4th Edition: Battle #041 Free Dwarfs vs Xirkaali in Push

Intro and Lists

I had the day off of work, and was fortunate enough to be able to connect with Joe for a game! While I was secretly hoping for some Orcs for a more classic match-up, armed with a 3d printer, it has been hard to keep Joe fixated on just one army these days. Today, gone are the Orcs and he has been busy with a new Xirkaali build, running the following:

We have chatted about the generalities of this build for a few months, and I do like this, as well as all the thematic hobbying he had gotten done so far! That said, it is very spammy, a victim of 4E list building. There are a lot of Yan infantry, which can get a plus to their Speed via orders, making them just incredible pieces of instigators and chaff. The Spear Wardens are bonkers with great everything plus Strider, and the Lionsarl Cavalry are just rude with Speed, 20 attacks and Strider, and he's even given them the Brew of Sharpness too! He's got a number of individuals for characters, but all have incredible stats and abilities, including Very Inspiring,  and numerous Commands and buffs to casting them.

I brought my mostly Free Dwarfs, looking for more practice with my own new army. We forgot to confirm the size of the game beforehand, but I packed well, and was able to match Joe's desired 2500, as he wanted to practice for some upcoming tournaments that had officially announced a higher points amount. It's neat, but I am essentially running every unit I have minus one regiment of Brock Riders! I'm stretched thing, but we'll do our best. Up to discuss is everything:

• Berserker Lord on Giant Brock. I need him for the slot swaps! My collection is stretched a bit too thin with only a few true Core units ready for the table. 
• Flame Priest. I really like this Champion in theory, particularly with my infantry shooters. Fireball can add some damage and Shattering, and Bane Chant is almost always great to have. He seems versatile, so we'll see what we can accomplish here.
• Warsmiths. I wanted to take two Warsmiths to get the Radiance of Life and Elite Auras for all my shooters. We'll do out best to never shoot without the Elite aura, and see how we do.
• Ironwatch Rifles. The bump from the original 2300 list to this one is mostly just adding in this horde. Positioning will be very important for them, since they have Reload and cannot move and fire, so we will try to drop them somewhere rather central.
• Shieldbreakers. I have actually liked the Shieldbreakers so far. They can hit well, and can get TC off regularly as a second line. I stand corrected! I don't think I want to run them as a horde if I don't have interdicting chaff or units, so we are trying out two supporting regiments again, and will try to keep them as second-line or reserve units here for the other infantry.
• Berserkers. For Berserkers they are surprisingly sturdy, with Def 4 and great Nerve. I think I need to think of them like Abyssal Succubi, around to instigate, but likely to die and unlikely to really do much with Bane Chant around.
• Ironguard. While not traditionally a Free Dwarf unit, we are all under one roof for now, so we fielding them still. The Def6 has been fun, and they can hold well, but like the Berserkers, likely need Bane Chant support if they are going to do more than just hold the line for me.
• Rangers. I will be taking these for the foreseeable future! They are expensive, but versatile and seem like they have a high skill ceiling, which I really want to explore.
• Berserker Brock Riders. They hit like trucks if you can get a clean charge, so like so many cavalry options these days, we are takingbone unit with the Boots.
• Flame Belcher. The unit seems fun, but I failed pretty hard with them for their debut. We're taking both units this time and seeing what we can learn and do. I don't think we want these lollygagging in our deployment zone. I think we want these to be more combined arms and moving up with units, so that's what we'll try here. 

Table and Terrain

We were out at Planet Chaos in Fort Atkinson, WI, a charming shop with lots to offer! They are more geared towards 40k, but we managed to push two tables together and had brought our own mat and terrain to utilize. We had Forests with Height 10, the blocking Buildings at Height 7, Hills with Height 3, obstacles as Height 2, and played the pond difficult terrain as Height 0. 

We got Push for the scenario. This has a loot token in the center, and three that we get to drop in our deployment zones, and we can even give them to units to hold from the get-go, if we wish. Each token held is worth 1 point, but worth an additional point if the unit that holds it is completely on the opposing half of the table. And importantly, while a unit can hold multiple tokens, they can only score one.

Deployment for the Xirkaali.

With some many duplicated units, we'll keep it general for the Xirkaali. The blank bases are all Yan Brotherhood, and they came down in the center of the board to screen for the Spearwarders and Lionsnarl Cavalry, and were supported by the Lieutenant. Spearwardens were the center of the line, supported by the Matriarch, and a trio of Yan ended up out on the right, supervised by the Kaiju-Slayer.

Deployment on the left for the Dwarfs.

I won the roll for sides and was lazy. Left to right we have Ironguard, Berserkers, Brocks, a Warsmith, Rangers, Ironwaych Crossbows with a Warsmith, and more Berserkers flanked by Flame Belchers. 

Deployment for the Dwarf right.

Shieldbreakers were in reserve with the Flame Priest, and then we had angled Ironguard, the Berserker Lord, and angled Shieldbreakers in reserve. 

I am so-so on my deployment. I wanted to try and grab two thirds of the table, so the slower Dwarfs might better protect each other, and the building on my right seemed like a decent cutoff. I started my deployment in the center, and started second-guessing myself about mid-way though, but stayed the course. 

Tokens.

My opponent however, was counter-deploying me. Given the scenario, and seeing I had started going to the left, he went to the right. Knowing this, I am ok with my deployment overall, but am feeling a little exposed.

The Rangers scout ever-so-slightly ahead.

I had Scout moves, and remembered them! The Rangers took to the woods. Since everything opposing me was to the right of the building, I pivoted significantly to see the center of the board. 

After a number of tie rolls, I win on the 4th attempt. While I do not have cannons or anything, given the scenario and just how fast the Xirkaali are, I feel compelled to go first.

Top of Round 1: Free Dwarfs

On the left, the The Ironguard and Berserkers both move up eight inches, mostly because I forgot the Berserkers are quicker then the elite defenders. We don't have a ton of support out here, but also don't have a lot opposing us.

The Dwarf left moves out.

I am wary of a huge push through the center, so the Brocks move up about 10 inches. At the end of the phase, I opt to pivot them. I don't mind this, but I am on the hill, and don't bother to grab stairs, so this ends up being not as precise as I should be playing. I should be facing the building more to have better line of sight around it, or not be pivoting, in order to be able to pivot past the building with a runby. The Yan are quick, but as long as I can see the center line this turn, I should be ok, so I am just facing a bit too far to my right. 

The Dwarfs move up, slightly.

The Ironwatch Rifles move up their speed and pivot. They have Reload, so cannot shoot this turn. The Berserkers move up around 5 inches, with the Belchers back, and the Warsmith and Shieldbreakers in reserve.

The Rangers get Elite from their Warsmith, and loose into the Yan on the far left, landing 13 damage, and get the waver here. My opponent is essentially flush with his supporting units, so my plan is to aim for wavers here to slow him down.

The main Dwarf line.

On the right, I don't really know what to do. These were all my final drops as I didn't feel the need to overload my left, and didn't want to deploy behind shooters and goof things up. We are greatly outnumbered here, so I guess we just posture and try to delay?

Bottom of Round 1: Xirkaali

The right is of utmost importance for my opponent, and he does a great job protecting it. A regiment of Spearwardens take the hill, and the Yan and their trio of tokens hop in behind. It memory serves, the Kaiju-Slayer is out of max range, and the Berserker Lord of mine can only legally charge the Spearwardens, due to pivots and alignment restrictions. 

The Xirkaali push out faster, but not by much.

The center pushes up, though not as aggressively as I was expecting. I had a lot of shooting and I figured he would be trying to close with my as soon as possible, but the Yan dally, holding up the Spearwardens too. 

The Brocks are pointed towards the center, and I was tying to slow things down, but they max out around the pond area.

The Xirkaali reposition on the left.

He was very tightly stacked, but the FAQ is atrociously worded, and says you "you can effectively move through the friendly units as if they were not there" with regards to pivots, in a very niche example. Mantic has really dropped the ball with that FAQ, but it is what it is.

The Spearwardens pivot into the wavering Yan, and then head out to the left, with the scary Lionsnarl Cavalry joining them. I was a little surprised by this! He's got great threat range and strider, and I was thinking these would be pushing into the center, and trying to overwhelm my Rangers and Rifles.

Top of Round 2: Free Dwarfs

The Brocks don't have any charges. I considered playing coy around the building and getting out of arc, but with the Lionsnarl behind the Spearwardens, their speed is negated, and the threat range is equal. The Spearwardens top off on the hill, and I can inch back my four inches with the Brocks and be safe and lurking on the hill

The Dwarfs hesitate and retreat a bit.

The infantry maybe grab an inch on the left, but it is not much. The Rangers and Rifles hold in the center, looking to maximize their shooting effectiveness.

The Injured Yan unit is too far away to be a threat next turn, so my shooting is looking for wavers elsewhere. 

The Rangers and Rifles shoot into the other Yan regiment, landing a combined 16, which is enough to devastate and rout the unit at range.

The Berserkers instigate, blocking for their compatriots.

The Berserkers have a charge, but they move up to block space. The Shieldbreakers move up behind, and the get a Mastiff from one of the nearby champions. One Flame Belchers holds, and the other moves over to get behind the Berserkers. Dogs from the Shieldbreakers land solid 3 damage, and the Belchers land a combined 16 to scorch and waver the horde! The shooting is doing well against the Yan.

The Dwarf left is intimidated.

I look to give ground on the right as well. I am not going to win a grind against all this. The Lord inches back, but cannot get away from the Wardens, and the Ironguard move up as well to give multiple targets and ways to retaliate, should the Spearwardens decide to go in.

Bottom of Round 2: Xirkaali

On the right, the Spearwardens already have charges, so just sidestep to protect things the Yan as they inch around. I think with one pivot, I can't get in against the lead Yan unit, which is a bummer becasue hitting them in the flank would be amazing. Alas, the limits of reality.

The important Xirkaali right continues a patient advance.

Centrally, two Spearwardens charges the Berserkers, with one more in reserve, keeping the wavering horde company. One gets Pack Tactics, but the same order into the other regiment fails, and the Berserkers are brought up to 16 damage, and routed. Wary of reforms, the Spearwardens hold. During the melee, the unit on the left landed atop the token, and will pick it up, putting the Xirkaali in the lead.

On the left, I had measured, marked, and my understanding was that the Brocks were safe. While this was not challenged by my opponent at the time, it wasn't expressly confirmed either... On his turn, he measures, is indeed slightly in, and takes the multi-charge into the Brocks.

I am caught out, apparently.

I must have measured wrong? The right corner of the Brocks is indeed just in. It is arguably my error, but this is incredibly tilting. Having gone through all the motions on my turn, to mark and measure and verbalize that I am here because I am safe, and not having the situation or my understanding challenged then, and then getting caught out here is frustrating to say the least, and this a blunder that could easily be game-deciding.

Reforms for the Xirkaali.

The Brocks take 15 from the Lionsnarl Cavalry, and 5 from the Spearwardens, and obviously break. The Lionsnarl eye up the flanks of all my shooters, and the Spearwardens sidestep.

Top of Round 3: Free Dwarfs

I figured I had a whole turn to do something out here on the left, but I'm now fully in panic mode.

Delays from the Rangers.

The Ironguard flank the Spearwardens, and the Berserkers have to hit them in the front, and the Lionsnarl are able to get out of arc, though I don't think I could pivot to reach - the Wardens are just too close. I don't have any Bane Chant out here to assist. The Berserkers choke with just 1 damage (nearly 4 expected), and the flanking Ironguard do 7 damage, which is about as-expected. It is a tall order to break them, and indeed, we do not.

I can't overreact to the Lionsnarls, so we're just going to have to feed them units and whittle them down, unfortunately. The Rangers have a charge, but move up as a sacrifice, and shoot, landing 2 damage, with the Warsmith contributing 1 as well.

The Yan regiment shot and wavered in Round 1 had moved up, into range of a Flame Belcher. Despite the presence of the Lieutenant, the Belcher holds, lands enough to devastate them, and will break them.

The other Rangers hold, and loose into the horde, landing 3 damage, and taking them up to 22. That should be a waver, and is.

The Flame Belcher moves up to be annoying, as do the Shieldbreakers. Charging one was an option, but I think we need to shoot and waver and mitigate what can get in against me, and I think I need them with Dogs to make this happen.

The Shieldbreakers move to delay now.

The Breakers and are granted a Mastiff by the Warsmith. The Dog lands 1 damage into the Spear Wardens on the left, the Flame Belcher lands 3, the Rifles land 8, and the Warsmith shoots with cover to deliver another 1 with his pistol, and this unit is wavered too, and again we've staggered the line and blunted the offensive pretty well.

The Dwarfs continue to be cowardly out here. We're just too far outnumbered.

Out on the right, the Ironbreakers are granted a Mastiff from the Flame Priest, and we get 2 damage into the Wardens on the right. They position so that both the Spearwardens on the hill and in the forest must hit them in the front, and even with the building, only one unit is going to be able to get in anyways. 

The Berserker Lord backs up, out of range of the Wardens, and already out of range, the Shieldbreakers sidestep, as I don't know what else to do.

Bottom of Round 3: Xirkaali

The Xirkaali right continues to be patient. That is wise. The Kaiju-Slayer has been lurking, and I have nothing to really effectively threaten these right now. All these need to do is get across the line, and the Xirkaali will be in a dominating potion for the scenario.

Charges and positioning for the Xirkaali.

Centrally, the wavers have gummed things up, as I had hoped. The Matriarch repositions, and the the Spearwardens in the woods are forced to hold. 

The wavering Horde of Yan hold, and the wavering Spearwardens change facing and back up, with my opponent intent on getting as close to a corner-to-corner charge as he can. I think for better reforms? The Ironguard are likely out of arc to assist, so while he is intent on this, I don't know exactly why. The get Sic 'Em from the Matriarch for some extra Thunderous Charge, and will land 7 damage onto the Shieldbreakers, who are Inspired, and will hold.

Fights in the center.

The Lionsnarl Cavalry will charge the Rangers, land 16 damage, and overrun 1 inch, slowly chewing their way through my ranged units.

The Lionsnarl eats another unit, Rangers, this time.

On the right, the Yan Lieutenant will start moving around the building, looking to delay the Dwarfs and their tokens. The Spearwardens will poke against the Berserkers, but Def4 and low dice conspire, and I am kept to just 4 damage here.

Top of Round 4: Free Dwarfs

On the right, the fight against the Spearwardens continues. The Berserkers will land 5, while the Ironguard land 6, and we will pick the Spearwardens up! The Berserkers turn to face the Lionsnarl Cavalry, while the Ironguard sidestep, trying to see the rear of the Lionsnarls next turn as well.

More Rangers get put on the menu.

We need to continue shooting the Lionsnarls, as the Rangers do not have line of sight to charge, and the Warsmith is yielding, so can't tie them up. The Rangers get in the way, and shoot, landing 3 damage, while the Warsmith hold and shots, landing 3 as well to take them up to 9 damage. We're making progress, but don't luck out on a hot waver here.

The Shieldbreakers reform.

The Xirkaali center is staggered, and had the Lionsnarls arrived a turn later, I'd be feeling better. The Shieldbreakers reform into the flank of the Spearwardens, and will get a Bane Chant from the Flame Priest.

Meanwhile, the Rifles hold, and take aim at the Spearwardens in the center. They land 7 damage, which is enough to devastate and route them. The Flame Belcher near the rifles doesn't shoot, as the other one lands 4 onto the horde of Yan, and will devastate and rout them too.

And the Free Dwarfs mostly clear out the center.

The flanking Shieldbreakers with their Bane Chant land 11 damage into the Spearwardens in the melee, and we'll pick them up, and reform, to get things in front-facing.

The Xirkaali right continues to slowly, but inexorably advance for the scenario.

Out on the right, the Ironguard will be granted a Mastiff, and will throw into the Spearwardens on the hill, landing 1 damage. The Berserker Lord and Shieldbreakers hold, and should be safe still. 

Bottom of Round 4: Xirkaali

The Yan continue to cower and hold their tokens. They even back up, out of range of the Berserker Lord and his Giant Brock. I think he could have bullied me out here, but with a unit being able to score only one token at the end of the game, patience is the right call.

The Ironguard take a hit.

The Spearwardens multi-charge the Ironguard. I was hoping for one each into the Ironguard and the Shieldbreakers, but this is the wiser play. The Kaiju-Slayer grants Brutal 2 to the right unit, and the Matriarch grants TC+1 to the left unit. We've got Def6, but the Ironguard are brought up to 13 damage, and broken.

...and the Spearwardens have broken through!

The Matriarch charges the injured Shieldbreakers, adds 3 damage, but they hold on for me.

The Lionsnarl break the other Ranger unit, and reform to face the Berserkers.

Out on the left, the Yan Lieutenant makes into into the Ironguard, in their front. With the hill being so pointy, I probably should have pivoted or something. I don't have Bane Chant out here, so it's going to be hard to bust him by the end of the game.

The Lionsnarl bully the Rangers, and reform to see the Berserkers. I think this round my opponent realizes he can Heal the Hemicyon units, and will get the Lionsnarls down to 8 damage.

Top of Round 5: Free Dwarfs

On the right, The Ironclad struggle against the Lieutenant, landing 4 damage which gets Iron-Resolved down to 3 later on, when I point out that he's got Iron Resolve and he missed this. I am regretting the sidestep, as it is going to be nearly impossible to get these across the table now. Their dice have been cold and the output just isn't there to break him and get a move on.

The Berserkers move up... to block.

The Berserkers step off the hill, and are ready to block. Without Bane Chant, we're not breaking them, so really just need to stagger them.

The Warsmith takes the hill and fires his Pistol for for 2, taking them to 10 damage. The Flame Belchers approach from behind, one with Elite and one without. The Belchers roll hot, and manage to devastate and break the Cavalry instead.

The Rifles move up.

The Rifles see the writing on the wall, and we need to try and move it. They run up, avoiding the pond., while the Shieldbreakers swing on the Matriarch, landing a strong 6 damage.

The Dwarfs struggle to push back.

On the right, the Berserker Lord charges the Spearwardens, with the Shieldbreakers trying to help. Bane Chant fails for the Breakers, and they only land 3 damage (5 expected), and the Lord is hindered by Phalanx, and fails as well, landing just 2 damage (3.5 expected). 

Bottom of Round 5: Xirkaali

On the right, the patience of the Yan pays off, and they all fully hop the line now, doubling their score for the Scenario. 

The Xirkaali push across the line.

The Spearwardens poke at the Shieldbreakers, landing 8 damage, but the Breakers hold. 

Centrally, the Kaiju-Slayer joins the Matriarch, and together they'll be able to devastate and rout the injured Shieldbreakers. The Slayer overruns hard, and the Matriarch repositions. 

Positioning in the center.

The free Spearwardens move towards the trees, and then pivot to end atop the token, and pick it up, bringing the Xirkaali score up to a concerning 7 VP. The accounting is fuzzy, but I believe they have taken 1 damage, and a hot heal 3 gets them down to nothing.

On the left, the Lieutenant smacks 2 onto the Ironguard.

Top of Round 6: Free Dwarfs

On the left, the Berserkers turn and run, getting their token across the line. The Warsmith joins a desperate charge into the Yan Lieutenant, but contributes nothing, and the Ironguard take him up to 8, though he'll Iron Resolve down to 6 here, when I catch that we missed it last time. We needed him to break and get a Round 7 to have a real chance at this. The Ironguard should be putting out 5 damage a turn, but with two turns of chilly dice from them, I think we might be out of steam.

The Berserkers take their token and run.

    
The Flame Belchers maneuver and spew into the Spearwardens with the token. We land another 8 damage, and we have shattering, but the Warsmith misses his shots, and they hold.

The Ironwatch Rifles flank charge the Kaiju-Slayer, and will get a helpful Bane Chant from the Flame Priest, who hasn't really made it out of my deployment zone yet. The Rifles hit cleanly, and land their expected 7 damage, but the Slayer is unfazed.

The Dwarfs break the Shieldwardens.

Out on the right, the Berserker Lord and Shieldbreakers thump back, and break the Spearwardens on the second attempt. The Lord overruns and the Breakers reposition.

Bottom of Round 6: Xirkaali

The Xirkaali are in the lead and just need to hold it. The Yan and their tokens press forward, which I don't agree with as they are already scoring.

Additionally, they don't need to worry about the Berserker Lord. The overrun was just a bit too far, and the Individual Matriarch can now see him and flank-charge him, just squeezing in between him and the building, and she'll go 6 for 6 against the Lord too.

The Xirkaali continue moving forward.

Centrally, the Spearwardens charge the Warsmith, hoping to steamroll the yielding character and hit the war machine on the overrun. They roll well to land 6 damage, but the inventor holds. I believe they also get another hot 3 heal here too, taking them down to just 5 damage.

Fights in the center, with the Kaiju-Slayer holding strong. As he should!

The Kaiju-Slayer is bogged down by the Ironwatch Rifles, and hits them for 3 damage, but they steadfastly hold. 

The Lieutenant swing hard, again.

And on the left, off 3 dice, the Lieutenant lands another 2 damage into the Ironguard, defying all odds for a second time. The Ironguard grimly hold, but the dice have felt one-sided as the game ends!

Ending the round, the three Yan on the right have their tokens, and have them over the line for 6 VP, and the Spearwardens hold the center one for a 7th VP.

The Dwarfs hold three. The Berserkers are on the other side of the line for 2, and the Rifles and Ironguard are still on my side of the board for a total of 4 VP, but we do roll up a Round 7!

Top of Round 7: Free Dwarfs

The Ironguard struggle on, underperforming for a third time and contributing just 3 damage. The Warsmith connects for 1 this turn, and on 10 damage, we do break the Lieutenant, just a turn too late out here. We sidestep, but there is no way to get fully over the line. Again, had I changed facing several turns ago, a hot Overrun may have gotten me there. Alas. It is hard to plan that far in advance.

The Dwarfs finally win out here, but we are out of time!

Centrally, I believe I need to withdraw the Yielding Warsmith to shoot at the Spearwardens. Rereading the rules, I don't think I do, as the FAQ states again and again the the intent is to ignore individuals in many, many cases. But Withdraw he does, so he can shoot.

I also play this wrong, hitting the Radiance of Life before the Withdraw move. This triggers after the completion of a move order, so I need to attempt the Withdraw, pass the checks, move the distance, and then get the effect. It doesn't change anything, but I played it wrong here, so feel like I should point this out.

We pass on the Inspired reroll, and Withdraw 10 inches, which is a bit more than I wanted. Only one Flame Belcher gest Elite, and we spew into the Spearwardens. Thanks to hot heals, they should start on 5 damage. The Warsmith shots them for 2, and the Belchers contribute 7, so they should be on 14 damage, plus shattering. I believe they should be wavered, but it unfortunately seems that we've lost track of this math.

The Warsmith plays Radiance of Life wrong, and runs very far away.

The Flame Priest tries to Bane Chant the Riflemen. The Spearwardens are just height 2, so I unfortunately can't seem them, or get in a position to. Bane Chant fails, and we land just 1 damage against the Slayer, and will fail to break him, as should be expected.

The Shieldbreakers deliver!

On the right, the Berserker Lord lands 5 damage into the Matriarch, taking her up to 11 damage, but we can't seal the deal here.

The Shieldbreakers fight the leading Yan, and do get a clean charge since they moved up so far. The Yan are fresh, but we manage 8 damage, and good checks to break them.

The Dwarfs still have the Berserkers for 2, and Rifles and Ironguard and now Shieldbreakers for one more apiece for a total of 5. Losing the token means the Xirkaali are down to 5 themselves, but all they need to do it pick up some injured Shielbreakers for the win.

Bottom of Round 7: Xirkaali

Spoiler, but they do, but not before he issues commands and does everything else around the table, leaving us in suspense!

The Spearwardens and the token get a third hot Command heal, ending on 10 damage. They will charge a Flame Belcher, pick it up and overrun, as I don't think they would bump into the other Belcher and be prevented from being fully on my side.

The Kaiju-Slayer and Matriarch fail to break through.

The Slayer will land 2 into the Ironwatch, and the Matriarch lands 2 into the Berserker Lord, but both hold.

The Yan multi-charge, one hindered and one not, and each will deal 3 to the Shieldbreakers, taking them up to 14, and they will break. The token will be reclaimed, but the victorious Yan can only score one token apiece. 

Still, while the Xirkaali didn't increase their score, and end on 5, they were able to reduce the score for the Dwarfs down to 4, and get the victory!

Game Conclusions

So far, I have really enjoyed the Dwarfs. Shooting is a whole different skillset, and while it has been melting my brain, it has been a neat puzzle to try and juggle positioning, targeting priority, and expected damage in order to get the needed wavers and play a successful game relying on tempo and positioning to win. I was very tilted in Round 2 as suddenly all those half-baked plans were upended. I expect to lose a lot with the Dwarfs, but more to bad decisions than miscommunication. That situation is still arguably my error. While it took a lot of units and luck, I think we recovered well, all things considered, and we were still able to make this competitive and close!

Testing Conclusions

• Berserker Lord on Giant Brock. He was not used particularly well - I have been struggling with him. Lacking other speedy units, he keep getting used for delaying actions, and opposite the Brocks who are doing the same. I keep not quite positioning him well enough to contribute meaningfully. We'll keep him for now, as I need the slot swaps with my collection, but I think he would work better alongside Stoneclaws and speedier elements. I think delaying actions would be better done by the Def6 Lord.
• Flame Priest. They were positioned a little awkwardly, and never got to use Fireball, as Bane Chant was in higher demand. A versatile hero, but I wasn't able to get the most out of them.
• Warsmiths. We did good but not perfect for our Aura usage. Elite did a lot of work for me this game, and indeed, these are amazing supporting Champions for our ranged units.
• Ironwatch Rifles. They had some great output thanks to the Warsmith, and Piercing 2 can make a big difference. I didn't like giving them the token, but the list doesn't have a lot of great token holders. They did fine, but we're an early drop, and I think I need a few more games under my belt to figure out how best to deploy my shooters.  
• Shieldbreakers. They continue to impress me, and thankfully I have 2+ hordes worth of models primed, though they won't get any Free Dwarf-style horns like these. The regiments were  just versatile and reliable here.
• Berserkers. Unfortunately one needed to hold a token, but they did they job well enough. The instigator with the Flame Belchers did a great job though, forcing a multi-charge to deal with them, and then making things really messy in the center.
• Ironguard. They are fun, but just got crushed here. They need Bane Chant to reliably deal damage, and need to minimize things coming in against them to hold.  
• Rangers. Unfortunately, with the Lionsnarl situation, they had to be sacrificed, so didn't have the best of games.
• Berserker Brock Riders. Against Def3 Yan and the Spearwardens, they were going to have a tough time this game. They we obviously not used well, but that was an intention / communication issue, unfortunately.
• Flame Belcher. We kinda lucked into a good match-up, with all the Def3 Yan, but it was still definitely a group effort to waver them afar and then break them with the Belchers. I don't think these can really operate on their own, and you need a on-two punch approach. 

Joe is very much down on the Dwarfs and their options for 4E, so I did not get the constructive feedback I was hoping to from our resident Dwarf expert, but I at least am very much enjoying playing and exploring the new army so far, and do have Joe to thank for the basing advice of his that has my units looking nice and lush, like I wanted. It was great to see Joe's new Xirkaali on the table as well, and I'm loving the bright bamboo and lighter basing against the darker ninja-themed units. It was a good day for a good game, and I am glad we were able to make this happen. Thanks for the game Joe!

4th Edition: Battle #040 Free Dwarfs vs Kingdoms of Men in Control

Intro and Lists

It was a weekend full of games, and we were spending Sunday afternoon helping Rob dial in his Kingdoms of Men for the upcoming US Masters event. With the event in less than a month, things are pretty much locked in by this point for the attendees. For our rematch, he had the same list as before, which was the following:

As-before, I will give Rob his flowers. It is a very neat list, and while I think some things are likely to be tweaked with future balance updates, that's just gaming, and it is a very competent list with a lot going on. 

The list plays hard into Cannons and Blizzard to pressure at range immediately in Round 1, and can also bring Rifles to bear if he don't go first. Chariots, Knights, and Light Cavalry all help to play the positional game, and we we have a second flying Baron now, around and seeking to do the same. The ASB now had the Trickster's Wand to to shut down heavy spellcasting, as the list has lots of ways to pick up and wizard foolish enough to try and power through the hex. It's a tough list and hard to engage well, but since I don't run multiple dragons or super-elite stuff generally, .

Again, while this is intended as practice for Rob for US Masters, I don't ever want to be tailoring lists against him, as I don't think that is actually helpful. For our rematch, I just wanted another game with my new Dwarfs, while I had the opportunity, and figured some shooting might be interesting for Rob to play against. Up to discuss is everything:

• Berserker Lord on Giant Brock. With my current collection, I kinda need his slot swaps, and so we’re taking him, and taking him over the Lord on Foot for the extra hitting power.
• Stone Priest, BC, Mindfog. The Stone Priest looks like a fine pick for exploring spells from the Arcane Library. Blizzard is up there for desired picks, so I’m trying to avoid it. We’ll try out Mindfog here, the thinking being that he can add Shattering to Ranger or Rifle volleys, which normally don’t have it.
• Warsmiths. We’re taking two, as we have a lot of Ironcraft units that want the support. They do bring a lot of buffs to my shooting units, so we’ll see how effective they are.
• Ironwatch Rifles, Fire-Oil. It’s an all-comers list, and Fire-Oils seems ok when one has the points. The Rifles are newcomers, and have Reload, so deployment and positioning will be very important, and we’ll try to give them a spot where they can have at least a few uninterrupted turns of shooting.
• Shieldbreaker Regiments. The build here is wonky, as all the early builds will likely be. A horde is hard to use with my current collection and slot demands, so we’re just taking regiments, trying to keep them apart, and a little back, in more of a secondary role. This should hopefully let them throw a dog or two, or get clean charges to clean up injured units.
• Ranger Regiments. An expensive but versatile unit! They seem to have high skill ceiling, so we’re taking them again and again and seeing what we can learn.
• Berserker Brock Riders, Boots. They hit very hard, so we’re taking them with the Boots, and will be trying to look for a good trade.
• Flame Belcher. A newcomer! The flamethrower looks like fun, but I’m not quite sure how to utilize it. Deploying nearer the Cannons to protect them better seems like a decent idea, so we’ll try that out here to start.
• Iron Belcher Cannons. Cannons can be quite strong, but we’re only taking two. I want to explore shooting more, but be sporting about it. We’ll see what trouble they can cause for my opponent.

Table and Terrain

We were out at Warpstone Games and Lounge in Greenfield, WI. I really do like their themed gaming tables, and we were supplenting their terrain with some of my own. We had Forests with Height 10, the blocking Buildings at Height 7, Hills with Height 3, obstacles as Height 2, and played the difficult terrain as Height 1. 

Overview of the table.

We were cycling through the various scenarios in his event packet, and we got Control this time. The board is split into six 2’x2’ squares. The middle one on your opponent’s side is worth 2 Points to you, everything else is worth one point. After some ties, I won the roll for sides. I was indecisive, so I was lazy here.

I won the roll for table sides, and did the unthinkable, asking for a switch. Sorry! Trying to parry some good-natured grumbling, I explained that I wanted the forest for my Scout Moves... and gave that plan away before we had even finished moving the dice and stuff over. Nuts.

Left-to-right for the Kingdoms of Men were Light Cavalry, Knights in reserve, Chariots, a flying Baron, Rifles, Rifles, Gods of War with the ASB, and then because I blabbed about Scouting (Rob Might have figured this out, but I might have been able to catch him out if I had kept my mouth shut), we have a bunch of Cannons in reserve with the Blizzard Wizard, Shield Wall in deep reserve, the more Rifles back out of shooting range and accounting for my Scout move, more Rifles, and Chariots. overall, the line wasn’t a wide as I have come to expect, though that is due to the reacting a bit to my potential Scouting moves.

Being a new army for me I am still at a bit of a loss with the Dwarfs. I went to all the trouble to swap sides, but if I want the woods, there is no great place to turtle up and push out from. Given the scenario, I wanted to think more about battle groups for the dwarfs, specifically for our Champions choices, so I try to embrace that here, and go wide, contrary to the usual Dwarven way.

Stuff in the left zones.

On the left, we have a delaying contingent of Brocks and Ironguard, supported by the Stone Priest, with some Shieldbreakers in reserve.

Stuff in the center.

Seeing the Dogs of War and Rifles come down early, I opt to try a shooting war, with the Flame Belcher, Cannons, and Ironwatch Rifles, ready to hop into the terrain to shoot from. This is supported by a Warsmith for the Elite and Radiance of Life Auras, and some Ironguard, in case things get too close.

Stuff on the right, with Scout moves!

Having tipped my hand already, the Rangers get placed early, along with a Warsmith. I eventually reinforce this with some Shieldbreakers, and my last drop is the Berserker Lord out on the far flank, hoping to run up, come at things from a harder angle to avoid the enemy shooting, and hopefully brawl a bit.

Overall, I don’t think spreading out as the Dwarfs is a great plan, but it’s a new army, and I’m going to fail a lot while I figure things out, and we’ll take the opportunity to experiment and learn.

I Scout, and then manage to grab the first turn, and choose to kick things off.

Top of Round 1: Free Dwarfs

On the right, even with Scout, the Rangers don’t have shots, but do have Pathfinder. I don't have a non-blurry picture, but we'll catch up. They run ahead at the double, forgoing any shots this round, but aiming for shots or fights in the coming rounds, just to see what happens. The Warsmith keeps pace as he wisely did not start in the woods, and the Berserker Lord zips up the table edge as well, hoping to deal with the Chariots.

In the center, the Ironguard move up a bit. I want them nearby to interdict and protect my guns, but they are a little isolated right now and I am worried about Inspiration for them, as the bubble doesn’t quite reach. The Rifles hop into the terrain, as-planned, but with Reload, cannot shoot this round. They Cannons can though, and shoot into the Dogs of War. We hadn’t explicitly discussed it, but my opponent thought these were Height 1 difficult terrain, which I’ll accept. There’s a cover penalty, but I’ll land 5 damage in.

The Ironwatch take position amongst the rubble.

I don’t know what to do with the Flame Belcher, but since War Machines can’t more at the double, we move them their maximum this round, and vaguely forward.

The dwarven left just tries to contain things.

On the left, there is a ton of speed and pressure coming my way. The Brocks move up, but stay safe from the very speedy Light Cavalry. The Iron Guard move out, trying to peer around the woods, and the Shieldbreakers and the Stone Priest stay close, looking for ways to help.

Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

On the left, the Kingdoms of Men press hard, though the woods complicate things slightly, as the units do not want to endter. The Light Cavalry zip ahead to block, and the Knights pull in behind them. The Chariots manage to get around the building to see stuff. They are Height 4, and the Barons are now Height 4 as well, so the duo is very cleverly hiding behind them.

The Kingdoms of Men aggressively move up, looking to break out.

The Chariots miss their Bow Shots into the Flame Belcher, though some Rifles land 2 damage. The left unit of Rifles is Braced, and the Foot Guard plod ahead, using the terrain for cover.

Not much in the center.

The Cannons can ignore the Blizzard Wizard, and all fire into the Rangers… and all miss. The duo of Rifles over here fire in and land 4 damage. Overall, this ranged phase has been very lucky for me, and I’ll happily take it!

Ranged damage out on the right.

Out on the right, The Chariot moves in to threaten the Berserker Lord, and with Bows, plinks 3 damage onto him. The Blizzard Wizard throws into the Berserker Lord, over the hill with a cover penalty, hits thrice, blasts into 7 hits, and that turns into 3 more damage, leaving my Lord on 6 damage, and he is also Frozen now, meaning the Chariots are threatening him, but I cannot reach.

Top of Round 2: Free Dwarfs

Unfortunately, I forget all about Wild Charge on the Berserker Brock Lord. I am ok with using him a distraction, but I really should have tried a charge into the Chariots, but do not think of it. Instead, he repositions, getting back towards the Ranger contingent.

The Berzerker Lord excuses himself.

The outer Rifles will have cover from one volley, so the Rangers both loose into the inner unit instead. The Warsmith has Radiance of Life to heal the one unit down to 3 damage, as well as provide an Elite Aura to them both. They’ll each land 7 damage into the regiment, and waver them. Meanwhile, the Shieldbreakers take point out here on the right.

In the center, the Ironguard inch up, just trying to gain a little extra ground so they can actually threaten a delaying charge before the speedier Dogs of War can threaten one into the Ironwatch Rifles.

The Dwarfs hold, and fire.

The Ironwatch fire into an opposing Rifle regiment, I believe the one that braced, and a Cannon with a clear shot joins in here too. The Cannon contributes 2, and while I forget about Elite for them, the Ironwatch Rifles contribute a stunning 8 damage, and we’ll get a waver out here as well.

The Flamebelchers is very much screwed. It’s a brand new unit, and I have positioned it poorly. It cannot get away from the Chariots, or get same from them, so they bravely walk up and spew fire. The second Cannon has a clear shot here, but misses, and the Flame Belcher along deals 5 damage to the Chariots, though they hold.

Messy maneuvers on the left, but the Dwarfs get a waver!

On the left, we get cheeky, grasping for any advantage we can. The Ironguard partially hide, and the Stone Priest actually does. While the Chariots can see the Ironguard, they can’t align.

Wary of the Knights, the Brocks move back and pivot, and the Shieldbreakers step up, with the Stone Priest granting them a Throwing Mastiff. They’ll roll a hot 4 damage into the Light Cavalry, and just able to spy their corner, the Stone Priest will contribute a Mindfog, and Shattering 2, which is enough to waver the troop, like I had been hoping. We had been hoping to brawl to a standstill out here, so ranged damage, wavers, and just slowing things down all help.

Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

On the left, the wavering Light Cavalry will get Indomitable Will, but will fail the Headstrong check. This forces the Knights to try and extricate themselves from the traffic jam, and the manage to do so. The Light cavalry eventually back up, trying to draw the Dwarfs out. The Chariot charges the injured-but-defiant Flame Belcher, with the Height 4 Barons again using the Height 4 Chariot to block.

Chariots break through, and the Barons are poised, but the Knights are delayed.

The Chariot are hindered, but are fighting a war machine. It is not guaranteed on 5's and 5's, but the crew does manage to break the Flame Belcher and overrun.

Lots of pressure coming into the Dwarf center.

The other Baron tries the Indomitable Will trick on the wavering Rifles, but here too, the order is successful, but Headstrong failed. The one regiment shoots with penalties into my horde of Rifles, landing no hits.

The ASB tries Indomitable Will on the very damage Rifles out on the right, fails to land the order, but the Blizzard Wizard is successful, and these Rifles do manage to pass their Headstrong check, and prepare themselves.

Cannons roar, with a heavy volley targeting my injured Rangers, who start on 3 damage. The Trio of cannons land 3 damage Blizzard contributes 4 more , and the duo or Rifles land 17, to take them up to 17, and my Rangers break.

Rangers are ignobly shot off, and the Chariots are annoying.

On the far right, the Chariots are able to run ahead at the double and pivot, frustratingly staying juuuust out of arc of my Berserker Lord.

Top of Round 3: Free Dwarfs

The Chariots are a headache. The Berserker Lord repositions to block them up. The Shieldbreakers get a dog from the Warsmith, and land 3 damage. The Warsmith’s pistol also lands 3, and a hot boxcars will have the Chariots wavering.

Trying to deal with the Chariots.

The Rangers hold, and will shoot into the injured Rifles, taking them up to 20 damage, devastating and routing them at range, as is proper.

The Ironguard move up to block.

Centrally, the Ironguard move up, to take a charge from the Dogs of War, who can't quite reach anything else yet. They get a Dog from the Warsmith, though lob it too far, and no hits land into the enemy horde. A Cannon lands 2 damage while the other misses, and the Dogs of War hold.

The Ironwatch Rifles shoot into the injured Rifle reigment opposing them, taking them up to 16 damage, where they will be devastated, but then found to be insane. Shucks.

More delaying moves from the Dwarfs.

On the left, we are able to be very tenacious. The Shieldbreakers get granted a dog, and move up, pursuing the Light Cavalry and throwing. They land a few more damage, and we will get the waver again.

The Brocks crush the Chariots.

With the overrun from the Chariots, the Berserker Brock Riders are able to catch the them in the flank, break them and then reform a bit. Also with he overrun, the Ironguard are able to spot a Baron, and charge him in the front. The Stone Priest helps with a Bane Chant, and the hindered Ironguard smack 5 damage onto the Baron, which will ground him, and gum up the Knights again.

Overall, we are scrapping pretty hard, and were able to deal with everything besides the second Baron out here.

Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

On the left, the Light Cavalry again back up, trying to draw me out. The Knights pop their boots, and charge the Ironguard, landing 10 damage, with the Barron contributing a solid 5 as well. They will break the Guard, the Baron backs up, and after some considerations, the Knights sidestep, getting out of arc of the Brocks, but into arc of the Shieldbreakers.

The victorious Knights sidestep.

The second Baron is free though, and will charge a dwarven Cannon, and pick it up. The victorious reform here puts the second Cannon, Warsmith, and Ironwatch Rifles all in arc.

The duo of Rifles on the left will fire into the Brocks, landing 6 damage, and all the cannons shoot here too, though they only contribute 6 damage as well. On 12 damage, the Fearless Berserker Brock Riders are still around!

The Baron threatens my shooting position.

The Dogs of War leave the terrain, and charge the Ironguard, and the hindered charge results in no damage against the Def6 unit, and no damage means no test! 

The Shieldbreakers endure heavy fire.

The Blizzard Wizard and the duo of Rifles on the right fire into the Shieldbreakers, and will take them up to 12 damage, and waver them.The wavering Chariots are still around, but largely stuck, and my opponent is unable to help them.

Top of Round 4: Free Dwarfs

On the right, the Berserkers Lord fights the injured, wavering Chariots, and breaks them. The reforms options aren’t great way out here, so he just changes facing.

The Berserker Lord breaks the Chariots.

The Shieldbreakers make their Headstrong roll, and press ahead, and are granted a Dog to throw. Since it always hits on 4’s, we throw into the Blizzard Wizard, I guess hoping for a waver? We might have had the inches into something else, and if so, it probably would have been better to focus our shooting efforts on one target. We’ll land 2, but she holds. The Rangers hold, and loose into a Cannon, and will find 6 damage, though I believe the Cannon holds as well.

The Ironwatch Rifles ... charge?

In the center, the Ironwatch Rifles are threatened by the Baron. They hit on 4’s innately, so I choose to flank charge the injured Dogs of War, attempting to help the Ironguard. The Ironwatch are hindered, but the Stone Priest gives them a bane Chant, and they’ll land 8 damage, with the Ironguard knocking 4 more into the horde themselves. They are uninspired, and on 19 damage, will break.

Victory over the Dogs of War.

In victory the Ironguard will change facing, but I think this probably should have been an overrun, to try and get more inches towards the enemy gunline. I need to remove unit strength. I believe the Ironwatch hold, and they probably should have done something else, to at least get out of the terrain.

The remaining Cannon fires a cannonball into the insane Riflemen, and will land some damage, devastate them a little more, and indeed pick them up.

Charges from the Dwarfs.

The Brocks are able to charge the Baron by the building, and don't even need their boots. We’ll land 10 damage and will pick him up, and then reform to face the knights.

Reforms from the Dwarfs. The Knights hold.

The Shieldbreakers flank charge the Knights, losing TC due to being hindered. The Bane Chant goes elsewhere, and some hot damage is done, I believe 12, which is about double what would be expected. I’m lucking out all over the place this game.

Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

The Knight reform to fight the Shieldbreakers, landing 5 against them, but the Shieldbreakers are Inspired, and do hold on for me.

Some nice pick-ups for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Light Cavalry make a long, daring charge into the Brocks. The humans and horses are hindered, but one damage makes it in, taking me up to 13, and the Brocks will break.

The Dwarfs take some incoming fire.

The remaining Baron fights and breaks another Iron Belcher Cannon, and adjusts to face the center of the board.

The remaining Rifle regiment on the left firest into the Ironwatch, landing 3 damage. Two Cannons blast 6 damage onto the Ironbreakers in the center.

More casualties on the right for the Dwarfs.

Blizzard manages 5 damage onto the Shieldbreakers out on the right, taking them up to 17 damage. They are devastated, and so can be routed.

This lets the two remaining Cannons fire cannonballs into the Rangers, landing 4 damage.

Top of Round 5: Free Dwarfs

The Dwarfs have done very well, but are unfortunately starting to run out of units! It’s Round 5 and the opposing Cannons have not yet left the deployment zone, so that’s a fair amount of US this should be stuck. If we can spread out a bit more, and remove a few more units, we might yet be able to cobble a win together here.

Positioning on the right. The Dwarfs are very few in number now.

The Berserker Lord on the right doesn’t have a charge, but rushes ahead, all but demanding that the Shield Wall fight him. I’m on 6 damage, 3 is expected from the humans, and 9’s twice to break seems good, and I think I need to try and bully them.

The injured Rangers duck behind the hill, preserving their Unit Strength, along with the Warsmith. Hopefully the Berserkers Lord and the Rangers can wrest control of the top right, and the Warsmith can claim the bottom right for me.

The Dwarfs fail to touch the Baron, but waver the Light Cavalry again.

In the center, the Baron is flying high, and eyeing the rear of my Ironwatch. They have Reload, so repositioning is a big deal - I can't just turn and shoot. I want to try and waver him, and let the Ironwatch do stuff elsewhere. The Ironguard are able to get within 12, so the plan is Dogs and a Pistol and Mindfog into him. But the Mastiff order fails, and the plan is immediately revised to try and pick up unit strength elsewhere.

Exposed, the Ironwatch Rifles hold, and fire into the remaining human rifles on the left, landing 5 damage, and do not waver them.    

Instead of the Baron, the Warsmith targets the Light Cavalry. We get 4 hits, but only 1 damage, taking them up to 8 damage, and just waver them again.

Instead of Mindfog, the Stone Priest goes for Bane Chant, and the Shieldbreakers will knock another 5 damage onto the Knights, and break them. We’re in the woods, with no good way out though.

Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

The perpetually-wavering Light Cavalry get Indomitable Will from the Baron, but fail the Headstrong check. They about-face to confront the Shieldbreakers.

Positioning on the left.

The Baron descends into the rear of the Ironwatch Rifles, deals I think 18 damage (which does look to be the expected output. Rear charges are no joke!), and the Rifles are broken.

The Rifles on the left get Indomitable Will from the ASB just in case, and start moving out to the left to play the scenario.

The Ironwatch horde falls.

The Cannons and Blizzard Wizard all fire into the rear of the Ironguard, taking them up to 15 damage, and while the elite defenders are wavering, they are still around.

The Humans push out to contest the right zones.

Looking to play the scenario, the remaining Riflemen on the right move up at the double.

The Shield Wall get Indomitable Will from the Blizzard Wizard to help them hold and delay, and do charge the Berserker Brock Lord, and spike their dice, landing 5 damage, and taking my warlord up to 11. I hold, but this is now fight is pretty dicey, and I don’t know if I can win the grind against them.

Top of Round 6: Free Dwarfs

The Berserker Lord underperforms, and manages just 4 damage against the Shield Wall. I have indeed misplayed this. We’re playing up against infantry here, and I should have just moved up a bit and made use of my longer charge range, and stayed safe from combat until I was ready to pounce on my own terms.

Positioning on the right.

The Rangers about-face to spy the nearby Riflemen, and they’ll loose into them after moving. They’ll land 3 damage, with the Warsmith’s pistol doing 2. The Rifles hold.

More scrums on the left.

The Ironguard pass their Headstrong check, and out of ideas, they make a hindered charge into the Baron. In retrospect, I don’t like this. I should have run past him, and forced the cannons and such to try and shoot me off next turn. The Baron is untouched going into this, and this combat just feeds him another Dwarven unit.

The Light Cavalry finally fall, but it is not enough.

The Warsmith rear charges the Light Cavalry. Unable to help anything else, the Stone Priest manages to Bane Chant the stout inventor. The Warsmith is out for blood apparently, and the four hits turn into 2 damage, and we’ll finally catch and break the Light Cavalry unit.

The Shieldbreakers are trying to hide by the building, and are granted a dog to throw. It deals 1 into the Riflemen, and on 6 damage, they hold.

Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

The Shield Wall will break the Berserker Lord, and they ‘ll claim the far right zone, with a Cannon and the Blizzard Wizard further tipping the scales here against my Rangers.

The Riflemen run into the bottom right zone, and wrest control of it from the lone Warsmith.

The Kingdoms of Men take the right zones.

The Baron fights the maimed Ironguard, and will obviously break them, controlling my center zone now.

Several Cannons control my opponent’s center zone for him.

The Kingdoms of Men take the center zones too.

I think the Rifles and ASB wash against the Shieldbreakers and Warsmith for the top left zone, and the Bottom right zone is held by the Stone Priest.

It’s been a heck of a game, and we’ve put damage on just about everything, but the Dwarfs are simply out of units, and we don't roll up a Round 7 for any Hail-Mary plays to try and even things out a bit more.

Overview of the board.

They've got more units, and are able to get them where they need to be! The Kingdoms of Men score a huge 5:1 victory against the Free Dwarf newcomers!

Game Conclusions

For a new army, and against Rob, I think we did well! We cobbled together a plan, had some good plays and a few lucky streaks, but in the end, just couldn’t quite pull it all together in the face of his numerical superiority. Still, we (and the dice) made him work for it, which made for some good practice and a great time.

Testing Conclusions

• Berserker Lord on Giant Brock. Up front, he was definitely misused this game! I forgot about Wild Charge, and was just inconsistently aggressive with him. A Def6 Lord can be brazen like that, but with Just Def4, I needed to be more mindful of the charge ranges and such. He can do work if your opponent gives up flanks, but after a few games, he feels like a bit more like a distraction carnifex overall, applying pressure and letting other units do stuff.
• Stone Priest, BC, Mindfog. I still think he’s the pick for exploring fancy spells. I took Mindfog to add in Shattering to ranged fights that didn’t have it to improve my chances of wavering things, and that worked out ok, like out on the left against the Light Cavalry. There are likely much better spell options, and I think I’d prefer the Flame Priest over him until I can find and settle on a good Arcane Library spell to take.
• Warsmiths. As-expected, they did good work supporting all my Ironcraft stuffs! Even the pistol shots proved valuable, as I could contribute at range while keeping things Inspired.
• Ironwatch Rifles, Fire-Oil. The list was all-comers, so the Fire-Oil was a bust. The item might not be in vogue right now, as the Abyssals in particular are in a bad spot. Still, the Rifles themselves did fine overall. Reload on the horde is indeed a bit tough to plan around, but this should get better with practice.
• Shieldbreaker Regiments. My guts says there are a few ways to run these, but with a lot of shooting, some versatile regiments are doing ok for me as a second line.
• Ranger Regiments. I gave away their game plan even before deployment, and struggled to use them efficiently. They found ways to be helpful, and they did ok, but
• Berserker Brock Riders, Boots. I’d say I used them well – they got a few charges in to make their points back, ate some cannonballs, and didn’t even need to use the Boots. Had they held against the Light Cavalry, I think the game result is much closer, but that charge did unfortunately pay off for my opponent. We’ve managed to protect them well in both games, so instead of projecting threat outward, having then as a second line almost seems to get better use out of them. We’ll play around with them some more.
• Flame Belcher. I was very unsure what to do with them this game. Not being able to move at the double is a big hinderance. Deploying with the Cannons seemed wise, but I think against monstrous fliers and such, that just gives some units a way to get in quicker against the guns. You don’t want these lingering all game doing nothing, so supporting the more mobile Rangers or Ironwatch, depending on the set-up might be a better choice, and we’ll try that sometime.
• Iron Belcher Cannons. My opponent approached these very cleverly, using the Chariots to block. I couldn’t really get shots into the monstrous fliers, and we did not really use Grapeshot, but they did fine overall, softening things up and securing a few routs for me.

Having so much shooting and a bit of a combined arms approach on either side was an amazingly a fun way to play, and the game was very dynamic with a lot of decision-trees. Cannons were mostly confined to long-range cannonballs here, and they still felt strong, but also a little more fair. Grapeshot is definitely the culprit for their imbalance, but I won't be sad if they get really overhauled in the future.

We were looking ahead afterwards, and there are only so many weekends in a year! We'll fit more practice games in if things change, but these might be our last prep games with Rob. Hopefully these gave him some things to think about, and we'll wish him the best at US Masters, coming up in just a few weeks!