Intro and Lists
He has two regiments of Hearthguard are around to break stuff, with two regiments of Dwarf Clansmen to block and hold the line for the sturdy, Regenerating Naiad horde. Three regiments of Snow Foxes are around to interdict, as are three Snow Troll Primes, and there is a healing Ice Queen to babysit whatever needs attending to. Rounding out the list is a horde of versatile, flying Frostclaws.
I brought the Undead, but continued on with the peculiar Ghoul-centric approach that I was trying out today. As-before we have a lot of Ghouls and a mostly non-Shambling Undead list with a lot of heroic options to evaluate:
- Skeleton Spearmen with Lifeleech 3. The wording got changed at some point, letting all these upgrades and abilities stack, so we’ll try out a Fearless, Lifeleech 3 Phalanx horde and see how that feels for holding the line.
- Ghouls! I hobbied up a bunch of reinforcements and have really wanted to get them on the table for a while now. Older tacticas and army reviews praised the heck out of Ghouls, but they seem to have fallen out of favor. I think a few troops could have value for scenario play, but we’ll see how this regiment-favored assortment does.
- Soul Reavers. I need hammers, and wanting to try out some non-Shambling Undead… leaves me with these since I don’t have any Werewolf units. I like the vampires here, but need to protect them, and we’ll see if a throng of Ghouls is enough to do that.
- Goreblights. The Undead have some neat sub-faction stuff going. The Goreblights are zombies, and don’t have great keyword synergy with anything in the list, but with all these units running around, I figured a few Monsters might be good to have. They look neat but have not had great luck for me previously, so the only goals for them is to not deployment them together and to try and keep them Inspired, so we can see what they can do!
- Ghoul Ghast. If I’m running Ghouls, it seems fitting to try out the Ghast, whose TC aura now comes standard! I wish I had two to spread the aura around more, but we’ll do our best. I waffled between the Scythe and Rampage, or the Mournful Blade and Duelist, but eventually settled on the latter, since I have not tried out Duelist and the triple attacks yet.
- Periscope Liche King, with Hex, Heal and Veil. With so little Shambling, I am trying the Liche King with a new suite of spells. Hex is to try and gum up any opposing Hex Casters, in order to protect Mhorgoth. I liked Veil of Shadows from Zuinok, and so wanted to try that again here alongside Heal. I usually take the Ej Periscope on him, as I am concerned that he might not be able to see important Heal targets, like the Soul Reavers.
- Mhorgoth the Faceless. He’s a potential contender to bring to the tournament, but he also seems risky with the Duelist change and a lot of Hex around these days. I have neglected to run him for the longest time, and am overdue for testing him out, so here we go. We’ll see if Mhorgoth the Must-Have lives up to the hype.
- Lykanis. The idea for these lists was to largely avoid Shambling units. I don’t have units of Werewolves, but have two Lykanis models, so it’s a weird pick we’re trying out. These Nimble 40 and 50 millimeter heroes tend to do well, but their price is a little steep, relative to something like the Thegn on Frostfang or Snow Troll Primes. We’ll see how they do and what they get up to.
Trevor was kind enough to host our games, and we set up a new table. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the building 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 some Height 0 difficult terrain.
 |
| Overview of (most of) the table |
We wanted to play an Objective Scenario next, and opted for Compass Points, which we still didn’t have a firm grasp on. There were four objectives to fight over. Our “Home” objective was worth one point to us; the opponent’s home, or “Away” objective from our perspective is worth two points. And there is a one-point token on each flank to fight for.
 |
| The view from the left. |
On the left we have a Snow Troll Prime, two Hearthguard awkwardly perched on the obstacles with Snow Foxes in tow. Behind the woods hid a second Prime, Dwarfs, and the Cavern Dweller. Peering around the woods were the Naiads and their supporting Ice Queen, with the third Prime holding the Trickster’s Wand securing that flank. I didn’t think much would end up out on the right, and with equal drops, got baited into a very bad match-up, with the Dwarfs showing up very early, and the Ice Blade, Snow Foxes and Frostclaws all as very late drops to reinforce.
 |
| The view from the center. |
Left-to-right for the Undead we have Ghouls, the Lykanis and the Goreblight. Soul Reavers threaten the hill with Ghouls protecting their flank and the Liche in support. The Spear Horde started in the terrain, but should be able to get out. The Soul Reavers protected their flank with the Goreblight nearby, and Mhorgoth and a ghoul troop in reserve. Out on the right was a Lykanis and Ghoul regiment as early drops, and then the troop and Ghast as later ones.
 |
| The view from the right. |
As mentioned, I was not especially happy with my deployment, and committed a lot to the right where I am definitely outclassed. I think that even the quicker undead that I’m running here I shouel be playing a little more compactly.
Top of Round 1: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up a strong 7 Swords for his Command Dice, but in the early game, and with his army, he doesn't have much to use them on.
On the left, the Prime moves his speed, and both Hearthguard units clear the obstacle with both Fox units in tow, and the other Prime hops forward as well.
 |
| A slow, inexorable trudge forward. |
The slower Dwarfs and Naiads are both tripped up by the forest, while the speedier Cavern Dweller pulls ahead. The Snow Troll Prime with the Wand pulls in behind the building, trying to be tricky.
 |
| A quicker advance on the right. |
On the right, the Frostclaws fly up, and land 5 damage into the Ghoul troop, but it holds. Additionally, the Foxes move up, the Dwarfs move up, and the Ice Blade moves up, in that little pocket between units. My Lykanis is only 40mm, and I do point this out. He reconsiders, and then doubles down and returns things to as they were, and is fine if I want to risk that charge.
Bottom of Round 1: Undead
I roll up 6 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the right, I decide I do want to risk it. I have Mhorgath, and need to protect him, so occupying the Duelist seems worthwhile, so the Lykanis makes the risky charge into him. I land 4 damage, which isn't bad, but I do not support the charge well, the the Lykanis is unsupported and exposed.
 |
| The Lykanis charges, a bit foolishly. |
This flank is a bit of a jumble, so I just try to mitigate the damage the Frostclaws can do. He shouldn't have the inches to hop my line, and the Ghouls have a good charge range, so we angle things to be tricky, and he'll need to choose whether to shoot off the injured Ghouls or charge them.
 |
| A standoff in the center. |
I am fine with a standoff for now. The Goreblight moves up. It's 12" charge beats the 11" on the Prime around the corner, and I position so that I am in range and he is out. The Cavern Dweller is quick, but the Soul Reavers hang back. The Liche Hexes the Prime. It's only wand-on-wand action that will break a wand though, so I'll need to keep the Prime occupied so Mhorgoth can do what he needs to.
 |
| Approaches on the left. |
Out on the left, we're doing similar things. The Ghouls have a great threat range, and the Soul Reavers inch up slightly so that see around the hill. This Goreblight threatens the the Snow Troll Prime safely as well. The Lykanis can get in as well, and the Ghouls have decent odds too.
Top of Round 2: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up another 6 Swords for his Command Dice.
On the left, the Snow Troll Prime backs up, and the Foxes frolic ahead of the Hearthguard to block.
 |
| Snow Foxes move to block. |
Centrally, the Dwarfs hop up to better protect the Prime and Cavern Dweller, and the Naiads move up and the hexed Prime retreats as well. With the slight adjustments, I believe the Naiads have a charge into the Goreblight now if I don't do something.
 |
| The standoff continues. |
On the right, I've been baited pretty hard. The Lykanis is triple-charged by the Ice Blade, Dwarfs in the flank, and the Frostclaws in the front, and is easily routed.
Bottom of Round 2: Undead
I roll up 6 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the left, the individual Ghast charges around the Foxes and into the injured Ice Blade, landing 12 damage and easily besting the other duelist. I don't know what to do with her now, since she is so outnumbered, so I sidestep.
 |
| Using Command Orders. |
The Ghoul regiment can only charge the Foxes, but will do so, and easily best them.
Centrally, we're still in a standoff. The Goreblight backs up, away from the Naiads, and the reserve Ghouls hop up to control the objective for now.
 |
| Inching closer and closer... |
The Skeleton Spears are relatively safe, and so just hold. The Cavern Dweller and the central Prime should be able to reach them, but that's not going to break them, and I doubt my opponent will take the charge with so much waiting here nearby.
 |
| Slowly closing on the left as well. |
The standoff continues down the line. The Goreblight moves up to have range into the Prime or the Hearthguard if the Foxes don't interdict. The Ghouls move up to project threat, and the Lykanis sidesteps to get behind them. My plan was to let the Lykanis run past and pivot if my opponent stands off again this turn... and this is bad positioning, and I should have moved the Lykanis over more towards the table edge and the Ghouls more away from it.
Top of Round 3: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up a few Swords, but I don't record how many. Both rerolls are considered, so probably at least 2 Swords.
On the left, the Prime doesn't have a charge, but can barrel ahead top gum things up, and my Lykanis should be boxed in. The Prime ends up pretty squared with the Ghouls relative to his starting positiong, but the end effect should be the same with both the Ghouls and Lykanis in front-arc.
 |
| The Foxes start forcing the issue on the left... |
The Foxes charge the Goreblight, and more Foxes get visible on the hill, but don't go too far up. The thinking is that whatever charges them will likely win, but not be able to fully back off of the hill, allowing the Hearthguard to see and retaliate.
 |
| ...but the standoffs continue on the right. |
Centrally, the standoff continues! The untouched Prime now Hexes Mhorgoth, due to my negligence. The rest of the line inches up, offering charges while getting into range themselves. Even the central Dwarfs should have some charges now. The Soul Reavers are the exception though, and my opponent does not give them a charge - the Naiads are just out of range.
Bottom of Round 3: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the right, the Ghast ping-pongs over to the Frostclaws. I am not going to be able to contest this since I lost all my unit strength here, so the goal is to delay the Frostclaws as long as possible. I can't let them be making flying flank charges into my important units.
 |
| The Ghast grounds the Frostclaws. |
In the center, the Undead pounce. Mhorgoth flies over to sneakily land between the Naiad Horde and the hexing Snow Troll Prime. Mhorgoth Drain Life's the Prime for 2, and the Ghouls move up to use Command Dice to land another 2, though nothing needs healing. The Goreblight charges the Prime, landing Cloak of Death and then some damage in melee, but only gets a waver.
 |
| The Undead initiate some charges in the center. |
I want to see how the Spears do, so we charge in against the Naiads to protect the flank of the Goreblight. I kind of forget they have Ensnare, but this is more of a blocking charge. Cloak hits them for 1, and the Spears poke for 3 more damage.
The Cavern Dweller can only charge the Skeleton Spears, so the Soul Reavers move up to threaten reprisals, as I think the horde can hold for a turn.
 |
| The Undead fight (and best) some Snow Foxes on the left. |
On the left, the Ghoul regiment takes the charge into the Snow Foxes on the hill, and is able to claw at them and pick them up. I roll this fight last, so they turn to face the Hearthguard that can charge them. The Soul Reavers here move up to support and avenge next turn.
On the far left, Ghouls charge the Snow Troll Prime, landing a surprising 5 damage, but this prime holds firm. The Lykanis is unable to run past due to my errors, so he nimbly charges the Snow Foxes along with the Goreblight. The Foxes are trampled. I want to protect the Lykanis, so the Goreblight overruns a crazy amount. I opt to back the Lykanis up.
Top of Round 4: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 6 Swords for his Command Dice.
On the left, the Prime regenerates some, and lands 4 damage into the Ghoul regiment, but they hold.
The Huscarls charge and shred the Goreblight, and then move back, but can't quite get out of range. The Lykanis can definitely get in, and the Soul Reaves can draw line of sight, if just barely. The other Hearthguard shred the Ghouls, and then pivot. Even if I do break a Hearthguard unit next turn, one of them is getting in somewhere, as this is a very dangerous area.
 |
| The Hearthguard push up and escalate with the piece trading. |
Centrally, one of the Primes is able to get in against the Soul Reavers thanks to Wild Charge. He'll only deal 1 damage, but will still stuff them up while things smash into the Skeleton Horde.
 |
| A big triple charge from the Northern Alliance into the Skeleton Spears. |
Speaking of, the Skeletons take Dwarfs in the flank, and the Naiads and Cavern Dweller in the front, and are brought to a concerning 15 damage, but do hold.
The Prime regenerates a lot, and then gets a heal from the Ice Queen to end the turn at just 1 damage. |
| The Ghast holds! |
The Dwarfs and the Frostclaws pincer the Ghast. She's brought up to 10 damage, but is found to be insane!
Bottom of Round 4: Undead
I roll up 5 Swords for my Command Dice.
On the right, the Ghast continues on against the Frostclaws, lands a few more damage, and gets a lucky rout against the flying dwarfs!
 |
| I forget about Lifeleech, but it's still worth it. |
Centrally, I'm stuck in. The Goreblight goes back into the Prime, but I don't even get back to the damage he had on him last turn, and don't waver him this time.
 |
| The Undead try to push back. |
The Ghouls try another Drain Life into something, and will heal the Skeleton Spears for 1. Mhorgath tries a Drain Life into the flanking Dwarfs, but is out of range to heal the Skeleton horde if memory serves. I think he does 1 damage with the spell.
The horde will counter charge the Dwarfs, dealing 3 and Lifeleeching down to 12. However, re-reading the rules, this is illegal. While I don't need line of sight to counter-charge, and can counter-charge any unit I am engaged with, I still need to fit in the new position and align properly. I cannot fit against the Dwarfs, so should not have been able to counter-charge them.
The Soul Reavers push pack against the Prime, landing 10 damage, and will get the rout against him.
 |
| The Soul Reavers do their best. |
On the left, I can only multi-charge one unit of Hearthguard. I don't think single charges are going to go well here, so do make the multi-charge. The Soul Reavers get a Bane Chant from Mhorgoth, and we are able to rout the unit and reform.
On the far left, the the Ghouls will countercharge the Prime, landing just 1 damage.
Top of Round 5: Northern Alliance
My opponent rolls up 2 Swords for his Command Dice.
On the left the Prime regenerates from 7 down to 3, and deals 4 to the Ghouls for a waver.
 |
| Combats on the left. |
The Hearthguard charge the Soul Reavers to avenge their comrades. The Reavers take a solid 10 damage, and with a pair of hot checks, the vampires are routed.
Centrally, the trio of units again charge the Skeleton Spears, do a similar amount of damage, and will devastate and rout the unit, as is proper. The Dwarfs will get a big heal, and end the round at 1 damage.
 |
| The Skeleton Spears fall, and the Undead are a bit exposed in the center now. |
The Prime will countercharge the Goreblight, and land a strong 4 damage off his 5 attacks.
 |
| The Northern Alliance finally win on the right. |
On the right, the Dwarfs will finally best the Ghast, and are within 3 inches to claim this objective without worry.
Bottom of Round 5: Undead
I roll up some Swords, but don't note how many. Probably a low number then, as I don't make a note of what I spent them on.
The Ghouls charge the Naiads. Even Ensnared they land a hot 3 to take them to 7 damage and block them up.
Mhorgoth flits back over the lines, landing among the Undead. Dread hits things, and then he tries a Drain Life into the weaker Naiads to heal the Goreblight as it charges back into the the Prime, the Goreblight takes the Prime back up to 6 damage, and with Dread, I get a pair of hot checks to rout the Prime, and will reform. I will note that the reform is shallow, so I can run past the Naiads, but do still have them in arc.
 |
| Charges in the center. |
Mhorgoth's second spell is a Bane Chant into the Soul Reavers, who do slay the dwarfs and reform to face the Cavern Dweller.
 |
| Victorious positioning in the center. |
The Hearthguard are right there, but the Lykanis alone isn't going to do anything, so he nimbly zips to their left, back towards my opponent's deployment zone.
Top of Round 6: Northern Alliance
I don't record the Command Dice.
On the left, the Prime lands another 4, and routes the Ghouls, reforming. The Hearthguard change facing while controlling this objective. The Northern Alliance have claimed both flank objectives at this point.
 |
| Victory on the left flank as well for the Northern Alliance. |
Centrally, the Cavern Dweller rolls well for his extra attacks, and slams 7 damage into the Soul Reaverers, who do hold.
 |
| The Northern Alliance try to hold. |
The Naids start at 7, Regenerate 2 to get to 5, get Endurance to go down to 4, and then are Healed down to 1. Sheesh. They've been hit with spells and in combat multiple rounds, but you'd never know it! They counter charge the Ghouls, easily best them, and then decide to hold.
The Dwarfs on the right simply camp the objective token.
Bottom of Round 6: Undead
I roll up 4 Swords for my Command Dice.
The Lykanis doesn't have a charge, so moves his speed to get behind the Naiads, using Command Dice to hit them with a Drain Life for 2.
 |
| Movement for the Undead, circling around the Naiads. |
The Goreblight moves and pivots, and gets surged into the flank of the Naiads by Mhorgoth, and it does 7 damage in the flank to take them to 9 damage.
The Liche jogs up and heals the Soul Reavers for a strong 4 to take them to 3. Mhorgoth's second spell is a Bane Chant into the vampires, which fizzles. The Vamps to 9 to the Dweller, Lifeleech 2 back, but it holds, wavered.
With the Naiads holding, it's 3-0 in favor of the Northern Alliance, but we do get a Round 7!
Top of Round 7: Northern Alliance
With the Dweller holding, the Hearthguard are millimeters in on a flank charge into the Souls Reavers, and charging off the hill, the Soul Reavers are brought to 15 damage on the first batch of attacks... They abandoned the objective, but a Prime is easily able to secure it instead.
 |
| Starting positions for the Northern Alliance. |
The Naiads counter-charge the Goreblight, but roll low, and just deal 4 damage. Between Regeneration and Heal, they end the round at 1 damage, again.
Bottom of Round 7: Undead
The Liche moves up to Heal the Goreblight, because I can and I forget that it is the bottom of Round 7.
 |
| The Naiad horde falls! |
The Lykanis takes the rear into the Naiads, with the ensnared Goreblight in the front. Mhorgoth attempts Drain Life but it fails completely. From the look of my notes, I forget about Cloak of Death. The melee sees each unit deal 7 to the Naiads to bring them to 15, and then bested, thanks to Dread from Mhorgoth. The Goreblight sidesteps to the token. This objective is worth 2 points to me, making this a time game!
Game Conclusions
In our meta Compass Points is already gaining a reputation as a standoffish scenario, where one camps their home and a side. In retrospect, the terrain even kind of encouraged that here, and a more reserved strategy might have been the better call. However, I got baited into deploying more that I should have out on the right, and was then spread pretty thin.
Going into the game I wanted to preserve the Lykanis heroes as threatening pieces, but as we were both starting to better understand the utility of Mhorgoth, I was very wary of the Ice Blade, and the early charge seemed worth it, even if I was not able to support it well. Things worked out amazingly there, beating both the Ice Blade and the Frostclaws, but that was pure luck. I didn't really deserve to tie this up, but lucked out.
Looking across the table, I quite like this approach to the Northern Alliance. Snow Troll Primes are still a bargain, and the list as a whole felt more focused than some of the previous combined-arms lists my opponent has played around with previously. I definitely still like the combined-arms lists as well, but for a multi-day tournament, the more straightforward list here seems like it will do better as it is far less mentally taxing to play. Despite the time crunch, and Round 7’s, he ended both games with ~10 minutes to spare while I clocked out in the first game and just squeaked by in the second game to finish within the allotted time. The clock is doing to be tough for me I think.
Testing Conclusions
- Skeleton Spearmen with Lifeleech 3. The horde isn’t a bad unit, and I could envision it run alongside something like Zombie Trolls to help the line grind a little better. I think you’d need a few troops of chaff to prevent big multi-charges into your hordes, but the Spears/Zombie Troll grouping seems like it should be viable.
- Ghouls troops! The troops are chaff, but very useful for the Undead, given their speed. They can hop forward to perform blocking charges, or run around with tokens. Overall, I liked them today, but the Undead do have some nice, cheap options for chaffy units to play scenarios.
- Ghoul regiments! I wasn’t as big of a fan of the regiments. I could see a regiment mixed in here or there along the battle line to extend it an project some threat? Or maybe around to protect flanks if you don’t have Shambling units? They are probably priced appropriately, but the stats are such that they are mostly just there to take up space. I obviously have the models to run hordes, but I think they are going to suffer similarly and just get chaffed up without doing much, so I think troops are the way to go for Ghouls, if you do want to run them.
- Soul Reavers. Throwing 20 high-quality attacks at something is still a lot of fun, and they had intriguing counterparts across the table with the Hearthguard.
- Goreblights. I did spread them out, and I had no Cloak of Death Overlap this game. Never-you-mind that you had to be sacrificed early! The other survived and got in a great Shambling/Surging flank charge late in the game, and so evaluated together, they did ok. Unlike a lot of monsters, I think this might actually suffer from being picked in multiples, due to Cloak of Death positioning complications, unless you are really able to plan ahead and spread them out along your line. In a slower list with more Shambling, I really like the Goreblight, and sticking them with Zombie Trolls and a Vicious-Aura Necromancer looks like a lot of fun to get a little extra out of them.
- Ghoul Ghast. Seriously, unreasonably lucky this game, but an all-star as a result. I had misplays here with her this game, playing Lifeleech 1 instead of Lifeleech 2, but she was still a ridiculous powerhouse. The Aura is great, and if you want to run Ghouls, she seems worth it. I had waffled between Rampage and Duelist items for her, and was glad I went with Duelist. If you want to get into the duelist arms race, 110 points is a steal, and her only downsides are Def3 (need to get the first charge) and that she can waver.
- Periscope Liche King, with Hex, Heal and Veil. Periscope is still nice to have if you can fit it in. I am still liking Heal on the Liche. Hex was good, though I goofed and forgot to cast it one turn, completely undoing my own logic for taking it. Veil is… situational. Without significant meta considerations, I think I can drop Veil, but it is nice to have, and I think a Liche can have a strong niche in many Undead lists with whatever spells you want to try.
- Mhorgoth the Faceless. I think I used him more effectively here than in the previous game. He was far more mobile and Dread was wonderfully impactful for me. It’s a nice assortment of spells that really kicks in in the mid-game once the lines start to close. He is Mhorgoth the Mandatory, and we’ll
- Lykanis. Since these Inspired and were generating command dice today, I wanted to hold these back and mostly project threat. Running important individuals and wary of the Ice Blade, I didn’t think I’d take him off, but it felt worth it to try and get in early against the Ice Blade. Unfortunately my deployment was such that I couldn’t support the Lykanis’s early charge. Overall, I liked these since they could zip out and block up a unit, but I think I need to treat them more like the wimpy Kingdoms of Men Generals on Winged Beasts, where the threat is the important thing, and damage is secondary, and I’m rarely committing to a charge without it being a multi-charge. A neat unit that can really help the Undead out in the positional game.
These were weird lists from me, but I quite enjoyed playing them, and think there are some neat ideas here worth exploring more in the future. Most Undead Lists probably won’t like larger Ghoul units, but the troops and the Ghast still seem neat, and the long charge range of the Lykanis certainly seems like a powerful tool for the Undead to keep opposing lists honest in the movement phase. All of these longer charge ranges certainly changed the tempo for a lot of the combats and forced some unusual decisions as the lines clashed. The Undead are a neat army with some surprising depth in their subfactions!
These were great games to play. A big thank you to my opponent for fitting them in!
No comments:
Post a Comment