Kings of War 3rd Edition: #152 Varangur vs Basileans in Dominate

Intro and Lists

Going into the third and final game, I had one giant win and one giant loss, which was not a bad day for me, all things considered! For the third and final game for this little event, I drew against my friend and frequent opponent Trevor, the everything behind the awesome Data and Dice. We had kicked around a few ideas for him, and due to the third forest on all of these tables, I had persuaded him to ignore a clever war-machine heavy Brothermark list and continue on with the more grindy Basileans that he had been messing around with more recently. He ran the following, which had served him rather well throughout the day:

It's pretty similar to what we've seen recently with two Spear hordes, two supporting Phoenixes, two blocking Gur Panther units, and a number of Elohi regiments. Continuing to experiment a bit, we have a Priest with Martyr's Prayer, and the Icon Bearer with Bane Chant.

Trevor even had a secret board, with the unusual approach of using magnetic paint, and then painting it all up. The painting quality is just wild, considering every stone is just painted on without the use of 3d materials. It's a really cool idea, and works nicely with all his magnetized units!

The thinking behind my list was discussed here. Essentially, I wanted to play around with the terrain, and leverage some Striding and Pathfinding charges while trying to lean into the durability of two Cavern Dwellers with the following list:

Neither of us really gets out to any tournaments besides our local ones, and we continue to cross paths at each of these after a few games, when were are both down in more the middle of the pack. Despite some very close games, I have lost both tournament games against him so far, so we'll see if the Varangur can break that streak!

Table and Terrain

The tournament upgraded one piece of difficult terrain to a third forest, as a nod to Wisconsin history, and we were using our typical terrain rules, running the ruined 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 field as some Height 0 difficult terrain.

The tournament used a roll-off into veto and pick system, with three scenarios offered each round. The first roll of the game is for scenario, where the loser nixes an option, and then the winner player picks between the remaining two. I forget the particulars, but we ended up with Dominate, and we tossed a token into the center to help us approximate the center of the board throughout the game.

Deployment, and the table.

I won the roll for sides, and was lazy. With a lot of Pathfinder and Strider, I wanted to make use of the forests to push out and into the center.

Given the scenario, the Basileans deployed centrally. From right to left this time, we have both Spear Hordes on the line, with both heroes in reserve, as well as both Phoenixes, and a unit of Gur Panthers too. The second unit of Gur Panthers took the hill, with Elohi as the final drops all out on the far-left. 

For the Varangur, we have Draugr pointed at the center, a Thegn and a Dweller to the right, Fallen and Snow Foxes in the forest, and the other Cavern Dweller nearby. The Varangur right with the Thegn, Kruufnir, and Tundra Wolves, were all angled, ready to press up and push hard.

My opponent won the roll for turn order, and chose to seize the initiative.

Top of Round 1: Basileans

From the left, the Elohi fanned out with a concave line to project threat. The unit with the marker, nearest the center has the Pipes of Terror. The Gur Panthers hopped ahead to screen and project threat.

The Basileans attempt a slow encirclement.

With no shooting from me, the other unit of Gur Panthers hopped up to get ready to die. Both Spear Hordes moved their speed, with the heroes and Phoenixes keeping pace.

The Icon Bear distributes an Aegis Fragment to the spears nearest the building.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

On the right, the Tundra Wolves utilize Pathfinder to scamper into the woods. They'll have their leader point in the terrain, and will be peaking out of it. 

Kruufnir will move at the double, past the woods, and then pivot inward, creating a concave with him, the Thegn, and the Cavern Dweller. 

The Varangur push up, threatening a lot of charges next turn.

Snow Foxes scamper ahead to complicate things for both of us, while the Fallen move their speed and remain in the woods. In case the Foxes waver, I want to leave a good amount of space here.

The other Dweller just moves 6" up, and pivots, putting a corner in the woods. The Thegn is nearby.

The Draugr shuffle about.

Everything is out of range of the Elohi. The Draugr move and pivot slightly. They can move at the double, so the goal here is to preserve them by using the hill to hide them, and then get them into score in the late game.

Top of Round 2: Basileans

The Basileans are aggressive here, aiming to grab the center and hopefully grind out the win. Two Elohi come in from the left, while the one with the Pipes remains on the hill to see just that little bit better.

The Elohi pressure the center, while the spears get braced.

The Icon Bearer distributes another fragment to the other Spear horde, so both have an Aegis Fragment now. They move and pivot to prevent a line. Gur Panthers advance to block up multi-charges, and the Phoenixes stay back to support. 

The Phoenixes do spray 5 damage onto the stealthy Snow Foxes, and will get the rout against me.

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

The Tundra Wolves are presented with frontal charges into Phalanx, so they exit the woods, stay out of the Elohi's slightly longer charge range, and just threaten reprisals.

The Draugr hide while the rest of the Varangur fights and positions.

Everything else charges. Both Dwellers and a Thegn make striding charges into the horde nearest the building. Phalanx impacts the Thegn, but he slips 2 damage in, and the Dweller have a rather good opening performance, thumping 13 more damage on. With a total of 15, the horde is wavering.

Kruufnir makes a hindered flank charge into the Gur Panthers... and again I forget that Rampage should be triggered here. He underperforms, landing 3 damage, but gets a waver here as well.

The Fallen make a solo charge into the other Spear horde. They land clear of the obstacle, but can't really get aligned cleanly, so we treat this as hindered for the sake of sportsmanship. Spreading the damage around both hordes isn't ideal, but this was a pretty safe charge, and should tax my opponent's healing a bit.

Decent results from the Varangur's initial onslaught.

The other Thegn charges the other Gur Panthers cleanly, lands 3 against them, but very luckily manages to pick that unit up, and he will reform to face all of the Elohi.

On the left, the Draugr both sidestep to the left. I don't care about charging with them, and this gets them behind the hill and out of line of sight of the Elohi. The goal is to still zip ahead with them in the late game. 

Top of Round 3: Basileans

The Basileans try to hold the line. Martyr's Prayer from the priest transfer 3 damage off the grievously injured spears onto himself, while the Phoenixes heal off 5 more damage, taking them down to just 7 at the end of the magic phase. Since they were wavering, they disengage and back up.

Pushback and healing from the Basileans.

The Icon Bearer lands a Bane Chant for the other spear horde as they counter-charge the Fallen, and 6 damage will poke through, though I will Iron-resolve it down to just 5. 

Spacing is too tight for a multi-charge, so the Elohi with the Pipes solo charge the the Thegn on the left, and will land 4 damage, though the Thegn holds.

The second Elohi regiment lurks, and the third flies at the double to get out of arc of the Draugr, not threatening anything yet, but trying to get into a spot for some late-game charges.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

The Draugr again sidestep and lurk, staying out of range or hiding behind the hill. The rest of the Varangur line pushes hard.

The Tundra Wolves will charge out, joining the Thegn as he fights against the Elohi with the terrifying musical instrument. Or maybe they're carrying plumbing pipes? Hmm. Missed modeling opportunity I suppose! The duo will underperform slightly, landing just 7 damage, which gets Iron Resolved down to 6 as the Elohi do hold.

The Varangur continue their push.

Kruufnir again fights the Gur Panthers, and I again forget to trigger rampage. He again lands 2 damage, and again wavers the Panthers here. I am not using my units to their full potential.

Nearby, the Fallen continue on against their horde, and land the expected 8 damage to take them up to 15, and we get a waver on this horde now.

On the right, the Thegn is presented with another charge into a spear wall, so makes a Striding charge into the nearby Phoenix instead, looking to disorder them. With both hordes fighting, disordering a healer seems like the better play here.

One Spear horde falls, and the other is wavering.

The Cavern Dwellers continue to fight the Spear horde. They'll both do well this turn, and we'll take them from 7 up to 21 with some stellar dice. We will break the horde. The Dweller on the left overruns for a ridiculous 6, taking him just too far to threaten the flank of the other Spear horde. The other Dweller then compensates, and pivots to face that exposed flank.

Top of Round 4: Basileans

With one spear horde gone and the other wavering, the Basileans are on the back foot and trying to stop the bleeding, and forced into some risky plays to try and get back in the game. 

The disordered Phoenix counter-charges the Thegn, but misses.

The Priest Priest syphons off 3 damage from the other horde, taking him up to 6 and them down to 12, and the wavering horde disengages and withdraws. The Phoenix sprays 2 damage onto the Fallen, taking them up to 7, but they will hold, and Iron Resolve down to 6 damage.

The Basileans struggle to put up a resistance.

The Elohi are stretched thins as well. The one in my backfield has no charges, and moves and pivots, looking to scare the Draugr out of hiding.

The other two units multi-charge the Tundra Wolves, will land 5 and 4 damage, plus Brutal from the Pipes, but the Wolves are just wavered at the end of combat.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

The Varangur have broken through and have the tempo in their favor. The Thegn in the back again fights the Phoenix, landing 4 damage, and getting another disorder against the bird.

Kruufnir makes third hindered charge into the Gur Panthers, lands another 2 damage, taking them to 6, and again I forget Rampage should be triggering. Finally seeing infantry against me, I had blinders on the whole game hoping to get into combat against the spears. Breaking the habit though, the Panthers break this time, and Kruufnit will sidestep, finally getting out of the field.

The Varangur continue on.

The Cavern Dweller charges the martyr Priest, who has taken 6 damage from his spells. I want to utilize Kruufnir's "Bring Me Their Head" for a super-spicy duelist fight, but the blind cannibal monster lacks the keywords. The Dweller rolls up 1 extra attack, but lands all 7 damage and will break the Priest. I need a 2 on the overrun to connect against the flank of the Spears, but roll up 1 here.

The Fallen go in against the Spears for a third time, and will deliver another expected 8 damage, breaking the unit on the third attempt, and reforming to face down the Elohi.

The other Dweller goes for the disorder against the othr other Phoenix, and will land a few damage to do so.

The second Spear Horde falls.

The Thegn charges the Elohi with the Pipes, contributes 2 to take them up to 8, and we get lucky and do break the angelic unit. The Thegn reforms, staring down the the flank of the other Elohi unit nearby.

The Draugr are pressured, but can charge the other Elohi unit. One will land in the flank, the other in the front, and 3 damage will land, which will Iron Resolve down to 2 when they do hold.

The Tundra Wolves disengage and nimbly back up with a pivot, trying to spy the other Elohi horde.

Top of Round 5: Basileans

I accidentally move the Wolves too far back, and give the Elohi in my backfield a charge. I need to get some smaller corner markers. They will happily take the opening, land 5 more damage, and pick the wolves up easily, and then reform slightly, to get the nearby Thegn into front arc.

The remaining Basilean units fight on.

The other unit roll hot, landing 7 damage onto the Draugr in their front, and then spike the checks to rout the unit. They will reform slightly as well, giving a rear to the Draugr on the hill.

The Phoenix by the building again fights the Thegn, lands 1 damage this time, and a boxcars result will waver him.

And make progress on the attrition side of scoring.

The other Phoenix disengages from the Dweller, and rear charges the Fallen, but will land on the obstacle, making this a hindered charge, on top of withdrawing. It is a lot of penalties, and no damage lands with some ice cold dice.

Going into the turn, the Basileans had only routed some Snow Foxes. Things are dire for the scenario, but they are clawing (a bit) back with attrition due to some bad positioning from me. Getting the Wolves caught out like that was bad, but things are looking great in the big picture.

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

Things are looking dire for the Basileans, but that is still a deceptive 8 Unit Strength on the table, and I need to keep the pressure up.

The wavering Then near the building does nothing. If I am being hyper-critical, I should be disengaging and backing up towards the building. I'm not blocking line of sight for the Phoenix or anything, and could be playing this a bit better.

The Varngur charge, trying to pick up the remaining angelic units.

One Cavern Dweller has no charges, and so just moves to threaten the center. The other Dweller flank charges the Phoenix, who had taken a little damage already, and starts the turn on 4 damage. The flank charge contributes 11 more, and the Phoenix is broken. 

The Draugr take a rear charge off the hill into Elohi, with Kruufnir in the flank. The unit starts on 2, and the dice go ice cold for me. Twelve damage is expected, but I do 6, taking the angels up to 8. Thankfully, the inspired nerve check breaks my way here.

The Varangur secure some victories.

The Thegn and Fallen multi-charge the other unit, into more cold dice, and 8-9 is expected here, but just 3 damage lands. 

Top of Round 6: Basileans

The Elohi counter charge the injured Fallen, with the Phoenix near the building joining in with a rear charge. This rear charge has no penalties, and lands 4 damage, while the Elohi catch a Bane Chant and deliver 3 more, and the Fallen are picked up, which is a big catch for the attrition points. In victory, they change facing.

Bottom of Round 6: Varangur

The Thegn shakes things off, and moves and pivots towards the center, aiming to help with a possible Round 7. The nearby Dweller does the same, just leaving the crop field.

The Varangur converge into the center.

I think the Elohi's counter-charge slides they away from Kruufnir and the victorious reform gets them out of arc, though I may have donked up Kruufnir's facing as well, based on the picture in my turn., and my notes aren't calling my out or clarifying here. Either way, he does not have a charge this round, and spins in the middle, facing the Phoenix, who takes a front charge from the remaining Cavern Dweller, and is brought up from 3 to 9 damage, and then found to be Insane.

A little insanity to end Round 6 and keep things interesting.

The Thegn fights the Elohi and lands 2 to ground them again, with a lot of things lining up charges against them for a potential Round 7.

However, we do not roll up an additional round. The Basileans have a deceptive 4 US in the center, but the Varangur have at least 6, without checking to confirm on the incoming Thegn.

A victory to the Varangur!

Game Conclusions

It was another very bloody game, but both Cavern Dwellers were able to grind it out for me despite some misplays on my part. It was great game, for both results and for feels, and an absolutely splendid way to end the event and the day. Trevor and I always have fun, and this match was no different. We came away with our second win for the tournament to end this with a winning record, and our first tournament win over our sparring partner Trevor! Not a bad showing at all.

Many prizes! Each baggy was an assortment of sprues and/or 3d prints.

I don't know or care about our exact rankings. The goal here was to have fun and indeed it was a good day. Joe, our TO is a leatherworker, and did up some unique bracers for the victor, which happened to be Rob and his Ravenous Halflings, who secured a victory against my Game 2 opponent Jeff in their final Game 3. 

Tournament Conclusions

Overall, despite a usual handful of errors from me each game, the list worked mostly as-intended, and put up some good results, especially considering I did not really practice much with the army, let alone the specific list. Flying Alpha Strike and Jeff were each going to be hard match-ups for me no matter what, so I was fortunate that they were rolled into one game to give me a winning record! Browsing, I think I had good chances against the rest of the armies, and in two out of three games both Cavern Dwellers indeed chewed through plenty of the opposing force, and I was able to get a lot done with all the Pathfinder and Strider that I had going for me. 

• Enjoy all three games. Overall, I did. Game 2 has a bit of an aftertaste now after some distance and reviewing things for the report, but it was still overflowing with lots to learn from tactically.
• Play 1 new player. With only three new players present, this was actually in doubt, but we did make it happen, finally taking a beating from Jeff in the aforementioned Game 2.
• Win 1 game. I won two, so we overperformed here! Huzzah! The overall aim was to have fun, and I certainly did. We had driven over and set up the night before, which was a lot of driving for me personally, but the event went well, we learned a lot, and got some good prep in and ideas for some future hosting ideas. 

A big tip of the hat to Joe for running a very fun and successful event!