Hobby Update: FoN Herd Board

Of course, the last thing to hobby up for the upcoming tournament was the one thing I could not proxy or really make do with things I already have. Up now is the display board for the Herd!

Some harsh lighting, but the finished product first!

The base board is the same as the others board, a bulk buy from Michael's about a year ago, and I went with the slightly deeper board so I could do a little more basing inside. With the slightly deeper edge, I was able to get three layers of my typical cork board built up where ever I desired. I tried to keep this mainly on the edges, as I didn't want to block fluff a lot of space, but added some on the interior as well, to make it more visually interesting.

The first paint hits the board. You can see the sporadic priming as well.

I hit the board with swaths of basing paste, using up an older tub. I knew I was going to hit this with a snow effect later, so coverage wasn't the thickest or best by design. Even with the lesser coverage, the paste constructs a bit, and their is a bit of a bow on the back. I can't quite spin the board, but might need to add stoppers or something down the road for safety.

I left some spaces clean and clear though for the future glossy ice effect.In mid January we had a warm spell, and I was able to Prime the edges and all the cork rocks in a dark grey. Then the painting began.

Base coats on, and finishing up dry brushing.

Rock chunks were dark gray then a light grey drybrush. Then edge of the board was painted with another dark(ish) grey, and the dark blue ice and pale blue ground got their base coats. I didn't really Prime the ground, but the paint was a cheap crafting paint so that took four coats, if memory serves. That took several days.

The ground got a dry brush of off-white / ivory, which I let be messy, getting onto some of the rocks and dark blue ice. Then I added other blue streaks onto the ice, and it was time for effects!

The ice effect was a glazing medium squeezed out and then spread around. As it dried, it shrinks a bit, and I needed to do another pass to get full coverage on the spots I wanted glossy.

Part-way through snow layer number one.

Then it was time for the snow! I mixed up ivory, white, glue, and baking soda in several batches, and applied it. I tried a few tools to spread it, but kept leaving gouges since i was trying to get it across a large area. After a day or so, I mixed up a few more batches, with less ivory color, and spread it out again, slopping it onto the worst gorges in the hopes of disguising things, and I think it all works out well enough.

Last up were basing tufts, picked up over the last couple of weeks, as I wanted a variety of them. I cycles through four packs of tufts, adding them here and there until I was satisfied. I then touched up the board's edge with another coat of the original darker gray and we're calling this good!

More snow, and more tufts.

Ultimately, I think I want to get a little 3d printed plaques or plates or engravings with my name, army, and the blog's info, and add it onto the boards in a corner or something... but that is too much to do right now. I'll print something out on paper now, and like all my hobbying, I can add the plaques and such down the road if I feel like it.

...and with that, we have about a week to go before the event. I don't think my schedule will allow any last prep games, but we'll try touching up a unit or two with the extra time, seeing if I need to prep any tables for the event, and we'll do a proper pre-event post and showcase like we've done before. 

Hobby Update: FoN Herd Mounted Druids

Last up for my new tournament units are some more Herd-related champions. I had rebased a trio of Herd Heroes to give myself some leadership options for the army. But building out my list ideas, the trio was leaving me a little shy of where I wanted to be, so I hobbied a little more, and up now are two mounted Druids for the Herd!

The counts-as mounted Druid, with some speedy assistants.

The first model is one of the older Wizkids Druids, rebased, and with more Wizkids animals (panthers?) to try and sell the speed. I am so-so on the execution of this. The Druid is on foot, and while the cats are quite agile-looking, they aren't really mount-sized? There's not much of a difference between 40mm and 50mm squares, so hopefully folks are ok with it from a gaming and wysiwyg perspective.

The old Unicorn from January 2024.

The other for a counts-as Druid on steed is a Unicorn, also from Wizkids. Back in 2023, I demo'ed a game for a guy interested in fielding the Forces of Nature, which I couldn't quite do at the time. Already running the Herd, a theme list at the time, grabbing a few units worth of various Elementals seemed like a good idea to have around, though I never quite got around to it. In January of 2024 however, I did but two unicorns and paint one up as a test model for the future army in the style of the Herd, the thinking being that I take my Herd style, extrapolate it up to the master list and then have a larger assorted and related collection.  

The new Unicorn, just rebased.

I was shocked to find that the Unicorn and Pegasus are no longer Forces of Nature options in 4E. The new edition really did a number on the army! I can only assume they are coming back at some point, but we'll get some use out of the old Unicorn here for now.

Honestly, I kind of want to find WC3 Keepers of the Grove for my ideal mounted Druids, to pay homage to an old hobby, but I just did not feel I had the time to seek those out, 3d print them somewhere and paint them up, so we're taking a shortcut here, and these are table-ready, but not amazing pieces. The painting and basing are all standard for me and my Herd, and not worth blabbering about. 

Playing my practice games, my list is very aggressive, and I realized that I really wanted a mounted Druid to keep pace as everything was generally moving at the double Round 1 and charging in Round 2. I played around with a Centaur Chieftain, but was not using him well, so eventually fell back on the second mounted Druid, the Unicorn, recently.

On the table, they seem like great Champions. I like my army's Command Orders (can't go wrong with heal and Strider!), so don't want to accidentally lose any precious Champions in combat, so we're going for two Druids and ... spells. Bane Chant is good for the Longhorns, and Heal is strong with the list as well. I'm struggling still with final spell selection and items, but my list is liking double Druids, so we'll try and facilitate that for the tournament!

Hobby Update: FoN Herd Longhorn Regiments

I committed to taking the Herd to a tournament in early February, and early list ideas had three regiments of these bad boys. I already had two older regiments, hobbied up as troops, from way way back with some 2E builds, but dipped into some older purchases to start hobbying on some back-up recruits as the year changed. The current list only utilizes two regiments, so I don't need these, but based as regiments, I can run them without movement trays, which is a nice quality of life thing, so they will be my tournament units. So up now after getting some long overdue tufts, are not one, but two brand new Longhorn Regiments for the Herd! 

Yellow Longhorns.

The minis are mostly GW Bestigor from some old purchases. Painting-wise, I tried to differentiate the new units from the existing ones, and add a little more color to the army. A few of the older minis had fallen off the troop bases, so I swiped a banner-beast to use for one of the new regiments. I liked the yellow on the  old banner, and painted up one regiment up with that for their cloth. I had the idea for a red banner dripping with blood for the second regiment, but couldn't get that going quickly, so just opted for red cloth for that unit, and both got some of the Warplock Bronze as their main metallic color, which I have been liking a lot lately. 

The older units got reglued as needed, and the oldest some touch-ups, as I really like the black on the sides of all the axes, which was a newer approach for me. Unfortunately, I packed them away again before snapping any updated pictures to document things. My approach for hobbying has been to have fun doing it, and just hobby within my limits, and then return to units for touchups as my skills grow, which worked out nicely here. Some additional work for highlights and such could still be done, but the old minis are still fine and maybe we'll go wide with four regiments at some point and give them all a little more attention in the coming years.. 

And red Longhorns.

The Longhorns got a very nice glow up of sorts in 4E, reverting back to an older version of the unit, in a fighting form with 20-attacks, CS1 and TC1, making them a nice discount brawler. Pathfinder doesn't work with charges now, but these are still very powerful, and we can get Striding charges from a Command Order now too! They can struggle a bit against high defense, but have generally been performing very well for me, and I'm excited to see what they can do in the tournament.

Hobby Update: FoN Herd Tribal Warriors

Ope, I'm like 3 weeks late with these upcoming hobbying posts. As harped on a lot in the blog here, with the combination of new edition transition plus the rolling up of Herd, Order of the Green Lady, Elementals, and Verdant units into the master Forces of Nature list, all the offerings of those sub-factions is greatly diminished, and my own Herd collection has been gutted. 

However, the Herd was my only army that never saw a tournament table the last few years, despite a lot of games exploring the roster from all the angles I could. Over the summer I had resolved to run the Herd at our next local GT, and despite an edition change and roster upheaval, I've kept to that. While I was (wisely) trying to work with what units I have left, after sketching out some ideas in December, it seemed like I might need a few additions to run a reasonable list. I got organized, prepped several veins of builds to explore, and aimed to finish a unit per a week, with the display board worked on as I had time. 

Amazingly, all the major unit painting was done within the first week or so of January, though only the Critters and Greater Wind Elementals got finalized posts then, as I ran out of tufts. I finally rectified that over the last week or so, and we'll get each unit their post now, and still have more than a week for any touchups. With the units done, the Herd display board also got a lot of great progress this last week, and is just about done which feels great. We're in a great spot for our hobbying time-management and such going into the event. So, up now, after a long preamble and weeks of just needing tufts, are some Tribal Warriors for the Herd and the Forces of Nature!

From the front, with a green banner.

The models are GW Ungors, pulled from some old purchases. There was nothing too fancy with their painting or basing or general hobbying. While I usually go big and build a horde whenever I can... we're reining it in here with just the needed regiment for the tournament. 

I wanted to be smart and lean on existing units for the tournament list. I already have three darned hordes of Tribal Spears, but that is no longer a unit (despite the fluff and the literal shoutout in the army introduction), and I didn't want to "gotcha" any opponent into thinking a unit of mine had Phalanx when it did not, so this is a new wysiwyg recruit, a solitary regiment intended to take up space, help pay the new core tax, and save some points to spend on my supporting Champion characters. Hopefully, the Spears get reinstituted at some point! Sheesh.

From the side.

On the table, they've been pretty bland so far. As they probably should be. Their stats are middling, and the changes to Pathfinder really limit their potential to effectively pressure and fight, since they can't hide in terrain without being hindered when they charge out, and almost everything else in the list is a better target for my Command Orders. However, they are cheap, and having something cheap around to camp an objective, hold tokens, or otherwise just be disposable seems like some fine utility to have in an otherwise rather elite list. 

Their effectiveness is linked largely to the scenario, and their best game so far was Battle 011 where they were able to bully chaff and then run away with some tokens. We'll see how they do at the tournament!

4th Edition: Battle #014 FoN (Herd) vs Orcs in Pillage

Intro and Lists

The second annual Northwoods GT is coming up quickly, and I've been trying to organize meet-ups so folks can get a few games in with the new edition and their new lists ahead of time. I was the odd man out for a smaller meetup recently, but was able to get in on the second game again Joe and his new Orcs! Joe had the following:

Over December, Joe had hopped on the Forces of Nature train with me, though with a very different build from mine. Unfortunately we never got to have our mirror-match. That list was doing well in his Universal Battles games, but was just not panning out on the table, so mid-January, he fired up his 3d printer and got to work on a different UB list of his, going in the opposite direction and running with a very unit-focused Orc list, which I think is a much stronger choice overall.

One of the Command Orders for the Orcs grands "exploding" attacks, with hit results of 6's (and sometimes 5's) generating an additional hit. With a good high-quality unit, it is not uncommon for the damage to surpass the units base attack value, which is scary, and Joe is really trying to leverage that here. He has Thonaar and two Riftforgers around to help liberally toss the Command around, along with a supplementary Godspeaker, with Bane Chant, Hex, and Host Shadowbeast, to also issue orders, while helping things do even more in combat. The Shrine is around to do some heavy lifting at range with a chain-lightning effect, and three Ambrox monsters were new additions to be tested out here, shifting over to some longer range fire over heavy Fireballs. The rest of the list was three regiments of Ax, and six regiments of Riftforged Legionaries, all good, reliable units able to handle a variety of threats.

Contrary to my normal approach for gaming, of bouncing wildly from army to army, with the GT coming up so soon, I am still focusing on the Herd, trying to squeeze in a few more practice games and dial in my own final choices ahead of the event. Unit selections are essentially all made, but we're still messing around with items and spells. This section is probably getting rather repetitive, but up to evaluate is still everything:

• Chieftain. We need the Chieftain around to take the Guardian Brutes, but with 8 attacks and great stats, he's generally been holding his own and would be worth taking anyways. He's good, and often has the Torc, but I haven't really needed the extra range, so we'll see how this feels.
• Druid on Steed with BC, Heal, Shroud. Items and spells for Champions is what I am trying to dial in. I like the Steed and BC already, and will try Heal plus Shroud to boost it, and will try to focus on the heals this game.
• Druid on Steed with BC, Celestial Restoration, Banner. This will be the Unicorn mini, and we're leaning into heals with the white whale of healing, Celestial Restoration. When it's hot, it's hot, but Indirect makes it very finicky to use, but with Brutes and Herders, I feel obligated to dust the spell off again and test it.
• Tribal Warriors with Dwarven Ale. We have the points, so we're going to try the Ale as well, the thinking is that the weaker Warriors are likely to draw fire, and this could help them stick around if they are zoning things out or holding tokens. A little more survivability never hurt, but it's hard to say if it is worth spending it on them.
• Longhorns. These reverted to an older form, and I really like them with their 20 attacks. Rallying is fine, but these have been great at carving up units with Def4 and below.
• Critters. I need chaff, so we're taking two units. 
• Guardian Brutes. These were a pet unit of mine in 3E, and got quite the glow up in 4E. They are "gross" according to my clubmates, and can really put the hurt on anything with a clean charge.
• Tree Herders. Late additions to the list, I needed something to help me instigate. While Scout has been shrunk, the Herders have still been able to get ahead of things for me, and we'll continue to try and let them start fights here too.

Table and Terrain

We were out at Gamers Realm in New Berlin, WI. The shop is still dealing with some terrain upheaval, but we made do, and followed the new terrain rules. Woods and Buildings were Height 8, and we'd use the footprint for the buildings, as it was a little cleaner, even if the buildings were rather large. We played the Hills at Height 3, the obstacles at Height 1. The Pond is height 0, and the rough patch was Height 1.

We got Pillage for the scenario, with me winning the roll for first placement. I figured I would need to fight, and figured whoever won the roll for sides would be lazy, so I tried to keep all my tokens in the center, and my opponent dropped all his well on his side of the table. We are both dummies, and thought these were Loot tokens, and only catch that they are Objectives after our full deployment. It doesn't change much for my plan, though I am giving my opponent a lot more ways to hold and win.

Deployment, and circled tokens.

My opponent has an advantage in both drops and unit strength, wins the roll for sides, and as predicted, is a lazy wargamer, staying on the side he's already standing on.

Left-to-right we have Ax, Ax with a Riftforger, Ax, an Ambrox and a Godspeaker. The blank bases are all Riftforged Orcs, which hold the center of the line of batter, with height 4 Ambrox littered among the line, Thonaar on the left, a Riftforger on the right, and the Shrine in the middle.

Deployment, again.

I knew I wanted to try and play my 2/3s of the board, and knew I was going to be in for a very violent game, but I wasn't sure just how exactly to deploy. Early drops for my opponent were the Ax regiments, one by one, and I started intuiting that the sturdier Riftforged would be taking the center. While normally I have tried to go right up to the building and use it to anchor things, I was fine not fighting the Ax, and tried to push my main line units more into the actual center, to be fighting more between the hill on my side and the building on my opponent's. Against shooting, the Critters kept back a bit, and instead of on the wings, I tried leaving space for the Tree Herders among the main line, hoping to get more use out of Radiance of Life against any shooting.

Left-to-right for me were Critters, Tribal Warriors, Brutes with the Heal Druid and Critters in reserve, Longhorns, Tree Herders, Brutes, the Chieftain, Longhorns, the other Tree Herder, and then Angled Brutes, the Unicorn Druid with Celestial Restoration, and more Critters, hiding behind the green woods.

I scouted ahead with both Tree Herders, but did not get a picture. They just moved their normal 6", and then my opponent won the roll for turn order. Having long-range shooting, he opted to make use of it and go first.

Top of Round 1: Orcs

On the left, the Ax units move up and pivot, securing one token in the woods, and projecting threat onto another closer to my lines. The third Ax unit holds back, securing a second objective, and creating a nice concave arc of Ax regiments.

The Orcs move around, but are penned in by terrain and Tree Herders.

The Tree Herders dissuade any aggressive moves in the center, and the Riftforged Orcs contort their line in safety, creating some defensible angles. The Shrine secures a third token, and the Riftforged near the building secure a fourth. The Orcs have shooting, and control the majority of the tokens, so the pressure is definitely on!

Overview of the shooting. It was hot, to spread out.

And boy is the shooting hot! The left Ambrox hits with all three shots, and eventually blasts the Critters on the left up to 6 damage. The middle one targets the yellow Longhorns, hits with all three shots, and blasts them to 3 damage. The right one targets the red Longhorns, hits with all three shots, and blasts them up to 3 damage as well. The Shrine also rolls ridiculously, landing 4 damage (2 expected), into the Tree Herder, and then the chain lighting effect spreads to the yellow Longhorns, adding 1 more damage and taking them up to 4. 

It's a cacophony of shots and some very hot dice, but only the Critters on the left waver, and all the important units hold firm.

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

On the right, the Critters are behind the woods, safe from the Ambrox shots, and will stay put and simply hide. They can reach the token out here to score it with one move, so my plan is to keep them here all game until needed at the very end. 

The Tree Herder moves up, threatening the Orcs, and opening himself up to one (hindered) charge from the Riftforged nearest the building. The line of Brutes and Longhorns pulls up to support. The other Command Order for the Orcs is a Wild Charge, and we make sure I am just over 12" away as I can get in with Wild Charge and he needs to hop through several hoops to get to my actual units.

The Herd moves up, with heals going out.

Command Orders go out, with the Shroud Druid into the yellow Longhorns for a heal, and the Chieftain into the red ones for another heal. The each get one success. The Shroud Druid will cast its Heal 6 for 2 successes into the yellow unit, and Radiance of Life getting them down to 1. Radiance of Life helps out the Tree Herder as well, and Celestial Restoration rolls well to remove the remaining 3 damage on the towering tree monster.

In the center, the Herder looks to instigate as well, getting just within 12, with the other Herd units pulling up to support and bolster him.

The Herd center squares up, taking the middle of the field.

Critters hop up behind the Brutes, ready to run out, and the Druid hides behind the hill. Tribal Warriors help secure the hill. I am not threatening any charge here, but that is ok. I don't think my opponent will give them any charges, so I just want the Tribal Warriors out here to slow things down.

The Critters on the left are also very sneaky. Wavering, their options are limited, but that's ok. We back up, pivot, and back up a little more, looking to use the building as cover, and hopefully we can block line of sight to them in the coming turns. I don't think I need this unit to help me instigate fights, so I want to try and preserve it right now, to help play the scenario later. It tanked a big volley already though and survived, so any other use I get out of them feels amazing.

Top of Round 2: Orcs

The trio of Ax regiments move up, and the intent is to create a flush line, and prevent and any tricky corner flank charges. I personally try to avoid those anyways, so no problem there. Everything hangs back, more than 12 inches away from the Tribal Warriors. The Ambox out here shoots into the Tribal Warriors, and just converts 1 damage.

The Orcs move up, playing it safe, and try to contain the Herd.

Thonaar moves out a little bit, and the Riftforged regiments continue to contort themselves. The center Ambrox hits with one shot and converts it into a nice 3 damage into the yellow Longhorns, but they will hold. 

More shooting from the Orcs.

The right Ambrox hits with all three shots again, landing 5 damage. Thankfully, the Shrine's Lightning Bolt only lands 2, and the bounce to the Brutes does nothing. On 9 damage, Rallied and Inspired, the Longhorns hold, though the first check is just shy of wavering them.

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

My opponent had been asking for the Speed of my units during his phase. I'm Speed 6, but do have a while charge from the Chieftain... I realize in his ranged phase that I did not stress the Wild Charge. This is a big "gotcha" by omission, but thankfully I have enough charges to consider already without being a jerk... We can charge a few Riftforged units already, and after some consideration, I opt to push more from the right, and hopefully keep the left delayed for a bit more.

Charges from the Herd.

On the right, the Herder can make a pretty safe charge into the Riftforged Orcs near the building. The front unit doesn't have arc to him, and it looks like the reserve unit might... but it would be hindered, and I think this is worth the risk. The Herder goes in, lands 5 damage. I don't remove the Inspired unit, and shouldn't, but we're in against the Orc line.

Brutes and Longhorns pull in to support, and continue to press in, while trying to stay safe from the Orcs. The angles are going to be rough for the Orcs, so I gain what ground I can here. The front unit can only get into the other Herder since it can't pivot cleanly past him, and the back unit is potentially rather gummed up, as noted already.

Brutes and Longhorns get into a unit of Riftforged Orcs on the hill, with Critters running up and pivoting, to limit retaliatory charges. The Brutes land 10, the Herder does 6, and we are able to pop this unit in the melee. The Herder sidesteps to the right, to really block the other Riftforged regiments up, and the Brutes hold.

Reforms for the Herd.

Command Orders are heals again, though I do this inefficiently again, and the Unicorn on the right can't issue any order. We play with positioning of the Druids, for a crisscross heal. The Unicorn lands a small Celestial Restoration onto the yellows Longhorns, taking them down to 2, while the Druid lands a nice Heal onto the red Longhorns, after a nice Command from the Chieftain, getting them down to 3 at the end of the phase.

It's another good turn for healing, and while we are damaged, it's decently spread out. Critters are still lurking on the left and right, and with things fighting I am feeling ok.

Top of Round 3: Orcs

It's a bit of a brain-melting turn for my opponent, as the right is all gummed up for him. To his credit, he marks some units, and fiddles, eventually settling on a plan to lets him flank the Tree Herder on the right. 

Essentially Riftforged charge the more central Tree Herder, with an Ambrox hitting the flank to just get out of the way. The other Riftforged regiment reforms, but doesn't move, allowing the flanking unit to ignore them, and just just in, and are just able to fit.

Charges from the Orcs.

The left Ambox hits twice, and manages to Blast 4 damage into the Tribal Warriors, who are Inspired and hold, though the first check is again tantalizingly close. The center Ambrox and Shrine shoot into the Brutes, with the lighting chaining out to the Chieftain for 1, and leaving the smoking Brutes on 7 damage. We are Inspired, and will hold.

The Green Rage is uncorked, but the concoction is unstable. Thonaar fails to buff the Ax regiment fighting the Critters, as does a Riftforger, but the Godspeaker comes in clutch. They'll go to Bane Chant the Critters, but it doesn't matter, as the Critters are Def2. The Critters will be picked up, and the the Ax regiment will reform to gets stuff into front arc.

And the reforms from the Orcs.

The Tree Herder in the middle takes 2 from the Riftforged regiment, with the hindered Ambrox contributing nothing, and the Herder holds. 

The other Riftforger aids the unit flanking the Tree Herder. It's hindered, and I think we get 4 or 5 conversions, and solid 6 damage from the flank, and the front unit smacks rather hard as well, landing 4 more damage, but the first check is a 7, and the Orcs fall short of besting the Herder out here.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

With the Herders holding, the Herd strikes back hard, looking to remove some units this turn. On the right, the Herder is engaged on multiple angles, and cannot reform (I think we've played that wrong before), and so holds, with Brutes gaining a Striding charge from the Unicorn Druid, and coming to rescue the Herder. The Unicorn Druid gets about 13" away, and tries a Celestial Restoration but gets no successes here for the Herder.

Charges galore from the Herd.

Longhorns get a Striding Order from the Chieftain, and goes into the Ambrox, in the flank. The Herder holds here as well, with Radiance of Life helping the tree and the Longhorns, bringing them from 3 down to 2 damage. Eventually, the Brutes will hit the flank here, as I want to try and break through on the right, and this charge allows the Chieftain a lane to take a stab at the central Ambrox.

Centrally, the Brutes lit up by shooting charge the nearby Ax regiment. The Druid tries to Command Heal the Brutes for 1, and I opt to cast a Heal Spell into them for 2 more, getting them down to 4 damage. Not a ton, but it should help.

I do make a bit of a cheeky multi-charge into the inner unit of Ax, with the Longhorns and the Tribal Warriors, and the Warriors don't have a ton of overhang, but the intent was to keep those units flush, and so I'll take this, as don't want to spare the Bane Chant here, looking to aid the Brutes instead, as-mentioned already. 

I had the option to take the Critters from the left into the flank of the Ax unit on the far left to just tie them up for a turn, and ultimately decide not to, as as the Tribal Warriors aren't likely able to make of of the turn to then remove them next turn, so I try to keep the Critters safe and around for the late game still.

Big pick-ups from the Herd!

I don't make the best choices for what combats to roll first, but overall, combats do break my way nicely. On the left, I roll the multi-charge first, with the Longhorns landing 8 and the Warriors 5, and we will break the unit, but don't have great reforms. The Tribal Warriors sidestep, and any reform is bad for the Longhorns, so they stay put, but are very exposed...

The Brutes thump on the Ax regiment, and will pick them up ,and then back up, I believe.

The Chieftain lands 4 damage into the Ambrox, but the monster holds firm.

The Herder and flanking Brutes in the center pulverize the Riftforge regiment, with the Herder backing up and the Brutes reforming slightly to face the Shrine.

The striding Longhorns pick up the Ambrox, and then back up, the striding Brutes on the right roll crazy, landing 13 damage into their unit, allowing the Herder to allocate all his attacks to his original target, landing another 5 damage, and will pick them up with a pair of good checks.

It's a pretty nasty turn, with the Orcs losing 700+ points of stuff, including 5 regiments. So far, my opponent has claimed two units of Critters, so things are going well for the Herd.

Top of Round 4: Orcs

On the left, the Axes fight the Tribal Warriors. I could have used the Critters to stop this, but I think this is ok, given all the successes elsewhere. They will get a Green Rage from a Riftforger, and will pick the Warriors up, and reform to face the center of the field. 

Pushback from the Orcs.

Riftforged Orcs make a flank charge into the Longhorns. Due to poor combat ordering last round, there was nothing I could really do to stop this. Thonaar goes into the front, and eventually a Riftforger joins in the front as well. The Godspeaker's grants the flanker a Bane Chant, and Thonaar gives out his extra spicy Green Rage, lettings both 5's and 6's explode into additional hits. 

The Longhorns start on 2 damage, but disaster strikes. While 23 additional damage lands, with 19 of that coming from the flankers and their exploding attacks, the Longhorns are found to be insane, handing around, and tying up three very important units for the Orcs.

The left Ambrox shoots but misses into the Brutes, thanks to cover penalties from the intervening Riftforged regiment. The center Ambrox withdraws from the Chieftain and is able to go far enough to get clear of the unit behind them, and takes shots with cover into a Tree Herder, with cover from the towering Shrine, and with penalties, no shots land here either.

...and a very unfortunate Insane Courage showing.

The Riftforged Orcs on the hill fights the Chieftain, with the Shrine joining in. The Shrine is not bad in combat, and despite Def5 on the Chieftain, both units roll well, landing 6 damage in total. The initial check is just shy of doing anything here though, and the Chieftain sticks around.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

We still have Critters waiting in the wings, and on the left, we look to hop the line next turn to right for the token in the woods as the game concludes.

The devastated Longhorns will thump 4 damage into the Riftforger, and Brutes will flank the flanking Riftforged regiment, devastate them, and pick them up, and then sidestep, to get more Orc characters into view. A Command Order fails to heal them from the nearby Druid. 

More charges from the Herd.

The Chieftain reforms, shuffling down and trying to get the Riftforged unit into his front, but cannot. It was worth a try. Changing facing is an option, but would not work, as I'd spin and then he'd simply halt and be engaged with my flank. The Chieftain just needs to tough it out and wait for help. The Shroud Druid lands a hot 5 on the Heal though, taking my warlord from 7 down to just 2 damage. 

After some consideration, Longhorns peel away to go to deal with the Orcs on the left, and two units of Brutes his the flank for the Shrine. The first unit deals a ridiculous 25 damage, devastating the Shrine, we don't roll the second, and the units will side-step in victory.

The Shrine is toppled.

A Tree Herder charges the isolated Riftforger character on the right, will land a hot 7 damage, and bash him down, and then reform.

The injured Herder just hangs around to support, and Radiance of Life gets him from 9 to 8, and Celestial Restoration soothes him for another 1, taking him down to 7.

Critters move out to secure an objective.

On the right, with the Ambroxes mostly dealt with, the Critters hop up, ready to play the scenario.

Top of Round 5: Orcs

The Ax regiment tempts fate, getting a Green Rage from a character, and flank charges the devastated Longhorns. We fast-forward this, and they, the Riftforger, and Thonnar prevail, with the Ax regiment changing facing, Thonaar overrunning for 6 inches, and the Riftforger overrunning for 4 inches. 

The left Ambrox moves and shoots into Brutes, taking them from 2 up to 4 damage. The other Ambrox moves to shoot at a Herder, though I don't think any damage lands.

Reforms from the Orcs.

The victorious but solitary Riftforged regiment reforms, moving to take the flank of the Chieftain, with a boosted Green Rage from Thoonar, and a Bane Chant from the Godspeaker. It adds 7 damage, taking the Chieftain to 9, and some good checks will best my warlord.

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

Critters on the left hop up to make a play for the token in the woods, as-planned. My opponent hasn't tapped out yet, and it still feels rare to have a lead, and with the tournament coming up, I'm then thinking though my charge options.

Potential charges from the Herd.

A Herder is definitely going to get into an injured Ambrox. Fresh Brutes are definitely going into the injured Riftforged regiment on the hill. Longhorns have a flank into Thonaar, which looks tasty. Brutes have a possible clean charge into an injured Riftforger, and possibly the Brutes on the far side can get into the other Ambrox. I can't table him this turn, but the writing is on the wall, and seeing me scheme, out my moves, with the moral victory of having slain my warlord, my opponent concedes. 

A victory to the Herd!

Game Conclusions

It was a bit of a shame that we donked up the scenario and didn't catch that these were Objectives during their placement and our deployment. We did catch it before we started playing, but honestly, I don't think our goof actually changes all that much here. 

Orc players generally embrace playing Kill no matter the actual scenario, and I've been a little guilty of that playstyle recently as well with such an aggressive list. I would have spread things out more, but my general plan of punching things hard first and foremost, and then grabbing stuff in the late game with Pathfinder is the same regardless of our goof, and was a decent approach going into this. 

The Herd were able to keep things Inspired and endure the hot Orc shooting early on, and then get into some favorable combats using my greater speed all while healing up, and ultimately the Orcs just struggled to hold, as the Herd seems uniquely positioned to just gobble up regiments with decent dice.

Testing Conclusions

• Chieftain. He fell, but did well. The Torc is a good item for a warlord, but I wasn't struggling for range and I think we can drop it. Slayer Axe might be a choice, as well as Pipes for Brutal though. We'll see how much more tweaking and testing I can get in.
• Druid on Steed with BC, Heal, Shroud. The spells felt good, though we could try her with the Amulet of the Fireheart instead, for a bigger turn, but this loadout felt fine, and having a big heal in my pocket paid off against all the shooting.
• Druid on Steed with BC, Celestial Restoration, Banner. I am not a whiz at magic or shooting, and unfortunately played Resto wrong! You take your three magical shots, and your successes blast for D3, and that total is what is healed. I added another step here, taking that total and then rolling for 4's looking for magical successes, making the spell way less efficient. Shucks. Resto is still a pet idea of mine, and honestly, worked pretty well here, though we lucked out playing against a completely infantry-heavy force. Against something like the Halflings and the Grenadiers, the distances and angles fall apart on me. So I think I still drop it for the tournament , as it's easier to keep the Druid with the main line and protected, rather than to try and do crisscross heals or decide between healing something and keeping it Inspired. Veil of Shadows is an option, but I don't know if I am worried enough about shooting to take it. 
• Tribal Warriors with Dwarven Ale. These are around to take up space, and did fine in this role, deterring the orcs just enough to let the rest of the list punch through. The item was ok insurance, but shooting fell short of waving them here. The items seems fine to consider still, but might not be the most efficient pick in the long run.
• Longhorns. I think my opponent was wise to shoot at them, but thankfully, he wasn't able to really focus them down, so I was able to heal them up, and still get them each into a meaningful combat. We can ignore the Insanity result as an outlier, and they still did well ignoring that result.
• Critters. I think they were used fine this game. We used one to help our push, and the other two were able to be preserved for a dominating play for the objectives in the late game, all ideal uses for chaff units!
• Guardian Brutes. They continue to be all stars for me, and seem ideal for just eating opposing regiments with their stats plus Brutal. Fortunately, we've been running into a lot of regiments, and they continue to eat well.
• Tree Herders. They're doing well, and I'm getting better at using them I think. On the wings can be fine, but in among the line worked well here too. They are doing just what I need them to do.

I think any army with strong core units should be doing fine, and both the Ax and Riftforged units fit that bill nicely. The Orcs look like a fun army to play in 4E, and I'm looking forward to seeing them across the table again soon! Thanks for the game Joe!

Unfortunately for me, I am still no good at fine-tuning my lists. I like the Heal, but I think we drop Celestial Restoration to save brain power over the weekend. Even with that decision, we have an awkward amount of points left. We'll see what other thinking and testing I can get in, as we enter the final weeks leading to the event.

4th Edition: Battle #013 FoN (Herd) vs Basileans in Control

Intand Lists

We had some US Masters level players up from Chicago for a gaming meetup, with all of us looking to get in some prep for the upcoming Northwood GT. My second opponent of the day was Grant Fetter, who was fielding his new 4E version of his trademark "Fly Boiz" Basileans:

Grant is a great guy and a very seasoned wargamer. We've thrown down a few times now, but I apparently have never played against his wonderfully painted mantic Basileans in their wonderful pinks and whites, and unfortunately don't have a great cover pic for the army right now, and will need to try and rectify that for the future. The Elohi are very powerful, and got big buffs this edition with the extra mobility pivots. He's taking two regiments and two troops, thanks to Julius, and and filling the rest of the list with Paladin Regiments, a nice Spear Horde with the Hammer, Gur Panthers, and an Ogre Palace Guard Captain. It looks like a fine tournament list to me - strong but straightforward.

We are running the Herd and still trying to narrow down our potential Champion choices. While these intros are getting repetitive (we'll be back to switching up armies regularly after Northwoods!), up to test and discuss is still, everything.

• Chieftain with the Torc. I need the Warlord to get my Brutes, but that “tax” has been fine, as he’s been doing well in his own right. I think the item is good, but I’ve not been really leveraging the range, so we’ll try to keep an eye on that here.
• Mounted Druid with BC, SE, and Banner. Scorched Earth has been appealing for a while, and while I’ve taken it a few times, I have yet to cast it, so we’ll try my darndest here.
• Mounted Druid with BC, Heal, and Shroud. If Scorched Earth isn’t working, 4E bumped the Druids up to Heal 4, which is nice, and we’ll try that here, with the benefit of the Shroud too.
• Tribal Warriors. The Warrior unit is necessary for core taxes, and to free up points for the champions. They are mostly around to hold tokens and take up space as an expendable unit. We’ll see what use we can get out of them this game.
• Longhorns. I like their return to 20 attack little discount blenders they were in 2E and the beginning of 3E. They can do work, but can struggle a bit against high Nerve or High Defense, so we’ll try to find some good match-ups for them.
• Critters. They are my only chaff option, so I’m stuck with them. At least they are cheap! Speed 6 has been an issue, as if they waver, like from shooting, they can’t really get out of the way usually. We’re still figuring out how to use them, and I think behind (reasonably protected, and ready to run out as needed) or alongside (ready to join in charges, gum things up, and limit retaliations) seem like the best uses, but we’ll keep trying.
• Guardian Brutes. They were very fun Berserkers in 3E, but despite nearly halving the number of attacks, they feel more competent in 4E, and serve as a nice all-purpose hammer, and now with Def5, can be a decent anvil too. They are just a good generalist unit, and we’ll see how far they can carry me.
• Tree Herders. My Herd is unfortunately exclusively Speed 6, and I felt like I needed something to threaten and pressure, so everything could not be avoided all at once, and the Herders have fit the bill as a durable instigator. They need support, so I’ll try to give them that, and we’ll see how we do.

Table and Terrain

We were out at Gamers Realm in New Berlin, WI. The shop is apparently in the middle of some terrain upheaval, but we made do, and followed the new terrain rules. Woods and Buildings were Height 8, and we'd use the footprint for the buildings, as it was a little cleaner, even if the buildings were rather large. We played the Hills at Height 3, the obstacles at Height 1. The Pond is height 0, and the rough patch was Height 1.

Overview of the table.

The Basileans deployed rather symmetrically. The left had a troop of Elohi, and a Regiment. The center has Paladins, Men-at-Arms with Julius and the Ogre behind, then two more Paladin Regiments, with the Gur Panthers in support. The right has an Elohi Regiment, with a troop of the angels on the far right.

The buildings are nicely symmetrical, giving me my desired 2/3s of the board to commit to, but the symmetry means that Elohi have a nice, protected channel to advance through in the early game. I can absoluately beat the infantry, but am wary of the Elohi. Taking some measurements, the lane on the left can’t fit two large infantry units, which seems like a good place to pressure from. Instead of committing to a corner, pressing out, and likely getting enveloped by Elohi, I opt to mix things up a bit, trying to use that left lane, to project, pressure in the center, and will then seek to delay on the right.

Deployment, before the Scout moves.

For the Herd, we have the Brutes and Scorched Earth Druid on the left, making use of the building. I should have left room for the Druid to tuck in between the Brutes and the Building, but did not.

I’m winging things a bit, and was leaving a little extra room between units to try and slip in Herders and heroes. I accidentally don’t leave room for Critters near the building, so they are back slightly. Otherwise, the Herd is trying to use the building and the forest to protect a strong, central push. We have Critters screening for Longhorns, and then a Herder, Brutes, Chieftain, Longhorns, Brutes, and another Herder all on the line, with Critters in reserve. On the right are the Tribal Warriors with the Unicorn Druid with Heal in reserve.

The Tree Herders Scout ahead, moving their 6 inches, though I don’t get a picture of it. My opponent wins the roll for turn order, and actually decides to go second, the thinking being that with the scenario being Control, the extra mobility with the Elohi at the end could give him the game. I think going first and boxing me in with fliers would be better, but, surprisingly, the Herd kick things off.

Top of Round 1: Herd

On the left, the Brutes move up, a little over their speed if memory serves. They stop a good ways back, limiting what can get into them next turn. Had I positioned slightly better, the Druid could be casting Scorched Earth into the Elohi troop and testing that out, but I did not.

Movement on the left.

Going first means I can gain a lot of ground. Critters move up, keeping the Elohi in front arc, and the Longhorns are protected. The Tree Herder moves up a bit, but hangs slightly back, and I don’t really want him charged by Elohi right away. We’ll try and let the Critters take the first hit.

The Brutes move up 12”, and keep the Elohi in front arc. The Chieftain moves 12”, as do the Longhorns and Brutes, with slight pivots. With Wild Charge from the Chieftain, we should have good charge options next turn! Critters keep pace in supporting roles, ready to fly up and gum things up if needed.

The Herd pushes into the center.

On the right, the Unicorn Druid pulls in behind the Brutes, staying safe from the Elohi Regiment as they cannot connect or align. The Tree Herder moves up a bit, but doesn’t leave the woods, and there is a bit of forest still in front of him, so the Elohi regiment will be hindered if they do charge, and the tree and the Brutes should be able to support each other if the Elohi do charge one of them.

The Tribal Warriors just need to zone things out for now, and enter the woods, but remain more than 20” out from either Elohi unit.

Bottom of Round 1: Basileans

My opponent is a little taken aback by the Herd’s aggression, but this is the price for letter me go first for turn order. On the right, the Elohi are in a bit of a reactive spot now, not quite able to get where tehy need to be to be as threatening as my opponent wants them to be. The troop moves up, applying some pressure, getting out of arc of the Herder. The Elohi Regiment hops onto the obstacle, safe from the Herder still, but barely, and now they’ll be hindered if they charge out.

The Elohi move about on the right.

My opponent measures, and yeah, all his infantry is threatened by the Herd, thanks to Wild Charge. The pivots to the right of center happened early in the move, so the Basilean right is slightly safe, but almost everything moves back a few inches to get out of range.

Julius charges in, but the Elohi shuffle about on the left too.

The exception to this general order is Julius, who charges out into the Longhorns, as the angle of the Brutes prevents them from helping. Julius is a nasty combatant, with Dread, but he is unsupported against a regiment. While 5 Damage lands, and I am actually not Rallied, I am Inspired, the hot boxcar Nerve Check that would break them is brought back down to an average result, and the Longhorns hold.

On the left, the Elohi regiment hold, staying in the woods and peering out. The troop enters the woods too, doing the same, and stays safe from the Brutes.

Top of Round 2: Herd

On the left, the Brutes can’t charge, but with an opening like that, can definitely be a nuisance. We move at the double, and pivot, and are able to get out of arc of the troop, and put the regiment into Front arc. I think there is some foolery with the Druid. I think we agreed that the regiment couldn’t fit, and that I didn’t need to pivot, but as an individual, I should be able to get her safe, so this is just lazy gaming from the two of us, but a good spot of communication between us.

Against a spooked Basilean line, the Herd continues to press ahead.

With no charges, the Herd continues to push ahead, aiming to constrict the Basilean lines. The Critters hop ahead, keeping both angelic units in arc, and blocking for Longhorns. The Herder moves up, safe from the infantry, but keeps the Elohi regiment in front arc. The Troop is in the flank, but can’t get in. The Brutes moves up to keep the pressure on, and Critters move in to protect their flank.

Julius has stalled out against the Longhorns, and while the Brutes can’t help, the Herd still have options. Being an individual, the Chieftain can get in against the Dragon of Heaven. I’m in the flank but an individual, but still overperform and still land 5 damage. The Chieftain gets 2 on his heal command, but the Unicorn Druid lands 2 from the spell, getting the Longhorns down to 1 damage. With no Bane Chant, the Longhorns overperform a bit too, also landing 5 damage, and we are able to pop Julius here when it is time to test. At the time, this felt clever, but it looks like the math was actually in the favor of Julius. Yikes. Oh well, I’ll gladly take some luck. Measuring quickly… The Chieftain is in range of Elohi, but the Longhorns are just out of the unit on the left, and have the unit on the right in front arc. The Chieftain reforms to face the Basilean line, and the Longhorns hold, to keep the pressure on.

Julius falls, and the Herd forces some choices on the right.

The Critters hop up, blocking for the Guardian Brutes, and the Brutes should be threatening charges into the infantry next turn.

The Unicorn Druid stays safe, denying the Elohi a way to align.

The Tree Herder moves up, safe from the Elohi troop on the far right, and threatening to tie down the regiment unless they do something next turn.

On my far right, the Tribal Warriors inch up in the woods, daring some hindered charges from the Elohi.

Bottom of Round 2: Basileans

Grant apparently did the same thing with Julius last game, against Rob, whose Iron Beast turned him into sausages. The sudden and immediate loss of a 300+ point warlord a second time has him a little rattled.

In lieu of "Undo" corners, Grant uses spare bases. Either is a good idea to have on hand!

A lot of thought goes into the moves, as the pressure is really on against the Basileans. On the left, the Elohi troop makes a hindered charge into Critters. With a stick, the Herder is actually just in against the nearest Paladins. I measured, but that’s on me for not discussing, and we’ll see where this goes. Gur Panthers run up to block Brutes but don’t charge.

Plenty of charges from the Basileans.

On the left, The Elohi troop deals 3 and fails to move the Critters, and the Paladins land a hot 5 into the Tree Herder, but fail to move him as well.

More charges, but mostly into chaff.

Both Elohi regiments charge the Chieftain, seeking vengeance. Both charges are hindered, but one is in the flank. It’s a lot of 4’s, and while 15 damage is expected, the dice trend downward with the flank charge, and the Chieftain ends on only 12 damage, and is then found to be insane. Routing a living half-Celestial apparently went to his head!

Some victories, but not nearly enough for the Basileans.

On the right, the Elohi troop goes into the Critters, with Paladins flanking. I thought I was safe from the Paladins, but am just in again. I’ll need to bust out sticks or confirm things a little better next time, but thankfully this is just chaff. They’ll be obliterated, with the Elohi overrunning to get right into the face of the Brutes.

Top of Round 3: Herd

I’ve lost a few Chaff units, and that is it. The insanity result for the Chieftain is a massive tempo swing in favor of the Herd, so the aim is to leverage that now, pinning things down and removing what units I can. Already having bested Julius, I just need to leverage my current advantages.

Charges and positioning from the Herd.

On the right, the Tribal Warriors turn in the woods, staying 11” inches away from the Paladins now, to be extra safe.

The Brutes charge the Elohi, will land 11 damage, and break them, and then pivot to face the Paladins, though looking at the pictures, the reform looks a little off, relative to the center point of the unit. I think everything is just so jumbled in the center.

Reforms for the Herd.

The Tree Herder on the right just pivots and sprints ahead, getting out of arc of the Paladins trying to delay him, and is now threatening some nasty charges into the Basilean center.

In the center, things are gummed up. The Longhorns really really really want to charge the flank of an Elohi regiment, but it looks like I can’t fit right now. The Longhorns hold, and I just need to keep the angled occupied for another turn or so. The Unicorn Druid lands a 5/6 heal to help the Chieftain, getting him down to 7, while he thumps 4 into the Elohi in his flank.

Great positioning on the left from the Herd, with the Critters delaying the Elohi troop.

The Brutes can’t fit in anywhere fun either, and charge the Panthers, landing 9, but now the Panthers are found to be insane!

The Critters fighting the Elohi troop try to withdraw, initially fail, but are saved by the Tree Herder’s Inspiring presence. They pass, back up and bump the building and stop. Passing through a friendly unit wavers them, but that is not impactful here.

The Herd pick up some units, but not the one you'd most suspect.

The Tree Herder goes to reform to let the Longhorns in… when my opponent points out that the Longhorns are actually in the flank of the Paladins, and I have space to pivot and get in thanks to the withdraw move. The Herder fights in the front with the Longhorns in the flank, and the Paladins are shredded. The Herder overruns, rolling hot and out of arc of the Men-at-Arms and their Hammer of Measured Force. The Longhorns change facing to stare down the Elohi troop.

The Elohi are height 3, so the unengaged Critters here can actually see them, and with fly, can flit up and into their far corner, keeping them in a combat. I do land a damage, but it is immediately Iron-Resolved back.

On the far left, the Brutes make use of Pathfinder, and run ahead their full 12 and pivot, lurking in the woods.

The Druid pulls in here, but I can’t remember what she does. I think we tried a Heal command into the Herder but failed everything, and I can’t remember if what happened for spells. Bane Chant into the Paladins, is possible, but is probably overkill, and I don’t have a note on what exactly I did.

Bottom of Round 3: Basileans

On the left, the Elohi hold, throwing their attacks into the Critters, and will remove them. I believe they are just out of arc of the Brutes where they are, and hold in victory.

The Herder is on 4 damage, and takes a flank charge by the Ogre Palace Guard Captain. Just 3 damage lands, which looks about as-expected. Brutal is in play, but Inspiring himself, the dice don’t spike and the Herder holds.

Charges from the Basileans.

The Men-at-Arms spin around on the hill, I believe looking to use the Ogre to tag the Herder so they can bash it with the Hammer of Measured Force next turn. Pressured on both sides, the remaining Paladins turn to block up the Tree Herder running in from the right.

The insane Gur Panters snarl, and on 6 dice, manage to land 3 damage onto the Brutes.

Reforms from the Basileans.

The Elohi try again, and no longer hindered, clean the Chieftain’s clock. It’s a victory, but costly. The flanking unit cannot really reform at all. They opt to hold, and try and breakout on my right in the coming turn. The other unit overruns, needing 2 success to reach the Longhorns and occupy their attention.

Paladins make a charge into Brutes on the right, landing 3 damage, but Inspired and Rallied, they hold.

Top of Round 4: Herd

It’s been a mess, especially in the center, but things are overall going very well for the Herd by my estimations.

On the right, the Tribal Warriors are actually in the flank of the Paladins, and the Druid lands a Striding Order to let them get in safely. I believe we try to Heal the Brutes, but fail entirely. The duo lands 14 damage to the Paladins, and we’ll break them. The Warriors change facing slightly, and the Brutes sidestep, trying to create a crescent to trap the unengaged Elohi regiment.

Charges for the Herd.

In the center, the Longhorns finally get into an Elohi regiment. It’s a clean charge, and they land 8 damage, which gets Iron Resolved down to 7.

The remaining Critters from the left, that had withdrawn earlier, move and fly towards the center, aiming to tag an Elohi unit for a turn if needed. It’s Round 4, but I think I need to keep fighting instead of trying to shift gears and run about for the scenario.

Reforms for the Herd, after some nice pick-ups.

The Brutes pick up their insane unit of Panthers, and seeing a vulnerable side of the Men-at-Arms, overrun, rolling well and reaching the unit.

The Longhorns on the left charge their troop of Elohi. The Nearby Druid will help with a Bane Chant, and the Longhorns will land 10 damage against them, which gets Iron Resolved down to 9 when they hold.

The Tree Herder Reforms, allowing the Brutes to charge in against the Ogre Captain. I hope to be greedy here, and risk the Hindered charge. We do take the Captain to double digits, and with Brutal, are able to break him. The Brutes overrun, blocking for the Tree Herder. In lieu of the Strider command, the Tried opted for a Command Heal on the Herder. Radiance of Life helps and hits a bunch of Herd units, and the Command lands a success, taking the Herder from 7 down to 5.

Bottom of Round 4: Basileans

The Basileans continue to try and fight they way out, but things are looking dire.

On the left, the Elohi troop rolls well, and manage to smack 5 damage back onto the Longhorns regiment, but they hold.

Charges for the Basileans.

Unable to get into the Tree Herder, the Men-at-Arms charge the Brutes. At least they can still use their Hammer. The humans land some damage, but can’t shift the Brutes.

The remaining Paladins fight on against the Tree Herder, hacking 4 damage into the bark, but the Herder holds.

The stuck, central Elohi fight back against the Longhorns, land 7 damage, and the Longhorns hold.

Aftermath of Round 4.

The other Elohi Charge the Tribal Warriors, land double-digits of damage on them, break them, and then reform.

Top of Round 5: Herd

I don’t feel like I am often ahead like this, and my opponent graciously lets me keep going, and get some practice at maintaining a lead.

On the left, the Longhorns fight the Elohi, getting a Bane Chant from the nearby Druid, who I think fails a Command Heal on something. Guardian Brutes hold and fight the Men-at-Arms, with more Brutes joining in from the flank. That seems like overkill, so the Tree Herder moves away, spying the center and the Elohi on the hill.

Charges for the Herd in Round 5.

Critters nearby hold, still waiting to see if they’ll need to tag an Elohi regiment.

The Longhorns get a command Heal for a hot 2, and then a Heal from the Unicorn Druid. With Critters and the Herder around to fight the Elohi if-needed, I think it’s ok to tar-pit them and try to test out my Heal spell more… but I think Bane Chant would have been a better pick. They Longhorns get down to 2 damage.

Again with the Critters and Herder around to support that fight, the Brutes choose to charge the other Elohi Regiment, maimed by the Chieftain earlier on, connecting with a clean charge.

The Tree Herder continues on, happily fighting against the delaying Paladins. His Radiance of Life gets him down to 3, and I think he can hold on for another turn if needed.

And things go well enough that we stop taking reforms.

The Longhorns on the left win against the Elohi troop; the duo of Brutes smush the Men-at-Arms; the tar-pit Longhorns roll well and best the Elohi Regiment; the Brutes savage theirs, nearly devastating their unit, and the Tree Herder does average damage, and with average dice, removes this unit from the game as well. I think statistically, the Longhorns and Herder shouldn’t pick up their units, but the dice favor me as we wrap up.

A tabeling for the Basileans, and a victory to the Herd!

Game Conclusions

I don’t have great tools to fight or protect against alpha strike, I think if we play again anytime soon, the results are going to be entirely flipped. I don’t think he should have given me first turn, and I don’t think he should have put Elohi into the woods to be hindered, or have been making early charges at all. I was able to capitalize on those early mistakes and really drive it home as the game progressed.

I got rather lucky early on with a rout against Julius and an insane Chieftain, but also gave up an Insane check into the Panthers. Dice were dice, but I think I had a little more break in my favor here. I think around Round 2 or 3 my opponent had learned all he needed to from this game, so a big thank you to Grant for essentially letting me play on, play this out, and get some more experience with playing from an advantaged position.

Testing Conclusions

• Warlord with Torc. Being an individual, the Chieftain only real protection against tricky fliers, and even then he’s more of a counter-puncher and first responder. In this regard though, I used him well. We’ve been playing rather compactly overall, and I’ve generally had good Inspiring and Command coverage. I haven’t really needed the Torc’s range, but will try to keep it in just because the range could give me good options.
• Mounted Druid with BC, SE, and Banner. I think the Banner needs to stay, as I do like my command orders and want to get mileage out of them. However, I did not position well to use Scorched Earth early, and then the Elohi were hindering themselves as the game went on. I like the spell, but I am finally comfortable saying it’s not working with the list.
• Mounted Druid with BC, Heal, and Shroud. The Unicorn did well, and I like having two Druids around. I think BC and Heal are likely the ways to go for me, but we’ll see how much more testing I can get in.
• Tribal Warriors. They pressured well and even fought some Paladins (with help). They are doing fine in the roles I need them to fill. The Dwarf Ale for Headstrong feels strong on anything, but they might get that again for future tests.
• Longhorns. I did not do a good job at keeping them Rallying each other, but aside from that they did great, and their good Nerve let them absorb some key charges while sticking around.
• Critters. Speed is still an issue and a limiting factor, but overall, these were used well all game. Starting on the line, near things I need to protect while pressuring is good, and behind my line and ready to block is also good. I’m not layering and leading with them anymore, which is making things easier on me.
• Guardian Brutes. These are doing some serious work for me and I’m digging the changes more and more. Definitely all-stars every game for me.
• Tree Herders. We actually outpaced Elohi here to outride the Basilean line! I think treating them like Fliers is working well, and I think I always want to be somewhat aggressive with them, and forcing some reactions. I think we’re doing well on this front and getting I’m slowly getting better at using these and pressuring with them.

The weather was trash, and the already long drive home took a fair amount of extra time, but it was well worth it for such a fun day of games. A massive thanks to Grant and Shannon for making the drive up!