4th Edition: Battle #047 Nature (Herd) vs Nature (Elementals) in Invade

Intro and Lists

He's a busy guy, painting up a lot of stuff and playing a lot of different games, but I had the pleasure of meeting up with Kenny of the Combat Phase podcast for a game of Kings of War. He is keen top play, but been a few months since his last game. Fresh off the Fracture release, he brought his Elementally-focused Nature army:

With a new book in front of him, he wanted some assistance in building his list. He didn't have a paper copy, but we did have my paper list to help with Command Orders. He was paging through the Fracture book, and keying stuff into the app to check slots, but for the life of me, sitting down to write the report up, I just could not figure out Kenny's exact list list and how we are somehow 30 points over. 

Kenny had played at the Northwoods GT in February, and then once around April (against me, in Battle 030!). In both the April game and now, the basis of the list was his older Northwoods List. However, Fracture has been released since he last played, and Gladewalker Druids increased from 125 to 140 points. I think he was working off of the outdated FoN List in the Companion, as it all looks to foot in the old version. I don't think this really changes anything - the Gladewalker lost the double-Surge from Elemental Affinity, which we did catch, so it all works out I guess? 

Given his time away from the game, the goal was to play a nice, clean, slow game and to be focusing on the basics, reinforcing good habits, like stating intentions and having proactive discussions to avoid any bad situations. Winning is explicitly not the goal here, for either of us. In the spirit of all that, I had given Kenny the option of playing against the Herd or the Dwarfs, and he opted for fighting the Herd, so that's what I brought. My favorite Guardian Brutes are still in the process of being rebased, so I took the opportunity to explore a bunch of other units and ideas:

• Chieftain. The Fracture update dropped his attacks from a strong 8 down to a mediocre 6. I liked how he could previously hold his own in fights, even in the midst of grinds, and he was a powerful combat individual, which is a rarity, especially nowadays. He gained Strider though, so perhaps he's better in bad situations, or in starting fights? We'll try him out and see how he feels.
• Druid on Foot, Banner, BC, Heal. We don't have a lot of speed in the list, so we've dropped the steed to save some points. Arguably, I could be running Veil, or Barkskin or even Blizzard, but I still like the basic Heal and Bane Chant, so we'll keep with those simple spells here.
• Mounted Druid, BC, Big Heal. For the Unicorn, we're keeping Shroud of the Saint for a larger heal, and sticking with the basic spells since so many other things are new. 
• Ydrin Thorncreeper. A newcomer! With 7 attacks, shaming the Chieftain. As mentioned in the Hobby Update, he's got some neat rules, but I still think his chances of survival in a given game is doubtful. Still, he's a new unit, and I'm keen to give him a chance.
• Tribal Spears. I am excited to be able to run these again! Hordes are probably better, but I am not super-confident with hordes, and with Pathfinder still not interacting with charges nowadays, I figured we'd seize the opportunity to try some regiments and MMU play. 
• Critters. They are the only real chaff I have, so we'll continue to take them. We have some powerful commands now, so I can understand design-wise why Nature might not get super-speedy chaff now, but this still sucks. 
• Centaur Bray Striders. I think Centaur Troops could be very powerful with some of the new Commands, particularly the Entanglement of Thorns, though Barkskin could be strong too. In order to play around with that idea, we'll take two troops of these as well.
• Grymbrocks! I thought Retaliate had been updated, but apparently they just changed the Dwarf command? That seems weird, and a bummer. Moving this kind of unit into the Specialist slot seems fine for balance, but I wish they had just kept the Longhorns, or given us the new version when 4E launched. This and especially the new base sizes for the Guardian Brutes just strike me as a bit mean-spirited. Griping aside, we're really indexing hard into the Grymbrocks. With TC3, they hit just like cavalry, so I really wanted to explore them, thinking there might be some things to learn about actual cavalry units in the new edition.
• Great Totem. Another newcomer! The Totem strikes me as a useful and very versatile support piece, but also a very high-skill unit. With Advance Deployment, I'll need to guess where it might be useful, and see what happens. I think we'll try to stick this by buildings or terrain for some extra protection, and just see what happens.

I largely try to avoid "mirror" matches in the blog, but with two drastically different sub-factions at play here, this seemed interesting, and worth pursuing. Despite having the "same" army, not a single unit is shared between our lists! It should be neat to see us both adjusting to and dealing with all of the new Commands. 

Table and Terrain

We were out at the wonderful Valhalla Hobby in Verona, WI. I've actually been here a few times, but very irregularly. It is a phenomenal little shop with a huge selection of stuff, and with an online store as well! Kings of War has not been a huge hit for them, and the club has cleared them out of most things over time, but they've still got a few nicely discounted boxes for this, and many other games. If you are looking for deals on miniatures, check them out!

Kenny had beaten me out to the store, and was making use of the box of terrain he keeps with him, apparently at all times. You can't forget stuff if it is always in your car! His mat was from Mantic, but is apparently 44 inches deep and about a foot shy width-wise as well. I'm not sure what the original games was, but you can see the difference between it and the MDF table topper clearly. We opted for "realism" and playing on the smaller mat.

Overview of the table, with a small matt and very large terrain pieces! 

The terrain selection is a bit of a catch-all for many of his other games, large skirmishing and narrative ones. We lacked obstacles, but had enough to fill the board.We had Forests with Height 10, the blocking Buildings at Height 7, ponds were Height 0 Difficult Terrain, and the massive hill was just height 3. 

With an odd board and terrain, we shrunk our deployment zones appropriately, and opted for the more straightforward "Invade" scenario. Victory will go to whomever gets more unit strength over the center line, which from my vantage point is marked by the far edge of the 75mm base and running essentially just beyond the base of the hill.

I shared my default "grab 2/3rds of the board" advice and my opponent sort of took it to heart. Left-to-right for the Elementals we gave the Water Elemental troop screening for the Greater Air Elemental, and an Earth Elemental Troop screening for a Gladewalker and the Scorchwings.

The bulk of the Elementals.

In the center the Elementals had Shamblers, the Greater Water Elemental and the regiment side-by-side and blocking for the Fire Elementals, then another Earth Elemental Troop blocking for the Gladewalker Druid with Blizzard, and the Air Elementals in reserve, a bit behind the building. On the right, able to overshoot the building was the last troop of Forest Shamblers.

Herd on the left.

The Herd had a drop and Unit Strength advantage, though against multiple Monsters and Warlords, it actually wasn't as big as one might expect just looking at the board.

Herd in the center.

The Herd went wide with Spears, Ydrin, more spears, and Critters screening for Grymbrocks out on the right. The center had Centaurs screening for the mounted Druid with the Shroud, a Grymbrock regiment, Spears, the Chieftain, the other Grymbrock regiment, Centaurs screening for the Druid on foot, Critters and more Spears in the puddle, and the last troop of Grymbrocks in reserve.

Herd on the right. 

I had won the roll for sides, and overall, liked my deployment. I think the characters are placed sensibly, the Great Totem is protected for now, and the only nitpick is two Tribal Spear units awfully close together on the left, but that's fine.

I don’t have Scout moves, but my opponent does, and both Shamblers move up their speed, with one getting into the woods, and one huddling near the building to protect the flank of the bulk of the Elemental line, in the middle of the field.

Scout moves! Always fun.

Winning the roll for turn order, my opponent is really inclined to go second, and hunker down, but I convince him otherwise. Going first is often the right play in Kings of War. He’s got a Shambling army, and really needs to get some early ground, especially with this scenario, and even more so with all my Pathfinder. He’ll take my advice and kick things off for us!

Top of Round 1: Elementals

In reserve, the Scorchwings shuffle around on the left. The Water Elementals move up, blocking for the Greater Air Elemental near the pond. 

The Earth Elementals shamble up, and they get hit with a Surge 5 from the Gladewalker Druid, and lurch ahead, getting about even with the Forest Shamblers in the center, who inch up their speed again in the first movement phase.

The Elementals move up as far as they can.

The Great Water Elemental and accompanying regiment move up, and the Fire Elementals start to cross behind them. This Gladewalker Druid Surges the other Earth Elemental Troop for another strong 5 inches, and it gains a good deal of ground this turn as well. Normally, I am not a fan of blindly surging ahead myself. But I don't really have anything that can punish this, so well played to my opponent to get just a little more ground here!

The Earth Elementals are surged up!

The Air Elemental regiment hangs back projecting threat out into the center, and the Forest Shamblers on the right just continue plodding ahead, making their way around the building.

Bottom of Round 1: Herd

On the right, we want to bully the Forest Shamblers, and we move up to force a fight. The druid lands a hot Barkskin 3 with Commands and her Banner onto the Tribal Spears who move up into the terrain, and are baiting a hindered charge, and the Critters move up, also baiting a hindered charge, and the Great Rock/Totem is able to grant them the Entangling Thorns Command too.

Traps for the Shamblers.

Neither of those units is Inspired, but that is fine. I don't think it likely that the Spears will break, and with Thorns on the Critters, I kind of want them to break. Depending on where and if he goes, we should have some chances to catch the Shamblers in a trap.

Struggling with the hill.

In the center, the hill is a wonderful piece of terrain, just a bit awkward for our regiments. I fastidiously measure off of the Earth Elementals and the Shamblers in the center, with the Herd’s front line staying safe from them. They can't really move precisely here, so we call this good enough.

To the right of the hill, Barkskin 1 graces the Centaurs from the Chieftain, and the Grymbrock Regiment and Troop lurk, waiting to see who will spring the trap against the Shamblers. The mounted Druid lands a Barkskin 1 for the Centaur troop on the left as well, as the Herd center all inches ahead mostly together, struggling a bit with the hill. 

Layers of Herd on the left.

The building splits the line a bit, and on the other side, the Herd is pressing ahead here as well. The Tribal Spears both get up and out of terrain, baiting charges from the Greater Air Elemental and Water Elemental Troop, but stay safe from the Earth Elementals. Ydrin and the Critters stay back, and the Grymbrock Troop lurks.

Top of Round 2: Elementals

The Greater Air smashes into the Spears on the far left, but Phalanx blunts the charge from the flying monster, with 4 damage getting through. Ever-critical of my own play, the Grymbrock troop are probably in for the Greater Air Elemental, and it looks like I left a space for it. That probably would have been a better charge, but I did not see it to suggest it. Additionally, I don't think the Critters are up far enough, and there might be a landing zone into them as well. Or they could be out of range. I don't remember.

Charges on the left.

Additionally, a multi-charge is usually wise, but my opponent wanted to get a feel for how each unit does, so the Water Elementals get a Striding Command via Nature Trails and the nearby Gladewalker, and crash into the other unit of Spears. Phalanx does nothing here, but the dice are cold, and only 1 damage makes it in.

And more charges in the center.

The Earth Elemantals Shamble up, peering around the building, they’ll be surged a few more inches ahead. The Scorchwings flap around to protect the Druid, though I have nothing that can reach him.

Centrally, I was very diligent about measuring from the leading Elemental units, but am apparently in against the Waters. This is half intentional? I thought I was safe, but also made a point not to measure this, to set up a discussion about intentions. I’m just barely in range, and since this was not something I measured and confirmed, they can charge if my opponent wishes to. And he does! My intention with the units was to be uniform, though the hill made this hard. He’s got his choice of targets, and goes in against the Grymbrock regiment. The Greater Water Elemental lands a concerning 9 damage, while the unit contributes 11, and the Grymbrocks will be devastated and routed, as is proper!

Reforms for the Elementals after smashing the Herd center.

Setting everything up and talking thing through, the aggressive Elementals will be threatened by flank charges. Suddenly victorious, the choose to each sidestep to try and mitigate things. The Greater Water only gets and inch, and is still threatened in the flank by the Centaurs, though the regiment sidesteps 3 inches, getting firmly onto the hill and getting the Spears into front arc.

In the rear, the Forest Shamblers exit the woods, and the Fire Elementals move ahead, and will be Surged another 6 inches to get close to the fighting. The Gladewalker Druid hangs back, with the Air Elementals lurking safely behind the building, with it and the Earth Elementals blocking for them.

The Forest Shamblers go in.

On the right, the Forest Shamblers should get a Striding command, and choose to charge the Tribal Spears, though the dice are cold and nothing lands.

Bottom of Round 2: Herd

The Spears push back on the right against the Forest Shamblers, landing nothing. The Druid fails, but the Totem is able to get Strider onto the Grymbrocks, who do have a nice flank charge into the Forest Shamblers. The Grymbrocks land 12 damage, and we’ll break the unit, with the regiment of Spears overrunning, and the troop spinning around to try and help against the Elementals diving my line.

Springing the trap against the Shamblers for a quick win.

The Critters can’t do much, but do flank charge the Earth Elementals, and I Bane Chant them for fun, and just in case. They do land 1 damage, which is fine. They’re just there to get in the way for now.

Centaurs and the Chieftain move ahead so the rest of the Herd can deal with the Water Elementals.    

The Centaur Troop from the right can get in against the Fire Elementals, but not much else can help them, so we turn them into a sacrifice. The Chieftain runs ahead to prevent a bit of a slide down, and grants the Centaurs some Entangling Thorns as they charge out into the fiery regiment. The Centaurs land 4 damage. Boxcars is the result, and they’d still be safe, so we get to deal… 1 extra damage. Oh well, this was a still a good result for teaching.

The sidestepping Water Elemental regiment gets hit in the front by Spears, and the flank by the remaining regiment of Grymbrocks, and are devastated and routed, as is proper. The Spears sidestep to the left, granting some space, and the Grymbrocks will reform.

Reforms for the Herd.

The Centaurs flank charge the Great Air Elemental, and will land 8 damage, which is about as expected  for damage. The mounted Druid gives them the Entangling Thorns command as well, as I want to play around with the order, and see what my opponent will do. The Centaurs are Inspired, and I think they can hold. If the Greater Air turns to face, win-or-lose, it will be in a rough spot. A flank from the Shamblers could easily tip the scales, but the Greater Elemental should still be in trouble. 

I think it's a good plan, and a good test, but another hot Nerve check will ruin it, and will scatter the uninspired Greater Air Elemental. The Centaurs reform to face forward.

The Herd pushes back on the left.

On the left, Critters also get the Entangling Roots command, and flap up and over the building to fight the Earth Elementals. One damage lands, which is pretty good for the stats involved!

The Spears are able to reform and let the Grymbrock troop aid them. Each deals 4 damage, and I’ve got Brutal 2 on the Grymbrocks, but another hot boxcars will scatter the elementals here. The Spears overrun, and the Grymbrocks adjust, threatening the Greater Air Elemental (just barely), and standing by to alternatively fight the Earth Elementals too.

The Herd takes some lucky victories!

It’s close quarters, so Ydrin just supervises, and is the one to bless the Critters over here. The Spears poke at the Greater Air Elemental, landing a strong 5 damage, despite starting the turn engaged.

Top of Round 3: Elementals

The Greater Wind Elemental will slam 9 damage onto the Tribal Spears, taking them up to 13 damage, and will break them, and then overrun to relative safety. Phalanx only works on the charge now, but I thought I might have another turn of holding them up thanks to Ydrin being so close and the Spears being Inspired.

The Greater Air Elemental whooshes past the Herd line.

The Earth Elementals will hit 8 times and smash the delaying Critters to paste, though with the Thorns, the Earth Elementals are stuck.

The Scorchwings bounce.

The Scorchwings start in the pond, and should get a Strider command to mitigate that. My opponent wants to try and stem the Herd's push and go into the Tribal Spears, but I suggest the Centaur troop instead, as the Phalanx of the Spears would hinder the charge, and the troop is far more likely to break, and give him options. They fly in, and land 3 damage onto the Centaurs, who hold. Still good advice from me, I think.

The Shamblers charge the Chieftain, landing 2 damage. Meanwhile, the Fire Elementals land 10 into their troop of Centaurs, break them, and are stuck, thanks to the Herd's thorny Command order.

The Elementals continue to crash into the Herd line.

From the backfield, the Air Elementals and their Hammer whoosh onto the hill to fight the Grymbrock regiment, and will land 9 damage, which looks to be about expected. I keep thinking the Air Elementals hit on 4's, but no, they are on 3's/ We are at least Inspired by the Chieftain, and might actually be covered by the Great Totem as well, and thankfully, we do endure this and hold on. 

The Earth Elementals opt not to reform to fight the Critters, and thump 3 damage onto the scamps, but they hold.

Bottom of Round 3: Herd

The Tribal Spears make use of Pathfinder, and hop out of the pond, ending behind the building with a pivot. They are very clearly scoring for me already, and not threatening to circle back and envelop the Elemental line very soon.

The Critters continue on against the Earth Elementals, landing another damage in their flank, and I think the command order for Thorns for them fails this round. 

With the crises being mostly dealt with, the Grymbrock troop from the right just pivots and moves ahead, getting near the Great Totem to stand ready. The Grymbrock regiment pushes back against the Air Elementals. We cannot use Retaliate, but do get a Barkskin 2 from the Druid with the Banner, as well as a Bane Chant from the same Druid to help with the grind.

The Air Elementals are flanked by the Tribal Spears, and get a Barkskin 1 from the Chieftain, as he lands 3 damage into the Forest Shamblers, who will hold.

The mounted Druid gets a Barkskin 2 onto the Centaurs fighting the Scorchwings, and is able to land the Bane Chant to help the Spears flanking the Air Elementals as well. The duo land 16 damage into the Air Elementals and scatter them. The Centaurs will land a hot 6 damage, but the Scorchwings hold.

Reforms for the Herd, making ready for the Fire Elementals.

The Earth Elementals by the building get charged by the Grymbrocks, but my dice are not as wild as my opponent’s dice, and only manage 2 damage. There is a Brutal 2 involved, but the Earth Elementals hold. 

Tribal Spears spin around to try and deal with the Greater Air Elemental.

Pushing in from the right with a strong lead, the Spears on the left move and pivot twice, spinning around to try and deal with the Greater Air Elemental. 

Even more hot Nerve checks for the Herd...

Trying to pin it down for a turn, and maybe utilize Feint, Ydrin charges the Elemental, takes it up to 8 damage, and then yet another hot check will see yet another uninspired Elemental unit fleeing the field.

Top of Round 4: Elementals

The Earth Elementals slam 2 onto the Grymbrock troop, with Barkskin blanking one of the damage. We hold.

The Scorchwings fight on against the Centaurs, landing 3 damage, though Barkskin blunts 2 of it. The Centaurs go up to 4 damage, but are also still holding for me.

The Herd troops hold.

Hoping to send a message, the Fire Elementals flank the Chieftain, who will be devastated and then routed, as is proper. Reforms are tough though. The Shamblers are pretty safe, and so just spin around to face the Centaurs, and the Fire Elementals reform to get stuff into front arc.

The Chieftain is charged.

The Earth Elementals will smack another 4 onto the Critters, who will break. Since the Command failed last round, the Earth Elementals reform.

The Chieftain and Critters fall.

The Druid with Blizzard moves and flings with cover into the Grymbrocks on the hill, as the Fire Elementals are also on the hill. Two hits blast into … 2 total hits, and unfortunately no damage is actually dealt to the unit. 

My whole meta thinks Blizzard is a touch too strong. I share that view, but don't think it really works amazing with my opponent's list. He could be using it to slow enemy fliers down to make sure his Air Elementals get the charge, or maybe alongside more Scorchwings or the Life Awakening spell, but "just" as a ranged attack spell, it doesn't seem worth it.

Bottom of Round 4: Herd

The Tribal Spears behind the building can get a flank charge into the delaying earth Elementals, and take it, with the Grymbrocks charging into the front of the rocks. The Druid on the hill can see the fight, and lands a Barkskin 1 onto the Grymbrock troop, a Bane Chant onto the flanking Spears, which Manage 9 damage, with the Grymbrocks landing 5, and the unit will be routed.

Multi-charges from the Herd.

The maimed Grymbrock regiment will get a Barkskin 1 to try and stay in the fight just a little longer, and more Tribal Spears will join them with a charge into the Fire Elementals. The Spears poke 4, and the Grymbrocks land 11, and with Brutal 2 in the mix as well, we’ll break this regiment of Elementals.

It’s close quarters, and awkward with the hill, but in victory, the Spears will sidestep to get the Forest Shamblers in front arc, and the extra space will let the Grymbrocks reform slightly.

Strong victories for the Herd in Round 4.

The remaining Centaurs will charge the Scorchwings, and will prevail this turn, and reform to threaten the Forest Shamblers.

On the far left, the Grymbrocks fight on against the Earth Elementals, but have no TC, and Retaliate doesn’t trigger against just the one unit. The Unicorn druid swings around the try and help with a Bane Chant, but it fizzles, and no damage at all connects. The Druid does land an Entangling Thorns command though, and the Tribal Spears will back up and pivot, putting themselves into the flank of the Earth Elementals. We should be able to deal with them next turn.

The Grymbrocks push back, but Def6 is still Def6.

Ydrin doesn’t have too much to do. Since the Grymbrocks are wider than the Elementals, I can’t get him into the fight here, so he’s supervising again, but staying close. Next turn he might have a charge into the Gladewalker, or reposition to hunt, and between him and the mounted Druid, we should be able to get Strider, and hopefully a Bane Cant, onto the Tribal Spears to help break the Earth Elementals.

Top of Round 5: Elementals

On the left, the Earth Elementals slug the Grymbrock troop. A Gladewalker Druid commands them to rampage, getting two success on the dice, while also landing a Heal 2 in the ranged phase. The Elementals will land 4 damage to the Grymbrocks, and take them up to 5 damage total. It is just a troop fight, but the Grymbrocks are rather stalwart, and they do hold. 

The Elementals fail to break out.

The Forest Shamblers opt to change facing, spinning around, and will then be Surged into the injured Centaurs. A Druid commands them to rampage, getting 2 successful dice for another Rampage 4, but Kenny’s dice are forever inconsistent, and no damage lands here, and with the Centaurs holding strong, the Shamblers have Tribal Spears eyeing their flank. 

Bottom of Round 5: Herd

I like rolling dice as much as the next wargamer, but this is over. The Herd have multi-charges into everything left opposing us, and I think  even the Spears on the hill can hit the flank of the Forest Shamblers too. And if that wasn’t dire enough, we have enough units to spare that we can probably just park them for the victory without actually caring about how the combats even go. 

We’ll call it here, so we have more time to chat. We’ve both had a lot of fun, and learned a lot, and this is a strong victory to the Herd!

Game Conclusions

My opponent and his Elementals had some very strong plays, but erratic dice and a lack of Inspiring for their pushes ended up biting them. The Herd had some lucky dice to swiftly break those uninspired Elementals, but were really able to leverage their advantage in drops, US, and Champions/ Commands for the win here. 

Testing Conclusions

• Chieftain. Getting hamstrung and dropping to 6 attacks is indeed rough for his combat prowess, and it’s a bummer than an upstart like Ydrin has 7 attacks too! The Chieftain is still fun and strong, but far more of a niche pick now. 
• Druid on Foot, Banner, BC, Heal. Druids continue to be a very strong choice for Champions, in my opinion. This is a fine kit as well. Running some “Intern” Druids of his own was probably my opponent’s biggest takeaway from our game. They are customizable with their spells, and can provide a lot of versatility with our new Command Orders.
• Mounted Druid, BC, Big Heal. This kit is fine as well, though I don’t think I really got to cast the larger heal at all – Bane Chant and pressing the attack felt far more important all game.
• Ydrin Thorncreeper. He mostly supervised this game, but did get a lucky break on the Greater Air Elemental in his only fight. Combat individuals are still nice for dealing with fliers and line-hopping! Not the most expansive test for him, but an ok start. Not needing the Chieftain to run the Herd anymore is nice, and he could see play as a cheaper alternative.
• Tribal Spears. They mostly took up space, and provided a smidge of extra muscle and Nerve across the battlefield, but that is perfectly fine for a Core unit! This was a decent return game for them. Having a few extra attacks was nice, and Phalanx did mess with some fliers even! Mass regiments is probably not the way to go long-term with the army, but it did give me some good flexibility here with the MMU play.
• Critters. Well, even bad chaff is better than no chaff I suppose? At least that was my takeaway here with them. They each battled Earth Elementals for several turns, and just keeping the more useful and more expensive Elementals out of fights was valuable for me, letting the rest of the Herd list isolate and brawl against the other units. Yeah, these did just fine for me.
• Centaur Bray Striders. These were fine as well. These aren’t full cavalry, but do feel more unique and useful than they have been previously. Crushing Strength was nice and noticeable in the grinds, and with the extra Speed, I felt like they did pair nicely with the new delaying Commands, like Entanglement of Thorns. 
• Grymbrocks. While I noted it in the report, I completely forgot about Brutal 2 throughout the entire game. That’s a pretty nice boon. Retaliate is unfortunately apparently still busted in a bad way, but these indeed gave me some nice insights for cavalry. While the fliers did outrange us, we were mostly able to keep these back and well-protected for some nice counter-punching. I’ve tried using cavalry like this before, but don’t think I gave them enough instigating units previously. Overall, like any TC-reliant unit, the charges were fine, but the grind is still a bummer.
• Great Totem. I lucked out with where the Air Elementals started, and was able to safely drop this down behind the building. While my opponent got first turn, he wasn’t able to really devote time to battling the rock. I managed to drop it in a place to score for the scenario, and it was able to issue a few commands even! I forgot about Rally though the math swung hard in both directions that it wouldn’t have changed anything, and I remembered Vicious about half the time. It definitely takes some extra thought to use, but this was a great debut for this super-fun pick! Edit: about a week later, I see I have misread the Advanced Deployment rule... it needs to come down on my half of the board. I misplayed this then.
• Elementals and other Traits. I’ve previously noted just how much was going on in the initial Forces of Nature list, with Herd, Brotherhood, Verdant, and Elementals are vying for attention in the original roster. Verdant stuff has now been rolled up into just Elementals, which makes things easier, and makes sense given that we only have a few units of woody things now. I really liked seeing the assorted Elementals at work, and was really impressed by the Water and Air Elementals in all forms. I’m trying not to add too much to my existing collections right now, but a few of these might be fun to try out, and the Greater Water Elemental is such a fun looking model too, with the broken keel and such around the spine. It was just great to see these models all on the table, and my opponent's enthusiasm and optimism for the game was infectious!

The “mirror” match was indeed neat to see here. I loved seeing all the Elementals on the table and working together! Having both of us working through the “same” new army was fun, and we both learned a lot, though the end result was unfortunately a bit one-sided. We’ll see if the Elementals can acquire some new interns, and I hope we can see them all across the table again soon! Thanks for the game, Kenny!

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

Intro and Lists

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

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

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

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

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

Table and Terrain

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

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

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

Overview of the table, plus tokens.

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

View from the left.

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

View from the center.

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

And view from the right.

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

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

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

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

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

A legal Scout move on the right.

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

Top of Round 1: Forces of Nature

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

The Shamblers secure a token.

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

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

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

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

Bottom of Round 1: Undead

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

The Undead hardly move.

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

Nice and steady.

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

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

Ever so slightly more aggressive on the left.

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

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

Top of Round 2: Forces of Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bottom of Round 2: Undead

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

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

Blocking Zombies on the right.

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

The Undead are retreating in the center.

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 3: Forces of Nature

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

The Elementals start to clash with the Undead.

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

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

More clashes on the right.

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

Ah, nuts. The Zombies crumble.

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

Bottom of Round 3: Undead

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

The Undead sort of fight back.

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

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

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

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

Charges in the center.

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 4: Forces of Nature

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

Charges for the Forces of Nature.

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

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

Ah! Hot dice claim the Zombie Trolls.

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

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

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

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

Clashes on the right.

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

And reforms for the Greater Fire Elemental. Onward!

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

Bottom of Round 4: Undead

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

Fighting on the right.

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

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

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

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

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

And fighting on the left.

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

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

Top of Round 5: Forces of Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Wyrm King is insane!

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

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

Bottom of Round 5: Undead

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

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

Still fighting, but to no effect.

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 6: Forces of Nature

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bottom of Round 6: Undead

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

The Undead sort of hold on?

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

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

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

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

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

Top of Round 7: Forces of Nature

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

The Forces of Nature delay, looking for the win.

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

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

The last Zombies fall on the right.

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

Bottom of Round 7: Undead

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

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

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

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

A 4:0 win to the Forces of Nature!

Game Conclusions

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

Testing Conclusions

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

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