Category: BLOODFIRE

Fire Elemental-Themed Salamanders

BLOODFIRE 47-48: RATKIN & OGRES

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Pilgrimage reports are coming, I promise 😅 In the meantime, here’s another practice game double-header to tide you over. While I couldn’t make the Unplugged GT this year, I was happy to oblige my clubmates with some smashy practice. This was all the excuse I needed to bust out the Bloodfire redux I’ve been poking at …

GAME 47: RATKIN

SALAMANDERS 1995
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Regiment
Fire Elementals Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ghekkotah Slasher – tox bolts
Ghekkotah Slasher – tox bolts
Mage Priest – Crown of the Wizard King; Surge (8), Host Shadowbeast (3)
Clan Lord on Raptor
Clan Lord on Raptor

The recent buffs to the Slasher have me very excited, especially since I was already going to include them before they got US2 😉 Tox bolts is a ridiculous upgrade solidly in my wheelhouse, and you’ve already seen me messing with host firebeast and Raptor Lords. My list building habits have changed a bit since I started Bloodfire in 2E, along with the meta I reckon, as thick chaff have become a popular and rewarding way to play the game. This first game sees me trying out 2x Fire regiments for the first time. Minor spoilers, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them! Woefully slow, not particularly tough, and not particularly fighty unless they can grab a flank. But five regiments to get in the way and/or play scenario is a better feel than yet another fire horde.

RATKIN 1995
Shock Troops Horde – Plague Pots, Heavy Halberds
Shock Troops Horde – Plague Pots
Nightmares Horde
Warriors Horde
Tunnel Runners Regiment – Brew of Sharpness
Clawshots Troop
Clawshots Troop
Vermintide Regiment
Mutant Rat-Fiend
The Tangle [1] – Bane Chant (1+), Fireball (10+), Mind Fog (1+), Weakness (1+)
Brood Mother – Blight Staff, Drain Life (5)
War Chief – Aura (Vicious (Melee) – Infantry Only)

I’m not 100% that Cory had sharpness on the Tunnel Runners but that’s how I’d run them and the points work out. He may have had Strider Boots and 20 points of something on the heroes. Regardless, Cory took rats to Unplugged and had been grinding through different iterations of the list. This is actually not what he ended up taking – he went with the more typical Scud and Cryza and double Nightmares and less infantry overall, as he was struggling to get all the infantry hordes to be relevant. Spoilers again.

We rolled up Salt the Earth, which was good practice as Bloodfire isn’t good at Pillage games and I’m personally bad at burning tokens. Rats go first because Clawshots?

BATTLE

Battlelines! Ratkin Warriors are the horde to the left (with the stalagmites) and the Shock Troops on the right have phalanx. I scout up my Ember Sprites, staying within inspiring range.

Turn 1: The rats skitter forward, with Clawshots punching 3 damage into the right Slasher. The wall of sentient flame oozes closer in response, before Ember Sprites singe the Vermintide for 2 damage. Then I hot hand tox bolts on 6+ to hit into some Clawshots, removing one unit 😉

Turn 2: Ratkin wrap the left flank in, sending the Vermintide into Ember Sprites to be annoying before they burn to death. They do 4 damage to their fellow swarm. The surviving Clawshots punch another damage into the looming right Slasher, and Nightmares blast off the leftmost Ember Sprites.

In response, a Fire Elemental regiment flanks and immolates the Vermintide (surge may have been involved), but not until another round of 6+ to hit tox bolts slams the other Clawshots for 5 damage, wavering them 😀 I am loving these things, but Cory doesn’t necessarily share my joy.

Turn 3: The ratty center backs up as the flank swings in further, with the Warrior horde nuzzling up against a wall. Nightmares shoot 3 damage into the left Fire Elemental reg.

With rats still in charge range, I figured now is as good a time as ever to get stuck in. I triple charge the right Shock Troops horde with a Fire horde, a Fire reg and Ember Sprites, and use surge to block up the other Shock Troops with the remaining Ember Sprites (who also burn 3 damage into the horde before being magically scooted forward). The triple charge results in a decent 12 damage. I also send the left Fire reg into the Nightmares for some amount of damage (and a disorder), with a Raptor Lord into their Brood Mom for 2 damage (and a disorder).

Turn 4: Ratty retaliation is swift and deadly. The Warrior horde (hindered) flanks the Raptor Lord, driving him off despite 6+ to hit (Brood Mom only helped so much), shortly before the Nightmares clubbed the Fire Elemental reg to goo. On the hill, the unengaged Shock Troops splattered some Ember Sprites with the War Chief’s help, and the right Shock Troops chunk 10 damage into the Fire horde thanks to bane chant from the Tangle. Finally, the Tunnel Runners toe onto the lower left hill, although I’m not certain their leader point was on or not? Also the Clawshots tag another 2 damage on the right Slasher (6 total).

Bloodfire, smash! The mangled Fire horde finishes off the heavily damaged Shock Troop horde, turning to face the other Shock Troops as the Fire reg blocks the Mutant Rat-Fiend. Meanwhile a fresh Fire horde plows into those Shock Troops, punching them to 11 damage with the help of some friendly Ember Sprites and scoring a waver! Which won’t mean much because Tangle but still! The third Fire horde slams into the Nightmares but only manages a statistically expected 7 damage. Last but not least, the tox bolt party kicks up again as one Slasher tags 1 damage into the Tunnel Runners and the other blasts the second Clawshots troop off the table. Nice.

Ratkin 5: We are well and truly in it now! The Nightmares counter their Fire horde while that damn Warrior horde (hindered) flanks in for great victory, exploding the elementals despite the odds. The Shock Troop horde counter-charges its Fire horde thanks to the Tangle’s fury aura, and delivers 8 damage (bane chant might have failed?) You’ll notice that the Shock Troops didn’t center up – the War Chief waited for the horde to engage, before shooting off into the damaged right Fire horde and dunking it himself. The MRF, meanwhile, smashed into the blocking Fire reg and did a shocking 2 damage total, shortly after the Brood Mom on the left drained the last of the Ember Sprites off the table and healed the Shock Troops to 7 damage. The Tunnel Runners continue to loom.

Salamanders 5: I am feeling decidedly light on the table 😬 On the right, a Slasher flanks the Mutant Rat-Fiend and tears it apart (the War Chief was just out for the reroll) with the help of the Fire reg. The surviving Raptor Lord takes precisely 2 bites out of the War Chief (even with host shadowbeast +4 O_O), before the Fire horde on the hill burns the Shock Troops down. They face the Nightmares, heavily damaged or no. I debate for a long time and end up bombing the other Slasher into the Tunnel Runners. He’s a big punchy boy and if he can hold, he can probably grind the chariots out and score that point. He lands 7 damage out of 10 attaks, which is a brilliant start.

Ratkin 6: As tempting as that Slasher flank is, the Ratkin Warrior horde mobs the Mage-Priest instead, somehow dragging her down (on 5+/5+ from these enslaved kings). This gives the Tunnel Runners a single shot to rout their Slasher, but despite 7 damage they don’t land the 11 to break. The Nightmares and Brood Mum buzz the last Fire horde down, the Tangle fireballs the right Slasher to a waver (7 damage but shattering!), and the War Chief does a stellar 3 damage to the Raptor Lord.

Salamanders 6: In what I’m hoping is the last turn, the left Slasher shatters the Tunnel Runners and turns to face the heroic Warriors and the Raptor Lord eats the Ratkin War Chief. With 2 tokens apiece and no Turn 7, this is a …

DRAW

Part of me loves coming back to the warm red embrace of Bloodfire, and part of me doesn’t. The army’s problems haven’t really gotten better with 3E, although I do have access to some new toys that make life easier thanks to being faster, shootier, and better at hitting 😛

GAME 48: OGRES

I used the same list as above for the next throwdown against Drew’s Gnollgres, except I swapped one Fire Elemental reg out for a Scorchwing reg for science, putting the extra points towards knowledgeable on the Mage-Priest. After this game I swapped the other Fire reg out for Scorch too, the birds are just too useful and Fire regs are just too meh. Of all the elemental regs, they don’t seem to offer much apart from being cheaper than their horde version. Anyway, onward!

OGRES 1995
Siege Breakers Horde – Helm of the Drunken Ram
Siege Breakers Horde – Chalice of Wrath
Hunters Horde
Warrior Chariots Regiment – Boots of Striding
Berserker Braves Regiment
Berserker Braves Regiment
Red Goblin Scouts Troop
Red Goblin Scouts Troop
Nomagarok [1] – Bane Chant (2+), Heal (4+), Lightning Bolt (4+)
Ogre Warlock – Lightning Bolt (3+), Drain Life (5+)
Ogre Warlock – Lightning Bolt (3+), Drain Life (5+)
Berserker Bully

To sum up, it’s Good Stuff Ogres but without Boomers 😛 No item on the Hunters is surprising but he’s trying to relive the 2E glory of CS2 + TC1 Siege Breakers I guess. For when you really need to one round a fool.

We played Plunder, because it’s great. During the game it looks like they’re pillage markers but I assure you that they’re loot tokens, neither of us wanted to pick them up for speed / surge reasons. The Gnollgres go first because I’m slow and he’s fast.

BATTLE

Scouting Phase! Ember Sprites creep up but stay within inspiring and retaliatory Fire Elemental range. Hunters are hard to the left with the Bully, Braves are stacked in the pond with Siege Breakers to either side.

Turn 1: The Gnollgres thunder forward, sending the Scouts up to be a menace before the Warlock coven unleashes hell into the Ember Sprites. Drew rolls out of his mind with lightning and removes the center Sprites, with 5 damage dealt to the left regiment. And a couple more to my already low confidence in this match up.

Bloodfire oozes forward in the center in response and doesn’t move at all on the left, while mobilizing chaff on the right. A Raptor Lord charges the right Scouts, delivering 3 damage even with +5 Shadowbeast 😐 Ember Sprite and Scorchwing shooting tags 6 damage on one of the Brave regs but their Nv is always higher than I remember and I realize I should probably have assassinated a Warlock. That won’t come back to haunt me. Oh, and tox bolts punch 3 damage into the Chariot reg.

Ogres 2: Scouts charge off the hill into a waiting Slasher as their fellows counter-charge the Raptor Lord on the right. The smoldering Braves charge the central Ember Sprites, and the rest of the Ogre line tiptoes around very slightly. I deploy more coffee.

Braves eat the Ember Sprites and Scouts deal 4 damage to the Slasher and 1 to the Raptor Lord. The Warlock’s lightning storm zaps 3 damage onto the right Fire horde.

Salamanders 2: I feel like forcing Drew’s hand a bit before he can force mine or lightning one of my hammers away, so I shove two Fire hordes (including the damaged one) into the forward Braves. Ember Sprites get in the way to their right – and do a stellar 3 damage to the Warlock I should have shot earlier! – while the right Raptor Lord takes another bite out of the Scouts. Speaking of mounted heroes, the other Raptor Lord rips into the Chariot regiment to keep them occupied as my Fire reg flanks the Scouts harassing the Slasher (who also counter-charges). The other Slasher decides to look forward to keep its options open, including making a dash for the 1 point token in front of it.* However the coolest play of the turn sees the Ht 4 Scorchwings zip into the flank of the fury Siege Breakers. For reasons.

The Red Goblin Scouts die (RIP), as do the Braves. The Siege Breakers take 5 damage from angry birds, and the Chariots go up to 7 damage from the hosted Raptor Lord and waver. Result!

*This was a mistake that I realized after passing the turn. The left Slasher can currently see the Hunters’ flank if they engage the Fire reg, and potentially if they kill them as well … but what if it’s a combo-charge with the Bully right next to them? And what if they overrun?

Ogres 3: The Hunters and Bully immediately combo-charge the Fire reg, knowing they’ll disappear from the left Slasher’s arc and face the titans piecemeal. Speaking of fighting things piecemeal, the fury Siege Breakers charge the undamaged Fire horde in the center, the second Braves charge the damaged Fire horde, and the TC Siege Breakers charge the right Raptor Lord. Warlocks scoot around for spell-slinging purposes.

Noms heals the fury Siege Breakers down to 2 damage (giving them vicious in the process) and various drain lifes or lightnings put 1 damage on the Scorchwings, but Drew hot rolls a waver. In combat, the Fire reg and right Raptor Lord are obliterated, however both Fire hordes are somehow alive on 8 and 5 damage respectively. I may have never survived a Siege Breaker charge before and am ecstatic.

Drew has spent the year racking up well-deserved paint awards!

Salamanders 3: The Raptor Lord re-charges the Chariots while centrally I send the Fire hordes back into their dancing partners. Yes, I should be double-charging the Siege Breakers but we are precisely aligned and identical frontages, so my right horde is actually in the Breakers’ flank, yet cannot contact it apart from the 0mm corner. So counters it is. In the lower left, I take a moment to lament my life choices before having the Slasher fight the Hunters. Ensnare means I’ll do less damage than against the Bully but the flank next turn will be potentially less bad from the Bully and really I’m setting my other Slasher up as best I can next turn. Slasher #2 walks on the hill and prepares to watch his brother die next turn, but does tox bolt the Bully for 3 damage 😀 Meanwhile, the Scorchwings turn to be a real pain in Turn 4 and Ember Sprites continue to be a pain. They squirt a damage onto a Warlock.

In combat, the Braves are nuked and I don’t reform the victorious Fire horde (I should maybe have backed up?), shortly before the fury Siege Breakers are slammed to double digits (12 maybe?) but fail to rout. Butts. Elsewhere, the Hunters take a decent 5 damage from the Slasher, but the real winner here is the Raptor Lord, who dunks the Chariot regiment with the help of host shadowbeast! I really love these plucky lizard dudes riding, um, other less-dudely lizards.

Ogres 4: The slugfest continues unabated. Hunters counter their Slasher with the Bully in the flank. Helm Siege Breakers trip over a wall and into the last of the Ember Sprites. Fury Siege Breakers hit their Fire horde again, with a combination of heal and drain life returning them to 5 damage. Thanks, I hate it. All those drains push the Scorchwings up to 5 damage in the process, but they hold.

A hot, wet squelching sound can be heard as the Gnollgres kill all their targets in combat. The fury Siege Breakers get frankly really lucky on their side step (3″ of 3″ needed), blocking the other forward Fire horde from flanking them.

Salamanders 4: Denied a flank, I take the fury Siege Breakers in the front and the back with Scorchwings! The third Fire horde I’ve had as backup goes into the helm Siege Breakers, sadly hindered. In the lower left, the Slasher charges off the hill into the waiting Hunters, and the triumphant Raptor Lord plows into the Berserker Bully (who’s on 3 damage).

Shockingly, that Raptor Lord eats the Bully’s lunch, with +5 host playing no small part. Shortly after, the Slasher slams the Hunters up to 9 damage, the fury Siege Breakers are finally burnt to cinders, and the helm Siege Breakers take an unknown amount of damage (math says 3 but I think I did better). Also! We can see that the (now central) Fire horde picked up a 2 point token. In fact, they did this back in turn 2 😅

Turn 5: Damn, the Ogres have a lot of tools left … A combination of drains, lightnings and/or heals from the Warlocks sees the Scorchwings dead, the token Fire horde on 9 damage and the helm Siege Breakers certainly on less damage than before. Those Breakers smash 7 damage into their Fire horde (I AM ALIVE WOW) while the Hunters stab 6 into the surviving Slasher.

In return, both Fire hordes crash into the Siege Breakers, turning them into warm liquid goo. The Hunters are likewise dismembered by the Slasher and Raptor Lord combo, with shadowbeast for spice.

Turn 6: Even with just Noms and two Warlocks left, I’m on such high damage and the 2 point tokens are so close together that this isn’t a foregone conclusion. Drew ends up pushing the odds and playing for a win rather than a draw: Noms charges the 9 damage Fire horde with a 2 point token, who bump up to 11 damage from a Warlock’s drain. Sadly Noms doesn’t stick a wound so no test is rolled. At the same time, the other Warlock drains the 7 damage Fire horde up to 9 damage, but flubs the 8 (rerolled) needed to rout.

I immediately grab a 1 pointer with the Slasher and position the Raptor Lord to move block the central 1 pointer, as the 9 damage Fire horde scoops up a 2 pointer. This leaves the 11 damage Fire horde to bop Noms for 3 damage and hold onto their 2 pointer with rapidly dissolving mittens. With no Turn 7, this is a …

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

Wow, what a game! On the whole I feel like I skated by a couple tough spots with the luck of the (read: Drew’s) dice, but it’s a good feel that we were both in it until the end. Overall, I really enjoyed playing Bloodfire again and reviewing these games makes me want to get the 1995 version back on its elemental feet / stumpy bodies. It’s a lot of Mantic resin but I figure that’s a major plus as well.

Thanks for hanging in there readers, hoping to finally clean my Herd tournament reports out sooner than later! I had a heck of a year with the Hallow and have one more GT before I pack them away for a bit. Stay tuned as ever.

BLOODFIRE 46: UNDEAD

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRE1 Comment

A weekend or two after Dead of Winter, a clubmate struggled the 0.7 miles to my house and we threw a couple games down, along with quite a few beers. First game saw me messing with 1995 points of Abyssals, in what I’m pretty sure is my first game with the faction? I may hold on to the report for that game, due to loathesome proxies on my part. More importantly, I busted out Bloodfire after grabbing dinner and we threw down a second facesmasher of a match. Strap in.

Salamanders 1995
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Greater Fire Elemental

Clan Lord – Axe of the Giant Slayer, Raptor
Clan Lord – Torc of Dissonance, Raptor
Mage-Priest – Crown of the Wizard King, Fireball (10), Surge (8), Host Shadowbeast (8)
Battle Captain on Rhinosaur – Inspiring Talisman

Canny readers will notice that this is the Shadowbeast version of the last time I played Bloodfire, with the Torc on one Raptor Lord because it seems good to have around and you can pop it in the shooting phase while eating somebody’s face in the combat phase. I was pumped to give the list – and Host Shadowbeast – a shot.

Undead 1995
Werewolves Horde – Brew of Strength
Wights Horde
Wights Horde
Revenants Horde – Sanguinary Scripture, Undead Giant Rats
Zombies Horde
Wraiths Troop
Wraiths Troop
Goreblight

Vampire Lord on Undead Dragon – Icy Breath (10), Surge (8), Lightning Bolt (4)
Necromancer – Inspiring Talisman, Surge (6), Drain Life (4)

This is more or less his 2300 cut down because I asked him to make a 1995 😐 He’s really down on the dragon (I AGREE) but the vampires he’s churning out for the next version of the army aren’t done yet, 335 point sink it is. The Wraiths are the newest addition, which he’s loving. I’ve fought them plenty of times in other Undead armies and continue to be surprised at how just good they are!

We rolled up Raze, and I won and took first turn, because shambling.

BATTLE

Salamanders 0: Scouting phase!
Salamanders 1: The red wall churns forward, promising violence. The Raptor Lord with the torc is positioned centrally.
Undead 1: The deadites likewise shamble forward, with the exception being the Werewolves shooting hard to the right flank. The Necromancer and Vampire Lord attempt to slingshot the Goreblight forward with double surges but they fail quite terribly.
Salamanders 2: Whelp, no time like the present for smashing stuff :/ Ember Sprites scramble out of the way on the left, with one regiment sizzling through the central pond into the flank of the right Wight horde. Double Fire Elementals storm into the stranded Goreblight, as the Rhino Captain hits left Wraiths and prepares to block the infantry hordes up, the torc Raptor Lord charges the left Wights (to sit them down), and the Greater Fire Elemental and slayer Raptor Lord join those cheeky Ember Sprites on the right Wights. The red right flank churns forward, watching for wolves.
Shooting kicks off with the torc Raptor Lord shattering his Torc of Dissonance, turning off the Vampire Lord’s surge 😤 Then the Mage-Priest powers that Raptor Lord up with +5 attaks. Feels good. Ember Sprites stick 2 damage on the Zombie horde, but the two regiments on the right can’t get any damage to stick to the Wraiths near them. The warm liquid goo phase sees the Goreblight immolate completely, and the right Wight horde evaporates. The Rhino Captain punches his Wraiths for 2 damage, however it looks like the 10 attak Raptor Lord fails to even disorder his Wight horde. Feels, uh, bad.
Undead 2: Thankfully with the Vampire Lord’s surge turned off this turn, the nimble-less Wights struggle to spot any flanks they can capitalize on with the Necromancer’s piddly 17″ surging range and height 2 (and of course I’ve got surge waiting if he jumps my lines). The Wights end up combo-charging the leftmost Fire Elemental horde, opening up the Rhino Captain to be charged by the Zombies (hindered). The Wraiths on the right struggle with how to be useful, deciding to charge the Raptor Lord protecting the Greater Fire Elemental’s rear on the odd change they can overrun and ruin her day. The dragon rotates in place, preparing to use its icy breath on the torc Raptor Lord. The Werewolves abandon the flank and return to their starting position 😛
The Vampire coats the torc Raptor Lord in ice, causing no damage but freezing the tough lizard (I missed that Frozen procs on damage, like most all of KOW, and just applied it on hit, for all it matters). The Necromancer attempts to drain life the Rhino Captain, but likewise can’t manage both hitting and wounding. In combat, the left ghost squad is far more competent, smashing the leftmost Fire Elemental horde into embers and preparing for retribution. The Zombies scrabble 2 damage into the Rhino Captain, despite needing 6s then 5s, and the right Wraiths bad touch 3 damage onto the slayer Raptor Lord.
Salamanders 3: I windmill slam the Greater Fire Elemental into the Wight’s flank, with Fire Elementals in the front. Almost as fast, the torc Raptor Lord jumps on the Vampire Lord on Undead Dragon, a Fire Elemental horde plows into the flank of the right Wraiths with the slayer Raptor Lord in the front. And grudgingly the Rhino Captain counter-charges the Zombies. Ember Sprites skitter around …
… and spit a single damage onto the Revenant horde. The Mage-Priest pumps +3 attaks into the slayer Raptor Lord, who revs up and, with the help of the Fire Elemental flank, nukes those right Wraiths. Speaking of applying heat to ghosts, the Greater Fire and more Fire Elementals obliterate the Wight horde. The Rhino Captain pulverizes a few Zombies, and the torc Raptor Lord sits the dragon down (on 2 damage). I burn 2 tokens, starting the scoring off 2-0.
Undead 3: Lots of finagling results in the Revenant horde indeed being trapped behind the Zombies; they side step in a bid to become relevant. The Vampire Lord lopes into the left Fire Elementals, shortly before Wraiths nimble over to the horde’s flank and get surged 1″ in by the Necromancer. The Werewolves turn tail and head back to down the right flank.
The Vampire Lord and Wraiths push the Fire Elementals to 11 damage, but they hold. The Zombies preposterously push the Rhino Captain to 7 damage, tho he also holds firm.
Salamanders 4: The Greater Fire Elemental once again immediately propels itself into a tasty flank, with the Vampire Lord feeling her gentle caress this time. The Fire Elementals team up by hitting the dragon’s front. The torc Raptor Lord lunges at the Necromancer (hindered), the Rhino Captain counters the Zombies again, and a crack team of Ember Sprites, Fire Elementals and slayer Raptor Lord move to intercept the Werewolves.
The Mage-Priest whips +2 attaks onto the torc Raptor Lord – the Wizard Crown is amazing, y’all. That Mage-Priest has hardly moved from that pond, when in the past she’d be furiously moving 5″ every turn and taking the support shots she could get. In other shooting, Ember Sprites tickle the Revenants up to 3 damage and do 1 damage to the Werewolves. Combat begins with the dragon getting dunked by the Greater Fire and friends. The Necromancer is wavered and more Zombies die.
Undead 4: The Wraiths charge the badly mauled Fire Elementals, while Revenants back up and the Werewolves dive further down the flank, disappearing up and over the right hill.
The Wraiths finish off the Fire Elementals, backing up and burning a point (now 2-1). Then the Zombies somehow tear down the Rhino Captain, messily devouring him … and turning their rear to the Greater Fire Elemental in a show of disrespect.
Salamanders 5: I hesitate but a moment before hammering the GFE into the Zombies’ rear. Fresh Fire Elementals power into those Wraiths, and the slayer Raptor Lord pressures the Werewolves into engaging sooner than later. The torc Raptor Lord charges the Revenant horde to hold them in place (not shown above). He gets another +2 attaks from the Mage-Priest’s horse firebeast.
The smell of sizzling flesh pervades the battlefield as the Necromancer is cooked by Ember Sprites, before the Greater Fire Elemental wades into the Zombie horde and it gets so much worse. They incinerate, and the Fire Elementals happily drive off the last of the Wraiths. The torc Raptor Lord chomps the Revenants up to 8 damage. I burn my third token (3-1).
Undead 5: The Werewolves turn to face the elite fire team descending upon them. The Revenants counter-charge the Raptor Lord, doing 2 damage and lifeleaching down to 6 themselves.
Salamanders 6: The Revenant horde is mobbed by Ember Sprites as the Greater Fire Elemental wades to support the torc Raptor Lord. The Werewolves meanwhile are charged by the slayer Raptor Lord.

The Revenants are demolished, thanks in large part to the GFE doing 7-8 damage on 8 attaks. While the Werewolves don’t take appreciable damage from the Raptor Lord, the Undead concede as the wolves can at best drop the Raptor Lord, and very likely get wrecked in Turn 7 by Fire Elementals no matter what they do. With 4 points to the Undead’s 1, that’s a convincing …

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

Though it felt a little bad styling on my clubmate so thoroughly, it’s always fun to slam Bloodfire into armies that also want to fight. I’m really enjoying the double Raptor Lords, and Shadowbeast, while not particularly game-breaking on Clan Lords (especially when you consider what the Mage-Priest costs!), is a lot of fun. Crown of the Wizard King is particularly wonderful on a short support caster whose best surge targets (Greater Fire Elementals) are taller than everything around her.

BLOODFIRE 45: EMPIRE OF DUST

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Happy new year! Hope it’s been good, or at least relatively free of plague. This last Saturday we had a (masked + vaxxed) Learn to Play Kings of War day at the very new gaming center in town, and had great turnout with quite a few people interested in the game and in minigaming in general. Plus a few members of our club came out who haven’t been spotted in the wild in years, which also bodes well for the future of KOW in our area. Exciting times ahead, pandemic-willing!

After the first couple rounds of intro games, there was a free table so I challenged a clubmate to a fast little game of Kings:

Salamanders 1000
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Greater Fire Elemental
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Surge (8), Heal (3)
Herald – The Boomstick

I have some regrets about not taking Scorched Earth instead of Heal and giving the Herald the Shroud instead, but not a lot else to say. In theory, LB(3) should be great for clearing chaff and adding to the general firepower of the list. In practice though …

Empire of Dust 1000
Skeleton Spearmen Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Mummies Regiment
Mummies Regiment
Bone Giant
Sebekh-Rei the Accursed – Heal (5+), Surge (5+)
Revenant Champion – Surge (5)

Chaff? What chaff? Solid EOD package, although he really wasn’t feeling Sebekh-Rei (agreed!). Rev Champ is a real workhorse however, giving them surge option is so good for the army.

We chose to play Dominate, since all the intro tables were running either Invade or Dominate and we had just helped run an Invade game. Bloodfire scouted, won the roll for first, then gave it away.

BATTLE

Salamanders 0: Ember Sprites scoot up the field to get ready to spit and to tempt him to engage.
Empire of Dust 1: The dry undead shamble forward, maintaining their frontage on the left and surging a couple inches forward on the right.
Salamanders 1: Ember Sprites advance and angle a bit, as Fire Elementals hover behind them and prepare to counter (the left horde has been surged up to close its frontage off from the Bone Giant, forgetting that it could probably walk up and surge into their flank). Ember Sprites spit at the Bone Giant, doing 3 damage. The Boomstick Herald tries the same and fails.
Empire of Dust 2: Mummies descend upon the Ember Sprites! The left regiment is driven off but the right holds on 5 damage (given how few attaks Mummies have on 4+, holding was a distinct possibility). The Skeleton Spearmen continue their inexorable flank, the Bone Giant plays it cool while Sebekh-Rei fails a 5-6 dice heal on the big guy 😐
Salamanders 2: As planned, the Sprites have left at least one of the Mummies with their flank open, which a Fire Elemental horde cheerily plows into, with Greater Fire in the front. The other Fire Elementals head off to slowly burn down the Bone Giant. The surviving Sprites had to disengage and sidestep to make space for the Fire Elemental charge, but have been surged back into the Mummies at this point. Finally, the Herald tried to lightning bolt Sebekh-Rei but failed.
The left Mummies are incinerated, the right Mummies take 2! damage from enraged Ember Sprites, and the Bone Giant takes an anemic 4 damage from his Fire Elementals (up to 7). Yikes.
Empire of Dust 3: Gentle readers, we’ve entered the grind. The Mummies regen their 2 damage then corkscrew the looming Fire Elementals. The Bone Giant counters his Fire Elementals, rolls max attaks and pummels 8 damage into them. Double yikes. Between heal and lifeleech he returns to 3 damage. Meanwhile, the Skeleton Spears flank and skewer the poor little Ember Sprites.
Salamanders 3: At this point, it’s pretty obvious that the Bone Giant fight isn’t going to go my way, and the Skeleton Spears are going to be a problem very soon, as well as a scenario winner in themselves. My only option is to punch harder!

Smoldering Fire Elemetals head back into the Bone Giant, again doing a terrible 4 damage (7 is average) and getting him back to 7. Central Fire Elementals counter the Mummies, but not before the Greater Fire steps into surge position, hence the strange alignment (the big girl couldn’t combo-charge with them, due to not having Nimble. Also I just realized she could have toasted Sebekh-Rei out of spite before surging in!) While they do damage, it isn’t enough to rout the Mummies in one go. Also the Herald tries and fails to lightning Sebekh-Rei.

Empire of Dust 4: The Bone Giant stamps out his Fire Elementals, the Skeleton Spears stab the other Fire Elemental horde up to 10 damage, and the Mummies bap 5 damage onto the Greater Fire. Everybody lifeleeches, regens or heals as is their wont. Looking like Bloodfire’s best option is to punch. even. harder.
Salamanders 4: One of my favorite things about playing Sallies is the late game shooting that happens when Mage-Priests are called upon to rain elite fireball (10) down on fools. To whit, the Mage-Priest roasts the Bone Giant back up to 7 damage (the Herald probably tried to help too but I’m not giving her any credit), but the rerolled 9 rout test doesn’t come through. In combat, the Greater Fire Elemental burns up the Mummies and faces the rampaging Bone Giant, while the Fire Elemental horde continues to be terrible, dishing out 6 damage to the Skeleton Spears (of 9 expected). RIP, fire boys.
Empire of Dust 5: The Bone Giant powers into the Greater Fire Elemental, in the kaiju big battle I know I was waiting for (the Rev Champ gets in on the action as well while Sebekh-Rei lets them fight). The duo chunks her up to 12 damage. The Skeleton Spear horde meanwhile dissipates the Fire Elementals. A bunch of healing happens.
Salamanders 5: Hear me out – if the Greater Fire can wreck the Bone Giant and hold against the Spears, I might actually pull this out … The Greater Fire gets the Bone Giant to 11 damage but can’t land the double 6 rout (4 on the first roll, actually). The Mage-Priest and Herald try to dunk the Skeleton Spears but roll very poorly, taking them up to 7 damage.
Empire of Dust 6: The Greater Fire Elemental is torn down by the combined aggression of the Empire, to simmer until she may once again scorch the mortal plane.
Salamanders 6: I’ve got just one plan left – pop the horde with the Mage-Priest and tip the Bone Giant over with the Herald. While the Mage-Priest slams the horde up to 13 damage and the Herald actually manages 1 damage on the giant, neither of the rout tests come through for me. With no Turn 7 (which would see both Bloodfire casters surge-charged anyway), that’s a resounding …

EMPIRE OF DUST VICTORY

In a game that revolved almost entirely around rolling 4+s to hit, the Bone Giant far outperformed, reminding me of my 2E games where Bone Giants were easily the best thing in the EOD list and caused me endless pain. On the flipside, my Fire Elementals were aggressively poor this game, and the Herald’s Boomstick was laughably bad, with I believe 1 damage dealt all game. Being 1000 points makes these sort of dice skews stand out all the more, I suppose.

All told a fun romp, thanks for reading! Hope to get some more games in, likely at 2100 points as my club is running its own GT at the end of February and we’re all chomping at the bit. Stay tuned.

BLOODFIRE 44: VARANGUR

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

It feels like it’s been forever since I last played Kings of War, but in that time Clash of Kings 2022 has slammed into the game and we’ve just begun feeling the weight of that impact. Add to all the new units and armies feverishly being born all the new players starting the game and it all adds up to exciting times in Pannithor. Personally, I’m adding loads of new stuff to the Hallow right now, partially because I already had expansions in progress and partially because COK unlocked quite a few units for the faction that otherwise were just hard to justify on the tabletop – including stuff I took in the beginning and kept passing over, like the Great Chieftain. Welcome to every game going forward, bud!

Since the Hallow is on the hobby desk, I commemorated my first COK22 outing by busting out Bloodfire: The Pre-Rebuild edition:

Salamanders 1995
Fire Elementals Horde – Diadem of Dragonkind
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Greater Fire Elemental
Clan Lord – Effigy of Fire, Raptor
Clan Lord – Effigy of Fire, Raptor
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Surge (8), Scorched Earth (3)
Battle Captain on Rhinosaur – Inspiring Talisman

This doesn’t take huge advantage of COK22 – there are no Scorchwings (yet) – but the shattering on the fireballs and the Me 3+ on the GFE certainly don’t hurt. I knew I wanted to take one of the new mega spells on the Mage-Priest, so went with Scorched Earth as I rate it the most meta-warping of the library. Yes, I do happen to have two very mobile combat individuals in the list as well. We’ll talk about changes at the end 😛

Varangur 1995
The Fallen Horde
The Fallen Horde
Snow Trolls Horde – Staying Stone
Huscarls Regiment – Brew of Haste
Mounted Sons of Korgaan Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver?
Night Raiders Troop – Bows
Cavern Dweller
Lord on Frostfang – Snow Fox
Lord on Horse – Snow Fox
Magus – Host Shadowbeast (8), Lightning Bolt (4)

Speaking of juicing up combat characters, the Varangur obviously went that route, with the 7 attak base mounted Lord prepared to receive all the shadowbeast he could handle. Apart from that, business as usual, with elite fast hammers, a token chaff unit, and one beautiful beastie.

Adorable baby boy!

We rolled up Invade, which felt a little bit too lopsided for Bloodfire’s triumphant return, so we rerolled to Push and kept it. Bloodfire scouted then won and took first!

BATTLE

Salamanders 0: There’s no escaping the Scouting Phase! Trolls (the toads to the right of the Cavern Dweller) have two tokens and the Huscarls (right of tower) have one; second-from-left Fire Elementals have one token and the horde to their right has two.
Salamanders 1: The red tide rolls out, with Clan Lords on the flanks looking to intercept and Ember Sprites mobilizing to be a nuisance. I do not pick up the center token, per nuisance guidelines.
Varangur 1: The monstrous barbarians advance to outside of the worst of the Bloodfire danger zone. Night Raiders shoot a damage onto the rightmost Ember Sprites, to no avail.
Salamanders 2: Clan Lords punch out left and right, holding up Fallen on one flank and Mounted Sons on the other. Ember Sprites, diadem Fire horde and Greater Fire move up into toasting range, as the left Fire hordes prepare to avoid combo-charges and then strike back.
21 Ember shots into Fallen in cover results in 2 damage (1 after Iron Resolve), but the Huscarls take 5 non-trivial points of damage and Scorched Earth. (Of my three options, they were probably the worst of them – they’re already hindered into the Fire Elementals in the wood or will be killing Sprites regardless. Making the Trolls hit on 5+ against Sprites could have actually been pretty gnarly, and as for the Dweller, I’ll admit I thought he hit on 4+ base so discounted him as a target. Whoops.)

The Clan Lords rolled well, doing 3-4 damage each at the cost of the left one’s effigy.

Varangur 2: Welcome to Murder Town, Ember Sprites! Leftmost Fallen counter their Clan Lord, other Fallen charge Sprites, the Horse Lord solos Fire Elementals, the Cavern Dweller scoots his tiny base into more Fire Elementals (I think he was blocking the Horse Lord’s LOS so they couldn’t go in together), Trolls waddle into more Sprites, Huscarls drop their token and hit the wounded Sprites, and Mounted Sons counter their Clan Lord. The Night Raiders tag a startling 3 damage on the Rhino Captain (hard right), and then the Magus hosts 4 attaks worth of shadowbeast into the Horse Lord. 11 attaks doesn’t seem so bad, right?
The Fallen stab 5 damage into their Clan Lord, the Horse Lord blends 4 into Fire Elementals (10 hits -> 4 wounds), the Cavern Dweller pounds a tidy 6 into his horde, and the Mounted Sons likewise deliver 6 damage to their Clan Lord in the joust to the right. All the Sprites die, leaving just one that is frustratingly in my way.
Salamanders 3: I can’t get those Ember Sprites out of the way of my Fire Elementals that want to murder the Trolls, so grudgingly the Sprites take that charge. Two more Fire hordes sandwich the Cavern Dweller in the name of overkill (my opponent may have egged me into it, then talked loudly about double ones the whole time …), and the overkill continues with the banged up Huscarls copping a Fire horde, Greater Fire and Rhino Captain to the face. I was vaguely aware of not needing to go this ham and maybe keeping the Captain back, but eh! The Clan Lords counter-charge their targets.

And then I come to terms with having nothing to do with my 150 point Mage-Priest. I wanted to Scorched Earth those waiting Fallen, but she really is quite short. I find myself missing Heal, which my Priests have had for like 43 games straight. Sigh. (It’s almost nothing, but she could have surged in the Ember Sprites if they held and shot the Trolls. I’m not really used to Sprites being shambling!)

Huscarls and Cavern Dweller are both devastated then routed. Wheeeeew. Fallen, Mounted Sons and Trolls take token damage.
Varangur 3: Alright, alright, deep breaths, let’s push these eevil vikings back. Fallen charge some Fire Elementals (4 damage), the Horse Lord sneaks his base into more Fire Elementals (6 damage), the last of the Sprites prepare to be devoured by Trolls, the Rhino Captain is combo-charged by Frostlord and Night Raiders, and the Clan Lords are counter-charged. The Magus pumps 4 attaks into the Horse Lord again, bringing him back to 11 attaks.
Red goo splashes across the battlefield as everything bar the left Clan Lord falls in combat (and that Clan Lord wavers). I’m reminded how bonkers the Frost Lord is, and taught another lesson in what a shadowbeast Horse Lord can do to a real unit ™.
Salamanders 4: Wow that fell apart! But um, tokens and stuff? I rocket the diadem Fire horde into the Mounted Sons, the other Fire horde (2 tokens) into the central Fallen, and the Greater Fire chooses to murder Night Raiders rather than grind the face of the Frost Lord (she was in his front arc, by design). The Mage-Priest has several Scorched Earth targets, but chooses to try to dunk the damn Magus pumping up the Horse Lord.
Fireball (10) on 5s (elite) and 5s manages to waver the Magus, thanks to shattering! All the combats go to Bloodfire as well. The token-bearing Fire Elementals try for a hardy overrun to pressure the Fallen into grinding with them, but 3″ only gets them just into range.
Varangur 4: Unable to escape the GFE’s wrath, the Trolls decide to charge her first (hindered), as the Frost Lord blocks the diadem Fire Elementals from flanking them. The Horse Lord charges the Mage-Priest, with his puny 7 attaks, and the Fallen prepare to end their Clan Lord’s reign of terror. The Magus, meanwhile, pats out his smoldering robes.
The second Clan Lord falls! But nothing else does, tho the Mage-Priest is indeed disordered. The Fallen back up just out of a Fire Elementals charge range.
Bloodfire 5: The diadem Fire horde and the Greater Fire pound damages into the Frost Lord and Snow Trolls respectively (up to 5 and 7 each). On the left, the token horde strains forward 5″ while the Mage-Priest limps after them in the name of inspiration.
Varangur 5: The grind continues on the right, while on the left the Varangur try a new tactic – what if Fallen and blender lord at once? Said Horse Lord receives +3 attaks from the Magus, for 10 total. Pedestrian, I say.
Turns out it’s still super effective! The Fallen + Lord one-round the Fire Elementals, giving the Fallen their 2 tokens. Both fire units on the right cop a hiding but somehow cling to the mortal plane – most notably the Greater Fire on 14 damage!
Salamanders 6: The right counter-charge their targets, and as spoiled above, kill them both, with the Frost Lord going down before the Trolls (as you do). Crispest of high fives for the GFE and her 3+ to hit, which felt great. On the left, the Mage-Priest uses her last cast of the battle to … reach for the stars and nuke the Fallen, dropping their tokens and ensuring the Varangur can’t hold any to come. The odds are pretty terrible (rerolled 10+ Nv checks on slightly above average damage) but the payoff is huge. Anyway, she does 1 damage and the double box cars doesn’t happen. (Ironically, the Frost Lord died on 12 rerolled into 11, and the Trolls died on 10-11 as well.)

The Mage-Priest’s other option was to choose violence and wreck the Magus out of spite. It would turn out that spite isn’t always the wrong option …

Also the GFE is holding the Trolls’ 2 tokens, tying the game 2-2.

Varangur 6: The Magus crests the hill and lightning bolts the Greater Fire Elemental back to whence she came, her loot falling in front of the feet of the Fire Elemental horde. 2-0 Varangur.

Salamanders 7: The Fire Elementals scoot forward and pick up the tokens, unable to turn and bring the Magus into their diadem’s arc. 2-2 draw.

Varangur 7: The Magus saunters forward, raises his other hand and explodes the Fire Elementals with another blast of lightning. That will teach those meddlesome eternals from scorching his robes. (Also the Fallen pick up 2 more tokens.) With a score of 4-0, that’s a convincing …

VARANGUR VICTORY

Obviously I’m smarting from not choosing to kill the damn wizard, but I feel like that’s the moral of this story (and possibly COK22): Kill. The. Wizard. You used to more or less be able to ignore casters, as they were heal bots or bane chanters or boomstick operators, but that’s going to be less and less the case. Flipside, the reward for taking these tools out is higher than before, both points and cost to the enemy, so well worth it.

Host Shadowbeast feels kind of bad to play against, as I thought it would, but I guess it’s here until 4E hits. Honestly I’m inclined to just join in, especially when it comes to the build I ran here. Lizards don’t have a 7 attak blender like a few of the factions, so I’m just juicing up 5 attak beaters and rolling dice, which hey, is the point. It largely gives combat characters more options than speedbumps or sitting down flyers, which is on the whole good. On the counter point, Scorched Earth I still think is the most important spell of the new library for the meta, however with double mounted heroes and so much chaff, it feels less necessary here. It might be best in lists that a) have ensnare, so it’s extremely punishing, but don’t necessarily have pathfinder so aren’t lurking in terrain (I’m saying Trident Realms, ok?); or b) are really elite and don’t have the usual tools to ground flyers.

Which is to say, here’s the redux for whenever somebody wants to play 1995 again:

Salamanders 1995
Fire Elementals Horde – War Bow
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Greater Fire Elemental
Clan Lord – Axe of the Giant Slayer, Raptor
Clan Lord – Blade of Slashing, Raptor
Mage-Priest – Crown of the Wizard King, Fireball (10), Surge (8), Host Shadowbeast (8)
Battle Captain on Rhinosaur – Inspiring Talisman

165 points seems a bit preposterous on that Mage-Priest, but 18″ surge and shadowbeast feels good for how slow she is compared to the more aggressive parts of the army. I 100% miss the healing I’ve used for basically ever, however I’m thinking leaning into aggression might be good, rather than pretending I can be a counter-attak attrition force.

Oh, also Effigy of Fire continues to feel pretty bad. More attaks or more rerolls please.

I’ll probably get another game or two in before the new year! Until then, happy Clashing!

GAME 43: THE HERD

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

*a pool of blood wells up out of a crack in the blasted earth at your feet; it begins to boil vigorously, when suddenly one blood-slick arm and then another shoots out of the pool; a figure drags itself out of the bloodfire and stands up, stretching and massaging a crick out of its neck*

Anyway, I’m back! I’ve gotten a few games of Universal Battle in during the long COVID downtime, but it really hasn’t scratched that gaming itch, in particular the feel of the dice and that sweet clatter of luck in action. With things mostly ok in my home state (New York), my clubmate and I threw down a socially distanced game of KOW last weekend, and it was delicious.

BLOODFIRE GAME 43: THE HERD

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Fire Elementals Horde
Scorchwing Cavalry Horde – Fire-Oil
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Ember Sprites Regiment
Greater Fire Elemental
Clan Lord – Effigy of Fire, Raptor
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Surge (8), Heal (3)
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Heal (6) [Shroud of the Saint]

I’ve only played two 1000 point games with Bloodfire in 3E, so I’ve been well-chuffed to try a fuller game with the red army. The only change I’d make to this list might be Blade of Slashing over Effigy on the Raptor Lord, otherwise it’s pretty much spot on for 2k. And yes, I’ll say it now: the Greater Fire is no Agnes 😔 I’m hoping to get some mileage out of her all the same, between the height and 50mm base, but the internal struggle will always be there … until her triumphant return, of course, long may she reign.

The Herd 2000

Spirit Walker Horde – Brew of Haste
Lycan Horde
Earth Elemental Horde
Lycan Regiment
Longhorn Troop
Longhorn Troop
Beast of Nature – 7 Attaks, Wings
Beast of Nature – 7 Attaks
Tree Herder
Druid – Bane Chant (2), Surge (4), Heal (2)
Druid – Lightning Bolt (2), Surge (4), Heal (2)

This is a cut down version of a 2300 point list, and I think you can tell. He explained what’s missing – Harpy troop, Forest Shambler reg, Tribal Tracker – and it seemed like the support staff to help this core do work / handle objectives while the hammers hit things. Also there’s 5 points missing but that could be any number of forgotten items.

We rolled up Smoke & Mirrors, then rerolled to Raze, a much simpler scenario! After bumbling through token placement and deployment and barely remembered scout rolls, Bloodfire won the roll off and took it.

BATTLE


Battelines!


Bloodfire Turn 1 after scouting + movement but before shooting. Scorchwings + Ember Sprites are gunning for the Lycan reg on the right (getting that fire-oil in action), despite the looming Beast.


Singed Lycan rout for first blood! And the central Longhorns cop some Sprite vomit as well. A Fire Elemental horde is surged up to pressure the center.


The Herd advance, with the flanking Lycan horde threatening as is its wont. Heal (2) fails to heal the 2 damage on the Longhorns but the other Druid’s Lightning (2) nails 2 damage on the Scorchwings.


Bloodfire Turn 2 sees the red tide rotate to bring the right hook in and prepare to receive the Herd on the left. Down the center, Fire Elementals roar into the Earth Elementals, with Ember Sprites both blocking out the walking Beast and charging the Longhorns to keep them busy.


Scorchwings + Ember Sprites burn down the Longhorns on the hill, while on the left more Sprites vomit ~5 damage into the Spirit Walkers. In combat, the hero Sprites tag a wound onto their Longhorns, and the Fire Elementals slam 8 damage into the Earth Elementals but they survive thanks to the 3E Nv buff (rolled a 9 twice!)

Fire Elementals burn the central token (1:0)


The Herd responds by sending the Spirit Walkers into some Fire Elementals (I don’t think they were more than 13” away, so minimum wild charge roll … or you know, the brew of haste they had!), the walking Beast into the Greater Fire (yep, his pathfinder means her puddle placement is pointless), the Earth Elementals + Tree Herder into the central Fire Elementals, and the Longhorns back into their Ember Sprites. The Earth Elementals are healed for 1-2 and bane-chanted, then on to murder.

The Spirit Walkers do a very statistical 10 wounds to their Fire Elementals, then botch the rerolled 7 rout (I guess statistically as well). The walking Beast punches 2 damage into the Greater Fire, beginning a slapfest for the ages. In the center, Fire Elementals take 8 damage but hold tight, although their nearby Ember Sprite buddies are blended by the Longhorns.

The Lycan horde burns the left token (1:1)


Bloodfire Turn 3 is going to get ultraviolent. The smoldering left Fire Elementals flank the Spirit Walkers, the Greater Fire countercharges her Beast of Nature, the central Fire Elementals counter the Earth Elementals (with some Ember Sprites controlling their slide to keep the Herder in their front), more Fire Elementals pound into the Longhorns, annnd the Scorchwings take a flank on the flying Beast. With the Herd being burned down or trapped in a grind to the left, the rightmost Fire Elementals abandon the token they were protecting and head towards the action. Ember Sprites take a moment to barf 1 damage on the Lycans but miss the lightning Druid. Both Mages heal the central Fire Elementals down to 5 damage.


In combat, the Scorchwings peck 6 damage onto the flying Beast, wavering it! Fire Elementals atomize the Longhorns, then more Fire Elementals pummel the Earth Elementals up to 9 damage (still no rout), and yet more Fire Elementals scatter the Spirit Walkers and char their corpses. The Greater Fire smacks 2 damage into her Beast.

Ember Sprites burn the left token (2:1)


The Herd retaliates with the Lycan horde (off a hill!) into the mangled left Fire Elementals, the walking Beast into the Greater Fire, the Earth Elementals + Herder back into the central Fire, and a cheeky Druid into the Scorchwings. The flying Beast turns to face its destroyers and backs up (which I think it couldn’t have done when disordered? Tho it didn’t matter in the least). The Earth Elementals got another 3 points of damage healed or radiance of lifed off them (down to 6).


Both wounded Fire Elementals are ended, while the walking beast glumly boops 2 more damage onto the Greater Fire. The Druid can’t hit the Scorchwings.

The Lycan horde burns another token (2:2)


Bloodfire Turn 4, a musical interlude with a dash of combat. Fire Elementals take their first swing at the Tree Herder (freshly turned to face), while the Raptor Lord finally makes contact with the flying Beast. The Scorchwings punch it 20” and nimble turn, pretty much because I’ve never done that but people do it to Bloodfire all the time 😐 And on the left a lot of shooting is brought to bear on the Lycans …


After the pyrotechnics die down, the pups are up to 10 damage but my hot dice can’t seal the deal with a single 7 to rout, let alone 5 to waver. As a consolation, the bane chant Druid takes 4! damage from the Sprites on the hill, wavering! Then the Raptor Lord cuts down the flying Beast (2 missed wounds tidily made up for by the Effigy D3), and 8 damage onto the Tree Herder is a great start to that grind. Finally, the Greater Fire pummels 5 damage into the walking Beast (7 total).

Ember Sprites burn the right token (3:2)


The Lycan horde makes me feel dumb and nimble charges the vainglorious Scorchwings. Derp. Also they regen down to 6 damage. The Tree Herder and Beast countercharge where appropriate, and the Earth Elementals have to flank some Ember Sprites blocking them. Radiance of life + healing bring both Earth Elementals and Tree Herder to 5 damage.


Fittingly, the Lycan one-round the Scorchwings, as the Earth Elementals also extinguish their Ember Sprites. The Tree Herder smacks a hearty 6 damage into its Fire Elementals, while the walking Beast tickles the Greater Fire up to 6 damage (2 a turn, like clockwork).


Bloodfire Turn 5: The Quest for More Blood. The grind continues as the far right Fire Elementals make contact with the Earth Elementals, and the Tree Herder and walking Beast prepare for another round. The Raptor Lord also charges into the bleeding bane-chant Druid. Finally, the Lycan once again find themselves in a ring of fire …


A second volley of 34 shots puts the dogs down, despite the cover of the woods. The Beast is likewise ended by the Greater Fire, but the Earth Elementals and Tree Herder hold tough, both on 10 damage now. The Druid also manages to stick around with a waver.


C-c-c-c-c-countercharge! Healing and radiance brings the Earth Elementals and Tree Herder to 9 and 8 damage, respectively (and the Druid to whatever). In combat, the Elementals’ Fire horde holds at 4 damage and the Herder’s somehow clings on at 11 damage!


Bloodfire Turn 6, time to end it. The Earth Elementals are mobbed by Fire Elementals in the front, Greater Fire in the flank, and Ember Sprites (hindered!) in the rear. The Tree Herder receives the exclusive attention of its rapidly-dissolving Fire horde. Also the Raptor Lord heads back into the Druid and Ember Sprites turn to spit at the other Druid, but miss. Healing brings the Herder’s Fire Elementals back to 7 damage.


But it’s a moot point, as both Earth Elementals and Tree Herder are detonated. That damn Druid sticks around tho!

Herd Turn 6 sees a token lightning bolt miss some Fire Elementals, and there’s no Turn 7. With the center token held, that brings it up to (4:2) in the Salamanders’ favor.

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

It was great to push some models around and roll actual dice, and even better to do it with Bloodfire – and yes, even better to do it when my dice were scaldingly hot. Those red dice haven’t been rolled since 2019, so so so bloodthirsty 🩸

We’ve got a 2300 point rematch tentatively scheduled for this weekend / sometime this month, so stay tuned gentle readers. Here’s hoping y’all can safely get a game or two in as well.

BLOODFIRE 3E

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Blogosphere! Been a hot minute, hope y’all are enjoying the new edition. I’m four games in with my crabby Trident Realms and not feeling like the army works very well in 3E, or at least doesn’t work well for me. Just so few attaks to go around, when the meta demands smashy grinding for its enjoyment (which is totally my bag … but not necessarily TR’s). So what, you ask, about my punchy grind army?

Every post should have a photo – here’s Agnes petting a krudger and making Skullface jealous.

I’ve actually played a couple 1000 point games to get a buddy up to speed on KOW and his new Northern Alliance bros. First game was pretty close, as he was able to ground my Scorchwings with Snow Foxes (lulz) and then pop them, followed by his Snow Trolls going ham before getting Fire Elemental’d. Second game I did bad things to him and regretted bringing the Scorchwings horde to a newb game, as they did work at such a small scale. Preposterously I didn’t take a single photo of these games, so that’s all you get, valiant readers!

As for my thoughts on Salamanders, the lizard half is looking great, and the flamebound half largely got better as well. I’m pretty tickled to have my sub-theme be a thing, tho the main upside is that my previous struggle for inspiring (and so hero slots) isn’t a thing any longer. My army overall lost some shooting quality and quantity, between Agnes stepping out of the list (for now!) and the CLOFD requiring wings (and a 75mm base) invalidating my version, but maybe the increased punchiness makes up for it? I’m excited to find out.

Here’s the current 3E conversion from 2E:

Army: Salamanders
Points: 2300
Unit Strength: 25

220, Fire Elemental Horde
220, Fire Elemental Horde
220, Fire Elemental Horde
220, Fire Elemental Horde
220, Fire Elemental Horde
200, Scorchwing Cavalry Horde
80, Ember Sprite Regiment
80, Ember Sprite Regiment
80, Ember Sprite Regiment
80, Ember Sprite Regiment
140, Ghekkotah Skylord on Scorchwing
— Blade of the Beast Slayer
175, Greater Fire Elemental
85, Lekelidon
140, Mage-Priest
— Shroud of the Saint
— Heal (3)
140, Mage-Priest
— Surge (8)
— Heal (3)

I’m most excited to finally get a BOTBS Skylord on the table, and looking forward to actually learning how flying works with him and the Scorchwings. Happy to see Jar go, that item wasn’t particularly well thought out and made Skyraiders into a unit I don’t think it was intended to be.

From experience, I know that the GFE is pretty junky, but it does let me keep Agnes’ model on the table, plus maybe it’s better with a 50mm base? My old ones were up-based to 75mm (helloooooo twin Fire Drakes??), and sucked. I want to give her a shot in 3E, however I’ve got an Ankylodon to rebase to 75mm, who will either be a Fire Drake (yawn but flamebound) or a Slasher (bizarrely great IMO). The latter would probably see the Lekelidon booted to have the Herald babysitter return, unless the Slasher just freeballs it with no inspiring …!

So why aren’t I playing Bloodfire already? Mostly because I just painted my TR in September, and because I know for a fact any event I go to with my red army will tank my painting and give me bad feels. It’s … difficult for me to push past that knowledge, but it does have me wondering about touching up the first four hordes (which are pretty bashed up at this point) and maybe rebasing the whole thing over to more standard desert with tufts and stuff. I’ve also got metal versions of the Bones used for the Mage-Priests. I mean, I’ll still get tanked, but will feel better about it? Maybe?

Anyway, I’m headed to the Best of the Rest tournament going on beside the US Masters in February, so if I decide to truck Bloodfire out to that you’ll hear about it. Deciding between Trident Realms (the Redux), Ratkin (OMF Brood Moms) or #flamebound.

EDIT: Oh right, the Phoenix! Yea, she fits the list well and seems like a clear swap for the GFE / Slasher. Especially with the increase in flying units (spoiler: the models are all phoenixes too) I’ve got going on. Mantic mini is lovely too.

GAME 42: SALAMANDERS

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Before the tournament began, I was joking with the other Sally player that we’d have to have a go sometime, but I assured him my money was on his meta build. Lo, as if summoned, it’s The Other Sallies in the final round.

BLOODFIRE GAME 42: SALAMANDERS

Salamanders 2350

Salamander Primes Horde – Brew of Strength
Ancients Regiment*
Ancients Regiment*
Ghekkotah Skyraiders Horde – Jar of the Four Winds
Ancients on Rhinosaurs Horde – Potion of the Caterpillar
Ancients on Rhinosaurs Horde
Agnih-Bhanu, Greater Fire Elemental
Lekelidon
Lekelidon
Clan Lord on Raptor – Banner of the Griffin*
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Critter’s Call (8), Heal (3), Shroud of the Saint
Mage-Priest – Fireball (10), Martyr’s Prayer (7), Bane Chant (2)
*Inspiration of the Ancients Formation

<fassbender-perfection.gif>

Gentle readers, this is peak lizard performance. Given how poorly he did to face me in the middle-ish of the pack should also say how much trouble even this has – and he said as much, as a new player to KOW who picked the army he liked the look of but was feeling the low ceiling to the faction. All the same, real smart player who is far more practiced then me, so I knew my sleep-deprived generalship was going to hold me back even more than my derpy list. We played OG Loot, and Bloodfire went first again (4 of 5 games!)

Round 5 we played on The Glade of the Gryphicorn table.

BATTLE

Battlines! Real Talk: I can’t stop the Rhinosaurs, so my goal is to delay them as long as possible and try to punch the center out of the list, then grind the Rhinos and end the game with 2 tokens. No pressure.

Bloodfire 1: I control the right flank, so look to lock that down; sadly, my Jarraiders can’t waver a Lekelidon

Salamanders 1: His two Leklidons lucky waver my Jarraiders on the right; Rhinos envelop

Bloodfire 2: The Ancients at the center his line take significant abuse but hold (Clan Lord’s Rally(2) is real)

Salamanders 2: Wounded Ancients bounce off my Courage Fire Elementals, his Jarraiders + Agnih mangle the CLOFD, somebody hurts my Agnes, and the Clan Lord shoots into my Lekidon and wavers it

Bloodfire 3: Central Ancients die to Fire Elementals + Agnes, CLOFD is Martyr’d down and focuses the Prime horde, one of his Lekelidons is dropped by Jarraiders (two turns late)

Salamanders 3: Because I didn’t rotate my lower left Fire Elementals, they cop Rhinodons in the front and flank, evaporating and putting the Rhinos into me a turn ahead of schedule (I am totally screwed now); Primes tear apart the Courage Fire Elementals, the CLOFD is torn into by his Clan Lord, and Agnes begins to absorb fire from his Agnih + possibly Jarraiders

Bloodfire 4: My Lekidon + Fire Elementals charge into the Primes, CLOFD counters the Clan Lord, Agnes removes his Martyr Priest and the right is thoroughly chaffed up with Sprites breathing on the remaining Lekidon with poor results; my Jarraiders shove some damage on his other Priest

Bloodfire 4: The Primes hold on 13 damage

Salamanders 4: Rhinodons + Primes remove the blocking Lekidon, shooting brings the central Fire Elementals to 9 and Agnes to 11 and kills my Martyr-Priest, the Clan Lord smacks the CLOFD around and on the right his Ancients waver some Sprites

Bloodfire 5: My Jarraiders murder his other Mage-Priest, the CLOFD swings again at the Clan Lord, Agnes chunks 5 damage off his Agnih and the smoldering Fire Elementals swing into the Primes … for only 4 damage (17 total), which is enough to waver them

Salamanders 5: Rhinodons flank the CLOFD, Agnih evaporates the Fire Elementals, his Jarraiders roll hot fire and drop my Jarraiders, and his Clan Lord shoots the 1″ gap between Primes and Fire Elementals to charge and kill Agnes; also those Ancients killed their Sprites *golf claps* (Agnih has both of his tokens at this point)

Bloodfire 6: Fuuuuuuuuuu— The last of the Fire Elementals run over his Lekidon on their way outta here (with a token), as Sprites and characters scramble for safety

Salamanders 6: Clan Lord charges my Mage Priest, shots are lined up …

Salamanders 6: … and the Herald dies one last time, but Jarraiders can’t stop my scoring Fire Elementals and the De 5+ Priest holds

While I didn’t think I would win this one, I didn’t think it would be quite so crushing of a

BLOODFIRE LOSS

All the same, this was a stunningly fitting way to end the event, after slogging through four evil armies helmed by great dudes to play the other Salamander and have them hand me my fiery butt. Also note that this is the first and last time Bloodfire has played against Salamanders. So damn narrative it gives me chills.

I’m not sure what my final record was (2-1-2 or 1-2-2) but as always for me, all but my last games were quite close, which meant low scores either way. I ended up with 44/105 battle, although I’m sad to see I was tanked on painting, tying with a partially painted army for worst paint. That’s … really frustrating, however I guess all the more reason to move on from this army. People either get it or they don’t, and more often than not paint judges don’t (7 points here isn’t as bad as what I got at Unplugged 2017!) Crunching the numbers, it wouldn’t have changed my placing much either way, still putting me in the bottom third.

Anyhoo, that’s Orc Town GT done and finally dusted! Good time in a far away ocean-side land, and officially the end of the road for Bloodfire. I’ll do a retrospective when I get the chance to take some lightbox photos of the army, but I won’t be playing them for a while, or if I do it’s mostly to mess around with KOW 3E when somebody needs a loaner army.

GAME 41: RATKIN

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There’s a magical thing that happens at most tournaments for me, where I’ll chat a person up a whole lot on Day 1, typically about how much I like their army’s models or because it does something cool or whatever, and then get to play them on Day 2. Enter the rat army made entirely out of metal Skaven …

BLOODFIRE GAME 41: RATKIN

Ratkin 2350

Tunnel Slaves Regiment
Tunnel Slaves Regiment
Tunnel Slaves Regiment
Tunnel Slaves Horde
Shock Troops Horde
Shock Troops Horde
Blight Horde
Blight Horde
Clawshots Troop
Clawshots Troop
Clawshots Troop
Tunnel Runners Horde*
Tunnel Runners Horde*
Weapon Team – Storm of Lead
Weapon Team – Storm of Lead
Weapon Team – Storm of Lead
Night Terror*
Night Terror
*Turbo Runners Formation

First game of Orc Town Day 2 was against a great Canadian dude with a legit horde of rats – and yep, no inspiring at all. Whoa. I think we played Ransack, but spoilers, it’s all going to come down to the middle three-point objective. Bloodfire grabbed the initiative again.

Round 4 we played on … a table I forgot to take a photo of and then lost the photo of when I went back. Ah well.

BATTLE

Battlines! Worth noting that his horde order (L2R) is blight, blight, shock (behind blight), shock, slaves (behind stormies), as his blight are nightmares for me (ensnare is horrific for 4+ Me, and my CS2+ means nothing)

Bloodfire 1: *squishing sounds* Red markers are 2 points, green are 1, blue is 3 (I think)

Ratkin 1: His Clawshots all hammered Agnes whenever possible, with this 5 damage opening salvo giving me some fear for her safety!

Bloodfire 2: Lots of fire loiters in that field, ready to grind for the center; Agnes and Sprites start breathing on the right Shock Troops as combat approaches (Agnes gets Martyred up and will continue to be so all game long); Jarraiders and Lekelidon shooting goes into uninspired Weapon Teams with medicore results o_o

Ratkin 2: Sprite death, Night Terrors outflank, Agnes gets shot

Bloodfire 3: Lekelidon shoots + delays, Fire Elementals brace for the Blight grind, right Shock Troops die to I think combat not shooting; two Weapon Teams eat it

Ratkin 3: Lekelidon is mobbed by double Blight hordes, Agnes is pushed to 10 damage but big girl don’t care (-/20!)

Ratkin 3: Blight reform thusly, as the rat general laments some of his Shock Troop / Blight layering, as the Shock are left out of the action

Bloodfire 4: The only way I can deal with Blight to the front is overwhelming force, so two Fire Elemental hordes it is (it doesn’t work); Slaves also hold against Fire Elementals + commando Sprites; Agnes nukes the last Weapon Team as the CLOFD + Jarraiders slam the Shock Troops – you’ll notice Agnes was healed for 6 but the Martyr-Priest didn’t take any, that die appears later when I caught the mistake (she was never targeted anyway)

Ratkin 4: Shock Troops and Blight combo a Fire horde, leveling it; Sprites are also merc’d by Slaves :'[

Ratkin 4: Thick brown line with Runners idling behind it!

Bloodfire 5: Fire Elementals end the Blight and the Shock Troops, the latter with Agnes’ help, while the CLOFD + Jarraiders burn down the Slave horde

Ratkin 5: Tunnel Runners hinder-charge into Agnes (and bounce), Slave regiments start to stream down the field (including booping some Fire Elementals for 1 damage), Blight tear into the central Fire Elementals, left Night Terror finally starts making a play for the left objective

Bloodfire 6: Fire Elementals burn into the Blight (and get Martyred down), Agnes + the backline Fire Elementals break the Tunnel Runners, other Fire Elementals smoke the Slave regiment, CLOFD cooks the Night Terror lurking on the right flank, the Jarraiders grab 2 VP and tickle some Tunnel Runners, annnd the left Ember Sprites shoot and waver the left Night Terror (!)

Ratkin 6: It’s in the rats’ paws now, and the only moves that matter are Slaves grabbing 2 VP and the second Tunnel Runners + Blight combo-ing the Nv -/19 Fire Elementals

Ratkin 6: The Fire Elementals crumble on 15 damage, snatching victory from a game that felt firmly in the Salamanders’ claws

BLOODFIRE LOSS

Awesome grind of a game against a very cool army and great opponent. Look forward to seeing him at upcoming events!

 

GAME 40: ABYSSAL DWARFS

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End of Orc Town Day 1 and it’s a familiar face:

BLOODFIRE GAME 40: ABYSSAL DWARFS

Abyssal Dwarfs + Forces of the Abyss 2350

Blacksouls Horde
Slave Orcs Horde
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Staying Stone*
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Pipes of Terror*
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Chalice of Wrath
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment – Orcish Skullpole
Abyssal Grotesques Horde – Brew of Haste
Slavedriver
Brakki Barka*
Ba’su’su the Vile
*Bhardoom! Formation
+
Tortured Souls Regiment
Abyssal Temptress with Wings

Third game of Orc Town Day 1 was against one of my favorite opponents (also from our sister club), with the upgunned version of an army I faced at Crossroads last year. I barely understood what Barka and Ba’su’s are capable of, but as it turned out, super-individuals are indeed pretty annoying. I couldn’t tell you what we played – frankly, it may have been Kill! Whatever we were doing, it involved violence and the Dwarfs going first.

Round 3 we played on the Town of Yahbuttia table.

BATTLE

Battlines!

Abyssal Dwarfs 1: The formation Halfbreeds are the rightmost two, in flying V’s near Barka

Bloodfire 1: *limbering up*

Abyssal Dwarfs 2: That was fast! Sprites die, wound dice go everywhere

Bloodfire 2: Gargoyles die, as does a formation Halfbreed I’m guessing because I hosed it with shooting and then surge-charged in, AND the left-flanking Halfbreeds thanks to hot Jarraider dice

Abyssal Dwarfs 3: The next wave hits …

Abyssal Dwarfs 3: … taking down the Jarraiders and the Martyr Priest (sorry Agnes!), and otherwise bouncing

Bloodfire 3: Agnes tries to deliver some pain before her imminent death, the Tortured Souls are burnt down, Grots get punched, and in a surprise move, the leftmost Fire Elementals flank the Blacksouls, shattering them

Abyssal Dwarfs 4: Violence! You can see Ba’su’su bouncing around across my deployment zone all game, combo-charging everything

Abyssal Dwarfs 4: Agnes dies (curse you Barka!), as do the Grots’ Fire Elementals

Bloodfire 4: The Slave Orcs get shot to hell, surge-charged and routed; meanwhile the Herald tries to boop a formation Halfbreed regiment, for that lucky pop (no dice)

Abyssal Dwarfs 5: Murder! Including the Slave Driver charging some Fire Elementals, his charges all dead

Abyssal Dwarfs 5: It’s mostly effective! Bloodfire right flank is run down, also Ba’su’su did 7! wounds to the CLOFD in one go O_O

Bloodfire 5: Lots of counter-charges, which mostly work (CLOFD should have just run forward and not even tried to deal with Ba’su’su … which is kind of messed up, given how big and expensive my monster is)

Abyssal Dwarfs 6: More fast murder!

Abyssal Dwarfs 6: Barka kills some Sprites, Halfbreeds kill the CLOFD

Bloodfire 6: Fire Elementals kill those Halfbreeds, other Fire Elementals face south for who knows why!

I kind of think this one came down to a right tidy …

BLOODFIRE DRAW

Which was a totally copacetic way to end Day 1, at more or less 50% against some great dudes. I’ll have Day 2 either late this week or next.

GAME 39: ORCS

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Woooo keeping up that reporting momentum! Here’s the next one:

BLOODFIRE GAME 39: ORCS

Orcs 2350

Greatax Horde
Longax Horde
Longax Horde
Skulks Troop*
Skulks Troop*
Skulks Troop*
Trolls Horde – Staying Stone
Gore Chariots Horde – Brew of Courage
Krudger on Ancient Winged Slasher – Blizzard (2), Blessing of the Gods
Godspeaker – Fireball (9), Drain Life (6), Bane Chant (2), Inspiring Talisman
Krusher on Gore*
Colossal Giant
War Drum
War Drum
*Skulk Stalkers Formation

Second game of Orc Town, and it’s Orcs again! I was pretty thrilled to be keeping it green, and against another great guy and sweet army – his was actually my favorite army, really awesome presence and I love the Shieldwolf orcs + Mierce monsters he used. The second round was Loot or a variant thereof, Bloodfire took the lead again.

Round 2 we played on Da Bone Yahd table.

BATTLE

Battlines!

Bloodfire 1: Central Skulks get cooked for vanguarding too far forward

Orcs 1: Left Skulks grab the loot and GTFO

Bloodfire 2: Right Skulks burn up, thin red line prepares for violence

Orcs 2: Sprites get jumped, Agnes takes a horde on the chin

Orcs 2: Mild Sprite death

Bloodfire 3: Triple charge on the central horde evaporates it; to the right, the Krusher gets punched by Fire Elementals while Sprites gum up everything and the Colossal Giant takes significant breath damage; Jarraiders continue to put 100% of their fire into the Ancient Slasher

Orcs 3: Wall of green crashes into central Fire Elementals; Trolls and Giant forced to deal with Ember Sprites

Orcs 3: All Sprites die, as do those Fire Elementals

Bloodfire 4: Agnes holds back one horde while Fire Elementals surge-flank the other (it goes poorly!); Giant falls to Fire Elementals + CLOFD, Trolls are held up by more Fire Elementals

Orcs 4: I prepare to lose my mind, as the Ancient Slasher charges the Martyr Priest, with a 2” overrun into the Herald and a 3” overrun into the rear of the Troll’s Fire Elementals

Orcs 4: Amazingly, the Ancient Slasher doesn’t swing the game, thanks to a 2” second overrun instead of 3” – still a terrible turn of events (and something I line up once every tournament) but I haven’t lost all my momentum (and my mind), just critical support staff

Bloodfire 5: Agnes tanks one more turn, but without healing she’s going down; the Lekelidon stalls the other horde, the Trolls get flanked and die, and the Ancient Slasher gest shot a lot, then surge-charged and murdered

Orcs 5: Fighting!

Orcs 5: It’s super effective! Agnes and Lekelidon bite it

Bloodfire 6: One Orc horde is killed by Fire Elementals, the other is wavered from all the shooting (it couldn’t be charged by the other Fire horde because of the blocking War Drum)

Orcs 6: The Chariots have a go at some Fire Elementals but I don’t think they get lucky, especially hindered

I don’t really remember how this ended up, but I sort of think it was a …

BLOODFIRE LOSS

Apart from the idiocy with the line of characters (…), this was a really satisfying game against an army I really like and a dude I’ve never played but seen around plenty of times (also he’s in our sister club). Yea Orcs!