4th Edition: Battle #027 Abyssals vs Basileans in Seek and Destroy

Intro and Lists

It has been far too long since we've seen Trevor of Data and Dice fame across the table from us! After several missed connections in February and then most of March, we finally connected for a pair of games as the month wrappedup. Post-tournament, we were both branching out into other armies for 4E, with Trevor fielding a nifty one-battalion Basilean list now that there is no time pressure to explore:

The Brothermark are no more, so the models are being pressed into service of Basilea proper. We've got two hordes of Spears, and two regiments of Paladins to hold the line and pay the core tax. Then, two regiments of Ogre Palace Guard to smash things, with one even having the Brew of Sharpness to hit on 2's. There was a troop of Elohi to threaten and pressure, three troops of Gur Panthers to chaff up opposing scary units, with an Ogre Captain and two War Priests to inspire, with the latter casting spells too, including the trusty Bane Chant and devastating Blizzard. Supplementing this powerful spell are two Cannons, which can hit on 4's, which seems powerful and unique for war machines. For Commands, the Basileans can heal and grant Elite, though both have limitations, and will mainly hit human units. The list has got a little bit of everything, so it should be a good introduction to the army in order to see what he might want to pursue more.

I brought the Abyssals. They’ve been an army I just can’t quite wrap my head around in 4E, especially with core options, so I also brought a variety of things, and up to evaluate and discuss is everything:

• Ba’su’su the Vile. I rebased him, so I want to try him out! The extra Nerve, extra CS, and Regeneration is more appealing to me than the variable Brutal on the comparable legendary Seductress Mau-ti-bu-su. We won’t get much use out of our Commands with him, but he should be very annoying if I can use him wisely. 
• The Bloody Cardinal. He’s a weird little guy but my comparable Depoilers are all on the old monstrous 50s instead of 40s, so we’re taking him. No regeneration on him, but Lifeleech 3 compensates and Dread plus good offensive stats makes him pretty versatile. I had him used against me to good effect at the semi-recent Northwoods events, where he was held back to make use of Dread, and then charged in on subsequent turns to finish off units. That seems wise, so we’ll try to mimic that here.
• Warlock with Bloodboil. Unfortunately, this is the only spellcaster in the army. We’re taking a lot of shooting, and while the Warlock can contribute with Firebolts… Bloodboil seems like it will be more impactful. 
• Flame Bearers Corps. The Core units of the Abyssals are a bit perplexing to me, and I wanted to kick off my testing with the most simple approach to the Core Tax, which is taking a lot of Flame Bearers. The 18” range is really tough though, and usually precludes any Round 1 shots. They are much more immobile than 3E, so we’ll see what we can do here.
• Gargoyles. I think the Speed 10 Gargoyles are in a really strong place. With good positioning they can be a terror at disrupting enemy lines. We hobbied up a few more units, but with a focus on shooting instead of melee, we’ll take just three units. 
• Berserkers. They were over-tuned in 3E, and seem far more reasonable now. We’re taking a stock regiment to hopefully nail down the changes in my noggin and get a good feel for the unit.
• Tortured Soul Troops. I liked these a lot in 3E, but lacking Nimble prevented them from being too bonkers. With the movement changes now, I think these could be really strong. I think these will do best in a melee list, where everything is pushing up and being scary with other scary things ready to support them, but we’ll try them here with shooters, with the idea being that the Shooting can soften things up and maybe the Tortured Souls can finish it off.
• Abyssal Horsemen. They came out ok with the 4E changes, getting the extra attacks, losing their CS but kept Regeneration. It’s a mixed bag. With Just TC they need clean charges, so we’re going with the one unit of cavalry and the J Boots approach, which I still think will be the standard for using cavalry a while. As-mentioned in the forum’s Tactica, charging, withdrawing, and then using a Command Fireball with them seems clever, so that will be a goal of ours!
• Molochs. With the shake-ups in the new edition, there is much more of a choice to be made between them and the Berserkers now. They look like a very solid hammer unit and so we’ll try them out, and with some spare points, we are rocking the Blessing of the Gods. It's an unusual; pick for me, but we had an awkward amount of points left over, so we'll try it out.

We've got two combined-arms armies, and it should be a great time!

Table and Terrain

Trevor was hosting, and we made wonderful use of his terrain and spacious ping-pong table setup. We forgot to reaffirm the new heights, but I don't think there were any impactful game moments, so we can say that we had some Height 10 Forests, the blocking Buildings were Height 7, Hills with Height 3, fields as Height 0 and Obstacles as Height 2.

We got Seek and Destroy for the scenario, and scattered seven Loot Tokens across the battlefield to contest. Each one help will be worth one VP at the end of the game, but if a unit it routed while holding a token, the victor may choose to destroy it instead of claim it themselves, which is a neat feature.

Overview of the table.

My opponent won the roll for first token and for sides. For deployment, infantry came down early, and then he surprised me with a strong and stacked left flank. 

The table, with deployment.

For the Basileans, we have two units of Gur Panthers, the Ogre Captain, and Paladins near the line, with both Ogre units in reserve for a very strong left. The center has Spearmen, Paladins, and more Spearmen with Elohi and Gur Panthers in reserve and both War Priests around. The Blizzard Priest is on the flank, and the cannons are back as far as they can be.

The view from the left.

They Abyssals haven't seen the table much in 4E, and I've really been struggling to figure out how I might want to run them nowadays. With infantry coming down centrally, I dropped my shooters centrally too, and then split the rest on the wings, hoping to delay on one and push with the other. On the left, we have Tortured Souls, Horsemen, and Gargoyles in reserve, with Ba'su'su supervising.

The center.

The center had Molochs, the Carginal, and supporting Gargoyles, with the Flame Bearers and Warlock nice and central, ready to fling fire all over the four middle tokens.

And the right.

My right had Gargoyles hiding from the artillery, then Tortured Souls and Berserkers. I've only got three sources of Inspiring in the list, and did not spread them out very well. The right has nothing to keep them in line, but the Tortured Souls are Fearless, and the Berserkers have good Nerve, so it's a bit of a calculated risk trying to learn the army.

A bit surprisingly, I win the roll for turn order. I have a lot of points tied up in short-range shooting, and have been grappling with best-practices for playing with and against it. Surveying the table, I still think it wise here to seize the initiative and try to pen the Basileans in, even if I don't get to shoot this round.

Top of Round 1: Abyssals

The left of the Basileans has both scary Ogre units, so we need to delay here and push on the right. I forgot just how speedy the Gur Panthers are! My Herd really misses them. We don't want to give them many easy outs, but do want to try and deal with them. Tortured Souls inch up, baiting a charge from one and only one unit. If my opponent takes the bait, I should be able to beat the Panthers with the Souls for free, while adjusting elsewhere. 

The Abyssals set a small trap for some chaff.

The Horsemen and Ba'su'su hand back, just out of range, and the Gargoyles flap up, ready to interdict here, depending on how aggressive my opponent wants to be here.

I don't know where to be sending the Molochs, and forget to move them entirely. They definitely should be moving up, and could be in a very nice position, but spend their turn loitering. Oops.

The Flame Bearers struggle to sort themselves out.

I'm not quite sure what to do with the center. I don't have any shots, and terrain stymies me a bit too. One unit takes the hill, and if memory serves the intent is to get the center point on the hill so we're not shooting with a penalty next turn, though it doesn't look like we physically achieved that. The rest of the line inches up, with the Cardinal hiding but grabbing a token, and the Gargoyles lurking. The Elohi are far enough back they don't have any charges next turn.

The Abyssals push out on the right.

On the right, we need to push, and do so quickly. The Gargoyles are speediest, and zip their 20 inches ahead, already threatening a war machine if memory serves, with the Tortured Souls and Berserkers doing everything they can to keep pace.

Bottom of Round 1: Basileans

The cannons roar, but land just 2 damage into the Gargoyles. Still, I lack Inspiring over here, and a hot check wavers them. Aww nuts. Trying to blunt the push the Spearmen move out towards the right, presenting their poky bits.

The cannons deliver a tempo swing already.

In the center, the Blizzard caster moves up and casts his spell, blasting into a strong 6 damage into a unit of Flame Bearers, and a pair of hot checks will waver this unit as well. Shooting is already paying off for the Basileans!

The Flame Bearers get frosted.

The Paladins are slowed by the obstacle, but Spearmen move up to grab a token. The Elohi and Gur Panthers also reposition, looking to protect the Cannons.

The Basileans grab some tokens.

On the left, the Gur Panthers take the bait, charging out and landing a surprising 3 damage into the Tortured Souls. I am accidentally not Inspired here, but I do manage to hold on. The various Ogres and Paladins move up as well, with the Paladins grabbing a token, but overall, the Basileans are taking things slow and steady out here.

Top of Round 2: Abyssals

Out on the left, the Tortured Souls fight back against the Gur Panthers, and will eventually pick them up. A bit out of charge range of the Ogres, they'll just hold and bask in their victory. My Gargoyles will charge the other unit of Gur Panthers, looking to just chaff things up, but we land some decent damage and pick the second unit up as well, despite it being Inspired.

Victory over the Gur Panthers!

The Horsemen will just inch ahead, but the individual Ba'su'su spies an opening and flies out, jumping the Basilean lines. As an Individual, he won't be doubling or tripling his attacks, but a little extra damage never hurts, and he's going to be hard to block in.

Since I forgot to move them last turn, the Molochs don't have a charge this turn into the intrepid Spearmen, like I would like. Before departing though, Ba'su'su gifts the Molochs a Fireball, and they'll move and toss into the Spears.

Hot command dice, for some mediocre Fireballs.

The Cardinal will bestow a similar gift to the Gargoyles, who will move up to toss into the Spearmen as well, while stopping just in front of them and blocking them up. The errant Fireballs I believe land 7 damage in total this round, which will eventually be Iron-Resolved down to just 6 damage.

One Flame Bearer unit is wavering, and will hold while regenerating down to just 4 damage. The others hold and toss into the Paladins, landing a combined 10 damage, which looks to be a little hot. The Warlock also has Firebolts, but I want to try Bloodboil. Unfortunately, I look to be a millimeter out. In the spirit of trying things out, my opponent offers to roll for it, but we opt to just move the Warlock up, forgoing the benefit of halting, and letting him toss to add another 3 damage, taking the Paladins to 13 total, where they will waver.

Fighting out on the right.

On the right, the Gargoyles hold, regenerating both damage, and are safe from the Elohi and Panthers next turn. They're still threatening a charge into a Cannon, but I would have loved to have gotten there this turn. Oh well. The Tortured Souls inch around. As fliers, I don't want to charge them into the Spears, and they'll stop to grab a token. They can always drop it later.

I solo-charge the Berserkers into the Spears, landing a strong 11 damage! It's risky, but we are hear to learn. The hope is that my high Nerve can endure a rebuttal and be a menace. And maybe we get to test out Retaliate too.

Bottom of Round 2: Basileans

On the right, the Gur Panthers hop ahead, and threatening the flank of the Berserkers. The Spearmen fight back against the Berserkers, poking 5 damage in. The Elohi join them, contributing 4, and taking the Berserkers up to 9 damage, which is still a tall order to remove. Luck is with my opponent's Nerve check rolls this game though, and another 10+ on the die removes the uninspired unit here. Shucks.

Booo, the Berserkers fall.

In victory, the Spears overrun, and the Elohi I believe back up. They are wary of the Souls dropping the token and charging out, and this gets them safe. My push is over it seems...

The Cannons fire into the injured Flame Bearers, with Blizzard contributing more too, and the unit is brought up to 11 damage and wavered again.

The Flame Bearers are wavered again.

The Spears don't like it, but will charge the Gargoyles, and thankfully, will pick them up. I believe command Heals and Spell heals get them down to just 1 damage at the end of the round, which is some great healing.

The Basileans destroy some Gargoyles.

The Basileans don't want to be stuck up on Gargoyles, so commit to obliterating the unit, with the Paladins making a hindered charge and Ogres making a clean one. Mitigating what can get in to fight next, the Captain moves up to block. In victory, both units will overrun, but the Ogres will be stopped by their Captain.

Top of Round 3: Abyssals

Delaying is still the plan on the left, and I have good chances to achieve this I think. First, the Tortured Souls and Molochs charge the Paladins, with only the latter being hindered. Next the Horsemen charge the Ogre Captain, hitting cleanly and not needing to use their boots.

Fights on the left.

When it is time for rolling the combats, we roll the Horsemen first, looking to remove Inspiring, and we'll land 11 damage and rout him. The Horsemen back up, clearing the Tortured Souls, as planned. Next, the Souls land just 2, though the Molochs contribute 11, and we'll break the now uninspired Paladins, and choose to destroy the token, and try to limit how much the Ogres can do for me opponent. In victory, the Tortured Souls will sidestep, blocking out a path to the Horsemen, and the Molochs will spin, landing atop a different token to claim it.

In the center, Ba'su'su can actually see and reach the injured Paladins, and we'll send him in over here, looking to pressure these center tokens. He'll land just 1 damage, but will get the rout here.

Ba'su'su hits the center.

The Cardinal steps up block in the Spears, and the trio of unwavering Flame Bearers will all hold and toss into the Spears, with Bloodboil coming at the end with 14 dice, landing 6 more damage and taking the horde to 20 for a nice waver. It's pretty hot shooting dice from the look of things, but we're still not tipping things over into routing.

And Tortured Souls run and hide with their token.

On the right, the Gargoyles take their charge, fighting and besting a war machine, and spinning around. After some measuring, the Tortured Souls can't get away, but can go and hide behind the hill from both the Elohi and Panthers, so do that.

Bottom of Round 3: Basileans

On the right, the Gur Panthers and Elohi take the hill and zone out the Tortured Souls. I can't really do much, but they're not going to get to me until Round 4, so maybe I can delay out here now. Token all but secure, the remaining Spear horde spins around and moves back towards the center to help contest the tokens here.

The Abyssal push on the right is definitely out of gas.

The Cannon loads grapeshot, landing a crazy 9 damage, and the War Priest turns to cast Blizzard into the Gargoyles as well, contributing 6, which is enough to rout the fliers and protect the remaining war machine.

The wavering Spears take their token and inch back, getting a command Heal for 1, and perhaps a success or two from the spell. I do not recall. Individuals cannot carry loot tokens per the FAQ, so they support as they can, but can't really contribute to the scenario.

The Molochs take a hit and hold.

On the left, the Ogre Palace Guards join the fight. The one with the Brew of Sharpness makes quick work of the Tortured Souls, and the other unit makes a hindered charge into the Molochs, lands 9 damage, but the Nerve check is finally average and I hold.

Top of Round 4: Abyssals

Out on the left, I can't multi-charge anything, so am forced into solo fights against the Ogres. The Horsemen land 9 damage. The Cardinal drops his token, pivots once and runs towards the woods, brining Dread and Inspiring, but only to the Molochs. They land a solid 10 damage, while regenerating down to just 6 damage themselves. I have Dread in play for the Molochs, but neither check spikes, and I fail to break either uninspired unit, which is super-unfortunate for me and my chances.

The Abyssals push back on the left, trying to make something happen.

In the center, Ba'su'su charges the remaining cannon, lands 13 damage, and will indeed break it, relieving some shooty pressure against me. With a slight reprieve, all my Flame Bearer units are unwavering, and we'll try to capitalize on that this round.

Shooting in the center.

One unit will move up on the hill, pick up the token dropped by the Cardinal, and will toss into some Spears. I believe the other three regiment holds. In total, I think two toss into the far Spears to take them up to 14, and the two toss into the nearer Spears but struggle, taking them just back up to 19 damage at the end of the volley. Bloodboil needs to go into the nearer unit of Spears, taking them up to 30 damage, and will break them. 

It's an awkward round of shooting. The far Spears behind the building were a little out of range of some of the units, and some other had cover penalties. I was probably not shooting as efficiently as I could have been here, but was trying to stay still. We still claimed a horde of Spears though, and even if it wasn't efficient shooting, that counts for something.

The Tortured Souls make a last stand.

On the right, I can't really do anything tricky, so the Tortured Souls just move towards the corner, then pivot to face, and drop the token. He'll claim it, but one unit will need to stay put next turn to claim it.

Bottom of Round 4: Basileans

Still out on the right, the Gur Panthers and the Elohi will land a combined 9 damage into the Tortured Souls, with the Panthers contributing a surprising 4 damage. The Souls are broken, and both units victorious spin. 

The Panthers will grab a token and stay.

If memory serves, the Panthers spin, land atop the token, and claim it. Arguably, I probably should have dropped the token on my left, leaving it for the Elohi, but honestly, with several rounds to go, the difference is immaterial. The Elohi aren't going to stay back and camp a token, we're definitely over-thinking things here. The Basileans have won, and the Panthers can claim the token in the coming rounds.

Positioning in the center.

Centrally, the Spears get some attention with Command Heals, and the Blizzard War Priest lands another 5 damage onto the Flame Bearers, securing another waver against them. 

The Abyssal left collapses now. Ouch.

On the left, the Ogres with Sharpness land 12 damage into the Abyssal Horsemen, who are uninspired, and will break. The other Ogres bring the Molochs up to 14 damage plus Brutal, and while I am Inspired, I break here as well, and the Ogres will steal my token.

Checking in on the scenario, I destroyed one, so six tokens are in play. The Ogres on the left have a token, as to the Panthers on the right, with the Basileans holding 2 total. My outer Flame Bearer units each hold a token, for 2 for the Abyssals, and we have 2 tokens left to fight over in the center. A tie game at the moment!

Top of Round 5: Abyssals

It's a gamble, but I feel like we must risk the Cardinal out on the left. It's a hindered charge into the Ogres on the left, but they are on 9 damage, are uninspired, and are holding a token. I should deal a point or two of damage, have Dread, and that would tip the chances of them breaking in my favor. If I win, I can destroy this token, and effectively take the scary Ogres with Sharpness out of the game.

The Bloody Cardinal tries to earn his moniker.

The Bloody Cardinal lands a single damage, taking them up to 10, and with Dread, we just need a six to bust the uninspired unit, but we don't luck out. Three essentially "even" chances to win a combat out here and we've flubbed them all. Nuts.

In the center, I think everything goes into the War Priest with Blizzard, with everything taking an penalty for him being an individual. The Flame Bearers land 7, and Bloodboil then contributes just 2 more, and although he is wavering, he is still around.

Positioning on the right and in the center.

Ba'su'su can't claim tokens, but be can contest them, and he moves out to the right to menace the Gur Panthers.

Bottom of Round 5: Basileans

The Panthers run, trying to get behind the hill, but cannot quite escape. The Elohi fly out to threaten the flanks of my Flamebearers now. The outer one is holding a token, so this isn't great.

Positioning on the right.

The Priest heals the wavering Priest, and I think a command heal helps the remaining Spears. Since the Panthers can't get away, they about-face to protect them.

And the Cardinal gets bloodied and sent home instead.

On the left, the Molochs land 8 damage into the Cardinal, with Brutal, and my opponent does get the rout here, and breaks through fully on the left now.

It's is still 2:2 with two tokens up for grabs.

Top of Round 6: Abyssals

It the Gur Panthers are still carrying the token, Ba'su'su could actually destroy it instead of trying to hold it against the Spearmen. That might have been a better call, but instead he rear-charges the Blizzard War Priest, to no mechanical effect, but we do land 6 damage off his 7 attacks, and will remove the last of the counter-shooting form the Basileans.

The Elohi menace with their speed.

One unit of Flame Bearers turns to zone out the Elohi. They can get into the front, hindered, but that's it. They'll toss and I think land 2 damage, which will Iron Resolve down to 1. 

Another unit holds, and flings into the remaining Priest, and a third unit moves and does the same, taking him up to 5 damage, but I don't think we waver them.

The Abyssals try again to pop the uninspired Ogres... maybe ranged attacks will work this time?

We're gambling a lot this game, and the final unit of Flame Bearers moves up to claim the token dropped by the atomized Spearmen, and will turn to face the oncoming Ogres while being about 13 inches away. They'll fling, into cover, landing no hits.

The Ogres are still on 10 damage, and the Warlock is able to just get into range for Bloodboil, and try that, also landing no hits, and now opening himself up to a charge. Esh. Maybe the Firebolts would have been the better play this round... but I just keep gambling out here on the left.

Bottom of Round 6: Basileans

The Ogres take their charge, going into the Warlock hindered, but will pile on a lot of damage, and break him, and reform, still holding their token and now menacing my lines.

The Ogres get yet another kill. 

The other Ogres try to help, but are slowed down by the woods. They have their Brew of Sharpness, but as-is, can't make it to any combats next turn.

Being the bottom of Round 6, my opponent feels the need to play for the scenario. The Spears again spin around to face the center, and the Gur Panthers take up position behind them, safe from Bassu-su.

Elohi have the inches to fly over to the center, and grab the token there, tying the game up 3:3 now. But we do roll up a Round 7!

Top of Round 7: Abyssals

With some quick measurements, the Ogres with Sharpness can't reach anything, and are more than 6 inches away from the Ogres Menacing me from the hill. The Flame Bearers all turn and fling, and will scorch the Ogres, who drop their token.

Ba'su'su charges the Elohi, dealing 3 damage, but more importantly locking them in place.

Bottom of Round 7: Basileans

The Elohi hold a token but are stuck in against Ba'su'su. The Panthers hold a token, and are quick, but can't do anything since they are starting behind the Spears. The Ogres can't reach the dropped token to reclaim it, so the lead slips to 3:2 in favor of the Abyssals as the game concludes! 

Game Conclusions

The initial plan basically failed, as I wasn't lucky enough to push through on the right to be impactful with murdering, nor deft enough on the left to delay perfectly. Ogres in all forms are still premiere large infantry! Still, we adjusted, persevered, and somehow came away with a very cagy win! And thanks to shooting, no less!

Testing Conclusion

• Ba’su’su the Vile. I wasn't sure I would like him, as he's very similar to the Vampires on Pegasi that I was recently quite lukewarm on, but as a weaker individual. Sticking around to maybe break a unit of Ogres might have been more sensible, but actually making use of Individual and zipping him all around the battlefield proved worthwhile this game! Individuals are in a rough spot, especially as Warlords, but he did really well this game. 
• The Bloody Cardinal. He isn't durable enough to be a front-line fighter, but he is still a neat little guy. More testing is needed, but I'd say he did fine.
• Warlock with Bloodboil. This seemed like a pretty good pick? Bloodboil is fun, and works very nicely with the shooting component, but it also feels a bit like overkill, but the spell seems like a good way to try finish off a unit to let your other shooting target other stuff. 
• Flame Bearers Corps. The quartet is a massive investment, but did technically win me the game here. Their output seemed a bit hot, and only 1-3 damage expected most of the time, in pretty ideal conditions. I enjoyed the playstyle as it was pretty high-risk, and will try it again, even after today but it is definitely seem like a gamble, and probably not great for serious competition.
• Gargoyles. Wild wavers aside, these are very nice in 4E! Three felt great, and I'd probably go to 4 if I have more hammers that need protecting.
• Berserkers. They are ok, and great against Spearmen, but didn't have the Inspiring support  nor luck needed to stick around, unfortunately. Their adjusted speed feels nice, and I do like the distinction between them and Molochs.
• Tortured Soul Troops. I like them a lot! Slots are tight though, and they can't fit into every list. Fearless is still nice, though and I think them plus Molochs would be a good build, if one can figure out the core tax.
• Abyssal Horsemen. I used them about as well as I could. Inspiring was an issue again for longevity, but overall, they were ok? The Boots seem mandatory though, which makes them harder to effectively use. About in-line with everything I was expecting for cavalry though. Fine for now, and more testing needed.
• Molochs. Aside from forgetting about them in Round 1, they were used decently well here, but probably want a little more support in the future. With Def4, they don't want to be front-liners, but rather come in late game to clean up units that are already injured.  

Combined arms is a lot of fun to play, though the decisions on optimization, particularly with shooting are very taxing. With both armies dabbling with the playstyle, we not only had a very dynamic game, but a rematch too! That will be up soon.

4th Edition: Battle #026 Undead vs Halflings in Plunder

Intro and Lists

We recently had the March meetup for Kings of War Wisconsin, but with Adepticon on the horizon, I wanted to try and sneak in another meetup. I am not attending the tournament, but wanted to help those that are get just a little more practice with their lists. Rob was the only one able to make this meetup, so we reset for a rematch against his Halflings:

Being his tournament list, he changed nothing for our rematch. There was a unique, Inspiring Engineer and a normal non-Inspiring Engineer were around to keep machines in working order, and Mama Beata was around to sling double-helpings of orders. He's got two regiments and a horde of Rifles to pressure and plink away at range, a horde of Spearspikes to hold ground, a full four Grenadiers to interdict, and then two Harvesters, and two Iron Beasts around to do the heavy lifting.

I continued on with the Undead. I was pretty happy with the general build, with regards for things to test, and wanted to keep that (mostly) intact, just switching out the most threatening unit to compare and contrast things. Up to test and discuss is everything:

• Vampires on Undead Pegasi. They lost true Nimble, but gained Dread, and managed to keep Speed 10. They are a little expensive for a lone-operator, but I do like my smaller flying monsters, as well as my models, so we’ll see what they can do together.
• ASBs with Surge, and Heal. The initial version had Revenant Kings, but I am starting to think those are a bit too expensive to run in multiples. More testing will be forthcoming, but with two expensive Vampires on Pegasi in the list already, we are rocking two cheap ASBs to try and support the rest of the list. Despite the price hike and lack of Lute/BC, I think Undead ASBs are well-positioned to be common picks in 4E, and these items look promising. We'll see how the duo does for me!
• Skeleton Spear Horde. I like Revenants, but points are tight, so we're going with Spears here, which are a bit of a pet unit of mine. I was originally bullish on Spears in 4E, but have softened on them. Phalanx now hinders fewer things, and only on the initial charge. Cavalry seem very hard to use well now, so aren't as numerous currently, so Spears might not be must-haves right now. We'll see.
• Zombie Hordes x3. I want to get better at using large units, so we’re taking three Zombie hordes, in addition to the horde of pokey spears, and seeing what we can do with them. We should be able to cover a lot of space at least.
• Zombie Trolls. They lost some attacks in transition to the new edition, but are one of the few units that get Crushing Strength in the army. Stuck firmly in the Specialist slot, they aren’t nearly as spammable as they were, but still seem like good generalists, so we’ll give them a try.
• Wraiths. They were a favorite unit of mine in 3E, and we were able to squeeze in a troop into the list see how it fares in the new edition.
• Revenant Cavalry regiments. With Skeletons with two-handers going away, and that being one of my go-two units previously, while the Undead can easily fill up two battalions, personally, I am struggling a bit. It is probably not advisable, but we're taking two Revenant Cavalry regiments to play around with. They did get a few additional attacks, but still hit on 4's and are still stuck at TC2, so definitely are not hammers. Surge seems really hard to come by, but we'll try to be on the lookout for opportunities, and otherwise we are just looking to pressure from afar with them, and see how difficult it is to get clean charges with multiple cavalry units on the field.
• Werewolves. I love when units have the same points-cost, as it makes my weird list variations and the subsequent comparing and contrasting much easier to facilitate. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get in a game with these in 3E, but they’ve since had a glow-up, and we’ll see how they do in 4E! Strider is amazing, and 20 attacks is scary and most welcome… but with just CS1, these are not hammers. I still think you need to be patient with these and hunt for flanks… but no Pathfinder makes positioning a little more difficult, and these are very expensive and need to be impactful on the game. The glow-up is neat, and we’ll see how they do.

Table and Terrain

We were out at Gamers Realm in New Berlin, WI, and making use of their tables and terrain. We had some Height 10 Forests, the blocking Buildings with Height 7, and we were playing the structure and not the whole terrain footprint, Hills with Height 3, fields as Height 1, and the two "minefield" strips were our obstacles.

Overview of the table.

We got Plunder for our scenario, which is another loot token one. There are five loot tokens spread along the center line, and we'll have to fight, and grab them as the game goes on. Each token held will be worth 1 point at the end, because rereading the scenario while writing the report, we apparently forgot to nominate tokens to be promoted to 2-Pointers. I'll take the hit here. While I am a bit of a bibliophile, with the shift over to the Companion as the book of record, I have yet to pick up the physical book and wasn't reading the scenario for myself.

View of the left.

For deployment, Rob was cagey, and kept the Iron Beasts until very late. I expected them to all come down on the right, but they showed up on the left, with both Beasts on the line with the uninspiring Engineer, and then Grenadiers and the Harvester in reserve. 

View of the center-left.

The center was a long unbroken line with a Rifle regiment, Grenadiers in reserve, the Inspiring Engineer, the Rifle Horde and a Regiment with Mama and Grenadiers in reserve, then the Spearspikes, Harvester, and second unit of Grenadiers. 

View of the center right.

I had won the roll for sides, and was lazy. Left to-right for me was a horde of Zombies, a Vampire on Pegasus, more Zombies with Wraiths and the Surging ASB in reserve. Skeleton Spears held the woods, and the flying Vampire lord was nearby, with Revenant Cavalry in a lane, and Zombie Trolls and Healing ASB in reserve. More Trolls were touching the field, and we had angled Revenant Cavalry ready in another lane, and then on the right, we have Zombies and Werewolves on their own.

And view of the right.

With so many cheap hordes, I felt like I could be making plays for each token, and tried to go wide, keeping Wraiths, Trolls, and Werewolves for my last drops. I wanted to commit along the line, and then try to concentrate these units somewhere and punch through. I had a slight drop disadvantage though, and was caught out a bit by the Iron Beasts showing up on the left and not the right. I felt I needed to adjust, and Wraith and Trolls ended up more centrally, hoping to blunt the incoming damage, and Werewolves ended up on the far right. The general plan was to lose/delay on the left, hold the center, and try to use the Revenant Cavalry to disrupt the line and Werewolves to try and sweep the right flank and then collapse inward, since they don't care about Phalanx on the Spearspikes.

I again lost the roll for deciding turns, and again, Rob seized the initiative to get position and sacrifice a turn of short-range shooting in order to do so.

Top of Round 1: Halflings

Catching me a bit off-guard with their strong left-flank, the Halflings push out from the left. The Grenadiers fly up, and offer a charge to the flying Vampire, as to both Iron Beasts. The Harvester lurks in reserve, but the Halflings are ready to push hard over here. Eventually, the Engineer eventually makes his way over here as well, to block off a landing zone for the flying Vampire too.

A strong and scary move out from the left!

The center has the Rifle Regiment moving up to staying safe from the tall flying Vampire, and Grenadiers in reserve. Mama commands the horde to move faster, and they get another 2”, enough to get a Round 1 volley off against the blue flying Vampire lord, landing a strong 3 damage to start, despite a cover penalty in play too. The inspiring Engineer adds another pip, taking the Lord up to 4 damage.

Odd angles on the right to mitigate what the flying Vampire can do.

Mama is running out towards the right. With the last regiment of Rifles and Spearspikes repositioning, and the reserve Grenadiers out here shifting around and looking to interdict.

Bottom of Round 1: Undead

I need to push hard on the right, and will try to. The Grenadiers are positioned very well though, and I can’t get around them safely. The Werewolves zip ahead as far as they can and pivot pretty hard, though I make sure I can still run at the double past the woods if I am not charged. I am at least demanding a decision from the Grenadiers, and with the rest of my list slower and Shambling, having the Werewolves delayed a turn would probably still be ok timing-wise.

Werewolves being as threatening as they can.

The Revenant Cavalry nearby just move ahead. I should be baiting a charge from the Grenadiers here too. I think the distances are such that I don’t bother to command them to ignore Shambling, and the Zombie Trolls are slowed by the field, and can’t make use of the order either.

The undead center pushes up.

I don’t think the central Revenant Cavalry nor the other unit of Zombie Trolls make use of the command either, but they still grab some space and protect the Vampire Lord with their height and bulk. Also centrally, the Skeleton Spears trudge through the woods, taking up space.

The Undead left backs up, scared.

The Zombie hordes on the left adjust, with the inner one moving up a bit, and the other one backing off the hill. With nothing to Surge, the ASB runs towards the center of the table. The Wraiths and flying Vampire adjust, looking to threaten the Halfling center next turn.

Top of Round 2: Halflings

The Grenadiers on the left are just in range of the Zombies on the far left. I forgot to measure that, and might have been able to escape it. The Grenadiers are disorientated though, and only 1 damage makes it into the Def2 Zombies.

Both Iron Beasts move up, both ending atop the obstacle and one atop a token as well, which it picks up. Both Engineers fire at the inner Zombie Horde, with 10 damage coming from the Steamcannons, a hot 7 from a Regiment. It’s withering fire, the the Nerve check is low and the horde fearless, and they stick around.

The Iron Beasts move and lay down some fire.

The inspiring Engineer grants a Bear Trap to the Rifle Regiment near the building, and Mama distributes one to the Horde, as well as a boost to Brutal to some Grenadiers. The Horde and other Rifles shoot into the blue flying Vampire, taking him up to 9 damage, but he miraculously holds on.

The buffed Grenadiers can spy another millimeter frontage of the central Revenant Cavalry and just have the range to get in, and will make a delaying charge. I keep getting caught out by these, and flying chaff is still very strong.

With the Revenants delayed, the Vampire Lord takes some hot shots.

The Spearspikes adjust on the hill. The Werewolves are too far away, so they square up to get the blue flying Vampire and other Revenant Cavalry into front-arc.

Grenadiers on the right flee for now.

On the far right, the Grenadiers are able to fly and evade the Werewolves. They don’t take either bait charge, but I’m ok with that since they aren’t threatening anything themselves and I should have free hand here now.

Bottom of Round 2: Undead

The Werewolves can’t charge anything yet, and much to the chagrin of my opponent, I don’t want to use them to chase the fliers down. There’s just no point. I positioned to be able to run past the woods, and so do so here, and safe from the Harvester while threatening flanks.

Ignoring the Grenadiers.

The ASB lets the Revenant Cavalry ignore Shambling this turn, and are able to move up past the token and similarly threaten the Spearspikes in the flank. Zombie Trolls move into threaten the front, and I’m hoping to bust this and reposition soon. The maimed Vampire Lord does fly in against the Spearspikes, looking to pin them down.

I think the Vampire is able to order the stalled Revenant Cavalry up to Lifeleech 3, and the reform, letting some Zombie Trolls into the fight. They both flub amazingly hard, dealing 2 damage each to the Grenadiers, who hold firmly.

The Undead press into the center.

The Skeleton Spears continue trudging through the woods, and the Wraiths move to screen for the Vampire Lord.

Zombies on their last legs zip out to block the Iron Beasts.

With both Iron Beasts in a compact left flank, the maimed Zombies have a chance to shine, and the warlord orders them to ignore Shambling, and they run up as far as they can and get in the way of all the scary Halfling contraptions.

The Surging ASB can’t help, but is very Inspiring, and inches ahead to fish for Insane Courage twice.

The remaining Zombie Horde on the left rolls well, slapping a hot 5 damage onto the Grenadiers and knocking them out of the sky. In chatting after the game, my opponent’s aim was to bring the Engineer up next turn with his healing gadgets and Radiance of Life and just tie up the Zombies indefinitely, so this is a lucky break for me!

Top of Round 3: Halflings

The scary Halflings machines are momentarily boxed in on the left. One Beast and the Harvester go into the Zombies to easily pick them up, and the Iron beast gets a massive overrun while the Harvester pivots to face the remaining Zombies.

Charges from the Halflings. 

The Grenadiers have the inches to get into the Wraiths which surprises me, but that wasn’t really on my radar of threats to watch out for here. Flying chaff is still good!

The other Iron Beast (the one with just the base) inches ahead to shoot at the Vampire Lord. My opponent later points to this as a mistake, and he should have stayed still for the bonus to shoot, as the Beast is indeed shooting at the screened flying Vampire Lord out here. The shots are joined by the Regiment and Horde, and Engineer from the left. We’re taken up to 13 damage and wavered at range.

The Halflings withdraw, letting the Harvester get in.

The Spearspikes opt to withdraw, easily pass, and rocket back towards the edge of the table, putting everything into front arc. Mama hides and distributes a Bear Trap, and the nearby Regiment pivots to protect her.

The Harvester grinds the Vampire Lord down!

Then the Harvester charges the injured Vampire Lord, getting a +3 Brutal from Mama to get up to Brutal 4, and the Lord is ground down with ease... The Harvester then pivots, but is forced to give a flank to something, and chooses to give it to the Zombie Trolls and not the Werewolves.

The Grenadiers from the far right spin around and aim to hit the Undead from behind in the coming turns.

Bottom of Round 3: Undead

We’ve gained a lot of ground, but the right isn’t quite going as expected. The Zombies can’t reach the Grenadiers, and I just need to ignore them and hope for the best. The Zombies trudge ahead and take a token.

Positioning on the right for the Undead.

The Werewolves hit the front of the Spearspikes, landing 7 damage (~9 Expected), and pin them down on 9 damage, since they had gotten hit earlier.

The Revenant Cavalry hits the front of the Harvester, with the Zombie Trolls hitting the flank, and with the Trolls contributing 12 damage, we are able to easily pick the Harvester up.

Positioning in the center for the Undead.

The intrepid Grenadiers really need to go. My brain is a little mushy, and one of these should be able to reform and wrap around. We ultimately give the honors to the Revenant Cavalry, though I think mathing it out now, both should be able to do so. Splitting frontage, 120 and 125 against the 120 Grenadiers, both my center points should be 2.5MM past the edge of both edges of the Grenadiers here.

Just the Revenant cavalry reforms into the flank though, and we’ll roll better and pick them up this time.

Movement on the left. 

With the Wraiths stuck and the Vampire Lord wavering, I think we need to play cagier, and not solo-charge the Spears into something while being hindered coming out of the woods. The Skeleton Spears will poke 2 against the Grenadiers as the Wraiths slide down and cut 6 more damage in, and we will break the unit. We risk a slide down from the Wraiths to try and protect the Lord from getting flank-charged, and get 1 inch.

And positioning at the end of Round 3.

Zombies on the far left take the hill, and then are Surged another inch or two forward as I am trying to box in and tie down the machines.

Top of Round 4: Halflings

My contain isn’t going well against all these striding machines. The Harvester hits the Zombies on the left, one Beast hits the Wraiths, and one hits the Skeleton Spear horde. 

Charges from the Halflings.

Meanwhile, the Rifles will take shots at the remaining Vampire Lord, though with cover, many shots go wide, and a volley from the horde is needed to put the damage past devastating to rout him. The inspiring Engineer grants a Bear Trap to the regiment near the building, and Mama Grands one to the horde.

And the Halfling victories really start adding up.

Other rifles move up to block the Zombie Trolls on the hill, pausing to fire their weapons and landing 2 damage.

Righting on the right.

The Spearspikes poke back against the Werewolves, with the Grenadiers hitting them from the flank. The Grenadiers start in the woods and should be hindered, and only 4 damage lands when the dust settles.

Bottom of Round 4: Undead

The Zombies on the right start making their way towards the next token, playing the scenario like they should.

Charges from the Undead.

I make it out of the moment phase before I realize that I didn’t move the Revenants on the hill, and my opponent graciously lets me rewind to flank the Grenadiers flanking my Werewolves. The Cavalry will pick the Grenadiers up, but the Werewolves flub again, landing just 6 damage into the Spearspikes and they stick around.

And reforms. Darned Werewolves and their bad dice.

Zombie Trolls hit the front of the Rifles, with more Zombie Trolls hitting their flank, and we do take the unit out on the hill, and then reform.

Charges from the Undead.

I choose to send the Revenant Cavalry in to help the Skeleton Spears. I consider the Cavalry and Zombie Trolls in, but if the Skeletons Reform at all one unit would be hindered, and I am trying to roll up the right. In retrospect, trying to go for the kill against the Iron Beast probably would be the better call, since I won't get a better shot at it. The Trolls would be hindered but not the Revenant Cavalry, and that’s probably enough damage to break it, or at least get very close.

Revenant Cavalry in cleanly, the Skeletons Withdraw. I don’t think I can break the Beast, so want to get the other in front arc of the Skeletons.

On the left, the Zombies with a Lifeleech +1 and claw 2 back against the Harvester to make use of the command, and will go down to 6 damage themselves.

Top of Round 5: Halflings

The Engineer on the left uses Radiance of Life and commands to top off the Harvester, but it is gummed up, landing just 4 new damage onto the Zombies and taking them up to 10 damage. They hold. The Engineer then steps up taking a pot shot at the Surging ASB, dealing 1 damage.

More victories for the Halflings.

The Iron Beast charges into the Skeleton Spears, striding through the forest. A hot 15 hits translate into 12 damage, and with bonuses to Brutal from the commands of the Engineer, the horde is picked up, as they are just slightly out of Inspiring range. Ouch.

The other Iron Beast reforms to face and grind against the Revenant Cavalry, will land a more average 6 damage, but then spike the check to remove this unit as well, and just like that, the Undead center has disappeared.

A clash is coming in the center...

A rifle Regiment moves up to secure a second token for the Halflings, making this 2-1 in their favor. They shoot into the Zombie Trolls on the hill, and the horde of Rifles pivots and shoots as well, taking them up to 9 damage, with more and more hot shooting dice.

The Spearspikes poke the Werewolves up to 5 damage, and while they are uninspired, thankfully they do hold for me.

Bottom of Round 5: Undead

It’s been an incremental game, and I was feeling ok until this last turn. Not much you can do against hot dice though, and we’ll just need to persevere! On the right, the ASB moves to let the Zombies ignore Shambling for the turn, and although the Zombies are dealing with an obstacle, they are able to move around it to touch the token to claim it and tie the game up for me.

On the third try the Werewolves get actually achieve their expected damage output, and we will finally pick the Spearspikes up.

The Undead push in.

The injured unit of Zombie Trolls charges the injured Iron Beast, and we take it from 5 damage up to 9 while blocking the Beast from easily getting the token.

The Revenant Cavalry and other unit of Zombie Trolls multi-charge the horde of Rifles, and although the charge is clean, they both flub hard and only 10 damage lands. The horde holds and things take another bad turn for the Undead.

The Zombies continue clawing.

On the left, the ASB flubs his orders, not granting any additional Lifeleech. The Horde claws in another damage or two, while eventually getting down to 9 damage themselves. It’s not bad against Def6, but I am for sure losing the damage race here. These are just Zombies.

Top of Round 6: Halflings

The Engineer stays nearby to Radiance of Life the Harvester, but it is still struggling, and grinds just 3 new damage onto the Zombies, taking them up to 12 damage, and they hold on.

The Harvester spins its wheels again.

The angles are spot on for the Halflings though. With the horde of Rifles bravely holding, the Iron Beast in the woods can see and hit the flank of that untouched Zombie Troll unit. The Beast rolls ok, and lands 12 damage into them. The Rifles smack 4 damage back into the Revenant Cavalry, but they hold and then the Zombie Trolls are found to be insane! The Beast needed to just sidestep and inch to claim the center token, but cannot.

Some big charges from the Iron Beasts!

The other Iron Beast grinds against the other Zombie Trolls. Mama grants them a Brutal 2, and with the Beast taking them up to 12 damage as well, these Zombie Trolls to have the courtesy to break. 

...but the Insane Zombie Trolls hold and the center token remains unclaimed!

The Overrun from the victorious Iron Beast is a hot 6 inches, but it is still not enough, and the second Beast cannot take the center token.

Bottom of Round 6: Undead

The Zombies on the right just shuffle. No need to put them in danger and they've done a great job with the scenario here.

It's Def6, but still a 40-attack flank charge.

The Revenant Cavalry and Trolls fight against the Rifles again, though the Trolls may have split attacks between the Rifles and the flanking Beast, if memory serves. I should have pivoted the now-free Revenant Cavalry, just in case, but don’t. I think my brain just gave out and gave up trying to figure out contingencies. I think the plan it to bully the Rifles in a round 7, but a victorious change facing would let me do that while giving me some other options.

The Werewolves get a flank charge, and take the token, despite the picture. Silly hill.

I’m burying the lede here though, and it is time for the Werewolves to shine! The come in and hit the flank of the Iron Beast flanking my insane Zombie Trolls. They land atop the token while doing so, and claim it for the Undead, and taking the lead this game!

Unfortunately, they only contribute 7 damage as I recall, and the Trolls should take that up to 9 damage total. It’s Def6 and Nerve 18, and yeah, I do not break it.

Aftermath of all the combats.

On the left, the Zombies claw a few more damage onto the Harvester, but it keeps getting healed, and he’s stuck hovering around 4 damage while accruing a little more and more onto us.

With the Undead seizing the lead in the Bottom of Round 6 … I of course roll up a Round 7 for us, and it was my roll, so I have no one to blame but myself!

Top of Round 7: Halflings

On the left, the Harvester struggles, landing just 2 new damage into the Zombies, and on 14 damage total, the Zombies continue to hold. It doesn't matter at all for the scenario, but it's just nice to see the unit doing well.

Yay! The tar pit is doing its job.

In the center, Radiance of Life and a command heal gets both Iron Beasts down to 7 damage. 

The Halflings get to safety.

One fights the insane Zombie Trolls and grinds them down, and the second flank charges the surprised Werewolves and shreds them as well, stealing their token. The flank charge opens a lane for the Halfling Rifles to really book it out of there, and everything is safe in the flank of my poor Revenant Cavalry. 

Bottom of Round 7: Undead

Because I didn’t reform the Revenant Cavalry last turn, I don’t have another straightforward chance at victory. It’s a bummer, but the math isn’t on my side either. Against Def6, I should deal between 4-5 damage on average, kicking a Beast up to 11-12 damage, which is doable, but still not in my favor as the Beasts are Inspiring.

I do have Surge though... and while the Revenant Cavalry can get close enough to just need 1 success from the spell... they are juuuust over 12 inches away from the ASB, and even doing a pivot with the hero to try and get that little bit closer. doesn't quite get me there. 

Since no tokens were promoted to 2-pointers, it’s just a 3-2 victory to the Halflings, but a victory nonetheless. Congrats!

Game Conclusions

Like the previous game, we were struggling against Def6 throughout, but I’m still generally pleased with our performance. Mistakes abound (as always!) but we made good use of our limited commands and good use of our units to play a competitive game, right up to the end.

Testing Conclusions

• Vampires on Undead Pegasi. They were a little expensive for what you got in 3E, and although their points weren’t hiked up too much higher with 4E, between that and the demand of a Warlord slot, these are hard to utilize. They aren’t true hammers themselves, and I didn’t have anything to really help them out. They probably need dedicated Wights or Werewolves (or Soul Reaver Cavalry) working nearby to really get the best use out of them.
• Undead ASBs. Again Heal never really spiked any rolls but was still ok to have alongside Lifeleech, and nice along the variable Lifeleech some of our units can get. Surge is still feeling pretty bad though, as we don’t have the heroes to chain it, or spell power to push something forward solo to make use of it in later turns. With Surge, you want to hunt for sneaky flanks, but that seems harder to do now.
• Zombie Hordes x3. Again, they took up space for cheap and managed to do well. I was very surprised the Harvester couldn’t get through the one on the far left, but that’s just getting lucky I think. The Zombies are nice, cheap tar-pits to have around.
• Skeleton Spears. Again, Phalanx doesn’t interact with nearly as much anymore, and only then interacts on the charge, which is rough. It is feeling more and more situational, especially if your units are hitting on 5’s to start. My personal collection of Skeletons are in a bit of a rough spot, having committed so hard to two-handers in 3E, so we’ll see how much play Spears specifically and Skeletons generally get in me Undead forays coming up.
• Wraiths. With Def6 they can take a fait bit of damage, and are incredibly hard to remove at range without a ridiculous investment from the other side of the table. My one unit got relegated to more of a desperate screening role though, which was not the best use of them. I think multiples would be the way to run these in the future.
• Revenant Cavalry. We were able to find some good lanes to fight in, but they repeatedly underdelivered with cold dice. They aren’t big, or reliable, damage-dealers, but seem ok to instigate piece trading. Troops might be even better in this regard though, especially if you are going with a single battalion, or sturdier all-Skeletons approach.
• Zombie Trolls. Again with the fewer attacks in the new edition, these are not the under-costed, arguably spammable power-houses they were previously. They do feel fine as decent, generalist unit though, and seem like a great pick to round out an Undead list.
• Werewolves. I used them relatively well, getting into a threatening position quickly, and while potential early flank charges were deflected by my opponent, being aggressive them then and not chasing Grenadiers was still the clear call. Unfortunately, in four rounds of combat, only once was their damage as expected, so while we can blame the dice, they didn’t have a fantastic showing. They are still quick and maneuverable though, and did well as that pressure piece, demanding attention. While the Brew of Strength would help them out a lot, that doesn’t quite feel worth it to me as it is just so darned expensive, and you’d really be relying on that singular unit an awful a lot. Perhaps smaller troops would be the way to go with Werewolves, and lean more into the go-wide strategy the Undead typically employ.

We goofed the scenario a bit, but it worked out for both balance and great game still. The Halflings have changed a lot with the new edition, but are still a force to be reckoned with in Rob’s hands, even if he isn’t quite satisfied with where the list is at right now! These were both very fun, and we’ll wish him the best of luck at Adepticon this weekend!