Kings of War 3rd Edition: #137 Varangur vs Brothermark in Protect and Raze

Intro and Lists

Schedules aligned and I was able to fit in a very unusual second day of games this weekend, this time against Trevor of Data and Dice. He brought the following for our second game of the day:

He is still on his “Bromark Goblins” approach, leaning on numerous Penitent units supported by individuals to serve as an expendable front line, with Ogre Guards, Phoenixes, Paladins on foot, Bowmen, and now triple Arbalests backing them up. The unique twist this time was a healbot War Wizard with Celestial Restoration. Overall, the list has a lot of Nerve to chew through, and a surprising amount of shooting and healing to give him plenty of options in every phase. 

I brought the Varangur, as I am still trying to make up for neglecting them all last year. I had a number of lists to test from around February of 2024, and condensed several into some “shooting Varangur” list for the games today. First up is a focus on axes, and up to evaluate is everything:

• Draugr Hordes. I absolutely love regiments of these. However, I wanted to try hordes, using the cheap unlocks run all the war machine toys I wanted to try out. We’ll see how the hordes do.
• Reaver Troops. Honestly, they don’t really synergize with the rest of the list, but I still wanted to try them out as 20 attacks just seemed like fun to roll. Depending on the match-up, I guess the loose hope is to shoot stuff and have the crazies here charge in and clean up? We’ll see how that works in practice.
• Night Raiders with Bows and Wolf Handlers. We’re going with bows this time, which still I think is the better default option, as the extra range is so helpful. We’re messing around with the Wolf Handlers upgrade for some Scout moves, so we’ll see what we can learn about bows.
• Snow Troll Horde. I finagled the old list to fit these newcomers in, as while I have seen them across the table a lot over the years, I have yet to debut my own units, and still have a lot to learn. 
• Magus Conclaves. They are a very unique unit, in that the magi can move around and shoot, and that seems worth exploring. I’ve tried them in some league games, and have been … whelmed by them, as singleton war machines are pretty bad, but we’ll see how the full-power trio does.
• Snow Troll Primes. The loose goal is to use them to inspire and interdict, and even if they waver, hopefully I have enough shooting to support them while they regenerate. They are a steal for their points, and I’m putting all three on the table to put them through their paces and see more of what they can do.
• Formation Horse Raiders with Bows. I really like the idea of ranged cavalry, but they tend to be hard to use, have poor output in every phase, and have a lot of rough games. The formation takes from to Me3+, so we'll try being aggressive with them and see where that takes us.
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The normal Lord is a neat pick, and the formation gives a him a conditional Brutal +1 Aura and a mount, a mix which is usually verboten. I’m giving him Brand of the Warrior for a Brutal 1, meaning I should be bringing Brutal 2 to all his fights, and with 7 quality attacks, he seems like a great way to tip combats unexpectedly in my favor. I’m investing pretty heavily in him, and with 10 spare points, I’m giving him Mead of Madness, trying to extend his reach ever-so-slightly.

Table and Terrain

Using his Kings of War App to set things up for the rematch, we got Protect and Raze for the scenario, which I feel like I’ve been playing a lot of, but so be it! It’s a good scenario with lots of possible interactions. 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 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.

Overview of the table while we toss stuff into the center and going over lists.

The app also gave us a very odd map, but we rolled with it, ending up with a lot of terrain on my left. I won the roll for sides, and was lazy, as while it was probably obvious to my opponent, I was hoping to make use of the forest.

The Brothermark.

Again my opponent largely ignored the left-third of the table, leaving an angled Penitent regiment to dissuade the Varangur from outriding. The pond and building would help anchor his line, and he had the Ogre Palace Guard and Paladins out here to help pressure and brawl for the center. The three Arbalests ended up in the middle but way back. The bulk of the Brothermark line was packed into the right-third of the table. Bowmen ended up behind a building, but had decent arcs of fire towards several objectives, and were supported by a Phoenix and Ogre Captain. Using a hill as cover, the rest of the Brothermark castled in the corner, with three regiment of Penitents, along with the Ancient Phoenix between the Ogre Palace Guards in reserve, and assorted individuals around here too.

Varangur on the left.

I had Horse Raiders unsupported on the far left, hoping to burn a token and then control the other if I could. Trying to play around the enemy artillery, I tried to hide what I could. We have a Snow Troll Prime and Sliksneer with Draugr angled and hiding behind the hill. The idea was to push out and then leave the Draugr to hold the center.

Continuing with that play, we have another Prime on the line with an angled horde of Snow Trolls, who should be getting cover from the obstacle should the Arbalests want to target them. 

Varangur in the center.

The other Horse Raiders ended up centrally. They were a late drop and I just couldn’t figure out what to do with them, and figured I might try a “charge of the Light Brigade” if the opportunity arose. 

I deployed the Conclaves centrally. We both tried to keep the artillery to late drops, but both caved and committed to insure we weren’t deploying them somewhere where they would not be able to shoot. My final drop was the Reavers here, to block line of sight/provide cover, should the war machines want to fire upon each other. I figured between the movement of the Reavers and the movement of the Conclaves, I’d be able to secure clean shots if I went first.

Varangur on the right.

On the right, the second horde of Draugr came down. This was an early drop, just to the side of the field, and the hope was to run up and use the building to anchor and hold for a few turns. Against Penitents, that could be enough!

My right corner had most of my early drops. We have angled Reavers hoping to zip up and avenge the blocking Draugr when the time came, then angled Night Raiders ready to take the woods, and then a Snow Troll Prime to support as well.

Scout moves from the Varangur.

Truthfully, neither of us seemed pleased with our deployments. Terrain was weird and all the war machines and counter-play really seemed to mess with both of us. 

My Night Raiders scouted up, making sure to keep leader points in the woods. These were early deployments, angled to gain the most ground. 

Top of Round 1: Brothermark

On the right, the Brothermark Lines moves up aggressively, with the screening Penitents moving at the double, and the Ancient Phoenix and one of the Ogre hordes keeping pace, along with tall the individuals. I believe the Phoenix has range into one of the Raiders, but between Stealthy and cover penalties, nothing connects.

Big opening moves from the Brothermark.

The second horde of Ogres dallied, wary of taking the hill and getting shot at.

Only slightly lighter pressure in the center.

Centrally, the Bowmen moved up and pivoted, securing an objective while shooting at the screening Reavers. The Bowmen land 1, and the Arbalests roll hot landing 8 more. The Reavers are Fearless, but are uninspired and routed. 

Out on the left, with Penitents doing a little swimming.

On the left, the Paladins move up to anchor themselves to the building, with the Ogre Captain supporting them.

The Penitents on the far left wade into the pond, looking to dissuade the Horse Raiders from outriding.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

On the left, the Horse Raiders gallop up and pivot, securing my token on the left. My opponent reminds me to burn it, and I do, though this is illegal. I can’t start razing stuff until Round 2.

Movement on the left.

The and Draugr and horde of Snow Trolls both move up a lot, along with both Primes. The nearer one is out of range of the Paladins, as are the Horse Raiders. 

Movement in the center.

The Horse Raiders stop just outside of range of the Paladins, and loose into the Villein Bowmen. With the Reaver screen routing, the Conclaves all shuffle about to fling into the Bowmen as well, and I land a combined 8 damage. 

Movement on the right.

On the right, the Night Raiders have shotes into the Bowmen, but it should be with cover with the Captain right there. With their aggressive Scout moves and the aggressive advance of the Penitents, one of the Raider units is threatened, so I opt to split my fire, and the Raiders land a combined 6 damage into one of the Penitent units, the Penitents are Rallied and Inspired though, and do not care.

I prioritize getting the Reavers up instead of the Draugr horde, and the nearby Snow Troll  stays out of range of the Penitents, and positions to support the Night Raiders.

Top of Round 2: Brothermark

On the right, the Brothermark continue their blitz. Both Penitents make hindered charges into the nearest Night Raiders, and land a combined 4 damage to disorder the unit. The Ancient Phoenix gets close enough to trigger Radiance of Life for the wounded unit, and then heals them for an additional 3 to take them down to just 2 damage. Adding to all this, only one unit of Raiders is near enough to hold this token, so the Penitents are able to wrestle this from the Varangur.

The Brothermark are in already.

The Ogre Captain on the right jogs up to secure the second token on the right, pivoting nimbly to keep things in front-arc while doing so.

Both hordes of Ogres move up, with the previously timid unit swiftly traversing the hill. The Chaplain and the Paladin characters arrange themselves out here while the ASB peels off to help the Bowmen and the War Wizard with Celestial Restoration plays in the back field, moving away in order to target the Bowmen, healing 3 with the Phoenix contributing another 2 to take them down to just 3 damage now.

The Horse Raiders hold, but it is close.

The Bowmen and all three Arbalests shoot into the Horse Raiders in the center, landing 6 damage but thankfully failing to rout them.

The Paladins retreat while the Penitents and Captain try to dissuade.

The Paladins are under threat from a Snow Troll Prime. While that isn’t scary on its own, they don’t want to get pinned down, and so back up. Their supporting Ogre Captain turns to further dissuade my outriding Horse Raiders, and the Penitents side-step in the pond, trying to further construct the movement of my cavalry.

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

On the left, I burned the token here last turn by mistake, but didn't move too far this turn, so this is fine in the big picture. I want to play a bit in this corridor and then zip back to claim my opponent's left objective if I can, so I'm am looking to pressure and shoot in the coming turns. The Penitents are majority in the pond, so I’m shooting with a penalty, but do land 1 damage against them. They don’t have Iron Resolve, so it sticks, but this is just so underwhelming. The Ogre Captain is lurking, but too far back to actually threaten me just yet. 

Sliksneer is about a half inch shy to just jump past the Penitents and get out of arc, so he cautiously approaches, staying out of sight for this turn.

Positioning on the left.

The Draugr horde slowly advances on the left, remaining angled. Seeing the Paladins back up, both Primes and the horde, taking advantage of Wild Charge 1 and their greater speed, staying just over 10” away.

The shooting gallery in the center is a mess. I don’t quite have the range to be tricky with the Horse Raiders, so they make a different ill-advised charge into the Bowmen. We are hindered by Phalanx, but still land 7 damage against the archers to bring them up to 10 damage.

Positioning in the center.

With the lanes clear, the Conclaves loose into an opposing war machine, but just 4 damage makes is through. The Arbalest is wavered though.

On the right, the Reavers make a charge into the Ogre Captain. They land the expected 8 damage, and I luck out with the Nerve Checks. The Ogres can see some of them, so they spin awkwardly around to get out of their arc.

Fighting on the right.

The far-right is a mess as well. I want to support the wounded Raiders with the Prime, but opt not to. The Prime holds, and the wounded unit counter-charges the wounded Penitents. They were healed down to 2, but are taken back up to 4 with some pretty cold dice.

Reforms on the right.

Squaring up lets the fresh Raiders charge the other Penitents and square up, with then lets my Draugr horde hit the unit with a hindered flank charge. The units roll well, taking the unit to 13 damage and breaking them. In victory, the Raiders back up a few inches, and the Draugr swivel to block and hold the woods. If I hadn’t already lost both tokens out here, I’d be feeling ok with things!

Top of Round 3: Brothermark

Having already claimed their tokens, the Brothermark are less willing to press forward out on the right, as there is is just no reason to. 

The Ogre Horde near the edge actually cannot fit to help the Penitents fight the injured Raiders, so they back up, denying the Prime a delaying charge into them. The other horde of Ogres backs up, trying to threaten as much space as possible, and the unengaged Penitents just hold, hoping to bait out charges for the Ogres to punish.

Fighting on the right.

The fighting unit of Penitents continues, landing 3 more damage to take the Raiders up to 7, but the Varangur line holds.

The Horse Raiders are shot off.

The Bows disengage, letting the Phoenixes shoot the Horse Raiders. I believe one Arbalest joins in against the cavalry as well accruing enough damage to confidently pick the uninspired unit up. The final Arbalest fires into one of my war machines, and spikes the dice, blooming things up to 4 damage and wavering me. 

The Ancient Phoenix helps with Radiance of Life and Cloak of Death, but Celestial Restoration spikes hard this turn as well, healing the Bowmen for 9 and erasing all the damage of the last two turns.

Positioning on the left, with more Horse Raiders lurking just out of frame.

The Paladins back up, but they are in a bad spot. I have a charge range of 13 inches thanks to Wild Charge 1 on all the Trolls. They all stayed just out of 10” from the Paladins, and the Paladins can only move 2 ½” away, so I am still threatening them with a triple charge.

The Paladins still back up, trying to delay and hope for reinforcements or another good Brothermark shooting phase. The flank of the Paladins is still safe, and the Ogre Captain remains pointed at the outriding Horse Raiders, as do the reserve Penitents.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

I believe the Horse Raiders hold. They have range into things and can’t get around, so there is no good reason to move. They try shooting the Penitents again and again land just 1 more damage, thanks to the cover penalties of the pond. They are at 2 and I spike the Nerve Check to waver them, though it doesn’t really matter.

A triple charge from Trolls.

Slicksneer now hops the line, getting far into my opponent’s deployment zone and out of arc of both the Penitents and the Ogre Captain.

I take the triple charge into the Paladins, and the Primes spike their dice, contributing more than usual, and the horde is brought to 17 damage. They have a ridiculously high Nerve, but the hot dice continue and I am able to pick the Inspired unit up. The horde turns to face the upstart Bowmen, one Prime overruns, and the other turns to threaten the Captain and Penitents. 

Reforms for the trolls.

The two Conclaves active this turn shoot into the injured Arbalest, add 5 damage, and I will pick it up this turn.

Combat on the right.

On the right, the Draugr horde tries to instigate, making a hindered charge into the Penitents and will land a whopping 1 damage. The Reavers tuck in hear them, and with some fiddling, we agree that the Ogres are in their front, but cannot fit or align for a charge.

I want to protect my Inspiring, so the Prime again declines to charge, letting the two Raider units deal with the Penitents, with the goal to overrun with the injured unit. The Penitents takes 8 damage and is brought up to 12, but is found to be insane, stalling the push.

Top of Round 4: Brothermark

The insane Penitents halt what little momentum I have out here, and let the Brothermark will then concertedly push back. 

Celestial Restoration helps the Insane Penitents get from 12 down to 10, and the insane Penitents land another 3 damage to bring the Raiders up to 10 and break them. 

A Chaplain makes a hindered charge into the fresh unit of Raiders, lands 2 and holds them up. 

A mess of charges on the right.

Then, both Ogre units and a regiment of Penitents charge the Draugr in the front, with the Paladin character joining in the flank, and the zombies are just tipped over into devastated status before routing, and the Brothermark reform to bully the what little is left out here for the Varangur.

Reforms for the many victorious Brothermark units.

The ASB moves towards the Bowmen again. The archers, both Phoenixes and both remaining Arbalests shoot into the Snow Trolls, who accrue 7 damage but hold.

Brothermark positioning on the left.

The Ogre Captain turns to face the rear of the Snow Trolls, and the wavering Penitents remain in the pond.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

I decide to be a little greedy, and explore the Horse Raiders more. They have a hindered rear charge into the Ogre Captain and take it. It’s a lot of attacks, but I no modifiers against armor. The apparent expected damage of 7 slips in, but the Captain is steady and Iron-Resolves down to 6. 

Aftermath of Bottom of 4.

Slicksneer has a charge into an Arbalest, but opts to charge the Penitents instead, with a Snow Troll Prime joining on the other flank. Together, 9 damage is done and the unit is popped with Brutal 2. 

The other Snow Troll Prime has a charge into a war machine and takes it, picking it up and reforming.

The Trolls charge again.

Three Conclaves are active this turn, and shoot into the remaining Arbalest, land 7 damage, and will pick it up as well. 

The Snow Troll Horde regenerates 2, and charges the Bowmen, landing 13 damage with some more hot dice.

A little too late on the right, for everything Varangur-related.

On the right, choices are slim. The Reavers make a clean charge into the Penitents, but I run out of luck. While 8 damage lands, the inspired unit holds. They should be rallied as well. We agree that this was probably the least worst option for the Reavers, as charging fresh Ogres didn’t seem fruitful either.

The stuck Night Raiders counter-charge the Chaplain, landing a meager 2 through the hero’s armor. 

The Snow Troll Prime finally makes a charge, and will maul the insane Penitents.

Top of Round 5: Brothermark

On the right, Ogres charge the Prime, and will roll hot, landing 12 damage and will pick him up.

The Paladin and Chaplain charge the Raiders. The Paladin is hindered, but the dice are good and each does 3 damage, taking the Raiders up to 8, and will get the rout after the Prime is cut down.

Charges for the Brothermark.

The Penitents counter-charge the Reavers, with some Ogres flanking. The unit is brought to 26 damage while I use the restroom, and is obliterated. Reform options aren't great with two big hordes, but the Brothermark has won out here, so they aren't in any danger.

View from the center.

We discuss, and I convince Trevor to try and hold the line with the Bowmen. They are far enough ahead I need to fight me way through them, and if he moves the normal Phoenix a little closer, he can put two titans behind the horde, and really complicate my life. So that’s what he does. The Bowmen disengage, and the Phoenixes buttress them from behind. The Bowmen take a Celestial Restoration for 5, a Radiance of Life for 1, and Heals for 3 more, ending the turn on just 4 damage. 

On the left, the Ogre Palace Guard disorders the Horse Raiders, landing 3 damage against them. 

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

On the left, I probably should have run the horses away last turn, but I was just too curious about that rear charge. Now that I am fighting, I can’t safely Nimble away from the Captain.

The Horsemen counter-charge, with a Prime joining in, and they take the Captain to 15 damage and break him. The victorious horsemen change facing, but starting in the pond, are not going to be able to get back to hold the other token here on the left as the game concludes.

Movement for the Varangur.

Slicksneer moves as close as he can, but has no charges this turn. Even with the item he’s well short of the Bowmen.

Positioning for the Conclaves.

Fresh from breaking an Arbalest, a Snow Troll Prime turns to join the horde of his brethren  against the Bowmen. The archers are brought back up to 16 damage, and wavered, but are still on the field, and still keeping me off this token.

All three Conclaves are online, but can’t do much with the critical fight happening behind the building. They can’t target the injured Penitents, but land do 8 into the nearest Ogre Palace Guard, which is then Iron Resolved down to just 7 after they are found to be steady.

Top of Round 6: Brothermark

Untouched Ogres control my objective on the far right. They are not Inspired, but there is no way to claim it, and with Ogres and Penitents in the way to confound line of sight, this token seems safe.

The Brothermark dump numerous Heals into the Bowmen.

The wavering Bowmen hold, getting another Radiance of Life for 1, Celestial Restoration for 5, and more heals for 4 to take them back down to 6.

Bottom of Round 6: Varangur

The Horse Raiders on the left make their way towards the token, but will not be able to claim it unless I roll up a Round 7. They move and I hope for the best.

A Snow Troll Prime races towards the center, and Draugr trudge up to hold the center.

Slicksneer, a Prime, and the Trolls make another group charge into the Bowmen, see-sawing them back up to 18 damage, and with Brutal 2, will finally break the unit. Everything tries to overrun, but we had pre-measured, and it’s not enough without a Round 7. 

The Snow Trolls need to overrun a few inches to contest, but it’s US3 vs the US 4 of the two Phoenixes. The Prime overruns, but is an quarter of an inch too far sideways to score. There was just no way to wrestle this cleanly with how things needed to connect against the wide Bowmen, so I broke the Bowmen, but need a Round 7 to do this.

Still playing for Round 7, one Conclave moves to the left, and shoots into the injured Ogres, as it can’t get any other target. A few damage lands, and they waver. It's not a rout, but just fine for a Round 7.

The other two Conclaves can move to the right, and get shots with cover around the building and into the Phoenix, and 7 damage connects, but the Phoenix holds. 

I have done all I can, but roll up a resounding “1” for a Round 7, definitively ending it here.

The Brothermark have burned two of their tokens on the right and control my two tokens on the right, while the Varangur have burned one on the left, and hold the center for one point as well, making this game a 4:2 victory for the Brothermark!

Game Conclusions

The game was a lot of fun, and was a really neat showcase for how dynamic this revised scenario can be! This would have been a tie under old Raze rules, but being able to fall back and hold tokens is an interesting avenue of play. Good stuff!

The shooty Varangur again had a tough match-up against Iron Resolve and Heals. The Bows were slightly better takes, but I still got drastically outplayed, and struggled to make any headway with my ranged damage dealing.

We’ve both been intrigued by, but both struggled with, the Celestial Restoration spell. It’s a little awkward to use given Indirect fire, and is a big enough investment that you really want to use the level 3 spell. However, that means your Spellcaster needs to be Level 2-3, and you don’t want Inspiring or too many additional rules baked into the profile, as the caster is probably going to be stuck in a corner. Few casters meet these criteria, but the War Wizard here proved his worth here, healing well over 20 damage throughout the game with some big rolls. 

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr Hordes. Again, not really supported or used well overall. I need to either be using other chaff to block for them and increase their longevity, or putting scary units around them and be ready to push back after the Draugr take the initial charge. I did neither thing here and still have a lot to learn with trash hordes.
• Reavers. These were also not used well here. The plan of shooting stuff to wound with them cleaning up did not work in the first game of the day. Positioning was tough this game, and they ended up being used as chaff this game, which was not a good use of points. A neat unit, but a terrible list for them. They need to be run alongside other combat units
• Night Raiders with Bows and Wolf Handlers. I clearly did not think things through with them. Deploying to utilize the terrain was wise, but I did not react to the location of the tokens. With so many tokens out here, the angle was unnecessary, and they should have been deployed more straight on. Additionally, the scout move was too aggressive; I just needed an inch to hit the Penitents. Given the aggressive Scout move, I should have focused fire into the opposing Bowmen instead of splitting my fire, especially against a list with healing. I think this is the better loadout for Raiders, but these were not used well. 
• Snow Troll Horde. I’ve played against them a lot, but it’s different field them yourself. Wild Charge was very impactful here, and they had a pretty decent game! While I will acknowledge that their combat dice were hot, so they overperformed a bit, CS2 and Vicious still makes them a better brawler unit than I realized. 
• Magus Conclaves. A decent showcase for their mobility, and they had decent output, but I just couldn’t shoot my way through all the healing. Still definitely worth exploring, but they had a tough game again here.
• Snow Troll Primes. A strong and durable unit, but they really need other units around to help when they get wavered and need to take a breather to regenerate.
• Formation Horse Raiders with Bows. Again, I like ranged cavalry in theory but struggle to make them work on the table. I tried taking advantage of the longer range on the bows, and again leaning into shooting just doesn’t seem worth it for this unit. These are a medium cavalry unit that happens to have a shooting attack. I should be using them first with an eye to pressuring and positioning for future combats, and only worrying about shooting as it comes up. On their own they aren’t going to do much, and I think if you run them at any size or as the formation, you need to be running them with Mounted Sons or something in order to get the most juice out of them. 
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The Mead was almost impactful, but fell a little short at the end. I again liked the Brutal 2 on him, though honestly the rest of the list didn’t get much use out of the aura. A Barbarian-keyworded list might get more use out of the formation, and a list with the formation plus Mounted Sons might be good if you wish to try this yourself.

Again, a tough game, but another great one! Lots to consider for the Varangur-side, and it was neat to see the Brothermark come away with some strong victories today. Thanks for the games, and for hosting them!

Kings of War 3rd Edition: #136 Varangur vs Brothermark in Loot

Intro and Lists

Schedules aligned and I was able to fit in a very unusual second day of games this last weekend, this time against Trevor of Data and Dice. He brought the following:

He is still on his “Bromark Goblins” approach, leaning on numerous Penitent units supported by individuals to serve as an expendable front line, with Ogre Guards, Phoenixes, Paladins on foot, Bowmen, and now triple Arbalests backing them up. The unique twist this time was a duelist Dictator with Wings. Overall, the list has a lot of Nerve to chew through, and a surprising amount of shooting and healing to give him plenty of options in every phase. 

I brought the Varangur, as I am still trying to make up for neglecting them all last year. I had a number of lists to test from around February of 2024, and condensed several into some “shooting Varangur” lists for the games today. Goong alphebetically, first up is a focus on axes, and up to evaluate is everything:

• Draugr Hordes. I absolutely love regiments of these. However, I wanted to try hordes, using the cheap unlocks run all the war machine toys I wanted to try out. We’ll see how the hordes do.
• Reaver Troops. Honestly, they don’t really synergize with the rest of the list, but I still wanted to try them out as 20 attacks just seemed like fun. Depending on the match-up, I guess the loose hope is to shoot stuff and have the crazies here charge in and clean up? We’ll see how that works in practice.
• Night Raiders with Axes and Wolf Handlers. I’m going heavy into Varangur shooting, and we’re giving the Raiders both Axes and Wolf Handlers, for Scout moves. The Axe unit is just a weird unit given the range of the shooting attack, so we’ll see what we can learn.
• Snow Troll Horde. I finagled the old list to fit these newcomers in, as while I have seen them across the table a lot over the years, I have yet to debut my own units, and still have a lot to learn. 
• Magus Conclaves. They are a very unique unit, in that the magi can move around and shoot, and that seems worth exploring. I’ve tried them in some league games, and have been … whelmed by them, as singleton war machines are pretty bad, but we’ll see how the full-power trio does.
• Snow Troll Primes. The loose goal is to use them to inspire and interdict, and even if they waver, hopefully I have enough shooting to support them while they regenerate. They are a steal for their points, and I’m putting all three on the table to put them through their paces and see more of what they can do.
• Formation Horse Raiders with Axes. Technically, the Horse Raiders saw play in at least one Ambush game last year, though that did not go well due to the small table size. Cavalry is no good when everything is fighting shoulder-to-shoulder! The formation gives them Melee 3+, and with axes, we’ll try to be aggressive with them and see where that gets us.
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The normal Lord is a neat pick, and the formation gives a him a conditional Brutal +1 Aura and a mount, a mix which is usually verboten. I’m giving him Brand of the Warrior for a Brutal 1, meaning I should be bringing Brutal 2 to all his fights, and with 7 quality attacks, he seems like a great way to tip combats unexpectedly in my favor. I’m investing pretty heavily in him, and with 10 spare points, I’m giving him Mead of Madness, trying to extend his reach ever-so-slightly.

Table and Terrain

We were playing at his place, and he had used his one-click app to generate a table for us. We were using our typical terrain 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 as some Height 0 difficult terrain.

Overview of the table.

The app gave us Loot for the scenario. Three Loot Tokens would be in play, able to be picked up and carried around, and each worth 1 point at the end of the game to whomever controls it. One Token was central, and the other two were placed on the center line. We rolled off for placement, and I placed first, over on the left. With not enough space to fit another token out here, his Token ended up on the right. 

View from the center. The Brothermark ignored the left.

For deployment, the Brothermark ignored the left-third of the board. The main line was three Penitents and Paladin Monster Slayers, with an Ogre Captain, Palace Guard Horde, Paladin, Chaplain, War Wizard, Phoenix and other Ogre Palace Guard Horde all in reserve. The line extended with the flying Dictator on the line and Penitents just behind, then angled Bowmen, the other Ogre Captain and second Phoenix, and then the three Heavy Arbalests were crammed into the corner. 

View from the right.

The plan was to use the Night Raiders to contest one token while playing harder for the other two. I was out-dropped, but thankfully the Heavy Arbalests came down early enough to mostly avoid.

...and back to a view from the left.

With no difficult terrain on the left, I ended up placing both Horse Raiders and an angled Reaper in a stack, all hoping to zip up. And hopefully roll this flank. A horde of Draugr were nearby to hold the token and block. A Snow Troll Prime, troop of Reapers and Horde of Snow Trolls all came down in the field as I was trying to avoid the Arbalests. The second horde of Draugr came down just left-of-center for the same reasons, supported by a second Prime who has his leader point just to the right of the base of the hill. The Conclaves came down pretty late, all angled behind the building to be safe from the Arbalests, and intent on shooting the Def4 Paladins. The plan was to play heavily for the Left and Center Tokens, and then contest the one on the Right, with the Varangur right having Sliksneer to try and counter and dissuade the Dictator, with the Night Raiders and third Snow Troll out here to delay.

Super-aggressive scout moves on the right.

I had scout moves, but Axes made things awkward. I figured I’d need to be aggressive with this list and the short range of the Axes, so had been hoping for the other table side, so I could be Scouting into the more central woods. Alas. Bows would be better here so I could hide in the woods and plink away against the opposing Villein Bowmen. After some hemming and hawing, I decide to full send and see what happens. I am not supporting the Scout move well as I am not Inspired, but figured Stealthy should do enough work to protect me, and if I got first turn, I’d be able to zip the characters up to help out, possibly even grabbing a token with the Prime while the Raiders ran interference. It’s risky, but I am still trying to learn the army and how I want to play it, so we need to take risks in order to learn.

I do unfortunately lose out on the roll for deciding turn order, and the Brothermark seize the initiative.

Top of Round 1: Brothermark

On the right, the Bowmen scoot up, with the Guard Captain looking to interdict for them. The bowmen, Phoenix and all three Arbalests shoot into one of the Night Raiders, though Stealthy does keep the damage down to 5 total, and the Raiders hold.

The Brothermark push out with a unit strength advantage.

The Penitents get their leader point into the woods to see out of the terrain, waiting to see how things unfold. 

The Dictator flies over, using the building as cover. He is safe from Sliksneer and already eyeing up my Conclaves.

The layered center moves up, and the Dictator hides behind the ruins.

The layered center of the Brothermark pushes up aggressively. The Paladins move at the double, supported by the Phoenix and Ogre Palace Guard.

The building and hill really help anchor the Brothermark line.

The Penitents, supported by the trio of supporting individuals are only slightly less aggressive. Two move up around 9 inches, keeping a pretty tight line, and the third, over on the left, takes the hill, with the Captain and other Ogre Palace Guard horde waiting patiently in reserve.

Bottom of Round 1: Varangur

On the left, both Horse Raiders zip up at the double and nimbly pivot. The Reavers also move at the double, as I want them getting into the fight quicker. I want the Draugr to hold the token, so they just move their 4 and get caught up on the obstacle for now. 

Movement on the left.

The other Reavers move up and out of the field. They are safe from the Penitents, but should be able to charge things next turn. The Horde of Snow Trolls also moves up out of the field. The nearby Snow Troll Prime moves and pivots, looking to help cover possible landing zones for the Dictator out here.

The Draugr shuffle up. I want to hid them behind the hill as long as possible. The Prime supporting them moves and pivots to look at the Magus Conclaves, and stand ready to avenge them.

 An imminent clash coming in the center, but the Varangur stay just out of charge range for now.

The Magus Conclaves are neat war machines though, in that they can move and are Nimble. The all nimbly shuffle to the right to get out of line of sight of the Dictator. All will toss foul magics into the Foot Guard as planned, landing 8 damage, but it’s a horde, and they are steady, and will Iron Resolve down to just 6 damage, thanks to the item.

On his horse, Sliksneer pulls up near the building, also avoiding the sight of the Dictator. The Dictator has Duelist, so I don’t really want him getting the charge against me.

The individuals have a momentary standoff.

On the right, the Night Raiders move up another few inches, in order to grab the Loot Token out here. I am being risky again, but figured picking the token up might encourage my opponent to fight them in melee, which they can probably endure since only the Ogre Captain is in range. The Prime zips up to get the Raiders Inspired, and they throw their axes into the Bowmen, landing 8 damage, which is a little under the expected result.

Top of Round 2: Brothermark

On the right, the Brothermark shooting dice spike, completely ignoring my Stealthy. I think maybe 1 Arbalest shot misses, and the Bowmen overperform as well. The Night Raiders take 9 damage and rout, and will drop the Loot Token. The Snow Troll Prime takes 4 from an Arbalest, and wavers with a hot check. And the Ogre Captain does charge, but into the fresh unit of Night Raiders. He lands 3 damage, and these Raiders hold, though the right is looking lost to me already.

The Varangur take losses on the right.

The Penitents enter the woods, looking to make their way towards the right to pick up that token.

The Penitents offer themselves.

Centrally, the Paladins inch up, and then Penitents move up to protect their flank from the Snow Troll Horde. The Ogre Palace Guard hordes continue to wait in reserve, and the Phoenix flicks 3 damage into the Draugr, who Iron-Resolve down to 2.

The Dictator hops over the building, and we are able to get him to a spot that Sliksneer can’t see, and he is again threatening the Conclaves.

The left holds, anchored by the terrain.

On the left, the Penitents adjust to protect against flank charges, and the other Ogres hold in reserve as well. 

Bottom of Round 2: Varangur

I am not happy with how I’ve played the Horse Raiders. I pivoted hard in Round 1, so am struggling a bit with positioning. The furthest one nimbly pivots and zips behind the building, but isn’t in a position to threaten anything next turn. Had I pivoted less in Round 1, I could have made it here without a pivot, and thus have used that pivot to be threatening flanks and rears now. 

The Varangur try to concave their line against the Brothermark.

The second regiment is able to nimbly get out of arc of the Penitents on the hill, and face their flank, ready to shoot. The hill and the building are essentially contiguous though, so the shots would be with cover. However, I have one Reaper unit under threat by Penitents, and opt to charge the unit on the hill, negating my own shots. Hitting on 6’s with the axes wasn’t going to be great, but this is still a goof and inefficient. Adding further insult to all this, while the Reapers overperform slightly to deal 10 damage, and the Penitents are out of all of the Inspiring, Rally, and Fury bubbles. However, they are found to be insanely courageous.

Also on the left, the other unit of Reapers move up, ready to charge next turn, and the Draugr horde out here moves their 4” to get off the obstacle and trudge towards the token. 

The Snow Troll Prime and Horde are a little penned in by the field. I don’t want to back up into it, and don't want to charge Penitents, as that would bring both Ogre units into play next turn. So they stand ready. 

The Varangur are under pressure.

Centrally, the Draugr are safe from the Paladins, and I am ok if the Penitents want in here, so they hold. The supporting Snow Troll Prime backs up slightly, to prevent the Dictator from landing anywhere behind him.

The Magus Conclaves make use of their mobility again, shuffling up and orienting themselves to all give a flank to the Dictator, but with no space to land, he’ll only be able to fight the first one. The Conclaves fire into the Paladins again, and land another 7 to bring them to 13, but they Iron-Resolve again, ending the turn at 11. 

Desperation out on the right for the Varangur.

Sliksneer can’t really deal effectively with the Dictator, but does have the inches to the Bowmen. Even against Phalanx, this seems better than fighting the Ogre Captain right now. He charges in, and lands 4 damage to bring them to 12, and the uninspired unit is wavered.

On the right, the Night Raiders fight the Ogre Captain, but choke landing no hits, and the wavering Snow Troll Prime regenerates one, and just holds.

Top of Round 3: Brothermark

On the right, the Arbalests again shoot into the Snow Troll Prime, land 4 damage combined, and waver him again.

The Penitents make a hindered charge to support the Ogre Captain, and the Raiders are brought up to 8 damage and wavered as well. 

The Phoenix tries to heal the Bowmen, but lands no successes.

Wavering out on the right. I'm surprised to still have units over here though.

The Dictator goes into the nearest Magus Conclave and lands a solid 6 damage, but the Conclave is found to be insane.

The other spells are better this turn, with the Phoenix healing the Paladins for 3, and taking them from 11 down to just 8, back where they were at the end of Round 1… The Paladins take command on the hill, with the Ogres cheering them on from behind.

The Penitents here do their job, getting in against the Prime and the Horde, with the assortment of supporting individual heroes nearby. 

Spells are big this turn, with Trevor casting what might be his first-ever Bane Chant on the Penitents fighting the Prime, with very hot 5 damage getting in. The other Penitents thump 1 into the Horde.

Charges for the Brothermark.

The supporting Ogre Captain about-faces to try and zone out the outriding Horse Raiders, and positions to prevent a run-by.

Aftermath of combats, with a bonus of us seeing if the Reavers can fit.

With the unique building and hill placement, the Penitents are only able to slide down slightly for their countercharge, opening a small frontage for the reserve Ogres to take advantage of. The Reavers are obliterated. The Ogres back up, not enough to get off the hill, but enough to prevent a charge from the other Reavers, as the victorious Penitents move up to block.

Bottom of Round 3: Varangur

On the left, the outriding Horse Raiders rein it in, stopping out of arc of the Ogre Captain, and throwing axes into him, but nothing makes it through the ornate armor.

The other Horse Raiders take the easy flank charge into the Penitents on the hill. The Penitents start on 10 damage, and are quickly devastated, with the horses backing up to get out of sight.

Charges for the Varangur.

The Prime regenerates 1 to get down to 4 damage, while thumping 5 into the offending Penitents, but they hold firm. The Snow Troll Horde regenerates their 1 damage, and rolls hot hits against their Penitent unit, and picks them up. 

The Reavers don’t have the arc to support the Prime. On his turn, my opponent has us measure, and with a maximum roll on the Wild Charge, the Reavers could get in against the supporting individuals with just the one pivot. We went to all that work so while it is not an optimal play, it does seem like fun. The tankier Paladin is the first in the stack of individuals though, and the Reavers choke though, landing just 6 damage against the Paladin, who Iron Resolves down to 5. 

Yeah, this was not a clever play, and very risky. Slightly less risky would have been sending the Reavers into the damaged Penitents on the hill, and the Horse Raiders into the flank of the Penitents fighting the Prime… but I think the Reavers needed a 2” withdraw to get off the hill and that all seemed like a mess, but would have been the wiser play. I went for the more fun play, and it did not pan out. 

The left Draugr can help the Prime, but would find their back corner in the field when they align, so they spent the turn moving and picking up the token instead. I did not place an “undo” corner marker before picking them up, so their movement is tiny this turn. 

Positioning in the center.

The central Draugr can’t escape, so they hop ahead to block for the Snow Trolls.

The insane Conclave runs up, leaving the Dictator behind, and getting out of arc of the Paladins and Ogres. The other two Conclaves back up, and again toss into the Paladins. The Magi land a pitiful 3 though, and with Iron-Resolve 2, the Paladins go from 8 to 9 damage by the end of the turn. Boo.

I measure, and the Dictator’s charge brought him into range of the Snow Troll Prime. It was not planned, and I lucked out with the Insane Courage result. The Prime goes in, thumps 4 damage the Dictator, but can’t scare him away, and his Iron-Resolves down to 3 damage.

Aftermath of the fighting, out on the right.

On the right, Sliksneer again fights the Bowmen, sneaking 4 damage in past their spears, and taking the unit to 16 damage. I gave him the Brand of the Warrior for Brutal 1, and the formation gives him a Brutal +1, and I am able to pick the unit up, and overrun a strong 6 inches.

The wavering Night Raiders hold, as does the wavering Prime, who regenerates down to 5 damage.

Top of Round 4: Brothermark

The Phoenix flies up to grab the Loot Token on the right, and the Arbalests all shoot into the Snow Troll Prime again. Between the Phoenix and the obstacle, all the shots have cover, and just 1 damage slips in, but the Nerve check is strong, and again finds the Prime wavering.

More wavering. How original.

The Captain and Penitents both roll strong and are able to deal a combined 10 damage to take the Night Raiders from 8 to 18 damage, devastating and routing the unit, and both should be able to keep the Prime in front arc while threatening him.

Charges for the Brothermark.

The Dictator is able to pursue the wounded Conclave, landing another 6 and will pick them up. 

The Paladins charge the Draugr horde, and land a serious 17 damage to take them to 19 damage. The Prime fighting the Dictator brought him just out of Inspiring range, and the horde is picked up. Heal into the Paladins fails though, so they remain at 9 damage.

The silly Reavers are flanked and fronted by the Ogres, and we don’t even roll the combat. They are not insane, and both reform to face the remaining Varangur units.

Reforms for the numerous victorious units.

The individuals spread out. The surviving Paladin charges the horde of Snow Trolls to tie them up, and lands 2 damage. The War Wizard moved to precent Ogres from getting onto the hill while aligning to the Reavers, and the Chaplain keeps pretty central.

The Penitents continue against the Prime, I believe getting another Bane Chant and landing 2 to take him to 6 damage at the end of this turn. 

In the backfield, the Ogre Captain cleverly moves ahead, staying an inch away from the Horse Raiders. Rules-as-written, I can’t get within an inch of an enemy unit in the move phase unless charging something… so I would be able to pivot and escape.

Bottom of Round 4: Varangur

The Horse Raiders make a nimble charge into the Ogre Palace Guard which… thinking things through now, I should not have been able to see since everything involved is Height 3 and the Ogre Captain was up in their business. The Raiders land 7 in the flank; the Ogres hold, and Iron-Resolve down to 6.

Oops, an illegal charge. 

The other Horse Raiders don’t have great charges, so they take the hill, stopping an inch away from the War Wizard, and are just in range against the Paladins. They contribute a very underwhelming 1 damage (looks like 3 is expected). 

The Conclaves moving about.

The Conclaves nimble about, with the Prime protecting one while the other moves up to tempt the Dictator. The Conclaves fling into the Paladins as well, and contribute 3 to take them to 13, and then the paladins Iron Resolve down to 11. After Round 1 their shooting has felt so futile, but there are no other good targets, and I feel like I am committed to trying to focus them down, instead of starting on a new unit, but is a steep uphill battle for them.

Reforms for the Varangur.

The Draugr with the token now charge in to help the Prime, and are still hindered this time, with their corner ending ever-so-slightly in the field. But we are able to pick the Penitents up, and reform slightly.

The Snow Troll Horde does work against the Paladin hero, and will pick him up.

Sliksneer has a charge into the Arbalests now, but that doesn’t seem impactful at this point in the game. He instead charges Phoenix in the center, poking him for just 1 damage and getting the disorder despite cold dice. It’s not much, but at least stops a potential Heal spell.

On the right, the remaining Prime regenerates down to 3 damage, and nimbly pivots and backs up, but isn’t going to be able to escape the arc of the Ogre Captain.

Top of Round 5: Brothermark

On the right, the Ogre Captain indeed goes into the Prime, lands 2 damage to take him back to 5, and wavers him. Again. The Phoenix slowly walks away with the token.

In the crosshairs, but with cover.

The Arbalests have shots with cover from a tight lane into the Prime trying to fight the Dictator, will hit him with a hot 5 damage, and will frustrating waver this Prime too.

The Paladins charge off the hill and into the horde of Snow Trolls, and ideal target, though they underperform slightly, landing 11 damage to take the Trolls to 13, and waver them.

The erroneously maimed Ogres fight the Horse Raiders, will land 13 damage and rout them. That’s what they get for making an illegal charge! The second Phoenix walks away from Sliksneer, also holding a token.

Combats, and wavering Trolls are good for me.

The other Ogre horde fights the Prime on the left, taking him to 12 damage, and wavering him. Writing the report, I’m pretty sure the result was a 3 and we forgot to apply Brutal here.

The War Wizard attempts but fails his Bane Chant to aid the Paladins, and I believe the Chaplain charges in against the remaining Horse Raiders, but I think fails to connect? The Ogre Captain again turns to stop an inch away from their flank and pen them in though.

Bottom of Round 5: Varangur

The Brothermark Individuals are scattered about, preventing the Horse Raiders from making any significant charge this turn, as I can’t align anywhere. They charge the Chaplain, dealing 3 damage and waver him. If this was indeed a clean charge, this isn’t great output from the unit.

Charges for the Varangur.

The Draugr cleanly flank charge the Ogres fighting the Prime, and land a ridiculous 6 damage. The unit is uninspired, and I am able to pick it up with a hot check! The very lucky prime regenerates just 1, doing from 12 down to 11 damage.

The Snow Troll Horde has the Dwarven Ale, and passes their Headstrong roll to fight the Paladins. They regenerate 5 damage as they swing back, with Slicksneer joining in with a rear charge. The rolls are terrible, and the Paladins are just brought from 11 to 19 damage, but Slicksneer’s Brutal 2 helps to finally pick the Paladins up for the moral victory! Sliksneer sidesteps to get out of range of the remaining Ogre Palace Guards, and safe from them, the Snow Trolls reposition. 

I should note that I look to have erroneously pivoted Sliksneer during the victorious reform. I also don't think the Draugr can end up where they are with a victorious pivot (I think the Prime blocks them up), but maybe it's the camera angles.

Reforms for the Varangur

The Conclave tries shooting into the wounded Dictator, but lands no hits against the individual. The wavering Prime nearby regenerates nothing and remains at 5 damage, and the wavering Prime on the right regenerates 2 as the Ogre Captain readies himself for another series of swings.

Top of Round 6: Brothermark

The Ogre Captain fights the Prime, with the Phoenix joining in with a flank charge. The Prime is brought from 3 damage to 6 damage and is wavered… again. He’s been completely stun-locked since Round 2.

Wavered again!

The Arbalests again all make shots with a cover penalty into the middle Prime, and will sneak 1 damage in to take him from 5 to 6 damage, and I believe will waver him too.

Wavered again here as well.

The Dictator will charge the last Conclave and land a ridiculous 11 damage off his 12 attacks, scattering the last of the Magus units.

Wounded, but still on the field.

The remaining Ogre unit doesn't have a charge, but move up in threaten the Draugr in a possible Round 7, and the Ogre Captain joins in the menacing. 

Bottom of Round 6: Varangur

I have no real path to victory, but it only takes a minute to finish my turn and round out the report, and my opponent obliges me. 

The Draugr make a charge into the Ogre Captain, landing 2 damage against him, and he’ll Iron Resolve down to just 1 damage. 

Final charges for the Varangur.

The somehow-surviving Prime makes a hindered charge into the damaged-but-shouldn’t be Ogres, and Sliksneer joins the combat. The Prime lands no hits, confirming that he really should be on the field at all here, while Sliksneer contributes 4 to take them to 10 damage, and will waver the unit thanks to Brutal 2.

The other Primes are wavering, and with no path to claiming another token, I concede here so we can try to fit in another game.

Game Conclusions

At the top here, I must highlight and apologize for few errors in my favor: the Horsemen should not have been able to see around the Ogre Captain to make that flank charge in Bottom of 4, and the Prime should have been broken by the Guards in Top of 5, not wavered. While both errors had some ripple effects, thankfully neither impacted the eventual ultimate outcome of the game, and the Brothermark were able to still take the well-deserved win.

Commenting on the game overall, ouch. This was not a good match-up for the shooty, axe-wielding Varangur! I wasn’t able to focus-fire anything with the axes, and just struggled to accomplish much this game since I was chip-shooting into units that not only healed but had healing spells as well. It was hard-fought, but I was in the pits from the jump and could not claw my way out.

This is not to detract from my opponent’s play in the slightest. He had a good list, piloted it well, and it is always a pleasure to see a bunch of his Brothermark take the field!

Testing Conclusions

• Draugr Hordes. These were not used particularly well, as I had nothing to really support them and prevent multi-charges, nor threatening to capitalize on them holding anything up. All they could do was get in the way. I’m still not great with big hordes, and I've largely avoided tar pit hordes previously, so we’ll just keep at it.
• Reaver Troops. The character stack fight was fun and risky but unwise. They did not have a lot of synergy with the list, and did not have the best of times. These are little hammers, but I was pretty careless with both units, really hurting my ability to fight as the game went on. 
• Night Raiders with Axes and Wolf Handlers. I had committed to being aggressive with these and the Horse Raiders ahead of time, and while that feels like the correct call given the axes, that did not work out here. I think troops of axes would be slightly better, but the bigger thing is having something scary backing them up, (ideally with Strider or Pathfinder, as you are likely Scouting around and using terrain) as such a generalist unit is going to struggle if targeted. 
• Snow Troll Horde. I learned that they have Wild Charge 1 and Vicious. I should support them better in the future, but they aren’t a bad brawling horde at all! . 
• Magus Conclaves. The Dictator was unlucky, and these should have all been shut down more quickly. The mobility was great, but the Paladins were ultimately a trap target, and I just couldn’t win that race with just swingy war machines.
• Snow Troll Primes. Just unlucky all around it seems! All of them spent the majority of the game cowering in fear. Normally that isn’t terrible for them, as they can regenerate to right again, but I didn’t actually have enough shooting nor units to help them out. 
• Formation Horse Raiders with Axes. The dice for the axe tosses were all cold, dealing about half the expected damage each time. Even accounting for that, overall, I am not a fan. Ranged cavalry are a unit type that I really like in theory, and keep trying to make work, but keep struggling with. My working theory is that this unit type needs something to nudge them in a direction, as middling stats just don’t do anything. My post-game thoughts are that I completely misplayed the unit, particularly with the Formation. These are a medium cavalry unit that happens to have a shooting attack. I should be using them first with an eye to pressuring and positioning for future combats, and only worrying about shooting as it comes up. 
• Formation Lord – Sliksneer. The Mead was unimpactful, but I dug him, and after being on the receiving end of strong aura play and big Brutal combats from the ravenous Halflings for the last year and a half, it felt good to try that out myself. Brutal 2 was a strong interaction, and with something like the Sacred Horn, a Barbarian list could probably have a lot of fun with this. 

A tough game, but win or lose its always fun to throw down with Trevor. Thanks for the game!