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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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