Intro and Lists
It's been a downright exhausting summer, but I was lucky enough to get have a free Saturday and be able to squeeze in a game against Joe and his nightmarish Varangur. Joe brought the following:
Joe has played a lot of Imperial Dwarf lists, and wanted to leverage his knowledge of Ordered March there using Draugr and Skalds here. The list has a lot of Draugr to bounce off of, two Hearthguard and a Cavern Dweller to punish bouncing charges, two Magi are around to Drain Life and transfer wounds onto the Draugr, and rounding things out he has three very scary regiments of speedy Tundra Wolves.
I brought more throwback Herd, seeking to iterate on and explore Keith Conroy's take on the army, since it has been such a dominant opinion on things ever since his US Masters win in 20021. Up to test and comment on is everything:
- Spirit Walkers with Brew of Haste. The Spirit Walkers (and the Brew) are a longtime staple for Keith, showing up in every game of his that I've stumbled on. They are fragile, and not likely to survive a full game, but have a ridiculous charge range thanks to the item. Keith typically deployed them centrally, so I’ll take the cue from him and do the same, and we’ll see what trouble they get up to before they break.
- Harpies. As-is pretty typical, I brought both of my Harpy units. Chaff with flying has been great to have, as you can hide behind buildings and then zip out to block.
- Lycans. Two hordes has been a little precarious. I've preferred three, so we're going with that this time. These usually deployed on the wings, trying to stretch out an opponent’s line and then catch a flank, so we'll try to spread them around the line here. Waver mitigation is important, but they seem best if they can just win their combats outright and the reposition, so we're going with the Ale (better against shooting), the Brew of Strength, and the Blood of the Old King.
- Beast of Nature. The flying Beasts were another staple in this style, and just a strong pick for the Herd overall. If you can find a flank and a multi-charge, they should do well, so that’s the goal, and we’ll spread them out and see what they can find.
- Mounted Druid. Keith liked Mounted Druids, and with all this speed, the pick is growing on me as well, so we’ll keep trying them out. The a la carte spell selection helps us out, as we can keep them pretty cheap. I have liked multiples of these, but wanted to try and pare this down to one choice, and reward her with the Conjurer's Staff for a little more reliability.
- Lycan Alphas. I liked my double Undead Lykanis play a while back, and figured I should try it out with the real deal! Square-based heroic units can be strong, and hopefully I can make good use out of their speed and regen to make things difficult for my opponent.
- Moonfang. In lieu of a centerpiece model, I wanted to disperse my threats, but with double Lycans, did want to squeeze in Moonfang to try out again. He's a bargain compared to the Wiltfather or Avatar of the Father, and could have some neat play alongside the Lycans by granting Vicious. We'll give him a try and see how .
Looking at the lists, I was worried! I was relying a lot of the Lycans, with Speed 9 and Pathfinder, but the Tundra Wolves are negating that advantage while brining lots of Draugr for me to get caught up on too. As an alpha-strike style list, I knew I was going to be in for a high-stakes battle, and would need to prioritize removing the opposing Tundra Wolves if I was going to have a chance here. Off we go!
Table and Terrain
We were out at Planet Chaos in Fort Atkinson, WI, a charming shop with a variety of nerdy offerings, from collectables, to comics, along with the usual suspects like Magic and 40k. The shop isn't big on wargaming, and we've struggled to get a full 6 foot long table previously. Joe had the amazing idea to push two of the folding tables together though, and we were able to get a full table down.
Joe was kind enough to bring along his mat and terrain, and we utilized Data and Dice's new Kings of War App for one-click setup. After the click, it indeed generated a table for us. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, all the carpeted forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the greenery as Height 0. We got Raze as the scenario, but upgraded it to the newer and more dynamic Protect and Raze.
For Protect and Raze, 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 than the original version.
The Varangur won the roll for sides and Joe took the one with double obstacles, and we both ended up with 1 token on my left and two tokens on the right.
 |
| Overview of the table. |
The Varangur had a huge advantage with deployment and used it well, keeping the speedy Tundraw Wolves and powerful Cavern Dweller until late, and all ended out on the left. Two regiments held the far left, ready to run around the building and outride my flank. A building and both obstacles broke up the Varangur line a bit, with the Cavern Dweller hiding behind the obstacles to make use of Strider, and the third regiment of Wolves was nearby, angled towards the center. The central forest was held by the two Night Raider regiments with bows. a full Legion of Draugr were on the line nearby, with Hearthguard with the Orb in reserve. Terrain broke up the line again, and the Varangur right had three regiments of screening Draugr and the Hearthguard with the Pipes in reserve. The Skalds and Magi are spread around the infantry - I don't recall they started exactly.
 |
| View from the left. |
Being so seriously out-dropped, I had to hedge. The main deployment goals were to get the Spirit Walkers central, and spread the rest around, so I wasn't deploying like near like.
On the left I had a flying Beast to try and zone out anything outriding me, a Lycan Alpha and Lycans with the Brew in the woods, Harpies in reserve, and the second Beast nearby, deployed to counter the central Tundra Wolves. I wanted to try and put the Brew of Strength on a flank, to hopefully maximize any flank charges I might get.
 |
| View from the center. |
The Herd center had Moonfang and his bronze pauldron, with the Spirit Walkers hiding behind the hill, and another Lycan out on their flank. Both heroic units can see a bit around the hill. We then had Lycans with the Ale with a leader point in the woods, and Harpies nearby to assist, but hidden behind terrain so as to not get shot off early.
 |
| View from the right. |
The Herd right had the mounted Druid and the Lycans with the Blood of the Old King, with the hope of swiftly blenderizing some Draugr. Both were deployed back to hopefully juke a round the building as needed in the early turns. Being so greatly out-deployed I was not happy or confident with my deployment, but felt I did the best I could.
 |
| The smallest of Scout moves. |
The Varangur had scout moves with the Night Raiders, and took an inch or so, in order to get possible Round 1 shots. The Varangur then continued their string of successful rolls, getting first turn and happily seizing the initiative.
Top of Round 1: Varangur
On the right, the Draugr huddle up, creating a kill box to protect the central unit, with a Skald and and Magi tucking in between the regiments. The Hearthguard in reserve pivot to spy most of the hill, so the Lycans charge in.
The Draugr Legion moves and pivots and the Hearthguard in reserve here angle to hopefully skirt the woods next turn.
 |
| The Draugr confer, discussing the plan of attack. |
The Night Raiders had scouted up to get shots, and so do take some against my flying Beast in the center, landing 3 damage, but the monster holds.
The Tundra Wolves creep ahead to threaten the hill, and the Cavern Dweller holds firm, waiting to see what happens and then counter-punch. It is a very strong monster, but against this much speed, it's probably better to use it a little conservatively.
 |
| The Beast on the right will take some damage from the bows as all the Wolves close in. |
On the far left, both regiments of Tundra Wolves move up, concaving to project threat into the Herd line and threaten charges already.
Bottom of Round 1: Herd
The Herd really only have Pathfinder and speed on their side, so if I am to have a prayer this game, I need to nullify the Tundra Wolves. Very fortunately for me, I slightly outrange the Wolves with my flying Beasts, and although the Cavern Dweller is lurking nearby, his arcs are awkward, and I am able to get in with a series of small, delaying charges.
 |
| Relatively safe, delaying charges from the Herd. |
On the left, the flying Beast hits one group, landing 4 and disordering them. The Lycan Alpha hits another for 1 damage, and is out of arc of the Dweller. Centrally, the flying Beast thumps the third regiment for 5, also just out of arc of the strong Cavern Dweller. I land 5, and then spike the check here to remove the unit, and overrun a whopping 6 inches, still out of arc of the Dweller, needing I think just 1 to get out of arc of the Raiders.
 |
| The victorious Beast overruns to safety. |
Moonfang moves up, threatening everything on the left, and the Lycan Alpha near the center moves up to threaten the Night Raiders and Tundra Wolves, who were just there a moment ago... I really lucked out getting rid of them so early, and was very fortunate to break through here.
The Spirit Walkers are always on a timer, and they move up to take the hill, threatening some long charges next turn. Hopefully they can weather any shooting heading their way.
 |
| The Spirit Walkers take the hill, threatening a lot with their exceptionally long charge range. |
The nearby Lycans with the Ale move up, staying out of the Draugr's maximum charge range, and threatening things as well. The Harpies nimble reposition to see between the rocky woods and Lycans, and the Lycan horde with the Blood of the Old King and their Centaur Druid decides to reposition instead of staring at Draugr on the far left.
Top of Round 2: Varangur
On the right, only Draugr unit lurches forward, but cannot yet claim the token way out here. The other two make use of the Ordered March from a nearby Skald to reposition and face the middle, and the Hearthguard get partially on the hill.
The other Hearthguard shoot the gap getting around the woods, since the Draugr Legion makes a long ordered march towards the center, though it does just keep the Spirit Walkers in front-arc.
 |
| The Draugr blitz forward. |
The two Night Raider regiments turn, taking penalties for moving. One lands nothing into the nearby Beast, with Skald axes landing, but not making their way through the sturdy feathers. The other unit of Raiders I believe shoot into the Lycan Alpha unit near the Spirit Walkers, landing 2 damage.
I believe the Cavern Dweller repositions slightly, to get the flying Beast into front arc, along with Moonfang and the Lycan Horde out on the left.
 |
| The Lycan Alpha takes a serious beating. |
On the left, the disordered Wolves counter-charge their respective assailants. The Wolves seem to have a particular animosity against the Lycan Alpha, landing a ridiculous 7 damage and wavering the heroic unit, though they seem to have hoovered up all the dice luck out here, as the other regiment is only able to slip in two damage against the flying Beast.
Bottom of Round 2: Herd
The left is pretty easy again, as the Cavern Dweller can't retaliate. The Harpies, Beast, and Moonfang all goes into the left-most unit of Wolves. I remember Moonfang's Primal Savagery rule... but both the Harpies and Beast are vicious already! On well. The triple Charge will then devastate and then rout the unit, with the Harpies pivoting hard, and the Beast and Moonfang stacking, to hopefully preserve the flying and Nimble of the Beast.
 |
| The Herd retaliate, looking to pick up the last of the speedy Varangur units. |
The wavering Lycan Alpha moves back and nimbly pivots, staying safe and now facing the center. This lets the Lycans with the Brew of Strength charge in and shuffle down, but the horde severely underperforms, landing just 6 damage. This brings the uninspired regiment to 7, and the Nerve Check is just 7 total, so they are around, but wavering. Overall, this was not as decisive as I was hoping for, but I'll still gladly take it.
 |
| The Lycans choke. Perhaps they are unnerved? |
The other flying Beast does not want to get into a long drawn-out fight against the Cavern Dweller, so nimbly flies and pivots to get behind the Bowmen.
If the Lycan Alpha charges the left Raiders like I was originally intending, it should be a rear from the Cavern Dweller. I do not want the dweller in the center, so the Alpha does not charge, instead Nimbly positioning near the Night Raiders. I am in arc of one, but it's a frontal charge, and I am threatening the flank of the other regiment. I am being annoying with this unit, so am pleased here overall.
 |
| More Herd Charges, though the Lycans with the Blood bide their time. |
I do melt my brain trying to decide what to do in the center. With the Draugr Legion in my face, the Spirit Walkers cannot pivot around and hit either of the Raiders like I was hoping, and the positioning for the Hearthguard complicate any sneaky nimble charges from the Lycans.
I know I need to delay the Hearthguard, so the Harpies charge in to occupy them, and will even land a damage! Good job, girls.
The Lycan Horde with the Blood has some charges into Draugr, but I do not want to take them. I don't think I am likely to break the zombies, and even if I do, they will be facing more zombies plus Hearthguard, which seems like a losing battle. They nimbly reposition to the edge of the forest, out of range of the Draugr and their Wild Charges.
I do need to commit against the Draugr Legion, and know the Spirit Walkers are going in. Eventually, I decide to use the Druid to block a big slidedown, and send in both the Spirit Walkers and Lycans with the Ale against the imposing legion of undead.
 |
| The Legion falls! |
I am able to bring the Draugr Legion to 25 damage (just about one under the expected damage, from the look of things). It's not devastated, and they are Inspired, but I am able to pick the unit up, with the Spirit Walkers backing up an inch, and the Lycans pivoting, just out of range of the Draugr, though a maximum Wild Charge could get a unit into the Druid, if my opponent it daring.
Top of Round 3: Varangur
On the right, the solitary regiment of Draugr moves to secure the objective way out here, and then pivots to face the Lycans hanging out in the forest.
Another unit of Draugr makes a slight pivot and an ordered March as far up as they can while still keeping both hordes of Draugr in front-arc. The Hearthguard partially on the hill descend, continuing to lurk behind the screening undead regiments.
 |
| The Varangur infantry offer their rebuttals. |
The third regiment of Draugr makes a flank charge into the Harpies, with the Hearthguard counter-charging. Both Magi toss a Drain Life into the Harpies as well, landing 6 damage. The flanking Draugr devastate the unit, and we fast-forward and the harpies are indeed bested. In victory, the Draugr sidestep, and the Hearthguard pivot to get both Lycan hordes in front-arc.
 |
| The Varangur are still very numerous. So many units of Draugr! |
The Night Raiders make a charge into the threatening Alpha, and will land 4 damage, but the lycanthrope holds. The other unit makes an Ordered March to try and box in and speed bump the Spirit Walkers on the hill.
 |
| The Wolves whimper and limp away out on the far left. |
The Cavern Dweller moves up to threaten the stuff on the left, getting part-way onto the obstacle. The Wavering Wolves disengage and back up. I haven't been able to claim this token yet, and my opponent is hoping to draw me out and delay.
Bottom of Round 3: Herd
 |
| Movement for the Herd, with the Lycan Alpha charging the Cavern Dweller. |
Moonfang scampers up near the building and pivots, facing the flank of the Cavern Dweller. The reform for the Lycans also puts them in the flank.
The Beast flies over the building, and nimbly pivots, threatening the Night Raiders in the center. The Lycan Alpha out here regenerates from 4 down to 3, and charges into the Cavern Dweller to delay it, as I think with Inspiring, I can tank it for a turn with some luck.
The Harpies fly out, safe from the non-nimble Dweller by hiding behind the delaying Lycan Alpha.
 |
| Victory, and more pressure to bear against the Cavern Dweller. |
The central Alpha counter-charges the Night Raiders, slapping them for 1 damage. Oh well, at least they are disordered. He regenerates down to 2 damage.
 |
| More charges for the Herd. |
The Spirit Walkers happily take the charge against the other unit of Raiders, dealing a massive 16 damage and routing them. I consider backing up to threaten the Dweller, but choose to pivot to face the right and the oncoming Hearthguard units.
 |
| And more victories for the Herd. |
On the right, the Draugr are threatening to gum me up, so I need to try and avoid them.
The Lycans with the Blood are in flank arc to the nearby Hearthguard, but can only hit their corner. Not being able to hit the correct facing, this is not a legal charge. I send them in against the isolated Draugr on the far right, and pop the Blood. The Varangur have already claimed this objective, but if I can break through here, I should be able to reposition next turn and then be threatening some rear charges as the game concludes. I roll up a stunning seven 2's with my hits, but am able to land 10 damage, and do pick up the uninspired unit and reform.
 |
| The Herd now aim to envelope the Varangur on the right. |
Back towards the center, I still need to deal with the Hearthguard, and send in the Lycans with the Ale into the front, with the Beast swooping into the flank of the unit. I attempt a Bane Chant, and succeed with the Conjurer's Staff. The Lycans deal the expected 10, and the bird lands 8 damage to devastate and rout the Hearthguard. The Lycans reposition, and just within 11 inches, the Beast backs up, with the 1 inch taking it out of charge range for the Hearthguard, and I am able to burn the nearby token with the Lycans, making this 2:1 in favor of the Herd.
Top of Round 4: Varangur
On the right, my opponent moves a unit of Draugr up to claim a second token, making it 2:2 and tying the game up. The other unit uses ordered march to awkwardly get out of the way, and be facing my deployment zone, with two individuals moving around to prevent and hindered charges or slide down as the Hearthguard charge the Lycans with the Ale.
 |
| Positioning for the Varangur. |
A double Drain Life goes into the Lycans, bringing them from 1 to 4, and then the Hearthguard over-perform, landing a stunning 14 damage to bring them to a devastated 18. However, on the Inspired reroll, the Lycans are found to be insane...
 |
| Oof. Insane Lycans hold up the Hearthguard. |
The Night Raiders continue fighting the Lycan Alpha. They are disordered, but don't seem to care, landing 6 into the Alpha (3x the expected damage), and will pick him up with some good Nerve Checks too. They overran, looking to delay the Spirit Walkers so the Hearthguard could fight them. Alas, that plan is not coming to fruition.
 |
| And the Lycan Alpha is merely wavered. |
On the left, the Cavern Dweller gets 5 extra attacks, and thumps 7 damage into the delaying Lycan Alpha, but only wavers him. If I was uninjured, I think this is a clever, delaying charge. Injured, I think I really lucked out here.
Bottom of Round 4: Herd
On the left, the wavering Alpha disengages, withdraws, and backs up, nimbly pivoting to face the center, but does keep the Dweller in arc. Even wavering, Nimble pivots are strong.
 |
| I somehow screw up the Alpha's damage dice, regenerating negatively. |
Moonfang hits the flank and eats the hindered charge, allowing the Lycan Horde with the Brew of Strength a clean hit into the monster, which is devastated and routed. Moonfang sidesteps... for 1, and is still caught up on the obstacle, and the Lycans overrun for a few inches, but are also still stuck up.
The devastated Lycans with the Ale regenerate the expected amount, going from 18 down to 12 and un-devastating themselves. They again get a Bane Chant, again needing the Staff reroll, and again, the Beast hits the Hearthguard in the flank. It's deja-vu as the Lycans land 10, the Beast 8, and the second devastated Hearthguard regiment is bested.
On the far right, the Lycans run ahead to claim a token, and then Nimbly turn to try and face the center to threaten the Draugr in the later turns.
The score is 3-2 in favor of the Herd, and with just individuals and two regiments of Draugr left, the Varangur concede.
A victory for the Herd!
Game Conclusions
My opponent did do a fantastic job utilizing Ordered March, and getting all the Draugr, large and small, up to block and pressure. This result was definitely not how either of us had expected the game to unfold. The insane Lycans were important, and definitely worthy of a grumble, but the Varangur were already really behind, and that result really just closed the door on any kind of comeback, rather than being a pivot point for the arc of the game.
I did well to recognize what I needed to focus on, and was able to capitalize on some early mistakes from my opponent. Moving all three of the Tundra Wolves to threaten in Round 1 sealed the doom for all three regiments, and forced to react, the usually-implacable Cavern Dweller was a non-issue that I was able to avoid for most of the game. I have been playing a lot of speedy lists the last few months, and that knowledge was apparently put to good use here!
Testing Conclusions
- Spirit Walkers with Brew of Haste. These had a phenomenal game, picking up more than their points via combat, and even ending the game amazingly untouched. I have gained a respect for the unit in its last few outings. No other Tribal unit quite has the punch or reach of the Spirit Walkers, though they are pretty fragile. I feel like I have yet to get real use out of the item myself, but I think in practice it just mitigates the need for good Wild Charge rolls, since I am typically in-range without needing to roll. I can appreciate what Keith sees in these.
- Harpies. The left one helped with a kill and would have defended a token had the game gone longer, and the right one was sacrificed at the right time to let me safely and decisively deal with the Draugr Legion. Not flashy, but both were used well.
- Lycans. They had their work cut out for them this game! Three was definitely the right call for mt taste, and the items seemed like good fits for the list. I think they were used well overall, but I am particularly happy with the Horde with the Blood. Opting to not charge in, in order avoid getting pinned down was wise on my part. Successful alpha strike seems to demand knowing what to charge and when, and I think my Lycan play was strong this game, even if their dice weren't always supporting my decisions.
- Beast of Nature. The MVPs. The longer charge range helped me pin down two of the three Wolves in Round 1, and one was able to eat two Hearthguard units (with help). Dangerous, and used well, with the exception of forgetting about the one on the left in Round 4.
- Mounted Druid. The Herd needs precision, and I think folks will want to whittle the Druid picks down to just one with the Staff, in order to run other heroic things. Playing against all this speed, I have come to really like the mounted version for the army.
- Lycan Alphas. I liked having these around, and they fit well with the rest of the list. They helped with Inspiring coverage, and they were just general nuisances for my opponent, as square heroic units tend to be, and delaying charges proved to be quiet powerful as well.
- Moonfang. Primal Savagery wasn't nearly as impactful as I might have hoped for, though it did help pick up the Dweller. I didn't really get to use him in any grinding combats either. Despite the lack of a standout performance, I really liked him leading the list here.
I still very much enjoy the nightmarish look of Joe's army, especially the nightmarish Wolves! I also appreciate his continuing commitment to running so many Draugr! They are fun and fluffy and strong, and he showed just how good the frigid zombies can be when used alongside clever Ordered March moves. The final result here was definitely not indicative of the game overall. His list had me sweating bullets from the jump, and I just happened to snowball some early edges into the eventual win. I had a great time and am looking forward to the rematch! Thanks for the game!