Kings of War 3rd Edition: #092 Herd vs Brothermark in Plunder

Intro and Lists

Stars and schedules briefly aligned again with Trevor from the wonderful Data and Dice, and we were able to sneak in a late afternoon game recently. Trevor brought the following over to Madison:

We both have a good appreciation for the Penitents as a unit, and Trevor is continuing to explore some Brothermark lists emphasizing them. He's written a bit about this on his own site (in the "Human Goblins" article), and the new iteration here is dropping the war machines entirely. I think that is a good call as the Brothermark just don't have the variety of war machines the Goblins can field in order to rely on them.

Here we have four regiments and two hordes of Penitents, a horde of plain Bowmen, two hordes of Ogre Palace Guard as second-line, cleanup units, three Phoenixes to shoot and support, and a variety of individuals to Rally, Inspire, Heal and even shoot and beat face! The Brothermark certainly have a lot of heroic options.

I brought the Herd. I want to eventually take some cues from Trevor and his Sylvan Kin and work towards some more measured approaches with my army here… but I still have a few oddball ideas I want to play through before doing so. Next up for unhinged Herd lists was Triple Spears Hordes! I hobbied up three horde's worth of them, so by golly we're gonna try and run them all! Up to test are:

• Tribal Trappers. I quite liked running a few troops in my recent games, and wanted to explore that more here. They Scout, and with so many speedy units around to support them, I think I should be able to get some nice early pressure from these. 
• Centaur Bray Hunters. I needed an unlock, and decided on these for some more shooting and good mobility. I tried Mounted Scouts for my Kingdoms of Men for a good long while, and they were just not effective as they were so bland. I concluded that this kind of unit needed good stats or a quirk to be worthwhile, like Piercing Weapons to encourage you to stay at range, or Thunderous Charge to encourage you to skirmish and then close in. The Hunters take the latter approach, and I liked the regiment size over the troops for them, to get the increased hitting and staying power. With TC and decent stats, we’ll see how the Hunters do this game. 
• Scorchwings. I’ve tried Scorchwings a few times, and they have been overwhelming to run and then underwhelming on the battlefield. Still, I do like the interaction between them and the infantry (Height 4 shooting over Height 2 means no cover penalty from my own unit), and wanted to try them out as long as I was bringing the hordes. I have liked the regiments over the hordes for this unit, as they hit harder in melee than at range, and the regiments are less of an investment for a unit that just have TC 1.
• Hunters vs Scorchwings. I have been leaning towards liking Hunters over Scorchwings, but with each unit at my preferred size, we’ll see how things fare! 
• Druids. Tried and true! But boring. With so much going on, I wanted just some basic units to help baby-sit my hordes. Inspiring is paramount; any Bane Chants they get off is gravy.
• Tribal Tracker. I’ve mostly just run the formation version, which has not really delivered for me. I wanted one more source of Inspiring for the horde, but didn’t have triple Druids, so am going with a normie Tracker to see how that feels. He's been underwhelming before, but with so much other shooting, I am hoping he is able to skulk around and contribute a few damage here and there throughout the game.
• Beast of Nature. I wanted to try these again as flying monstrous hammers. Having a weird amount of points leftover, I finagled a way to get the ranged attack on them both, to really lean into my ranged options this game. Similar to the Undead Burrowing Wyrms tested recently, I think it’s probably better to just be charging, but we’ll see if a shooting attack on them feels better with more numerous and more effective shooting spread throughout the army.
• Avatar of the Father. Most titanic fliers are paying for a breath attack, so having a combat-only flier and one on a monster-sized base seemed viable to me, but the Avatar has never had good luck. I have liked the Tree Herders, but wanted to give the Avatar another try, especially after my recent game against the Orcs which had a similar fighting-only flier. Given his usual underperformance, the goal is to primarily just pressure with him, letting other units do the work, and just survive until the end of the game.
• Triple Spears with all the items. I hobbied up three horde's worth of Tribal Spear units, and I want to use them! I like that they can get Thunderous Charge, and so opted to embrace that offensive edge, and run a lot of serious items on them, including the Brew of Sharpness, Brew of Strength, and then the valuable-but-less-flashy Chalice of Wrath.
• Herd Fliers. With all of the Hordes around, my hope is that things should get stuck on them, allowing for some good multi- or flank-charges. In this case, it seemed like a good time to break out my fliers again. We’ll see if that tactic works.
• Herd Shooting. The recent foray into Undead shooting was underwhelming, but as this list idea developed, I swapped Harpies out for Trappers and then decided to commit to shooting more. Per the Companion I have 72 ranged shots in this list! It is mostly bow fire (only the Tracker’s 4 shots have Piercing, with Piercing1), but a lot of these are 4+ with Steady Aim, so we’ll see how  a better volume of mobile shooting works here.

Table and Terrain

We were out at a FLGS, trying to sneak our game in before their D&D League started. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the ponds as Height 0.

Terrain and tokens!

We got Plunder for the Scenario, and I won the roll for sides, and I was a lazy gamer. I nominated the center-left token for 2-Points, and my opponent nominated the far-right token. At the end of the game, any white tokens held would be worth one point, and and blue tokens would be worth two points.

A quick overview.

The Brothermark had a lot of drops, but they ended up being pretty concentrated. He used a building to anchor his line, and from left-to-right we have two Penitent Regiments screening some Ogre Palace Guard with the Blessing of the gods and I believe the Chaplain is out here too. Another Penitent Regiment then screens for the first Phoenix, the Bowmen Horde screens for the second Phoenix with the Boomstick Paladin nearby, then a Penitent Regiment screens for the third Phoenix with the Hunters nearby. Then we have a Penitent horde screening for the Ogres with the Brew of Sharpness and a second Penitent horde in reserve with the Martyr's Prayer Priest.

View from the left.

I was pretty haphazard with my deployment. On my left we have the Centaur Hunters, the Avatar of the Father, Scorchwings and Trappers with a Druid and Tribal Spears with the Brew of Strength. I put a Beast on the line in a pond, looking to zone out the woods. The goal on the left was to be aggressive and push.

A pretty weak center.

Centrally I had the Tribal Spears with the Chalice of Wrath and a supporting Druid. I figured the fighting would be fierce here, so I wanted to be aggressive, and hoped something would get stuck up on the horde, letting fliers pounce.

A blurry shot of the right.

On the right, we have the Tracker and Trapper up front, the Beast in reserve, the Tribal Spears with the Brew of Sharpness angled to threaten some early movement, and the last Scorchwings behind the Spears, to hopefully offer shooting support. Up against two Penitent hordes and some Ogre Palace Guard, I deployed further back on my right. I can't fight through all of that, but I do have a speed advantage, so my goal out here is to move up and threaten these objectives and see what happens.

Scout moves.

I very nearly forget that I have Scout moves, and push them all up a little bit. I'm happy with the one on my left. It's aggressive, nothing can threaten it, and I can see around the woods for early shots. On the right, I was hesitant to leave the woods. I'm not going to be charged, but I think I was hesitant due to the Bowmen. The Trappers are majority in the woods, so would get cover if I don't get first turn and the Bowmen want to shoot them off.

However, I do win the roll, and being the Herd, I quite happily take the first turn!

Top of Round 1: Herd

On the left, the Avatar of the Father stops short of his full move, as he does not want stare right at a building. He should be able to see some units and force some moves, but zoning things out seemed like the better call.

The Centaur Hunters nimbly move up, but are too far away to be able to shoot this turn. They end the movement phase on the token, and will pick it up.

The Herd moves up assertively on the left.

The Scorchwings move up and the Trappers hold, and these will both shoot into the Penitents on the flank, they'll land 5 damage and will get a lucky waver. The Horde with the Brew of Strength moves up, but the positioning is a bit awkward, as they aren't going to have a charge next turn.

A shaky shot of the center. 

The central Beast flies up, using the woods as a screen. He nimbly pivots, seeing around the woods and out onto the right. We'll see if I can find any lucky flank charges.

The central horde with the Chalice of Wrath is a bit unsupported. Still, I have the inches, so they run up touch a token, and pick it up, with the Druid keeping pace as best she can.

Another assertive push on the right. 

Out on the right, things move up. The scouting Tracker and his Trappers move out of the woods. Neither have Steady Aim, so both take penalties shooting into the the nearest Penitent troop. Just 1 damage is done, and the Penitents hold.

The taller Beast pulls in behind, and the Spears with the Brew of Sharpness, who were deployed at an angle, move up around 10", with the Scorchwings pulling up behind them. I have a number of units with good charge ranges here, so we'll see what the Brothermark do.

Bottom of Round 1: Brothermark

On the right, both Penitent Hordes move up at the double, eager to be charged. The Ogres with the Brew of Sharpness scooch up a bit, ready to respond. I should have a charge into them with the Beast, but that feels like a terrible idea for now.

The Penitents throw themselves forward.

Both Examplar Hunters move up, and everything that can shoots into my central horde of Tribal Spears. The three Phoenixes land 8, the Bowmen held and loosed, contributing just 2, and the Hunters land 1 damage apiece to take my horde to a very concerning 14 damage.

The Brothermark demonstrate the importance of focus-fire.

The left is a flurry of activity trying to respond to the advancing Herd. The wavering Penitents do nothing, as they should be safe from charges. The Ogre Palace Guard with the Blessing of the Gods move enough to have the building block line of sight from the Avatar of the Father, protecting them as well.

Penitent regiments assume the position.

Shooting seems to be pretty effective against most of my army. Mostly safe from my heavy hitters now, the remaining Penitent regiments maneuver around to block charges, hoping to buy time for the Phoenixes and such to whittle my lines down a bit. 

Top of Round 2: Herd

On the left, the Avatar of the Father nimbly shuffles 10 inches towards my opponent's deployment zone, threatening some flank charges again, though the Bowmen are just out of range.

Movement on the left.

The Centaurs are slowed by the loot token. They loose Nimble as well, but are still able to get into range with their bows, loosing against the injured Penitent unit, with the Scorchwings joining in with a volley as well. We take the unit to 9 damage, and do pick it up.

Shooting results on the left.

The Trappers move up to grab the two pointer. They take a Penalty for moving, and shoot into the untouched regiment, landing 2 damage, and getting a ridiculous waver against them. Splitting fire was a very greedy play from me. Everything should have gone into the injured Penitents, but it worked.

Movement in the center, due to brain fog.

My horde with the Brew of Strength is in the flank of the sacrificial Penitent unit, and they can get line of sight and such for a legal charge. I want to charge both hordes in, just to get better positioning with them, but cannot figure out how. I was very tired. I should go forward with the unit, then pivot 90 degrees, and connect from the side. I keep pivoting at the beginning of the charge move, and obviously bumping into the other horde. The flank will be more impactful, so with my brain blanking, the injured horde with the Chalice awkwardly pivots to let the horde with the Brew pivot first, and then move up to connect. The flank charge is able to get this done. I take them to 20 damage, devastating and routing them as is proper, and then reform to line up the next fights, getting the Penitents and Ogres into my front arc. 

The Beast lurking by the woods just moves out to threaten stuff on the right, making sure to stay out of charge range of the Hunters and their Slayer.

Lots of options on the right...

I have a lot of options on my right. I don't fancy my way fighting through two Penitent hordes and a horde of Ogre Palace Guard though, but I still fight better than I shoot, so I decide to be incredibly greedy.

The eventual charges on the right.

The Spears with the Brew of Sharpness charge the Penitents on the hill. I don't record the damage in my notes, but I believe we deal 14 damage, and I do pick them up. This ends up being extremely fortunate, as the Ogres were in my flank. Victorious, the Horde pivots to get a majority of their base onto the hill.

And then the reform on the right.

The Trapper hangs out being Inspiring while the Trappers, Beast and Scorchwings go into the other horde. I deal 13 damage, and we get a lucky waver on the horde here.

It is an incredibly greedy turn for the Herd, with a lot of it paying off in spades.

Currently, I've routed half the Penitents so far, with another horde and another regiment currently wavering. I control both 2-Pointers, and two 1-Pointers, and just one other token is up for grabs.

Bottom of Round 2: Brothermark

On the right, the Ogres look to have a hard time pivoting past the wavering horde to help it out, so they just take the easy charge into the Tribal Spears on the hill. The Ogres also have the Brew of Sharpness, and are able to thump 13 damage onto the horde and get a lucky waver against me now!

Movement, and a charge, out on the right.

The wavering Penitents hold, trying to limit my options, even just a little bit. The final regiment of Penitents doesn't have a charge, but moves up to join the fun soon.

A Phoenix flies up and makes a play for the open token, landing on it and picking it up later in the turn.

The other two Phoenixes flick sparks into my injured central horde, with the bowmen and Boomstick-toting Paladin helping out. The dice are not great, but the horde is bumped up to 19 damage and still routed. It was holding a 1-Pointer, and I drop it in the back left of the unit's footprint to make things more difficult for my opponent.

Both Hunters shoot into my central Beast, and will land 6 damage against it, though it survives.

A hindered charge from the Ogre Palace Guard.

The wavering Penitent regiment backs up, allowing the Ogre Palace Guard to charge in. The charge is hindered, and unfortunately we forget about Blessing of the Gods. Just 6 damage lands,  and my horde holds.

Top of Round 3: Herd

On the left, the Centaurs drop their token in order to make a flank charge into the Ogre Palace Guard, as the Tribal Spears continue fighting them in the front. Bane Chants are attempted, but I think just the one into the Centaurs succeeds. The Centaurs do 9, and the Spears contribute a pitiful 3, but the Ogres are a bit too far forward, are uninspired, this is enough damage to pick them up with a bit of luck.

The Scorchwings sweep up awkwardly to pick up the 1-Point token dropped by the Centaurs. The Trappers will move out as well, carrying their 2-pointer, with the Druid coming up to babysit. These are troops, and liable to rout. In my head, I needed one unit per token. We discussed this later, and that seemed like an exception for the Push Scenario only, so this is a very awkward misplay from me. The Trappers can absolutely start running away, but the Scorchwings should be wheeling back towards the fighting. I had a bout of insomnia the previous night, so as excited as I was to play a game and try out my list, my brain was not all here today.

Charges on the left. The Herd is really breaking through.

In victory, the Centaurs will back up, and the Spears pivot.

The Avatar of the Father makes a flank charge into the Penitents. The Avatar finally has some good dice in a game, lands an astonishing 13 damage, and picks the regiment up all by himself. Victorious, he pivots slightly, wanting to keep the Bowmen in his front arc.

Reforms for the Herd.

On the right, I lean pretty heavily on the Beasts. The maimed one has an awkward line of sight with the Phoenix in front of him, but can see past the Phoenix to spy the wavering Penitent horde. Charging Phoenixes tends to not be great plays, so we make the flank charge instead, with the Trappers and Scorchwings continuing the fight as well.

Charges on the right.

This fight against the last Penitent horde goes well, and the unit is routed. The Beast changes facing to face the last Penitent regiment head-on. The Trappers pivot awkwardly, and the Scorchwings back up 3 inches.

Reforms on the right.

The wavering Spears disengage and then back up, trying to buy time. The Beast that had been fighting the Penitents can see over them into the Ogres, and makes that charge, hitting the unit in the flank. The dice are most unkind. The hits are bad; the damage is bad, but Vicious lets me convert my two 1's into the only 2 damage of this combat. Sheesh. The Ogre Palace Guard will Iron Resolve that down to 1.

Bottom of Round 3: Brothermark

With an open charge ahead of them, the Ogres will march past the Beast to continue the fight against the Tribal Spears. They hit with 17 of their 18 attacks, and then damage with 16 of the hits, to unabashedly devastate the Tribal Spears, and then spin to face the Beast that tickled them. 

Movement for the Brothermark.

The last remaining Penitent regiment will charge the Beast, with both Hunters charging into the monster's flank. The Penitents contribute 0, but the Hunters do a combined 7 damage, and the uninspired Beast is felled. The Penitents overrun, towards the Tribal Trappers.

Reforms for the Brothermark.

The Bowmen are in the pond. Just pivoting would keep their leader point in the pond, incurring more penalties, so they move up and pivot to shoot into the oncoming Centaur Hunters. They are hitting on 6's though, and the dice do not spike, and only 2 damage lands.

The Phoenixes had a busy turn moving. Two tried to shoot into the Scorchwings, but roll terribly, landing just 2 damage. The Ogres hogged all the turn's luck for themselves apparently.

Top of Round 4: Herd

We've got the Brothermark backed into a corner. I hold most of the tokens, and my Avatar of the Father is alive! I'm feeling pretty confident, despite losing two of my Spear Hordes. The fighting is fierce in the corner.

On the left, my two units and their tokens continue to run away.

Charges for the Herd.

I forget that the Bowmen have Phalanx, but choose to send the Spears with the Brew of Strength and the Centaurs in against the shooters to try and pick them up in one-go. The Spears do just 9, and but the hindered Centaurs do 7, and I am able to pick the Bowmen up with a lucky check.

The Avatar of the Father needs to be fighting stuff here, and I send him into the flank of the last Penitent regiment. Busting out a laser line, the Trappers are in the flank thanks to the overrun, so we sandwich the unit, and will pick it up. 

The Phoenixes and their shooting is a problem. Losing Fly and Nimble, I can't really escape with the Scorchwings and their token. Not entirely sure what to do, I send the injured unit into one of them. 

Reforms for the Herd.

The remaining Beast goes into the Ogres again, hoping to occupy them for two turns, given my high Nerve. I land 4 damage, and roll up an 11 on the dice to get a very lucky waver, and we're off to a great start here!

The Tracker moves up, Inspiring these units. He tries to shoot into a Phoenix, but misses entirely. Not having Steady Aim, he is taking a penalty, and 4 dice isn't a lot to throw at a problem it seems.

Bottom of Round 4: Brothermark

The Phoenixes are doing work this turn. The one in the center of the field can't get away, and is therefore going to get charged by something next turn, so sidesteps and Nimble Pivots once to face the Tribal Spears head-on. It sprays the unit with sparks, and a Hunter and the Boomstick Paladin land a few damage as well to take my last horde up to 10 damage.

The Phoenixes flap about.

The second Phoenix flank charges the Trappers, landing a few damage, but won't break the unit. 

The third sprays into the Scorchwings, the dice are good, and my birds are melted this time.

The Priest Martyr's off the damage from the Ogre Palace Guard as they fume and regather their wits. The Phoenixes have been shooting more than healing, but the Prayer has transferred a good bit of damage this time.

An Exemplar Hunter charges in against the Avatar of the Father to ground him, and does a concerning 5 damage to my figurehead unit.

Top of Round 5: Herd

With the Ogres healed up, I don't think I can trade the Beast for them, and now hesitate to just feed it to them. It flaps away, and the Tracker charges in, hoping for 1 damage and the disorder to tie them up. I roll 1 hit, and do luck out with the damage to help pin the Ogres down for a turn, though they will Iron Resolve the damage away.

Charges.

The Centaurs can charge through the yielding Chaplain, but the angle is bad, and they can't pass through the mighty Hunter. I'm a dummy again with charges. I can go forward, pivot, and then hit the rear of the bird from that angle. The Centaurs impotently charge the Chaplain. They will catch a Bane Chant, and and take him up to 4 damage, but I don't get a waver or a rout. In my head the Chaplain was easy pickings, but I was confusing him with the Priest, and the Chaplain is a heartier Def5.

I can't quite reclaim the 2-Pointer dropped by the Scorchwings, but the Trappers count their blessings and countercharge the Phoenix, with the Avatar of the Father striding past the upstart Hunter to fight the fiery bird in the flank, as I am looking to pick up the last of my opponent's unit strength to help close out the game. A fantastic 14 damage is done, but the bird is found to be insane. The Avatar of the Father continues to find the crazy ones...

Bad luck for the Avatar of the Father. Eh, it could be worse though.

The remaining Spear horde charges the Phoenix in the center of the battlefield, and rolls a ridiculous 19 damage against the bird, and will pick it up, and then overrun to reclaim a dropped 1-Pointer token.

Bottom of Round 5: Brothermark

The Brothermark's individuals join the Phoenixes in their late-game push. The Hunters charge the Tribal Spears, and land 2 damage total to take them to 12, but an 8 on the dice will still waver the horde.

Lots of wavering this game.

The Boomstick Paladin charges the Avatar, and lands 2 damage, though the Avatar holds.

The Phoenixes sandwich the Trappers, roll blazing hot to take them from 3 to 15 damage, with one Phoenix landing on the 2-Pointer and claiming it as well. It is at this point that I realize that a unit can hold multiple Loot Tokens. Oops.

The Chaplain swings and misses against the Centaurs, meaning that they are not disordered. 

The Insane Phoenix regenerates 9 of its 14 damage, and then Martyr's Prayer removes most of the rest. 

The Ogre Palace Guard thumps the upstart Tracker for 15 damage, devastating and then routing him.

Going into Round 6, it's 4:3 in favor of the Herd.

Top of Round 6: Herd

Now realizing my scenario error on the left, the Scorchwings drop their token and nimbly wheel about to try to be part of a potential Round 7. 

With a wavering horde holding a very vulnerable and very important token, the remaining Beast of Nature flies over to try and assist as well, nimbly pivoting as it lands to threaten the heroes of the Brothermark.

Movement for the Herd.

With the injured, insane Phoenix holding no tokens, facing front, and healing 10 of the 14 damage dealt to it last turn, the Avatar of the Father, disengages and backs up. I don't want him charged by the Ogres next turn and getting them closer to anything. He'll be a threat in a Round 7 that my opponent will need to try and address on his turn here.

The Centaurs don't get a Bane Chant, but charge back in against the Chaplain to take him up to 8 damage, but the check is a 4, just wavering him. 

Bottom of Round 6: Brothermark

The Paladin continues on against the Avatar of the Father, landing 2 more damage and getting a waver against him! Sheesh!

Movement for the Brothermark.

The Hunters disengage from the Tribal Spears. Instead of clashing, they shoot into the horde, along with both Phoenixes. The horde is taken up to 20 damage, and routed. I drop the token in the back left of their footprint. If there is a Round 7, the Scorchwings or Beast should be able to grab it.

End of the game.

The Ogre Palace Guard march up behind the Phoenixes, ready for a Round 7... but we do not roll it up.

With my horde shot off and dropping the token, it's a 3:3 tie!

Game Conclusions

With dice down, we were both a bit bewildered. With the flow of the game overall, neither of us was expecting a draw, but that’s the exciting bit about Kings of War and scenario play!

With the scenario goof and the charge goofs, it wasn’t my best game, and another unit of Scorchwings would have been helpful to have. Writing up the report, I played very greedily, and many things bounced my way to give me a strong start. While I was able to remove a lot of Penitent units, they are there to just take up space and die. It has been a while since I fought the Phoenixes, and I definitely underestimated their shooting attacks! I wasn’t able to deal with them or the fighty Hunters effectively, and the Brothermark endured long enough to secure a tie with the fiery birds.

Testing Conclusions

• Tribal Trappers. I am really liking these troops, and they continue to be a very fun unit to play around with. They pair nicely with the Tribal Spear Hordes, 
• Centaur Bray Hunters. I don't think they were used well late game, but I do like the regiment as it makes them a little more durable and a little more threatening. 
• Scorchwings. This kind of versatile unit has a high skill ceiling, but I did like them at the smaller regimental size. Scenario goof aside, these did ok, even though they were not used well! They need to be making use of flying charges and such, and so should not have been holding tokens early on. They are unfortunately pretty easy to shoot off, but with their height and long charge range, can be hard for an opponent to properly prioritize or plan around, and with enough other Herd stuff around, these weren't able to be prioritized. 
• Hunters vs Scorchwings. I was a little rusty with these, but running them each at these unit sizes makes sense to me and my playstyle. Neither really outshined the other, and I honestly liked this split setup overall, though again, I didn’t end up playing either unit all that effectively. 
• Druids. Bane Chant was iffy this game for successes, but again they were primarily around to keep stuff Inspired, and they did that very well.
• Tribal Tracker. I’ve tried him several times, mainly in the formation, and I just keep being underwhelmed. Lacking Steady Aim makes it hard for him to be a mobile and dynamic shooter, and lacking CS make him struggle in most combats. Design-wise he seems to want to scout up and camp out, but with 4 attacks, the damage output just isn’t there, and the special rules are an odd mix letting him down. He finally had a good moment getting a clutch damage in against the Ogre Palace Guard, but a third, boring Druid would have been a more effective take this game. 
• Beast of Nature. I remembered Vicious! But even so, they did just ok. I gave them some pretty rough match-ups against the Ogres and a flier in the middle of a crowded board is quite often gonna have a bad time. Crushing Strength 2 is great, but wasn’t quite enough to make them a good hammer unit against the Ogre Palace Guard, and the unit should struggle a bit against all Def5 units. The 12” shooting attack doesn’t seem worth it on a flier, as I want to be positioning for charges, not shots. That attack is just too much to keep track of on a flier, but if you drop the wings, I could see this being an ok support piece for some Tribal units, or even Brutes, as it’s tall enough to shoot over them both without a penalty.
• Avatar of the Father. The poor guy! I used him better than I normally do, but he still managed to find an insane unit and get stopped up. He ended the game wavering... but did technically survive to the end! We’ll continue to bust him out for fun, but I unfortunately haven’t quite found a good home for him yet and he continues to not have the best luck on the battlefield.
• Tribal Spears with Items. I was pretty excited about my list. It did ok, but not as well as I was hoping it would. Def4 and lowish Nerve means the Hordes aren’t as “sticky” as I was hoping they’d be, especially with my opponent having no cavalry to gum up with my Phalanx. I didn’t have any healing to help them out, and two hordes wavered at inopportune times. They can handle any of the items very well, but I think taking all of the items could be considered an overinvestment from me, as the baseline unit doesn’t have the staying power to brawl. 
• Herd Fliers. Flying was useful and impactful for me, and we did get a lot of flank charges in throughout the game! I want to always line up a charge for them on my turn, and I think I did ok with them this game, zoning out areas of the board, applying pressure and indeed forcing some repositions. 
• Herd Shooting. I liked the avenues that shooting provided for me this game, but I mostly just lucked out in this regard by securing a lot of lucky wavers. With just 18” shortbows, I can’t really sit back and rely on shooting. Still, this pressure seemed ok, and probably about as good as the Herd can do in this regard.
• No Guardian Brutes. I like the unit, but I got by ok without them. The Tribals Spears weren’t as strong, but they did have better endurance with their higher Nerve. I like the Brutes, but this shows that they aren’t a must-take.

It had been a very draining week, so getting in a game was an absolute pleasure. A big thank you to Trevor from Data and Dice for fitting this into his busy schedule! The Human Goblins are a really neat idea, and I'm hoping to see more of the list soon.