4th Edition: Battle #034 Varangur vs Goblins in Invade

Intro and Lists

It's been a busy month, after many other busy months, but I was lucky enough to finally get some proper shop meetups on the May calendar for Kings of War Wisconsin. This, of course, made things even busier for myself, but it is worth it to spend the day rolling dice and pushing units across the table. My first game was against Jeanette and her WIP Goblins:

Jeanette has been orbiting for years now, chatting and hanging out and supporting her husband WIll, and was somehow finally convinced to start throwing down on her own! Huzzah! I adore Goblins, and will do whatever I can to encourage this. While the Goblins can veer into some truly wild builds, she is exploring what I would call a more "classic" approach to the army, with large mobs and a variety of toys. We've got numerous Sharpsticks and Trolls, assorted chariots, a Giant, a Slasher, and a few characters. I dig it. The army has a lot of neat things going on, on a solid foundation, and this list seems like a sensible approach to exploring the army and seeing what she likes before committing further.

I brought the Varangur, dipping into some "mass" Striding, the last of my current ideas to test out with the old theme list. The Northern Alliance is a very neat, strong faction, but I want to play the Varangur, which really need more than a mandatory Warlord and some very limited extra units. Up to test is everything:

• Magnilde. I want to play Varangur, so she is mandatory. Being an individual and a combat character, she's not the best, but has still had some nice utility in our previous games, so we'll see what she can surprise us with here.
• Then on Frostfang. We're exploring Striding, so we'll give the fighty Thegn and his mount a try here too. With a cost increase, and down to just 5 attacks, I haven't been impressed, but Rally + Inspiring is neat and could be impactful.
• Ice Queen with Heal and BC. Their 4E spell selection is pretty nice actually! Heal should go nicely with an Elite list, and Bane Chant is always welcome. Should be a good supporting Champion for us, but we'll see how they do.
• Human Tribesmen Regiments. The army does not have any cheap Core options here (RIP Draugr), but these have been decent supporting brawlers for me previously. They are just normal infantry regiments, so we'll try to have them supporting other units, and not going it alone in combats.
• Human Tribesmen Horde. The Horde has been pretty nice - just a huge brick of violence and a great way to anchor a line of battle. With some support (Rallying/Inspiring Thegn, or Healing/BC/Inspiring spellcaster, I'm hoping these will do some heavy lifting for me.
• Snow Foxes. A list needs chaff, though not every army has good options. The Foxes here are pretty great though, and should be able to scamper where ever I need things blocked up.
• Hearthguard. The Hearthguard have been solid performers for years and across editions, no matter what they are called. They are tried and true, but we're taking just the one unit here, to focus on Strider stuffs.
• Tundra Wolves. With a rather elite build, I need the slots but I would also like a little extra mobility too. We haven't ever really explored the Tundra Wolves, so we'll try them out here. Pathfinder has changed, but we should be able to get them where ever we need them to be, threaten things, and use to chaff, as needed. 
• Double Fallen. These have always been kind of neat, if a little odd. They are not great hammers, but are good pressure pieces. We'll try to use them a bit like the Tribesmen regiments, supporting pushes and stronger units, while being sturdy and hard to deal with themselves. We're taking them because of Striding, and will keep our eyes open for opportunities there.
• Frostfang Cavalry. We're going to try some Frostfangs out! Phalanx is a pretty expensive upgrade and with cavalry being difficult to use... I feel like most folks aren't buying Phalanx if they can help it, leaving a niche that the Frostfangs can exploit. Brew of Sharpness of of Strength could be great buys for them, but they are already incredibly expensive and points are very tight, so no toys for them.

Table and Terrain

The Club is exploring some different shops, and today we were out at Warpstorm Games and Lounge in Greenfield WI. I have actually been here a few times, way back when they first opened, circa early 2023, if memory serves. The shop was neat then, but has come a long way, with tons of space and a surprising amount of wargaming tables. The shop terrain super-impressive, mainly 3d printed, but painted well, and attached to themed tables, having stuff like floating cliffs connected to the tabled proper by waterfalls; bulbous growths attached to sci-fi nodes; frigid, icy shard obstacles, as well as a few generic woodsy tables and Meso-American-style pyramids. It was all very cool, but not always the best for Kings of War, so we supplemented their offerings with some of our terrain. Our table had some tape (I think for 40k?), and we made use of my spooky terrain, as I am trying to do some inventorying on my own offerings. I think I need to figure out some bigger buildings here, though the rest of the terrain is pretty good!

Kings of War has a lot of scenarios, and we opted to keep it simple with something we could measure, and my opponent chose Invade over Control. Simple enough! We just need to get unit strength over the center line, and move move over than our opponent.

Quick overview of the table.

The army is unfortunately still being hobbied up, so we have some very stealthy Goblins on the table today. Every army has to start somewhere! Thankfully, we had sticky notes on everything, which worked for us in-game, but is a little hard to make out in the pictures. Left-to-right we have reserve Fleabag Riders in the way back, two units of angled Trolls, and the Barkskin Wizard in reserve. There are three hordes of Sharpsticks on the line. Mincers are behind the horde on the left, with the titanic Slasher in reserve between the left and center hordes, and the Champion Grunk in between the center and right hordes. The right horde is also screening for the Chariots, with the Giant (played by Will's Obsidian Golem), and Grupp Longnail out on the far right, cowering by the building.

View of the left.

For the Varangur, on the left we have Fallen and Magnilde on the hill, Tribesmen and Hearthguard with Foxes in reserve.

View of the center.

The building split things up for me, and I had the Ice Queen stand-in behind the building, with the Tribesmen horde ready to run past, and more Foxes in reserve, ready to support the horde, or the other Tribesmen to their right. 

And the view of the right.

The right contingent had Tundra Wolves behind the woods to paly around with Pathfinder a bit more, then Faller, the Thegn, the Frostfangs, and more Tundra Wolves on the far right.

I had won the roll for sides, and was lazy. My infantry were my early drops, and with the Sharpsticks all committed pretty early, I was able to get the Frostfangs way out on a flank as a very late drop, which I was happy about. 

I win the roll for turn order, and being Invade, opt to go first and try to apply pressure.

Top of Round 1: Varangur

Out on the right, the Wolves move their maximum and pivot, and the Frostfangs do the same, just barely unable to get their center-point onto the hill for a more commanding view.

Speedy pressure from the right.

The Thegn zips up as well, as do the slightly speedier Fallen. The other Tundra Wolves scamper through to get on the other side the woods, but don't go too far. I think we are a little wary of the Giant, but I also don't really want to send them right into a horde of Sharpsticks. So, we'll get up, pressure, and see what unfolds.

Moving up to pressure the center.

The regiment of Tribesmen moves up, just under their maximum. Ideally, I throw them into the Sharpsticks instead, but want to draw the Goblins out a little bit here.

Move movement and pressure into the center, with Foxes on standby.

Centrally, the Horde moves up 10 inches, with a tiny pivot at the end, and the Snow Foxes trot up happily between the Tribesmen units, with the spellcaster behind the horde.

And even more pressure coming from the left.

The Hearthguard run past the obstacle, with Foxes in reserve and Tribesmen beside them. I am safe from charges, and hang back with the regiment to try and give the lesser regiment some options, with the woods so close.

On the far left, Magnilde runs ahead, with the Fallen taking the lead ever-so-slightly. Unfortunately, I didn't deploy the best out here, so getting around the woods might be an issue for my Warlord, but here too, we have good charge range, and are applying some good pressure.

Bottom of Round 1: Goblins

On the left, the Fleabag Riders in reserve inch up, and the staggered Trolls arrange themselves so as to keep everything in front-arc, and not be tripping over themselves. Barkskin is attempted by the Wiz out here, I believe on the leading Trolls, but nothing connects, given their pretty high Defense.

The Goblins start to push out. 

Centrally, Grunk and the Slasher lobs some pups and bolts into the horde of Tribesman, and takes them up to 5 damage, and I forget about Iron Resolve.

The Goblin center is only slightly more daring.

The Sharpsticks all move up a bit. There should be no possible charges in the center, but the horde out on the right should be threatened by both the central Wolves and the Fallen, but should be safe from everything else. With the Sharpsticks uniformly stepping up to take the initial hits, the Mincer and Slasher move up in the center, as does the Chariots and Giant out on the right.

Top of Round 2: Varangur

Out on the right, I have a few possible charges, but I really don't want to trickle units into the Sharpstick horde. With no other big charges happening yet, we'll spend the turn pressuring and setting up hard choices for the future.

Outriding and hard pressure from the Varangur on the right.

From the outside wing of the formation, the Tundra Wolves zip around and into the back line. The Thegn gets out of arc of everything, and even makes use of the small building to help hide. The Frostfang Cavalry takes the hill, a bit wary of the Sharpsticks. 

The Tundra Wolves and Fallen get more than 10" away from things, looking to pressure while being safe. Meanwhile, the Tribesmen regiment inches ahead, getting within 11 inches of the Sharpsticks, while staying more than 10" away, and angling so that if they move straight ahead, they clear the difficult terrain without needing a pivot.

Some mean positioning from the Varangur, but a good showcase of Wild Charge.

The horde of Tribesmen do the same as the regiment, eeking some value out of Wild Charge and getting within 11" while outside of 10" from the central horde of Sharpsticks. A Heal spell connects, and I remember Iron Resolve, and they end the turn on 2 damage. The Snow Foxes pull in behind, ready to interdict to let my elite force fight uninterrupted for a turn.

Snow Foxes instigate for the Hearthguard.

We start pressuring harder into the Goblin Line. Snow Foxes hop ahead of the Hearthguard, blocking for the elite unit. We are outside of the Slasher's charge range, and while the Hearthguard are a little wider, with just one pivot, nothing should be able to get in against the infantry, and the Foxes are definitely covering the front corner of the infantry from the Trolls.

Skirmishes break out on the far left.

I'm expecting something to hit the Foxes, so the regiment of Tribesmen commits to watching them and being ready to assist. The lead Trolls are free, but my infantry are able to hide behind the woods, and this should give them some tough decisions.

On the far left, I want to try some solo charges. I don't think I will break any unit here, but I want to see if I can grind them out in the coming turns.

Magnilde goes in hindered to the Trolls, though I should have been able to give her the free individual pivot to angle past the woods, then charge out and choose my path in to not be hindered. Oops. Still still rolls ridiculously, landing 5 damage onto the Trolls, who are self-Inspiring, and hold firmly.

The Fallen make a striding solo-charge into the Fleabags. Tying cavalry up is a good idea, and I think the Fallen can bully them, and have time to help Magnilde out. We'll see if that game pays off in the coming turns. The Fleabags have self-Inspiring from an item, and they will hold here too, but the Fallen land 6 damage here, which is a strong start. 

Bottom of Round 2: Goblins

On the far left, the Fleabags struggle against the Fallen, landing 1 damage, which is immediately Iron-Resolved away. The Trolls Regenerate down to 4 damage, and thump 4 onto Magnilde, who holds against some rather close checks, and Iron-Resolves down to 3. 

The Foxes take a beating. 

We are trying to talk through as much as possible. In Kings of War, you can pre-measure everything, and it's a game on intentions, so the more talking, the better. She's working through how to deal with the Foxes, and we determine that any solo charge will expose the victor to one or more flank charges, but sending both the Trolls and Sharpstick in, will put everything, including my horde of Tribesmen, into front arc. It's overkill, and the Foxes are taken up to a ridiculous 18 damage, and bested. Having pre-measured everything, the victors hold.

The Sharpsticks all get ready to take some hits.

The Slasher and Grunk fire into the horde of Tribesmen, but land no hits. The Slasher did inch up, and Grunk moved and has a cover penalty, unfortunately. 

The Goblin line braces on the right.

The Sharpsticks on the right are threatened by Wild Charge, but they don't care. Their whole job is to get in the way. The middle one inches up, threatening me if I don't charge it, while keeping everything in front-arc.

On the far-right, we dumped a lot of pressure on my opponent. She wants to form a line to mitigate flanks, while leaving the Chariots in a position to counter-punch, so that's what we do. 

The Chariots get out of 18 of the Tundra Wolves. Grupp is forced to move more than 5 inches away, and cannot cast, so she tosses him into a pocket, nice and cozy and hopefully he doesn't need to move next turn. Grunk had shuffled as well, mostly getting out of the way.

The main line is the Giant, trying to use the building to block, and the Sharpsticks. The facings of the Goblin line are intended to be flush, avoiding any accidental flank charges from all the units in front. 

Top of Round 3: Varangur

On the right, the lines are too close to be really cheeky, so the Varangur mostly go in. Eh, fighting is where the Varangur want to be anyways! With flush facings and a building to work around though, not everything can fight, and I probably spend too long noodling this out, in what should be a more casual, learning game.

Many charges from the Varangur.

Even with the Frostfang mount, the martial impact of the Thegn is negligible, and with fighting space at a premium, he just hops the fence, looking to outride the Goblin line and and hunt characters in the coming turns. 

The Tribesmen are able to pick their path in, charging straight ahead and past the difficult terrain, and then pivot to get in against the Sharpsticks with a clean charge. The Frostfangs have the space to them charge the Giant, with the Wolves chomping into his flank, as I don't want to take that 5mm frontage into the spears, despite it being technically legal.

We hold the Fallen back, looking to make use of Striding to assist where ever they are needed next turn,  and also hold back the central Tundra Wolves, to start making their way towards the center, to be used as chaff next turn. Having some reserves proves to be nice, as while the Giant takes 15 damage, he holds, and while the Tribemen land a silly 9 damage into the Sharpsticks, they hold too.

A big, long clash in the center of the board.

After some other charges complete, the path is clear for the Snow Foxes to charge the Sharpsticks. The Foxes are not cavalry, and with Vicious, we'll chew 2 damage onto the Sharpsticks, which isn't bad.

Against a flush line, I am stuck with frontal charges, and sent the hindered Tribesmen regiment into the Trolls, along with a clean charges from the Hearthguard, and then the Tribesmen horde into the Sharpsticks. I did not track commands well this game, but I the horde or the Hearthguard lucks out and gets vicious from the spellcaster.

..but the Varangur break both units, and press onward.

And yikes, things go very well for the Varangur. The regiment and the Hearthguard body the Trolls, with the Hearthguard doing some heavy lifting, as-usual, and the hindered regiment contributing more than expected too. The Hearthguard back up 3 inches, which lets the Tribesmen pivot, and still be partially in the woods.

The horde of Tribesmen spikes their damage dice, and manages to pick up the opposing horde, and then overruns a mighty 1 inch. This is a big fluke. Looks like 11 damage is expected. I think we did 16, turning an almost certain hold into a toss-up which then breaks my way.

The Fleabag Riders fall, and the Varangur start pressing in from this angle as well.

The Fallen land an additional 4 damage, and are able to best the Fleabags and reform to face the flank of the Trolls, and while Magnilde pops them for 4 and takes them up to 8, the Trolls hold.

Bottom of Round 3: Goblins

The Trolls regenerate 2, getting down to 6, and then fight on against Magnilde, landing 6 damage themselves, and taking her up to 9 damage. However, she manages to hold again, and Iron Resolves down to 8 damage.

The Goblins push back with vim. 

The Mincer and the Slasher charge the horde of Tribesmen, just looking to hindered charges and deal as much damage as possible. The Mincer rolls a darn 1 for its extra attacks, but still manages a hot 11 damage into the horde, with the Slasher contributing a strong 7, and the duo will indeed break the horde of Tribesmen! Reforms are a little rough though, and things opt to sidestep to my left, due to lack of space, with the Mincer going 3 inches, and the Slasher going 2 inches. The regiment of Tribesmen are in the flank arc of the Mincer, but hindered, and the Slasher is protected, so not ideal, but not terrible.

The Sharpstickes get a Mawpup against the Foxes, with the pup chomping 3 damage while the Sharpsticks deal a spicy 11 damage to the Foxes. With the Tribesmen horde gone, the Sharpsticks opt to face my reserve units on the right.

The Sharpsticks poke out a regiment of Tribesmen.

The Sharpsticks on the right also get a Mawpup, but their results aren't as stellar, poking 4 regular damage alongside 1 chomping damage into the regiment of Tribesmen. Still, a hot boxcars against the uninspired unit will break the regiment of Tribesmen, and the Goblins are providing some serious pushback!

The Giant is a rampaging Giant, and opts to smash into the scarier Frostfangs, despite the lack of any bonus attacks. 6 damage lands, and they hold. Meanwhile, the normal Chariots crash into the Tundra Wolves, landing 5 damage, but unfortunately fail to break the hounds, even with Brutal, thanks to the supervision of the Thegn. 

Top of Round 4: Varangur

With the Tundra Wolves holding strong, the Thegn on Frostfang still hopes to outride and fight Characters, and with two pivots, is able to position himself to get past the Chariots next turn.

Fighting on the right.

The reserve Fallen go in against the Sharpsticks to avenge the regiment of Tribesmen, will land 5 damage, taking them up to 14 damage. I get lucky and break the horde anyways. I need 2 on the overrun to get out of arc of the other horde of Sharpsticks, but get a measly 1 inch.

The Wolves pay a few damage into the Chariots, and the Frostfang Cavalry will land 11 more into the Giant, devastating and routing him, as is proper. We're wider than we are deep, and are able to reform to face the center of the table.

I opt to send the reserve Tundra Wolves  in the center into the Slasher, since that is scarier than the Sharpsticks. They will do ok, and will tie the titan up for a turn.

The barbarian break a Mincer. And the other Trolls.

The Hearthguard make a clean front charge into the Mincer, landing 6 damage against the Big Shields of the unit. The regiment Tribesmen make a hindered charge into the units flank, and land 8 damage, and that will be enough to break the unit, and we reform slightly.

On the far left, with Magnilde occupying their attention, the Fallen are able to make a flank charge into injured Trolls, and pick them up. The Fallen overrun but don't get close to getting out of the terrain, and Magnilde sidesteps to get closer to the center, but doesn't go far.

Bottom of Round 4: Goblins

The Varangur have unfortunately punched through on the left, and the Goblins are forced into some panicked attempts to mitigate damage. We're still talking things out though, and trying to stem the bleeding and learn some lessons. The Wiz hops up to try and prevent a double-charge into the Slasher while it fights the Wolves. Meanwhile, it lands another strong 7 damage onto the Tundra Wolves, but heartbreakingly, doesn't break them, thanks to the presence of the Ice-Queen nearby.

Oh noes, the Wolves holding is a pretty darn big deal.

On the right, the Chariots continue pressing against the Tundra Wolves, and fortunately, will break them here. Since we're talking things through, and I've explained my plan for the Thegn, she sidesteps, as anything will box him in. 

The Goblins fight off the Varangur on the right. 

The Chariots can safely do this, because Grupp and Grunk were able to bring the Frostfang Cavalry up to 13 damage and waver them. Meanwhile, the Sharpsticks make their hindered charge into the flank of the Fallen. They land a silly 15 hits, and with some a Mawpup orders, land 6 damage in total. I am uninspired, and another hot boxcars will break the Fallen!

Top of Round 5: Varangur

The wavering Frostfangs do nothing, but are scoring for the scenario, and we're going to force my opponent into shooting them off, or charging out here next turn to try and remove them.

The Varangur fail to break through on the right.

With his hand forced, the Thegn reluctantly charges the Chariots, landing 1 damage, and on 3 damage total, they do not break. The Goblins have apparently stalled out this push!

However, the left if going VERY good for the barbarians.

The Wiz complicates things, but with the Wolves holding, the Hearthguard are able to get a clean flank charge in against the Slasher, which is going to be rough.

Everything left on the battlefield is converging towards the center.

We are able to break the titan, with the Wolves getting a Heal down to 6 before the combat, and pivoting to face the remaining Goblin forces after their victory. The victorious Hearthguard overrun the half inch or whatever to get in behind the Wolves.

The regiment of Tribesmen make a hindered charge into the Wiz, but don't break him.

Magnilde is in open terrain, and sprints towards the rest of the Goblins, looking to take over decapitation duties from the stalled out Thegn. Stymied by the terrain, the Fallen just move out of it, towards the remaining Goblin units.

Bottom of Round 5: Goblins

Grunk and Grupp shoot into the Tundra Wolves, landing 4 damage and taking them up to 10 damage. This isn't enough to break them at range, but they are wavered, which isn't a bad result.

The Goblins try to clean up what's left of the Varangur right, before the Varangur left arrives. 

The Sharpsticks charge out with a gindered charge into the Frostfang Cavalry, hoping to finish off the very scary unit. Pup orders from both Grunk and Grupp fail, and no damage lands against the Frostfangs... with no damage dealt, there is no Nerve check. 

Top of Round 6: Varangur

The very lucky Frostfangs tear 8 more damage into the Sharpsticks. I am a cavalry unit, but since I am engaged and not charging, we thankfully do not care about Phalanx. On just 10 damage, the Sharpstick horde holds, as they should.

The Varangur continue to push, coming from the left now.

The Thegn rolls out of his mind, landing all 5 damage onto the Chariots, brining them up to 8, but the mobile Goblins hold.

The Fallen move up to threaten, and Magnilde is able to get a charge into Grunk and his salvaged Dwarven war suit. She is apparently a bit crazed as well, landing 5 damage off her 6 attacks, but Grunk holds.

The wavering Wolves pivot and back up, getting well out of the way, but are not scoring. This gives the Hearthguard a little more room to maneuver though, and they make it over the line, along with the Ice-Queen and regiment of Tribesmen.

Bottom of Round 6: Goblins

Grunk thumps Magnilde, and will best her! The Chariots will land some damage against the Thegn, but that fight continues.

The Sharpsticks will poke the Frostfangs to death and then reform, but the Hearthguard are there to menace them. The Goblins claim some units, but all the fighting this round is on my opponent's side of the board, which is not good for their chances at Invade.

...huge apologies to my opponent here. Usually my notes are better than my dice turn trackers, and my notes petered into unintelligibility a while back. I think I have goofed my turn tracker and we only have finished 5 turns, and on auto-pilot, we begin to press on... which will be effectively all but tabling the Goblins here, which is in very poor form from me. Even if this was Round 5, I should be checking in with the newer player. As it stands, we're actually blindly pushing on into an unrolled Round 7, which feels even worse. 

Gaming Conclusions

Again, apologies to my opponent for the bungled conclusion, and honestly a bit for my general approach here as well. I wouldn’t say this is a mean list, but I would have preferred to have run the Undead or Kingdoms of Men instead for a new player. I run the latter with no real frills or tricks, making it easy to understand, and with Shambling, the former would let the newer player set the pace of the game and the fights much better. This game, while I was talking through my plans and thinking, and helping them on their turns, having chosen to go first (as one does in Invade), I put the newer player in a very reactive position, which I don’t think is the best for learning.

Speaking of, we encountered an oddity for Grupp Longnail at the end of the game. He has Blast? We were befuddled, but this is actually addressed in the FAQ, though apparently not updated on the companion app. His Blast is only in Combat, so has no weird interaction with Lightning Bolt or anything. Through ignorance, we played this correctly!

We discussed things throughout, but this can be a hard game to learn! Scenarios matter, and deployment is very impactful, and it can be easy to be overwhelmed. I think the list is a fine place to start out, and a good springboard to exploring things. My biggest advice for the next handful of games would be to figure out a general deployment to default to, in order to take some of that mental load off her plate and think about other things. 

• My opponent layered up, which I agree with. The Goblins don’t have great nerve, so layering up is a good idea. Layering tends to turn into more of a refused flank and focusing on 2/3rds of the table, which is probably something good to try out the next few games anyways.
• I think alternating Sharpsticks and Trolls would be a good idea to try. It is a little easier for everything to move in 4E, but having smaller units helps keep the line more flexible, and this front-line pairing should be hard to budge and engage. 
• I think the Fleabag Riders actually go on the weaker, more open flank. They are pretty expendable, but quick, and can deter things outriding and getting behind the Goblin line. The item is actually pretty good, considering this, and some stolen Dwarven Ale might work too. Grunk, shooting, or the basic Chariots probably goes out here as well to skirmish a bit and keep your opponent honest.
• With these basics all figured out ahead of time, the Inspiring Sources can sneak in where ever, and the only real deployment decisions would be where to put the heavy-hitters like the Giant, Mincer, and Slasher. And as long as we’re blabbering on, we can also point my opponent to the wonderful old-school Forum, which had a nice thread on Goblins featuring good advice a similar variety / exploration list.

As for my own play, we did well. Taking first turn was wise but probably a bit unsporting. It allowed us to apply some serious pressure across essentially the full Goblin line right from the start, and with all the fighting on my opponent’s side of the board basically all game long, we put ourselves in a strong position to win the scenario. 

Testing Conclusions

• Magnilde. Ouch, bested by Grunk Blackclaw and the goblin's scavenged war suit. Still, she had a pretty good game, gumming things up on the left by being study, and eventually let me roll up that flank thanks to her. She seems like an awkward hero, but still finds ways to help me out each game, which is nice. She's a tax, but also isn't too expensive.
• Then on Frostfang. I didn't use him particularly well. I know the damage is underwhelming, but still prioritized looking for those charges and pressuring with him rather than keep things Inspired (or rallied). 
• Ice Queen with Heal and BC. With all the changes to heroes in the new edition (harder to unlock / price hikes), this seems like a great go-to-champion for the army, giving you Inspiring, Commands, and very useful spells all in one. 
• Human Tribesmen Regiments. Overall, they are still a good unit as a regiment, giving me some extra muscle to work with while being flexible at the smaller unit size. I don't think they are worth spamming, but having the pair of regiments around has been helpful. 
• Human Tribesmen Horde. They've been a pretty good anchor for things, though again are pretty expensive, and I think I would struggle to get use out of more than the one horde.
• Snow Foxes. The Foxes are still some great chaff to have around, and you should be running some in every list. They are just so useful.
• Hearthguard. The Hearthguard are still absolute beasts in combat, especially if you can protect them even slightly. They are still a top-tier infantry hammer.
• Tundra Wolves. They were fun pressure pieces, zipping around and threatening some long charges. We needed them for slots, otherwise I am not sure they are worth the premium over the Snow Foxes. 
• Double Fallen. Some hot dice were involved, but these were still ok? I think I used Strider well-enough, and these were able to pressure nicely, charging in only when I wanted to. They aren't too expensive, but again aren't hammers. With slots being a thing, and support slots rare, I think it's probably best to run these alongside Hearthguard. 
• Frostfang Cavalry. Strider is powerful, and although we were up against a ton of Phalanx, we were clever enough to avoid any terrible charges. That's a win in my book! I think we used them pretty well, and trading them for a Giant and half a horde of Sharpsticks seems ok. I don't think this is a unit that typically survives the game unless you are steamrolling your opponent, so I think you need to be satisfied using them to trade for things. 

All that said, I enjoyed this immensely, and would relish a rematch at any time! My opponent is a wonderful human and it was great to have her throwing down in earnest across the table here. Thanks for coming out to play!