Kings of War 3rd Edition: #137 Varangur vs Brothermark in Protect and Raze

Intro and Lists

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

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 healbot War Wizard with Celestial Restoration. 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” list for the games today. 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 to roll. 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 Bows and Wolf Handlers. We’re going with bows this time, which still I think is the better default option, as the extra range is so helpful. We’re messing around with the Wolf Handlers upgrade for some Scout moves, so we’ll see what we can learn about bows.
• 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 Bows. I really like the idea of ranged cavalry, but they tend to be hard to use, have poor output in every phase, and have a lot of rough games. The formation takes from to Me3+, so we'll try being aggressive with them and see where that takes 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

Using his Kings of War App to set things up for the rematch, we got Protect and Raze for the scenario, which I feel like I’ve been playing a lot of, but so be it! It’s a good scenario with lots of possible interactions. 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.

Overview of the table while we toss stuff into the center and going over lists.

The app also gave us a very odd map, but we rolled with it, ending up with a lot of terrain on my left. I won the roll for sides, and was lazy, as while it was probably obvious to my opponent, I was hoping to make use of the forest.

The Brothermark.

Again my opponent largely ignored the left-third of the table, leaving an angled Penitent regiment to dissuade the Varangur from outriding. The pond and building would help anchor his line, and he had the Ogre Palace Guard and Paladins out here to help pressure and brawl for the center. The three Arbalests ended up in the middle but way back. The bulk of the Brothermark line was packed into the right-third of the table. Bowmen ended up behind a building, but had decent arcs of fire towards several objectives, and were supported by a Phoenix and Ogre Captain. Using a hill as cover, the rest of the Brothermark castled in the corner, with three regiment of Penitents, along with the Ancient Phoenix between the Ogre Palace Guards in reserve, and assorted individuals around here too.

Varangur on the left.

I had Horse Raiders unsupported on the far left, hoping to burn a token and then control the other if I could. Trying to play around the enemy artillery, I tried to hide what I could. We have a Snow Troll Prime and Sliksneer with Draugr angled and hiding behind the hill. The idea was to push out and then leave the Draugr to hold the center.

Continuing with that play, we have another Prime on the line with an angled horde of Snow Trolls, who should be getting cover from the obstacle should the Arbalests want to target them. 

Varangur in the center.

The other Horse Raiders ended up centrally. They were a late drop and I just couldn’t figure out what to do with them, and figured I might try a “charge of the Light Brigade” if the opportunity arose. 

I deployed the Conclaves centrally. We both tried to keep the artillery to late drops, but both caved and committed to insure we weren’t deploying them somewhere where they would not be able to shoot. My final drop was the Reavers here, to block line of sight/provide cover, should the war machines want to fire upon each other. I figured between the movement of the Reavers and the movement of the Conclaves, I’d be able to secure clean shots if I went first.

Varangur on the right.

On the right, the second horde of Draugr came down. This was an early drop, just to the side of the field, and the hope was to run up and use the building to anchor and hold for a few turns. Against Penitents, that could be enough!

My right corner had most of my early drops. We have angled Reavers hoping to zip up and avenge the blocking Draugr when the time came, then angled Night Raiders ready to take the woods, and then a Snow Troll Prime to support as well.

Scout moves from the Varangur.

Truthfully, neither of us seemed pleased with our deployments. Terrain was weird and all the war machines and counter-play really seemed to mess with both of us. 

My Night Raiders scouted up, making sure to keep leader points in the woods. These were early deployments, angled to gain the most ground. 

Top of Round 1: Brothermark

On the right, the Brothermark Lines moves up aggressively, with the screening Penitents moving at the double, and the Ancient Phoenix and one of the Ogre hordes keeping pace, along with tall the individuals. I believe the Phoenix has range into one of the Raiders, but between Stealthy and cover penalties, nothing connects.

Big opening moves from the Brothermark.

The second horde of Ogres dallied, wary of taking the hill and getting shot at.

Only slightly lighter pressure in the center.

Centrally, the Bowmen moved up and pivoted, securing an objective while shooting at the screening Reavers. The Bowmen land 1, and the Arbalests roll hot landing 8 more. The Reavers are Fearless, but are uninspired and routed. 

Out on the left, with Penitents doing a little swimming.

On the left, the Paladins move up to anchor themselves to the building, with the Ogre Captain supporting them.

The Penitents on the far left wade into the pond, looking to dissuade the Horse Raiders from outriding.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

On the left, the Horse Raiders gallop up and pivot, securing my token on the left. My opponent reminds me to burn it, and I do, though this is illegal. I can’t start razing stuff until Round 2.

Movement on the left.

The and Draugr and horde of Snow Trolls both move up a lot, along with both Primes. The nearer one is out of range of the Paladins, as are the Horse Raiders. 

Movement in the center.

The Horse Raiders stop just outside of range of the Paladins, and loose into the Villein Bowmen. With the Reaver screen routing, the Conclaves all shuffle about to fling into the Bowmen as well, and I land a combined 8 damage. 

Movement on the right.

On the right, the Night Raiders have shotes into the Bowmen, but it should be with cover with the Captain right there. With their aggressive Scout moves and the aggressive advance of the Penitents, one of the Raider units is threatened, so I opt to split my fire, and the Raiders land a combined 6 damage into one of the Penitent units, the Penitents are Rallied and Inspired though, and do not care.

I prioritize getting the Reavers up instead of the Draugr horde, and the nearby Snow Troll  stays out of range of the Penitents, and positions to support the Night Raiders.

Top of Round 2: Brothermark

On the right, the Brothermark continue their blitz. Both Penitents make hindered charges into the nearest Night Raiders, and land a combined 4 damage to disorder the unit. The Ancient Phoenix gets close enough to trigger Radiance of Life for the wounded unit, and then heals them for an additional 3 to take them down to just 2 damage. Adding to all this, only one unit of Raiders is near enough to hold this token, so the Penitents are able to wrestle this from the Varangur.

The Brothermark are in already.

The Ogre Captain on the right jogs up to secure the second token on the right, pivoting nimbly to keep things in front-arc while doing so.

Both hordes of Ogres move up, with the previously timid unit swiftly traversing the hill. The Chaplain and the Paladin characters arrange themselves out here while the ASB peels off to help the Bowmen and the War Wizard with Celestial Restoration plays in the back field, moving away in order to target the Bowmen, healing 3 with the Phoenix contributing another 2 to take them down to just 3 damage now.

The Horse Raiders hold, but it is close.

The Bowmen and all three Arbalests shoot into the Horse Raiders in the center, landing 6 damage but thankfully failing to rout them.

The Paladins retreat while the Penitents and Captain try to dissuade.

The Paladins are under threat from a Snow Troll Prime. While that isn’t scary on its own, they don’t want to get pinned down, and so back up. Their supporting Ogre Captain turns to further dissuade my outriding Horse Raiders, and the Penitents side-step in the pond, trying to further construct the movement of my cavalry.

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

On the left, I burned the token here last turn by mistake, but didn't move too far this turn, so this is fine in the big picture. I want to play a bit in this corridor and then zip back to claim my opponent's left objective if I can, so I'm am looking to pressure and shoot in the coming turns. The Penitents are majority in the pond, so I’m shooting with a penalty, but do land 1 damage against them. They don’t have Iron Resolve, so it sticks, but this is just so underwhelming. The Ogre Captain is lurking, but too far back to actually threaten me just yet. 

Sliksneer is about a half inch shy to just jump past the Penitents and get out of arc, so he cautiously approaches, staying out of sight for this turn.

Positioning on the left.

The Draugr horde slowly advances on the left, remaining angled. Seeing the Paladins back up, both Primes and the horde, taking advantage of Wild Charge 1 and their greater speed, staying just over 10” away.

The shooting gallery in the center is a mess. I don’t quite have the range to be tricky with the Horse Raiders, so they make a different ill-advised charge into the Bowmen. We are hindered by Phalanx, but still land 7 damage against the archers to bring them up to 10 damage.

Positioning in the center.

With the lanes clear, the Conclaves loose into an opposing war machine, but just 4 damage makes is through. The Arbalest is wavered though.

On the right, the Reavers make a charge into the Ogre Captain. They land the expected 8 damage, and I luck out with the Nerve Checks. The Ogres can see some of them, so they spin awkwardly around to get out of their arc.

Fighting on the right.

The far-right is a mess as well. I want to support the wounded Raiders with the Prime, but opt not to. The Prime holds, and the wounded unit counter-charges the wounded Penitents. They were healed down to 2, but are taken back up to 4 with some pretty cold dice.

Reforms on the right.

Squaring up lets the fresh Raiders charge the other Penitents and square up, with then lets my Draugr horde hit the unit with a hindered flank charge. The units roll well, taking the unit to 13 damage and breaking them. In victory, the Raiders back up a few inches, and the Draugr swivel to block and hold the woods. If I hadn’t already lost both tokens out here, I’d be feeling ok with things!

Top of Round 3: Brothermark

Having already claimed their tokens, the Brothermark are less willing to press forward out on the right, as there is is just no reason to. 

The Ogre Horde near the edge actually cannot fit to help the Penitents fight the injured Raiders, so they back up, denying the Prime a delaying charge into them. The other horde of Ogres backs up, trying to threaten as much space as possible, and the unengaged Penitents just hold, hoping to bait out charges for the Ogres to punish.

Fighting on the right.

The fighting unit of Penitents continues, landing 3 more damage to take the Raiders up to 7, but the Varangur line holds.

The Horse Raiders are shot off.

The Bows disengage, letting the Phoenixes shoot the Horse Raiders. I believe one Arbalest joins in against the cavalry as well accruing enough damage to confidently pick the uninspired unit up. The final Arbalest fires into one of my war machines, and spikes the dice, blooming things up to 4 damage and wavering me. 

The Ancient Phoenix helps with Radiance of Life and Cloak of Death, but Celestial Restoration spikes hard this turn as well, healing the Bowmen for 9 and erasing all the damage of the last two turns.

Positioning on the left, with more Horse Raiders lurking just out of frame.

The Paladins back up, but they are in a bad spot. I have a charge range of 13 inches thanks to Wild Charge 1 on all the Trolls. They all stayed just out of 10” from the Paladins, and the Paladins can only move 2 ½” away, so I am still threatening them with a triple charge.

The Paladins still back up, trying to delay and hope for reinforcements or another good Brothermark shooting phase. The flank of the Paladins is still safe, and the Ogre Captain remains pointed at the outriding Horse Raiders, as do the reserve Penitents.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

I believe the Horse Raiders hold. They have range into things and can’t get around, so there is no good reason to move. They try shooting the Penitents again and again land just 1 more damage, thanks to the cover penalties of the pond. They are at 2 and I spike the Nerve Check to waver them, though it doesn’t really matter.

A triple charge from Trolls.

Slicksneer now hops the line, getting far into my opponent’s deployment zone and out of arc of both the Penitents and the Ogre Captain.

I take the triple charge into the Paladins, and the Primes spike their dice, contributing more than usual, and the horde is brought to 17 damage. They have a ridiculously high Nerve, but the hot dice continue and I am able to pick the Inspired unit up. The horde turns to face the upstart Bowmen, one Prime overruns, and the other turns to threaten the Captain and Penitents. 

Reforms for the trolls.

The two Conclaves active this turn shoot into the injured Arbalest, add 5 damage, and I will pick it up this turn.

Combat on the right.

On the right, the Draugr horde tries to instigate, making a hindered charge into the Penitents and will land a whopping 1 damage. The Reavers tuck in hear them, and with some fiddling, we agree that the Ogres are in their front, but cannot fit or align for a charge.

I want to protect my Inspiring, so the Prime again declines to charge, letting the two Raider units deal with the Penitents, with the goal to overrun with the injured unit. The Penitents takes 8 damage and is brought up to 12, but is found to be insane, stalling the push.

Top of Round 4: Brothermark

The insane Penitents halt what little momentum I have out here, and let the Brothermark will then concertedly push back. 

Celestial Restoration helps the Insane Penitents get from 12 down to 10, and the insane Penitents land another 3 damage to bring the Raiders up to 10 and break them. 

A Chaplain makes a hindered charge into the fresh unit of Raiders, lands 2 and holds them up. 

A mess of charges on the right.

Then, both Ogre units and a regiment of Penitents charge the Draugr in the front, with the Paladin character joining in the flank, and the zombies are just tipped over into devastated status before routing, and the Brothermark reform to bully the what little is left out here for the Varangur.

Reforms for the many victorious Brothermark units.

The ASB moves towards the Bowmen again. The archers, both Phoenixes and both remaining Arbalests shoot into the Snow Trolls, who accrue 7 damage but hold.

Brothermark positioning on the left.

The Ogre Captain turns to face the rear of the Snow Trolls, and the wavering Penitents remain in the pond.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

I decide to be a little greedy, and explore the Horse Raiders more. They have a hindered rear charge into the Ogre Captain and take it. It’s a lot of attacks, but I no modifiers against armor. The apparent expected damage of 7 slips in, but the Captain is steady and Iron-Resolves down to 6. 

Aftermath of Bottom of 4.

Slicksneer has a charge into an Arbalest, but opts to charge the Penitents instead, with a Snow Troll Prime joining on the other flank. Together, 9 damage is done and the unit is popped with Brutal 2. 

The other Snow Troll Prime has a charge into a war machine and takes it, picking it up and reforming.

The Trolls charge again.

Three Conclaves are active this turn, and shoot into the remaining Arbalest, land 7 damage, and will pick it up as well. 

The Snow Troll Horde regenerates 2, and charges the Bowmen, landing 13 damage with some more hot dice.

A little too late on the right, for everything Varangur-related.

On the right, choices are slim. The Reavers make a clean charge into the Penitents, but I run out of luck. While 8 damage lands, the inspired unit holds. They should be rallied as well. We agree that this was probably the least worst option for the Reavers, as charging fresh Ogres didn’t seem fruitful either.

The stuck Night Raiders counter-charge the Chaplain, landing a meager 2 through the hero’s armor. 

The Snow Troll Prime finally makes a charge, and will maul the insane Penitents.

Top of Round 5: Brothermark

On the right, Ogres charge the Prime, and will roll hot, landing 12 damage and will pick him up.

The Paladin and Chaplain charge the Raiders. The Paladin is hindered, but the dice are good and each does 3 damage, taking the Raiders up to 8, and will get the rout after the Prime is cut down.

Charges for the Brothermark.

The Penitents counter-charge the Reavers, with some Ogres flanking. The unit is brought to 26 damage while I use the restroom, and is obliterated. Reform options aren't great with two big hordes, but the Brothermark has won out here, so they aren't in any danger.

View from the center.

We discuss, and I convince Trevor to try and hold the line with the Bowmen. They are far enough ahead I need to fight me way through them, and if he moves the normal Phoenix a little closer, he can put two titans behind the horde, and really complicate my life. So that’s what he does. The Bowmen disengage, and the Phoenixes buttress them from behind. The Bowmen take a Celestial Restoration for 5, a Radiance of Life for 1, and Heals for 3 more, ending the turn on just 4 damage. 

On the left, the Ogre Palace Guard disorders the Horse Raiders, landing 3 damage against them. 

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

On the left, I probably should have run the horses away last turn, but I was just too curious about that rear charge. Now that I am fighting, I can’t safely Nimble away from the Captain.

The Horsemen counter-charge, with a Prime joining in, and they take the Captain to 15 damage and break him. The victorious horsemen change facing, but starting in the pond, are not going to be able to get back to hold the other token here on the left as the game concludes.

Movement for the Varangur.

Slicksneer moves as close as he can, but has no charges this turn. Even with the item he’s well short of the Bowmen.

Positioning for the Conclaves.

Fresh from breaking an Arbalest, a Snow Troll Prime turns to join the horde of his brethren  against the Bowmen. The archers are brought back up to 16 damage, and wavered, but are still on the field, and still keeping me off this token.

All three Conclaves are online, but can’t do much with the critical fight happening behind the building. They can’t target the injured Penitents, but land do 8 into the nearest Ogre Palace Guard, which is then Iron Resolved down to just 7 after they are found to be steady.

Top of Round 6: Brothermark

Untouched Ogres control my objective on the far right. They are not Inspired, but there is no way to claim it, and with Ogres and Penitents in the way to confound line of sight, this token seems safe.

The Brothermark dump numerous Heals into the Bowmen.

The wavering Bowmen hold, getting another Radiance of Life for 1, Celestial Restoration for 5, and more heals for 4 to take them back down to 6.

Bottom of Round 6: Varangur

The Horse Raiders on the left make their way towards the token, but will not be able to claim it unless I roll up a Round 7. They move and I hope for the best.

A Snow Troll Prime races towards the center, and Draugr trudge up to hold the center.

Slicksneer, a Prime, and the Trolls make another group charge into the Bowmen, see-sawing them back up to 18 damage, and with Brutal 2, will finally break the unit. Everything tries to overrun, but we had pre-measured, and it’s not enough without a Round 7. 

The Snow Trolls need to overrun a few inches to contest, but it’s US3 vs the US 4 of the two Phoenixes. The Prime overruns, but is an quarter of an inch too far sideways to score. There was just no way to wrestle this cleanly with how things needed to connect against the wide Bowmen, so I broke the Bowmen, but need a Round 7 to do this.

Still playing for Round 7, one Conclave moves to the left, and shoots into the injured Ogres, as it can’t get any other target. A few damage lands, and they waver. It's not a rout, but just fine for a Round 7.

The other two Conclaves can move to the right, and get shots with cover around the building and into the Phoenix, and 7 damage connects, but the Phoenix holds. 

I have done all I can, but roll up a resounding “1” for a Round 7, definitively ending it here.

The Brothermark have burned two of their tokens on the right and control my two tokens on the right, while the Varangur have burned one on the left, and hold the center for one point as well, making this game a 4:2 victory for the Brothermark!

Game Conclusions

The game was a lot of fun, and was a really neat showcase for how dynamic this revised scenario can be! This would have been a tie under old Raze rules, but being able to fall back and hold tokens is an interesting avenue of play. Good stuff!

The shooty Varangur again had a tough match-up against Iron Resolve and Heals. The Bows were slightly better takes, but I still got drastically outplayed, and struggled to make any headway with my ranged damage dealing.

We’ve both been intrigued by, but both struggled with, the Celestial Restoration spell. It’s a little awkward to use given Indirect fire, and is a big enough investment that you really want to use the level 3 spell. However, that means your Spellcaster needs to be Level 2-3, and you don’t want Inspiring or too many additional rules baked into the profile, as the caster is probably going to be stuck in a corner. Few casters meet these criteria, but the War Wizard here proved his worth here, healing well over 20 damage throughout the game with some big rolls. 

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr Hordes. Again, not really supported or used well overall. I need to either be using other chaff to block for them and increase their longevity, or putting scary units around them and be ready to push back after the Draugr take the initial charge. I did neither thing here and still have a lot to learn with trash hordes.
• Reavers. These were also not used well here. The plan of shooting stuff to wound with them cleaning up did not work in the first game of the day. Positioning was tough this game, and they ended up being used as chaff this game, which was not a good use of points. A neat unit, but a terrible list for them. They need to be run alongside other combat units
• Night Raiders with Bows and Wolf Handlers. I clearly did not think things through with them. Deploying to utilize the terrain was wise, but I did not react to the location of the tokens. With so many tokens out here, the angle was unnecessary, and they should have been deployed more straight on. Additionally, the scout move was too aggressive; I just needed an inch to hit the Penitents. Given the aggressive Scout move, I should have focused fire into the opposing Bowmen instead of splitting my fire, especially against a list with healing. I think this is the better loadout for Raiders, but these were not used well. 
• Snow Troll Horde. I’ve played against them a lot, but it’s different field them yourself. Wild Charge was very impactful here, and they had a pretty decent game! While I will acknowledge that their combat dice were hot, so they overperformed a bit, CS2 and Vicious still makes them a better brawler unit than I realized. 
• Magus Conclaves. A decent showcase for their mobility, and they had decent output, but I just couldn’t shoot my way through all the healing. Still definitely worth exploring, but they had a tough game again here.
• Snow Troll Primes. A strong and durable unit, but they really need other units around to help when they get wavered and need to take a breather to regenerate.
• Formation Horse Raiders with Bows. Again, I like ranged cavalry in theory but struggle to make them work on the table. I tried taking advantage of the longer range on the bows, and again leaning into shooting just doesn’t seem worth it for this unit. 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. On their own they aren’t going to do much, and I think if you run them at any size or as the formation, you need to be running them with Mounted Sons or something in order to get the most juice out of them. 
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The Mead was almost impactful, but fell a little short at the end. I again liked the Brutal 2 on him, though honestly the rest of the list didn’t get much use out of the aura. A Barbarian-keyworded list might get more use out of the formation, and a list with the formation plus Mounted Sons might be good if you wish to try this yourself.

Again, a tough game, but another great one! Lots to consider for the Varangur-side, and it was neat to see the Brothermark come away with some strong victories today. Thanks for the games, and for hosting them!