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

Intro and Lists

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

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

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

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

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

Table and Terrain

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

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

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

Overview of the table, plus tokens.

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

View from the left.

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

View from the center.

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

And view from the right.

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

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

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

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

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

A legal Scout move on the right.

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

Top of Round 1: Forces of Nature

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

The Shamblers secure a token.

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

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

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

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

Bottom of Round 1: Undead

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

The Undead hardly move.

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

Nice and steady.

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

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

Ever so slightly more aggressive on the left.

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

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

Top of Round 2: Forces of Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bottom of Round 2: Undead

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

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

Blocking Zombies on the right.

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

The Undead are retreating in the center.

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 3: Forces of Nature

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

The Elementals start to clash with the Undead.

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

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

More clashes on the right.

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

Ah, nuts. The Zombies crumble.

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

Bottom of Round 3: Undead

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

The Undead sort of fight back.

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

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

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

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

Charges in the center.

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 4: Forces of Nature

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

Charges for the Forces of Nature.

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

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

Ah! Hot dice claim the Zombie Trolls.

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

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

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

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

Clashes on the right.

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

And reforms for the Greater Fire Elemental. Onward!

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

Bottom of Round 4: Undead

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

Fighting on the right.

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

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

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

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

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

And fighting on the left.

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

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

Top of Round 5: Forces of Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Wyrm King is insane!

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

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

Bottom of Round 5: Undead

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

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

Still fighting, but to no effect.

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 6: Forces of Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bottom of Round 6: Undead

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

The Undead sort of hold on?

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

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 7: Forces of Nature

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

The Forces of Nature delay, looking for the win.

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

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

The last Zombies fall on the right.

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

Bottom of Round 7: Undead

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

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

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

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

A 4:0 win to the Forces of Nature!

Game Conclusions

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

Testing Conclusions

• Revenant Kings on Undead Giant Wyrms. They are definitely a bit of pet unit for me, and I still liked them. They were fun to use, and decently effective on the table... but their points just seem unreasonable from a competitive perspective. The Breath Attack is nice and fluffy, but extremely unlikely to be used, let alone be impactful in a game, and the ~50% price hike for 4E is just too much. Alongside a bunch of fighty units (Trolls, Wights, etc), I could see these doing ok, but they are not an efficient beater, and they couldn't quite hard-carry for us here.
• ASB with Heal. When I actually remembered to cast the spell it felt good, and I still think this plus the Tome are probably the best items for Undead ASBs. The Wand and Hex might be worth exploring too. I missed having access to Surge, but without Hammers (Revenant Cavalry, Wights, more Zombie Trolls) to try and push into places, Surge was not really missed. 
• Inspiring Necromancer with Blizzard and Heal. Blizzard was neat, but not impactful for me against all the High Defense. It’s a busted spell, but I was not able to leverage it here. I liked Heal though, and this kit with the Inspiring Talisman plus a few spells seems good. As much as I like my Undead Titans, I think an Inspiring Necromancer and a few ASBs seem like a more sensible way to run the Undead, as you can take even more units, which I think is where the army shines. 
• Revenants with Hammer. They held firm and hit back well enough! Not a bad item for them by any means, and had we not goofed that combat math, I think these would have been MVPs. Expensive (for the Undead), but a great unit for holding the line.
• Skeleton Archers. I am 100% sure I played their Melee value as 5+. These are just not a good unit, and I don’t think I like them at any size, as you are paying more for the bows than you would a normal skeleton unit. Unless you are fighting against walls of Goblins or Zombies, they just aren’t going to do anything at range or in melee, and you have plenty of cheaper and more-effective options to hold ground. Fine to test out again to make sure, but these not worth it.
• Zombie Trolls. They did ok, and are still a fine generalist unit for the Undead. They were unfortunately the top-end of my threats this game though, and can’t carry a list as just a pair! A fine fighting unit, but you want to charge this in alongside something else.
• Zombie Hordes. Without Surge, I think maybe grabbing tokens with the other units and being more aggressive with the Zombie hordes might have been a more interesting line of play. They did fine for me here though, taking up a lot of space and doing well overall.
• Balefire Catapults. Oof. After the barrages I took in the previous game the previous day from opposing war machines, I was hoping for more from them. It seemed like we had a lot of cold dice for them, but we were also hitting on 5’s, and had less Piercing than the Basilean cannons. These arguably probably statistically should have done more for me, but so it goes. It was a very tough match-up, up against both Heals and high Defense.
• Undead Shooting. I think the list was spread a little too thin. Two very expensive warlords was a bit too much to add on top of ~400 pts of war machines. I think if you want to run Balefires, you need to have more fighty units than I had, so that you could maim something, and then let some  something charge it next turn while the war machines targeted something else. Maybe Zombies + Revenant Cavalry + Balefires is a better starting point for a list like this? I think the Wyrms and Archers can be left at home.

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

4th Edition: Battle #029 Abyssals vs Basileans in Plunder

Intro and Lists

I have a seemingly ever-growing list of things I want to test out in the new Edition, and was fortunate to get in some games recently involving Trevor of Data and Dice fame to help chip away at some of those ideas. The first game was a demo game for a friend of his, which was very enjoyable, but won't be reported on, as I have found the reporting and picture-taking a bit too much to juggle while answering questions, and that second focus spoils the new player experience. Demo done, they also wanted to see how a larger game actually worked, and so we obliged, with Trevor running a very slick Basilean war machine build:

It's intriguing to me, as it is a mix of war machines, which is unique and unusual. With the shooting changes, both the Arbalests and Cannons now will be hitting on 4's which is a lot of firepower to deal with, while providing some variation in Piercing and target selection. It's also neat as it is a one Battalion approach. We have the Mother of Phoenixes to lead things, and a War Priest with Blizzard and one with Bloodboil, which seems like the right approach for a shooty list, as both spells are amazingly powerful.  Supporting all this are four regiments of basic Men-at-Arms for core tax and unlocks, a regiment of Paladins, two regiments of Ogre Palace Guard to smash, a troop of Elohi to pressure, and he still has the points to run two Gur Panther units too! It's a strong looking battalion!

I brought out the Abyssals again, trying to catch up on some ideas and explore some more of the army's befuddling Core options. Up to explore and comment on is everything:

• The Bloody Cardinal. I still like what he brings to the table, as a Dread bubble can be very useful, but I am not quite set on how to use him. We'll continue keeping him as a bit of a second-line fighter and opportunist, and not a front-line fighter or instigator.
• Warlocks with Bane Chant. I still quite like Warlocks, and they are our only versatile spellcasters. We are just taking Bane Chant to help out the rest of our units.
• Succubi. Every one of our Core choices has at least one big draw-back. The Succubi don't regenerate, and have terrible Defense, but Nerve 17 intrigues me. They aren't super-expensive, so we'll try them as the bulk of our Core this time, and use them to instigate and pressure.
• Hellhounds. We're going to give the Hellhounds a try here too. They don't regenerate, and don't hit particularly hard with just TC and just hitting on 4's, but I like the speed, and they might even be able to hold something up and survive. We shall see how they do.
• Gargoyles. Speaking of speed, I am very bullish on the Gargoyles. Speed 10 is harder to come by now, they are header to deal with at range, and sticky combats make them even more annoying than they were previously. We're taking three again, and seeing what mischief we can cause.
• Berserkers with items. I like the Berserkers, and their dialed down speed feels way more appropriate now, though they are still very scary, having kept their 30 attacks. I like them, and we'll try them now with items! 
• Tortured Soul Regiments. We're testing out some weird stuff this time, so we'll fit these in as well! I quite like the troops, and the unit does nicely now with the extra pivot. We'll see how the regiments and their extra attacks do.

Table and Terrain

We were out at the fabulous little store known as Oddwillows, in Mukwonago, WI. While an excellent and quirky little shop, it doesn't have a lot of wargaming spots, but just needing one table, was great for our forays here. I need to do an inventory of my terrain, so brought out my desert mat and terrain box to use. We had some a trio of Northwoods Height 10 Forests, the blocking Buildings were Height 7, Hills were Height 3, and we two height 2 obstacles.

We got Plunder for our scenario, which is a loot token one. There are five loot tokens spread along the center line, and we'll have to fight, and grab them as the game goes on. We will nominate two tokens to each be worth 2 points (the white tokens), and the remaining 3 black tokens will be worth one point each if held at the end of the game.

Overview of the table. White tokens are worth 2 points.

My opponent split his forces up. On the left we have two regiments of Men-at-Arms, the Blizzard Wizard and Ogres with the boots. The center was two cannon and an Arbalest way way back, with the second Arbalest hiding a but behind the hill. The rest of the army stacked up the right, with Panthers screening for the Bloodboil Priest and Ogres with the Brew of Sharpness, Men-at-Arms screening for the Mother of Phoenixes, Men-at-Arms in reserve due to slightly not enough room on the line, then Panthers screening for the Paladins and Elohi.

I will mention a few things about my opponent's deployment. I like that the Gur Panthers and Elohi are on the line. They are very speedy, and with sticky combats, this makes use of all that speed. Previously, he's had the Elohi in reserve, but I think they need to be on the line. Second, he deployed his war machines first. We've both often saved these until later, looking for targets, but with direct fire, I think this is wise.

I was at a bit of a loss how to approach the game. In the lists I tend to run, I generally think it wise to commit to about 2/3s of the table and aim for the narrow victory. That was the original intent here, wanting to play for the left side, but with sparse cover and the war machines all coming down immediately, and zoning out the left, I am struggling to formulate a game plan. We're still taking our first steps into the Abyssals, and I opt to split things up, and unwisely try to fight and play all over the place.

Out on the left.

On the left we have Succcubi with the Pipes, Gargoyles and Tortured Souls on the line, with a BC Warlock supporting. We've got a similarly small force opposing us, so we might be able to fight through here on the left.

In the center.

The center were my first drops, with two Succubi, Gargoyles hiding behind the building, and the other BC Warlock supporting. My opponent kept the center very clear, to focus on having good firing lanes, so we'll see if we can maybe blitz on through.

View from the right.

My right got everything else of mine, though it didn't seem to match up well against everything arrayed against them. We've got both Berserkers on the line (white weapons are the Brew of Sharpness, and the big clubs are the Brew of Strength, and they are supported by the Bloody Cardinal. The speedy Gargoyles and Hellhounds ended up on the far right, with Tortured Souls supporting. We've got a deficiency of both units and chaff over here, so unfortunately, we'll likely be playing more cagey here instead of brawling, as we don't want to risk multiple multi-charges.

Overall, the Abyssals start the game without a solid plan, but we're spread out and will have plenty of testing to do! And luck begins on our side, and with our 6 beating Trevor's 5 for determining the turn order, I'll gladly take the initiative, mitigate some shooting, and kick things off for us.

Top of Round 1: Abyssals

We’re only a few games in with the Forces of the Abyss. I don’t have a real plan here, and against shooting, we’re basically defaulting to being aggressive and just seeing how things go. 

Moving up on the left.

On the left, we move up. The Succubi started back a bit, so can’t quite make it far enough to grab the token yet. The Gargoyles flap ahead but stay safe, and the Tortured Souls move up as well, looking to project threat. With no shooting potential, and nothing needing a Bane Chant, the Warlock just moves up, keeping pace with the group.

Succubi running into the center.

Centrally, I feel a bit constrained by the Gur Panthers from the right. The Gargoyles can get up and immediately threaten the war machines, but the Succubi can only go so far, and one will be exposing a flank if it moves the full 12”, so does not, saying just out of range. This might seem over-cautious, but I don’t have a lot here, and don’t want to get needlessly caught up. 

...and some restraint out on the right.

On the right, I feel greatly outgunned, so try to be cautious here as well. With all the speedy Panthers and Angels on the line, I feel greatly constrained. With the unit disparity here, trading any one of those to just slow up my potential reprisal charges would be worth it, so we are going to bide out time and see how things unfold. 

The Berserkers move up, trying to threaten, and the Bloody Cardinal stays near them. The Gargoyles and Hounds creep up too, with the Tortured Souls in reserve.

Bottom of Round 1: Basileans

Keeping on the right, my equally speedy Gargoyles and slightly less speedy Hellhounds give my opponent pause. If I can gum something up with the Gargoyles, the Berserkers and such should be able to pick up some units and even the odds a bit, so my opponent is equally cautious on how to approach things.

The Basileans push out.

On the far right, the Gur Panthers move up, with the Elohi setting down nearby, and the board edge and the Panthers will protect the Elohi. The Men-at-Arms adjust near the hill, making sure to stay out of range of the Berserkers, though they can be seen. The Paladins  remain in reserve, screened from sight and protected. The Bloodboil Priest, Ogres, and Mother of Phoenixes wait in reserve, and with the spacing, my Gargoyles can’t sneak in against anything. Gur Panthers are screening, and if memory serves, they are giving the Gargoyles a flank, though I can’t align. It’s very thoughtful positioning! 

Shooting commences. The first Arbalest maxes out against the Gargoyles, landing 6 damage, while the other misses. A cannon deals another 7 damage to devastate the unit, opening it up to breaking. Bloodboil 13 will add another 5 damage, taking the Gargoyles up to 18 damage, and they will eventually rout. It’s overkill, but there are no other targets for Bloodboil, and my opponent way wary of the Gargoyles being insanely courageous, and then regenerating to un-devastate themselves and careen into the war machines. That outcome hadn’t even occurred to me, so kudos for planning ahead!

The left contingent bars they way, buying time for the war machines.

The other artillery will shoot into the nearest oncoming Succubi unit and miss, while Blizzard will hit them for 3 damage, and slow them.

On the left, my opponent is trying to play with the woods. The Ogres stay in reserve, with the Men-at-Arms screening. Both are safe from the Succubi, and although one facing is clear, I don’t have the frontage to get both the Gargoyles and Tortured Souls in, so I don’t have any easy charge decisions next turn.

Top of Round 2: Abyssals

With no good charge options, I try to bide some time out on the left. The Succubi inch up to grab a token, while staying out of 10 inches from the Men-at-Arms. The Tortured Souls adjust on the hill, looking for an angle, and the Warlock just sits tight.

Movement on the left, with Gargoyles hopping ahead.

I would love to try and pick off the Blizzard Priest, but don't quite have the space to align for a legal charge. The Gargoyles instead opt to jump the line here, to threaten the war machines.

Centrally, the injured (and Frozen) Succubi move up, to threaten the war machines. The second unit wants to move at the double to do the same, but will be opening up a flank to the Gur Panthers, who have been patient. They inch up, offering the Panthers their ensnaring front, while still having an angle to threaten an Arbalest. The Warlock moves up, keeping both Succubi units Inspired, and will pick up a 1-point token. 

The Succubi press in.

On the right, the Berserkers try to set traps, but I don’t do a great job. The one hiding behind the woods has the Brew of Strength, and is hidden from the Gur Panthers… but the angle is wrong. I will need a pivot to clear the woods, and this is just an error from me, that I did not double check as it was awkward and in the middle of the board.

The other unit is open to the Gur Panthers, which sill need to choose between them or the Succubi. 

The right gets messy.

I move the Gargoyles up to screen for the Hellhounds, doing the same trick my opponent used last turn to protect his Elohi, as between the Gargoyles and the table edge, nothing can reach the Hounds. After some consideration and before moving to the next phase, we move this arrangement up more, to better block in the other unit of Gur Panthers.

Bottom of Round 2: Basileans

My opponent pulls the trigger on the right, sending in Gur Panthers and flanking Men-at-Arms into the Gargoyles, who will take 12 damage from the flank alone, and break. The Gur Panthers overrun to grab the attention of the Hellhounds, and the Men-at-Arms to reform. It occurs to me though that the Panthers and Gargoyles have the same frontage, and the Spears are wider than they are deep, so the Panthers would have needed to sidestep to create the reform space for the humans. We’ll blame the hill, and I don’t think this goof really changes anything – it’s be the same arrangement, just an inch or so over. All good.

Charges from the Basileans.

The Paladins and Elohi stay put in reserve, allowing for reforms. The Mother of Phoenixes lurks, tossing a Firball into the Hounds that results in a single point of damage. The Ogres stay back and safe as well. While I do have charge options next turn, the expendable Men-at-Arms are doing their job waiting, on the front line.

And a victorious reform over the Gargoyles.

The other Gur Panthers choose to go in against the Succubi, and slips 1 damage in past Ensnare.

The artillery roars again. Two volleys of Grapeshot hits the Gargoyles, taking them up to 10 damage, which is close, but not quite enough. An Arbalest shot lands another 2 into them, to devastate them, and the Gargoyles will break.

More Gargoyles are shot off, with the Succubi shot up and delayed.

The other Arbalest shoots at the Stealthy Succubi landing 1 damage, Blizzard will land another 1, and Bloodboil 6 will contribute 1 as well, taking them to 6 damage. They will hold, though I think I need the Inspired reroll here from the Warlock.

The Basileans press onward.

On the left, the Basileans have a unit advantage, and inch up to bully me. Men-at-Arms hold the front, while the Ogres wait in reserve.

Top of Round 3: Abyssals

It feels like go time. Multi-charging is usually a good idea in Kings of War, but on the left, at a unit disadvantage, I think I need to be greedy and paly risky with some solo charges.

The Succubi with the Pipes and Tortured Souls each charge a unit of Men-at-Arms, with the Warlock moving in to prevent a big slide, as I want to set up a concave here, with the Succubi and Tortured Souls protecting one another, assuming they win. 

Greedily charging in against the Men-at-Arms.

Bane Chant into the Succubi fails, and 5 damage lands, and even a hot 9 on the check keeps them around. The Tortured Souls land a hot 10 damage, and will break their unit. Examining things, I can’t prevent the Ogres from getting into the Succubi, so the Tortured Souls overrun, hoping for something low-to-mid to get in and block up the Ogres… but they roll hot with a 5, and with the angle, end up just about touching the Ogres (with the J Boots) and giving them a flank. 

I then remember that the Succubi have the Pipes with Brutal, so we actually do break the uninspired unit, and my opponent obliges. We’re now trying to protect the Tortures Souls and while we overrun 6 and are doing the same, with the angles, the Ogres can still get into their flank, due to some overhang. The left is a dumpster fire now. We were playing and discussing like we normally do, while fielding questions from the demoee, and some passersby in the shop, which did a number on my focus and memory. I had a ok plan here, great luck, and then donked it all up.

A double victory, followed by miserable reforms after some mental whoopsies.

Centrally, the blasting units have done a number on my Gargoyles. The unengaged Succubi are free but Frozen, and can only reach the Arbalist by the building. We’ll take that charge, land good damage, pick the war machine up, and threaten the rest.

The other Succubi slam 10 damage back into the Gur Panthers, and then overrun, looking to help on the right, as I don’t have the inches to threaten any war machines next turn.

The Succubi rack up two more small wins.

We’re going in across the board, and make a series of charges on the right as well. The angles are a little rough, and I don’t think I can multi-charge much, if anything. Given the donk up with the Berserkers and the woods, they just move and use their two pivots to get clear of the woods and into a supporting position. 

The Cardinal moves up, brining Dread to some of the combats. The Berserkers with Sharpness charge Men-at-Arms in the center of the line, the Tortured Souls charge out into the other unit, and the Hellhounds charge Gur Panthers, and will slide down, ending atop a 2-pointer, and will pick it up.

Three more brawls on the right.

The slaughter continues. Dread lets the Tortured Souls pick up the Men-at-Arms, the Berserkers and the Brew of Sharpness are able to hew through the Men-at-Arms, and the Hellhounds chomp down on the smaller unit of Gur Panthers. Reforms here are funky too, as I think I rolled the combats in a poor order, going Hellhounds, Berserkers, and Souls. The Tortured Souls end up overrunning, and everything else is unfortunately a bit bummed gummed up. I really wanted to be backing up with the Berserkers and minimizing what can get into them next round, but I don't think far enough ahead to let that happen.

Three more wins, but three more doofy reforms.

The flanks are messy, but we are holding 4 points worth of tokens, and have hewn through all four Men-at-Arms regiments, both Gur Panthers, and an Arbalest this turn, which all feels good.

Bottom of Round 3: Basileans

The feeling will not last though. On the right, with my bad reforms, the Berserkers are exposed, and the Elohi and Paladins are able to get in with a multi-charge. The hit dice are crazy, with only 2 misses between the duo, and while not devastated, the Berserkers are easily routed here. Checking the math, the damage dice skewed in the other direction, but still resulted in the expected 13 damage. I was right to want to protect the Berserkers, but couldn’t cut it here due to my reform errors.

The Ogres on the right here have the Brew of Sharpness, and on 2’s and 2’s, will carve 14 damage into the Souls, and best them.

The Basileans push back with gusto.

The Mother of Phoenixes will fly up to block up the Berserkers with the Brew of Strength, and will toss a Fireball on them for good measure, resulting in just 2 damage.

Succubi are shot off.

The remaining war machines shoot into the nearest Succubi, who start on 6 damage. The cannons are in arc and range for Grapeshot, and 6 damage lands from that, with Blizzard landing another 2 damage. The Bloodboil Priest adds another 9 to take them up to 23 damage, and the Succubi fall! Stealthy is nice, but with all these shooters hitting on 4’s and having Piercing, Defense 3 is just too much of a liability. 

A flank charge with the J Boots will easily break the Tortured Souls.

On the left, the Ogres use their boots, and land 19 damage into the flank of the Tortured Souls, will break them, and reform to face the Succubi.

Top of Round 4: Abyssals

My reform errors from the previous round have caught up with me, and I am feeling on the back foot on all fronts. 

On the left, our only option is to make a hindered charge into the Ogres, and the Succubi drop their token and then do so. Due to our goofy overruns, we’re fighting in the woods, and while Bane Chant lands, just 5 damage makes it in, which is Iron Resolved down to 4. Not knowing what else to do, the Warlock runs up to grab the token.

The Succubi go in, to little avail.

I can’t threaten the artillery pieces anymore, so just need to try and avoid them now.

The Succubi were eyeing up the Bloodboil Priest, but they are just in range of the Ogres, and will take that flank charge to tie them up. The Warlock enters the woods, but Bane Chant fails here. They’ll land 9 damage, but can’t break the Ogres.

No successes on the right either.

The Berserkers with the Brew charge the Mother of Phoenixes, underperforming a bit, but still managing 8 damage. We fail the check by 1, I remember Dread a few moments later, which would have made that a rout, but she does hold with the reroll anyways. 

The Bloody Cardinal has options, but I felt it important to bring Dread to all of these fights instead of flanking the Elohi or trying to delay the Paladins. I think that’s the right call, unfortunately nothing broke my way. 

The Hellhounds are forced to charge the Elohi. It’s clean, but their stats aren’t the best against armor. The expected 6 damage lands, and the Elohi (unsurprisingly) hold. I’m running out of steam.

Bottom of Round 4: Basileans

The Elohi and Paladins will put down the Hellhounds, with the Paladins grabbing the token in victory, and both will reform to face the remaining Abyssal units.

The Ogres Reform, landing 8 new damage onto the Ensnaring Succubi, who will hold.

The Abyssal units continue to fall on the right.

The Mother of Phoenixes will regenerate some, Radiance of Life herself, and ends the round on just 5 damage, while dealing 1 damage back into the Berserkers, who end the turn on 3 damage.

The Warlock is in the terrain, but cannons still land 4 damage at range, Bloodboil contributes 2 more, and Shattering 3 leads to a poor waver for me.

The Blizzard Priest makes his way towards the token instead of shooting at the Warlock. This is a small error. The new FAQ prevents individuals from picking up tokens. 

A bit unexpectedly, the Succubi fall on the left.

Ensnared, the Ogres on the left still manage to overperform, landing 10 damage, plus Brutal 1, and the Inspired checks break for the Basileans. The Succubi rout, the Warlock is exposed, and the Ogres overrun to keep the pressure on.

Top of Round 5: Abyssals

The wheels have just about come off, but Kings of War is a scenario-based game, so we’ll keep on trying. After all, we are still technically winning 3-2 right now.

On the left, the sole-surviving Warlock pivots moves and pivots, getting out of arc of the Ogres, and the artillery while still jealously guarding his token. 

The Warlock dodge, ducks, dips, dives, and dodges.

I have nothing in the center, and the wavering Warlock can’t cast Bane Chant to help out on the right. He pivots to face the artillery, and then backs up, getting out of the woods while landing atop another 1-pointer for me. 

Charges on the right.

Hemming and hawing, I could toss the Bloody Cardinal away with a delaying charge. Into the Paladins is the high-risk play. If the Succibi and Berserkers can best their units, the Paladins will be stuck, and the ELohi can only stop one of them. However, without Bane Chant, he’ll ultimately join the Succubi with a flank charge into the Ogres, improving my chances of picking them up, and I do, but it is still close. The Succubi reform, as does the Cardinal, though we can’t really mitigate much coming our way.

Reforms on the right.

The Berserkers make up for their slight underperformance last turn, landing a hot and fresh 14 damage into the Mother of Phoenixes, routing her. They still lack good reforms. Backing up will get the Paladins out of range, but keep the Elohi in their flank, so I choose to change facing and see what happens. Maybe we’ll get to make use of Retaliate?

Bottom of Round 5: Basileans

Seeking to protect the token, the Paladins decline to fight. They pivot and back up, getting off the hill and using it to block sight from the Succubi.

The Elohi go in against the Berserkers, some damage will stick, but they’ll hold.

Positioning for the Basileans. And a missing Warlock.

Centrally, an Arbalest moves to line up a future shot into the fleeing Warlock on the far left. 

The cannons just barely have sight to the other fleeing Warlock on my right. They’ll land a combined 7 damage, Blizzard will go 4/4 and blast into 11 hits, and ultimately the Warlock is blasted to smithereens, dropping his tokens.

Positioning on the left.

On the left, the Blizzard Priest moves to grab a token, and we realize he cannot. My opponent had been considering using the Ogres to try and chase down the Warlock on the left, but this revelation changes that approach, and instead they’ll start moving out of the woods, intending to grab the 2-pointer out here in Round 6.

Top of Round 6: Abyssals

On the left, the Warlock hides behind the woods. He’s got a token, and is doing great, but he’ll toss some Firebolts into the Ogres, looking for a waver. He’ll land a hot 3, taking them to 7 damage, but they’ll hold, and Iron Resolve down to 6.

The Warlock fishes for a waver with some Firebolts.

The Berserkers fight the Elohi, will luck out and break them, and then reform, looking to pick up the two tokens dropped by the Warlock nearby.

The Abyssals need a Round 7 now...

The Succubi don’t have a charge, but will move to threaten the flank of the Paladins, and the Bloody Cardinal charges in to tie them up. He’ll land 2 damage, with will Iron Resolve down to just 1. We’re down now, and hoping for a Round 7.

Bottom of Round 6: Basileans

My notes get fuzzy here, and it looks like I failed to take pictures. I know the cannons can just spy the Berserkers, and with cover penalties, will contribute 6 more damage onto them. Blizzard lands 2 more, taking them up to 13, and they are wavered.

I believe Bloodboil is blazing hot, landing all 8 possible into the Succubi, who don’t break, but regardless of the new damage incurred, are wavered as well by shooting. 

I believe the Cardinal is dispatched by the Paladins. His Nerve and Defense is not great, and the Paladins hits were hot all game.

The Ogres on the left do move out to grab the second 2-pointer, making this 4 points for the Basileans, and just 1 for the Abyssals.

We do actually get the Round 7, but with the Basileans wavering everything with hot shooting, we can’t make use of it to battle on, and I concede.

Game Conclusions

My most grievous errors were the poor combat reforms, due to lapsing memory on the left, and a poor order of rolling the combats on the right. Zooming in, these cost me the game, although wow, we scrapped hard and it was very close all the way to the end.

Zooming out, I don’t think I approached this wisely, though it is awkward. I had a drop disadvantage, and my opponent was wise to drop the war machines first, exacerbating it. Plunder incentivizes you to spread out, and I felt I needed to so, so he didn’t completely overload a flank, but I think my list would have done better with a 2/3rds of the board approach. Against shooting, that can be a bit rough, but generally, I think this list would benefit from layering up more, using the Succubi to instigate and have scary things supporting them.

I should also note that we didn’t utilize Command Orders this game – we fell into old habits and forgot about them until a few turns in. By the time my opponent remembered, all the Faithful and infantry units for the Basileans had been broken, depriving them of any chances to use their orders. For me, Burn the Sinners and Fireball could have seen some play in the midgame against some Men-at-Arms units to soften them up, but slipped my mind as I really wasn’t factoring in any shooting attacks into my game plan. My Unholy Shield really only would have been effective against Grapeshot (or Blizzard), but it probably wouldn’t have been enough for anything to survive. It’s use is restrictive, but we had a surprising amount of Upper Circle units this game, and not trying to utilize the orders is definitely an error on my part. If you have tools, use them!

Testing Conclusions

• The Bloody Cardinal. I think the approach of using him a second-line opportunist seems to work well. Dread is just too helpful to risk. Keep him back from the initial fights!
• Warlocks with Bane Chant. I still like Warlocks, and I think this game was a good showcase of their versatility. They cast some Bane Chants, flung some Firebolts, and played the scenario well enough, all while keeping things Inspired. They are still a good pick for Abyssal players.
• Succubi. They actually seem ok as core, but I think they are going to function similarly to my opponent's Men-at-Arms here: and just be the expendable front-line with some layered threats behind them. Ensnare and Stealthy are nice, but Def 3 is indeed a huuuge liability.
• Hellhounds. I like their speed, and that's a lot of attacks, but they are rather expensive for what you get overall. They don't have regeneration, and with TC being what it is, you probaly need several units working together to make these worthwhile, breaking opposing units in one go. With slots now, a one-of regiment might see play pressuring and slowing things down, but troops seem outclassed by Gargoyles most of the time. The Hellhounds have uses, but are really expensive.
• Gargoyles. I kinda just trickled them in against the war machines, which doesn't seem wise, as they just got blown up one at a time. However, it felt necessary to draw fire for the opening turns, and they each took most of a full volley on the approach, saving other things. The jury is out on if that was worthwhile or not, but the unit on the right was used very well to block things up and give my fighting units a fighting chance. These are still a great auxiliary pick for the Abyssals. 
• Berserkers with items. I liked them and the loadouts here, but did not use them to their full potential, or protect them very well. For heavy-hitters in the specialist slot, these did very well.
• Tortured Soul Regiments. I was surprised, but in-game I liked these too. However, they both overperformed in their combats, and then got lucky with the checks to eat those regiments, and then could not survive the counterpunch themselves. In short, they are not hammers. They are probably best in a build with more threats, so they can support and aim for flanks and such, instead of charging right into the thick of things. With Fearless, these might do well against shooters, and I'd definitely run the regiments again, though probably won't prioritize them over something like the Berserkers. 

As-ever, this was a great game with a lot to learn from and consider, and a surprisingly amount of back-and-forth swings! The preceding demo game was equally enjoyable. Thanks for arranging this Trevor!