Northwoods Melee List

Over the summer, our club decided that we wanted to hose a one-day event in the fall. Unfortunately, immediately after we locked in the date, the 4th Edition rumors and spoilers started circulating, dampening some interest, and then getting closer, a full two-day event in popped up in Indiana, which would be pulling a bit from our prospective player pool. Still, it looked like we’d have enough attendees to hit the minimums to qualify for a legit Kings of War Event, and so soldiered on with the the planning for inaugural Northwoods Melee, with Joe graciously choosing to coordinate things.

Joe wanted the event to qualify for US Masters rankings, so that we could hopefully draw folks in, as apparently the one-days are paradoxically harder to get in for prospective players. To accommodate drive times, we wanted quicker games, and settled on a smaller-than-usual 1500 points for the event, so it could be run over day, with mornings and evenings set aside for travel. Other than the points level, it would be a pretty normal US tournament, using the Withdraw rule but not Command Dice. We’re trying to differentiate our club’s tournaments a bit, so in keeping with the ideas pioneered by the Northwoods GT earlier in the year, the Northwoods Melee would have a third forest replace a piece of flat, difficult terrain, and we’d have a veto/pick method for determining each scenario.

Team photo while packing! Turns out the board is a bit visually "busy" due to the snow effect. 

Aside from league games, we last really played around at this points level for Dragonfall 2024, where I ran Kingdoms of Men with two Giants alongside an honorary third Giant in the Monarch. I sketched out some ideas and revisited my notes from back then, and my thinking hasn’t really changed.

Efficient, or hard-to-deal-with units, like the over-tuned Abyssal Berserkers or extra-sturdy Def6 Imperial Dwarf Ironguard are going to find good success at any points level. For a lower-points level event like this, I think one can either try and leverage those kinds of units, or try to leverage double monsters.

Last I heard we were expecting to hit 8ish players, and not knowing any specific armies incoming, I tried to build for fun while addressing the uniqueness of the tournament. With my thinking above, I felt like double monsters are the more fun way to go here, so that’s what I went with again, and I had the list essentially locked in since August, when Joe had started tossing around ideas and possible dates for the event. I’m bringing the Varangur, with double Cavern Dweller and the following list:

We’re trying to leverage double Cavern Dwellers and their good survivability, while leaning into some terrain mitigation, given the extra forest. Running through the list and my thinking:

• Cavern Dwellers! They are swingy with the extra attacks, but have great stats and Strider, so seemed like good monster choices here. I’ve played against them a fair amount, and if they have any other units nearby, with Lifeleech 3, I feel like I get one chance to remove these or they just feast the rest of the game. So, I’m bringing two, and hoping my opponents have as tough a time fighting them as I do!
• Draugr. If the scenario doesn’t need them to hold tokens or anything, they can be decent little stumbling blocks, and should be able to keep pace well-enough since they lack Shambling and have Wild Charge. We’ll be looking for them to either play the scenario hard, or to get in the way and chump block for my more important units.
• Fallen. I wanted some extra pressure, and some staying power. I feel like my Fallen haven’t really gotten their time to really shine yet, so we’re taking them for a spin. With Nimble and Pathfinder, they should be able to pressure slow lists, and with Def5, Iron Resolve and the Staying Stone, I’m hoping they can hold the line for me too.
• Tundra Wolves. I wanted something with Speed and these fit the bill nicely, and even have Pathfinder! They should be good at zoning things out and slowing down opposing pushes. Against slower lists, we might be able to zip them around lines and cause some heavy pressure too. They seem like a great unit, which I have also not really gotten to explore to my liking yet.
• Snow Foxes. Every lists needs chaff, so we are taking the tried and true Snow Foxes.
• Thegns on Frostfang. While I was originally thinking of Snow Trolls for their survivability, I opted for these because of Strider. Baiting a hindered charge while threatening a striding one seems like good tactics, and these can still do a fine job of speed bumping something scary for a turn or two, or adding a few more damage to a fight, depending on what the situation requires.
• Kruufnir. Since the Thegns are more combat-characters, I wanted to run at least three sources of Inspiring here. I had the points and opted for another fun pick. Kruufnir has always delivered for me, and I’m hoping he can do some good work here as well. Hopefully some of the trio here can survive the game.

While I had a few, we'll say "adjacent" games testing out units and such, I unfortunately didn't get in any true practice games with this list. Additionally, about half the attendees would be rather competitive players, including more than a few attendees from US Masters, looking to rack up an easy podium finish here to count for the 2026 event coming up in Minnesota. Knowing myself, I’m here to have some escapist fun, so especially with no practice games, instead of seeking wins or working my more competitive muscles, or wanting to try-hard in the slightest, fun will be the absolute aim of the event, with my personal goals being:

• Enjoy all three games.
• Play 1 new player.
• Win 1 game.

That all seems doable. The event is tomorrow, so tournament reports will be coming soon!