Intro and Lists
During this busy holiday season I was fortunate enough to have a very brief alignment of precious free time with Trevor of Data and Dice, and we were able to get a quick series of 4th Edition games in to see how things worked for ourselves. Trevor was continuing on with his exploration of the strong Basileans, running the following for our third and final quick game of the day:
As before, the goal was to explore some basic lists and general ideas, while trying to get a handle on the new rules. His list for the final game had a small core tax with the Man-at-Arms, then two beefy specialist regiments of Ogre Palace Guard, an Elohi troop in support, and a War Priest leading things with a few spells. It's a pretty elite list, but with a good number of regiments and a lot of staying power.
For our final game of the day, I continued with the Varangur. I don't think they will be in regular rotation for me, so I wanted to get some good low-stakes testing in for them while I could, and up to evaluate and discuss is everything.
- Magnilde. I need to take her if I want to officially run the Varangur, so she's leading the list here as a full-fledged warlord. However, she's not as versatile or powerful as she was in 3rd Edition, and combat characters seem to be at a bit of a disadvantage in 4th. We'll see if she can hold her own or what insight we can get.
- Human Tribesmen. We now need to pay a core tax, but these have done very well so far! Having a good generalist unit like this has been handy. It seems like the horde is probably better since this is Kings of War and you do get a discount, but two regiments seem like great starting blocks for a quick list, as they are able to do a little bit of everything.
- Snow Foxes. A list still wants chaff, so we are taking the trusty Snow Foxes.
- Snow Trolls. For the last game we swapped out Hearthguard for Snow Trolls since they were the same points. The Hearthguard were as killy as ever, and we're hoping that despite the general adjustment to Large and Monstrous Infantry with fewer attacks now, that the Snow Trolls kept their edge and can grind and regenerate to win their combats.
- Fallen. With Strider, they are the more interesting Varangur unique unit. Fewer attacks and only CS1 makes them a little weird to use, so we're trying them with the Brew of Strength to actually be more of a hammer unit. We'll see how they do.
Table and Terrain
Trevor was kindly hosting our games, and had set up a quick table with his Kings of War App. Terrain heights and such actually shifted slightly. We did not shift over to using the new heights, though it didn't seem to matter here. After this first trio of games, I'll try to remember to adjust, but for now, we're still working from our old 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 and fields as some Height 0 difficult terrain.
At 1,000 points, a full table seemed a bit much. Having both sides of the original table, we generated a new setup, and then randomly voided a section, so that we're playing on a 4'x4' space. Here, we were back to voiding the left third, and will be playing on the right sections, which for better or for worse has both large buildings.
Wanting to keep things relatively simple while we grappled with the new lists and new rules, we opted for a modified Control for our final scenario, with each quadrant being worth 1 point.
My opponent won the roll for sides, and was lazy. He largely castled in the left corner, with Men-at-Arms on the line with the Paladins, the Wizard central and supporting, and the Ogres back more, in reserve. After some discussion, the cannon came down centrally, and Elohi landed on the far right.
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| Deployment, with the Varangur spreading out. |
...And for the third game in a row, I get to determine turn order! You guessed it, we're being very unsporting for our games here and I will be going first yet again.
Top of Round 1: Varangur
Looking at the board, I think I can press left and hopefully cause a lot of trouble. The overall goal for me is to try and draw the Ogres and Elohi out, and then try to quickly smash the rest.
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| Movement for the Varangur, pressing hard on the left. |
On the left, the Fallen run up, looking to pressure the Ogres with the Brew, but stay safe. We don't want to get charged by that. The Snow Foxes move up and pivot, safe as well. That would be a tough reform, but I don't want to give the Foxes away if I don't have do.
Tribesmen and the Snow Trolls move up, but are a bit tentative about it. I don't want to over-extend and get flanked by the Elohi. Magnilde moves up as well, staying safe, and trying to make use of her extra charge inches.
On the right, the Trribesmen inch up and timidly pivot. We don't want to be caught out, but don't want to let the Elohi gain a bunch of ground for free. Here we're zoning out a bit past the half-line, and hopefully slowing them down or drawing them out in the coming turns.Bottom of Round 1: Basileans
On the right, the Elohi and Ogres go for it. The Ogres moves at the double, and the Elohi go forth a good ways as well. It's aggressive, with 400+ points bearing down on a 140 point unit. I am ultimately ok with this, especially if this lets me win fights and apply pressure elsewhere.
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| The Basileans move out. |
The Ogres actually can't back up to escape, pivot-move-and-pivot, scooching out towards the right, ending the phase just a bit ahead of the starting line. The Men-at-Arms regiments go concave a bit. They should be safe from the Snow Trolls, and looking to mitigate incoming charges in future turns, buying time for the Elohi to get back into the fight.
Top of Round 2: Varangur
On the left, the Fallen and Magnilde will charge the Ogres, and the latter is not hindered. The Foxes excuse themselves, heading out towards the left, and looking to play the long game with the scenario if they can. I debated gumming up an opposing infantry regiment with them, but that didn't seem worth it, as should be hindered if indeed things do go wrong. The current charge is risky enough without contributing more units to that push.
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| Charges from Magnilde and the Fallen. |
The Tribesmen on the left move ahead and pivot hard, and should be able to support whatever happens. The Snow Trolls move and pivot to do the same, and are safe from the Elohi next turn, being just a little too far away.
On the right, the Tribesmen actually can't escape either charge by backing up. I do so anyways, and the building should limit charges into my unit to just one opposing unit, due to frontage issues.
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| Victory and reforms from the Varangur! |
Miraculously, the charge pays off. Magnilde only contributes 2, but the Fallen and their Brew thump 10 onto the Ogres. It's a bit of an overperformance, but I will gladly take it, and we are able to get the 5's needed to rout the Ogre Palace Guard and the Brew of Sharpness before it can be used. That's a big win for the Varangur in such a small game!
Reforms are better for me in this game. Magnilde can pivot to get stuff in front arc, and the nearest Men-at-Arms can't get around her into the Fallen, and the Fallen are able to just pivot strongly to see the Basilean line.
Bottom of Round 2: Basileans
After a lot of thinking, my opponent opts not to take the Tribesmen bait on the right. With the other Ogres breaking, he's in trouble and needs to help the Men-at-Arms. The remaining Ogres are actually able to use the building to block line of sight, ending atop the obstacle.
The Elohi move the full 20 with pivot to stare down my lines. Fliers and speedy things are super scary this edition, and really controlling the tempo of these smaller games.
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| Elohi setting up for next turn. |
The Men-at-Arms make some hindered solo-charges, which is not ideal, but it is all they can really do here. The regiment charging into Magnilde gets a Bane Chant, but still only lands the expected 3 damage, which is Iron Resolved down to 2, and the other unit lands 2 into the Fallen, which is Iron Resolved down to just 1. I'm stuck in combat, but I think that's fine.
Top of Round 3: Varangur
The Varangur look to make use of the additional units. While I'd like to keep the Foxes around to score for the scenario, if I clobber the Basileans, we can win in other ways. The Foxes go into the Elohi. In 3rd, this would be risky! I'd need to disorder them and hope for the best, but here, just engaging them take the angels out of doing important things for next turn, meaning I have two turns here to make progress before they can be a bother again, and I think I can clean this up in two turns with all my extra units. Still, the Foxes go crazy, landing 3 damage here.
Magnilde tries to order the nearby Tribesmen around, but to no avail. She'll land 5 back onto the Men-at-Arms, who will Iron Resolve down to 4, but she is winning this race for now.
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| Charges from the Varangur, with almost everything fighting. |
The Fallen hold, letting the Tribesman slam into the front to assist, and together the Varangur will savage and devastate the Men-at-Arms unit. In victory, the Tribesmen sidestep, trying to keep in a defensive posture to support in the coming turns and zone out the Elohi, and the Fallen back up, trying to get more room. They are no longer Nimble, so I need to be more careful in their positioning to get the most out of the unit.
The Snow Trolls cleanly charge the Ogre Palace Guard, landing 5 damage which will get Iron Resolved down to just 4. The output is close to expected, but the fewer numbers attacks in the new edition is definitely noticeable here.
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| A few reforms from the Varangur. |
The other Tribesmen unit clears the building and pivots, threatening the rear of the Ogres next turn, before the Elohi can come to their rescue.
Bottom of Round 3: Basileans
The War-Wizard tries to command the Men-at-Arms, but also fails his order to give them Elite. Still, they roll well, and poke 6 back into Magnilde, though she is able to hold, and Iron Resolve down to 7 damage.
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| Oh geez, the Snow Trolls fall. |
The Elohi are able to land 7 damage onto the Foxes, and will best them. Wary of accidentally overrunning into charge range of the Tribesmen, the angels hold fast in their victory.
The Ogres fight back against the Snow Trolls, landing 8 damage and secure a surprise rout against my unit! I was expecting to grind out and explore regeneration a bit, but while High CS units seem harder to come by now, they can definitely still land some solid damage, and it appears that the Ogres didn't get hit with the fewer attacks all other similar units are dealing with. Surrounded, the Ogres overrun, but only get a few successes.
Top of Round 4: Varangur
The Varangur continue to try and press their unit advantage, going for a few more multi-charges and hoping to clean up.
Magnilde will Reform, whose rule then refers back to the rules for a multiple charge, with her sliding over to create space. The Tribesmen come to the aid of Magnilde, but are just barely hindered. We'll fail the Vicious order again, but will take the the unit up to 12 damage, and then will best them and reform, with the Tribesmen and Magnilde spinning to face the Elohi.
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| More multi-charges from the Varangur. |
The Fallen can't reach the Eholi, but hit the injured Ogres in the front, with the Tribesmen joining in with a hindered rear charge, stumbling over the obstacle. We'll take the Ogres up to 18 damage to devastate them, and then rout them, as is proper!
The Fallen will spin to face the Elohi, and the Tribesmen will want to back up and get off the fence and out of arc of the Elohi, but my opponent concedes. The Elohi will have no good charges, and an uphill battle given the scenario.
A victory to the Varangur!
Game Conclusions
The dice were kind and the game went according to plan, with the Varangur able to barrel through most of the Basilean forces quickly and mostly without incident. We got lucky getting first turn again, and were really able to put it to good use this time.
The extra pivots in the movement phase continue to amp up the positional pressure early on, but defensive pivots found their uses here as well, like with the bait Tribesmen. The movement phase definitely feels more dynamic and unpredictable in the new edition, and we're liking the changes to line of sight overall. They are messier, but allow for move moves, which seems to be a good thing!
Testing Conclusions
- Magnilde. She did well again with instigating, and works really nicely alongside the Fallen, and I would imagine she'd perform similarly with the mounted Thunderers, given her speed. She can hold her own and contribute! Still, combat heroes are a little concerning, and seem hard o use well. They are valuable, so you don't want them fighting strong things themselves, but these Def4 core units seem like great targets for this kind of warlord to be fighting.
- Human Tribesmen. Again, having a strong generalist unit in the core is nice, and helps the Varangur out more than I was anticipating. Without Draugr, the list is much more elite, but it can still definitely work.
- Snow Foxes. They did a great job here, and I used them well. The sticky combats have made disrupting chaff way more important as they don't actually need to land that critical point of damage to occupy something scary for a turn.
- Snow Trolls. It definitely feels weird that every unit but the Ogres were hit with the reduced number of attacks. With regards to piece trading, things worked out, but they definitely got unlucky here, and we unfortunately didn't get a great test in for them.
- Fallen. Again, the item pushed the unit over the top, and turned them into a real threat. I liked that, though again we didn't really make strong use of Strider. I'm not sure I'd like the unit without the item, as it would somewhat relegate the Fallen to chewing through lesser units, and they'd need to chew through 2-3 to get their points back most of the time, which doesn't seem viable for most game states. It's been a fun unit though, and at some point we'll see how it does in some larger games.
- Varangur, generally. Magnilde needs to be included, but seems to do ok in brawls. She only unlocks two unique units for the Varangur, so I think there is probably a "sweet spot" to run the army, something like 1500-2000 points, where I get to pack everything unique into one big battalion. This was actually really neat to see on the table, and despite the hits to my collection, the army does still seem fun and viable, just different now.
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