Intro and Lists
It's a packed holiday season, but schedules aligned briefly one rainy and foggy evening for a quick game against Trevor of Data and Dice. He was graciously hosting us, and brought out his Northern Alliance for our game:
Trevor's Northern Alliance have been frequent opponents for me throughout 3rd Edition, and it's been neat to see the lists develop alongside our tastes and skills. Here, we have the Dwarf Warriors and Naiads to hold the line, as has been the standard recently. The Snow Troll Hordes have been replaced with the more smashy Hearthguard units. A Frostclaw horde returns to harass, and some Snow Foxes are around to interdict. A Cavern Dweller returns to smash things, and the very effective Snow Troll Prime returns as a triple take. The oddities he is playing around with these days is the flying Ice Blade, and Healing Ice Queen. As-ever, it is a sturdy list, with some extra killiness now, thanks to the potent Hearthguard.
I bounced back over to the Undead to continue exploring some things. Up to test are:
- Skeleton Warriors with Two Handers. Trevor's Penitents Inspired these, so I have enjoyed running them against him and getting feedback. We'll see how they hold up this game.
- Wraiths. We tried regiments last time, but I think cheaper troops are probably a better default size. The Def6 should help them hold things up a little longer, particularly in a chaff fight, and I think Strider and Shambling are very beneficial, and should get moreimpactful the more experience I get with the unit.
- Soul Reavers x1. I still need hammers, and want to try a 1:2 split between the Soul Reavers and flying Wights. The Reavers are cheaper, even with an item, and hit just a little harder with the extra attacks.
- Wights x2. They other part of the hammer assortment. Flying is nice, but they lack Nimble. Shambling can either be a benefit or a drag depending on the rest of your list and how many Surge sources you run. I think a split is probably better than all in on Wights or Soul Reavers, but how (and if) you split is dependent on the rest of your list. We'll see how this arrangement feels.
- Liche King with Heal. We tried Drain Life and goofed it before, using the Order instead of the better spell I paid for! Having the situational Order around means that I don't think I want the situational spell, so we'll take the easier Heal, and Surge for the Wights.
- Undead ASBs. I still like these as they are one of the few sources of Very Inspiring for the ranks of the Undead, and they play very nicely with Wyrms and Skeletons. The Heal ASB has been great. Having a Surge caster seemed like it would be good too, but I haven't really gotten as much use out of the item as I would have thought.
- Zuinok. He's not popular, but I want to like the outcast lizard. His Nerve is ok, Fearless is good, and the array of spells is interesting for a supporting spellcaster. I haven't quite gotten him to work though, so we'll try him again and keep at it.
- Burrowing Wyrms. I like how they look, and I like them on the table, especially with the ASB interactions going on. We're taking these for sure, and we'll see what other uses and insight I can glean for them!
- Command Orders. The Undead have some neat Command Orders, and I want to make use of them, so I'm buying a few extra Dice. We'll see how that all shakes out this game.
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.
Neither of us had strong feelings about the scenario, and ended up with Protect and Raze, to try out one of the newer offerings. There is a central objective token, and then we each place 3 more objective 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 here 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.
I deployed second, and placed my tokens heading outward, so I could play for either side. I eventually decided to mirror my opponent and double-up on the left, hoping for a bloody fight that might favor the Lifeleeching Undead. I won the roll for sides, and was lazy.
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| Overview of the table. My third white token is in the forest on the right. |
Left-to-right, the Northern Alliance have undercover Heatrhguard with Foxes in tow, the Cavern Dweller and Prime leaning on the obstacle, Dwarf Clansmen, Naiads, and more Warriors with another Prime and Ice Queen supporting, then the other Hearthguard with more Foxes, the Hexing Prime, and then the Frostclaws and last unit of foxes out on the far right.
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| View from the left. |
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| View of the center. |
Top of Round 1: Undead
I roll up 6 Swords on the Command Dice.
On the left, the Skeletons Shamble forth. One guards the gap between the hill and table edge, while the other is able to get its leader point onto the hill.
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| Moving on up. |
The Soul Reavers move up, are blocked by the hill, so keep going. I can get a majority of their base onto the hill without threat of being charged, so do so. A little Thunderous Charge never hurt to have!
The Burrowing Wyrms start in the terrain, so should be slowed. They don't go crazy aggressive on their move forward, but they do look to have gone a little too far. Sorry! I was excited to go first.
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| The Wraiths make good use of the Order and the building. |
Centrally, the Wraiths shamble up, with the stronger Wights behind. The line of Skeletons and Wights moved ahead, but did not keep a neat line.
I spend 4 Command Dice on "By The Master's Will" to remove Shambling from the Wraiths on the right, and march them up and Nimbly pivot to threaten a few more things next turn.
The ASB with Heal hops up behind the Wraiths, and has the inches to be Very Inspiring to the Skeletons out on the right, who move up and try to threaten the token my opponent placed. They'll just slow down whatever they can.
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| A suitable disheveled battle line, pressing forward. |
Zuinok tries surging the unit in front of him up, getting 1/8 successes. The Liche does the same, getting 5/6, but the Skeletons are stopped by the Wraiths. Normally I don't like these blind forward Surges, but with nothing even close to being able to charge, Surging forward for a few extra inches seems worth it.
Bottom of Round 1: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 5 Swords for his Command Dice.
On the right, the Snow hop up to screen. The Foxes should be just over 12 inches away, denying me a charge into them. The towering Frostclaws pull up behind the Foxes, and land 7 damage into the Skeletons from afar, but they are Inspired and hold. Fearless 15 is hard to spook.
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| The distracting Skeletons hold for now. |
The Ice Blade doesn't want to charge a unit. He wants to assassinate individuals, and flies ahead a bit, hiding behind the central building.
The woods slows the Northern Alliance, but their sturdy line marches up in the center, with Foxes screening for the expensive Hearthguard.
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| The Northern Alliance keeps it orderly as they move up, denying any flank charges from the Wraiths. |
On the left, the Dwarf Clansmen move up, preventing multi-charges into the Cavern Dweller. The Snow Foxes move up to screen for the other unit of undercover Hearthguard.
Hex is attempted and fails, and I think just the Frostclaws got a reroll with the Command Dice. I think some Swords go to waste this turn.
Top of Round 2: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice.
It takes a while and some extra bases, but I eventually figure out all my charges. A lot moves out this turn!
On the left, the Skeleton Warriors are just in front arc of the Foxes, and charge in to fight them. The Foxes are back enough that the Hearthguard should have some complicated movement next turn if I don't pick them up. The Skeletons land 3 and the Foxes are wavered.
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| Lots and lots of charges from the surprisingly speedy Undead. |
From experience on both sides of the table, I know one normally gets just one shot at removing a Cavern Dweller. The Soul Reavers are on the hill and will be wounding on 2's... this is that shot, and I go a-charging down the hill. They land 12 damage (essentially as-expected), but the check doesn't go my way, and the monster is just wavered.
Still, the Dweller doesn't have Fury, and with the wavered Foxes where they are, the Hearthguard are hopefully going to be stuck for a turn.
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| Several wavers and one victory for the Undead. |
The pair of Burrowing Wyms hit the Dwarf Clansmen, take them to 11 damage, and will get the rout. The left one backs up and and the other one sidesteps.
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| More charges from the Undead. |
Even hindered, I don't want the Naiads charging anything. I don't have the success to block them, so the Wraiths need to charge them. A flying unit charging into terrain, Phalanx and Ensnare isn't pretty, but they do do 1 damage, and will be in the way.
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| The Skeletons look to line up a Surge charge. They'll pivot just a little more to do so. |
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| Another waver, another small victory, and some overruns. |
With no normal charges this turn, the Skeletons don't have great options, and I go for a risky play with them. They move and pivot, to face the flying Ice Blade. I use 4 Swords on Drain Life from them into the individual, landing 2, and taking them from 7 down to 5. The Healing ASB brings them down to 3, and then the Lich tries Surging them in, needing 4 successes on 6 dice and.... I get it!
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| The Skeletons best the Ice Blade, and reform. |
The flying hero is weak if you can catch him, so I'm wounding on 2's, and apparently these Skeletons brought their A game, because they do 7 damage to take the Ice Blade to 9 and best him. This was a weird Rube Goldberg-like series of moves. It shouldn't have happened, but I lucked out. The Skeletons reform, daring the Birds to make a hindered charge.
Bottom of Round 2: Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance rolls up 7 Swords for their Command Dice, and try to put them to good use.
On the right, the Foxes run up and will burn their token. Kicking off the scenario play and making it 1:0 in favor of the Northern Alliance.
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| The speedy elements of the Northern Alliance get stuff done. |
The plucky Skeletons needed to give a flank to something, and gave it to the Prime, who charges in alongside the hindered Frostclaws. The Skeletons started at 3 damage, end at 15, and do fall, but did a heckuva job. Both the Prime and the faller Frostclaws will pivot to stare down the flanks of the Undead.
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| The Northern Alliance push back. |
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| Reforms for the victorious Frostclaws and Prime. |
The Clansmen shake it off and counter-charge the Wights, but also roll low, landing just 1 damage, and then the Wights are found to be Insane. It doesn't matter, and this still does ground the flying unit. The Ice Queen heals the Dwarfs for 3.
The Naiads counter-charge the Wraiths, but also roll low, and also land just 1 damage. Expected damage is 2-3 in each of these fights, so it's not massive failures, but still concerning at how little damage is actually landing.
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| Charges on the left. |
Top of Round 3: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice.
The Cavern Dweller is still sitting at 12 Damage, so I feel like I must try and pick him up.
Some Skeletons make a flank-charge into the formerly wavering Foxes, Wights will charge the Snow Troll Prime, and more Skeletons are brought forth, pivoting at the end to get line of sight into the Cavern Dweller for another Drain Life attempt.
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| Charges for the Undead. |
It's 4's and 4's, but nothing lands with Drain Life, and the Cavern Dweller skips the Nerve Check and a second try at besting it.
The flanking Skeletons pick up the Foxes though, and surprisingly, the Wights land 7 and pop the Prime, getting a pair of definitive 11's on the check. With the Cavern Dweller free, they turn to face, and hopefully flanking Skeletons can help something next turn.
With the Naiad horde gone though, I will eventually burn the token here and tie things up for the scenario.
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| Another flurry of charges in the midfield from the Undead. |
Centrally, the Wraiths counter-charge back into the Naiads. They are still a flier and against Phalanx and Ensnare, so they don't do much, but both Wyrms pounce on the horde as well, with one in the flank. The flanking Wyrm goes bananas, landing 15 damage on it's own (10 expected), and the horde is picked up. The Wraiths overrun, the flanking Wyrm sidesteps towards my opponent's deployment zone, and the other Wyrm backs up. In retrospect, I should have overrun, or just held, and tried to box the Prime in.
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| Reforms for the Undead. |
The Skeletons have flank charges into either the Dwarf Warriors or the Hearthguard. I choose the Dwarfs just to make sure they get bested. The Wights devastate the unit on their own though, and both reform.
The Wraiths go into the the Hearthguard again, landing 3, with both the Liche and the Healing ASB trying to help. The ASB hits for 1, the Liche for 2, and their own Lifeleech will eventually bring them down to 1. |
| The Skeleton Warriors get Surged into a cheeky position. |
Bottom of Round 3: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 5 Swords for his Command Dice.
The Snow Foxes swing around the building, threatening my characters. The Prime Charges the Skeletons, and the Hearthguard and Frostclaws go into the Wraiths, with the fliers in the flank and being a millimeter out of the forest for a clear charge.
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| Movement and charges from the Northern Alliance. |
The Prime lands 4 damage into the Skeletons who hold, and the Hearthguard and Frostclaws will devastate and then pick up the Wraiths, though it is close thanks for Def6. Both will reform to look across the battlefield and continue this push.
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| Reforms for the Northern Alliance. |
There is no real center left for the Northern Alliance, but the Prime can just spy the back corner of the Wights for a Nimble rear charge. The Cavern Dweller maxes his attacks but only lands 7, and the hindered Prime contributes 5 to take them to 12, and the -/17 Wights are bested. The Cavern Dweller Lifeleeches 3 back, getting down to 9 damage.
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| Charges on the left. |
The Hearthguard crack through the wimpy Skeletons, dealing 14 damage and then reform.
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| Reforms on the left. |
It was a strong opening for the Undead, but the Northern Alliance hammers are coming online and striking back!
Top of Round 4: Undead
I roll up 6 Swords for my Command Dice.
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| A third attempt at the Cavern Dweller, because it is injured. |
On the left, the Cavern Dweller is the most damaged, so that's what I need to try and focus on. The ASB gets safe, while the Skeleton Warriors charge the monster. I spend 4 Swords on Drain Life from the ASB, landing 2 damage to take it to 11, but no check is done since the monster is on a melee combat. The Skeletons then miss all their attacks, and the Dweller takes no check again.
Wraiths pivot and move, and Zuinok will surge them into the flank of the escapee Snow Troll Prime. They'll deal 5 damage, and the Prime will survive, unbothered.
Trying to block out any charges to get behind my lines, a Burrowing Wyrm will face the Frostclaws.
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| The Undead try to blunt the push of the Northern Alliance, but are coming up short. |
The other Wyrm can see the Ice Queen and he'll charge. The goal is to best her, and then overrun into the Hearthguard combat.
The Wyrm does ok, landing 5 or so damage, and gets the rout on the spellcaster. I need a 3" overrun, but get just 2. The Skeletons swing at the Hearthguard, but land no damage.
The Liche pulls in behind the building to try and Inspire things, healing the Skeletons that were fighting the Prime. They disengage, withdraw, and back up, and get healed from 4 down to 1 damage. The back up lets the Wights get into a combat against the Prime. They'll land 5 and not budge him.
The Healing ASB makes a desperate charge into the Snow Foxes. Since they are just Def2, I try a reroll to hit, get it on the first try, and then fail to damage them.
Bottom of Round 4: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 4 Swords for his Command Dice.
The Frostclaws can see the Burrowing Wyrm that failed to overrun, will charge him, bring him to 10 damage, and get the rout. Since I wanted the Liche to cast, and there wasn't an easy way over there given the combats, the Wyrm was unfortunately uninspired. The Frostclaws will reform to threaten the last of my units out here.
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| The Northern Alliance pick up more units. |
The Hearthguard thump the Skeletons, landing just 11 damage but will get the rout, and then back up, setting up a nice trap with the Frostclaws. Whatever I charge, I'll need to best or be flanked.
The Wights Prime goes back into the Wights, landing 2 damage, but they hold.
On the left, my opponent makes big plays for the scenario. Since the ASB failed, the Foxes have a free paw, and they have the nimble inches to grab and burn a token.
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| The last two tokens are claimed and burned... |
Since the Wraiths didn't get lucky with their flank charge, the Prime disengages, moves forward towards my deployment zone, and then Nimble pivots to get onto the remaining token and burn it, making this 3:1 in favor of the Northern Alliance.
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| ...and then the hammers come crashing in. |
With the Prime departing, the Cavern Dweller can get into the Wraiths, rolling up max hits again but flubbing the damage roll a bit. The Dweller takes them to 6, but they hold. Unfortunately, the Dweller is now down to 8 damage.
The Hearthguard thump and best the Skeletons way out here on the left, and then reform, looking to help pickup the Wraiths.
Top of Round 5: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice. I think the game is lost, but we'll see what can be done.
On the left, the Wraiths go in against the Dweller. The ASB steps closer to keep them Inspired. My notes say they did no damage, if so, they should be on 6. Not sure how they went from 6 to 5 unless they did score one.
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| Lining up some magic while the last desperate charges are made. |
Still experimenting, Zuinok sets up to Inspire the Wraiths, and be within 12 inches of both the Foxes and the Skeletons, and he goes for Fireball against the Stealthy Foxes. I land 2 damage, heal the Skeletons with Necrofire, and get them from 1 down to 0. A hot check routs the uninspired Foxes.
The Liche had moved to cast Mindfog into the Foxes... but in the Ranged Phase I realize that Fireball already has Shattering. Having already moved, he goes to try and stun the Snow Troll Prime on the hill, but doesn't shake them.
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| We pick up the Foxes, and somehow, the Wraiths heal. |
The Revenant Wyrm goes into the Frostclaws. They have lower Nerve than the Hearthguard, but the Hearthguard were damaged, healed and are on 2. What should be charged is debatable. The Wyrm lands 5 and gets a Waver.
Bottom of Round 5: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 3 Command Dice, spending them on rerolls, I think.
The Hearthguard and Cavern Dweller does into the delaying Wraiths and picks them up, with the Hearthguard overrunning and the Dweller changing facing to get s straight shot towards the center.
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| The Northern Alliance trudge towards the center. |
The Frostclaws and other Hearthguard trip their trap, hitting the Wyrm in the flank and front and taking it to 19.
The wavering Prime regenerates 2 to go down to 6 damage.
The other Prime, out on the hill on the left was definitely facing my deployment zone. He is Nimble, but that looks like a big move. He will also Regenerate 2 and end at 3 damage.
Top of Round 6: Undead
I roll up 5 Command Dice.
The Liche does into the speedy Prime. If I can trip him up, this should prevent both the Prime and the Cavern Dweller from reaching the middle token. I spend a Sword to reroll the hit, and we do disorder him!
I forget that the undercover Hearthguard are there, and Zuinok tries another Fireball into the Frostclaws, landing 3 to take them to 8 damage. I believe I get lucky and waver them again.
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| Zuinok gets way to close to the Frostclaws. |
The Wights could fly away to grab a token, but that's not going to win me the game, even if we go to a Round 7. So I opt to just fight for fun. The Healing ASB casts Drain Life into the Prime for more damage getting 1, and the Wights hit the Prime, dealing 8 to take him to 15 and see him off and then overrun.
The Skeletons are still gummed up and I opt to just hold them. I figured the Wights were going to lose, and the plan was to charge them up and hopefully box out the Northern Alliance units on my turn.
Bottom of Round 6: Northern Alliance
The undercover Hearthguard crush Zuinok, and the Prime plus the Cavern Dweller pick up the Liche.
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| The Northern Alliance pick up some characters, and the push towards the center stalls out. |
The Hearthguard crash into the Wights, landing 8, but the phantasms hold.
The Northern Alliance have secured all their tokens for 3, and aren't holding any of mine for additional Points. The Undead have burned 1, and control the center, making this a 3:2 victory to the Northern Alliance!Game Conclusions
I think my reforms for the Wyrms in Round 3 cost me the flank (and thus the game). Had I boxed the Snow Troll Prime in properly, I think I stand a better chance of grinding like a more normal Undead player and securing the win thrrough attrition of units. Letting the Prime slip away for a rear charge was a pivotal turning point for the game.
The Undead started off very strong, but I wasn't able to remove any of the hammer units opposing me. Kings of War is driven by the scenario, and Trevor was able to focus on that and cleverly claw his way back to a victory, so very well played to him!
Testing Conclusions
- Skeleton Warriors with Two Handers. They are cheaper than the instigating troops that I have been using, so it is a bit of a weird dynamic, I think they are working out alright! I am still struggling to get the most use out of them, but am getting better.
- Wraith Troops. These were nice, and surprisingly sticky, even enduring a counter charge from the Hearthguard.
- Soul Reavers x1. They had their shot but couldn't quite seal the deal against the Cavern Dweller. I think that was a risk worth taking, but it just didn't pan out.
- Wights x2. Trevor is more experienced playing with and against fliers, so they didn't have as good a showing as their last outing. Still they did fine.
- Liche King with Heal. He also did fine. The Heal rolls were a bit low statistically, but things were topped off nicely throughout the game. Surge is nice, but depending on the list, might not be mandatory.q
- Undead ASBs. Still great if you are running Skeletons of any kind! I have not really used Surge in the recent games though, so might explore other items. The Soul Reavers and Wights top out at CS2, so
- Zuinok. I still want to like him. The spells are decent for the army, but he is a little too quirky to be useful. I keep forgetting about the reroll with Fireball though, and have never had great targets for the spell. While I did finally get the Fireball + heal interaction working... it is just Heal 1, and not that impactful. I still want to like him, but think I need to look at something else.
- Burrowing Wyrms. I've been trying to run them to clear out units hiding in terrain, and they did good in that regard, charging in Round 2 and nearly making their points back by Round 3. Good results as usual from them, though not utilized to their utmost. Giving the Prime a way out, and with a rear charge caused that flank to fall apart. They are not Nimble, so need to consider my reforms more carefully.
- Command Orders. I still like the Command Orders for the Undead. I got into a good position with the Wraiths, and while Drain Life wasn't effective this game, that was more the dice being troublesome. Buying two reds, I had access to most of my orders most of the time. If one is shooting for multiple big orders, I can see bigger Dice being bought, but shooting for 4-6 Swords a turn, I think two reds seems just fine.
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