Intro and Lists
I recently found myself in Minnesota, visiting friends and family over the holiday weekend, and while on the road, I had the pleasure of connecting with Jon for a game. Jon fielded the Forces of the Abyss, bringing the following:
Oof. I have run the Abyssal Berserkers a bit myself, but I have not nearly gone as hard as this iteration. We have five (!) Hordes of Abyssal Berserkers, pathfinding Succubi with the Hammer, some Gargoyles, some Tortured Souls, the standard high-end Seductress, Mau'ti-bu-su, the legendary Seductress with her Brutal d3, and a Berserker Apostate to bring a vicious aura to any of the nearby Berserker units. Overall, this is an incredibly tough list for a pick-up game! The Minnesota folks are much more tournament-oriented though, and playing against tough lists can be good, so we'll see what I can learn.
Jon's Abyssals had started long ago, originally pulling from Warhammer units. After a long time away, he's picking them back up, so was proxying some units, as the real deals are not fully painted up yet. I'll touch on the big substitutions here, and try to add little reminders in the report as well. The Gargoyles look extra mean and are GW Bloodletters with converted wings. Two units of the pumpkin-headed Ogre Berserkers (that we saw before and greatly admired from Battle #112) are back as Abyssal Berserkers; and the three awesomely converted fiery units (I am no expert, but they remind me of K'daai Fireborn, though I forgot to ask if that was an inspiration) are formerly Tortured Souls, back from when they were bonkers (probably back 2nd Edition, with CS2 and Speed 10), but now are also being run as Abyssal Berserkers, bringing that horde count up to 5. Two Ogre Warrior regiments are being proxied as new Tortured Souls, and an Ogre Bully is serving as an Abyssal Apostate here as well.
I brought the Herd. Earlier in the year I had a wonderful time playing Jon at the Northwoods GT, where he ran a strong Ogre list featuring a big commitment to the melee phase (no crossbow Sergeants and no Walocks) and the very neat aforementioned pumpkin-headed Berserker hordes. With the Berserkers and Brutes being similar units I was hoping to solicit some advice on my triple Brute approach, but the Abyssal Berserkers are contenders as well, and it looks like we'll have a bit of a berserker brawl on our hands this game to add some additional discussion points! Up to comment on from the Herd side of things was everything:
- Spirit Walkers with the Blood of the Old King. I like the item and think it might have promise on the phantasms here, letting them get in one excellent combat before grinding or succumbing. I forgot about the item last time, so hopefully we'll get some use out of it here and see what it and the unit can do!
- Harpies. I definitely need some chaff in the list, so we're bringing the Herd's speedy flying chaff just like normal.
- Triple Guardian Brutes. I'm still on this silly idea, and still committed to exploring it. If they can close they can do some really good work, so we'll see if we can make that happen. The idea with the list is to use the longer charge range of the Spirit Walkers and the Stampede to maim and pin stuff down for the Brutes to smack on the following turn.
- The Stampede. My Herd tends to get caught up on obstacles a lot, and so we're trying out the Stampede again. It has Strider to help with those obstacles, and some extra oomph on the charge to deal with high-Def lists. But we're also interested in the higher speed. Hopefully, this can help instigate for me, hold with Def5, and then Brutes can come to the rescue as a second wave.
- Flying Beasts. I like them, and while they are expensive, I think I need to keep these in here. The extra speed and pressure is really good for the Herd. I don't always use them wisely, but if I can remember to wait for multi-charges, hopefully these will continue to do well for me as hammers.
- Mounted Druids with BC. We're taking a step backwards here, running multiples and trying out the basic Druids again. Points were just too tight to fit in 4 sources of Inspiring. However, this should give me some personal feedback to see whether I want these with big spells or not.
- Gladewalker Druid with Lute and Barkskin. It's still a goofy loadout, but I just don't like her normal spells. I think it's a decent kit for these Herd builds. As long as we were taking Spirit Walkers I wanted to try out Barkskin again, and start exploring the Arcane library spells more.
- Moonfang. He's got good speed, good attacks, good defense and even Regeneration 4+. In the right hands, he can be a menace and a powerhouse, but using him effectively has been difficult, as it has been hard to calibrate ,
Table and Terrain
We were out at Gamezenter, and odd little gaming Mecca that I had only heard of about a week before, via a youtube rabbit hole regarding board gaming and game design. Apparently Fantasy Flight Games is based out of MN, and a founder opened up this massive shop, with two gaming halls, a separate bunch of large tables for wargames, numerous private rooms (mainly for RPGs it seems) and oodles and oodles of games of all kinds, as well as paints and hobbying supplies galore.
My apologies to my opponent, but I arrived first and did squat to set up. The shop had a lot of terrain, but they were in the midst or reorganizing it, and larger mats were a little sparse. Rather than cobble together overlapping mats, we played on the bare table, and tossed together some terrain. Low, difficult terrain was particularly hard to come by, so we added in a 3rd small crystalline forest. The crystal terrain pieces were really neat. They appeared to be from some terrain package, and looked to have spots for LEDs to go in from beneath to light them up. Over the winter I had been musing about hobbying up some icy or crystal terrain from insulation foam. I think I need a foam-cutting table or at least a handheld cutter though to get the required clean cuts, so had shelved the idea, but these crystal piece were still very neat to see! Maybe we'll resurrect that idea sometime as crystal forests would make for a really unique feature.
Terrain acquired, I used Data and Dice's Kings of War App to set up the table. We were using our typical terrain rules, running the buildings as Height 9 blocking terrain, the crystal forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the crater as some Height 0 difficult terrain.
The app gave us Protect and Raze for the scenario, which to my surprise, my opponent said he was actually unfamiliar with. 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(ish) 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. We talked through the scenario, and settled on it.
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| Table and tokens! I placed Blue, my opponent placed Red, and Yellow is untouchable in the center. |
I won the roll for sides, and was lazy. With obstacles on the left and center, I wanted to try and play a refused flank focusing on right, which had more space and less to worry about. However, the scenario paired with the terrain foiled those plans, as when I went to start placing my tokens, the building on the right blocked off so much of the right that I could only fit one token there. I ended up with two on the left while my opponent ended up with two on the right.
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| Overview of the table. |
For deployment, my opponent dropped his chaffy Gargoyles and Tortured Souls early, filled out the center slightly, and then committed hard to the right. From left to right we have Gargoyles back a bit, the Seductress and more Gargoyles hiding behind the crystalline forest. The right was a massive blob of units and angles. The Ogre-looking Tortured Soul Regiments protected the flanks of the blob, which had the Apostate and Mau'ti-bu-su central. One horde of Berserkers angled into the center, with four more ready to head wide right to outflank.
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| The beserker blob is unopposed on the right. |
I had originally planned on a bit of a refused flank holding the right, but the terrain paired with the scenario foiled those plans. Not having a set deployment for this style yet but knowing Brutes were relatively slow, I deployed on the line, and tried to focus on figuring out my own plan rather than counter deploy my speedier opponent. Most of my hordes were committed early to make sure I had them on the line with room to move at the double first turn, and that I would be in a good place to fight for the two tokens on the left to start.
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| The Herd left, ready to fight nothing... |
On the far left for the Herd we have a flying Beast, and two Brutes on the hill ready to run past a building. supporting this is a Mounted Druid and some Harpies. I let the building split my line a bit, and the center has angled Brutes and Moonfang, with Spirit Walkers and Stampede on the line, with the Barkskin Gladewalker druid, and an angled beast supporting the walkers, and a Mounted Druid and Harpies supporting the the Stampede.
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| The Herd center, also ready to fight nothing. |
The token wrinkle was rough for me mentally, though based on our discussions, I suspect if I was able to go on the right, my opponent would have gone on the left instead, as he was quite eager to make use of Speed 9 on all his units, and that we would be gearing up for a swirl battle still.
Neither of us had scout moves, and winning the roll after grabbing a very dark beer that I had overlooked from their offerings when I grabbed mine, my opponent opted to go first and apply pressure.
Top of Round 1: Abyssals
The Abyssals pushed out, but not nearly as quickly as I would have anticipated. On the far right, the Tortured Ogres moved at the double. The legendary Seductress zipped ahead, landing near the woods, and the blob moved out conservatively. All the Berserker hordes moved up, making use of nimble pivots but surprisingly, most did not make use of Speed 9, preferring to stick together and utilize Nimble to set up for future turns.
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| The Abyssals move, committing more to the right corner. |
On the left, both speedy Gargoyle units repositioned rightward as well, pivoting to help cover the shuffle of the Berserker hordes in the corner of the table.
Bottom of Round 1: Herd
I had set up to fight hard for my two main tokens, but all my hordes ready to fight nothing. I at least realize that I shouldn't dispatch hordes to claim the tokens now, and do my best to reposition. While I can't contest the majority of his tokens, he will also have a hard time keeping me off of mine, so the hope is to put everything into the center and brawl.
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| Change of plans! |
It is a little premature since I can't raze any tokens until Round 2, but Harpies zip up to hold a token now, a flying Beast moves up and pivots (I think behind the building), and Moonfang zips ahead to hold my more central token on my left, while peering around the woods and trying to dissuade the Abyssals from running into the middle just yet.
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| Overview of the repositioning, though I still can't remember where the Beast from the left got to. |
All three of my Guardian Brute Hordes move and pivot, heading out toward the right. They are unfortunately stacked a bit, so I move up the Spirit Walkers and Stampede ahead to make room and project some threat.
Top of Round 2: Abyssals
On the far right, the Tortured Ogres move ahead and will eventually raze my opponent's token on far right. Two fiery Berserker hordes now make better use of their speed to gain ground, getting around the woods and very near to my deployment zone.
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| The Abyssals start pushing around the woods. |
Succubi take the woods, with the legendary Seductress in the woods and projecting threat thanks to fly.
Two more Berserker hordes cover the avenue between the woods and the building, with the Shadowbeast Seductress nearby as well. A Berserker horde here razes my opponent's second token out here on the right.
In the backfield, Tortured Ogres coming from the left secure my token over here. With Fearless and US2, they will be hard to move. My opponent's final Berserker horde eyes the center token, supported by two Gargoyles covering angles of approach.
Bottom of Round 2: Herd
I should note that while a lot of ground was gained by my opponent, he was making exceptional use of his greater speed while doing so, and nothing I have can threaten his units on my turn, while several of the Berserker hordes ho have some long charges open to them already. His approach to my Wild Charge was also enlightening, as he just it completely out off the table for me by staying away.
On my left, the Harpies linger to raze a token, and Moonfang repositions, joined by the flying Beast to raze another, making this a tie game. Both square-based units will use the woods to block line of sight from the Berserkers. In retrospect, I think this is a mistake. Putting Moonfang into the woods to pressure would have been the better call, as everything the Abyssals might have going against him would have been Hindered, and Moonfang would be very likely to survive.
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| The Herd presents itself. |
Centrally, the Spirit Walkers inch ahead, now threatening a charge of their own. They get a Barkskin 2, and I believe I inch up to give the Berserkers a charge. It will be a lot of damage, but if my opponent takes it, I think I should hold, and then be able to pick them up with stuff on my turn, so the risk is worth it. The three Guardian Brute units press on, getting what ground they can while trying to preserve line of sight and future options.
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| The Stampede pressures. |
On the right, I try to instigate. The Harpies move up, trying to prevent a good pivot into the Stampede, which runs up to get out of arc of most of the Berserker units while relying on the Harpies to block for me. The Stampede is giving up a flank to the Gargoyles, but I am hoping to just take a stand, grind with the unit, and then reinforce in the coming turns, relying on Def5 and Fury to keep the unit around.
Top of Round 3: Abyssals
As it turns out, I positioned about the worse I could. My opponent was great at vocalizing what he was doing and measuring, and confirming things he was doing before ending phases. I try to do so as well, but should have definitely talked this out more. It is tight, but the pumpkin-headed Berserkers are still able to pivot to move around the Harpies, then nimble pivot to face back, and connect with the corner of the Stampede, then pick up and place to complete the charge. Had the Stampede moved up another inch or two, or the Harpies not gone nearly as far up, I could have prevented alignment to my unit. So, this is a large mistake from me. It's unfortunately, but this will still be a good test for the Stampede as an instigator and possible anchor.
So, the Stampede is triple-charged. The pumpkin-headed Berserkers need to pass through the crystalline forest and are hindered, but do land the expected 5 damage. Gargoyles hit cleanly in the flank, contributing 2 damage. Mau'ti-bu-su lands 3 as well as Brutal 2, and the Stampede is wavered, but stays on the field. Mission accomplished I suppose, but that damage is not great for the longevity of the unit for this particular game.
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| Two triple-charges from the Abyssals. |
The Harpies have a slightly larger base than the Berserkers, and so the Herd ladies are triple-charged by Berserkers, with the Seductress and Apostate on either side of the attacking horde. We fast-forward, and the Harpies are obliterated.
One unit of Tortured Ogres hangs back to protect my sole objective over on the right, while the other moves up to project threat to my long edge of the table, threatening the Beast should it try to run by and hop the Abyssal lines.
Succubi more securely take the crystalline woods, and two hordes of Berserkers move around it to project threat. My opponent can't get out of range of the Beast, but easily avoids my slow Brutes and prevent some multi-charges from me.
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| Aftermath of Top of 3. Could be worse! |
In the center, the second unit of Gargoyles enters the woods. They are just out of range of my Harpies, and out of arc of both Moonfang and the Beast. The Berserkers here decline to charge the Spirit Walkers, and then inch out of my Walker's maximum charge range of 17" while continuing to threaten with their own 18" range. Additionally they shuffle about to stay out of line of sight of Moonfang.
Bottom of Round 3: Herd
On the left, having razed my token last turn, Harpies zip ahead this turn, looking to pressure as the game goes on. The flying Beast nimbly flies over the crystalline forest to threaten things. Moonfang adjusts, but largely stays put. Again, in retrospect, I am not thrilled with my use of him, as he could be pressuring for me by being in the woods, and not just hanging back and playing so reactively.
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| Charges from the Herd. |
In the center, I get the corner of a unit of Brutes just past the Spirit Walkers, with the goal being able to get around and then pivot around the phantasms no matter what next turn. The Brutes are within range of the pumpkin-headed Berserkers eyeing the central token, and they should be able to charge my unit cleanly, without worrying about the Spirit Walkers at all for any potential pushback. If I were in my opponent's shoes, I'd be down to charge the Brutes, so they get Barkskin 2 to help them out.
The Spirit Walkers can't get past the Gargoyles to do anything meaningful, so are forced to just flank charge the Gargoyles. Wary of the Seductresses, my various Druids lock in, with the mounted one preventing a slide down from the Walkers, which means that unless my opponent does something similar, if those central Berserkers charge the Spirit Walkers, they will land atop the obstacle, and be hindered. That all seems ok, though the Druids locking in so hard prevents any meaningful reform from the Walkers when the Gargoyles do scatter.
My opponent engaged the Stampede smartly, with nothing hanging over, so I cannot aid my unit. The other Brutes swing out towards the right, with the second Mounted Druid hiding. With the heights of the intervening units, she is safe from the short Seductresses.
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| A lack of reforms due to tight spaces. |
There is the potential for the Stampede to hit one of the individuals and overrun, but I don't like my chances with Ensnare in-play and only 15 attacks from my disordered unit. So the Stampede catches a Bane Chant and counter-charges some Berserkers, landing 8 damage and wavering the unit, though they have Fury.
There aren't great options for the flying Beast. He's angled a bit already, and I can't land clear of the Berserkers with the current facing. I could pivot and fly, but it will be pivoting more towards the corner, and then I'll be facing the corner, while giving up a clear flank to the Tortured Ogres. I could charge either horde in my deployment zone, but do not recall if I will be giving up a flank to do so, and even if not, I can't stop both, and that doesn't seem like enough of a delay. I opt to charge the Beast in against the Horde that bested the Harpies. This holds that unit up, and no other horde can get in against the Beast. I will likely lose both the Stampede and a unit of Brutes next turn, but this seems like the least worst option as things will be fighting, and I'll be ready to close with my remaining units in Round 4. The Beast does a decent 4 damage, but it's immaterial against the Horde.
Top of Round 4: Abyssals
Out on the left, it's super close, but the Gargoyles playing in the woods are just able to get behind the Brutes and raze the token. This was not something I had double-checked or had considered, so should be considered an error. With the score 2:2, I had been angling to just brawl for the center and hope for the best, but now down in the scenario point, I think the best I can hope for is a lot of luck and a potential draw.
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| Two more triple charges from the Forces of the Abyss. |
The Abyssals make two more sets of triple charges this turn. Against the very injured Stampede, a horde of hindered Berserkers goes into the flank, with another horde counter-charging in the front, and pathfinding Succubi joining in from the crystalline forest. Any one of these units should pick the Stampede up, and indeed the unit is easily devastated and routed after the attacks of just one unit, though I don't remember who got the honors.
The Apostate is just able to draw line of sight to the Brutes nearest my table edge, and he hits my Brutes in the flank while both sets of fiery Berserkers in my deployment zone hit the unit in the front, and this unit is easily devastated and routed as well.
The Abyssals are ahead for the scenario, and out on the right, Tortured Ogre units look to zone out possible fliers. The last combat for the turn is Berserkers fighting back my solo-charging Beast. Mau'ti-bu-su joins with an attack into the Beast's flank. The legendary Seductress lands no damage, but contributes Brutal 2. The Berserkers underperform and land 5 damage, but a hot check still finds the Beast wavering...
Bottom of Round 4: Herd
Things are not going great, but the goal is still to scrap and hope for the best.
My opponent is far more experienced than I am. About now I'm part-way through my second beer by now, and I'm realizing that my fliers were the only things I had a real edge with. My opponent realized this from the start, and has actively been checking and double-checking ranges with an eye to planning around where the Herd can go and how to contain me. I am not likely to get an easy backfield steal of my final token like he just did to me, but the Harpies continue their journey towards the right. I won't be able to fight for this token without help (Tortured Souls are have better stats and are stronger with US2), but I can threaten this, keep and see how the rest of the game plays out.
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| The Herd fight back! |
I'm doing what I can to strike back. Losing both the Stampede and a unit of Brutes was expected, but still not great. Unfortunately neither the Spirit Walkers nor the Brutes nearby have great charges this turn, and both are forced to go into a horde of Berserkers, with the Brutes tripping on the obstacle. Still, the unit is picked up and that's something. With taller intervening units, the various Druids support, and we get a Barkskin 4 on the Spirit Walkers.
In victory I opt to do nothing. Angles are tight, and I just can't think things through. I am most worried about the Brutes. Ideally, I want to get them off the obstacle, but they just can't. An overrun won't do that, and could easily open them up to flank charges from nimble Berserkers. In retrospect, side-stepping the Brutes and then pivoting the Spirit Walkers would be slightly better than doing nothing.
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| ...but the fights are not as effective as I needed them to be. |
The final remaining Brutes have some charges, but also no good ones, as they are all front charges with multiple options for my opponent to retaliate. I need to try and remove whatever I can as safely as I can, so the Brutes charge into the Berserkers most behind my lines, as a victory should be able to get everything back into front arc to mitigate incoming damage. It's a clean charge, so we're wounding on 2's with Brutal, but the hit roll is very underwhelming, and only 9 damage lands. The Berserkers are wavering, but that doesn't matter.
The Herd's wavering Beast does nothing, and I am running out of steam.
Top of Round 5: Abyssals
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| A fifth triple-charge from the Abyssals. |
The horde fighting the Beast regenerates 2 to go from 4 down to just 2 damage. It and Mau'ti-bu-su fight again, with the legendary Seductress contributing a few plus Brutal 1, and the Berserkers cleaning up to rout the monster.
The Guardian Brutes fighting in my deployment zone take a rear charge from the Apostate, and a furious front from the Berserkers to end on 20 damage, devastated and routed, as is proper. The Berserkers also regenerate a big 5, to go from 9 down to just 4 damage.
Bottom of Round 5: Herd
At this point, the game's inevitable conclusion is beyond glaring, and while I admit that to my opponent, I still have some beer left, and I want to throw 30 more dice and at least take two hordes with me.
So, the Brutes charge the Berserkers in front of them, and are hindered. However, Moonfang and the Beast hit the horde in the flank, and we will still pick the unit up. My opponent also suggest that I move the Harpies over as well. Had we continued playing, they can still threaten a run-by to pick up my token, while reinforcing my Unit Strength on the central token. Ok fine.
With the Berserker horde routing, instead of reforming, I concede on the spot, because this game is well and truly out of my reach.
A victory to the Forces of the Abyss!
Game Conclusions
Jon and I apparently share a love of very dark and very potent beers, and it was a real treat to have a few while playing. And at a game shop no less! The Gamezenter was a neat place. I immensely enjoyed this, though unfortunately my gaming performance did not match my enthusiasm.
I made the whole game very difficult for myself. Both the initial scenario set-up and then the subsequent deployment both got the better of me. While I have played a fair amount of alpha strike lists lately, I haven't been on the other side of that style much before. I had the right idea to reposition, but struggled to do so given my slower speed, and did not execute it well, as I didn't realize just how valuable my Harpies were in this match-up until it was all too late. Multi-charges win games, and the Herd was just not able to get any momentum, nor luck to make this a seriously competitive game at any point.
Testing Conclusions
- Spirit Walkers with the Blood of the Old King. I remembered the item, but did not use it. Using it while flanking Gargoyles seemed downright ridiculous, and against the Berserkers it seemed like it would be overkill, so I got greedy, hoping to somehow hold and get some "good" use out of the item later on. I still like the item and the unit, but it doesn't seem to be the best arrangement with the current build. Elven Wine for Nimble, the "staple" Brew of Haste to bump them up to Speed 7, or just naked are all the options to explore next.
- Harpies. They were not used optimally. In retrospect, I need something to blunt the speed of the Berserker hordes and let me approach unscathed, and I should have brought both into the center to block and then engage. Token grabbing is normally great, but I really needed to limit my opponent's multi-charges since I had fewer combat units and less speed.
- Guardian Brutes. I fell short of optimal use with the Brutes as well; ultimately needing to sacrifice one to get the others into combat. It was hard to deal with so much Speed 9, and this sacrifice is why I think I should have slowed down to bring both Harpies over before engaging. I needed them to kill hordes, and did not set them up for success.
- The Stampede. Technically, the Stampede did exactly what I wanted it to do for me! It moved up, instigated (but didn't charge), and held thanks to Def5. Unfortunately it still felt underwhelming. Strider is nice, and these are high-quality attacks, particularly on the charge, but with just 15 attacks, they aren't going to kill anything on their own. They are an interesting unit, but I think they want Centaurs or something speedier for getting multi-charges - the Stampede is neat, but not what I think I need here.
- Flying Beasts. As with the rest of the list, these were not used well. If they are to be used as hammers, they need to be multi-charging. The delaying charge was a bit desperate, and not terrible, but the rebutting waver there very unfortunate for me. They can be a great utility piece, I just did not use them well.
- Mounted Druids with Bane Chant. As-always, the basic Druids did good work for the Herd, keeping things Inspired and powered up with Bane-Chant to be wounding all the Berserkers on 2's... but with my hero slots so tight, I need more from these, and I do think the Arcane Library Spells are where I need to go now.
- Gladewalker Druid with Lute and Barkskin. It's still a weird loadout, but I think the Lute is worth it. I like the idea of Barkskin, particularly with the Spirit Walkers. It does seem effective alongside the Walkers, but I don't know if saving 2-3 damage is worth it. I think Veil is the better pick, with something like Scorched Earth on a Mounted Druid a good second spell to look at.
- Moonfang. I did not use Moonfang well either. I was trying to preserve him in order to get some use out of his conditional Vicious, but I should have been more aggressive and proactive and threatening with him. He should be able to bully Gargoyles and take a hit from hindered Berserkers.
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