Kings of War 3rd Edition: #136 Varangur vs Brothermark in Loot

Intro and Lists

Schedules aligned and I was able to fit in a very unusual second day of games this last weekend, this time against Trevor of Data and Dice. He brought the following:

He is still on his “Bromark Goblins” approach, leaning on numerous Penitent units supported by individuals to serve as an expendable front line, with Ogre Guards, Phoenixes, Paladins on foot, Bowmen, and now triple Arbalests backing them up. The unique twist this time was a duelist Dictator with Wings. Overall, the list has a lot of Nerve to chew through, and a surprising amount of shooting and healing to give him plenty of options in every phase. 

I brought the Varangur, as I am still trying to make up for neglecting them all last year. I had a number of lists to test from around February of 2024, and condensed several into some “shooting Varangur” lists for the games today. Goong alphebetically, first up is a focus on axes, and up to evaluate is everything:

• Draugr Hordes. I absolutely love regiments of these. However, I wanted to try hordes, using the cheap unlocks run all the war machine toys I wanted to try out. We’ll see how the hordes do.
• Reaver Troops. Honestly, they don’t really synergize with the rest of the list, but I still wanted to try them out as 20 attacks just seemed like fun. Depending on the match-up, I guess the loose hope is to shoot stuff and have the crazies here charge in and clean up? We’ll see how that works in practice.
• Night Raiders with Axes and Wolf Handlers. I’m going heavy into Varangur shooting, and we’re giving the Raiders both Axes and Wolf Handlers, for Scout moves. The Axe unit is just a weird unit given the range of the shooting attack, so we’ll see what we can learn.
• Snow Troll Horde. I finagled the old list to fit these newcomers in, as while I have seen them across the table a lot over the years, I have yet to debut my own units, and still have a lot to learn. 
• Magus Conclaves. They are a very unique unit, in that the magi can move around and shoot, and that seems worth exploring. I’ve tried them in some league games, and have been … whelmed by them, as singleton war machines are pretty bad, but we’ll see how the full-power trio does.
• Snow Troll Primes. The loose goal is to use them to inspire and interdict, and even if they waver, hopefully I have enough shooting to support them while they regenerate. They are a steal for their points, and I’m putting all three on the table to put them through their paces and see more of what they can do.
• Formation Horse Raiders with Axes. Technically, the Horse Raiders saw play in at least one Ambush game last year, though that did not go well due to the small table size. Cavalry is no good when everything is fighting shoulder-to-shoulder! The formation gives them Melee 3+, and with axes, we’ll try to be aggressive with them and see where that gets us.
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The normal Lord is a neat pick, and the formation gives a him a conditional Brutal +1 Aura and a mount, a mix which is usually verboten. I’m giving him Brand of the Warrior for a Brutal 1, meaning I should be bringing Brutal 2 to all his fights, and with 7 quality attacks, he seems like a great way to tip combats unexpectedly in my favor. I’m investing pretty heavily in him, and with 10 spare points, I’m giving him Mead of Madness, trying to extend his reach ever-so-slightly.

Table and Terrain

We were playing at his place, and he had used his one-click app to generate a table for us. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the ponds as some Height 0 difficult terrain.

Overview of the table.

The app gave us Loot for the scenario. Three Loot Tokens would be in play, able to be picked up and carried around, and each worth 1 point at the end of the game to whomever controls it. One Token was central, and the other two were placed on the center line. We rolled off for placement, and I placed first, over on the left. With not enough space to fit another token out here, his Token ended up on the right. 

View from the center. The Brothermark ignored the left.

For deployment, the Brothermark ignored the left-third of the board. The main line was three Penitents and Paladin Monster Slayers, with an Ogre Captain, Palace Guard Horde, Paladin, Chaplain, War Wizard, Phoenix and other Ogre Palace Guard Horde all in reserve. The line extended with the flying Dictator on the line and Penitents just behind, then angled Bowmen, the other Ogre Captain and second Phoenix, and then the three Heavy Arbalests were crammed into the corner. 

View from the right.

The plan was to use the Night Raiders to contest one token while playing harder for the other two. I was out-dropped, but thankfully the Heavy Arbalests came down early enough to mostly avoid.

...and back to a view from the left.

With no difficult terrain on the left, I ended up placing both Horse Raiders and an angled Reaper in a stack, all hoping to zip up. And hopefully roll this flank. A horde of Draugr were nearby to hold the token and block. A Snow Troll Prime, troop of Reapers and Horde of Snow Trolls all came down in the field as I was trying to avoid the Arbalests. The second horde of Draugr came down just left-of-center for the same reasons, supported by a second Prime who has his leader point just to the right of the base of the hill. The Conclaves came down pretty late, all angled behind the building to be safe from the Arbalests, and intent on shooting the Def4 Paladins. The plan was to play heavily for the Left and Center Tokens, and then contest the one on the Right, with the Varangur right having Sliksneer to try and counter and dissuade the Dictator, with the Night Raiders and third Snow Troll out here to delay.

Super-aggressive scout moves on the right.

I had scout moves, but Axes made things awkward. I figured I’d need to be aggressive with this list and the short range of the Axes, so had been hoping for the other table side, so I could be Scouting into the more central woods. Alas. Bows would be better here so I could hide in the woods and plink away against the opposing Villein Bowmen. After some hemming and hawing, I decide to full send and see what happens. I am not supporting the Scout move well as I am not Inspired, but figured Stealthy should do enough work to protect me, and if I got first turn, I’d be able to zip the characters up to help out, possibly even grabbing a token with the Prime while the Raiders ran interference. It’s risky, but I am still trying to learn the army and how I want to play it, so we need to take risks in order to learn.

I do unfortunately lose out on the roll for deciding turn order, and the Brothermark seize the initiative.

Top of Round 1: Brothermark

On the right, the Bowmen scoot up, with the Guard Captain looking to interdict for them. The bowmen, Phoenix and all three Arbalests shoot into one of the Night Raiders, though Stealthy does keep the damage down to 5 total, and the Raiders hold.

The Brothermark push out with a unit strength advantage.

The Penitents get their leader point into the woods to see out of the terrain, waiting to see how things unfold. 

The Dictator flies over, using the building as cover. He is safe from Sliksneer and already eyeing up my Conclaves.

The layered center moves up, and the Dictator hides behind the ruins.

The layered center of the Brothermark pushes up aggressively. The Paladins move at the double, supported by the Phoenix and Ogre Palace Guard.

The building and hill really help anchor the Brothermark line.

The Penitents, supported by the trio of supporting individuals are only slightly less aggressive. Two move up around 9 inches, keeping a pretty tight line, and the third, over on the left, takes the hill, with the Captain and other Ogre Palace Guard horde waiting patiently in reserve.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

On the left, both Horse Raiders zip up at the double and nimbly pivot. The Reavers also move at the double, as I want them getting into the fight quicker. I want the Draugr to hold the token, so they just move their 4 and get caught up on the obstacle for now. 

Movement on the left.

The other Reavers move up and out of the field. They are safe from the Penitents, but should be able to charge things next turn. The Horde of Snow Trolls also moves up out of the field. The nearby Snow Troll Prime moves and pivots, looking to help cover possible landing zones for the Dictator out here.

The Draugr shuffle up. I want to hid them behind the hill as long as possible. The Prime supporting them moves and pivots to look at the Magus Conclaves, and stand ready to avenge them.

 An imminent clash coming in the center, but the Varangur stay just out of charge range for now.

The Magus Conclaves are neat war machines though, in that they can move and are Nimble. The all nimbly shuffle to the right to get out of line of sight of the Dictator. All will toss foul magics into the Foot Guard as planned, landing 8 damage, but it’s a horde, and they are steady, and will Iron Resolve down to just 6 damage, thanks to the item.

On his horse, Sliksneer pulls up near the building, also avoiding the sight of the Dictator. The Dictator has Duelist, so I don’t really want him getting the charge against me.

The individuals have a momentary standoff.

On the right, the Night Raiders move up another few inches, in order to grab the Loot Token out here. I am being risky again, but figured picking the token up might encourage my opponent to fight them in melee, which they can probably endure since only the Ogre Captain is in range. The Prime zips up to get the Raiders Inspired, and they throw their axes into the Bowmen, landing 8 damage, which is a little under the expected result.

Top of Round 2: Brothermark

On the right, the Brothermark shooting dice spike, completely ignoring my Stealthy. I think maybe 1 Arbalest shot misses, and the Bowmen overperform as well. The Night Raiders take 9 damage and rout, and will drop the Loot Token. The Snow Troll Prime takes 4 from an Arbalest, and wavers with a hot check. And the Ogre Captain does charge, but into the fresh unit of Night Raiders. He lands 3 damage, and these Raiders hold, though the right is looking lost to me already.

The Varangur take losses on the right.

The Penitents enter the woods, looking to make their way towards the right to pick up that token.

The Penitents offer themselves.

Centrally, the Paladins inch up, and then Penitents move up to protect their flank from the Snow Troll Horde. The Ogre Palace Guard hordes continue to wait in reserve, and the Phoenix flicks 3 damage into the Draugr, who Iron-Resolve down to 2.

The Dictator hops over the building, and we are able to get him to a spot that Sliksneer can’t see, and he is again threatening the Conclaves.

The left holds, anchored by the terrain.

On the left, the Penitents adjust to protect against flank charges, and the other Ogres hold in reserve as well. 

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

I am not happy with how I’ve played the Horse Raiders. I pivoted hard in Round 1, so am struggling a bit with positioning. The furthest one nimbly pivots and zips behind the building, but isn’t in a position to threaten anything next turn. Had I pivoted less in Round 1, I could have made it here without a pivot, and thus have used that pivot to be threatening flanks and rears now. 

The Varangur try to concave their line against the Brothermark.

The second regiment is able to nimbly get out of arc of the Penitents on the hill, and face their flank, ready to shoot. The hill and the building are essentially contiguous though, so the shots would be with cover. However, I have one Reaper unit under threat by Penitents, and opt to charge the unit on the hill, negating my own shots. Hitting on 6’s with the axes wasn’t going to be great, but this is still a goof and inefficient. Adding further insult to all this, while the Reapers overperform slightly to deal 10 damage, and the Penitents are out of all of the Inspiring, Rally, and Fury bubbles. However, they are found to be insanely courageous.

Also on the left, the other unit of Reapers move up, ready to charge next turn, and the Draugr horde out here moves their 4” to get off the obstacle and trudge towards the token. 

The Snow Troll Prime and Horde are a little penned in by the field. I don’t want to back up into it, and don't want to charge Penitents, as that would bring both Ogre units into play next turn. So they stand ready. 

The Varangur are under pressure.

Centrally, the Draugr are safe from the Paladins, and I am ok if the Penitents want in here, so they hold. The supporting Snow Troll Prime backs up slightly, to prevent the Dictator from landing anywhere behind him.

The Magus Conclaves make use of their mobility again, shuffling up and orienting themselves to all give a flank to the Dictator, but with no space to land, he’ll only be able to fight the first one. The Conclaves fire into the Paladins again, and land another 7 to bring them to 13, but they Iron-Resolve again, ending the turn at 11. 

Desperation out on the right for the Varangur.

Sliksneer can’t really deal effectively with the Dictator, but does have the inches to the Bowmen. Even against Phalanx, this seems better than fighting the Ogre Captain right now. He charges in, and lands 4 damage to bring them to 12, and the uninspired unit is wavered.

On the right, the Night Raiders fight the Ogre Captain, but choke landing no hits, and the wavering Snow Troll Prime regenerates one, and just holds.

Top of Round 3: Brothermark

On the right, the Arbalests again shoot into the Snow Troll Prime, land 4 damage combined, and waver him again.

The Penitents make a hindered charge to support the Ogre Captain, and the Raiders are brought up to 8 damage and wavered as well. 

The Phoenix tries to heal the Bowmen, but lands no successes.

Wavering out on the right. I'm surprised to still have units over here though.

The Dictator goes into the nearest Magus Conclave and lands a solid 6 damage, but the Conclave is found to be insane.

The other spells are better this turn, with the Phoenix healing the Paladins for 3, and taking them from 11 down to just 8, back where they were at the end of Round 1… The Paladins take command on the hill, with the Ogres cheering them on from behind.

The Penitents here do their job, getting in against the Prime and the Horde, with the assortment of supporting individual heroes nearby. 

Spells are big this turn, with Trevor casting what might be his first-ever Bane Chant on the Penitents fighting the Prime, with very hot 5 damage getting in. The other Penitents thump 1 into the Horde.

Charges for the Brothermark.

The supporting Ogre Captain about-faces to try and zone out the outriding Horse Raiders, and positions to prevent a run-by.

Aftermath of combats, with a bonus of us seeing if the Reavers can fit.

With the unique building and hill placement, the Penitents are only able to slide down slightly for their countercharge, opening a small frontage for the reserve Ogres to take advantage of. The Reavers are obliterated. The Ogres back up, not enough to get off the hill, but enough to prevent a charge from the other Reavers, as the victorious Penitents move up to block.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

On the left, the outriding Horse Raiders rein it in, stopping out of arc of the Ogre Captain, and throwing axes into him, but nothing makes it through the ornate armor.

The other Horse Raiders take the easy flank charge into the Penitents on the hill. The Penitents start on 10 damage, and are quickly devastated, with the horses backing up to get out of sight.

Charges for the Varangur.

The Prime regenerates 1 to get down to 4 damage, while thumping 5 into the offending Penitents, but they hold firm. The Snow Troll Horde regenerates their 1 damage, and rolls hot hits against their Penitent unit, and picks them up. 

The Reavers don’t have the arc to support the Prime. On his turn, my opponent has us measure, and with a maximum roll on the Wild Charge, the Reavers could get in against the supporting individuals with just the one pivot. We went to all that work so while it is not an optimal play, it does seem like fun. The tankier Paladin is the first in the stack of individuals though, and the Reavers choke though, landing just 6 damage against the Paladin, who Iron Resolves down to 5. 

Yeah, this was not a clever play, and very risky. Slightly less risky would have been sending the Reavers into the damaged Penitents on the hill, and the Horse Raiders into the flank of the Penitents fighting the Prime… but I think the Reavers needed a 2” withdraw to get off the hill and that all seemed like a mess, but would have been the wiser play. I went for the more fun play, and it did not pan out. 

The left Draugr can help the Prime, but would find their back corner in the field when they align, so they spent the turn moving and picking up the token instead. I did not place an “undo” corner marker before picking them up, so their movement is tiny this turn. 

Positioning in the center.

The central Draugr can’t escape, so they hop ahead to block for the Snow Trolls.

The insane Conclave runs up, leaving the Dictator behind, and getting out of arc of the Paladins and Ogres. The other two Conclaves back up, and again toss into the Paladins. The Magi land a pitiful 3 though, and with Iron-Resolve 2, the Paladins go from 8 to 9 damage by the end of the turn. Boo.

I measure, and the Dictator’s charge brought him into range of the Snow Troll Prime. It was not planned, and I lucked out with the Insane Courage result. The Prime goes in, thumps 4 damage the Dictator, but can’t scare him away, and his Iron-Resolves down to 3 damage.

Aftermath of the fighting, out on the right.

On the right, Sliksneer again fights the Bowmen, sneaking 4 damage in past their spears, and taking the unit to 16 damage. I gave him the Brand of the Warrior for Brutal 1, and the formation gives him a Brutal +1, and I am able to pick the unit up, and overrun a strong 6 inches.

The wavering Night Raiders hold, as does the wavering Prime, who regenerates down to 5 damage.

Top of Round 4: Brothermark

The Phoenix flies up to grab the Loot Token on the right, and the Arbalests all shoot into the Snow Troll Prime again. Between the Phoenix and the obstacle, all the shots have cover, and just 1 damage slips in, but the Nerve check is strong, and again finds the Prime wavering.

More wavering. How original.

The Captain and Penitents both roll strong and are able to deal a combined 10 damage to take the Night Raiders from 8 to 18 damage, devastating and routing the unit, and both should be able to keep the Prime in front arc while threatening him.

Charges for the Brothermark.

The Dictator is able to pursue the wounded Conclave, landing another 6 and will pick them up. 

The Paladins charge the Draugr horde, and land a serious 17 damage to take them to 19 damage. The Prime fighting the Dictator brought him just out of Inspiring range, and the horde is picked up. Heal into the Paladins fails though, so they remain at 9 damage.

The silly Reavers are flanked and fronted by the Ogres, and we don’t even roll the combat. They are not insane, and both reform to face the remaining Varangur units.

Reforms for the numerous victorious units.

The individuals spread out. The surviving Paladin charges the horde of Snow Trolls to tie them up, and lands 2 damage. The War Wizard moved to precent Ogres from getting onto the hill while aligning to the Reavers, and the Chaplain keeps pretty central.

The Penitents continue against the Prime, I believe getting another Bane Chant and landing 2 to take him to 6 damage at the end of this turn. 

In the backfield, the Ogre Captain cleverly moves ahead, staying an inch away from the Horse Raiders. Rules-as-written, I can’t get within an inch of an enemy unit in the move phase unless charging something… so I would be able to pivot and escape.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

The Horse Raiders make a nimble charge into the Ogre Palace Guard which… thinking things through now, I should not have been able to see since everything involved is Height 3 and the Ogre Captain was up in their business. The Raiders land 7 in the flank; the Ogres hold, and Iron-Resolve down to 6.

Oops, an illegal charge. 

The other Horse Raiders don’t have great charges, so they take the hill, stopping an inch away from the War Wizard, and are just in range against the Paladins. They contribute a very underwhelming 1 damage (looks like 3 is expected). 

The Conclaves moving about.

The Conclaves nimble about, with the Prime protecting one while the other moves up to tempt the Dictator. The Conclaves fling into the Paladins as well, and contribute 3 to take them to 13, and then the paladins Iron Resolve down to 11. After Round 1 their shooting has felt so futile, but there are no other good targets, and I feel like I am committed to trying to focus them down, instead of starting on a new unit, but is a steep uphill battle for them.

Reforms for the Varangur.

The Draugr with the token now charge in to help the Prime, and are still hindered this time, with their corner ending ever-so-slightly in the field. But we are able to pick the Penitents up, and reform slightly.

The Snow Troll Horde does work against the Paladin hero, and will pick him up.

Sliksneer has a charge into the Arbalests now, but that doesn’t seem impactful at this point in the game. He instead charges Phoenix in the center, poking him for just 1 damage and getting the disorder despite cold dice. It’s not much, but at least stops a potential Heal spell.

On the right, the remaining Prime regenerates down to 3 damage, and nimbly pivots and backs up, but isn’t going to be able to escape the arc of the Ogre Captain.

Top of Round 5: Brothermark

On the right, the Ogre Captain indeed goes into the Prime, lands 2 damage to take him back to 5, and wavers him. Again. The Phoenix slowly walks away with the token.

In the crosshairs, but with cover.

The Arbalests have shots with cover from a tight lane into the Prime trying to fight the Dictator, will hit him with a hot 5 damage, and will frustrating waver this Prime too.

The Paladins charge off the hill and into the horde of Snow Trolls, and ideal target, though they underperform slightly, landing 11 damage to take the Trolls to 13, and waver them.

The erroneously maimed Ogres fight the Horse Raiders, will land 13 damage and rout them. That’s what they get for making an illegal charge! The second Phoenix walks away from Sliksneer, also holding a token.

Combats, and wavering Trolls are good for me.

The other Ogre horde fights the Prime on the left, taking him to 12 damage, and wavering him. Writing the report, I’m pretty sure the result was a 3 and we forgot to apply Brutal here.

The War Wizard attempts but fails his Bane Chant to aid the Paladins, and I believe the Chaplain charges in against the remaining Horse Raiders, but I think fails to connect? The Ogre Captain again turns to stop an inch away from their flank and pen them in though.

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

The Brothermark Individuals are scattered about, preventing the Horse Raiders from making any significant charge this turn, as I can’t align anywhere. They charge the Chaplain, dealing 3 damage and waver him. If this was indeed a clean charge, this isn’t great output from the unit.

Charges for the Varangur.

The Draugr cleanly flank charge the Ogres fighting the Prime, and land a ridiculous 6 damage. The unit is uninspired, and I am able to pick it up with a hot check! The very lucky prime regenerates just 1, doing from 12 down to 11 damage.

The Snow Troll Horde has the Dwarven Ale, and passes their Headstrong roll to fight the Paladins. They regenerate 5 damage as they swing back, with Slicksneer joining in with a rear charge. The rolls are terrible, and the Paladins are just brought from 11 to 19 damage, but Slicksneer’s Brutal 2 helps to finally pick the Paladins up for the moral victory! Sliksneer sidesteps to get out of range of the remaining Ogre Palace Guards, and safe from them, the Snow Trolls reposition. 

I should note that I look to have erroneously pivoted Sliksneer during the victorious reform. I also don't think the Draugr can end up where they are with a victorious pivot (I think the Prime blocks them up), but maybe it's the camera angles.

Reforms for the Varangur

The Conclave tries shooting into the wounded Dictator, but lands no hits against the individual. The wavering Prime nearby regenerates nothing and remains at 5 damage, and the wavering Prime on the right regenerates 2 as the Ogre Captain readies himself for another series of swings.

Top of Round 6: Brothermark

The Ogre Captain fights the Prime, with the Phoenix joining in with a flank charge. The Prime is brought from 3 damage to 6 damage and is wavered… again. He’s been completely stun-locked since Round 2.

Wavered again!

The Arbalests again all make shots with a cover penalty into the middle Prime, and will sneak 1 damage in to take him from 5 to 6 damage, and I believe will waver him too.

Wavered again here as well.

The Dictator will charge the last Conclave and land a ridiculous 11 damage off his 12 attacks, scattering the last of the Magus units.

Wounded, but still on the field.

The remaining Ogre unit doesn't have a charge, but move up in threaten the Draugr in a possible Round 7, and the Ogre Captain joins in the menacing. 

Bottom of Round 6: Varangur

I have no real path to victory, but it only takes a minute to finish my turn and round out the report, and my opponent obliges me. 

The Draugr make a charge into the Ogre Captain, landing 2 damage against him, and he’ll Iron Resolve down to just 1 damage. 

Final charges for the Varangur.

The somehow-surviving Prime makes a hindered charge into the damaged-but-shouldn’t be Ogres, and Sliksneer joins the combat. The Prime lands no hits, confirming that he really should be on the field at all here, while Sliksneer contributes 4 to take them to 10 damage, and will waver the unit thanks to Brutal 2.

The other Primes are wavering, and with no path to claiming another token, I concede here so we can try to fit in another game.

Game Conclusions

At the top here, I must highlight and apologize for few errors in my favor: the Horsemen should not have been able to see around the Ogre Captain to make that flank charge in Bottom of 4, and the Prime should have been broken by the Guards in Top of 5, not wavered. While both errors had some ripple effects, thankfully neither impacted the eventual ultimate outcome of the game, and the Brothermark were able to still take the well-deserved win.

Commenting on the game overall, ouch. This was not a good match-up for the shooty, axe-wielding Varangur! I wasn’t able to focus-fire anything with the axes, and just struggled to accomplish much this game since I was chip-shooting into units that not only healed but had healing spells as well. It was hard-fought, but I was in the pits from the jump and could not claw my way out.

This is not to detract from my opponent’s play in the slightest. He had a good list, piloted it well, and it is always a pleasure to see a bunch of his Brothermark take the field!

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr Hordes. These were not used particularly well, as I had nothing to really support them and prevent multi-charges, nor threatening to capitalize on them holding anything up. All they could do was get in the way. I’m still not great with big hordes, and I've largely avoided tar pit hordes previously, so we’ll just keep at it.
• Reaver Troops. The character stack fight was fun and risky but unwise. They did not have a lot of synergy with the list, and did not have the best of times. These are little hammers, but I was pretty careless with both units, really hurting my ability to fight as the game went on. 
• Night Raiders with Axes and Wolf Handlers. I had committed to being aggressive with these and the Horse Raiders ahead of time, and while that feels like the correct call given the axes, that did not work out here. I think troops of axes would be slightly better, but the bigger thing is having something scary backing them up, (ideally with Strider or Pathfinder, as you are likely Scouting around and using terrain) as such a generalist unit is going to struggle if targeted. 
• Snow Troll Horde. I learned that they have Wild Charge 1 and Vicious. I should support them better in the future, but they aren’t a bad brawling horde at all! . 
• Magus Conclaves. The Dictator was unlucky, and these should have all been shut down more quickly. The mobility was great, but the Paladins were ultimately a trap target, and I just couldn’t win that race with just swingy war machines.
• Snow Troll Primes. Just unlucky all around it seems! All of them spent the majority of the game cowering in fear. Normally that isn’t terrible for them, as they can regenerate to right again, but I didn’t actually have enough shooting nor units to help them out. 
• Formation Horse Raiders with Axes. The dice for the axe tosses were all cold, dealing about half the expected damage each time. Even accounting for that, overall, I am not a fan. Ranged cavalry are a unit type that I really like in theory, and keep trying to make work, but keep struggling with. My working theory is that this unit type needs something to nudge them in a direction, as middling stats just don’t do anything. My post-game thoughts are that I completely misplayed the unit, particularly with the Formation. These are a medium cavalry unit that happens to have a shooting attack. I should be using them first with an eye to pressuring and positioning for future combats, and only worrying about shooting as it comes up. 
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The Mead was unimpactful, but I dug him, and after being on the receiving end of strong aura play and big Brutal combats from the ravenous Halflings for the last year and a half, it felt good to try that out myself. Brutal 2 was a strong interaction, and with something like the Sacred Horn, a Barbarian list could probably have a lot of fun with this. 

A tough game, but win or lose its always fun to throw down with Trevor. Thanks for the game!