Hobby Update: KoM Monarch

Up now is a second Monarch for the Kingdoms of Men! I have a "counts-as" Dragon mini to run as a  flying Monarch already, but as I was recently picking up a third Giant, I figured I'd grab a variation on the kit to run as a non-flying Monarch as well, as that caught my eye and was appealing to me.

The main mini is from Miniart, The basic kit is the same as the other kits I've used for my other giants, with one sprue swapped for the different spear, shield and helmet. It uses the same base kit and has all the issues of that kit, namely cheaper plastic and some bad joins for the arms and legs. A little milliput helped the joins there, and the main mini was mostly ready to rock. 

The only thing to mention was that I didn't attach the arms until the end. Dry fitting things, the shield and spear had awkward heights, and so the arms are hanging pretty low in the sockets, to let the shield and such sit directly on the ground in the posing that I wanted.

The secondary mini is a Byzantine Emperor from a Fireforge Kickstarter I backed... and haven't really used any of the other minis for anything. Sheesh. It's their new white, somewhat bendy resin, which is still a definite step up from their grey brittle resin! Like the bodyguard, he was primed and painted up separately, and then gluing him together was the last step.

The gaps/joins on the arm were particularly bad here.

The basic, no-upgrades Monarch has similar combat effectiveness to a Giant, so this seemed like a neat little project and a nice way to expand the army a bit. The general consensus is that the triple flying General and triple Ballistae is the way to go for fancy picks, but I am all about exploring the roster of any army I play. Three Giants and a Monarch should be fun to get on the table sometime, so we'll try to make that happen soon!

Hobby Update: Third KoM Giant

Up now is a darn third Giant for the Kingdoms of Men!

The model is the exact same as the others, coming from the Miniart line of larger models. As mentioned in previous posts, Miniart has a wide variety of historical minis to choose from, so if you want a human-looking giant for your own army that won't break your budget, seriously consider checking them out.

No landscape-style shot for him!

The model suffered from all of the same previous issues. The plastic isn't a super-high quality, and some of the arm parts don't quite fit together nicely, even when I used the plastic cement. Greenstuff isn't great to sand, so I used Milliput here, mixing, applying, and then wetting my hands and trying to smooth the connections. After it cured, I sanded it down a bit, similar to how I did the others. 

From the side. The purple on the shield turned out really nice.

We've covered the Giants before, and you've seen them in most of my Kingdoms of Men battle reports as well. In short, I like them! Their attack math is swingy, but they'll wound everything on 2's, which is great for an underwhelming combat army like the Kingdoms of Men! I can run three Giants in 2000+ point games, and decided that I wanted to try that out sometime, hence the 3rd Giant. We'll try to make that happen sometime soon!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #084 Herd vs Abyssal Dwarfs in Invade

Intro and Lists

The second game of the day was against Will and his Abyssal Dwarfs. He’s borrowed some Undead and played us before in a larger game, and we actually did meet this army in the first round of the doubles tournament, but I haven’t played him and his Abyssal Dwarfs in a “proper” game yet. I also forgot to snap a centerpiece picture for the report, so bear with me. We'll do his army justice in the future. He and his wife had hosted Jeff Schiltgen’s visit, and had played his guest the previous evening, solicited feedback, and was proxying some new things to try out as a result. This would be a treat! He ran the following:

The incoming Abyssal Dwarfs also have a very high average defense (5.04), and have a great mix of units to support two terrifying double fliers. Blacksouls and Immortal Guard are all strong line units that resist chip damage, and the Decimators can put out some good shots while the Lesser Obsidian Golems can do a little of everything. The Gargoyles are great chaff, and we have a kitted Infernox and unique pick in Brakki Barka to inspire and support the fights. The stars of the show were two proxied Overmasters, Jeff’s apparent suggestion from the night before.

I ran the Herd, running the main list I was hoping to test today, exploring lots of ablative troops, and a Celestial Restoration spellcaster, in an attempt to keep my larger and important units up and running. Up to test was:

• Tribal Spears with items. The Tribal Spear Hordes have been bright spots in the roster, and are basically staples in my Herd lists these days. Thunderous Charge lets them play offense a bit, and the hordes hold items well. I brought Dwarven Ale and Chalice of Wrath to hopefully keep them in the fights, and play better with the potential heals.
• Guardian Brutes. These have also been staples for me recently. Like the Spears, these units have 30 attacks, and working together, tossing around lots of decent dice at threats has worked out alright for me. 
• Druid. Maintaining Inspiring coverage while getting some variety and utility from the sources has been a concern in my lists, but the meager Druid is a nice source of repeatable Inspiring and Bane Chant, and has been nice to have around, especially with the Brutes and Spears leading the way.
• Double Tree Herder. The Tree Herders can do a lot for the Herd, but are expensive enough that I need to build my list around them. I am still learning strategies for Scout, and how best to support them, so we'll just keep at it until I am out of ideas!
• Gladewalker with Celestial Restoration. This looked neat, but odd, given the Indirect rule. I tried it once before, running her in the center of the field, but the spacing got awkward. We'll stick her more on an edge this time and see what we can do and how the spell goes.
• Harpies. The Gur Panthers are great chaff, but 5 points more gets you flying chaff, so they seem worth the extra investment most of the time. I had been bringing just one troop, but with a wide and aggressive line, I definitely need more. 
• Trapper Troops. Neither the regiments nor the Silent Hunt formation have really worked our for me, as the units are too difficult to use. Seeing they are the same points as a Harpy, I wanted to try them out as chaff options. I liked them last game, and they can scout, so we'll continue playing around with them.
• Centaur Strider Troops. I liked reactive Longhorn troops, but felt like the Centaurs would be better. They aren't nimble, but have a greater speed to zone out fliers or reposition just a little quicker. Additionally, they are Height 3, so might be able to block for the Guardian Brutes and such. They did alright last game, so we'll continue playing around with them too.

Table and Terrain

I won the roll for determining sides, went with the lazy approach, and got us going. With all my ablative troops, I had the a very slight drop advantage. Left-to-right, my opponent had angled Gargoyles behind both proxied Overmasters. I forgot to ask about this arrangement. Perhaps it's to block line of sight to the chaff, to protect it in the early turns? If so, that seems like a good habit to get into. Anyways, as I learned in chats after the game, the Overmasters were Jeff's suggestion on improving what Will had been running, hence the proxies.

The heavenly light is already blessing the table during deployment.

The center and left had the bulk of the units. We have the Lesser Golems, Brakki, the Decimator Horde, the other Lesser Golems, and a regiment of Immortal Guard. A building, and then the Blacksouls, buffed Infernox in reserve, and the other Infernal Guard.

Deployment on the left.

I haven't played the Abyssal Dwarfs all too much, so I was paging through his army list trying to figure things out, and it took me a few drops to realize I was going to have a drop advantage. Seeing that, I  as able to save a few noteworthy things to end on the left flank, most importantly, the Tree Herder. 

Deployment in the center left.

On the left, the Herder and Harpies were my last drops, with things a little awkward due to a lack of planning. We have the Herder and Trappers up front, with the Centaurs and Harpies around, looking to contain the fliers.

Continuing on to the center right.

The Celestial Restoration Gladewalker Druid lines up to use the building for cover. Trappers screen for the Tribal Spear Horde with the Brew, then we have Guardian Brutes with Centaur Striders behind, more Spears, the second Tree Herder with Harpies in reserve, the Guardian Brutes with the BC Druid supporting, and then another Trapper out on the far flank.

And deployment on the right.

The Trappers were all early drops for me, trying to commit to very little while I saw what my opponent did. These could probably be used better, but did fine in this role. 

Scout Moves

I had some Scout moves, and remembered them all! On the Left, the Herder and the Trappers move 12" to threaten the fliers and give them some hard choices. 

The other Trappers move up 12" as well, around the other side of the building. I am still finding my footing with scout moves, but I think this is a mistake. I am safe from shooting, but I should reel back a few inches, so something charging them is likely to be charged in turn for some actual piece trading.

Scout moves.

Centrally, the Herder scouts as well. I give the Decimators shots into him if they move, but the Golems shouldn't have the range to shoot. This is arguably dumb, but I did this on purpose, trying to accrue some early damage on the Herder to test out Celestial Restoration. If this works as-desired, the Herder will tank the shots and be healed, allowing the the rest of the army to move up untouched.

Out on the right, the lone Trappers scout up around 6 inches. They are greatly outmatched here, so I am just looking to threaten the woods with my Pathfinder, and bide my time for now. Given the scenario, I might be able to delay something if I am smart about things.

My opponent wins the roll for deciding turn order, and given the scenario, wisely chooses to go first, lest he get boxed in!

Top of Round 1: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Herder is out of charge range himself, but is also out of arc for the titanic fliers. Even with seizing the initiative, my opponent has some rough choices already. He tries to protect the fliers, sending a unit of Gargoyles to screen out the Tree Herder and another to screen out the more-middle Trappers. Both titans fly into the Trappers on the left, deal 14 damage, break the unit, and then both manage to back up 3" in a serious display of synchronicity. For proxies, it seems like they have been practicing.

Wrapping up the opening turn for the Abyssal Dwarfs.

The shooty center moves up. Thankfully, nothing can Surge the Golems forward or around in the list, so it's just the Decimators firing away. They'll take a penalty for being in the rubble, but manage to land 7 damage on the Tree Herder anyways.

The Abyssal Dwarfs on the right move forward and pivot. The little forest will slow them down, so he's advancing with caution. The Trappers shouldn't have a charge here.

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

With no charge, the Trappers pivot and move, putting the forest between them and the all the Abyssals on the right. The Harpies move up to bait a charge. If anything substantial does attack, the nearby Brutes and Trappers should be able to help.

An early charge for the Tree Herder.

The Tree Herder is just in range of one of the Lesser Golems. Grabbing a spare base, we determine that he will be out of arc for the nearby Dwarfs, so he charges in, smashing 3 damage through the heavy armor. He gets 1 back from Radiance of Life, and then across the field the Gladewalker casts her spell, connecting once, and healing back another 2 to bring the tree down to 4 damage. Not resounding, but it's definitely a good start, especially since the Tree Herder should be pretty safe next turn.

The rest of the Herd advances.

Centrally, both Spear Hordes and the Guardian Brutes move their max, and we should have some nice charges into the shooty center next turn. The Centaurs take the hill, looking for long charges, but mostly just zoning out the fliers. As mentioned, the Gladewalker Druid is using the building for cover to cast her spell.

Charges on the left, looking to contain the Overmasters.

Out on the left, my opponent did a good job to gum things up and protect his fliers. The Tree Herder is in the flank of the "giant" Overmaster, but can't get there, and the "giant" blocks line of sight to the other Overmaster. The Tree herder thumps against the Gargoyles, hitting them for 4, winning, and then reforming. 

Trappers hit the other unit of Gargoyles, roll great and deal 7 damage, but fail to rout the troop, as they are found to be quite insane. 

The insane unit is swapped out for the unit with models. A field promotion!

The Harpies are in range, and charge an Overmaster, landing the 1 damage needed to ground it.

I believe the Centaurs are in range of the Overmasters, so they moves up a ways, though I probably could have gone another inch or two up. The goal here is to threaten the fliers with the Centaurs and force a choice. If the Overmasters commit here, my hope it to be able to ground them and beat them. With the Gargoyles holding this turn, that plan is a little more suspect though. 

Top of Round 2: Abyssal Dwarfs

The insane Gargoyles counter charge the Trappers, land 2, and secure a waver. 

The grounded "Golem" Overmaster counter-charges the harpies, and picks them up with ease, then reforms to face the Tree Herder.

The Overmasters push back.

The "Giant" Overmaster decides to go into the Centaurs, lands 6 damage, but fails to break them, returning the favor of failing to rout chaff units.

Centrally, the Decimators and Golems shoot into the Guardian Brutes. The Golems look to have pivoted, but have Steady Aim, and I don't think the Decimators moved. I think it was just low dice here, since just 9 damage is done, and the Brutes are still picked up with a hot Nerve check. Inspiring coverage continues to be a bit of an issue for the Herd sometimes, and this was some great awareness and target prioritizing from my opponent. Well done!

Movement on the right, with all the sturdy Abyssal Dwarfs moving out.

The other Golems land 2 on the Herder, bringing him back to 6 damage.

On the right, the big block of Abyssal Dwarf infantry continue a slow push. The Immortal Guard and the Blacksouls charge and trounce the Harpies, but stay put to keep a straight line with the Trappers lurking so close. No use giving up a flank charge accidentally.

The other Immortal Guard and the Infernox move up, keeping pace with the line.

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

With the line flush, I have my choice of targets. I opt to send the Trappers against the Blacksouls to tie them up, and they deal a single point of damage which gets Iron Resolved back with the Fiery Bulwark. Oh well. I am here to disrupt and delay!

Charges on the right for the Herd.

I send the Brutes into the Immortal Guard. The Brutes catch a Bane Chant, spike the heck out of some dice, and obliterate the Guard, and will reform to face the flank of the Blacksouls.

Charges all down the Herd line!

Centrally, I don't know which combat I rolled first. The Tree Herder thumps on the Golems, dealing 4 damage. This brings them to 7, and I am actually able to pick these up. The Herder got 1 back from Radiance of Life, and 1 from Celestial Restoration this round, bringing him back down to 4 damage. He backs up in victory, but I believe is still in the flank of the Decimators since the roll is so low. 

The Tribal Spears with the Chalice charge the scary Decimators in the front, landing 13 damage (10 expected). If I got the charge, I figured I'd be able to break them over a turn or two, but that happens on this turn, with two blazing hot Nerve checks to see them off. Having punched through, this horde pivots to spy the Blacksouls and advancing line troops.

The Sharp Tribal Spears, charge the other regiment of Lesser Golems. I overestimate my chances against Def6, and the army holds strong, landing just 3 damage.

Charges on the left.

Out on the left, the wavering Trappers disengage and back off. The Gargoyles regenerated a bit, but are still in charge arc of the Centaurs on the hill, and thanks to being on the hill, the Centaurs can see them. The Centaurs charge in and break them, and reform, facing the rear of the 

On the left, the Centaurs countercharge, and I opt to send the Tree Herder into the flank. I could see an argument for charging and grounding the other Overmaster.. but I am not nimble, can't reach him, and going for a rout seems like the better play. I didn't realize they had Regeneration and Fury (Sheesh!) so yeah, going for the rout is definitely the better play I think.

One Overmaster falls.

It looks like I roll hot again, dealing 17 damage, and will mulch the first Overmaster. Both units pivot to get the other Overmaster in front arcs, and it's a 4 on 1 fight here now, in favor of the Herd.

All across the line, I think everything but the druidic heroes and the wavering Trappers got a combat, which felt great as the Herd.

Top of Round 3: Abyssal Dwarfs

On the left, the surviving Overmaster wisely flies away. I don't recall the positioning. I don't think 10" was viable (landing on a Herd unit or something), so with just the one pivot, my opponent opts to put as much distance from here as possible, and aim to help out the Blacksouls and such in the later rounds.

If he were the actual model, I'm sure he'd be cackling and stroking his evil beard. 

The lesser Golems countercharge the Tribal Spears, dealing 3 to them. 

Countercharge from the Golems.

Brakki and the Infernox charge the Guardian Brutes, dealing a combined 10 damage. Brutal and Dread are both involved, and although only one can be applied, the Guardian Brutes do fall. 

The Blacksouls trounce the delaying Trappers, and the other regiment of Immortal Guard move up and pivot, hoping to fight while scoring for the scenario. I believe the Blacksouls tried to overrun, but only got an inch or two.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

The Tree Herder moves and pivots, drawing a little ahead of Brakki, as the Tribal Spears charge Brakki in the rear, landing the expected 7 damage, but do fail to break him. The Herder's sword kept getting in the way all day, so I break at this point for ease of play, and I'll need to hobby him up a stone hammer too sometime.

Positioning on the right.

The Spears with the Brew of Sharpness struggle against the Lesser Golems, landing just 1 damage this round. Bane Chant was attempted, but I don't know on what, or if it was successful.

Celestial Restoration hits for a third time, and rolls big enough to fully heal the Tree Herder out on the right, which is great, and kind of what I wanted to see from the spell.

The Centaurs give chase.

Winning on the left is great for the scenario. A group of Centaurs changes facing, and has a rear into the departing Overmaster next turn.

The Trappers are steady this round, and march towards the corner. The other Centaurs move and pivot, and the Tree Herder moves at the double or nearly, but both the Centaurs and the Trappers will benefit from his Radiance.

Top of Round 4: Abyssal Dwarfs

The departing Overmaster regenerates his 1 damage, and has a new lease on life. He now flies 10" and pivots twice, looking to get back in the game soon.

Charges into the Tree Herder.

Brakki departs, I guess to create space for overruns? Assuming the rout here though, math-wise, I would think a 1" victorious back up would still let the Overmaster overrun. I'm not sure what the thinking is here. He's got Regen, so maybe we're just looking to preserve and protect a source of Inspiring so it can come back later at full strength.

The Abyssals brought mecha claws and hammers instead of axes.

Anyways, the Infernox and Horde both charge the Tree Herder. Having charged out of the woods, the Blacksouls are hindered, and it's my opponent's turn to struggle with Def6. Only 6 damage lands, and the Tree Herder holds.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

The Herder opts to countercharge the Blacksouls, and slides down. This frees up the space to have the Spears charge the Infernos without any weird charge logic. The Druid hides behind the Herder, and I think her Bane Chant fails. The Spears deal 7 damage to the Infernox, and are able to pick him up, and then reform to make sure the Overmaster is in their front arc.

Combats for the Herd.

The Herder does 5 and fails to break the horde, but that's fine. He gets a radiance of Life for 1, and Celestial Restoration for 4, bringing him back down to 1 damage. The spell is working nicely, but these are pretty ideal conditions, with lowish damage thanks to very little crushing strength in the fights so far.

The other Tree Herder had moved to support the Tribal Spears struggling against the lesser Golems.

One unit of Centaurs moves up to zone out the rear of that unit as well, as the Overmaster should have a rear charge into them next turn. 

The other unit of Centaurs moves up to threaten the Overmaster where he is, and force a decision.

Centaur troops doing their thing.

The Tribal Spears with the Brew poke at the Golems again, land 3 damage, and with 7 damage, I am lucky enough to pick up the uninspired unit. The Spears about-face, and two hordes are now helping to zone out the Overmaster.

Top of Round 5: Abyssal Dwarfs

The Overmaster takes the flank charge into the Tree Herder, with the Blacksouls counter charging, and my notes have them dealing 13 damage combines as they see him off, with the Blacksouls repositioning to block for the Overmaster.

Multiple flank charges from the Abyssal Dwarfs!

Brakki flank charges the Tribal Spears, avoiding Phalanx, but I was that and decided I was ok with that, even if it stripped my Thunderous Charge. I am surprised by the Immortal Guard making the flank charge as well though! They were operating in stealth mode, and I completely forgot about them. Their charge is hindered though, and my horde ends the turn at 11 damage.

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

The Gladewalker Druid has been on the move the last few turns, and moves again to get the corner of the surprised Tribal Spears in view to cast her spell. I get two hits and 3 heals, bringing the horde down to 8 damage. 

Movement for the Herd.

The Druid was hiding behind the Tree Herder, but is a little exposed now. Bane Chant is attempted to aid something (I think the Sharp Spears), but fails. I was remembering my Conjuring Staff rerolls, but not having any luck with the spell.

That Sharp Spears makes a flank charge into the Blacksouls, landing 22 damage (20 expected) and will break the unit and then back up, getting the Overmaster into their front arc. With the Centaurs ignoring the scenario and coming back to chase, we are hopefully putting him in a rough spot. Yes, he could go for the druid and overrun into the horde... but it's late in the game and that would draw him back over to his side. In any event, this seemed like a good conundrum for him to deal with.

Reforms for the Herd.

The greedy play for the Herd is to counter-charge Brakki and then overrun, but I don't think that occurred to me at the time. Instead the horde with the Chalice of Wrath opts to try and remove unit strength and seal the deal, and counter-charges the Immortal Guard, landing 6 damage, one of which gets Iron-Resolved back when the Abyssal Dwarfs hold.

Top of Round 6: Abyssal Dwarf

The Immortal Guard and Brakki go in again. They deal 7 damage, and bring the Spears up to 15 damage and they dup will pick the horde up on the second try with some good Nerve checks. Brakki backs up to prevent an overrun, and the Guard victoriously sidestep, but can't quite make it over the line to be scoring.

"Bravely ran away away.."

The Overmaster didn't like the choices, or being zoned out, and opts to fly away again and make sure the Abyssal Dwarfs stay on the board as the game concludes.

Bottom of Round 6: Herd

The Tree Herder moves up, and one Centaur unit runs back across to score while the other can't make it, so pursues the Overmaster again.

Celestial Resto will hit the Sharp Horde for 2, brining them down to 2, and they will charge in against the Immortal Guard, land 12 damage (good dice, but Bane Chant did connect I think), brining them to 17 damage. The Immortal Guard aren't quite devastated, but they do rout. Given the angle, the Spears finish the combat mostly on the scoring side of the board without needing to do anything.

The Overmaster is scoring 2 for the Abyssal Dwarfs, but the Herd have Trappers in the corner (1) returning Centaurs (1) and Tree Herder (1) and Tribal Spears (4), making this a strong 7-2 victory for the Herd!

Game Conclusions

In the moment, I was really pleased with my play overall. Writing up the report, at lot of my success was just half-decent decision-making paired with phenomenal dice whenever it mattered.

For dice, I had a lot break my way, and break my way very early: The Centaur troop holding in Round 1; routing an Overmaster in Round 2; Brutes rolling crazy damage in Round 2 to start removing the grinding unit strength; Decimators routed quickly with hot checks in Round 2… With a lot of these big moments happening so early on, I was able to get ahead and stay ahead.

But decision-making got me there. The Abyssal Dwarf list was versatile and scary, but very elite. Having more drops, I was able to put him off his aggressive game plan with the Overmasters despite not getting first turn. He also had a lot of scary shooting, but I was able to be aggressive in the center with some big advances in the first turn. By Round 2, the Overmasters were in disarray; the gunline partially engaged but fully threatened; and the grinding infantry blocks were pretty isolated.

Testing Conclusions

• Tribal Spears with items. I feel like I am slipping a bit when it comes to their positioning, but generally, these continue to do pretty good work for me. They carry many items nicely. It's the most expensive, but the Brew of Sharpness has indeed been working well. 
• Guardian Brutes. These have also been staples. Like the Spears, these units have 30 attacks, and working together, tossing around lots of decent dice has worked alright. 
• Druid. The druid didn't have a great showing here despite the staff, but still kept things inspired, and is nice to have around.
• Double Tree Herder. I got lucky with some positioning to get my early charges, but they did very well this game. Still very expensive, but supporting them a little more with the Trappers and such is feeling good.
• Gladewalker with Celestial Restoration. This was fun! Running them on the flank was ok, but then she didn't Inspire much, so this is a neat trick, but a little swingy and probably won't solve any Inspiring concerns for me. 
• Trapper Troops. I think they can help block for the Tribal Spears, but I actually liked these a lot more in conjunction with the Tree Herder. Having units near by to scout up with him was really nice, and it was even better since they were so cheap. 
• Harpies. These did great overall. Grounding the Overmaster was worth it, and the other set up a nice piece trade for the Guardian Brutes, so I can't complain. I think I am still too eager to toss away chaff generally, but I think I did ok with these here.
• Centaur Strider Troops. These also did great. They are still in a very weird spot for damage output and stats, but the larger charge range was wonderful, and they did great zoning things out all game.

Our paths haven't crossed too much yet, so it was great to see more of Will and his army. The double Overmaster seems really strong, and I think I lucked out with the win more than anything here. Looking forward to our next meeting!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #083 Herd vs Dwarfs in Kill

Intro and Lists

This weekend saw Jeff Schiltgen visit Wisconsin to assert some dominance. Yours truly missed the sign-up for the beatings games, but that is probably for the best given my haphazard approach to the game, and my insistence to try new things rather than fine tune the same list or even the same army for months and months. Aside from getting to know folks and evangelize a bit, there were a lot of list discussions, and Jeff was generous offering feedback and suggestions. Very commendable, but when I am throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks... not a great use of his time. While I wasn't playing him, there was a sort-of meetup going at the shop, and I ventured out early to scavenge for games, and was fortunate enough to get two in on the day.

Speaking of folks that fine tune things, the first game was against our friend Joe, and his implacable Imperial Dwarfs! It helps to play a popular army, but Joe has voraciously consumed content and diligently iterated on his lists to get his sturdy dwarfs to where he wants them to be. His list was called the End Game, as this is the culmination of the escalation league for Wisconsin.

As should be expected, the dwarfs are sturdy, with 4.91 for their average defense, and with all the regimental spam, his current list is  staggering 17 drops and 33 unit strength. We have a lot of Ironguard, a lot of Mastiff Packs, some Shield Guard, the ever-present formation, the mean dwarf Faber, a Flame Priest for Fireball, a Stone Priest for Bane Chant, nearly a dozen throwing Mastiffs, and lastly Brock Riders for some reach. It's a nasty list if it can sit back and do what it wants to do.

I brought the Herd. I was looking to switch it up, but it was a remarkably busy week, and I couldn't quite get anything else in a spot to test out. Plus, most of this was packed already, since I didn't have the time to really unpack and reset after my previous games.

As-ever, the Herd struggles with grinding fights, Phalanx, obstacles, and high defense. And we could probably add shooting of all kinds to that list of deficiencies, given the generally low defense of the army. I've been experimenting with Greater Earth Elementals as well as Tree Herders to cover some of these shortcomings, but the lists of late have gotten rather elite. The Herd wants to be aggressive, but that is hard to do when you get out deployed! So, we are trying some new things. Up to test are:

• Tribal Spears with items. The Tribal Spear Hordes have been bright spots in the roster, and are basically staples in my Herd lists these days. Thunderous Charge lets them play offense a bit, and the hordes hold items well. Points were tight, so just a few items to hopefully keep them in fights a little longer.
• Guardian Brutes. These have also been staples. Like the Spears, these units have 30 attacks, and working together, tossing around lots of decent dice has worked alright. 
• Druid. Maintaining Inspiring coverage while getting some variety and utility from the sources has been a concern in my lists, but the meager Druid is a nice source of repeatable Inspiring and Bane Chant, and has been nice to have around.
• Double Tree Herder. The Tree Herders can do a lot for the Herd, but are expensive enough that I need to build my list around them. 
• Gladewalker with AC. When coming up with a list idea, I usually have an idea, and then come up with one or two variations on it to compare and contrast between the games. I wanted to explore the Gladewalker and some of the unique magic spells, and picked the Alchemist Curse as a variant, in case I played Joe, knowing he hadn't really come across the spell yet. I don't like to tailor my lists, so game him the option to play against it or not, and he opted in.
• Harpies. The Gur Panthers are great chaff, but 5 points more gets you flying chaff, so they seem worth the extra investment most of the time. I had been bringing just one troop, but with a wide and aggressive line, I definitely need more. 
• Trapper Troops. Neither the regiments nor the Silent Hunt formation have really worked our for me, as the units are too difficult to use. Seeing they are 90 points for a troop (equal to a Harpy), I figured I'd see how they did as roadblock chaff. They also scout, so might play well with the Tree Herder. We'll see how they do.
• Centaur Strider Troops. I liked reactive Longhorn troops, but felt like the Centaurs would be better. They aren't nimble, but have a greater speed to zone out fliers or reposition just a little quicker. Additionally, they are Height 3, so might be able to block for the Guardian Brutes and such. We'll see how they do too.

I quite liked having some reserve troops in previous games as ways to adapt to things without overreacting, and wanted to pursue that more in these games. Essentially, the troops are being taken to increase my drop count, and going to be looking to block charges and sacrifice themselves to protect the big units (Tree Herder, Guardian Brutes, Spear Hordes), with the thinking being that if these can survive to the late game, I should have a better chance of doing something to help me win.

Table and Terrain

We were out at the splendid Oddwillows shop, and since we were showing up earlier and aiming to start before Jeff's queue got going, we brought terrain and stuff for a few more tables. When we arrived, Jeff was already battling, so we set up the two other tables we had reserved for the club, and then got to playing on the dwarf's home turf.

We were using our typical terrain rules, running the buildings and big physical skull rock as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, the long fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and the Hills as Height 3. We had no ponds or shorter difficult terrain for the Herd to utilize.

To make things even more difficult for the Herd, we rolled up Kill for the scenario.

The dwarfs kicked us off for deployment. I thought stacking the Bulwarks with Phalanx early on was a mistake until the rest of the army arrived. Given the table, scenario, and the match-up, the Imperial Dwarfs happily castled in the corner...

The dwarven castle is quite formidable.

There's not really a concise way to cover the deployment. Essentially, we have a front line of Bulwarks, the horde of Ironclad, Ironguard, Ironguard and Berserker Riders. Heroes and hounds were a second line, with Shieldbreakers and Faber in reserve. The Flame Priest is in red, and the Stone Priest is in Green. Hansel, the ASB, is nestled in between the Bulwarks. 

The Herd's left.

The Herd had deployed centrally, looking to avoid the lengthy obstacles. Left to right we have Trappers, the Spears with the Brew of Sharpness with Harpies in reserve, a Tree Herder, Guardian Brutes with Centaur Striders in reserve, Trappers blocking for the Tribal Spears with the Chalice of Wrath and the BC Druid, then the other Tree Herder, Guardian Brutes with more supporting Centaur Striders, and then Harpies and the Alchemist Curse Gladestalker. Lastly, out on the flank I had another Trapper unit as an early drop. 

The Herd's right.

I didn't want to mess with the obstacles. They hope was to charge through the center and maybe win? Given the scenario, table, and match-up... this was going to be a very tough fight for me no matter the angle of attack. On the bright side, this would be a great test of my ablative troop approach! So that's the focus. Just test units and distances and see what I could learn. I had Scout moves, and remembered them all, making this a good step in that direction. 

Scout moves on the right.

On the right, the Trappers move up to get their leader point into the woods, in order to see out of it. Given the threat range of the Berserker Brocks, I wasn't too eager to move the unit up.

Scout moves, back on the left.

The Trappers on the far left go up 9-10 inches. The intent is to pivot and move them up around the building. With Range 18, they aren't going to be shooting at anything anytime soon. The left Tree Herder is safe, so he races up 12 inches, along with the other Trappers, who might be able to draw out some Throwing Mastiffs. The second Tree Herder moves up 7 inches or so, staying out of Mastiff range. 

I win the roll off for turn order, and opt to go first. I'm the Herd, and have nothing to really threaten him at range, so I kinda feel like just getting down to it. 

Top of Round 1: Herd

We are aggressive! I donked things up with the Harpies a bit, moving them early, and preventing the Trappers on the left from moving at the double. With no tokens or things to contest, they are here to block and die, and I could have kept these in reserve for another turn. A small error from me.

The Herd goes up!

So the Trappers stay put, the Harpies fly up, the Tribal Spears advance 12", and the Tree Herder moves and pivots. The Brutes move up, with the Centaurs behind them, and the other Spear Horde moves up as well. The screening Trapper moves and pivots to start threatening stuff already. The second Tree Herder holds, wary of all the Throwing Mastiffs nearby. Given his height, everything can see him, and that could be very bad for me to lose him to dogs. The Centaur Striders take the hill, blocking line of sight to the Guardian Brutes and threatening some long charges. The Alchemist Curse Gladewalker Druid posts up by the building, out of range of the dogs too. The Harpies fly up, protected by the building, but ready to fly out and die as needed. The Trappers on the right stay put. 

The central Trappers moved, so have a penalty for shooting, and no shots pierce the Dwarf armor.

Bottom of Round 1: Dwarfs

As-predicted, many a mastiff are thrown!

The first mastiffs fly through the air.

Two dogs go into the Trappers, landing 3 damage and get a bit of a lucky waver. Three dogs, plus a nasty Fireball go into the Centaur Striders, bringing them up to 11 damage and routing them.

The overview.

The rest of the Dwarf line shuffles around, waiting for the Herd to arrive. 

Top of Round 2: Herd

On the right, the Trappers move at the double. The Brock Riders should easily best them nest turn, but given their positioning, the charge will be hindered by the obstacle. Hopefully we can gum this scary unit up for a while. 

Opening charges for the Herd.

The Guardian Brutes charge off the hill into the horde of Ironclad. I have Def4 on the Brutes, so I should hopefully negate the Horde and their Hammer of Measured Force. They catch a Bane Chant, and I roll pretty good, and land 14 damage against the horde, but they shrug it off.

The nearest unit of Ironguard have a flank charge into them, so I send the Harpies up to slow them down. The AC Gladewalker Druid sneaks up, and lands 5 damage into the nearest unit of Ironguard.

The Tree Herder charges the Bulwarks, knocking the spears aside and landing 5 damage.

The other Tree Herder moves at the double to close in, and the Harpies fly up to interdict. I don't remember what the thinking here was. Only the Bulwarks should be able to reach him with charges, but he's tall so the throwers of dogs can definitely see the looming tree.

The rest of the Herd's line moves up.

Bottom of Round 2: Dwarfs

Usually once the Guardian Brutes make it into a combat, they are relatively safe. Not here though. I am height 3, all the Dwarfs are height 2, and the horde disengages. Five throwing Mastiffs, the nasty Fireball and Faber all shoot into them, bringing the horde up to 17, and obliterating them. 

The Dwarfs start their push forward.

The Brock Riders make their hindered charge into the Trappers, and look to overrun. They roll 1" and are stuck up on the obstacle.

Centrally, the Bulwarks land 3 into the Tree Herder, which is pretty good. 

Reforms for the Dwarfs.

On the left, the Bulwarks charge the Harpies. I think I put them there to slow the Dwarfs down on any overruns to left the rest of my left flank move next turn? That is all I can think of. The Dwarfs prevail, and change facing slightly.

Top of Round 3: Herd

The Herd make more charges. Some of them are even good charges!

On the left, the Tree Herder charges the Bulwarks and is joined by the Guardian Brutes. Hindered, the Brutes deal their expected 7 damage, and the Tree Herder contributes... nothing. They hold with a low check.

Centrally, the Brutes and their tray prevents the Trappers from joining the other Tree Herder in that fight against the Bulwarks. He counter charges, landing another 3 damage (5 expected), bringing them to 8 damage, but they hold with a low check.

The Alchemist Curse Gladewalker Druid tosses into the same Ironguard unit, rolling amazing for hits but garbage for damage with a lot of 1's on the pips. Three damage goes through, bringing them to 8 damage, which is about where we should be after two casts. I do get a waver out of this though. 

Combats and reforms.

A the Tribal Spears with the Chalice charge the Ironclad horde, catch a Bane Chant, and deal 11 damage (10 expected), and the horde is finished off. I do some measurements trying to figure out what to do for reforms. The nearby Ironguard (wavered by the AC spellcaster) do have a flank charge, and the further Ironclad are out of arc. The Mastiffs were flush with the Ironclad horde, which was a little ahead of the Ironguard. I cannot get even with the nearer Ironguard on an overrun to avoid that flank, since I need to keep the inch distance from the Mastiffs

I pivot them slightly to get the nearest unit into the front arc. This is an error. In retrospect, I feel like I should have overrun. Everything is messy, and the Mastiffs won't have the angles to get away, and while the Dwarfs have Headstrong, the Spears would be safer with the overrun.

Bottom of Round 3: Dwarfs

I didn't check, and my pivot allows the other unit of Ironguard to spy the last few millimeters of my horde, and thus make a flank charge. The other unit passes their Headstrong check (it feels like Joe hasn't failed one of these against me yet!), catches a Bane Chant, and a group of Mastiffs charges in too. The horde is taken to 16 damage, and routed. This is my fault, and was entirely avoidable.

A costly mistake for the Herd.

With the fighting on this side of the table, the Brocks pivot and move along the obstacle trying to outride the Dwarf line.

The Flame Priest hops up and lands 4 into the AC Gladewalker Druid, but she holds strong.

The Bulwarks and Faber charge my other Guardian Brutes. A combined six damage is done, but with 12 and 11 on the dice for the Nerve check, the Brutes are picked up regardless, and neither horde really achieved anything for me this game.

Top of Round 4: Herd

Things are jammed up. With the Spear Horde gone, the AC Gladewalker Druid is exposed. I don't think it's worth hopping her up as sacrifice to try and take out the original Ironclad Regiment, so I back up, out of Mastiff Charge range, and toss into the other regiment, landing just 2 damage. Sheesh.

The Herd is stalling out.

The Trappers can't really fit anywhere, so they pivot and move to prevent flank charges into the Tree Herder, who charges back into the Bulwarks, continuing the brawl from Round 2. The Herder brings it back a bit, landing 6 damage this turn, and finally secures the rout.

On the left, I want to try and gum up the Mastiffs. The Trappers go in, land 5 damage, and do thankfully secure a waver. The dogs have really good nerve as it turns out.

The Herd finally breaks the Bulwarks.

The remaining Centaurs hit the flank of the other Bulwarks, bypassing their Phalanx. They deal 4 damage (5+ expected), and the Herder contributes a pitiful 2 damage (5 expected). Still, they are brought to 13, and routed, brining this combat co a close as well. The Centaurs back up, and the Tree Herder changes facing.

The Tribal Spears with the Brew charge Faber, catching a Bane Chant. They deal 6 to the legendary lord (10 expected), and being Fearless, Faber easily hangs around.

Bottom of Round 4: Dwarfs

Having pretty thoroughly blunted the Herd onslaught, the Dwarfs start to push back with more force.

The Wavered Mastiffs do nothing, and the Shieldbreakers are held up. Another Mastiff unit runs up to deny a Tree Herder a flank charge into those Shieldbreakers milling about.

Charges and moves for the Dwarfs.

Faber counter-charges the Spears, landing 5 damage with he mech weapons.

More Mastiffs charge the Tree Herder, sneaking 2 damage in.

The Ironclad multi-charge the Trappers, take them to 20 damage, and will devastate and rout them, as is proper. Both will spin to face the flank of my last horde of Spears.

Combats for the Dwarfs.

The Flame Priest will land 2 on the AC Gladewalker, taking her to 6 and does gets a waver.

The Brock Riders will finally untangle themselves from the obstacle, eyeing what remains of the Herd's battle line.

Top of Round 5: Herd

The Herd is spinning out a bit. The wavering Gladewalker will inch back, getting mostly off the hill.

The Trappers will charge the wavering Mastiffs again, this time joined by the Centaur Striders. The will best the unit, with the Trappers making an overrun and the Centaurs backing up.

The Tribal Spears catch another Bane Chant, and counter-charge Faber, while getting a little Radiance of Life. We deal 4 damage (6 expected). With average dice, Faber would be devastated. With my dice, he is just at 9, and sticks around again, making great use of Fearless.

Combats for the Herd, such as they are.

The Tree Herder gets 1 back from Radiance of Life, lands a few damage into the Mastiffs, and they break. Unfortunately, with the 1" buffer, I can't overrun to get the Tree Herder out of the arc of the Shield Breakers. With the Spears failing, I can't back up to make this a front charge. In short, I can't do much, so I pivot to prevent some of the Ironguard from getting a flank charge too.

Bottom of Round 5: Dwarfs

On the left/top, the Shieldbreakers charge the Trappers and ravage them.

The Mastiffs paw ineffectually at the Tree Herder, but things are so gummed up, he's got no where else he can get to.

Fabers lands 3 on the Spears, bringing them to 7 damage.

Moves for the Dwarfs.

The Center is messy. Hansel the ASB and the Stone Priest hop to to prevent some shuffles, allowing the Shieldbreakers into the Flank and the Ironguard into the front of the Tree Herder. The Breakers land 21 hits and make this 11 damage into the Herder, with 1 from the front, and at 12 damage, the Herder falls!

In a small miracle, the blocking heroes from the Dwarfs help prevent the other Ironguard unit from flank charging my Tribal Spears, as they needed a pivot to get around the other unit. They instead just shuffle down, ready to make their move next turn.

The first Tree Herder falls.

The Mastiffs take the hill to threaten the Gladewalker Druid, and the Brock Riders pull up to see if them can help in the late game.

The Flame Priest tucks in behind my Tribal Spear horde, but doesn't have the inches to target the Gladewalker. He lands 2 on the normal Druid, and gets a Waver there instead...

Top of Round 6: Herd

I am stuck in a bunch of bad combats, with a large contingent of Dwarfs still eager to fight.

The Centaurs join the Tree Herder against the Mastiffs, and best the dogs. The reform to protect the Tree Herder, and the Tree Herder backs up to prevent a flank charge from the Shieldbreakers.

With the Druid Wavered, the Tribal Spears can't get a Bane Chant, but do land another 4 against Faber, (3.3 expected), and finally do see him off. All the individuals prevent decent reforms. In the last round, a lot of Dwarfs got closer than an inch to my remaining units, so yeah, it's messy. I might need to bring a 1" game aid around to prevent that in the future.

With the Mastiffs advancing so far, the Alchemist Curse Gladewalker slips away, and lands another 4 into the original unit, brining them to just 12 damage, but I still get the rout here.

Bottom of Round 6: Dwarfs

It's Kill, and the Dwarfs move in to make good on the scenario. 

The Flame Priest moves back to scorch the Gladewalker Druid away.

The Centaur Striders get flanked by Shieldbreakers and fronted by Ironguard, and broken.

Just the Tree Herder remains.

The Herder is untouched, but the Tribal Spear horde gets a frontal from the Shieldbreakers, a flank by the Ironguard, and a flank by the Brock Riders, who catch a bane chant. The unit needs Insane Courage before we even get to rolling for the Brocks. 

And that's it for the game. We didn't tally points, as the winner is obvious, with the Imperial Dwarfs weathering the onslaught and pushing back in quite the fluffy fashion!

Game Conclusion

The ablative wounds worked nicely, eating most of the Mastiff tosses. Had this been the second or third game of mine with that approach, I probably could have realized I could be more patient. Going into the game, given the match-up, table, and scenario, I didn't really think I had a prayer, but in hindsight and in writing the report, I definitely could have been much more cagey. I bemoaned my army's own lack of ranged options here, but the only long-range shots from the Dwarfs would have been from Faber himself, and I probably could have weathered that for few turns in order to set up a stronger push against the dwarf castle in the corner. Not my best showing, but I'd say we still learned a lot!

Testing Conclusion

• Tribal Spears with items. These weren't used particularly well, but are still a pretty great unit for the Herd. 
• Guardian Brutes. Usually, if I can get them into combat, things go relatively well for them, and they at least trade for something. They didn’t have great luck here. I wasn’t going to break the horde, but I totally forgot disengaging and more dogs was an option (good move there from my opponent), and hot dice to rout the other unit meant neither actually did much this game, and against high Defense, that’s creates a bit of a problem, especially with the Kill scenario!
• Druid with BC. I didn't have the points for Conjurer's Staff, but she still got the spell off pretty reliably, and contributed. As-is the usual with her, it's fine, but nothing ground-breaking.
• Double Tree Herder. I remembered both Scout moves for them, so that's a start. They didn't have much luck with the dice this game though, and I didn't support them very well either.
• Gladewalker with AC. This was more of a test for the benefit of the Dwarfs. My take going into the game was that the spell is nice, but not a hard-counter to defensive play, since I still need to cast the spell and am only dealing an expected 4 damage a turn at best. I didn’t have anything like a Steel Behemoth to try and trade up into, and while I did some damage during the game, I struggled to pick things up and reduce the fighting power of the dwarfs early enough to matter. Pairing this was artillery fire or mass Lightning Bolts would be more effective, obviously, but not something the Herd can do.
• Trapper Troops. For their first outing, they did ok? The bows can't do much, but a scouting chaff piece with Pathfinder looks like a fun tool. I like them enough to explore them a bit more, and they are already in my second list for the day, so we'll see what else we can learn.
• Harpies. With so much height 2, it seemed hard to get any other use out of them besides dying chaff. In retrospect, with the ablative troop approach working ok, I should have preserved these a bit more, and charged them in to allow the big stuff to move up. Not amazing uses of them here, but hopefully some lessons learned for the future!
• Centaur Strider Troops. These break up my charge range nicely, adding a few extra inches of threat, even if they aren’t the scariest unit. This game was a great test for them, and they were indeed able to block for the Guardian Brutes on the hill, and escort that horde into the enemy lines. Not a bad utility troop!

Joe has been diligently learning his army and it shows. While he had a strong hand going into the game, the victory is still his. He wisely played to his strengths, watched his angles, and secured the win in another fluffy victory for his army. Thanks for the game!