Intro and Lists
Trevor had a surprise free evening, and had reached out for a game. Further adding to my delight was that we were playing quick, and able to fit in a second weeknight game, something I don’t think we have accomplished before. Trevor was hosting, and fielded another iteration on the Brothermark:
I brought the Herd, finally going with what I think is a slightly more sensible approach to early lists running triple Brutes. I enjoyed my Keith Conroy throwback lists, so am taking that core and essentially just swapping out Lycans for the Brutes. See, sensible! It's only my third attempt at a triple Guardian Brute build. Up to evaluate is everything:
- Spirit Walkers with Blood of the Old King. With Speed 6 Brutes, I feel like I need something to instigate and grab my opponent’s attention so that the Brutes can actually get in. Keith Conroy really brought these to everyone’s attention, and I think they could work well here. They are Fearless and Height 2, so should hopefully be able to start some fights for me. Keith really liked the Brew of Haste on his, but without Lycans, I don’t think I need the speed boost, and will just try to get one good fight in with them.
- Harpies. These are great chaff units, and good picks for the Herd.
- Guardian Brutes. The thinking is that with Brutal and Fury, these should be ok brawlers.
- Beast of Nature. These are powerful monsters if used well... which I have struggled to do. I’ve demonstrated a few times now that these really need flank charges and multi-charges to break stuff, so that’ll be the goal here.
- Mounted Druid with BC and Barkskin. I like Druids in all forms, but with Hero slots at a premium for the Herd in these lists, I think they need to do more than just Bane Chant, and I’m overdue for playing around with Magic in all my armies. We don’t quite have the super-low defense to abuse the spell, but Barkskin looks ok for absorbing some damage, so we’ll try it out.
- Gladewalker Druid with Lute and Veil. You can only take Knowledgeable once, but I wanted to try out some more spell support, so have a Gladewalker Druid. They are the highest caster we can get at 2, and unfortunately are geared more towards Elemental support, but this still lets us try out Veil on a foot character, alongside Barkskin. Their spell selection is also weird, and while it feels slapdash, I think the Lute is probably a good idea, just to give them some extra utility.
- Moonfang. I like Lycan Alphas, but don’t think I can afford to run multiples, so we’re taking just the legendary one. He seems like a strong pick, and we’ll continue to take him and try and instigate with him.
- Avatar of the Father. I like my model, so am stubbornly trying to fit him into some of these builds. Fliers are stronger the more of them you take, so we’ll see what he and the two Beasts can get up to here.
Table and Terrain
Trevor was hosting us, and we used his Kings of War App to quickly generate another map. 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 s as some Height 0 difficult terrain. The map was again a little unusual, but interesting, with both buildings on one side of the map, and both ponds on the other.
We got Plunder as the scenario this time, which is good, as I need to play more token-based scenarios especially with the Herd. For Plunder, there are 5 Loot Tokens spread across the centerline of the battlefield, each worth 1 point. We each nominate one token to be upgraded to 2-Points, and we score whatever our units are holding at the end of the game. I won the roll for sides, and was lazy, and then nominated the the middle token on the right, and my opponent then picked the one on the very far left, hoping to spread me out.
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| Overview of the table. |
The white tokens are worth 1 Point, and the purples worth 2 Points. The Brothermark nominated the left-most token, while the Herd picked the one on the far-right.
The Brothermark won the roll for sides this time, and he stayed put.
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| The Brothermark line. |
For deployment the Brothermark went wide, with two Spear regiments on the far left with an Ogre Captain betwixt, the Rallying Chaplain in the pond, and then two more Spear Regiments. Augustus was next, with a Phoenix, the flying Dictator, and the Paladin horde taking us to the center, with the second Ogre Captain and both Phoenixes finishing the front line. Both Ogre units were in reserve, in the center of the battlefield.
The Brothermark went pretty wide, trying to leverage their greater unit strength into plenty of options to contest things, but Herd wanted to play hard for the narrow win. With a narrow corridor and a building on my left, I wrote off the 2-Pointer out on the left.
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| The Herd center, with the Harpies on the left just out of frame. |
Left to right we have a unit of Harpies lurking, ready to block and delay. We have a Beast on the line to project threat, with the Barkskin Druid in support. The central hills were troublesome, but I have Brutes and Spirit Walkers just to either side, so they can at least see part the hill. The Veil of Shadows Druid and Moonfang finished up the center.
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| The Herd right. |
I didn’t think I had the space to cleanly fight for the center, so the rest of the Herd was on the right. We have Harpies on the line with the Avatar behind, and then two units of angled Brutes and an angled Beast, all ready to run up the field as fast as they could.
We had no Scout moves between us, and there was much rejoicing (for my opponent) when the Brothermark won the roll and secured the first turn.
Top of Round 1: Brothermark
The Brothermark moved up aggressively. On the left, the Spears moved at the double, and the Ogre Captain kept pace with a curt pivot at the end. The Brothermark are all over their 2-Pointer.
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| Very confident Brothermark moving out! |
The rallying Chaplain was slowed by the terrain, but inched out towards the center, while the remaining Spear units approached the woods.
With nothing injured yet, the Celestial Resto Wizard inched towards the hill, hoping to use it as the game progressed to get line of sight to Brothermark units in need to aid.
From reserve, the Ogre units advanced, with one angling to meet the Herd soon to be pressuring from the right.
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| A big advance from the layered Brothermark center. |
Centrally, the Paladins and an Ogre escort move the full 10” up, but I eventually point out my Wild Charge on the Spirit Walkers, and they ease up slightly, denying me any possible charge. Hmmm. Maybe Keith is really onto something with the Brew of Haste!
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| Concerning shooting from the Phoenixes. |
The Phoenixes should all just be in range to shoot, and are tall enough to ignore the hills, and will land 9 damage into the Spirit Walkers.
Bottom of Round 1: Herd
On the right, the Herd moves as fast as they can, trying to match the aggression of the Brothermark opposing them. Had I gotten first turn, this positioning would be ok, but I did not, and with the Brothermark moving up so aggressively, I am worried. It will still probably be two more turns before the Brutes out here can join any fights.
The angled Brutes move as swiftly as they can, but it’s still not great positioning. Harpies flit up, trying to spy things between the building and the Brutes.
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| The Herd advances, with the fliers already in positions to flank the Brothermark. |
With Pathfinder, the Avatar of the Father is able to zip up and hide in the woods, grimly evaluating the Brothermark line. Will his streak of finding an insanely courageous unit continue? The Beast likewise hopes up the full 20”, spying the center of the board.
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| The Herd take the hill. |
In the center, I am flummoxed. The Spirit Walkers really need to get some value here, but are already pretty injured, and unlikely to survive another volley. I opt to inch up, giving a possible charge to the Ogre Captain, but not the Paladins. I am on the hill, but not majority on it with both the Spirit Walkers and the Brutes, but am threatening charges next turn.
The Druids try to support things, and one casts Veil, covering the units in the center, while the other lands a Barkskin 3 into the Spirit Walkers. The Spirit Walkers are still hurt, but this should complicate things for my opponent next turn.
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| Harpies get into position to help the center. Not much they can do against four regiments of Spearmen... |
The nearby flying Beast pivots, looking to threaten stuff and look for flanks next turn, and the Harpies on the left flap up, safe from charges and looking to make some delaying charges next turn.
Top of Round 2: Brothermark
The advance of the Brothermark continues.
Having gained a lot of ground, the Spears from the left all move and pivot, making their way towards the center. The Spears offer a lot of Unit Strength here, but are prioritizing movement, grabbing only the single 1-Pointer a unit lands on. The 2-Pointer can easily be grabbed next turn. The Phoenixes opt to ignore Veil of Shadows.
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| The Spears push towards the center, though one is already carrying a token. |
One Phoenix shoots into Harpies, and lands 4 damage, but the fierce flying ladies hold. Another charges the Guardian Brutes partially on the hill to tie them up for a turn. The final Phoenix sprays into the nearest Brutes on the right, landing 2 damage.
Other delaying charges are made, with the Dictator flying out to ground the flying Beast on the left. He’ll catch a Bane Chant from Augustus, and smack the Beast for 4 damage.
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| Delaying charges and repositioning. |
The reserve Ogres gain some ground and pivot more to face the Herd on the right, while the Paladins grab the center token, worth 1-Point and do the same.
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| The Brothermark turn to face the oncoming Herd. |
An Ogre Captain charges the Spirit Walkers, and lands a hot 4 damage… but Barkskin negates 3, and on 10 damage, the Walkers hold.
Bottom of Round 2: Herd
On the right, the far Brutes reach my 2-Pointer with a move and a pivot, but I do not pick it up. With only Speed 6, I was wary of picking up the token and further slowing myself down… but I think this is an error, and I probably should have picked it up since I landed on it. I could always drop it later if I need to do so in order to charge.
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| The Herd on the right moves up, trying to contribute. |
The Harpies out here reposition, ready to pick up the 2-Pointer for me next turn. The delaying charges seemed weird to me at the time, but realistically, the Brothermark are already effectively controlling 4 points worth of tokens (the hold two 1-Pointers, and will easily pick up the 2-Pointer on the left next round), which is a win. If they can delay the Herd or endure some charges, it will be a win for the Brothermark.
The injured Brutes move up around the building, threatening the Paladins but stay safe themselves.
In the backfield, Moonfang goes in to disorder the Phoenix. He scares me with his hit rolls, but does land 2 damage to get the disorder.
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| The Herd push back into the Brothermark. |
Moonfang can’t quite reach, but the Beast and Avatar have charges into stuff, and opt to charge the Ogres, as they are uninspired, and given the angles, my opponent will not be able to help the unit. They deal 8, which feels underwhelming, but is about right for averages. The Nerve check is unfortunately now, and the Ogres Iron-Resolve down to 7 damage, and are ready to brawl.
The Spirit Walkers catch a Bane Chant and will land 8 against the Ogre Captain, best him, and reform. I cast with the Barkskin Druid, and regret it. Only one Phoenix is free to shoot next turn, and I think Barkskin would have been a better spell than Veil. Alas, I have nothing also to Bane Chant, and do get Veil of Shadows off.
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| Reforms for the Herd. |
The Brutes counter-charge the Phoenix, with Harpies in the flank, and through weight of attacks, the Phoenix is devastated and routed. The Harpies reform, as-do the Brutes, who are able to get out of arc of the Paladins in the center.
The Beast claws 5 damage into the Dictator, but he Iron-Resolves down to 4.
Top of Round 3: Brothermark
On the left, the Spears move slightly, and grab the 2-Pointer out here, and officially put the Brothermark in the lead with 4 points worth of tokens being carried currently. The other unit nearby saunters into the woods. The Ogre Captain doesn’t have the inches to help in combats yet, but gets around the woods, and ends touching the obstacle.
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| Movement and charges on the left for the Brothermark. |
Two Spear units make hindered charges into the Harpies, and will easily pick them up.
The Dictator does into Beast again, landing 2 damage this time, but keeping the bird grounded.
Augustus can spot the Brutes partially on the hill, and after some other charges are made, will charge in to tie them up again. The Brutes are scary, but less so if you can keep them disordered.
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| Other charges for the Brothermark. |
The War Wizard was hoping to get on the hill, but with fighting here, distances become rough. He cannot get far enough away to heal the Ogres in the backfield, and little else has taken damage. I think the only option is a Phoenix, though I don't recall or note the outcome of the spell.
The Phoenix wants to disengage, and pivots and moves to avoid Moonfang. The Phoenix was tall and protecting my wolf, but now line of sight is clear, and Ogres charge off the hill, landing 10 damage. We remember Brutal, but Moonfang holds, wavering. Perhaps my disordering charge was not the smartest.
The other Ogres countercharge the flying Beast, as it has a lower Nerve. They spike their dice, landing 12 damage, and will rout the Beast.
The untouched Phoenix will fly up and get in front of the nearest Brutes coming from the right. With a titanic base and Height 6, I can’t see past the fiery bird.
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| Aftermath of the round. |
Centrally, the Paladins are holding a 1-Point token, and will charge the Spirit Walkers. There is nothing to support them, but the Paladins underperform, landing another 10 damage, and on 20 damage, the Spirit Walkers are found to be insanely courageous.
Bottom of Round 3: Herd
On the right, I need to leave my 2-Pointer behind. I need to get these Brutes into the fight! They move ahead, careful to stay safe from the Ogre units.
Rather than grab my 2-Pointer, I think I need to press on and fight, and the Harpies fly up to block for Moonfang as the shaken heroic unit disengages and backs up. The Harpies are able to hop ahead of him, and with the angles involved, he is safe from the Ogres next turn. Moonfang also spikes his regeneration roll, going from 10 damage down to 1. I can see why people like him!
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| Charges from the Herd. |
The Brutes can’t see past the Phoenix, so just charge him. Through sheer weight of attacks, the Brutes land 13 damage, and will pick the bird up. They are safe next turn, and slightly reform, in order to pick up a 1-Pointer nearby.
In the back, the Avatar has a clean charge into the uninspired Ogres again. They are on 7 damage, but I don’t trust my dice. The Avatar flies over them, and then nimbly pivots twice to spy the rears of Brothermark units. With both Ogre units limited to charging the Harpies next turn, I am fine with this.
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| Reforms from the Herd. |
The Brutes catch the a Bane Chant, and counter-charge Augustus. The hope is to break him, and then any overrun will get me into the flank of the Paladins. I only land 7 damage (10 expected), and Augustus is found to be insane.
The insane Spirit Walkers catch the other Bane Chant, and I roll this fight after the Brutes and Augustus, as the hope was to get the Brutes into the flank here. The Spirits slash 12 damage into the Paladins, who Iron Resolve down to 11. The insane hold has really turned the tables on the Brothermark, who were hoping to block, grab tokens, and back away. With everything delayed by a turn, the Herd is regaining momentum now.
The Beast continues against the Dictator, and does claw a few more damage against him, taking him up to 9 damage, and I am able to rout him this turn. Reforms are tough, so I do nothing. I believe a sidestep would bring the Spears into range; pivoting to face the Ogre Captain doesn’t seem great, with other Spear units able to get a flank. I think I should have backed up or overrun, but ultimately do nothing.
Top of Round 4: Brothermark
With the tide beginning to turn, the Spears on the left start hauling their 2-Pointer away. Two other units of Spears continue making their way towards the center to fight, with two unfortunately unable to get into fights this turn.
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| The Brothermark look to leave with their loot. |
The Ogre Captain does make a hindered flank-charge into the Beast, landing 5 damage and brining the monster up to 8, though it holds. If memory serves, the Beast is found to be insane here.
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| Charges for the Brothermark. |
Insane Augustus counter-charges the weak Brutes, with a unit of Spearmen joining in. With the starting positions of all the units, this is the best the Brothermark can do, leaving two Spear regiments sitting in reserve. Together, the Brothermark brings the Brutes up to 11 damage… and then the Brutes are found to be Insane, which is another big setback for the Brothermark. They are delaying, but the Herd units have been rudely overstaying their welcome in these comats.
The War Wizard is able to see things this turn, and casts Celestial Restoration on the Paladins… for just 2, and the Paladins end the turn on 9 damage. The Spirit Walkers are not found insane a second time however, and are picked up this turn, with the Paladins now stuck turning to face some oncoming Brutes.
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| Reforms for the Brothermark. |
In the back, the Phoenix booped by Moonfang wheels about, getting on the hill to block line of sight from the Avatar into the Paladins.
The Brutes multi-charge the Harpies, and we fast forward the fight, and they are not Insane. Both Overrun 3 inches, starting down Moonfang.
Bottom of Round 4: Herd
I unfortunately don't take good pictures here. Moonfang has a nice flank into one Ogre horde, but cannot fit. So he and some Brutes go into the injured horde, and will devastate and rout them. Moonfang reforms to spin around, looking to run back and grab my 2-Pointer, and the fresh Brutes face the center of the field looking for their next fight.
The Avatar of the Father can’t see the Paladins, but can see both Ogres. He rear-charges the other unit, and lands what turns out to be the expected 15 damage. The second uninspired Ogre horde is broken.
The Brutes that bested the Phoenix and grabbed a token are able to fit between the building and Ogres to charge the wounded Paladins. It’s a clean charge, and with the meager Celestial Restoration, the Brutes are able to bring the Paladins up to 20 damage, and break this horde as well, stealing their 1-Pointer in victory, and are now holding 2 1-Point tokens for the Herd. They will reform to get the Ogre Captain in front-arc.
The other horde of Guardian Brutes, who are insane, catch another Bane Chant, and then a Barkskin for 3, and will countercharge Augustus. They land just another 7 damage, but this still brings him to 13, we rout him, and then an overrun of anything takes the Brutes into the assisting Spear regiment, who will take 12 damage, and break as well. The Brutes will steal the 1-Pointer from the Spears.
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| Aftermath of a VERY big turn for the Herd. |
Disordered by the Ogre Captain in the flank, but with an open front, the grounded flying Beast also presses on, lurching forward and charging out into the flank of the Spears, landing 9 damage, and then getting the rout as the Chaplain is not a source of Inspiring.
It’s a back-breaking turn, with the Brothermark loosing some 16 Unit Strength all at once. The Herd now holds all three of the 1-Point tokens, with Moonfang eager to secure the 2-Pointer on the far right in round 5.
Top of Round 5: Brothermark
It was a devastating turn of events for the Brothermark. My opponent surveys the field, and eventually concedes after we are talking things through.
The Brothermark safely hold their nominated 2-pointer, but things are dire. The Herd hold three 1-Point tokens. We measure, and with the woods, Moonfang and his Pathfinding skills will be able to double-back to reach my 2-Pointer before the Phoenix can grab it.
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| Positioning that the Brothermark inherit. |
Even the remaining fights are dire. The flying Beast is wounded, but is in the way, preventing the Spears from charging past and into the Brutes with a token. The Ogre Captain has a front charge into the unit, but needs to actually damage the unit to force a Nerve check, and with Barkskin 3 on the Brutes currently, a check is not even guaranteed, and either the Brutes and/or the Avatar should be able to avenge things. In short, things are dire, and the Brothermark concede again.
Game Conclusions
I had high hopes and a good feeling about this list, and am elated I was able to take the win here, though it needs to be stressed how much Insane Courage helped the Herd here. Insane last-stand Spirit Walkers helped me maim and then claim the Paladins to get some real momentum going, and insane last-stand Brutes help close out the came conclusively. Round 4 was going to be tough for the Brothermark, but the dice were one-sided and let me get away with an absolutely massive turn. So, the list worked, but I was also pretty lucky here.
Testing Conclusions
- Spirit Walkers with Blood of the Old King. …On the drive home I remembered that I never popped the Blood in their combats. I’ll need a token or something for the future. I want to try them with the Blood again, because I think it will help me get the most out of the unit before it breaks, but I think this game did showcase why Keith liked them with the Brew, as I would have absolutely yolo'ed these into the Paladins to see what would have happened. Overall, these seem like a great instigating unit for the Brutes. I haven't tried it yet, but if I am clever, I can probably park Brute behind them for tricky multi-charges. We'll explore that another time, but off to a good start with the horde of phantasms here.
- Harpies. I was lucky to have the one hold after getting shot, but both were used well to block and delay here, and were exactly what I needed to gain momentum over on the right by blocking up both Ogre hordes..
- Guardian Brutes. Against the odds, all my Brutes survived this second game too. This is still obviously a fluke, and again I lucked out with an insane unit holding to help me decisively close the game out here too. Even angled, Speed 6 and not getting first turn proved to be a liability, though my opponent had similar problems with his Spears. I think this is an argument in favor of running an outriding unit of Lycans or something instead of the third horde, but conversely, I would not have wanted Lycans way out on a flank just holding a token. I have a handful of triple Brute lists to explore yet before I start fine-tuning, so we'll see how the future games go.
- Beast of Nature. We tried deterrence and one multi-charge with them, though without a flank charge they did not break that unit. They only had decent games, with one grounded and one routing, but my opponent wasn't able to capitalize on the grounding, and survivor lucked out at the end for a bit of a rampage to close things out.
- Mounted Druid with BC and Barkskin. Mounted Druids are fun and useful, but I've felt like the Herd hero slots are limited, and the caster need to be doing a little more. Barkskin could be really helpful here. It wasn't the best test or showing, but looks promising, especially with Spirit Walkers around. One other big spell to look at is Scorched Earth, as it could really drive home the Herd's terrain advantages.
- Gladewalker Druid with Lute and Veil. Last Game my opponent introduced me to the idea of Veil with the Sacred Horn item. While it is awkward, I still think she needs the Lute, as that spell really does help the Herd out a lot. It's weird, but yeah, overall I liked the Gladewalker here.
- Moonfang. The disordering charge into the Phoenix was reckless - I kinda forgot that the Phoenix could just ... move and clear the way to charge him. Moonfang lucked out this time and with that luck, really delivered for me. If I can rein in the recklessness and start leveraging that 4+ Regen, he could indeed be really powerful, and I am understanding more and more why he rates so highly among Herd players. A good showing for him!
- Avatar of the Father. The Avatar finally failed to uncover an insanely courageous unit! I think I finally used him mostly well? The big decision was whether or not to solo-charge and continue against those Ogres. Statistically I think I should bring them to 12 damage and have good chances to pick them up, but I did not trust my dice. Since I was able to limit their charges, avoiding them for the turn seemed sensible. To then get a rear charge and a rout on something the following turn was really gratifying, and it felt like the Avatar finally had a good game and a good showing.
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