means I have four sources of Inspiring, so I can probably use these more as disrupting units this game. 

Table and Terrain

We made use of my opponent's little dwarven home field and terrain. 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. 

The left and center for the Dwarfs.

The scenario for the month is "Hold the line". To quickly summarize, we are fighting over a 12" band running down the center of the field between our lines. The band is split into three zones, with the center worth 3 points and the flanks each worth 2 points at the end of the game.

My opponent made good use of his high unit count and unit strength, and went a bit wide, threatening each zone with something to force reactions out of me. Left to right we had the formation Ironclad Horde, and Faber in the woods. In the center was Mastiffs screening Ironclad, Mastiffs screening Shield Breakers with the ASB and Bulwarks in reserve. 

The right for the Dwarfs. 

Out on the right we had Iron Guard, the Stone Priest, more Iron Guard, and the second Bulwark regiment. It's only a handful of units, but there are a lot of dogs, and two regiments with Def6 and one with Phalanx was going to be tough for the Herd to deal with. 

The Herd, just playing for the center and the right.

I was not confident going in, but I have enjoyed the challenge of fighting against the incredibly stalwart Imperial Dwarfs, and I was hoping to give him a good game. Being the Herd, and seeing just two forests to work with but two very, very long fences on each side, I opted for a strong center. Left-to-right we have Centaur Striders with a Chief, Centaur Hunters with Harpies in reserve, Tribal Spears, the second Centaur Chief, the Druid, and then the second Centaur Hunters with the Guardian Brutes in reserve. I didn't think bow shots were going to do too much this game, so wanted to protect the more potent Guardian Brutes here. Out on the flank, we had the Greater Earth Elemental and the Forest Warden out on the flank. Going against the solitary Ironclad seems better, but I didn't like the building and obstacles there. It would be a harder fight, but I figured positionally, hitting the right zone would be slightly easier for me, so that's the plan.

My opponent won the roll-off and stuck me with first turn, which I was quite happy to get, aside from needing to now make a bunch of decisions! We got on with it.

Top of Round 1: Herd

My army being the Herd, things moved up rather aggressively. Knowing I'd need every advantage to break through the dwarven armor, the Centaur Striders took the hill with a chieftain coming up nearby. 

Movement for the Herd.

The Tribal Spears zipped up to command the center, with the Druid and second Chieftain supporting the spikey horde.

Both Centaur Hunter regiments moved up their speed to shoot into the Mastiffs. They focused fire, landing 8 damage and routing the unit directly ahead of the Tribal Spears.

The Harpies and Guardian Brutes tagged along behind the Hunters, the former standing by to interdict, and the latter cowering in fear of the numerous Throwing Mastiffs.

More movement from the Herd. A little slower on the right, due to Shambling.

Out on the right, the Forest Warden had declined to Scout, and barely scooted up. The Greater Earth Elemental moved its speed. A straight-ahead surge isn't the best idea  in my book, but I did it anyways, getting a commanding 1". 

Bottom of Round 1: Dwarfs

Out of the right, the Ironclad and Bulwarks moved up, and were an bit shy of the Greater Earth Elemental. I forgot the threat range was 16 on that, so I lucked out here, and highlighted again why Surging straight ahead can be bad! Namely it's a result from dice, and you don't get to be precise with it.

The dwarfs move up, and the first Mastiffs are thrown!

The Ironclad horde scoots their speed, as does the center of the line.

Faber moves, and the Mastiff Pack's Throwing Mastiff go into the left Centaur Chief, with Faber doing 5 and the Mastiffs doing 3. I don't think we put the penalty for Individual against Faber's shots, nor the penalty for moving in the woods. Luck is on my side though, and the Chieftain is round to be Insanely Courageous.

Top of Round 2: Herd

I opt to try and deal with Faber, charging in the Centaur Striders and the Insane Chief. The Chief is just out of the charge arc of the Ironclad, but the back corner of the Centaurs unfortunately is in, so I move the Harpies up to prevent the Ironclad from fitting to flank the Striders. This should also block up the Mastiffs a bit as well.

The Centaur Striders roll hot, landing all 12 hits and then 7 damage. The Chief hits thrice, but only 1 of these attacks injures the legendary lord. 

An early charge down into Faber.

I am not eager to crash into the Dwarf line, or move up to be charged, so things largely stay put. The Hunters loose into the other Mastiffs, one with a cover penalty courtesy of the Harpies. The Mastiff Pack takes 7 damage and is routed.

Out on the right, the Forest Warden hides behind the Greater Earth Elemental, who declines to move, as I wanted to force the Dwarfs to move up in order to toss the dogs.

Bottom of Round 2: Dwarfs

The real Mastiff toss begins! Out on the right, all three regiments move up to throw two into the Greater Elemental, dealing a ridiculous 5 damage. The third, plus two from the center go into the Hunters screening the Guardian Brutes, dealing 9, and routing this unit. They helped shoot off both of the Mastiff Packs, and have just taken Mastiffs instead of the Brutes, so I am quite happy with their performance here!

Aftermath of Round 2.

The Shield Breakers trounce the Harpies and then overrun.

Faber goes into the Centaur Chief, looking to remove my Inspiring and get an easy kill, but after landing 5 damage, the Centaur Chief is found to be insane again. (Though Devastated.)

Top of Round 3: Herd

With the devastated and doubly-insane Centaur Chief holding, the Centaur Striders take the flank into Faber, and batter the very armored dwarf. They do 8 more damage, and will rout him. I think the Chief joins in, though doesn't contribute anything.

Charges for the Herd in Round 3.

I opt to make some multi-charges elsewhere, with the remaining Hunters and the Tribal Spears going into the Shield Breaker regiment, and do pick them up. They are Dwarves, but just a Def4 regiment, so Thunderous Charge is able to really help me out.

Three victories for the Herd!

The other Centaur Chief goes into the other Shield Breaker unit, hoping to tie them up and block up the Bulwarks, who are stacked behind them. The Chief manages 1 damage, which seems to my average damage output for him. The smarter play would have been to send the other Chief in here as well, either into the combat or stopping an inch away, and really gummed up the stacked dwarven line here.

The Druid inches up, and lands a Bane Chant into the Guardian Brutes, who along with the Greater Earth Elemental, charge the left-most Ironclad unit. We under-perform, with the Brutes dealing 7 and the GEE dealing 2, but get lucky with the checks, and still pick the unit up. With the hill protecting the Brutes, both will change-facing to see the remaining Dwarf units.

Bottom of Round 3: Dwarfs

The Shield Breakers and Bulwarks multi-charge the Chieftain, and will easily pick him up. Looking at the pictures though, while the Bulwarks could see him, I don't think there is any way they could have gotten in on this combat, as they have no way to get around the Shield Breakers against just this little individual. Oh well. The Chieftain falls, and while Mighty, is still an individual. The Bulwarks can't make contact, but the Shield Breakers sure can, and they continue on into the Tribal Spears, landing a ridiculous 10 damage and then wavering my horde with some more hot dice!

A good development for the Imperial Dwarfs!

The Ironclad on the right fight back against the Greater Earth Elemental, dealing a surprising 3 damage.

Top of Round 4: Herd

We measure, and the leader point of of the Guardian Brutes is just behind the GEE, which is a bummer, as the titan will block their line of sight to the Ironclad. The GEE disengages, then sidesteps, which allows the Brutes to charge in. In the ranged phase, the GEE is then surged back into the fight. The GEE does 2, and the Brutes should catch another Bane Chant, and do 11, and we pick up another regiment of Ironbreakers.

More charges from the Herd.

The Centaur Chief charges the Dwarf ASB known far and wide as Hansel the Pretty. The logic was to remove the source of Inspiring, but I should be devastated here, and wouldn't have great chances to do  even normally, since the Dwarf is Def5. No damage is done.

The Centaur Hunters have been moving around the building, keeping it between them and the Ironclad horde, who have yet to throw their Mastiff. They sidestep around it again, continuing the dance. Needing to draw line of sight from the leader point, the Dwarf's 2" sidestep is making things difficult for them. I think they shoot at the Bulwarks, but land nothing.

The Centaur Striders in the woods who bested Faber, now eye up the flank of the Shield Breakers. After this charge, the wavered Tribal Spears will Withdraw, and then change facing slightly, to get the  leader point of the Bulwarks into their front arc. 

And some more big victories for the Herd!

The Striders manage 11 damage with their flank charge, and pick up the Shield Breakers.

Bottom of Round 4: Dwarfs

Over on the right, the Bulwarks are outnumbered, with no great play. He opts to try his luck against the Guardian Brutes and their Defense 4. The Bulwarks make a hindered charge but are Bane Chanted, and they deal 6 to the Brutes, who hold strong.

No good options for the Bulwarks.

The Dwarf ASB Hansel the Pretty counter charges the doubly-insane Centaur Chief, and smacks her with the flag pole, ending her prance of insane terror against the Dwarfs.

The Bulwarks should have a sliver of the front of the Tribal Spears in their charge arc, but they decline to take it. Instead the dwarfs move past the Herd spears, and out of their charge arc. 

I think the Ironclad might be shuffling about, but I don't think are up to anything consequential. The building continues to be a significant impediment to doing anything besides scoring for the scenario.

Top of Round 5: Herd

The Forest Warden declines to charge. A rear charge would be fun, but I think I should be able to best the Bulwarks this turn or next. So, he will move up to help contest / score this zone on the right here, and be around to see what happens next turn.

Stalled out, the Bulwarks are counter-charged by the Guardian Brutes, with the Greater Earth Elemental charging into their flank. Bane Chant into the Brute fails, but the Greater Elemental finally lands some good hits, and the unit is crunched.

More multi-charges in Round 5 for the Herd.

The Centaur Striders are not Nimble, but with a slight pivot from the Tribal Spears, the Striders can zip down the line and connect with the rear of the Bulwarks. The Centaur Hunters are nimble, and can  charge over to connect with the flank of the fleeing Bulwarks.

End of the game.

We don't make it to rolling for this fight though, as my opponent concedes mid-way through my turn. 

He's controlling the left zone, but I hold the center and right. This is a victory for the Herd!

Game Conclusions

As-ever, the Imperial Dwarfs were a tough fight! With such high unit strength generally, and such a unit strength advantage against my list in particular, I actually can't really fault my opponent's approach to play a bit for all three zones and try to force a reaction out of me. The investment wasn't all that high, and essentially kept the pressure on me all game.

Deploying the Mastiffs in front would be ok against an all-melee army, but here, it was an error from my opponent, and I was able to get some good use out of my bow shooting before the lines closed. Aside from that, I tended to make use of my greater charge range, and wisely choose to multi-charge repeatedly. While the damage output didn't always go my way, I did need the extra punch against the Dwarfs, and multiple-units provided that. 

The double-insane Centaur Chief was a sight though! I don't think we applied either the moving in difficult terrain penalty, nor the individual-target penalty against Faber's initial shots, so the Chief would probably normally stick around in Round 1, but probably not for the Round 2 result, so this was still a big statistical fluke in my favor, and one I was able to capitalize on to remove Faber.

Testing Conclusions

• Tribal Spears with the Brew of Sharpness. The Spears did well, and the item did nicely! I think the Spears should also pair nicely with the Brew of Strength, or Chalice of Wrath, or the Hammer of Measured force, if they don't buy TC. More testing is needed, but the Brew of Sharpness does indeed seem like a good pick for them.
• Harpies. Given the scenario and the wide approach my opponent went for, there wasn't much sneakiness they could do here. The blocked and died like good chaff, and did help open the game up for me.
• Guardian Brutes. I protected them from the dogs, and these did well as a result. I have started to internalize that they have Fury, but keep forgetting that they have Brutal as well. None of the com
• Centaur Bray Striders. Getting the flank charge on Faber was pure luck, but it's better to be luck than good sometimes, and two combats to grind out that monster of a hero was nice. They then went on to get a flank charge and then a rear charge to close out the game. Definitely an all-star this game, which was a bit of a surprise.
• Centaur Bray Hunters. I know I am likely to run into Dwarfs at these meetups, but I am trying not to tailor my lists. Surprisingly, they still had some targets here, in the Mastiff Packs, and they did well! Bow fire was less effective as the game went on, but TC meant the unit still had some uses as the game went on, and I was pleasantly surprised at their effectiveness.
• Greater Earth Elemental. He survived, and while he didn't get a Surged flank charge, he got a natural one. He did also make a good striding charge over the obstacle, and triumphed over a unit with Phalanx, so I'd say this was a great debut for him. 
• Druid with Bane Chant. While I have been running these stock and doubled in my larger lists, running just one with with the Conjurers' Staff for some more consistent Bane Chants might be worth it, if I can fine enough Inspiring sources to help me out. As-ever, this was fine, but not great or any kind of super-star. 
• Forest Warden. He didn't get up to much, and I absolutely need to learn to not just forward Surge things, but I do see the appeal. I had posited that they might hold items (Trickster's Wand Lute, etc.) nicely with their increased height. I didn't get to test that out here, but yeah, these I see the appeal of these, and if I keep the GEE around, these should be stellar picks.
• Centaur Chief(s). Insanity aside, these continued to exist but not really impress. Having just 4 attacks is tough, and I can't quite get more than 1 damage out of them consistently. Mighty and Inspiring makes them an ok cheap disruptor unit though. I don't like them, but I don't quite dislike them enough to outright drop them just yet. I need to play around with some Centaur-centric lists as well to see how they do there and if leading their own kind might be the lane for them.

It was a pleasure, as always, to play against the Imperial Dwarfs. Joe led the charge for organizing the meetup and reserving the tables, so a big think you to him for the game and for doing all the coordinating for us!