Kings of War 3rd Edition: #096 Undead vs Sylvan Kin in Compass Points

Intro and Lists

After a handful of missed connections, Trevor from the illustrious Data and Dice and I finally managed to meet up for another game. He wanted to test out the Sylvan Kin with the new Clash 2025 changes, and ran the following:

As-ever, the Kin are a frightening army for me to face. Aside from being very competently commanded, they are generally doing a little bit of everything and hard to predict or contain. Unfortunately for me, they have the stats to do well at all the different things they are trying to do! Facing off against me is a powerful scouting Wiltfather, three strong shooting heroes, two scouting Gladestalker Regiments, a troop and a regiment of Silverbreeze Cavalry, a pathfinding regiment of Stormwind Cavalry, three troops of Wild Gur Panthers to interdict, scouting regiments of Hunters and Forest Shamblers to gain early ground, and lastly a horde of Forest Guard to hold the line. As-ever, Trevor is running a competent and balanced list, looking to leverage shooting to maim threats first and speed to then charge them before the lines can really close.

I brought the Undead, with a bit of a treat for my opponent... I had wanted to play a list like this for a while, though our games had been infrequent enough that I wasn't able to run it as soon as I had hoped to. Months ago, Trevor took a data-driven look at the Undead, in a bit of an army review. Therein, he had highlighted a few units that were cost-effective. I really liked my Revenant Wyrms and Teutonic Mummies already, and took note of the other units. I'm running them all here! The treat here is that if he wins, his own tactical acumen clearly bested me, but if I win, it is obviously Trevor's analytics that are on point! Since I am only a few games in with the Undead, up to evaluate and comment on is everything:

• Skeletons with two-handers. As mentioned in their Hobby Update, these units are inspired by Trevor and his own Penitent-spam! I think the Undead version (Fearless, +1 Nerve, LL1) is worth the 10 points to remove the possibility of wavering them, but as I discovered last time, they can still be a bit rough to maneuver. These aren’t on Data and Dice’s list, but felt like a great inclusion here.
• Zombies. I didn’t have the points for a third smashy Skeleton unit, so we have a lowly regiment of Zombies instead for their unlock. We’ll see if there’s a token to carry or an objective for them to hold. 
• Skeleton Spearmen Horde. I like Spear Hordes, but this one doesn’t have the output of my usual Tribal Spears, or even Spears from the Kingdoms of Men. Hitting on a 5+ to start from is rough! They are on the data list because hold well for their points, so we’ll try to protect them a bit and see what all they can hold up.
• Mummies. I’ve been bringing A lists with Revenant Cavalry and B lists with Mummy troops recently the last few time's I've tried the Undead, but not getting to play the B lists. Since both unit sizes appear on the list from Data and Dice, we’ll finally get to try the troops out, and then compare them to the regiment.
• Zombie Trolls. They are on the list, but I’ve used them (I think) once before, but poorly. Death has stripped them of their Regeneration, but Fearless and Def5 should hopefully help me anchor my lines for a few turns, and with CS2, they might even be able to grind out some damage too.
• Liche King with Celestial Restoration. A pet unit of mine that I’ve been trying across the Undead and Herd to supplement smashy Titans. With a number of Hordes here, I should have some good targets, and we’ll see how it does this game. 
• Undead ASBs. I still like them, and I still want mine to be carrying items whenever possible, and I think that the Tome (Surge5) and Shroud (Heal 3) are decent items to default to. I haven’t been doing much with Surge moves, so this looks like my only Surge caster this time. We’ll see how that works for me, and how much Heal can contribute as well. 
• Vampire on Undead Pegasus. I like my KoM Generals on Winged Beasts… but these cost more and somehow hit softer. These are definitely not on the list, but do seem like I unit I would run. I don’t think I can rely on these as actual hammers, but we’ll see what else we might be able to do with them. Just threatening blocking charges while I advance seems like it might be an ok use, so we’ll try to give that a try. 
• Revenant Wyrms. They are also on the list from Data and Dice, so they’re back in my list again. Their output isn’t always great, but they’ve proven very useful in all my Undead games so far. We’ll see if the other units highlighted by the analytics are as impactful as this one has been.
• Command Orders. I like both of the ones for the Undead, but this will only be my second outing with the new optional rule. We’ll see how the Orders to this game.
• Command Dice. My first foray with the Orders and the dice was a little underwhelming, as I didn’t generate enough Swords to do much of anything, though it appears one should get about 4 successes per turn with just the base 3-dice, and I was just really unlucky. We’ll see if my luck is better this game, or if one really does need to buy extra dice to make this optional rule work.
• Lifeleech. I’ve been doing good at remembering this for the Undead. We’ll keep at it and see if that trend continues! 

Table and Terrain

Trevor was kind enough to host us, and we were using his table and terrain. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the building and bones as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, stone fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the ponds and field as Height 0. 

We wanted to try out a new scenario, and settled on Compass Points. There are objective tokens on the table's main axes. The wording was less precise than we'd come to expect from Mantic. We read it is the side objectives are worth 1 point each, your "home" objective was worth 2, and your "away" objective worth 3.  

My opponent won the roll-off for sides. I felt like the forest with the token would be a nightmare to dislodge Gladestalkers from, so I was very happy to get this side. I figured the Gladestalkers would end up in the opposing woods, and tried to plan around that, and I wanted the flying Vampires or Revenant Wyrms as my last drops. I had the slimmest of drop advantages, made ever-so-slightly better with my opponent deploying first. 

The table, and deployment.

Left-to-right the Sylvan Kin had isolated Wild Gur Panthers out to harass the left token. A building and a forest gave both Gladestalker and the King a nice and protected nook. The Forest Guard were just outside the woods with Wild Gur Panthers and the Archmage in reserve. Hunters of the Wild, the Master Hunter, and the Forest Shamblers all hid behind the hill, ready to make use of Scout. The Wiltfather lurked nearby, with the Silverbreeze regiment behind, partially in the field. The Silverbreeze troop screened for the third Panther unit, and the nimble, pathfinding Stormwind Cavalry took the far flank.

View from the left.

Left-to-right I have Zombies, Skeleton Warriors and the Surging ASB to fight for the left objective. A flying Vampire came down very late nearby, to either boop the Panthers to help win the objective, or help pressure the center. 

View form the center left.

I figured the Gladestalkers would take to the woods more than the field, and preserved my Wyrms until I knew that was the case. Both Wyrms ended up behind the pond. Celestial Restoration needs to target stuff more than 12 inches away, so the Liche ended up way in the back in case early shooting was hot.

View from the center-right.

The center was going to be important, but I am befuddled as to how to deploy the Undead. The battle line continues with Skeletons to help support the Wyrms, Zombie Trolls to anchor, and the second flying Vampire to help interdict and dissuade the Kin from moving up too far too early. The Skeleton Spearmen ended up in the woods, as I figured it would be defensible. The second horde of Zombie Trolls ended up on the far flank with the Healing ASBm as I think I need to push (surge) on the left and hold (heal) on the right. I have no idea what to do with the Mummies. The blue troops were drops in the middle, and I just tried to “bricklayer” they so they could see around the units in front of them. The red regiment was a later drop. The Skeletons are my chaff, and I figured they’ve be moving up quickly to make blocking charges, and a regiment behind them and the Zombie Trolls to help reinforce and plug gaps in the line might be useful. 

View on the right.

I’m the shambling Undead, and need to play more compactly and reservedly. My overall plan is to ignore the objective on the right, claim the left one with Zombies or Skeletons, hold my home objective, and assault the away objective. 

Scout moves.

My opponent scouted up reservedly with everything, and then I won the roll for turn order. It’s just bow shots, but there are a lot of quality shots against me, so I opted to go first.

Top of Round 1: Undead

I roll up 2 swords for my Command Dice. We're off to another bum start, and I don’t need rerolls, so don’t do anything with them.

On the left, I am looking to zone out and control this objective. The Zombies and Skeleton Warriors shamble up, along with the ASB. The Gur Panthers should have a charge into either of them, but that’s fine. The Panthers can get around me, so as long as I am wary of the table edge, this push should work. I opt not to Surge anything, but probably could have safely surged the Skeletons up. 

Moves on the left. The Wyrms have good charges next turn.

The flying Vampire moves up, but hangs back. The Panthers have the inches, but cannot fit in against him.

The pair of Wyrms happily wade through the pond, and should have charges into both of the Gladestalkers next turn. With Gladestalkers on the left and Silverbreeze on the right, if I can quickly deal with some of the Kin shooting, I should be in a better position as the game progresses.

Moves in the center.

I don’t know what I am doing in the center, and wasn’t feeling great about my deployment, so I am kind of winging it. On my center-left, the Skeleton Warriors, Zombie Trolls, and Mummy regiment move up an even 5”. The loose plan is to trade what I can and hopefully the Mummies can grind and survive in the late game, battling for the away objective.

The Liche lazily moves towards the right. With the Sylvan Kin largely ignoring the left, I just need to get a little to the right in order to have range for all the important areas.

Moves on the right. The Zombie trolls are exposed, but safe from flanking charges right now.

I want the center-right to hold my home objective, but Shambling is tough. The Mummy troop hop the line, but that means the flaying Vampire and Skeleton Spearmen need to hold. The other Mummy Troop was also deployed back, and pivots and moves up, looking to support the Zombie Trolls out on my right. The ASB with heal tucks in out here.

Bottom of Round 1: Sylvan Kin

My opponent rolls up 3 for his Command Dice, and I think uses them on a variety of rerolls.

On the right, the Silverbreeze regiment swings wide, ending up by the objective token. Gur Panthers move up, screening the Silverbreeze troop. Both will shoot into the horde of Trolls, landing 1 damage. Everything stays just over 12 inches away from the trolls.

Shooting on the right.

The Wiltfather moves up slightly, staying out of charge range, and the pathfinding Stormwind Cavalry hang back.

The Forest Shamblers take the hill, along with the Master Hunter and the Hunters of the Wild.

Shooting from the Kin.

Shooting from the Gladestalkers will go very well, landing 13 damage onto some Skeletons. The unit is probably done for (and will be at the end of the phase), so the Master Hunter, King, and Archmage will fire into the Zombie Trolls, landing a surprising 7. With good Ranged stats plus Elite, the Kin can definitely deliver at range. With Piercing on the Lightning Bolt and shots from the Master Hunter, who has a lot of rerolls, so it’s some a great rolling out here as well.

The Forest Guard lurk, and the Gur Panthers hop up to prevent a multi-charge into one unit of Gladestalkers, who hold, shoot, and land 8 damage into the Skeleton Warriors. The other unit backs up, preventing a multi-charge into them as well, and will shoot with a penalty into the Skeletons as well, landing 5 damage. It’s hot rolling, and the Skeletons crumble.

Sneaky Gur Panthers.

On the right, the Gur Panthers sidestep to hit the table edge, looking to zip up and around my line.

Top of Round 2: Undead

I roll up a fortuitous 5 swords on my Command Dice.

I pivot and then move the Zombies up, blocking the path of those Gur Panthers. The ASB will sidestep towards the Wyrms, but will surge the Zombies forward a few more inches to clearly deny that table edge path for the Panthers.

The Skeletons move up, and pivot slightly, to keep the Gur Panthers in the front arc. I’m feeling good about this token.

Movement, plus lots of solo charges over on the left.

Due to backing up, the Gladestalkers are just out of charge range, and I needed to get the ASB over for the Wild charge. My opponent did a good job at preventing multi-charges. I don’t like making solo-charges, but feel it’s worth it here.

One Wyrm makes a Striding into the furthest Gladestalkers, the flying Vampire makes a hindered charge into the other unit of shooters, and the other Wyrm charges the Gur Panthers. I chose this because this puts the move vulnerable Vampire in between the titans, and he should survive and Inspire them to get me the best chances of holding.

Close-up of the charges.

I use 4 swords to cast a Drain Life into the Gladestalkers fighting the Wyrm. I think any unit can cast this, but just in case, the flying Vampire is the one to cast it. The spell does 3 damage, nothing needs healing here, but this does help tip the combat math in my favor. I should use the last sword on a reroll, but forget about it.

The Wyrm fighting the Gladestalkers flubs and does just 4, but at 7, I am able to get a lucky waver.

The flying Vampire lands 2 to disorder his unit.

The Wyrm fighting the Panthers decides to spike the dice and lands 10 against them, breaking them easily. I was hoping the Wyrms would perform opposite of how they did, as the units are tight here and wavering Panthers would prevent the Palace Guard from charging next turn.. Oh well. If I overrun more than 1 inch, that should put the Forest Guard into the titan’s flank, so it just pivots to face them.

Reform for the Wyrm. We'll see if he survives!

The Mummy Regiment gets most of their Shambling move up, but is slightly blocked by the Zombie Trolls, who are moving up to support the Wyrms, as is the other flying Vampire.

The Liche lands a Celestial Restoration onto the Zombie Trolls, healing for 5, and bringing them from 7 down to just 2 damage.

The Undead center pushes out.

My original plan was to camp the home objective, but I feel like I need to commit more to the upcoming fights. The Mummy Troop moves up, as does the Spear Horde. I believe the Mummies and the Zombie Trolls are just out of charge range of the Hunters of the Wild. 

Good healing from the Undead.

On the right, the other Mummy Troop moves up, looking to support anything that goes into the Zombie Trolls. The Wiltfather was wary of the Trolls, and my goal is to delay here, so the Trolls sidestep onto the obstacles. They don’t get close to the Wiltfather, so we’re safe from him next turn. The ASB with Heal lands 2 to remove the 1 damage from the Zombie Trolls out here.

Bottom of Round 2: Sylvan Kin

My opponent rolls up 4 swords for his Command Dice. A unit can only benefit from one Command Order per turn, and we adhere to that, but I can’t track what gets what for Orders. Suffice it to say, he spends it all on rerolls this turn.

On the right, Gur Panthers run up to block up the Zombie Trolls. 

Lots of blocking units from the Sylvan Kin.

The Silverbreeze troop dances around, with the nimble Stormwind Cavalry unit moving up and pivoting to see down the battlefield. They will shoot into the Mummies supporting the Zombie Trolls, but the armor of the Mummies proves too much, and only 2 damage slips in.

The Wiltfather moves up to now threaten the Zombie Trolls, and the Forest Shambler regiment leaves the hill in order to block for him.

The Silverbreeze regiment bides their time, and sidesteps onto the hill. I make a bit of a goof here, thinking the Stormwind cav are on the hill, and both shooters are out on the right-flank.

The Hunters of the Wild inch up, and should have charges next turn.

Shooting from the Sylvan Kin this turn.

The Master Hunter, King and Archmage shoot into the Zombie Trolls again, and again roll well to bring the unit from 2 up to 9 damage, but it’s a Fearless, Inspired horde, and the unit doesn’t budge.

With a clear route to the Wyrm, the Forest Guard don’t even need Pathfinder. Elite pays dividends, and they hit 22 times, resulting in 12 damage. Two about-average checks are all it takes, and my first Titan is bested. My opponent feels like they need to face-forward. Doing so gets the Zombie Trolls well into front arc, but should deny the Mummy regiment the inches to join in. 

The unfazed Gladestalkers fight the flying Vampire, with the King joining in. Together, they land 4 damage and ground him.

The wavered Gladestalkers fighting the Wyrm do nothing.

The Gur Panthers decide to depart.

On the left, the Gur Panthers will pivot and nimble run away, giving up on the left token.

Top of Round 3: Undead

I roll up another fortuitous 5 swords on my Command Dice.

On the left, the zombies move and pivot to zone out the space between the building and the table edge. I don’t want the Gur Panthers coming back. It’s Round 3, and they’ll be able to move and pivot to control the token any point going forward.

Movement on the left.

The Skeleton Warriors move up to secure the token for now, and will be around to contribute in the fights if needed. The ASB runs up behind them. I think I surge the Skeletons forward for a mighty 1 inch.

Lots of charges this turn.

The Revenant Wyrm is untouched since it wavered its Gladestalker unit, and it uses 4 swords from the Command Dice to cast Drain Life into the Gladestalkers fighting the flying Vampire. The spells lands 3 damage, and heals the Vampire up nicely.

The Wyrm thumps 4 damage onto the Gladestalkers, to bring them to 11 damage. He’s done about half the damage he should have, but it’s still enough to rout the archers on the second attempt. The titan will back up, keeping the Panthers in front arc, and keeping an eye on the other Gladestalker unit.

Aftermath of the combats.

The flying Vampire lands 4 damage onto his Gladestalker unit. With the Drain Life landing 3, the unit is taken to 9 damage, and I get a lucky rout against them. The Vampire turns to face the King. Between Drain Life and Lifeleech, he’s back to full. He’s mostly around to Inspire, so I don’t mind spending another turn here fighting.

The Mummy regiment impotently moves up towards the fights, as it cannot charge this turn.

The Zombie Trolls charge the Forest Guard, and deal 6 damage. Celestial Restoration hits again, healing 4 to take them from 9 down to 5, and Lifeleech 1 gets them down to 4. 

In the center, the other flying Vampire and a Mummy Troop charge the Hunters of the Wild, and do a combined 5 damage. I spike the Nerve check a bit, and get a lucky waver against them. 

The Spearmen make a hindered charge into the Forest Shamblers. I need 6’s to hit, 5’s to wound, and I am not going to move them. Thinking its the Stormwind Cavalry on the hill, with my spears pointed at them, I was fine with a blocking charge. I retrospect, just moving them up would probably have been a better call. Yes, the Shamblers could be surged into something, but it’s probably better to get the Wiltfather into the fight, so I think not charging would have been the wiser move.

Charges on the left.

The Mummies and Zombie Trolls multi-charge the Gur Panthers, with my Zombies hindered. They each deal 4 damage, we take the unit to 8, and do get the rout.

The Zombie Trolls back up, and the Mummies I think hold, with everything in their front arc. Between Heal, Lifeleech, and Regen (I don't remember what actually contributed), the Mummies heal up their 2 damage, and end the turn healthy.

Bottom of Round 3: Sylvan Kin

My opponent rolls up 4 Command Dice, and spends it all on various rerolls again.

On the right, the Wiltfather makes a striding charge into the Zombie Trolls, ending atop the obstacle but not caring. We move his off-center for ease of play. Cloak of Death triggers, and the tree is able to land another 6 damage on the Trolls to bring them up to 7, but they hold. 

Charges on the right.

My mix-up between the Stormwind and Silverbreeze regiments is now realized as the Stormwind Cavalry make a devastating flank charge into my Spearmen. They deal 21 damage with the Shamblers contributing 3, and the unit is picked up.

The Silverbreeze troop shoots into the unengaged Mummy troop, but isn’t able to land any damage. They will take 1 from Cloak of Death though.

The Archmage throws a Lighting Bolt into the Liche, but only 1 damage makes it through, and the Undead Spellcaster shakes it off. He lost Regeneration in a previous Clash update, but with Inspiring, Def5 and -14, he’s still pretty resolute.

On the hill, the Master Hunter and the Silverbreeze regiment charge the Mummy troop, dealing 2 and 4 damage respectively. At 6 damage and Inspired, the Mummies hold. The wavered Hunters of the Wild do nothing, not wanting to give the flying Vampire free rein. Given we are fighting so near the edge of the hill, we elected to leave units off of it, rather that mess with stars for everything.

Combats for the Kin. I've popped a head and cape off of the Mummies, but they are at full health.

The Forest Guard countercharge the Zombie Trolls, with the King disengaging from the other flying Vampire to join in. The hits from the Guard are amazing again, but without Thunderous charge, the damage is lessened. They do 6, the King does 1, and at 12 damage, my opponent needs a 5 to rout. He gets it the first time, but rolls up a 4 on the Inspired reroll, and the Zombie Trolls continue to stick around.

The Gur Panthers rear-charge the other flying Vampire, and viciously land 4 damage against him. 

Top of Round 4: Undead

I Roll up 3 command Dice.

With the Gur Panthers committed, and now dealt with, the Zombies move up to secure the objective. They will spend the rest of the game here.

The Wyrm will flank the Gur Panthers and trounce them. It will then reform by pivoting 90 degrees to face the rest of the Sylvan Kin army.

Positioning on the left.

The flying Vampire doesn’t need to withdraw from the Panthers to charge the Forest Guard, but will be hindered. He gets into their flank dealing … 2 damage. (5.8 expected, but c’mon, man.)

The Skeleton Warriors are able to get in and deal two damage as well, and the Zombie Trolls countercharge, making up for the Vampire and dealing 9 damage. The Forest Guard horde is on 20 damage, but I roll a 3, and they are just wavered, tying up three of my units. Still, the Vampire will Lifeleech 2 from 4 down to 2, and the Zombie Trolls will Lifeleech 1 from 12 down to 11.

Combats, with the Mummy Regiment eyeing the Archmage.

The Mummy regiment can’t contribute with a legitimate charge, but pivots and moves close to the Archmage. I need 2 success with Surge on 5 dice, and the ASB obliges with 3. The Teutonic Mummies land 5 damage. The Archmage isn’t actually Inspiring, so one good Nerve check takes him off the field. The Mummies overrun, but only 1 inch.

The Hunters of the Wild are only on 5 damage, but I opt to send the flying Vampire in again. On 3’s and 3’s he lands just 2 damage, taking them to 7, and the Nerve check is low enough for them not to care this time. This is a bummer, but par for the course for the Vampire’s damage output. This does protect the Mummies from a flank charge off the hill however, so isn’t terrible for me.

After some hemming and hawing, I sent the Mummy Troop into the Stormwind Cavalry to disorder them. I land a surprising 5 damage, but the cavalry are fine. Regeneration doesn’t hit, but I Lifeleech from 2 down to 1 damage.

Good healing for the Undead again.

I may have spent 1 sword on a reroll, or I may have forgotten about it. I do spend 2 on Endurance to heal up the Zombie Trolls fighting the Wiltfather, from 7 down to 6. I point Celestial Restoration at them as well, healing up the remaining 6. Topped off, the Healing ASB can’t heal them anymore, and can’t see past them to help the Mummies, but this is still great. I cannot complain in the slightest. They thump 2 damage into the Wiltfather, but again I am just trying to delay, and this is all going great.

Bottom of Round 4: Sylvan Kin

My opponent rolls up 4 for his Command Dice. I think everything is spent on assorted rerolls again.

Charges on the right, plus Cloak of Death.

The Wiltfather counter-charges the fully-healed Zombie Trolls. Cloak of Death Triggers, he lands 6 and the flankin-but-hindered Forest Shamblers deal 3 to take the unit to 10 damage. It’s 7’s to rout the Fearless and Inspired unit, and he does it! I believe the Wiltfather will pivot fully towards the center, and Forest Shamblers will spin completely about.

Reforms, though I think the Wiltfather was pivoting even more. Silly fence.

The Stormwind Cavalry will countercharge the Mummy troop, landing 3. Cloak of Death hits the unit, and the Silverbreeze troop flanks, but contributes only 1. The Mummies are Inspired, and do hold.

Fighting in the center.

The Silverbreeze regiment charge the Mummy regiment, but only land 2. The high Defense of the Mummies has been working out nicely for me.

The now-unbothered Hunters of the Wild will countercharge the flying Vampire, with the Master Hunter joining in. The Vampire is taken up to 5 damage, but holds.

The second Zombie Troll horde falls.

The King is able to poke the Zombie Trolls a bit, and is able to rout them too, and my opponent rejoices in removing both of these hordes.

The Forest Guard are wavered, and engaged on multiple facings, and do nothing. 

Top of Round 5: Undead

I roll up 3 for my command dice. I believe I used Endurance on the remaining Mummy Troop, and when Regeneration doesn’t remove the last pip, the ASB with Heal will top them off. The last sword may have been a reroll, or may have been unspent.

Movement on the left.

The Zombies will hold, protecting the token.

The flying Vvampire in the flank of the Forest Guard is wasted here, and fresh, he flies out of the woods and into the flank of the Hunters of the Wild, with the other Vampire counter-charging. The smaller trees are on 7 damage, and I deal another 7 damage combined, taking them to 14 and getting the rout. The flanker sidesteps Lifeleeches from 2 down to 0, and the counter-charging Vampire pivots, and Lifeleeches from 5 down to 3 damage.

Aftermath in the center.

The Wyrm will flank the Forest Guard, and then devastate and rout them, as is proper. I overrun, but only my soon-to-be-patented 1 inch.

The Skeleton Warriors will withdraw to get the inch, pivot, and then be surged into the King. I should still take a Withdraw penalty, and am fishing for 6’s, and will land no damage.

I don’t have notes on the Liche. I thought I healed something, but can’t figure out what. I think I wanted to heal up the injured Vampire, but I think Celestial Restoration finally fully
whiffed.

The Liche finally misses it seems.

The Mummy regiment counter-charges the Silverbreeze regiment, landing 4, and getting a very lucky waver. 

The Mummy troop continues against the Stormwind Cavalry, looking to keep them disordered. They land a measly 1 damage to bring the cavalry unit up to 6 damage, but I get a second lucky waver this turn against the Sylvan Kin.

Bottom of Round 5: Sylvan Kin

My opponent rolls up 4 for his Command Dice.

Three is spent on the flanking Silverbreeze troop, letting them tactically retreat after they disengage and withdraw from the Mummy Troop. They zip backwards, and move far enough to get them out of charge range of the flying Vampires. Well done! However, it looks like they do shoot at the ASB with Heal, landing 2 damage after he gets hit with a Cloak of Death. If they use this order, they cannot shoot. This doesn’t impact anything, but should be pointed out.

The Silverbreeze troop tactically withdraws.

The King flees from the Skeleton Warriors, and both he and the Master Hunter decide to commit against the injured flying Vampire instead of trying to ground both. Even if they disorder the second one, he’s still got some good charge options. The injured Vampire is at 3, each hero deals 1 (oof) but on 5 damage, my opponent rolls well and still gets a waver.

The wavering Silverbreeze regiment withdraws, and then backs up, trying to draw the Mummies out and away from my home token. 

More backing up from the Sylvan Kin.

The wavering Stormwind Cavalry withdraw from the Mummy Troop as well, and then look to have pivoted to get the flying Vampires in front arc. They are wider than they are deep though, and look to have backed up a bit far.

End of Round 5 with all the shooting damage and combat reforms and such.

The Wiltfather and Forest Shamblers rear-charge the pesky Mummy troop, and will devastate and rout them, as is proper.

Top of Round 6: Undead

I roll up 5 for my Command Dice. Unfortunately, the Skeletons need to pivot so won’t benefit from any of the moving Command Orders, so won’t be able to reach my home objective. Likewise, the Mummy regiment could sidestep, but even moving their speed with an Order, would still be several inches short of claiming the home objective for me

The Wyrm grabs a token, the Skeletons move, and things fight.

The unimpeded flying Vampire has some options. I consider flying over to contest the right objective, but the Stormwind Cavalry are nimble, and could easily wrest the away from me if they aren’t dealt with. So the Vampire charges into the Stormwind Cavalry. We place him on the hill for gaming simplicity again. They are on 6 damage, and I spend 4 swords for Drain Life, which fizzles and contributes nothing. The Vampire rolls well though, brining them to 10 damage, and I get a good rout against them.

The wavering Vampire does nothing, but gets hit by Celestial Restoration for 4, bringing him from 5 damage down to just 1. I think the ASB points a Heal at him to get him down to 0.

The Mummies countercharge the Silverbreeze regiment, taking them from 4 to 9, but the shooty cavalry are found to be quite insane.

The Wyrm moves to claim the away objective.

Positioning around my home objective.

The Skeleton Warriors moves towards the home objective, but claiming it even in a Round 7 is not currently feasible. The objective is just over 3” from the forest edge. Even in a Round 7, using fancy orders, I’m not going to be able to move at the double to get close enough, and I’d need a crazy Surge roll to get there in Round 7. But we make the effort anyway.

Bottom of Round 6: Sylvan Kin

The Silverbreeze troop holds, securing a token.

The Wiltfather goes into a flying vampire, and goes hard. Cloak of Death triggers, and he damages with 9 of his 10 attacks, and gets a waver.

Both flying Vampires are grounded.

The King and Hunter again double-team the other flying Vampire, and take him to 5 damage. He'll be fine, bust still disordered this time.

The Liche takes some hits but holds strong. Still, he cannot contest this token.

The insane Silverbreeze disengage, and then withdraw to create enough space to pivot. They then go to move into the woods and claim my home objective… but this initial plan is thwarted, as they do not have Pathfinder, and will run into the same complications as my Skeletons. Still, they can see the Liche, and will make a very penalized charge into the spellcaster. A stunning 3 damage makes it through, but the Liche will hold. Still, routing is not the goal, and the cavalry are brought close enough to overpower the spellcaster for the scenario and secure he objective.

At the end of Round 6, it’s a tie game, with the Undead holding the left token with the Zombies; the Sylvan Kin holding the right with the Silverbreeze Troop, and each of us holding our respective “away” tokens. But my opponent rolls up a Round 7 for us.

Top of Round 7: Undead

The Liche disentangles himself from the Silverbreeze unit, and while the Skeletons can’t move close enough to claim the token, they do have the chance to charge. No damage lands, but we’re each US2 here, and no one controls this objective now.

The Mummies are just in range to try and pick up the Forest Shamblers for fun. We charge in, but don’t do it. These -/14 chaff units are surprisingly sturdy.

Final charges from the Undead.

Likewise, the Vampire charges the weaker Hunter, but doesn’t best him. The wavering Vampire fighting the Wiltfather cowers.

Bottom of Round 7: Sylvan Kin

The Wiltfather and Forest Shambler fights are inconsequential, and neither are rolled, even for bragging rights.

The Silverbreeze regiment counter-charges, landing 5 damage into the Skeleton Warriors, but they are Inspired, and hold firm, keeping this objective unclaimed. 

The Skeletons hold strong.

With that, the Undead hold our away objective for 3 and the left objective for 1, while the Sylvan Kin only hold the right objective for the 1 point. It’s a 4-1 victory for the Undead!

Game Conclusions

Trevor’s analytical skills win out! It was really neat to take his findings and try to put them into action for a game. He's only evaluating units, so there was a good chunk of the list (sources of Inspiring, etc) open for experimentation, and I think I filled those chunks in well, and came away with something worthwhile.

We're both getting better at scenario play, and for better of for worse had similar ideas on how to approach this. The Celestial Restoration really came through for me though, keeping the Zombie Trolls in the game for much longer than they should have been. The Undead proved to be a bit messy for me to position, but getting a Round 7 let me take the win. If you've read all they through though, you know that the game was far, far closer than the final score represents. 

Testing Conclusions

• Skeletons with two-handers. As before, their performance was on a spectrum, and that still seems fine for a chaff-like unit. One unit ate some very hot early shots, and the other charged in to contest an objective token and secure the win for me. These seem like promising units for me. 
• Zombies. We found an objective for them to grab! Pretty mundane, but this was a great use for a Zombie regiment, especially against an army with a lot of bow shooting.
• Skeleton Spearmen Horde. Misused since I misevaluated the units opposing me, and they got flanked by the heavy cavalry! A clear error there, but not a bad unit though. I want my spear hordes to be cordoning off sections of the board though, and think this is best run in multiples. I could probably learn a thing or two from our local Ratkin player! It’s not going to grind anything out, and needs some hammers to support it, but it is still a decent unit to hold ground and seems to be at a good price.
• Mummy Troops. It was nice to finally get the troops on the table, and to get the regiment out again. I kept them Inspired, and the troops performed very well, contributing some damage while shrugging off a lot of basic attacks. The Undead have a lot of options around the 115-120 point mark (Revenant Cavalry troops; Mummy Troops; Zombie Troll regiments; and even Wraith troops). All look to be good options with slight niches, and I look forward to playing around with these smaller units more!
• Mummy Regiment. The Troops rated high than the Regiment, and that seems fair. You only get a few attacks and a few Nerve for the increased cost, both of which is handy, but neither of which feels really impactful. Run what you want; both sizes seem good and useful, but the troops look to be a better buy with a higher skill ceiling.
• Zombie Trolls. We were both surprised at just how effective these were, but the elephant in the room is that Celestial Restoration propped the units up very effectively, and they got lucky on a few Nerve checks too. At under 200 points, these seem like good units to have and build around as they can hold well with Def5, and grind ok with CS2. Lacking Regen like the living trolls, then can definitely be ground down though.
• Liche King with Celestial Restoration. I think this is the first really great showing of Celestial Restoration. 
• Undead ASBs. As-ever, these are nothing fancy, but seem to be good generic takes. If you aren’t running skeletons I think these are far less interesting. Maybe on a horse with Trickster’s Wand (Hex) could be a third option? I donno. As-is the duo and the items still feel good and useful.
• Vampire on Undead Pegasus. I debated a bit whether to put them out on the flanks or among my line, and the latter seemed like a much better choice here. They are expensive, but not powerful enough to be real hammers, and they are prone to wavering, like we saw here.  Being closer to your own lines and just threatening to charge out to block up some things up proved to be a good use for them. 
• Revenant Wyrms. The analytics say they should do well, and indeed the Wyrms had another pretty good showing.
• Command Orders. This is my second game with Command Orders, and they felt more impactful for me this game. I had better dice, and was able to get three turns with 4+ successes to play with using just the basic dice. The army-unique orders were fun with the Undead, and we got to see the movement Orders in action to help the Sylvan Kin stay in the game. It's neat, not too impactful, but I think the Orders add too much complexity to an otherwise easy to pick up game, and I worry about barriers to entry if this becomes the norm. Very few people like having to buy system-specific dice. The dice were originally from Vanguard, so part of me hopes that this is just Mantic experimenting and trying to clear out old inventory, and this won't be the direction of the game.
• Command Dice. The Command Dice were nicer to me this game. I still think you need to spend 20 points or so if you want to make the Orders a focal point of the list, but that doesn’t seem like too steep an investment. 
• Lifeleech. Damage still accrues, and on its own it doesn’t do a lot, but the rule still pairs nicely with other sources healing. It’s still not a rule I particularly like, but I am getting much better at remembering it, at least with the Undead.

A big thank you to Trevor for printing out the Zombie Trolls for me, the army review which gave me the idea for this, for the game, and for hosting us. 

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #095 Undead vs Dwarfs in Protect and Raze

Intro and Lists

I am taking some random days off of work as the year comes to a close, and Joe was kind enough to help me fill one of them with a game! With the book out and the Companion App updated a few days prior, we wanted to try some Clash 2025 stuff. Joe brought his Imperial Dwarfs, and the following list:

I didn't quite think it possible, but the Imperial Dwarfs continue to get scarier! We now have two Dwarf Lords on Large Beasts, a Steel Behemoth, Faber, the powerful Formation, and lots of Def6 Ironguard and Mastiff packs. Additionally, Joe really committed to the Command Dice, buying an additional Red on Faber and a Blue on the ASB. 

I brought the Undead, as I've had list ideas kicking around for months now. I originally wanted to get a few more "baseline" games in, with normal hordes and stuff, but given the chance here, I gave into  my temptation to explore some Undead MMU. Up to test are:

• Regiments of Skelton Warriors with Two Handers. As mentioned in their Hobby Update, these smashy Skeletons are roughly equivalent to Brothermark Penitents, but for a modest points increase, get Fearless and a Nerve bump, avoiding a lot of the frustration that can come with running a 11/14 regiment. They aren’t really scary, but should be able to take up space and punch above their weight. We’ll see how their debut goes!
• Regiments of Skeleton Spearmen. We’re trying MMU, so taking regiments over a horde. These don’t have the offensive power of something like Herd’s Tribal Spearmen, or even KoM Spearmen, so we just want them to eat charges and make use of their good unit strength for the points. The hope was that Phalanx and Fearless would let them trip something up unexpectedly, but that may be a tall order against Dwarfs! So long as they are not deployed side by side, we'll call it a win, and just see what they can do in-game.
• Triple Soul Reavers. The Undead have a wide variety of infantry, which suggests to me that they’ll be good at MMU. The Soul Reavers are on the high-end of the spectrum, and will be around as hammers. We’ll see how they do, and if they’ll be protected enough to deliver the damage I need them to.
• Revenant Cavalry Troops. The Undead have a lot of options around ~115 points. I liked the Revenant Cavalry troops the last time I played with the army, and wanted to try them out again to learn a little more and hopefully build up some good habits with them.
• Revenant King. He’s not the all-rounder I had been hoping for as the three attacks just don’t quite cut it on the offense, but he’s been good at supporting and can be surprisingly sticky.
• Resto Liche King. A resto caster has been a pet pick of mine for the last few months, though I haven’t gotten enough games in to really make a firm decision yet. With a Fearless army, the hope here is that something holds unexpectedly, and the Resto Liche and his Periscope can heal it up to then cause more problems. Kings of War can be regarded as a piece-trading game, so if I can change the math and keep hammers healthy, I should have better chances of killing stuff and running away with a game.
• Undead ASBs. Tried and true, and their ASB Wild Charge 2 aura has great interactions with all the Skeletons, even the Revenant Wyrms. They are good generally, and could be great with this kind of skeleton-focused MMU.
• Zuinok Iceblood. Zuinok caught my eye a while back. Mhorgoth is popular, but Zuinok is a nifty budget spellcaster and if the smashy Skeletons work out, could be a great off-meta pick for me.
• Burrowing Wyrms. Tried and true and a favorite unit of mine on just looks alone. They’ve been lonely hammers in my previous lists, but we’ll see how they fare here with the Soul Reaver joining in that role too.
• Undead Skeleton MMU. The Undead have always been able to field a lot of units, but it takes some particular units to make MMU play tick from my experience. The Undead look to have both cheap unlocking regiments like Zombies and Skeletons and more powerful ones, like the Soul Reavers. We'll see how all the regiments do.
• Command Orders / Command Dice. Since the list was thought up prior to the update, I’ve not purchased additional dice, but we are giving Command Orders a try. Unholy Puppets should be great as the lines close, and By the Master’s Will should be good in the early game to get some additional pressure with extra movement, or late game to grab objectives. I actually like the army-specific Orders for the Undead, so we’ll try to focus on casting those if we can.

Table and Terrain

Like our meeting last month with Battle 089, we were out at the semi-local Planet Chaos in Fort Atkinson WI. A very interesting shop full of all sorts of nerdy things! In the last report, it seemed like the mat was a little narrow between us, so Joe wisely brought a mat for us, and I brought some terrain. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the building and bones as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, stone fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the ponds as Height 0. As it turns out, the previous table was both narrow and short. The shop had one 4'x4' table extender, and one narrow 6' table. With a slapdash table, you'll see all of the the corners drooping, but it should be fine.

The table.

Wanting to explore the new scenarios but not wanting to think too terribly hard, we picked Protect and Raze for the scenario, which is a riff on the normal Raze scenario. There is a central objective token, and then we each place 3 tokens on the opponent’s side of the board, 6” from the center line. If we control one of the tokens that we placed, we can burn them for a point, and then that token goes away, so we should be whittling down the points of interest on the battlefield down to a final clash in the center. The new twist is that we can control but not burn the tokens our opponent placed, and we can score them if we happen to hold them at the end of the game, providing for a little more interplay, which should be great for armies going second, or slow armies, like the Dwarfs here.

We both favored the left side for our tokens, and having won the roll for sides, I lazy-gamered things and kicked us off with a slight drop advantage.

The deployments.

The Dwarfs spread out with several distinct battle groups. On the left we have Dogs, Def6 Ironclad, the Ironguard from the Formation with the ASB Hansel the Pretty supporting them, Faber nearby in his mech suit, and Ironclad screening for Dogs. Centrally we have formation Bulwarks, the Steel Behemoth, and more Dogs. On the right, we have Ironclad, both mounted Lords, and the other Bulwarks from the formation.

View from the left.

Left to right for the Undead were Revenant Cavalry, a Burrowing Wyrm, Skeleton Warriors with two-handers supported by the Healing ASB, Soul Reavers with Fury, more Skeleton Warriors and Zuinok, and Soul Reavers with Hanns. 

View from the center.

I couldn't out-drop the dwarfs, so placed Skeleton Spears and then the Revenant King centrally. The Lords were likely going to come down on a flank, but the Spears should hopefully help me hold the middle at the end of the game.

View from the right.

Then on the right, we have Soul Reavers with the Ale, the Lich with Celestial Restoration, Spears to camp the woods, the second Burrowing Wyrm, the third unit of Skeletons and the Surging ASB, and then Revenant Cavalry on the far flank, just like on the left.

Overall, I was pretty happy with my deployment. Things were Inspired, regiments were not run side-by-side, and I was able to keep my scary Wyrms and Soul Reavers for some of my final drops.

I won the roll for determining turn order. Neither of our armies are particularly speedy, and wanting to get into the opposite side of the board for the scenario, I wanted to start making progress right away, and so seized the initiative. 

Top of Round 1: Undead

This is my first foray with Command Dice, and I rolled up 3, just short of doing either of the Undead's unique ones. Nothing needed healing or rerolls, so I did not utilize the Command Orders at all this turn.

The Undead move out, safely.

On the right, I confirmed charge distances, and then shambled on up. The Skeleton Warriors will move up, and will be Surged forward a few more inches. Normally I am against this kind of Surge move, but there was virtually no way they were going to zip out into danger. Just in case though, the Wyrm lingered, only moving 5, and the Revenant Cavalry moved their 8 and pivoted slightly. The Skeleton Spears moved up and pivoted, as did the Soul Reavers. The Liche lagged behind, keeping the Reavers just barely Inspired. The Celestial Restoration is neat, but it functions like an artillery shot, and I need to keep more than 12" away from my targets. Just in case things got heated here early, I wanted to create some space early on. 

Centrally, the Spears and Revenant King moved up slightly. I don't think I used the full movement even, as I kind of want to take it slow in the center. 

The Soul Reavers move out.

The Soul Reavers are a bit more eager though, but only a bit. I am wary to being "shot" off with Mastiffs, so one moves their speed around the hill, one moves ever-so-slightly at the double to get their leader point onto the hill to see. Zuinok slots in behind. I don't attempt any spells with him this turn, which is probably a small mistake. Fireball is out of range, and I am wary of Surging the Skeletons up as the many Throwing Mastiffs could make easy work of them if I go too far. Veil of Shadows doesn't work against Mastiffs, but could dissuade Faber, so that could have been a slightly better play from me.

Movement on the left.

Out on the left, the Skeletons shambled up. The Wyrm is able to mostly wade through the pond, and the Revenant Cavalry shambles up as far as they can.

Bottom of Round 1: Imperial Dwarfs

Having bought some extra dice, my opponent's Command Dice rolling is far more impressive, and he ends up with 8 swords to work with. He chooses to give the left-most Ironclad and the Ironguard horde spellward, marked by purple tokens. He should have 2 swords left, but I didn't make a note on if he used them, or on what.

The Imperial Dwarf line moves up.

On the left, the Mastiff packs get a bit ahead of the battle line. Faber shoots at something, but fails to damage it.

Centrally, the Mastiff pack moves up to screen for the Bulwarks and the Behemoth. The machine has no shots, so my opponent is taking things slow here as well. 

Imperial Dwarf movement on the right.

On the right, the Ironclad move up to protect the token near the Behemoth, and I shouldn't have any charges into anything with my Soul Reavers. Further right, one mounted Lord inches up, and the other sidesteps and nimble-pivots to project threat towards the center. The Bulwarks move up, and the Mastiff Pack bounds ahead to block.

Top of Round 2: Undead

I roll up 2 Command Dice this turn. I don't think anything was damaged. Something could have used a reroll, but I don't recall if I did anything with the Orders this turn.

On the right, I multi-charge the screening Mastiffs, just looking to start a piece trade. Unfortunately, my dice don't deliver. Each unit does 2 damage, and the Mastiffs easily stick around. The Undead ASB runs up to keep these units Inspired, and we'll see what can be salvaged here in the coming turns. 

Things charge while the Spears advance.

I was wary of tricky nimble charges, so hold back a bit with the Wyrm, and the Soul Reavers. The Skeleton Spears hop out of the woods, hoping to catch a throwing mastiff, or at least get in position to take a charge. With the Skeleton Warriors and Rev Cav ineffectually committed, I want to try and preserve my hammers out here.

Centrally, the Revenant King and the Skeleton Spearmen move up another few inches.

Near the center, the Skeletons have a charge into the screening Mastiffs. The Skeletons are essentially my chaff, and disordering the dogs will prevent them from tossing their own mastiffs, so I go in. I deal 3 damage. The dogs stick around, but I would have need to roll crazy to take them off. Blocking things up is good enough for now.

View from the center.

The Soul Reavers take the hill. Charging off a hill doesn't hurt, especially against all the Def6 the Dwarves brought. Zuinok hops up, and I believe I do cast Veil of Shadow this turn, to protect the Soul Reavers from any errant shots from Faber.

Movement on the left from the Undead.

More Skeleton Warriors walk up. They are still controlling the left-most token, but this puts them in a better position project more threat onto the Dwarven line. They will be able to contribute to charges and such next turn, if needed.

Reforms for the Undead.

I opt to send both the Revenant Cavalry and the Burrowing Wyrm into the Mastiffs on the left, with the ASB running up to make sure they are Inspired. If I flub it, the Ironguard will have a flank charge, but thankfully I don't. The wider Revenant Cavalry pivot for their victorious reform in order to make room, and then so does the Wyrm, getting the Ironclad into front-arc.

Bottom of Round 2: Imperial Dwarfs

My opponent rolls up another 8 for his command dice. He puts Vengeance onto his counter-charging Mastiffs before we discover that that Order is "Dwarf-only" for keywords. I believe he reverts to Spellward on the Ironclad Horde and another Ironguard unit. We caught this in the melee phase. He should have a few swords left to spend, possibly on rerolls, but I don't recall what they were used on.

On the left, the Ironclad charge. I look up the rules for getting TC, and it's actual condition to meet is if a unit on the hill charges a unit off the hill. This counts, and they roll well, dealing a worrisome 6 damage to my titan. 

Reactions from the Imperial Dwarfs.

Faber pivots and moves out to support the Ironclad fighting the Wyrm. He moved at the double, so no shots from him this turn.

The horde of Ironclad  tosses a mastiff into the Skeleton Warriors, landing 3 damage, and the counter-charging pack lands 3 damage into their regiment as well.

The central Skeleton Spears scatter.

The nearby Ironguard, as well as the central Bulwarks and Mastiff pack all throw Mastiffs into my central Spears, with the Steel Behemoth moving and then shooting in as well. They are taken to 9 damage, and seen off with a pair of great Nerve checks.

Pushback from the Imperial Dwarfs on the right.

On the right, the Mastiffs countercharge the Revenant Cavalry, sliding down to make way. The Mastiffs get CS against Cavalry, and the dogs deal 4 to my unit, twice what this unit did to them... the Bulwarks move up to continue the fight if needed.

The Ironguard move up to intimidate the Skeleton Spears.

The pair of mounted Lords charge into the Skeleton Warriors, deal 9 damage total, but the Inspired and Fearless unit sticks around.

Top of Round 3: Undead

I roll up another 2 for my Command Dice. I spend it on Endurance, to heal my Wyrm on the left down to 5 damage. The Wyrm will counter charge. Given where the units will end up, I would have some unit overlap with a triple charge, so I have either a flank from the Warriors or a front from the cavalry to assist, and decide to try the flank charge, with the cavalry sidestepping a bit. The dice are underwhelming. The Warriors deal 2 damage, which is expected. So does the Wyrm though. At 4 damage total, they are in no danger of fleeing. Still, the Wyrm catches a heal and the Lifeleech will bring it down to 3, and the Warriors will Lifeleech down do 2 once the dust settles.

Many multi-charges out on the left.

The Soul Reavers both get into the horde of Ironclad. The duo takes them up to 17 damage, and I am able to pick the horde up on the first try. One overruns very far, but can still spy the mechanical rear of Faber. The other pivots to spy the flank of the nearby Ironguard, who are hiding behind the Mastiffs.

Up here, we have the Ironguard for 3 US and Faber for 1, but Soul Reavers for 3 and Warriors for 2 means I wrest control of this token, and will burn it during the scuffling.

Post-combat.

I want to do something with Zuinok, but don't have great options. He can see the flank of Ironclad, but I'm in their front arc, so they'll have cover and Spellward. They are the only real target though, so I try, and land nothing.

I consider charging the Mastiffs with the Revenant King, but that would be more to keep the focus of those units in the center. I decide that I'd rather keep my inspiring sources alive right now, and he runs up to stay near the Warriors, who will fight their Mastiff pack again, land another 3 damage to bring them to 6, and will then get the rout and overrun.

View in the center.

Out on the right, the Skeleton Spearmen back up, allowing the Soul Reavers and the Burrowing Wyrm to multi-charge the Ironguard. The Soul Reavers do 8, the Wyrm 4, and we are able to pick this up on the first attempt. The Reavers back up 1" and the Wyrm sidesteps 1".

Post-combat reforms for the Undead.

The Skeleton Warriors counter charge the Lord nearer the center of the table, who has the Brew of Sharpness. This moves helps to box the other one in as well. The Liche is able to get a leader point in the woods, and has about a quarter inch to work with to still target the Warriors with a close-up Celestial Restoration. I get a hot 3 successes, but duds on the heals, healing up just 3 on 3d3 dice. The Warriors will deal the 1 damage to disorder the Lord, and Lifeleech 1, ending the turn at 5 damage.

The Revenant Cavalry continue on against the Mastiff Pack, Lifeleeching themselves down to 3, while brining the dogs to 7, but will fail to rout them.

Bottom of Round 3: Imperial Dwarfs

My opponent rolls up another whopping 8 for his Command Dice, giving the Ironclad on the left Vengeance (+1 CS on a counter charge). I don't remember what the rest was spent on.

The Ironclad mean business.

The Ironclad with Vengeance counter charge the Skeleton Warriors, take them to 12 damage with great dice and do get the rout. They reform to face the Wyrm. Faber couldn't charge the Wyrm by himself, and had no other charges, so he turns to face the Soul Reavers, firing into them and landing 2 damage. 

The Ironclad struggle to repulse the Skeleton Warriors.

The central Ironguard charge the Skeleton Warriors, and bring them to 6 damage, but with the Revenant King nearby, they hold.

I keep neglecting the center for pics, because I have no units there, but the Bulwarks move into the center with the Mastiffs running ahead. The Steel Behemoth is able to move up and pivot, swinging around to get out of charge arc of my Soul Reavers. The gun lands 3 into the Soul Reavers with the Ale.

Reforms from the victorious Lordly duo.

Out on the right, the duo of Lords will crash through the Skeleton Warriors this turn. The guy has the Brew of Sharpness, and the gal has the Blessing of the Gods. The Blessed Lord will overrun 1", and the Sharpness Lord will pivot. The angles are messy here, as we'll get into later.

The Bulwarks sit tight, and the Mastiffs try again against the Revenant Cavalry, landing a hot 6 damage, and at 9 damage, the cavalry are found to be quite insane, and they will hold strong.

Top of Round 4: Undead

I roll up 4 for my command dice, and spend what seems like an eternity melting my brain with the situation on the right. With the Behemoth (and it's Wild Charge) and two Lords, that's a lot of Def6, a lot of offensive power, and a surprising amount of speed to contend with. There are no good options out here.

The Behemoth is lurking, and I don't have anything to deal with it. With the angles from the victorious reforms, I cannot double charge the Sharp Lord (red guy), as the Wyrm will slide down and hit the corner of the Blessed Lord (purple gal) without creating the space for the Soul Reavers to join. The Wyrm is in the flank of the Blessed Lord, but if I do that, the Soul Reavers can't align against the Sharp Lord. The Soul Reavers can't move and pivot out of the way, and a yolo for the token still gives the Behemoth a flank into them. The Skeleton Spearmen have the inches to charge something, but it'll be a mess figuring out what charges need to go in what order.

Messy positioning and hard choices for the Undead.

Ultimately, the Revenant cavalry countercharge the Mastiffs, will pick them up, and then pivot. The Wyrm will charge the guy Lord, the Spears move up but don't clear the woods, and the Soul Reavers move up and pivot. If memory serves, he needs a 2 on the wild charge to reach me, meaning the Speed 5 Behemoth might not have a charge next turn, but I still do.

A standoff with the Steel Behemoth.

The Liche moves back to let him target either the Soul Reavers or the Revenant Cavalry with Celestial Restoration, but he's back amongst my game aids, and I forget to cast the spell entirely, since the movement phase broke my brain so completely.

The center, after all is said and done this turn.

Centrally, the Mastiffs had moved up to try and swing around to grab and burn tokens in the coming turns. I spend my Command Dice on Drain Life on the Revenant King as he charges in. He's a spellcaster, but I think any unit can get this order? The Orders aren't always as clearly worded as I would have expected from Mantic, which is usually so precise and concise. He lands 2 damage with the spell, and then 1 with his attacks. The Mastiffs hold.

The left is way easier to figure out. The Wyrm charges the Ironclad, Lifeleeches 1, and gets Healed for 1, to take the titan down to just 1 damage. The dice are ever-so-slightly better this time, and I deal 3 damage to take the unit to just 7 damage, and they stick around. Still, this looks like a grind I can win.

Combats out on the left.

Faber is on the hill, and takes a front from the Soul Reavers and a rear from the Revenant Cavalry. He's taken up to 13 damage, and is taken off the field. The Rev Cav turn to face the rear of the Ironclad, and the Soul Reavers turn towards the center. The goal with the cavalry is to best the Ironguard, and then go secure the left-most token.

The other Soul Reavers flank charge the Ironclad with the Warriors joining in against the front. We'll devastate and rout them, as is proper. I want the Skeletons to go protect the token back on the hill. I want to get the Soul Reavers towards the center more though, so the Skeletons back up 1" to make way, and then the Soul Reavers overrun for another measly 1". They won't be doing anything next turn.

Bottom of Round 4: Imperial Dwarfs

My opponent rolls up another 8 for his Command Dice. 

On the left, the Ironclad make a move I did not see coming. They disengage, and then withdraw, putting an inch between them and the Wyrm. They then make use of Ordered March to pivot, and then throw themselves towards the objective. I am initially ok with this, as the Rev Cav on the hill will have a rear charge into them, but going to measure, they are millimeters within 3" of the token, and will claim and burn it.

Literally millimeters to pull this off. Well done!

Centrally, the Bulwarks march up, but thankfully will not be able to reach the other token to burn, out on the hill.

The Steel Behemoth sidesteps, and will fire into the Soul Reavers out on the right. Three damage makes it through to take then to 6 damage, but I still have a charge into the contraption next turn, so I am feeling ok about this.

The Behemoth's Flamebelcher gun burns bright.

The Lord with the Brew of Sharpness countercharges the Wyrm on the right, but is disordered, and only lands 2 damage with some abysmal dice rolling. 

The Blessed Lord has a free hand, and instead of fighting, she chooses to play the scenario, nimbly running out to secure and burn the token way out here.

A wily Dwarf lord, playing the scenario.

The Bulwarks charge the Revenant Cavalry out on the right, and since they were not healed last turn due to negligence, a few damage lands, and the very damaged unit is easily picked up.

With dwarfs throwing themselves at the tokens, they now take a 2:1 lead over the Undead.

Top of Round 5: Undead

I roll up another 2 for my command dice, and choose to heal the Wyrm on the right, from 2 down to 1 damage.

The Skeleton Spears were positioning to avenge the Wyrm.. but with the Blessed Lord playing the scenario, this flank is a bit of a bust now as there is no token to zone out or protect. They pivot and move out of the woods, and will need 2 successes to surge into the wily Lord. The new goal is to tar-pit the Lords for two turns to prevent them from reaching the center.

Having lost the token, the Undead try to tie up units.

The Wyrm over here countercharges the Lord, and picks him up on the second attempt! Lifeleech brings the Wyrm down to 0 damage. Overrunning would just big the Bulwarks a flank, so the Wyrm impotently pivots.

Reforms from the Undead.

I realize when I go to reform that I forgot to surge the Skeleton Spears in. I reform to get the Bulwarks into the Wyrm's front arc, but this section of the board isn't going well. The Bulwarks have an easy flank charge into the spears, and looking at the pictures, I should have pivoted the Wyrm harder as well, to juuust keep their leader point in arc.

Combats in the center.

Centrally, the Soul Reavers charge the Steel Behemoth. The Liche heals them for 4, and they will Lifeleech 2 back during combat, to end the turn with 0 damage. They will thump 7 damage onto the tank. It won't be moved, but it's a good start, and I am hoping to get it next turn.

Part of the plan against the Behemoth is getting the other Soul Reavers in, but it's now quite messy over here on the left. I want to get the Skeletons back on to try and control the objective here, but they are facing the wrong way. That doesn't seem like a viable plan anymore, but we'll try. 

Movement from the Undead. The skeletons are having a rough time of things.

The Skeletons back up, to let the Soul Reavers make a charge into Hansel. The plan is to kill the ASB, and then no matter what happens with the Steel Behemoth, I'll have more Soul Reavers to send into it next turn. Unfortunately, I look to have aligned to him instead of the other way around. Additionally, while the Soul Reavers had a splendid bunch of hit rolls, they flub hard on the damage, dealing just 5, and the gorgeous Dwarven ASB is just Wavered when the dust settles.

The Revenant King rolls great against the uninspired Mastiffs though, landing 2 or 3 damage off his three attacks, and even gets the rout with a great Nerve check! He backs up, but only for 1 inch. As I double-check the rules and pass turn, I find that the Revenant King is not Mighty, so this won't actually stop the Dwarfs from pivoting around and running over to claim the third token like I had been hoping, and it's quickly looking like the best I can play for this game is a draw. 

The Wyrm pivots and moves, looking to try and contest the Hill token as well, or play for a Round 7.

The Revenant Cavalry do made an vengeful rear-charge into the Ironguard, charging off the hill. I deal the expected 8, taking them to 15, and we do get the rout here. I think they pivot towards the token on the hill.

The ASB was the last to move over here, getting up in the wake of the Revenant Cavalry. He'll heal the  nearby Wyrm for 1, to take the titan down to 0 damage. I don't remember what Zuinok did. I don't think he attempted anything this turn. He didn't have range for Fireball; the Behemoth wasn't going to be shooting to require Veil of Shadows; and Surge wasn't going to get the skeletons out of the way for me this turn. 

I forgot to burn the token by the Soul Reavers last turn, so burn it this turn, brining the score back to an even 2:2.

Bottom of Round 5: Imperial Dwarfs

My opponent generates 6 Command Dice, and gives the Behemoth and more central Bulwarks Spellward, just in case.

The Bulwarks are indeed able to slide past the yielding Revenant King, and burn the last burnable token for the Dwarfs. Hansel passes his Headstrong check, shakes it off and runs up behind them.

The Dwarfs smartly continue to play the scenario.

Centrally, the Behemoth will countercharge the Soul Reavers. It rolls up some extra attacks, and brings the vampires up to a very unexpected 10 damage. They have the Ale, but the Nerve check is hot enough to see them off the field, and the machine swings around to face the strong left-wing of the Undead.

A wise multi-charge from the Dwarfs.

Over on the right, the Bulwarks and Lord collapse against the poor Spearmen. The Lord is kept down to just 3 damage, but the Bulwarks contribute 11, and the unit it not found to be crazy.

Top of Round 6: Undead

Things could be going better, but I could still eek out a draw. I roll up 3 for the Command Dice. I use 2 to heal the Skeleton Warriors, as everything else is healthy, and will spend 1 on a reroll in the Wyrm's combat. Writing up the report, I think this is an error from me. 

I did not have the inches to back up normally to claim and burn the token. I thought Tactical Retreat was 4 swords, but it is 3, so I should have used that to back the Wyrm up to burn my 3rd token. Oops. Instead the Wyrm makes a retaliatory charge into the Bulwarks, landing 5 damage. This is a grind I can win, but not with the time remaining.

The wyrm angrily charges in.

Revenant King charges Hansel, lands 1, and gets another waver against the very pretty Dwarf. I roll this combat first to help my chances against the Bulwarks.

The Soul Reavers (with Hann's for Lifeleech 3) that got caught up on Hansel the ASB don't have the charge I wanted into the Behemoth, so they move up and pivot to wrest control of the central token from the contraption, using their superior Unit Strength.

Movement from the Undead

The Skeleton Warriors are again just in the way, and they sidestep, allowing the other Soul Reavers with Fury make a flank charge into the Bulwarks, will shred them, and will reform to face the center. 

I think the Revenant Cavalry moves and pivots. It's been a few days. I think I didn't want to give the Bulwarks an easy out if I failed to rout them, but these don't seem to be thoughtful, let alone ideal moves from me. 

End of the turn for the Undead.

The Wyrm races up, and should have a charge into the center in a potential Round 7.

Zuinok again doesn't have any good targets for Magic, nor does the Liche, since the vampires got taken out in one go last turn.

Bottom of Round 6: Imperial Dwarfs

My opponent rolls up 6 Command Dice.

I think the Dwarf Lord runs past the melee to try to position herself for a potential Round 7 and a final fight for the center.

The Steel Behemoth charges the nearest Soul Reavers. It rolls up a few extra attacks, and lands another 10 damage. The Revenant King is just Inspiring, not Very Inspiring like I thought, and the vampires are just out of range, and picked up with another good Nerve check.

End of the turn for the Dwarfs.

Hansel again passes his Headstrong check, and makes his way towards the Steel Behemoth.

My opponent has the honors, and we don't roll up a Round 7.

The Dwarfs have burned all three tokens and control the center, while the Undead have burned just two tokens. With a 4:2 score, this is a victory to the Imperial Dwarfs!

Game Conclusions:

We didn’t get to play this any differently than the normal Raze scenario, but I did really like the tweak and the new strategies it allows, even if I couldn’t pull it off here. 

The Dwarfs and Def6 is hard to bust through generally, and with two Lords and the Behemoth to add both mobility and punching power to the list, it was too much! Still, writing up the report it looks like I had the tools to win, and was closer than I thought. 

I am still in the baby steps of learning the Undead, and I had a few stumbles and forgetful moments, but I thought I was still doing ok until the Dwarfs ran out to take the lead on razed objectives. I had a missed moment to Order the Wyrm back, but that would have just tied it up and made it just a fight for the center like normal. Overall, Joe played a much better game with some clever moves, and came away with a well-deserved win. 

Testing Conclusions:

• Skeletons with two-handers. They had a spectrum of performances, but for a chaffy unit like that, that seems normal to me. One held up two mounted Dwarf Lords for two turns, so that definitely seems like worth explore more. I liked them.
• Skeleton Spearmen Regiments. They did ok? Forgetting to surge the one was a bummer, but ultimately doesn’t matter for testing or the outcome of the game. Testing-wise, that unit still nicely stopped up the Dwarf Lord when they did happen to charge in. The Dwarfs didn’t have a lot of cavalry to disrupt, so this was not a great test for using the regiments.
• Revenant Cavalry Troops. With just TC and hitting on 4’s, they aren’t the best or most reliable hammers. I didn’t get to Surge them around at all either, but they did fine, and one even got a rear charge to break some Ironguard. The Undead have a lot of options around the 115-120 point mark (Revenant Cavalry troops; Mummy Troops; Zombie Troll regiments; and Wraith troops). I have really liked the cavalry here, but I need to try out some other options.
• Revenant King. I still like the Revenant King with Surge as a starting point, but he disappointed in this game. The Undead have a lot of heroic options, and I’ll likely be switching him out for more exotic takes for a while. 
• Liche King with Celestial Restoration. He’s feels a little expensive, but I still like the idea. I forgot about an important cast, and the spell just refused to deliver this game. More testing is needed!
• Undead ASBs. The ASBs have good utility, and the aura pairs nicely with the Wyrms and such, so I’ll likely keep them around for a while. I still like my ASBs to hold items whenever they can, and these items seem like good enough starting points for now. The go-to Lute doesn’t seem worth in when lots of things are hitting on 5’s, so we’ll see what other items appeal down the road.
• Zuinok Iceblood. I think he did 1 damage with the Fireball, and I forgot to heal anything with it. It’s hard to get through Def6 Dwarf armor with Fireball; not a lot of shooting to plan around with Veil of Shadows, and I needed pivots, not surges. Not a great showing for him, but I still think he has potential. We’ll take our lessons here and try him again later.
• Revenant Wyrms. They are swingy on the damage output, but Striding charges like this for the Undead feel great. Both survived the game and I managed to best a Dwarf Lord, so yeah, these continue to be good picks for me.
• Command Orders. Overall, I think Mantic implemented the Orders about as well as they could be, with unit type limitations, unit size limitations, keyword limitations and the like, meaning they mostly contribute to a number of smaller advantages throughout the game rather than big devastating plays. A lot of the army-specific ones seems more unbalanced though. One test game isn’t going to be determinative. I still have a number of reservations, but we’ll see how future games go.
• Command Dice. Going with just the baseline 3 dice was rough, though it looks like you should normally have 4 Swords to play with, and I just got really unlucky. I think buying another white or blue dice would be a good call if you really want to try the Orders out. I don’t know if I misunderstood the marketing or what, but I thought the Orders were presented another way to buff Individuals? However, since you have to spend points to get the extra command dice, but every hero gets access to all of the various dice tiers, that is not how it’s playing out so far, and I don’t think we’re going to see any uptick in Individuals unless the Command rules are overhauled and dice purchasing revamped in implemented in a future Edition.
• Lifeleech. I’ve hated on this rule a lot for the Kingdoms of Men. I probably will continue to do so! (ASB’s now give human infantry Lifeleech 2… like Soul Reavers? Sheesh. Fluff failure). To go off on a quick design tangent... I feel like Iron Resolve and Lifeleech should be switched. Iron Resolve gets renamed “Endless Endurance” or something and put on spooky units like the Undead (or the Varangur Draugr… wait), representing how tough it is to put them down, and humans like the ASB get a reskinned Lifeleech called “Fighting Spirit” to show us going above and beyond in certain situations, like believing in a cause, etc. Tangent aside, I think I remembered all my instances of Lifeleech this game? So I got that going for me. We’ll see if it ever translates over to my Kingdoms of Men play.

A huge thank you to Joe for fitting this in for me; I’ve been wanting to get the Undead on the table for a while, and it was nice to do so, even if the movement phases tended to break my brain. Joe played a fantastic and tenacious game, utilized his new Orders well, and came away with a strong and well-deserved victory. Thanks for the game!