Intro and Lists
I was lucky enough to squeeze in a weekend game against Trevor of Data and Dice! Trevor fielded the Northern Alliance, running the following:
As-ever, it's a strong, sensible list, and we've seen much of it before. Returning is a strong center of Dwarf Clan Warriors, ensnaring Ice Naiads, and hordes of Snow aaaaaaaaaaaaaTrolls to all hold the line. Frostclaw Riders return to threaten from afar, and Snow Foxes are around to interdict. Hrimm the legendary giant returns to smash things, and he's really buying into Snow Troll Primes. That makes a lot of sense! They are amazingly priced, and provide a ton of utility. A notable inclusion is a flying Ice Blade berserker elf to disrupt and duel. Notable exclusions are no Pack Hunters, Ice Queens, or Bolt Throwers. The list wants to get in and grind.
I brought the Abyssals. I still had a few ideas surrounding the Nagarri and the recent Clash 2025 refresh to explore, and wanted to do that sooner rather than later. Up to test was:
- Lower Abyssals with two Handers. The Lower Abyssals got nerfed in the revamp, as their unit was blended into the Abyssal Ghouls. The smashy horde was fun the little I used it, and Brew of Sharpness to let them hit on 3’s made them a rather frightening unit, especially to try and grind against. They hit on 5’s now, which demands a revisit and a reevaluation.
- Lower Abyssals with Shields. Newcomers! My gut says hitting on 5’s is a big nerf, and that the shielded version should be more attractive, and these should just be around to tar pit, but I wanted to directly compare the two horde options. Perhaps we’ll be surprised.
- Gargoyles. Good, reliable mobile chaff. We’ll see what they end up doing.
- Molochs. I haven’t run these in a while, as I was taking my Abyssals down an MMU path focusing on Abyssal Guard. That was fun, but with the revamp, it feels like the Abyssals are being pushed more towards horde-focused play, so we’ll bring these out as well.
- Imps. They are not popular from what I’ve seen, but I have liked the Imps previously, and think they have a lot of potential. They are cheap objective holders or short and sensible additional chaff for your army, which should pair nicely with most infantry play. Fury is a nice addition here as well, as if they hold, they can help you push back.
- Nagarri. Their stats are frustratingly mediocre, and they have a huge footprint. This should not be a frontline unit; it should be back and protected, letting other units take hits and then make use of their aura. I tried them once before, and they got unlucky. Being me, I am doubling down and trying two units this time to make sure I get some testing in. We’ll see how two bubbles with the Regeneration 4 feels with a few hordes on the field!
- Abyssal Champions and Lighting Bolts. Firebolts from Warlocks gave me a fighting chance in my last game against the Halflings. I decided to go for Champions and Lightning Bolts to try out some older thinking. We’ll see how the Bolts fare.
- Efreet. I had a weird amount of points left, and opted for the Efreet. Efreets with Boots of the Seven leagues (Scout) or Boots of Levitation (move at the double and still cast) were fads years ago (I think all the way back in 2nd?), when cover was a little less impactful and Fireball was a little bit more powerful. He cannot Inspire, and cannot score, but he can be a nuisance, and we’ll see how that feels.
- Zaz the Betrayer. I’ve run and liked Zaz before, as LB and BC are two good spells to have around, in just about any list. The betrayal mechanic is neat, but you need to bully a chaff piece and not something critical, which is why I brought a few extra imps and such.
- Manifestation of Ba’el. As a mini-monster dragon, I’ve really liked the Manifestation on his on in some previous games, though shooting and wavering has been a bit of an issue. I have nothing to mitigate that, but he plays nicely with the Regen 4 bubble, so we’ll see what he can do. He’s a double neat option for this list, as if both Zaz and the Manifestation come down on the same flank, they can throw a lot of lightning in the early turns. Adding in two Champs with Lightning Bolt as well, and I think we might have a surprisingly effective ranged phase.
- Command Orders. The Command Orders for the Forces of the Abyss are decent. A surprise Fireball (with Shattering) can help, and rerolling a units Regeneration rolls repeatedly can be quite powerful. With the latter Order, you really need to lean into some more defensive units, so they can stick around to be regenerated. We’ll see how the Orders do this game.
- Command Dice. I had a weird amount of points left over at 135. That is enough for the Despoiler Champ and Staying Stone.. but I figured more Command Dice would be a better use of the points. So, we've got the 2 Reds on the Champs, and the stock Efreet with what was left. We’ll see if I can get lucky with Command Dice this game.
Table and Terrain
Trevor was kindly hosting us, and had set up a board prior to my arrival. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the big rocky tree line on left the and rocks on the right as Height 9 blocking terrain, the three forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, literal sticks as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the field as Height 0.
We wanted to continue exploring the new Clash, and went with a new scenario for us: Stockpile, which works oddly, with piles of Loot tokens. There would be a central pile of 3 Loot Tokens, and two more piles with 2 more Loot Tokens each. You needed to touch a pile to pick up a token, and could inly pick up a token if you controlled the pile with greater Unit Strength. We'd each get to place a secondary pile, and Trevor had to place first, opting for one slightly right of center. I placed second, and went for the far right. Given the Frostclaws, I did not want these piles spread out.
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| View of the center Pile, from the left. |
As-expected, the Northern Alliance came down mostly across from the tokens, with Frostclaws as the final drops looking for flanks and better angles of attack. From left-to-right we have the Frostclaw Horde and Regiment unsupported, a stack of Snow Troll Prime, the Snow Trolls with the Chalice, and Snow Foxes. The flying Blade, Dwarfs screening Foxes, Naiads screening another Snow Troll Prime, and Dwarfs screening the Prime with the Wand. On the far-right was a narrow corridor along the table edge, with Hrimm and Snow Trolls with the Staying Stone.
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| View from the "center" of the board, with all three Piles. |
For the Abyssals, my Manifestation and Zaz were some of my final drops, coming down late to try and bully the unsupported Frostclaws. From left to right for me we have the Manifestation, a dead zone with a building, Imps screening Molochs, the Efreet, Zaz, Imps screening Nagarri, shieled Lower Abyssals with Gargoyles in reserve, an Abyssal Champion, more Molochs, and then an awkward grouping with the second Champ, Lower Abyssals blocking for Gargoyles and Nagari with Imps in reserve.
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| View on the far-right. |
I won the roll for turn order, and decided to go first, in order to make the best use of my Lightning.
Top of Round 1: Abyssals
I roll up 3 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the right, things move forward. The stack on the far flank was a little awkward. I deployed a bit poorly, and I wanted to get the Imps up, but moved them last over here, and had moved everything up too much for them to jump up. So, they stayed in reserve.
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| Moving up, and throwing some lightning. |
I wanted to try and bully non-regenerating units with my lightning. Hrimm could actually be a decent choice, but I went with the Dwarven Clansmen nearest to the Giant, as it has a lower Nerve. Both Champions throw, and each helped to bring them to 3 damage, and the regiment easily holds.
The Molochs moved up to end clear of the obstacle, and the horde of Lower Abyssals with shields entered the woods.
The terrain is already slowing me up. In retrospect, I probably should not have put them behind the woods. I need to get to the middle, and I am not running the Herd, and need to get to the middle for the scenario.
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| Positioning on the left, with Lightning Bolts going into the Frostclaw regiment. |
On the left, I do some measuring. My opponent deployed the Frostclaws a bit back, so Zaz cannot hit them with Lightning Bolts even if he moves. Fortunately, I have 3 swords, and use them for Far Spell to get the inches to the weaker regiment. The only real disposable unit here are imps, so he Betrays them to boost his bolts, landing 3 hits into 2 Damage. The Manifestation moves up a few inches, and throws more lightning into the regiment as well, contributing another 3 hits into 2 Damage. The regiment wavers, which is an ok start!
Bottom of Round 1: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 4 Swords with his Command Dice.
The Frostclaw regiment is wavered but Nimble, and so backs up and pivots, putting some good distance between the birds the demons. He spends 2 Swords on Endurance to heal them down to 3 damage.
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| Positioning for the Frostclaws and Snow Trolls. |
The Frostclaw Horde can't really escape, so it takes the hill. Being a flying unit, it will not get TC charging off the hill, but this does get it within 18" to try to attack the Manifestation of Ba'el with some Ice Bombs, and two damage does land.
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| The Snow Troll Prime hops up with confidence. |
The flying Ice Blade gets 3 on his Wild Charge, which is just enough to reach the Efreet. He flies in, lands just 7 damage, but is able to rout the spellcaster, and is safe from reprisal charges. Well done!
The Snow Troll Prime runs up to touch the center pile of Loot, and picks up one token. Meanwhile, a unit of Snow Foxes runs up to bait out some hindered charges.
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| A slow advance out on the right. |
The Naiads are flanked by Dwarven Clansmen, and all move up, keeping the line tidy. The Prime with the Wand Hexes the Abyssal Champion on the far right.
Over on the right Hrimm and the Snow Trolls move up. With Speed 7, Hrimm has charges next turn while I do not.Top of Round 2: Abyssals
I roll up 4 Swords for my Command Dice.
I hold things back so the Imps can hop up out on the right. If Hrimm wants to go in, he'll be charging in alone. The Gargoyles slide down, just looking to get line of sight for delaying charges in the coming turns. The hexed Champion holds. He's got Regeneration, and the Nagarri are right there, so I decide to push through the Hex, throwing more Lighting at the Dwarfs again. The Champ gets 3 hits and 1 damage (so, dealing 1 and taking 6).
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| Layers of disorganized positions on the right. But I am checkerboarded-up nicely. |
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| I almost get out of the woods. |
Zaz backs up to throw Lightning at the Ice Blade, Betraying the Gargoyles. I land 4 hits, but only 2 damage into the Blade, with my Gargoyles taking 4. I spend 4 Swords to give the Gargoyles Fireball, and they deal 2 damage to the character as well, and I will get Shattering on the check. Unfortunately, he's only on 4 damage, and is Fearless and Inspiring, so the Ice Blade hangs around.
I gotta say, it was not a good turn for shooting. I managed to deal more to myself than my opponent.
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| In gots the Manifestation! |
On the left, I do some measuring, and send in the Manifestation against the Frostclaw horde. He gets in, lands 5 damage, and they are disordered, but fine. Additionally, the regiment is within range, so I use "From the Pit" to disorder them. The Frostclaws are all tied up for a turn! Everything here is Height 4, so the Manifestation can only be counter-charged by the horde. He's didn't regenerate anything this turn, so is still on 2 damage, but fighting just the one unit for the next turn, and with Inspiring and Fury, I think he can do this.
Bottom of Round 2: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 2 Swords for his Command Dice.
On the left, the Frostclaw regiment is disordered and on 3 damage, and so just moves to spy the flank of the Manifestation, so it can help in the coming turns in the epic aerial fight.
My opponent puts both Swords towards Endurance on the Frostclaw Horde, to bring them down to 4 damage as they countercharge the Manifestation. They deal 4 to him, bringing him up to 6 damage... and then get 10+ twice on the Nerve checks to just rout him off. Well then.
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| It is a Horde, but I figured the Manifestation could come through here. |
The Ice Blade slices at the Gargoyles, landing 3 to bring them up to 7, and he will get the rout. He then overruns greatly, escaping into the woods, and cover.
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| Fighting in the center. |
More Snow Foxes scamper up to delay my Molochs, while the Snow Trolls and Prime thump on the Imps. The multi-charge sees the Trolls and their Prime both slide down land on the pile, and will each take a new token from the center. Sheesh.
Foxes struggle against the Imps in front of the Lower Abyssals with shields, and they will land a few damage into the Imps and waver them.
The Abyssal Champion near the woods is Hexed.
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| Movement on the right. It's messy for both of us at least. |
Hrimm scooches up, and uses Icy Breath on the injured Abyssal Champion. The Champ takes 3 more damage, and is wavered.
Positionally, the wavering Clansmen do nothing, the Naiads and the fresh Clansmen inch up, Primes shuffle about, and the other Snow Troll Primes pivot slightly to threaten the middle.
Top of Round 3: Abyssals
I roll up 5 for my Command Dice.
On the right, the Imps change facing to let the Lower Abyssals go into Hrimm. They do a little better than expected, and smack the giant for 6 damage.
The Nagarri are going to be stuck behind the Lower Abyssals, and I want them to try and do something, so they move and pivot, looking to maybe push towards the center.
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| Making things messier on the right. |
The wavering Abyssal Champ should get a free individual reform, so he takes that, and then backs up towards my opponent's line. I should have been trickier to ended up nearer the obstacle though.
The Gargoyles fly up, trying to give their lives to protect the Molochs as they charge the Snow Troll Prime. They land 14 damage (looks like 9 damage expected), and pick the character up.
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| Shooting into the Snow Troll Prime. |
Centrally, the Nagarri skulk mostly out of the woods, but can't quite make it. I spent 4 Swords on a Fireball into the Prime with 2 Tokens, landing 3 damage.
After some discussions, Zaz Betrays the Nagarri, boosting Lightning Bolt into the same Prime. I hit 4 times, damage the Nagarri for 4, and the Prime for 1. Again, not a great shooting phase for me, and I've dealt more to myself than to my opponent.
The Imps are Furious, and counter-charge the Snow Foxes. The taller Lower Abyssals can see over the Imps and into the Foxes, and want to join, but the stack makes it difficult to do so. The Imps shuffle down as far as the can, but the Abyssals cannot hit the front facing, as they cannot pivot through the Imps. I can pivot the other way to hit the corner of the Snow Foxes, and we call it good enough.
Even with smart charges, I don't think that's right though. In retrospect, I think the Imps should be blocking this multi-charge.
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| Lots and lots to deal with on the left. |
The Molochs thump their Snow Foxes and then sidestep, to get out of charge range of the Frostclaws.
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| Thankfully, the Snow Troll Horde will be out of it for a turn. |
Having won against the other Snow Foxes, the Imps sidestep, getting 2 inches, and are able to gum up the Snow Trolls and the Prime. The Lower Abyssals with the shields strongly overrun, getting in the faces of the untouched Dwarf Clansmen and Naiad horde.
Bottom of Round 3: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 5 Swords for his Command Dice.
The Frostclaws move out, swinging wide for very threatening charges, and taking shots into the Molochs, landing 4 damage, since we are giving them a cover penalty.
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| Very threatening Frostclaws indeed! |
The Prime counter-charges the plucky Imps, with the horde of Snow Trolls joining in. Victorious, the Prime will back up, but just an inch. He's got two tokens, and is injured, so the unit of Trolls just holds when it is time for them to reform.
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| The Lower Abyssals hold strong. |
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| The other horde holds as well. |
The Gargoyles made things as messy as they could. The Molochs take a charge from the injured Dwarf regiment, who lands just 1 damage. The Prime with the Wand charges the Gargoyles and eyes the flank of the Molochs.
The Ice Blade flies out, smacks the injured Abyssal Champion around, routs him, then gets another good roll to back up past the obstacle.
The Snow Trolls could see the Gargoyles, and were in their flank, but could not reach. So they join Hrimm with a charge into the Lower Abyssals with smashy weapons. 13 damage lands, but the horde holds. Hrimm is pushed town on the token though, and picks one up, as my horde is not touching the pile to contest.Top of Round 4: Abyssals
I roll up a staggering 9 Swords for my Command Dice. However, we realize that I should be down one red die, since I lost a Champion. I suggest we roll a red die and subtract the swords, and go down to 8.
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| We finally deal with the Ice Blade, but it's too little too late. |
On the right, the Lower Abyssals countercharge Hrimm, and bring him to 10 damage. I spend 4 Swords on the rerolls for Regeneration, and do go from 13 to 7 to 3 damage. That felt really good.
I don't know what to do with the Imps. They aren't able to get in against Hrimm, so they pivot and move forward. If the horde survives again, I might be able to block or something? This unit was not used well this game. I think
I am short on Inspiring sources, so the Abyssal Champ charges the Ice Blade, with the Nagarri making a hindered charge. I use a sword to reroll a damage from the Champ, but it fizzles as all the eventual hits connect anyways. We are able to bring the berserker up to 11 damage, and do get the rout. Victorious, the Champ sidesteps 2" towards the center line, and the Nagarri overrun 1", and are still stuck on the obstacle.
The Molochs are fighting an injured unit of Dwarfs. The horde lands 10 damage, and will rout them. I need 2" if I want to back up and get the Prime into front arc, and decide that it is just safer to change facing a bit. This gets the Prime into my front, and I am still threatening the Naiad horde.
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| A powerful bunch of regeneration rolls. |
Centrally, we measure, and due to other units, if the Lower Abyssals counter-charge the Dwarfs, the Naiads are still in front arc, so that's what we do. The Dwarfs are fresh, but the Abyssals land 4 damage, but the regiment is found to be insane. They weren't in danger of routing, but yeah, they stick around.
I want to try and hurt the Prime, but can't really do anything. Sending the Champ to fight the elf berserker and Inspire that flank seemed like a better call, and I don't like the idea of sending in Zaz, with no CS at all. If Zaz goes in, then I also can't multi-charge the Snow Troll Prime unit, due to the huge frontage of the Nagarri.
So, the Nagarri and the Molochs make hindered charges into the Primes. Each unit started at 4 damage, and dutifully regenerate down to 2 thanks to the aura. Zazz moves up and pivots. He Betrays the Nagarri for 1 extra die to Bane Chant the Molochs, and brings the Nagarri back up to 4 damage.
The Molochs land 9 damage, and the Nagarri contribute 2, all in the ballpark of reasonableness for damage output. They're at 11, I have Brutal, but they are Inspired, and the second check just wavers them, which seals my doom.
Bottom of Round 4: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 3 Swords for his Command Dice.
Both Frostclaw units take the flank into the Molochs. I thought they had TC1, but it's TC2, so they're hitting harder than most knight units, given the number of attacks they have. The Molochs are devastated and routed.
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| The Frostclaws descend. Ouch. |
The wavering Snow Trolls have the Chalice, and they and the Prime will charge the Nagarri, and devastate and rout them as well, as is proper.
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| Big losses for the Abyssals, and big reforms for the Northern Alliance. |
+wThe Dwarf Clansmen disengage and back up. I think the Swords are used for Tactical Retreat to get the Naiads back a bit over 3" and get the Molochs into their front arc. Terrain stops you from moving at the double, so this made sense to us.
Hrimm is fighting atop the pile again, and takes another token. This time the and the Trolls are joined by the Prime with the Wand, bring the horde from 3 to 19, and get the rout.
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| The Abyssals throw in the towel. |
And that's game! I don't see a way back, and with rain and sleet forecasted for my drive home, I choose to concede.
Game Conclusions
The scenario was neat! It was my first go at it, and I stumbled a bit. Picking up the Loot Tokens seems hard to do, unless you end up fighting for a few turns atop them, like my opponent did. Very neat to see how that unfolded this game, and I think I need to figure out a way to threaten the piles earlier than I did here the next time I play.
I didn't deploy the best, but given the general unit match-ups across the table, I still thought I had a fighting chance at this. Unfortunately the Manifestation seriously biffed it, failing incredibly hard while the flying Ice Blade did exceptionally well, and this large asymmetry in the early game quickly swung things firmly into favoring the Northern Alliance. I stumbled a bit trying to scrap my way back into the game, and just could not get there.
Testing Conclusions
- Lower Abyssals with two Handers. They rolled really well against Hrimm, and as infantry, were a good unit to throw at the Giant and stymie his slaying abilities and keep him away from the Molochs. Unfortunately the Giant was supported, and with help, eventually won that particular brawl. As-theorized, hitting on a 5+ is a big nerf for this smashy unit, and the predicted 3-4 damage just won't win grinds.
- Lower Abyssals with Shields. Newcomers! I deployed them poorly given the scenario, but as-theorized, this unit did a little better than the smashy version, as it just needed to hold. Still, it's a unit with stats that skew toward the "trash" end (towards Zombies, Skeletons, Scarecrows, etc.) for a hefty points increase, due to regeneration. I think with shields is probably the way to run Lower Abyssals now, but this still just felt bad.
- Gargoyles. They did ok? One died blocking for Molochs and the other did technically slow down the killing spree of the Ice Blade. I would rather be using these to protect a position, but given that I was on the back-foot, these did ok.
- Molochs. As we have seen from the Herd's Guardian Brutes, Def4 can be really rough on your expensive hammers. It was neat to see them on the table again! I do think the upgrade is essential though, as Brutal is handy, and Vicious is great with those crushing attacks. As the only hammers in this list, I think I needed to invest more in Bane Chant to help them out. They need to break the unit they are fighting, given their lower defense.
- Imps. Furious chaff, a scoring unit, and low cost are all big plusses, and I still think they have potential. With Command Orders and random Fireballs possible, I think they are even more attractive. However, I used these poorly overall, and they gummed up my movement. You need to be very cognizant of their low speed. I should look to Orc lists and Orclings for tips.
- Nagarri. I think my approach of using it as a second-line supporting unit is the right call given the stats, but they felt like dead weight. It needs to be doing something else besides the bubble to be worthwhile I think, otherwise it just feels like a 160 point upgrade or tax.
- Abyssal Champion. The champs were neat to see on the table again, and Lightning Bolt 5 gives them some nice utility. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to focus my Lighting as much as I would have liked, and just the two of them wasn't able to pressure enough. Conversely, Hex and a duelist was a lot of pressure for them, and I didn't make the best decisions.
- Efreet. We'll shun him! I knew there was a flying assassin, but I was mostly concerned with the Frostclaws over there on the left. Wild Charge (and getting the maximum 3 inches on it) made the difference for the flying Blade, and really opened the game up for my opponent. This was a great use of a flying assassin character, and a cautionary tale of just running an extra individual these days, as triple attacks via Duelist is quite strong!
- Zaz the Betrayer. I did ok with the Betrayal rule, but his utility seemed to fall off as the game progressed. I still think he has potential, and generally pairs nicely with the Manifestation, but he requires a bit more finesse than I brought this game.
- Manifestation of Ba’el. Another unit with a lot of potential, but apparently absolutely no luck this game! I used him about as well as I could have I think, even getting use out of the revised From the Pit, but the early lightning didn't pay off enough, and he was thumped in a combat he should have survived.
- Command Orders. Overall, I think I made good use of the Orders this game, squeezing out little advantages here and there, especially in the early game with the Far Spell. I still think that the Abyssals have some decent army-specific Orders, but more testing is needed to see how one gets the most use out of them.
- Command Dice. I had some good successes this game, and throwing more dice at this rather than more quality dice felt better? I still think 20 points is probably all I want to spend on extra dice though, since Orders are one-use. Again, more testing is needed, and I still want to get through a few games with the rest of my armies before forming too strong an opinion on this.
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