4th Edition: Battle #031 Abyssals vs Orcs in Raze

Intro and Lists

Kings of War Wisconsin had a long demo day recently, and during a lull, I was able to get in a full game. Up against me was Joe and his ever-growing collection of Orcs.

I will apologize at the top, having played against him regularly, I assumed I had a good pic of the army for the cover. With the growing collection and new basing though, I do not. The new units eschew his typically favored grasses, are all based with really slick, vibrant red bases, reminding me a lot of Warcraft's Draenor. I dig it, but don't have a current picture for things. We'll try to update this later.

This list itself was a little ridiculous, with two Chariots with items, eight Gore Rider regiments, some with items, a Godspeaker, a few mounted Riftforgers, and Thonar, as one does, if you are an Orc player. It's a lot of speed, and very scary since the Orcs can get a Wild Charge from their orders.

I brought the Abyssals. I was looking to explore some more Core options for the army, and up to test and discuss is everything. 

• Lower Abyssal Hordes. I’m still trying to explore the Core options for the Abyssals. I miss the Abyssal Guard, and don’t particularly like any of our options. Lower Abyssal regiments seem ok, to just pay the Tax and have something to block, instigate, or play the scenario, but also don’t really seem like fun. I am not a fan of the hordes, as they have bad Nerve and hit on 5’s but we will try out an assortment here and see how we do with flooding the board.
• Bloody Cardinal. Yep, we’re being very unoriginal, and taking the Cardinal again. I like him as a second-line fighter, bringing Dread to the opening fights, and then just being a bit of an opportunist as the game progresses. We’re trying out Hordes of Lower Abyssals here, so we’ll try to hide him early and do just that later on.
• Warlocks with Drain Life. I like the Warlocks, and we’ll try Drain Life with them here. Bane Chant is nice, but doesn’t seem worthwhile when so many things are hitting on 5’s. We’ll give Drain Life a try here, and see if we can’t be annoying resilient with our hordes and such.
• Gargoyles. I like them a lot, but points and slots are a little weird here. I could only fit in two without spending a ton of time trying to optimize, which I did not want to do. I think here, they will be best used in reserve, and hopping out to mitigate what is coming in against the hordes, so that’ll be the approach we try.
• Tortured Soul Regiments. I wasn’t a huge fan of the regiments, but I wanted to try them here anyways. If we can finagle it that the hordes get charged, and the hordes hold, maybe these can shine on the rebuttal.
• Nagarri. I wasn’t a big fan of these in 3E, and am not sold on them yet for 4E. They are just … weird, still. I like the CS2 TC1 mix, and I like hitting on 3’s but they don’t have Regeneration, and are just Def4, and have just 12 attacks, for a rather hefty price tag. Pathfinder was nice in 3E, but seems less impactful now, especially on such a large unit, where difficult terrain can easily trip you up. I feel like you are unlikely to traverse the terrain fully to make use of it, but we’ll see what opportunities we find. We’re trying them out because of Rally, and seeing how that might work with the Lower Abyssal Hordes. 
• Fiends. Another wild pick here! I liked them in 3E as they Inspired, could fight, and had Fireball, and were just generally a nice, all-comers kind of unit. Now, conditional Rally seems rough, but I want to get a game in with these regardless. We’ll see if their Fireball can be supplemented by Orders, and see if we can’t get them some flank charges too with them.

Table and Terrain

We were out at Gamer's Realm in New Berlin, which as we discovered last week, is closing at the end of the month, due to a doubling of the rent from the previous, inaugural year at the new location. It's a bummer all around and just madness. We had arranged for one more demo day, and the owner honored that, letting us get in for one more meetup and general hang out too.

Set for Demo Games!

I was hoping to snag the purple and green mat we had often played on here, but some unknown customer apparently beat me to it. We were able to use Rob's mat and what was left of the terrain in the shop to throw down.

For our game we got Raze, an objective-based scenario which received some changes in the new edition which I still don't quite understand. There is a central token which is immutable, and we each place 3 objective tokens into either deployment zones. We can contest but not control Objectives in our own deployment zone, and if we can reach and control one in the opposing deployment zone, we can raze it for a point, and remove it from the game. Ideally, we'll whittle down what were are fighting over, down to just the central token for a clash at the end. Aha, writing up the report, and rereading the scenario... the Objective tokens don't care who placed them, just where they are. So you can be a real jerk and stick your tokens in your own deployment zone to muddy up your opponent's plans. I don't really like this, but I understand it now.

A pre-deployment overview of the table. 

I believe we rolled the side-picking and token-placing rolls together, which technically should have been separate, but Joe came away with the win, and kicked us off.

Overview of table, more or less.

The Orcs came down in a few distinct groups. On the far left, guarding one of my objective, were two basic Gore Rider regiments, a Riftforger, and the Chariots with the Boots. The center-right had two basic regiments escorting Thonar, and one with I believe the Brew of Sharpness in the back. The right then had the Gore Rides with the Brew of Strength, the one with the Blessing of the Gods, a Riftforger, and the Godspeaker, who was hiding behind the building.

View on the left.

With a brand new and rather sprawling list, I wasn't quite sure what to do. The deployment goals were to spread the hordes out, and try to pair each with one of the other units. On the left, we have Gargoyles hiding behind the building. This is overcautious, since the Orcs don't have any shooting. We have the Lower Abyssals with the Sanguinary Scripture out here, supported by a Warlock, with a Fiend nearby.

View in the center.

Nagarri took the woods, so I could maintain a long line. Lower Abyssals with two-handers we a big back from the line, with Gargoyles and the Bloody Cardinal in reserve. Two units of Tortured Souls ended up nearby, as I felt like the fighting would be fiercest here, as all three of his tokens were placed out here. 

View on the right.

The basic, Def4 Lower Abyssals start on the hill, with the Warlock supporting, and then Tortured Souls screening for the Fiend, as I could not squeeze them all in on the line, due to poor planning with my spacing. 

I won the roll for turn order. Despite wanting to play a little passive with the list, letting the Lower Abyssals take some hits and see what they could endure... letting the speedy Orcs get first turn seemed like a very bad plan, so I choose to kick things off for us.

Top of Round 1: Abyssals

There are no tokens on the left, so we just need to delay. The Gargoyles hold, behind the building. I don’t really care about charging, so they can sit tight.

The Abyssals posture a bit on the left.

The Lower Abyssals move up a few inches, and partially hide behind the obstacle. The Warlock scoots to their left, and the Fiend to their right.

The Nagarri move up.

The Nagarri are Height 4, so they pivot-move-and-pivot towards their left, just getting out of the woods, but staying more than 19 inches away from the Orcs and their potentially wild charges.

The Lower Abyssals with two-handers move up into the field. With the intervening Hill, they are save from charges. The Gargoyles tuck up behind them, as does the Bloody Cardinal.

Tortured Souls avoid the field.

The Tortured Souls both inch up. One hands back a bit, staying out of the field, so they are not hindered, and the other moves up just a bit more, again staying more than 19 inches away. 

The horde on the right moves up to bait a charge.

The stock Lower Abyssals on the far right move up, getting just over 18” away from some of the Gore Riders. The Tortured Souls stay safe with the Fiend behind, and the Warlock adjusts here.

No orders, no spells, and it is a pretty quick opening turn for the Abyssals.

Bottom of Round 1: Orcs

The Orcs seek to leverage their speed, applying some early pressure with a unit or two, but not over-enthusiastically run up. It is a wise approach, given the match up. I wish I had more Gargoyles!

On the right, the lead Chariots (I believe with the Blessing) give a charge up to the Tortured Souls on the far right, but nothing else. The Gore Riders hang back in reserve, ready to join in the fun if I do decide to charge.

The Orcs tentative push out as well, in a game of cat and also cat.

The Godspeaker peers out from behind the building, making use of the new line of sight methods to barely spy the Warlock, and Hex him. I haven’t encountered the spell enough yet to internalize the ramifications, so we look it up. It appears the movement restrictions for a successful hit have been removed, so it is just taking 2 damage for each successful hit. I like this change. While the spell loses some versatility, simple is good.

Some Gore Riders take the hill, but overall, the greenskins are quite reserved.

A pair of Gore Riders hangs way back, while the third takes the hill, with Thonaar supporting thing behind the hill.

The Orcs shuffle about on the left as well.

Most of the thought goes into the left. The Chariots with the Boots just barely poke into the woods to see. They should be out of range of the Nagarri but threatening a potentially Striding charge themselves. The Riftforger tucks in, and a unit of Gore Riders pivots to face the corridor on far left potentially threatening to run around in the coming turns. The last regiment of Gore Riders moves up, threatening the Lower Abyssals, but is far enough away to be safe from the infantry, and the Fiend behind them. It’s clever, but very patient play.

Top of Round 2: Abyssals

The original plan was to use Gargoyles to block up charges into the Lower Abyssals, preventing some multi-charges, but I am doubting that approach now. I don’t really have any big, mean hitters to punish over-commitments, and so that would mostly just be tossing away Gargoyles for free. I have a 20” charge with them, and so we will start threating to use that and gum things up for a turn, and forcing some reactions. The Gargoyles on the left flap out more to the left, and will start pressuring the Gore Riders.

The Gargoyles go wide to be annoying.

Again, there are no tokens out here for my opponent, so this horde just needs to delay as long as possible. They back up. The Gore Riders will need two successes on the command to get in, and the horde is safe from the Chariots. The Warlock and Fiend adjust as well.

I see a weird opening, and decide to take it. The token ahead of the Nagarri is uncontested, so they can zip up and control and raze it, and I opt to do so. I am out of arcs, but the Riftforgers are individuals, so this is a bit sketchy in the long run.

The Tortured Souls get a double charge.

Joe and I are getting much better at discussing intentions and also actually confirming them ahead of time. It is not enough to announce, ya gotta measure and confirm before you pass the turn or any issues arise. Most of the measurement attention was on the left though, and when I go to measure, I appear to be just barely in with the second regiment of Tortured Souls vs the Gore Riders on the hill. Joe graciously acquiesces, and I’ll take the charge, really wanting to see how they perform. Checking the math, a little over 5 damage is expected per unit with a clean charge here, and while we slightly underperform with only 9 damage, we are luckily able to pick them up and then reform both units, to face Thonaar and the other Gore Riders. Double flowers go to Joe here, as I completely forgot to roll my only combat before passing the turn back! Thankfully we immediately caught this and rewound slightly.

The hordes move up to keep the pressure on.

On the right, I am a bit of a loss. With the Tortured Souls charging, I feel compelled to press up to try and support that push. Going super-far up could pen in the Gore Riders in, in that little corridor, but would also open the Lower Abyssals to a flank charge from the other side of the building. So they inch up, protecting the Fiend, and we’ll see if we can survive a double-front charge. For science!

The Warlock grants the Lowers a Fireball, which blasts nicely but only singes 1 damage into the armor of the Gore Riders. The Fiend also tosses, but funds into the same issue, with a blasting 9 hits, but only 2 damage getting in.

The Tortured Souls pivot, move, and pivot off to the left, looking to see how they might help in the coming turns.

Bottom of Round 2: Orcs

I had a little fun drawing first blood against an elite list, but now it is time for the Orcs to respond. The Chariots charge out, as does the Gore Riders with the Brew of Strength, with both slamming into the Lower Abyssal Horde.

Two double charges from the Orcs. Ouch!

The Riders get a normal rage, and with 18 base attacks, land 17 damage, thanks to the exploding dice from the Order. The Chariots land 9 damage. The Abyssals are Rallied by the Fiend and Inspired by the Warlock, but this is more than enough to easily devastate the Lower Abyssals, who break. The Riders overrun, and the Chariots change facing, to try and box in the Tortured Souls.

Reforms from the speedy Orcs.

A Gore Rider duo multi-charges one of the Tortured Souls on the hill, with one getting a normal Rage from the Godspeaker, and one getting a boosted Rage from Thonaar. I was expecting solo charges, but I’ll take it, as each regiment contributes 15 damage, overkilling the Tortured Souls by a lot. One reforms to try and box in the Tortured Souls, and the other will overrun.

The Orcs continue to play coy out on the left, and occupy the Nagarri.

The Riftforger opts to rear-charge the Nagarri to tag them, and 2 damage lands. Thonaar moves up threateningly, but doesn’t charge, as he isn’t an individual, and didn’t have them in his arc to start.

On the left, the Orcs are inexplicably cagey, still messing about in their deployment zone. One regiment exposed their flank to the Gargoyles, while the other regiment moves slightly to deny proper alignment to that flank. They Gargoyles can only charge the closer unit, in the front.

The Chariots inch slightly ahead through the woods, just barely threatening a normal charge into the Lower Abyssals.

Top of Round 3: Abyssals

We still just gotta delay the Orcs out on the left. The Gargoyles decline to charge, but can sneak in out of arc, and maybe force some reactions next turn.

Gargoyles zip ahead! The Lower Abyssals do the opposite.

Again, the Lower Abyssals inch back, and are over 18” away from everything. The Orcs will need a lot of lucky Command Dice to get in next turn. The Warlock inches back, and is even further away, and the Fiend does similarly, looking to avoid the forest, as he lacks strider.

No good options for the Nagarri...

The Nagarri lands a hot 8 into the Riftforger on Manticore, and thankfully will pick him up. Thonaar complicates reforms, but the Nagarri are in a lot of trouble next turn no matter what I do, so we don’t sweat it too much.

A pair of flank charges from Tortured Souls.

The Tortured Souls do have fly, so we endeavor to utilize it this round, while we still can. Centrally, the Lower Abyssals make a hindered charge out of the field and over the obstacle, sliding way way down to let the Tortured Souls hit the Gore Riders in the flank. The Souls land their expected 10, and hitting on 6’s, the Lower Abyssals manage to smack 5 as well. The Bloody Cardinal is around for Dread, and we fell another regiment of Gore Riders.

Both units are pretty safe. The Tortured Souls are forced to do a 180 spin, while the Lower Abyssals want to overrun for now, to get off of the obstacle, since just changing facing won’t get that done. They get a 1” overrun. Despite facing a speedy Orc list, most of the fighting is on their side of the field though, so I’m pretty happy.

And the piece-trading goes ok.

The right has all the Orc tokens. With the Lower Abyssal horde falling, we’re in damage control mode, and want to try and fight our way through and keep them off the tokens as long as we can. I do some measuring, and then the Gargoyles fly up and into the Chariots to slow them down, landing 1 damage too.

It’s admittedly cheeky, but I can get a 15-20mm connection into the flank of the other Gore Riders, and will take it, with the Fiend joining in the front. The Tortured Souls land 8 damage, the Fiend 2, but the Nerve checks break our way, and we are able to pick up the unit with the Brew of Strength.

I am eying my token in the far corner, and the Fiend tries to overrun, getting another 1 inch, and the Tortured Souls spin around, ready to fight the Chariots in the coming turn.

Bottom of Round 3: Orcs

On the right, the Riftforger grants a rage to the Chariots against the Gargoyles, and as an individual, is then able to skirt around and hit the Bloody Cardinal in the flank, landing 2 damage. The Cardinal holds.

The Chariot is able to trample the Gargoyles without any problems, and then reform, getting both the Fiend and Tortured Souls in front arc.

The Abyssals get bogged down on the right.

The Godspeaker charges in to delay the Lower Abyssals with Two handers, and even manages to damage them with his one attack.

The Nagarri are obliterated .... four times over.

Thonaar hits the Nagarri in the front, with some Gore Riders coming in from the right flank and getting a boosted Rage from the Warlord. In a cute but probably unnecessary move, the Chariots shuffle back, preventing more Gore Riders from being hindered into the other flank of the Nagarri, who also get a rage. The Nagarri start on 2 damage, and for kicks, we see how high things can go. Thonaar lands 1, the ones on the left do 35 damage, while the ones on the left “only” manage 23 damage. The Nagarri end on 61 damage and…. Are devasted and routed, as is proper. In victory, the Orcs shuffle around.

On the far right, the Gore Riders again inch up, just barely threatening a charge into the Lower Abyssals. With good order, the Chariots in the Woods might be able to get in too, but I do not recall.

Top of Round 4: Abyssals

It’s been some impressive damage, but the Orcish cavalry are still largely fighting in their own deployment done. I’m somehow doing ok here, and am in the lead, having Razed 1 token so far. The Gargoyles on the left flitter up slightly, securing a second token for me, and stare down the deployment zone for the Orcs.

The Gargoyles nab another token for me.

Again, just trying to delay, the Lower Abyssals back up again, getting out of range of the Gore Riders without very hot Command Dice, and out of range of the Chariots completely.

A delaying charge from the Tortured Souls.

The Tortured Souls have a few options. They can’t quite reach the Gore Riders behind Thonaar though. Charging Thonaar seems mediocre, so after some measuring, we make a boring charge into the nearest Gore Riders. Thonaar is too far away to threaten the Lower Abyssals, so sacrificing more units to keep the fights on the Orc’s side of the table seems like a decent approach. This unit has the Brew of Sharpness, and we’ll smack 6 damage onto them.

Scrums on the right.

Elsewhere, we are gummed up. The Lower Abyssals with two-handers regenerate their 1 damage, but underperform a bit in the melee, smacking 4 damage into the Godspeaker. We have Dread, but just barely fail to move him.

The Bloody Cardinal lands 4 into the Riftforger on Manticore, Lifeleeching back down to 0 damage. The first check is good for me, but the second check is good for the Riftforger, and he just barely hangs on too, despite Dread.

The Orc leaders survives, but the Chariots are bested.

The Warlock repositions, landing a Drain Life 2 into the Chariots, though has nothing to heal, as the Cardinal was just out of range. We need to pick this up, so both the Fiend and the Tortured Souls hit the front. The Souls add a hot 7 and the Fiend adds 3, and we will break the unit. My opponent has these on 16 damage, but I think it’s 13 (Gargoyles 1, DL 2, Souls 7, Fiend 3?), I’m not sure how we got off here, but the checks are high enough this doesn’t matter.

I still have the far token to fight over. The Fiend overruns nicely, but the Tortured Souls overrun for just 1 inch again.

Bottom of Round 4: Orcs

We’ve somehow won out on the right, though are starting to loose ground elsewhere. Still, it is Round 4 and we’re up 2:0 and the Orcs are still fighting essentially in their deployment zone, so we’re doing ok overall.

The Godspeaker fights back against the Lower Abyssals. His solitary attack doesn’t land this time, but still, my horde is engaged and bogged down.

The Gore Riders trample the Tortured Souls on the hill.

The Riftforger smacks another 2 into the Bloody Cardinal, but I hold again. The Gore Riders reform, and are joined by another unit. Thonaar grants one of them a boosted Rage, and 29 damage lands, with the overruns being a silly 5 and 6 inches.

Needing to play the scenario, Thonaar makes his way into the center of the field, seeing what he might be able to accomplish in the coming turns.

The Orcs try to close in before the game ends.

On the left, the Chariots finally leave the forest, again just barely threatening charges. The Gore Riders do similarly.

Top of Round 5: Abyssals

I guess we just keep delaying on the left? Even with two turns, the Gargoyles are too far to reach the token on the far right for me before the game ends. I’ll need another plan for that, but this does free them up.

Gargoyles delay on the left.

I pivot and fly them up to complicate the Orc movements on the left. The Warlock zips over a bit, and the Lower Abyssals tuck in by the building. The Gargoyles flap up, denying the space for the Gores to get in, and the Chariots will need a pivot past them… and so can’t get in against the Lower Abyssals either.

It’s cute, but a little awkward. I should be pivoting harder with the Lower Horde I think? If they are protected, I should be trying to get into a better position. This move with the Gargoyles slows them Orcs down, but doesn’t really impact much. Blocking up the Chariots completely might have been a better call too, as again… nothing is out here for the Orcs and the Horde is just a distraction.

The Fiend backs up a bit, and pivots. I think he moved as far as he could, and is just within 17 inches away from the Chariots.

The scrums continue on the right.

The Lower Abysasls with the two-handers reform, allowing the Fiend to trip over the obstacle and come to try and help. The hope is to pop him, reform, and box in both units of Gore Riders. The Fiend lands 3, and the Abyssals a fresh 6, and we’ll devastate and Rout the Godspeaker, as is proper. Indeed the Lower Abyssals are able to spin and reform to capture the attention of the Gore Riders, and the Fiend spins as well, waiting to counter-punch.

Having measured things from my perspective, the Warlock makes a break for the token in the far corner, and will be able to reach it next turn.

Reforms for the horde, at least.

The Bloody Cardinal holds, and ultimately, I choose to send the Tortured Souls into the rear of the Riftforger. The Cardinal will land 2 more for Lifeleech, and we’ll devastate the Riftforger with the first back of rear attacks…. But the Riftforger is found to be insane.

I had a choice here, whether to take this charge or send the Tortured Souls out to try and dissuade Thonaar. I was hoping for the break, and then be able to reform to threaten Thonaar too, but this was apparently too greedy, and not to be, unfortunately.

Bottom of Round 5: Orcs

Its Bottom of 5, so the Orcs are starting to consider transitioning away from Kill to whatever scenario we are playing...

Thonaar grabs a token, and the fighting continues.

On the hill, one unit of Gore Riders considers running away to try and fight me for my token in the back right, but my opponent realizes he can’t beat me there. It will charge the Lower Abyssals instead. The Riftforger should be in range to grant a Rage, but I don’t see a token, so this may have failed or been forgotten, and the damage is kept to just 11, and the Lower Abyssal horde holds.

The insane-but-devasted Riftforger does throw into the Tortured Souls, landing 1 damage.

Thonaar does run out to raze the middle of the Orc’s tokens, and the second Gore Riders from the hill run over to the middle of the field, joined by a regiment from the right. The departing regiment is just out of charge range of the Lower Abyssals out here. Bah.

The Chariots go in, making a play for the token!

The Gargoyles are ignored, and before departing, Thonaar grants the Chariots the needed Wild Charge range to get in against the Fiend, and brawl for that token. The Boots are popped, and a concerning 10 damage lands. The Fiend is not Inspired, Brutal is in play from the Chariots, but we do manage to hold on.

Top of Round 6: Abyssals

The Lower Abyssals can’t charge, but run ahead in case there is a Round 7. The Gargoyles flap in, looking to gum up the center for a possible Round 7, but in retrospect, this is silly. I should have kept these back to threaten a charge in Round 7 – just moving in does nothing right now.

The Gargoyles fly in, just because.

The Warlock moves up to Inspire the Lower Abyssals and Fiend, and we’ll land a Drain life 2 into the Chariots in the woods. The Fiend lands 6, and with no Inspiring, one hot check dooms them. In victory, the Titan reforms, but I don’t like this in retrospect. If I am playing for Round 7, I should be trying to overrun into the woods, and threaten a hindered charge into the center next.

The Lower Abyssals regenerate a hot 6 damage, and reform, sliding down and allowing the Titan to join the fight. Some damage lands, I guess 6, but we don’t prevail here.

We are able to pick up the insane Riftforger, and seeing how things are going, the Tortured Souls opt to face the center. I could try to threaten Thonaar, but won’t be able to stop him from grabbing the a token in the back right, and if he goes for that, he can't help the center, so I think I need to prep for a possible fight in the center for a potential Round 7.

The Warlock zips up, and will raze my last token for me.

Bottom of Round 6: Orcs

Thonaar runs out and will raze a second token for the Orcs, making this 2:3 in favor of the Abyssals.

The Gore Riders hold, fighting against the Lower Abyssals, and the regiment with the Brew of Sharpness leaves the center to join in this fight. There is no Rage, but the horde is still taking damage on 2’s, and takes 19 new damage, to be devastated and routed. One unit is still engaged, but the unit with the Brew backs up, trying to get back to the center, but is a little short.

Charges in the bottom of Round 6.

In the center, the Gore Riders take their free rear charge into the Gargoyles, will break them and reform to face the Lower Abyssals, since neither the Bloody Cardinal nor Tortured Souls have the inches to get in against them.

What remains of the Orcs.

Holding the center puts the Orcs at 3, making this a time game, but we do roll up a Round 7. My opponent considers conceding, as I can fly into the center, but he is convinced to keep playing.

Top of Round 7: Abyssals

The Fiend holds, and the Bloody Cardinal charges in against the injured Gore Riders. They each deal 3, taking them up to 12 damage. Brutal and Dread don’t stack, and while the check is a 3 the unit should still be bested. We must have gotten the math wrong somewhere.

The Tortured Souls hop into the center, successfully contesting it.

The Tortured Souls hop into the center.

Since the Fiend didn’t overrun, he can’t help. The Warlock moves in for another Drain Life 2 into the Gor Riders, and the Lower Abyssals contribute a nice 6 damage, but the Orcs hold, and the horde is about a half inch away from helping control the center.

Bottom of Round 7: Orcs

The Gore riders on the hill throw into the Bloody Cardinal, land 12 damage, and break him.

I think the Gore Riders with the Brew of Sharpness are boxed out, but apparently not quite.

We don't need to respect a 1" buffer anymore, and with a pivot-move-pivot, they are just about into the center token, measuring from the edge of the token, to wrest control of it back in favor of the Orcs. Our observer Rob thinks they are out, but I think they are in. This is probably the kind of situation that calls for a die roll to determine things, but it was a clever play, the Orcs deserve a tie here. I could have charged the Cardinal in against them, or had my Souls slightly back or closer to my deployment zone to prevent the first pivot or them getting close enough. I can say well done here!

Having wrested control of the center back, the Orcs claw things back to 3:3 and a tie game!

Game Conclusions

I definitely had some options to try and seal the deal in the final turns. Overrunning the Fiend, charging the Cardinal into the other regiment; preserving the Gargoyles, or even just moving the Tortured Souls ever-so-slightly differently… and I simply didn’t recognize any of them to take them and help me close out for the actual win.

With what felt like an inferior list, I was very happy to even have this game end remotely close, and I am more than happy with a tie. While we weren’t tracking attrition, that did cross the Orc player's mind, and it looks like the Abyssals lost 1405, and the Orcs lost 1480? So a slight edge to the Abyssals, but not enough to make a big splash for any typical tournament. I didn’t really like my list, but apparently I ran it well enough here!

Testing Conclusions

• Bloody Cardinal. A second-line opportunist continues to be a good playstyle fit for him, and he had a decent run, all things considered. With my Despoilers still needing to be rebased, he's a good go-to for now, and I might even pick up the Mantic model, now that I don't need to buy the full Champions box to get him. 
• Warlocks with Drain Life. The Warlocks are fine, and did ok for me throughout, keeping things Inspired and playing the scenario and such. I avoided Firebolts to try and deny charges, and playing it safe was probably the right call. Drain Life was mediocre though. It's not bad, but with so few dice being tossed around it's never as impactful as I'd like it to be. 
• Lower Abyssal Hordes. I had to try them out, but I do not like these. They did ok, but low Defense and Low Nerve (even Rallied, as many were this game) was not enough to hold, and hitting on 5's is just so very rough. Without Abyssal Guard, these really need to hit on 4's to be impactful. They are an expensive, regenerating tar pit that I think will struggle to absorb the damage taken. A bunch of regiments are cheap though, and might be the way to go, racking up unlocks and then dedicated scenario monkeys.
• Gargoyles. I was thinking of using them to block incoming charges into the horde, but that seemed like it would just be tossing away points here, so I tried to be a little more proactive with them, and it worked out ok. A great unit, and I wish I had a few more this game!
• Tortured Soul Regiments. I did not have high hopes for these. They actually did ok, with fly making the difference in the mid-game, when my opponent forgot that they had it. Flank charging was great with them, but overall, we have much better picks in the slot, and for real hammers, and I think these are best as troops.
• Nagarri. This was unfortunately not a great test for them. I tossed them away a bit early, though their sacrifice did keep everything but Thonar fighting on the Orc side of the table for the rest of the game, which seemed worth it. Still an odd unit. We'll try to fit them in another time.
• Fiends. They Survived, and we'll give them that, but I did not really like these. Conditional Inspiring is meh, lacking Inspiring is bad, and getting a points increase for all of these changes just feels like an insult. They might do ok in a Flame Bearer list, but otherwise, I think I can leave these on the shelf for a while.
• Abyssal Commands. We eeked out one use of Fireball, for 1 damage. Without a strong Flame Bearer contingent, this command really falls flat. We didn't face any shooting, so the Unholy Shield wasn't ever considered. The Abyssals have neat Commands, but they are very niche. 

I love the look of these new Orcs, and we'll get better pictures in the future. It was neat (terrifying!) to see the Orcs casually dishing out so much damage. Rage is a fantasticly potent command, though it's hard to hold when the damage dealt can exceed the units base attacks... I think 61 damage taken might be the new damage record for the blog? In any event, this was a good time. Thanks Joe!

4th Edition: Battle #030 Undead vs Forces of Nature in Seek and Destroy

Intro and Lists

The April meetup for Kings of War Wisconsin was upon us, and I had the pleasure of throwing down against Kenny Lull of the Combat Phase podcast, and my random partner from the Northwoods GT Doubles stuffs, back in February. He tends to play a lot of games, and was trying to relearn some things, and so was running his Forces of Nature list from that event, with the following:

I am a bit of a sucker for exploring armies, so I really like this list. It touches on every elemental option, tries a bit of every unit size, and even fits in three of the four Great Elementals too. Lots and lots of variety and possibilities to play around here, and see what you like, and then improve on for the future! 

I brought the Undead, hoping for a smidge of atonement! In their big-game debut for 4E, back in Battle 006, I donked a lot of things up for them, but most of the rules errors revolved around the Balefire Catapults, so we’re taking those again and assuming we get the rules more correct this time, seeing what we can learn. Up to test is everything:

• Revenant Kings on Undead Giant Wyrms. 4E is a mixed bag for them. They finally got Inspiring, but accompanying that is a massive price hike, and instead of just an option, they are now paying for a non-Piercing breath attack in an army without many ranged units to assist them at range. They also take up a Warlord slot, which are in really short supply. I really want to like the Wyrm Kings, as I love how my my models turned out, but they seem dubious. A shooty list seems like the best place to try them out though, so we’ll see how they feel. 
• Skeleton Archers. I went through several iterations of the list, and opted to give these another try as well. I'm not expecting much, but just really want to commit to the shooting and see what we can make happen and learn.
• Inspiring Necromancer, Blizzard, Heal. We’re taking war machines, so we’ll try Blizzard as well. It’s been used against me to great effect already, so we’ll try to see what we can do with it here. With some leftover points, I picked up Heal, as I think the Lifeleech Command plus Heal could keep the Undead unit fighting just a bit longer.
• ASB, Shroud. We’re neglecting the Tome but taking Shroud of the Saint for some Healing, which  again still seems great for an Undead list. No Surge at all this game, so we’ll see how that feels. With no real hammer units, I think we’ll be ok without Surge, but we’ll see.
• Revenants with Hammer. I like the Revenants, but need them to do more than just hold firm here, so we’re trying the Hammer of Measured Force, and hoping they can grind and push back a bit during the game. 
• Zombie Trolls. They have lost attacks in the Edition change, but still seem like good ways to fill up the board with decent threats. We’ll see what they can do here!
• Zombie Hordes. I wanted to try and force myself to remember Indirect ignores cover, so am taking a trio of Zombie hordes (all my current zombies!) to fill core and complicate my line of sight. We’ll see if it is a good idea or not!
• Balefire Catapults. They have indirect, which importantly combines a few older rules into one now, most-importantly, allowing them to ignore cover! We’ll see how I do for shooting lanes and prioritizing my targets.

Kenny’s excitement and enthusiasm is infectious, and it is always a pleasure to have him around. I was excited to see the full army of Elementals on the table, and learn what I could about them as well as my own list, and this seems like a wonderful clash slash grudge match for what was Team Compost.

Table and Terrain

We were out at the splendid Gamers Realm in New Berlin, WI. The shop has been amazing the last year or so, with a variety of wargaming lines, a dangerous secondhand shop, and lots and lots of board games and play space. Unfortunately, the landlord is jacking up the rent, and we were stunned to learn that the store was closing at the end of the month, rather than move again. It is an extreme bummer. If you are inn the area, stop in before May and see what goodies are around.

We were making use of the tables and terrain that remained. We had some Height 10 Forests (just the green terrain, the trees were missing), the blocking Buildings were Height 7, just playing the structure, Hills were Height 3, and we couldn't find any obstacles, so weren't using any.

After a silly amount of ties, I won the roll for placing tokens, and I aimed to throw all four of mine into corners. I’ve got a shooting list, so want to be back in my deployment zone chilling and shooting, or keeping a unit or two of my opponents back in theirs and not contributing.

Overview of the table, plus tokens.

Tokens, deployed, after even more ties, I win for sides, and after some measuring, am a jerk, and force the swap. The hill extends into the deployment zone, and I have enough space to drop all the catapults out there on the hill. We’re not making full use of Indirect, but should hopefully have a commanding view of the battlefield and choice of targets.

View from the left.

For deployment, the Forces of Nature have Forest Shamblers on the far left, a Greater Air Elemental hiding behind the building, a rough line of a Greater Earth Elemental blocking for a Water Elemental troop, Fire Elementals blocking for Greater Air Elementals, an Earth Elemental troop screening for the Gladewalker Druid with Blizzard, then the Water Elemental regiment, Greater Fire Elemental, second Gladewalker druid, more Forest Shamblers, and the second Earth Elemental troop.

View from the center.

For the Undead, we have Zombie Trolls and the basic Wyrm King, Zombies in reserve on a token, all the Catapults and their center points (precariously) on the hill, the Blizzard Necromancer nearby, Revenants with their Hammer, and more Zombie Trolls near the building, with the building splitting my line up. The right had a lot of Nerve, but not much else going for it. The Wyrm King with the Fire Oil was on the line, with Zombies in reserve, the ASB was hiding behind the woods, both Skeleton Archers were on the far right, and more Zombies were in reserve, on a token.

And view from the right.

I don’t really have hammers in the list, and wasn’t able to react super well to my opponents drops. My early drops were the Catapults and Necromancer, trying to threaten the center, and the plan is to lean into shooting and hope it works.  

I don’t like the Zombie Trolls on the far left, who ended up there early and just in case. Starting out though, I like my position overall. We’re both Shambling, so there shouldn’t be many quick plays for tokens, and I deployed on two of them, while my opponent did not. He’s either going to need to back up and grab them, spending at least an additional turn to secure them, or neglect them, either of which is fine by me.

Kenny plays more than a few wargames, so we are talking things out, trying to use this to showcase both the thinking behind some moves, as well as the physical moves themselves, to better understand things and build on fundamentals. We’re talking through the scenario, and I explain why I put my tokens where I did, and why I deployed my Zombies on them. 

Ope, a technically illegal Scout move. Scouts go forward!

For Scout moves, the Shamblers on the right move up, and the Shamblers on the left move backwards. I thought this might actually be legit, but technically, you can only issue an Advance order, moving up your speed for a Scout move. But hey, he could have deployed back anyways, and this is fine by me. He doesn’t think he can back up onto the token, so does not. 

A legal Scout move on the right.

Scout moves over, and with another quick refresher on Loot Tokens (Speed 5, no Surge, Wind blast, or Enthrall), after even more tie rolls, Kenny wins the roll for first turn, and I definitely encourage him to take it. We’re both Shambling, but going first still gains him some ground before the catapults start flinging.

Top of Round 1: Forces of Nature

On the left, the Shamblers back up again, ending atop the token. Wary of the catapults, the Greater Wind Elemental continues hiding behind the building, but I am too busy talking to take pictures.

The Shamblers secure a token.

The Greater Earth Elemental lurches ahead, along with most of the rest of the line. The Glade Walker Druid keeps central, and with a cover penalty, lands 1 damage onto the Revenants. The Water Elemental troop backs up to land atop a token and pick it up too.

The jumbled line of Elementals advance through the center of the board.

And on the right, the Earth Elemental troop can’t quite leave the woods. The Water Elemental regiment moves up, the Shamblers adjust, and the Greater Fire Elemental and the Gladewalker Druid inch ahead, warily. On the far right, the other Earth Elemental Troop backs up, landing a top a token, and claiming a third one for the Forces of Nature.

Despite a slightly suboptimal approach, the Forces of Nature have adjusted well, and snatched up three tokens.

Bottom of Round 1: Undead

Out on the right, we’ve got 4 tokens to contend for. My Zombies in reserve hold, picking up a token, and we’ve still got two to fight over in the midfield. Out here I unfortunately only have the Wyrm King for fighty units, so the plan is to try and bait charges with the Zombies and such, which should open the door to a flank from the Wyrm King with good positioning. If I can rinse and repeat that process, we should be able to scrap ok out here on the relative cheap, and make use of the Undead's general tenacity.

The Undead hardly move.

The Skeleton Archers hold, and loose, landing three damage into the Shamblers. The ASB holds (I think I forgot to move him, though there isn’t much for him to do right now). The Wyrm King here has Fire Oil and Strider, so I sidestep him into the woods for now, and the Zombies behind him stagger forward. I suppose I could have used Orders to match them up, but it didn’t seem wise to close sooner. We’ll play it slow.

Nice and steady.

Centrally, I don’t actually have great angles on the hill. With just two sources of Inspiring, and more tokens over then, I encouraged Kenny to more on the other side of the board as he was asking and thinking through his own deployment. With Shambling elementals, I should be good for three or four rounds, but might need to start adjusting things later on.

I consider shooting into the Shamblers in the corner and seeing if I can break it… but don’t think I can, and I think it is more worthwhile to try and make progress against something scary. Everything goes into Greater Earth Elemental. Blizzard, and three out of four Catapults connect, rocketing him up to 13 damage and Freezing him too. 

Ever so slightly more aggressive on the left.

The Revenants and Zombie Trolls in the center move up 5 inches, keeping a flush line. The Wyrm King from the far left makes use of being a Undead without Shambling, and he zips ahead, using the building to block line of sight to him from the lurking Greater Air Elemental. With the first barrage going well, the general plan is to shoot something one turn, and then charge it with something the next turn, so the shooting can focus on something else. That seems like a sensible way to play shooting in 4E, so we’re hoping that the Revenants or more likely the Wyrm can get in against it next turn.

The Zombie Trolls move their 6” up, and the Zombies in reserve hold, grabbing a token. Ideally, the Zombie Trolls are tasked with wresting control of the token in the corner from the Forest Shamblers, but I forgot to use Command Orders before moving the Wyrm, and should have tried to shoot the Zombie Trolls up more. 

Top of Round 2: Forces of Nature

On the left, after some chatting, the Shamblers turn and lurch, rather than just sidestep. With the field ahead of me, I can't effectively threaten the unit for several turns, and the pivot lets them go a bit further away. I’d definitely like to catch them, but it is very unlikely, and running away with them is wise.

The Elementals adjust, with all the Air Elementals lurking, menacingly.

We’re up against the Forces of Nature, and healing Def 6 is also wise. The Commands land 2 for the benefit of the Greater Earth Elemental, and the Spells lands a hot 3, taking him down to 8 damage. That’s a little more effective than I’d like!

The Greater Air Elemental continues to lurk, and with no charges, the unit does as well. The Greater Earth, Fire Elementals, and Earth Elemental troop all inch up, though only the troop is in danger, and only the Zombie Trolls can reach them, and is good use of the building, to really separate my lines.

The Forces of Nature make it into the midfield, threatening things. 

On the right, Water Elementals move up, as do the Forest Shamblers. Together, that are protecting the Greater Fire Elemental, and the Gladewalker Druid behind them all. In the back corner, the Earth Elemental Troop also pivots and moves towards the center. 

Bottom of Round 2: Undead

On the right, the ASB commands the Skeleton Archers to ignore Shambling, and they shoot forward at the double and then pivot. There isn’t anything to outride that hard though, and probably should have pivoted mid move and gotten closer. Having moved at the double, they don’t shoot. 

The other regiment moves up, getting its center point into the woods, and shoots at the Shamblers, landing nothing. They land atop a token, and will pick it up. The Wyrm King adjusts, spews 2 into the Shamblers I believe, and orders the Zombie horde to ignore Shambling as well, and we use the 10 inches to block stuff up. They are Def 2, but still Inspired, so we’ll see what happens here. I probably shouldn't be eager to fight, and instead be backing up and delaying with the horde, but I am interested to see what my opponent decides to do.

Blocking Zombies on the right.

Centrally, I am a little more rational. I don’t want to solo-charge the Earth Elementals, even as a troop, so the Zombie Trolls inch back, and the Revenants adjust, and both more than 12 inches away from everything. I need to do more with shooting before the lines officially close. 

The Undead are retreating in the center.

The Wyrm King moves up, nearer the building, and manages to spew 2 damage onto the Greater Earth Elemental, taking it back up to 10 damage. However Blizzard, and all four catapults contribute nothing this round. Ouch.

And the Undead are starting to press in from the left. 

The Wyrm King is just in range to command the Zombie Trolls to ignore Shambling, and with no chance of catch the Shamblers in the back field, they pivot and march towards the center, ready to assist.

The Necromancer is just within range to command the Zombies to ignore Shambling too, and they march up. We’ll keep them in tow, and see if and how they can be useful in the coming turns.

Top of Round 3: Forces of Nature

The Shamblers continue fleeing with their token. The Greater Earth Elemental charges the Wyrm King, but 4’s are swingy, and just 1 damage makes it in. The Gladewalker Command Heals it for all 3, and then gets 3 out of 4 successes for the Spell heal, thanks to its Elemental Affinity. The Greater Golem is on just 4 damage now.

The Elementals start to clash with the Undead.

With my speediest thing bogged down by living rock, the Greater Wind Elemental stalks up, as does the unit. After discussing Loot tokens some more, the Water Elemental Troop drops theirs, and joins the hunt. The Shamblers should be able to pick it up in the coming turns.

The Fire Elemental step up, as do the Earth Elementals, with a kinked line. 

More clashes on the right.

On the right, the Water Elementals and Greater Fire Elemental slam into the decaying Zombie horde. Each land 8 damage, and is able to get a little lucky and break the horde on the Inspired check. The Greater Fire Elemental sidesteps an inch, allowing the Water Elemental to reform. The reform lets them touch the token, but he declines to pick it up. 

Ah, nuts. The Zombies crumble.

The Gladewalker over here heals up the Forest Shamblers, removing the damage caused by the Wyrm King’s halitosis, as well as grants a Striding command to the Shamblers, who charge the other horde of Zombies. Just 1 damage makes it in, but the Nerve Check is a Boxcars, and I take the full 6 extra damage here. Ouch!

Bottom of Round 3: Undead

Things are not great out on the right. As-planned, the Wyrm King had a flank into the Shamblers, which seems wise, but also risky. I was hoping for two turns of tar-pitting out of the Zombie horde, and am trying to claw my way back. Despite the sidestep, the Greater Fire Elemental is half an inch out of range of the outriding Skeleton Archers, so I can’t use them to slow it down like it’d like. 

The Undead sort of fight back.

I’m in a rough spot. The Skeleton Archers counter charge, and are joined by the Zombie Horde, which slides down and is hindered. The unengaged Skeleton Archers stagger ahead, and I ultimately forget to move the Wyrm King, who cannot back up to escape from the Water Elementals. I also forget to Heal with the ASB. And to shoot with the breath attack, if memory serves. 

The Shamblers aren’t inspired, but the Skeletons and hinders Zombies aren’t going to do anything. An astonishing 4 damage lands here, but it’s not enough. I should be moving the Zombies, and flank charging with the Wyrm King. That was the plan, and I did not follow it here. 

The catapults try again, shooting into the reserve Water Elemental troop, landing 3 damage. The catapults are height 5 on the hill, which is nice, but not nearly enough for all to see past the Greater Earth Elemental and Wyrm fight to the lurking Greater Air Elemental. The troop or the Gladwalker were the only things all could see, and I went for the troop here. I forgot it has Regeneration though, and the Gladewalker, which can be wavered, might have been a better call despite the individual penalties involved. I donno. Just 3 damage makes it in from the catapults.

The Necromancer is actually in charge range of the Greater Air Elemental, so is forced to move. He backs up, and I think we take a cover penalty to cast into the Earth Elemental troop, which ends the round on 2 damage.

Charges in the center.

The Revenants end up charging the Fire Elementals in the front, with the Zombie Trolls hitting in the flank. Things go very well in the melee, and we will devastate and rout the unit, though reforms are difficult with all of the Air Elementals lurking nearby… The Zombie Trolls are one of my only fighty units, so I don’t want to get flanked by the Earth Elementals, so I want to turn to face. This necessitates sidestepping the Revenant horde though, who has its flank threatened by the Greater Air Elemental. The Revenants are tanky, and maybe they can hold so I risk it, choosing to sidestep, and accidentally get the full 3”, so now both the Revenants and the Zombie Trolls  have exposed flanks to the Greater Air Elemental. 

It’s a mess. If I could have wavered the Gladewalker, things would have been easier, but fishing for 6’s on everything seemed like a bad idea. 

Oh, and the Undead manage to best some things! Huzzah!

It’s not all bad news though. The Wyrm King reforms, letting the Zombie Trolls smash into the Greater Earth Elemental, and we’ll swing it back up to 14 damage and break it. The Wyrm backs up and the Zombie Trolls sidestep, I think.

Top of Round 4: Forces of Nature

My opponent is presented with a myriad of choices! One, or maybe both of the Air Elementals could start get into the war machines. But they have decidedly not delivered for me, so he sets his sights on sweeping through units instead of bothering with them.

Charges for the Forces of Nature.

The Greater Air Elemental hits the flank of the Revenants, with the Water Elemental Troop joining in the front. The Air Elemental regiment flits up and hits some Zombies Trolls in the front to tie them up, and the Earth Elementals rumble into the other unit of Zombie trolls.

As a troop, the Water Elementals struggle to hit, and the armor of the Revenants holds against the CS1 of the Greater Air Elemental. The Revenants hold on 12 damage, and I’m still in the game.

Ah! Hot dice claim the Zombie Trolls.

I thought the Air Elemental unit hits on 4’s, but it’s threes. I was expecting 6 damage, should really take 8, but in reality, take 12, and the Zombie Trolls are flung far and wide as the Inspired unit breaks with good checks too. In victory, they elect to stay where they are, and keep the Zombie horde in front arc. This is anticlimactic, but seems like a good call, as with Def4, the Zombies might be able to put some hurt on the unit if given a flank or rear.

The Water Elemental troop regenerates a bit, and the Gladewalker uses a Heal Spell to get them down to just 1 damage, while the heal Command goes into the Earth Elemental Troop, getting a success and them down to 1 as well, as they slam 4 damage into my Zombie Trolls. 

Both the Shambler troop and the Earth Elemental troop continue staggering towards the center of the field, to pick up the token originally dropped by the Water Elementals previously.

Out on the right, my opponent is just turning the screws. Since I didn’t do anything with the Wyrm King, he’s charged by the Water Elementals, who get their striding order from the nearby Gladewalker Warlord. Thundering through the woods, 5 damage lands, but the Wyrm holds. 

Clashes on the right.

The Greater Fire Elemental charges the Skeletons with the token. Since I forgot to Heal them last with the spells or attempted Lifeleech (though the latter is realllly optimistic), and we’ll devastated and plowed over. 

And reforms for the Greater Fire Elemental. Onward!

After some consideration, my opponent opts to destroy the token instead of claiming it. In victory, the Fire Elemental then overruns, and the Forest Shamblers, who had caught a small spell Heal, are forced to hold since they are still engaged with the Zombie horde. 

Bottom of Round 4: Undead

Things are… not great, but we are learning a lot. On the right, the hill makes it awkward, and I don’t think the Skeleton Archers can get into the rear of the forest Shamblers, but they can get into the rear of the Water Elementals, they go in, and are hindered, contributing nothing. 

Fighting on the right.

The ASB jukes past the Greater Fire Elemental, but I forget to cast heal again, this time not into the Wyrm King. The titan will roll amazing though, and thump 8 damage into the Water Elementals, who will still hold. 

The Zombies claw the Shamblers up to 5 damage, but they will hold as well. 

With the fliers engaged, the Necromancer scoots out. He gets 1 success to boost Lifeleech on the Zombie Trolls, and gets them a Heal 2 as well. They’ll strike back against the Earth Elementals, slamming three damage in, and ending the round fresh. That’s great news for me, and the Zombie Trolls can still grind ok.

The Zombies scrape at the Air Elementals, but only 2 damage makes it in against them. Still, they are grounded, and I might be able to win elsewhere and support them before the game ends.

I would like to take shots at the Shamblers and their token, but the fighting titans block line of sight. It’s rough, but we fling with an Individual penalty into the Gladwalker Druid, our only target. The catapults manage 6 damage, but while my opponent is worried, the Druid is unbothered.

And fighting on the left.

The Wyrm King flank charges the Greater Air Elemental, while getting a massive +3 Lifeleech to the Revenants! The Wyrm lands double-digits of damage. My opponent doesn’t hear me, so we just count it as 10 damage, which actually looks like the expected outcome. I opt to split the Revenant’s attacks, 12 into the Greater Air, and 13 into the Water Elementals. Just 2 lands into the Greater, taking it to 12, and 3 hit the Water Elementals. The Nerve check on the Greater doesn’t break my way, and the Water Elementals easily hold too.

This is an error from me. I take notes, but didn’t record what the Wyrm did as I relayed that to my opponent, as I was moving onto the Revenants. We lost the result. I think the Wyrm did 12 damage, which makes my split and expected 3 damage from the Revenants a more sensible choice. It’s an ordering error here, as we discovered when the Revenants “added” their 2, that the Greater Air was untouched, as the Wyrms attacked were missed, and we had to backfill that damage. It is what it is. It looks like 10 damage is the expected output from the Wyrm, which I am happy with, but on 10 damage, I should be throwing all the Revenant attacks into the Greater Air to make sure I pick it up. Alas.

Top of Round 5: Forces of Nature

I am like, 99% sure I forgot about the Hammer of Measured force, and was insisting that the Air Elementals damage the Zombies on their pitiful 2’s instead of the 4’s that should be, as my notes have the Air Elementals whipping 15 damage onto the Zombies, and the Nerve check again breaking in favor of the Forces of Nature to scatter another horde of Zombies. This was my ideal fight for the Zombies and I donked it up! The Air Elementals don’t want to be holding a token, so this one is destroyed as well.

The Forest Shamblers make it to the center, reclaiming the token dropped by the Water Elementals. 

Oops. The Air Elementals forget the hammer and bulldoze the Zombies.

Due to the goofs last turn, the Greater Air Elemental survives, and my opponent learns from my mistakes, with it and the Water Elemental deal a fresh 15 damage onto the Revenants, which will break them. 

The Druid uses a spell heal on itself, trying to hide behind the Water Elementals still.

The Earth Elementals overperform, landing 5 onto the Zombie Trolls in that grind.

Somehow, we still have some bright spots… The Water Elementals continue fighting against the Wyrm King on the right, and the Greater Fire Elemental scooches around, and is then surged in. While I am brought to 17 damage, the Undead Warlord is not devastated, and indeed found to be Insane. 

The Wyrm King is insane!

…this is an illegal move though. It’s been three weeks of silliness for me, and while it is nice to play games, my brain is mush. The GFE was parallel to the flank of the Zombies. As a Shambler, the GFE only gets one pivot, not the two that I distinctly remember insisting my opponent take, thinking he was shorting himself. Sorry Kenny. My brain is mush. The Greater Elemental could still move into and Surge into the Zombies, or the Necromancer, but the Wyrm should actually be safe. 

We forget about the Shamblers fight with the Zombies, but catch it early on in my turn and rewind. They’ll land 4 damage. 

Bottom of Round 5: Undead

The Zombies take the Shamblers up to 7 damage now, but the Shamblers hold. 

The Wyrm and Skeletons struggle on, but can only take the Water Elementals from 4 up to 7 damage total, the regiment of watery nature things holds firmly too.

Still fighting, but to no effect.

The Zombie Trolls are able to take the Earth Elementals up to 7 damage, and we’ll get lucky here and break them.

The Wyrm King is still flanking the Greater Air Elemental, and will best it this time. We’re fresh, and will pivot, getting both the Water Elemental troop and Air Elemental regiment into front arc. 

We take the Greater Air Elemental out, but that doesn't feel like it will be enough.

The catapults have got line of sight into the Shamblers with two tokens, we get two misses, two misses, one hit blasting into 2 hits into 2 damage thanks to vicious, and two misses. Yuck.

Top of Round 6: Forces of Nature

In the back field, the Shamblers hold two tokens, and the Earth Elementals one. One is unclaimed. Two of mine have been destroyed in combat, and now the Undead only hold one token. It’s a grim outlook.

The Air Elemental Regiment crashes into the Wyrm King on the left, taking him up to 5 damage with their fluttering.

The Forces of Nature block up Undead units to protect their tokens.

The Water Elemental Troop moves to protect the Gladewalker Druid as it retreats, while healing the Shamblers up a bit.

The Undead can't even get these Elementals into double digits of damage.

On the right, the Greater Fire Elemental is forces to fight the insane Wyrm, but I am not lucky a second time, and bested. The Water Elementals throw everything behind them into the Skeleton Archers, and will take them up to 7 damage. Unengaged, the Fire Elemental will spin to face the flank of the Zombies, and my last remaining token.

The Shamblers get a Command Heal and a Spell Heal, and continue fighting the Zombies.

Bottom of Round 6: Undead

The Zombies struggle on, and can’t break the Shamblers. The ASB has kept them in the fight with Lifeleech commands and heals, but this is just a slap fight from both sides. I’m still holding a token though, so we got that going for me.

The Undead sort of hold on?

The Zombie Trolls can’t reach the Druid, but can aid the Wyrm King, who gives them a boon of greater Lifeleech. Probably? The angle looks a little tight in the photos. We’ll pick the regiment up, and the Wyrm King and Trolls will pivot to face the Shamblers in the back field.

We best the Air Elementals, but I don't know if we have it in us here.

The Necromancer can’t get good line of sight, so uses Heal on the Zombie Trolls, who will end the round fresh. Well, as fresh as Zombie Trolls can be. 

The Balefire Catapults again try to hit the Shamblers, but everything will miss.

It’s still 3 : 1 in favor of the Forces of Nature, but we do roll up a Round 7 to drive the point home…

Top of Round 7: Forces of Nature

The Shamblers are on 2 damage and technically injured. They drop their tokens and move up to block up the Wyrm King and prevent a meaningful charge.

The Forces of Nature delay, looking for the win.

The Druid Surges the Water Elemental Troop into the Flank of the Zombie Trolls, taking them up to 7 damage, and out of meaningful fights as well. 

The Earth Elementals pick up the dropped tokens, and are now holding 3.

The last Zombies fall on the right.

The Zombies get flanked by the striding Greater Fire Elemental, and are burned from existence, with the Shamblers finally claiming that token, and making this 4:0 in favor of the Forces of Nature.

Bottom of Round 7: Undead

It’s clearly a lost cause, but it’s like a 2 minute turn for me, so we’ll try to narrow the margin of defeat, for science. 

A last desperate, and ineffectual, salvo from the Undead.

The Wyrm King moves up, and with cover, spews into the Earth Elementals, landing nothing. Blizzard, and all 4 Catapults land a combined 5 damage, and the Earth Elementals are fearless and unbothered.

The Zombie Trolls fight, but barely touch the Water Elemental troop. 

A 4:0 win to the Forces of Nature!

Game Conclusions

About Round 2 I was struggling to think of a worse match up for my approach here. Lots of cavalry or multiple small flying units maybe? In any event, this was an incredibly tough game. We were up against a varied but generally sturdy list, with no real hammer units ourselves to try and crack it. We had shooting but it was against a nearly entirely Fearless army, so we couldn’t tap and waver and move on like I was hoping to do. Our shooting was also mainly on 5’s, which as demonstrated here, was worse than swingy, clearly inconsistent, and woefully inadequate against multiple instances of even small heals. Still, damage isn't everything. Kings of War is a scenario-based game, and we made it a pretty close for a while there! Had I had the presence of mind to catch those few rules goofs that came up this game, we might have been able to make something happen. 

Testing Conclusions

• Revenant Kings on Undead Giant Wyrms. They are definitely a bit of pet unit for me, and I still liked them. They were fun to use, and decently effective on the table... but their points just seem unreasonable from a competitive perspective. The Breath Attack is nice and fluffy, but extremely unlikely to be used, let alone be impactful in a game, and the ~50% price hike for 4E is just too much. Alongside a bunch of fighty units (Trolls, Wights, etc), I could see these doing ok, but they are not an efficient beater, and they couldn't quite hard-carry for us here.
• ASB with Heal. When I actually remembered to cast the spell it felt good, and I still think this plus the Tome are probably the best items for Undead ASBs. The Wand and Hex might be worth exploring too. I missed having access to Surge, but without Hammers (Revenant Cavalry, Wights, more Zombie Trolls) to try and push into places, Surge was not really missed. 
• Inspiring Necromancer with Blizzard and Heal. Blizzard was neat, but not impactful for me against all the High Defense. It’s a busted spell, but I was not able to leverage it here. I liked Heal though, and this kit with the Inspiring Talisman plus a few spells seems good. As much as I like my Undead Titans, I think an Inspiring Necromancer and a few ASBs seem like a more sensible way to run the Undead, as you can take even more units, which I think is where the army shines. 
• Revenants with Hammer. They held firm and hit back well enough! Not a bad item for them by any means, and had we not goofed that combat math, I think these would have been MVPs. Expensive (for the Undead), but a great unit for holding the line.
• Skeleton Archers. I am 100% sure I played their Melee value as 5+. These are just not a good unit, and I don’t think I like them at any size, as you are paying more for the bows than you would a normal skeleton unit. Unless you are fighting against walls of Goblins or Zombies, they just aren’t going to do anything at range or in melee, and you have plenty of cheaper and more-effective options to hold ground. Fine to test out again to make sure, but these not worth it.
• Zombie Trolls. They did ok, and are still a fine generalist unit for the Undead. They were unfortunately the top-end of my threats this game though, and can’t carry a list as just a pair! A fine fighting unit, but you want to charge this in alongside something else.
• Zombie Hordes. Without Surge, I think maybe grabbing tokens with the other units and being more aggressive with the Zombie hordes might have been a more interesting line of play. They did fine for me here though, taking up a lot of space and doing well overall.
• Balefire Catapults. Oof. After the barrages I took in the previous game the previous day from opposing war machines, I was hoping for more from them. It seemed like we had a lot of cold dice for them, but we were also hitting on 5’s, and had less Piercing than the Basilean cannons. These arguably probably statistically should have done more for me, but so it goes. It was a very tough match-up, up against both Heals and high Defense.
• Undead Shooting. I think the list was spread a little too thin. Two ~300 point warlords was a bit too much to add on top of ~350 pts of mediocre war machines. I think if you want to run Balefires, you need to have more fighty units than I had, so that you could maim something, and then let some  something charge it next turn while the war machines targeted something else. Maybe Zombies + Revenant Cavalry + Balefires is a better starting point for a list like this? I think the Wyrms and Archers can be left at home.

It was an incredibly tough match for me, but it resulted in lots to learn from and consider! Playing with or against Kenny is always an exciting time, and I enjoyed the day immensely. Thanks Kenny!