Kings of War 3rd Edition: #156 Varangur vs Kingdoms of Men in Loot

Intro and Lists

We have a second secret battle report coming to light! Rob wanted some secret prep for a one day speed tournament attached to the Renegade GT in late November. The event rewards wins and time left on your clock, and a swift, elite meta has evolved around it. Rob was trying to attack the meta, taking the Kingdoms of Men:

The idea is that his shooting should outrange any hammer, giving him at least one volley of withering rifle-fire along with the Ballista and maybe even the Wizard too. The Hero and Chariots around to interdict and buy time for the shooting. And expecting monsters and large infantry / cavalry, the Giant with Slayer would smash anything that got close. Minimizing the movement and melee phases should save precious clock time, and hopefully this would all be enough for him to come out ahead in the event.

Our first game was me throwing something together on the spot with the models I had. The second game here was a little more thought out from me, though getting in the game when we did was unexpected and I needed to make one model substitution. I brought the Varangur, and up to test was:

• Draugr. They are a great unit, but against so much shooting, they will not last long, and probably won't even be threatening enough to draw a round of fire away from the rest of the list. We're taking them for the unlock, and to play the scenario, whatever it may be.
• Fallen. I like the Fallen, though haven't gotten to use them very much. I felt like a Speed 8 Nimble unit with Iron Resolve and Pathfinder would be good at pressuring the gunline, so we're taking them for a spin, and giving them the Staying stone to increase the odds of Iron Resolve coming into play.
• Tundra Wolves. I also like Tundra Wolves, and wanted to explore them. Again, we have a speedy unit with Pathfinder, and hoped I could bring some good Pressure. 
• Snow Foxes. I felt like the list needed chaff, so brought one unit of trusty Snow Foxes.
• Cavern Dweller. When I've faced them, if they are supported at all, I often feel like I have one chance at picking them up, or Lifeleech 3 starts contributing too much and they start running away with the game. I think Monsters can dominate small games, and wanted to bring the Cavern Dweller to test that out. 
• Thegn. The Varangur can take some nice scoring heroes, but the points means I cannot take any multiples. So we have a few singletons. We'll try to get the Thegn up front, making use of his longer charge range and Strider. Getting in this game was unexpected, so the Thegn is the counts-as Frostfang model with the raised sword.
• Snow Troll Prime. We'll take a Prime as well, and see what they can tank for us. The Prime will have double axes.
• Kruufnir. We had the points, so we'll give Kruufnir an outing as well, and see if we can't get him rampaging into some of the Riflemen.

Astute readers might notice that this list is very similar to my Northwoods Melee list. I was trying to build for that event and explore some units like the Wolves and Fallen, but doing my own secret testing and trying not to tip my hand to anyone attending the event. I had hoped to squeeze this game in during October, with some time to think on it, but my weekends filled up, and this game was played the night before the Northwoods Melee, after I had driven over to Milwaukee to help set up.

Table and Terrain

In preparation of the Northwoods Melee, we had set up all the tables. But since the speed tournament will be played on a square, 4 foot area, we randomized and then voided a chunk of it. We'll be ignoring the left-most section, and Rob blocks it off with game aids. We opt to try 20 minutes on the clock this time, getting in some practice for Game 2's time limit.

We got Control for the scenario, and went with it. On the smaller table, we'll have four 2'x2' zones, each worth 1 point, making it a little easier to tie.

Overview of the table. We're playing on Rob's farm table.

I lose the roll for sides, and after consideration, Rob stays where he's at. This is an actual choice and not just being lazy.

With a nice lane on the right, I was curious to see if he would go with his predetermined plan for deployment, with the Giant flanked by the two rifle hordes, and he did. Left to right for the Kindgoms of Men we have the Riflemen on the hill with the hero on Pegasus behind, Giant, and more Riflemen, with the ASB near as well. The Alchemist Curse Wizard on Pegasus hit behind the building. The Chariot Legion sat angled to see past the building, and the lone Ballista held down the firing lane.

Deployment.

Again, I had been hoping to pull double-duty here, helping Rob practice while getting in some secret practice of my own for the Northwoods Melee. It was going to be a weird list without any real battle line units, so I wanted to take the opportunity here to try and noodle out my general deployment for the list. 

Not being Nimble, I think I generally wanted the Cavern Dweller central, and to play a bit of a refused flank. Hopefully I could support the Dweller long enough for it to start feasting well, and then start pressuring from odd angles.

For the Varangur, I hiding behind terrain to minimize that first round of shooting. On the line we have the Cavern Dweller and Kruufnir, with Tundra Wolves hiding behind the woods as best they could, and Draugr back here as well. The idea will be to just leave the Draugr here for an easy point, while the rest of the list tries to brawl.

On the right, and we can't quite fit it all through the gap, so we have a stack of characters with the Thegn (sword) and Snow Troll (axes), and then Fallen with the Snow Foxes behind, to protect them from shooting. We do not want them wavering and holding things up, so we'll protect them until it is time for them to become a speedbump.

I win the roll for sides. It is tempting to make the humans go first and have a bad round of shooting, but ultimately I decide that I probably need to be aggressive, and grab what early ground I can. The Varangur will seize the initiative.

Top of Round 1: Varangur

The Cavern Dweller has Strider, but not Pathfinder. It pivots and moves it's 6" up, staying in the woods to get the cover bonus. Kruufnir tentatively approaches, keeping the Dweller Inspired. 

The Wolves just peak into the woods as well. I won't have charges, but they should actually be safe from the rifles, unless the shooters move. I was trying to give my opponent bad choices between a regenerating Kruufnir, a stealthy Cavern Dweller, and the Wolves.

The Varangur move up, but slow play the middle.

The Draugr sidestep, using the woods to hide from shooting. We'll try to keep them here all game if we can to play the scenario.

On the right, the Foxes zip ahead to block and protect the Fallen from the Chariots. The Thegn pulls up alongside the Fallen, with the Snow Troll proxy a bit behind the Thegn. The Chariots should have a possible charge into the Thegn, but will need to use their Boots, and will be giving up a flank to the Fallen if they don't remove my character. 

Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

The Ballista shoots into the Fallen, but lands no damage. The Chariots pivot and flee, and the Wizard will eventually come out from behind the building.

M-dmovement from the Kingdoms of Men. The Wizard will move to the left of the building.

The Riflemen move out, supported by the Giant, but take penalties for moving, and fail to damage anything. The Hero on Pegasus hides behind the hill.

Top of Round 2: Varangur

The Varangur try to keep the pressure on. The Snow Foxes can't charge this turn, but run ahead to threaten the Ballista next turn. The Thegn with the sword hops ahead as well, peering behind the building to pressure the Chariots and encourage them to flee more. 

The Fallen enter the woods, trying to use the terrain to their advantage, and the counts-as Snow Troll behind them will hang back and zone out the flier a bit.

Movement for the Varangur.

The Cavern Dweller moves up, threatening a charge next turn, with Kruufnir supporting.

The Tundra Wolves also move ahead to threaten charges from the woods, meaning all my important units (Wolves, Dweller and Fallen) are threatening multiple charges next turn. That fees good for pressure.

The Draugr hold, playing the scenario and holding this zone.

Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

The Chariots continue to flee / reposition, getting past the building and out of line of sight of the pursuing Thegn. The Wizard flaps around the building, and shooting is exceptionally hot this turn, with . Alchemist Curse landing 6 damage onto the Thegn, and the rest going into the Cavern Dweller, taking him up to 16 damage, and routing the monster.

The Cavern Dweller is gunned down.

The Hero on Pegasus is able to fly over, and get out of arc of the Tundra Wolves. I had honestly mixed up the fliers, thinking the Wizard was on the left. They are clearly modeled, I just goofed. With just 3 attacks from him, this isn't the biggest deal, but it is good positioning and pressure from him.

Top of Round 3: Varangur

I'm starting to crumble a little bit. I was hoping for more from the Cavern Dweller. The Snow Foxes will charge the Ballista and barely pick it up, landing the expected 6 damage but getting a good Nerve check.

The Thegn will hide behind the building now, wounded, but continuing to threaten things. The Fallen use the building to block. The Chariots should be in the flank, but not be able to align. Kruufnir repositions to tank. 

Positioning for the Kingdoms of Men.

The other Troll enters the woods. He's threatening the Wizard, and continuing to try and support as best he can.

The Wolves have charges, but nothing great. Their best charge is into the far Riflemen, but the Giant is there. Currently the Giant has no charges, so I opt to just reposition slightly. No reason to bring the Giant into the mix just yet.

The Draugr pivot, still using the trees to block.

Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

The reposition of the Wolves is not great, as I put a majority of their base outside the woods. One of the hordes of Rifles hits them for 6 damage, but they do hold. The other Horde has been shooting through the weird but charming gap in the obstacles, but has no shots this turn.

The Hero on Pegasus flaps to interdict, and the Wizard on Pegasus flaps behind my lines to cast Alchemist Curse on the Snow Troll Prime hiding in the woods, dealing 1 damage.

Positioning for the Kingdoms of men.

The Chariots charge Kruufnir. I don't remember if my opponent uses the Boots. I would. With so many units surrounding them, this is probably going to be their only instigating charge. They'll deal 4 damage, and the legendary Troll will hold.

Top of Round 4: Varangur

The Snow Foxes go and hide behind the building, while the Thegn is able to get out of arc of the Giant to pressure things.

Overkill into the Chariots.

Kruufnir will counter-charge the chariots, joined with a hindered charge from the Snow Troll Prime, and a clean charge in the flank by the Pathfinding Fallen.

In a snap decision, we discuss, and the Wolves should be able to Nimble charge around the Hero, pivoting one to get around, moving a big ahead, and then pivoting again so they can hit the other flank of the Chariots. 

In retrospect, I do not like this decision - it is overkill, and the Chariots are devastated before I can roll for the Wolves. I would have been better off charging the Hero and trying to bully him a bit. He's uninspired, and looking at expected damage, I should be able to waver him at least.

Reforms from the Varangur.

The Giant is not Nimble, so will be a little gummed up next turn. The Snow Troll overruns, and the Fallen and Wolves change Facing. Kruufnir holds, as I want to baby him a bit, and hope that he can regenerate something next turn, as he did nothing this turn.

In my backfield, the Draugr change facing to spy the Wizard, though they cannot reach him. It just seems sensible to not give him an open flank. 

Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

The Kingdoms of Men charge out! The Giant hits the Snow Troll Prime while some Riflemen make a hindered charge into the Fallen. Looking at the arrangements, I believe I had the proxy Troll slightly ahead, so the Riflemen are crammed over, allowing the Giant to sneak in his charge. I could have been a jerk, or adjusted things slightly better to prevent this, but the pressure is on with the time contraint, and fights are fun. Bring it on!

Positioning from the Kingdoms of Men.

The Riflemen shoot into the Tundra Wolves again, landing a hot 10 damage, and will pick them up. The Wizard will land 3 more damage onto Kruufnir with Alchemist Curse, and the Troll barely holds, and is surprisingly unbothered.

The Wolves break, but everything else holds firm.

The Giant rolls poorly overall, hitting the Snow Troll Prime for just 4 damage, and the Troll holds firm.

The Riflemen are hindered, and deal no damage to the Fallen.

Top of Round 5: Varangur

We got Riflemen to charge, so I feel like we're doing ok! The Fallen counter-charge the Riflemen, landing 9 damage, but they are a horde of dudes, and hold on.

Positioning for the Varangur.

The Thegn makes his way up a bit, threatening rear charges into the Giant and a flank charge into the Riflemen. Kruufnir hops ahead, regenerating a few damage to end at 5, and is pressuring the Riflemen as well. I am playing quickly and just trying to pressure and make him do math

For the scenario, the Snow Foxes continue to cower behind the building, and the Draugr continue to hide in my deployment zone.

Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

I miss a picture. The Riflemen counter-charge the Fallen, and will land 1 damage, which will be immediately Iron-Resolved back. I will admit, that does feel great, and it is nice to be on the other side of that for once!

The Giant thumps into the Snow Troll Prime again, taking him up to 7 damage, but the Prime holds on bravely.

The maximum pressure approach doesn't work on my opponent. Measuring, the Thegn is in range of the Hero, the Thegn is charged. Just 1 damage makes it through though, but the Thegn wavers.

The Rifles roll hot again into Kruufnir, and with Alchemist Curse adding a few as well, the legendary Troll will need Insane Courage to stay, and doesn't get it. 

Top of Round 6: Varangur

If memory serves, Rob learned after our initial practice game that the tournament doesn't actually roll for Round 7, so this is it.

The Fallen fight and best the Riflemen. I don't think they do anything, given this is the last turn.

Final positioning for the Varangur.

The Thegn does nothing, and not knowing we were only playing to Round 6, the Foxes have been a little too patient. The hope was to leave them here, and throw the Fallen into my opponent's left corner in a possible Round 7. Oh well.

The Snow Troll Prime bravely fights the Giant. We've taken far more than we've dealt, but are still holding on.

Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

The Rifles move and shoot into the Fallen, but land no damage. I believe the Fallen were getting a cover benefit, making this really hard on the shooters.

Looking to save time on the clock, the Hero doesn't roll attacks against the Thegn.

Final positioning for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Giant does thump 4 more damage into the Snow Troll Prime to bring him to 10 damage, but again, the Snow Troll Prime is a glutton for punishment.

The Wizard flies over into my left corner to score it for the humans. The Riflemen, Hero, and Giant all score his left corner. Fallen and Foxes hold my opponent's right, and Draugr hold my right.

With a hard cap after Round 6, it is a tie game!

Game Conclusions

Against Rob, I am always happy with a tie. And heck, if the speed tournament only goes to Round 6, then the previous practice game for this would have also been a tie! Great news for me, especially considering all my misplays in both games, but less so for him. I still think his approach has merit though. It’s a small event, and the list is sure to catch someone off guard, and it doesn’t take much for all of that shooting to start doing work against an elite list.

This game was also quite helpful for me. Still coming away with a tie despite losing the Cavern Dweller before it could contribute anything felt great. I didn’t have much time to really reflect on my tactics in detail, but this game validated my list and general approach for the Northwoods Melee coming up the next day, and was a big confidence boost.

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr. They hid and simply played the scenario. I might have been able to eek a little more value out of them moving them up and zoning out and threatening the Wizard and such, but these already did great this game, doing just what I needed them to do.
• Fallen. They are relatively quick and relatively durable, and can apply some great pressure with smart positioning. They were used well enough this game, and were certainly a fun unit to have around! 
• Tundra Wolves. I should have been more mindful with them, and was pressuring when I should be cautious, and cautious when I should have been pressuring harder. They were definitely not used well here, but they were definitely fun to use! I can see squeezing them into more lists, as without shooting to scare them away they can really get into nasty positions thanks to Nimble and their good speed.
• Snow Foxes. Had I known we were stopping at 6 earlier, I maybe could have gotten a little more use out of them, but they killed a war machine and played the scenario and they had a very good game.
• Cavern Dweller. Like the Wolves, the Cavern Dweller was also not used particularly well, and the monster didn’t get to contribute at all to the violence, but the dice against them were pretty hot. My opponent took his chance to deal with the monster, and it worked out for him this time.
• Thegn on Frostfang. The extra speed was good and it was fun to see him zipping around the table being a menace. Strider didn’t come into play here, but it can be very strong. 
• Snow Troll Prime. The game was a nice showcase of the durability of the Snow Troll Prime. The Giant was getting his Slayer d6, but the results just weren’t there and the Nerve checks kept swinging low on the Inspired rerolls.
• Kruufnir. Not regenerating anything really damped what the legendary Troll could accomplish, btu he still took the charge from the Chariots like a champ, and enabled that strong (if overzealous) pushback into the center. He did fine.

I was really hoping to get one more practice game in for the speed tournament, trying the 15 minute timer and running yolo Abyssal Berserker spam, or Lycans or some kind of flying circus... just something more elite and in-line with exactly what Rob was expecting to see at the event, just to better gauge how his plan was, as well as tie these reports off neatly, having played at every time limit. Alas, this was it for the secret games for Rob.

I tidied up our first practice game and posted it last night once the tournament was officially underway. Tidying this second report up the morning after, I read that Bob not only won the speed event, but won it decisively, being the only one to go 3-0! The attack on the meta worked out. Congrats Rob!