Tag: abyssals

FORCES OF NURGLE: DEAD OF WINTER GT 2026

On By SalvageIn NURGLEKINLeave a comment

I trotted out my Nurgling army a couple times in 3E as Forces of the Abyss and largely hated it. Just a carpet of Lower Abyssals with some cool friends, hindering constantly and getting nothing done. Well, it’s 4E now and I’m back to shine that turd … until I inevitably give up and return to Trident Realm or rebase another army into legality 💩

To that end, I painted up 7 dusty black minis that had been waiting years for attention, rebased my Apostates of Darkness, and brought the following to my club’s Dead of Winter GT in Albany, NY:

Forces of the Abyss 2150
Mau’ti-bu-su
Despoiler
Harbinger
Harbinger
Lower Abyssals Horde
Lower Abyssals Horde
Lower Abyssals Horde
Lower Abyssals Regiment – two-handed weapons
Lower Abyssals Regiment – two-handed weapons
Succubi Regiment
Berserkers Regiment – Brew of Strength
Tortured Souls Troop
Tortured Souls Troop
Chroneas
14(29)

Is it the weakest army I’ve ever made? Maybe! Is it the weakest version of this army? Yes! Every other iteration of this list changes the Harbingers to Despoilers, tripling down on brutal flankers to help the Abyssal carpet get something done. As it was, I had a couple amazing chaff pieces in the Tortured Souls, a very dedicated hammer in the Berserkers, loads of scenario presence, and a warlord that I’ve gotten cooler and cooler on as I’ve played with her. I do still like the fireball on command order, but the amount of clock damage I took rolling 25 dice @ 5+ to hit, 5+ to wound can’t be understated. Also Succubi really need the Hammer of Measured Force or Chant of Hate, which they’ll get in every list that isn’t this one.

All the same, my list was locked in and I was ready to play some games and roll a lot of dice, if not actually win a game or two. As it happened, most of America was slammed with a serious winter storm the weekend of our aptly named tournament, and the decision was made to move from five games over two days to four games in one day. Yowza. I didn’t take many photos (sorry y’all), but figured I’d recap my experience for new edition science. Strap in.

GAME 1: NORTHERN ALLIANCE

The swap to a one day meant Lyra could attend, which was cool as I hadn’t gotten to play her yet. The downside was her list:

Lord on Frostfang
Ice Queen – Bane Chant (2), Heal (5)
Ice Queen – Bane Chant (2), Heal (5)
Human Tribesmen Horde
Human Tribesmen Horde
Pack Hunters Regiment
Pack Hunters Regiment
Pack Hunters Regiment
Pack Hunters Regiment
Frostfang Cavalry Regiment
Frostfang Cavalry Regiment
Ice Kin Bolt Thrower
Ice Kin Bolt Thrower
13(26)

Everything carves your face off, shoots, or is an elite caster. Really competent list without any fat, and my fear of Tribesmen hordes was already strong going in, as was anything with 30 attaks. Whatever I was going to do, I needed time to grind and flank, and this list wasn’t going to give me much of it.

The scenario was Control with Abyssals going first! I run full tilt down the center, despite knowing that I’m yeeting my demons directly into a wood chipper. On the left, I use Tortured Souls to frustrate some Frostfangs, while on the right I plan to do the same to delay the other Frostfangs creeping down the board edge. It took a Tortured Soul troop and the Despoiler, but mission accomplished on the right:

None shall pass! Unless you pass right over my broken body …

Fast forward to the opening of Turn 3, when I jump on the Frostfang on the left and send the Chroneas into half of the Pack Hunters. The Tortured Souls and Abyssal horde slowly begin chipping away at the Frostfang, but the Chroneas will kill both Pack Hunters on that flank, with the help of Mau’ti-bu-su furiously whipping them into submission. Eventually only the Frostlord will be left standing in the bottom left segment of the board.

Here’s the main action moments before my dice roll. The Berserker flank obliterates the Tribesmen, then a unit of Pack Hunters, then the last unit of Pack Hunters, then the Bolt Thrower on the hill. Meanwhile, the Succubi chase down an Ice Queen and 75 Lower Abyssal attaks eventually break the other Tribesmen, thanks in part to Mau’ti-bu-su arriving in their flank Turn 6.

Admittedly, I’ve buried the lead here: Lyra clocked out at the end of Turn 3, giving me 25 minutes to do my damnedest. Turns out even Lower Abyssal doofuses can tear De 5+ hordes apart if given enough time. It truly sucks about the clock out, I’ve been there and the feels are the worst (I clocked out halfway through a game at Orc Town three years back!). I also think it’s telling that I spent maybe 5 minutes moving minis and a full 20 minutes rolling dice, as I too clocked out at the end of Turn 6. With a score of 6-0 and lots of attrition, that’s a …

NURGLE VICTORY

GAME 2: FORCES OF NATURE

My big win puts me against Keith Conroy and his first event outing with the Forces of the Herd! I am justifiably shook.

Chieftain
Druid on Steed – Bane Chant (2), Surge (4)
Druid – Bane Chant (2), Scorched Earth(3)
Tribal Warriors Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Longhorns Regiment
Longhorns Regiment
Longhorns Regiment
Critters Troop
Critters Troop
Air Elementals Regiment – Hammer of Measured Force
Guardian Brutes Regiment
Beast of Nature – Fly
Greater Air Elemental
13(24)

I guess Keith is back and forth on the air elements of the list, but I think they’re valid. What’s left of Herd isn’t particularly fast, and even without nimble I feel like Greater Air are prime surge targets still. I’m still pretty shocked that they buffed lesser Air, especially with the Hammer staying in the game, but here we are.

The scenario was Salt the Earth with Nature taking first, as is their wont. Before I could even snap a photo, the Air force had swept off the line:

Keith rushes forward across the board, breaking off one Longhorn regiment to hang with the Airs and the surge Druid, and sending the Beast down the right flank by its lonesome. Those leftmost Longhorns run 12″ and pivot, giving my Succubi a suicide charge … which I take, dealing 5 damage (which doesn’t stick around thanks to the Heal spell and Heal order combo). Turns out the Succubi don’t stick around either:

Turn 2 also sees my Lower Abyssal chaff regiments beaten down for their troubles:

The Beast of Nature takes my Tortured Soul bait out on the right, one-shotting the spooky ghosts and turning to face my Despoiler, who could have sworn that they’d stick around (Keith rolled double 10s on the rout :P) The Despoiler will charge into the front of the Beast in my Turn 2, then will himself be one-rounded by hot dice (another double 10, I kid you not) in Turn 3. Wild times.

Back to my Turn 2, Nature is in my lap, so I full send. This shot is from the opening of Nature’s Turn 3 but can see how things turned out:

The (hindered) Berserkers overperform and break some Longhorns in one go, but everywhere else we’re trapped in the grind. The Chroneas performs especially poorly into the Guardian Brutes, not really doing enough damage to overcome Nature’s healing abilities. Out on the left, Mau’ti-bu-su throws herself into the Air regiment to buy a couple turns (but since it’s Keith, that’s more like 1 turn with spicy rout rolls). You can see some Critters pining the Berserkers in place here, which is wildly frustrating!

In the followup, the Chieftain pushes over the Guardians vs Chroneas fight, and will go on to push over the Guardians vs Berserkers fight that follows. In both cases it was his 4-6 damage that made the combats tip. Much respect for that goatman. The Longhorns falter into their Lower Abyssal carpets, giving me time to melt my clock rolling 5+/4+. Late Turn 4 I do break the left Longhorns (!), in time to face the Air regiments, and push the central Longhorns up to rout levels … except for:

Natürlich. The Herd troopers devour my center (the Beast having dispensed with the Despoiler and helped the Tribal Warriors clear out their own Lower Abyssal infestation). Keith thinks I can grind the Air Elementals out on the left flank, but I’m not so sure, so I burn that token, a turn before the Air regiment scatters my smelly little demons. By Turn 6, all I’ve got left is a Harbinger, who books it for the objective deep in Nature’s lines, contesting it from the mounted Druid. The game thankfully ends, so I’m not tabled, but with a score of 0-5, that’s a …

NURGLE LOSS

GAME 3: DWARFS

It was Cuddle Time on Cuddle Time violence against my team mate Jason … but then he had to go home to attend to a family emergency, so the TO stepped in to run his army.

Lord on Large Beast
Stone Priest – Surge (8)
Warsmith – Tome of Darkness; Surge (5)
Ironwatch Crossbows Horde
Bulwarkers Regiment
Bulwarkers Regiment
Ironguard Regiment
Ironguard Regiment
Earth Elementals Regiment
Earth Elementals Regiment
Berserker Brock Riders Regiment – Sir Jesse’s Boots of Striding
Greater Earth Elemental
Iron Belcher Cannon
13(25)

Mike is no stranger to Dwarfs tho, and the army seemed pretty straightforward. Be tough, do a little grinding, do a little shooting, use the Brocks, Beast Lord and the Greater Earth to put out damage. Repeatedly during this game we marveled at how terrible the Dwarf orders are, and I’m pretty sure that Mike either failed to load mastiffs or failed to wound with them any time they did go off.

The scenario was Plunder with the Dwarfs sauntering off the line first. Let’s pick it up at the top of Turn 2:

On the left flank, the Abyss was able to dismantle both Earth Elemental regiments with a Lower Abyssal horde and the Chroneas, with the Tortured Souls blocking one regiment to buy time and the Harbinger in support. Helluva grind but we walked away with a 2 point token for our troubles.

On the right, a Lower Abyssal regiment took a 1 point token, after being ventilated by the elite Ironwatch on the hill. They were finished off by the Bulwarkers pulling flank duty, before being smashed to pieces by the Berserkers. Tossing the token to the Despoiler, the Berserkers made good to assault the center in the late game, before being wavered by another horrific Ironwatch volley. Running out of game turns and clock time, we were content to slink away with 1 point on this flank, cowed by the fury of 20 crossbow shots (on 5+ with elite) and 1 serious cannon.

Which means it all came down to the center. At the opening of Turn 2, Brocks have made contact with the leading Lower Abyssal carpet, with two Ironguard and one Bulwarker regiment bearing down, the Beast Lord present and a pain, and the Greater Earth looming. The Lower Abyssals take a big hit but hold, and Mike is sure the Brocks are toast … except there’s not much help on tap. Looking back at the photos, I think the Tortured Souls to the left must have a flank on the Brocks, but I don’t remember checking it, because I was too ready to throw them away to buy time to grind. The T-Souls and the Lower Abyssal regiment go into the Ironguard midfield, opening up the Lower Abyssal horde to a flank from Bulwarkers?? I really should have sent the chaff regiment into the Bulwalkers, and flanked with the T-Souls, or double charged the Bulwarkers. Anyway, this sweet charge does no damage to the Ironguard. Mau’ti-bu-su flanks the Brocks to help out but not much happens. And the Succubi prove they need an item by landing 18 hits on the Beast Lord and doing maybe 2 damage. Woof.

The Bulwarker flank decimates the Lower Abyssals, letting the Brocks put all their attaks into Mau’ti-bu-su and kill her despite the odds (5 damage expected) and then later clean up the Lower Abyssal regiment that sailed past them, as the Greater Earth surges sideways into the Tortured Souls. I struggle mightily to get my reserve Lower Abyssal horde into contact with anything, eventually fighting Bulwarkers and being flanked to death by the Beast Lord. The center ultimately falls, giving the Dwarfs 4 points. With a score of 3-4, that’s a …

NURGLE LOSS

GAME 4: BASILEANS

As night follows day and the spring thaw follows winter snow, so too must Chris and I face each other in the fourth game of a tournament. I was happy to play Chris’ Basileans in the new edition, but was feeling really worn down as we went into the last game of the day.

Samacris Mother of Phoenixes – Heal (6), Fireball (5)
War Priest – Heal (3), Bane Chant (2)
War Priest – Heal (3), Bane Chant (2)
Men-at-arms Horde – Spears, Fire-Oil
Paladin Foot Knights Regiment
Paladin Foot Knights Regiment
Paladin Foot Knights Regiment
Gur Panthers Troop
Gur Panthers Troop
Ogre Palace Guard Regiment
Ogre Palace Guard Regiment
Elohi Regiment – Brew of Strength
12(22)

As horrifying as those 330 point Elohi are, the thrust of the list was the Foot Knights, who had received a bit of a glow up this edition and become pretty satisfying little 170 point packages. 15 attaks @ 3+ CS1 feels good, combined with De 5+ Nv 17 headstrong and iron resolve. I can guess why Chris was down here with me – his list is on the whole slow and fairly reactive, with all his heal not mattering much if his regiments are dead – but I really dig it. Also Chris rolls like a maniac, so I always know to brace for spikes.

The final scenario was Protect and Raze with Basilea going first. This game was a tale of two halves. On the left, Sammy, the Elohi, an Ogre Palace Guard regiment, a Foot Knight regiment and some Gur Panthers faced off against the Despoiler, a Harbinger, a Lower Abyssal horde, a Lower Abyssal regiment, the Chroneas and some Tortured Souls. On the center and right, everybody else in a big slogging melee. My Berserkers gave me a bit of an edge over there but we’ll see how that ended up.

Using the power of being quite wide, my Lower Abyssals straddled Chris’ two tokens over here, hunkering down in a wood to ensure the eventual charges would be hindered at least. Meanwhile, I tossed fireballs and generally annoyed the angels, until around Turn 4 when the Chroneas and Despoiler tag-teamed the Foot Knights, forcing Chris’ hand into the above charges. 38 high value attaks later and my horde was dead and Basilea was up 2 points. These beatsticks eventually cleaned up this flank entirely, tho I had claimed my token in the process.

Here’s the shot of Basilea’s Turn 4 or 5, before those Foot Knights obliterated some Lower Abyssals and the Men-At-Arms definitively claimed the central point. My Tortured Souls swooped over and burned that token behind the Foot Knights, then sailed off into the hinterland of Chris’ deployment zone, their mission complete.

My third token was claimed by Mau’ti-bu-su, who first turn charged a War Priest, then failed to kill him despite rolling maximum duelist attaks and maximum brutal. She failed again on the next turn, then killed him in Turn 3 and sidestepped within 3″ of my token, burning it. She would go on to push the other War Priest away in terror, before swinging at Sammy and getting rundown by Elohi.

Meanwhile, my Berserkers were deployed on the right edge of the table, ready to kill knights or ogres and generally be a nuisance. Until they were Gur Panthered, with the Ogre Palace Guard pressing up behind the chaff. We nuked the Panthers (just!), couldn’t escape the Ogres but could force them to be hindered. Chris took the charge, rolled like an insane person and picked up my 260 point ultra-hammer in one go. Oof. Those ogres would go on to dominate that foot of board, helping kill the third Lower Abyssal carpet and claim Basilea’s third token. With a score of 3-4, that’s a …

NURGLE LOSS

So after four grinding games of KOW 4E, my terrible horrible really no good Abyssal list came away 1-3, with the win due to a pretty egregious clock difference :/ I do feel like the (many) dice never fell my way, with the exception of a wild double 11 waver into Basilea in that last game, and I obviously needed a break to free up my many units to help each other out. While I don’t want to be done with the Abyssal experiment (they did win their trial game against Dwarfs, so 2-3 in total), the goal of running many, weaker units is certainly proving harder to execute on as I’m also picking up a new edition and blowing some dust off from the long run up to 4E. I want to give them another shot with more Despoilers before throwing up my hands and going back to Trident Realm, especially given the popularity of the fish people (and the perceived mediocrity of Abyssals, which definitely appeals).

I do think Mau’ti-bu-su is out. Her nerve bump is inconsequential – I honestly think grinding with ensnare only is a trap, everyone so far has hot-diced right through it – and the Brutal D3 is a recipe for heartbreak. I’ll be dropping her to a Seductress going forward, with the Periscope or the Onyx Ring if 5 points are floating around. I can also confirm that Berserkers feel pretty bad. Even juiced up, they barely performed, and they’re slow enough now that they also don’t push the enemy back, giving my smaller dudes space to move up. I’m curious about running 2x Berserker troops … but for the same points I could take 2x Moloch troops. I’m staunchly against the edict that the only good Abyssal lists run 2-3 regiments of Molochs, however I’ve never seen a Moloch troop before and those stats seem great, especially for go-wide Abyssals like mine. More enormous bases to deal with, of course!

Thanks for reading, sorry about the lack of pics. I probably won’t do play by plays again but I’ll work on taking more shots again, preferably at events with fewer games in the day!

THE HALLOW 35-37: ORC TOWN GT DAY 1

On By SalvageIn THE HALLOWLeave a comment

Ah, the Orc Town GT. Crown jewel in the Northeast tournament circuit. Held at the Cape Cod Curling Club in Falmouth, MA, Orc Town is five big games of Kings of War (2665 points) on a surprisingly tight clock (69 minutes), but with amazing prize support, themed tables and great vibes. I had a banging first day in 2022 with my crabs and ended up with Best Sports, would I be able to repeat some of this success in 2023?

Find out in these especially sketchy recaps. Sorry, dead readers, this was almost a year ago and I was in a rough headspace that weekend due to life stuff that happened the week of. Which I suppose is more spoilers!

HERD 2665
Lycan Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Guardian Brute Horde
Guardian Brute Horde
Guardian Brute Horde
Minotaur Chariot Regiment – The Stampede [1]
Tribal Spears Horde – Chalice of Wrath
Tribal Spears Regiment
Tribal Spears Regiment
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Hydra
Lycan Alpha – Wingbane Cloak
Great Chieftain – Horn of the Great Migration [1]
Druid – Conjurer’s Staff; Bane Chant (2), Heal (2)
Centaur Chief
Forest Warden – Surge (4)
16(29)

I talked about my list changes in the last post, but the summary is: Tribal infantry got spears, third Brute horde was windmill-slammed into the list, Hydra saw his first event outing. Wingbane Cloak drinking game is in effect (but you may want something to sip on while you wait for the cloak to matter :P)

GAME 1: FORCES OF THE ABYSS

Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champion
Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champion
Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champion
Tortured Souls Regiment
Abyssal Ghouls Regiment
Abyssal Ghouls Regiment
Abyssal Ghouls Regiment
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Fiend – Fireball (10)
Abyssal Fiend – Fireball (10)
Chroneas
Chroneas
The Well of Souls [1]
Abyssal Warlock – Staying Stone, Knowledgeable, Celestial Restoration (3)
Seductress – Gnome Glass Shield
16(25)

I hadn’t played Brian in quite some time and wasn’t sad to face him off the rip. His Abyssals looked great, with a very cohesive scheme and almost entirely Mantic, including possibly the only official Tortured Souls I’ve seen in person. As the list went, it was basically perfect. Top flight Abyssals for Summer 2023 with no fat on it. The Celesto Resto was an interesting touch but Brian knew that the Molochs were the lifters and they didn’t really need any help beyond arriving alive.

We played Raze, with the Hallow going first, as is my want.

BATTLE

I won’t bury the lead on this one: I clocked out on Turn 4. My game of positioning and piece trading took way too long to get moving (45 min spent on Turn 1+2), which didn’t leave me enough time to actually execute with my hammers. Despite me being firmly in control of this match, Brian had a cushy 19 minutes to decimate my dudes, who were now disastrously rooted in place, only allowed to turn to face.

HALLOW LOSS

Rough start to the weekend to say the least! Sorry to Brian for the poor time management on my part.

GAME 2: ORDER OF THE BROTHERMARK

Order of the Abyssal Hunt Regiment – Blessing of the Gods
Order of the Abyssal Hunt Regiment – Boots of Striding
Paladin Knights Regiment – Brew of Strength
Paladin Knights Regiment – Blood of the Old King
Paladin Knights Troop – Skirmisher’s Boots
Oathsworn Guardians Regiment [1]
Villein Bowmen Horde
Villein Bowmen Horde
Heavy Arbalest
Heavy Arbalest
Phoenix – Heal (5)
Phoenix – Heal (5)
High Paladin on Dragon – Blade of Slashing
Exemplar Hunter – Order of the Lone Wolf, Mace of Crushing
Priest – Conjurer’s Staff, Heal (3), Bane Chant (2)
15(25)

Mr. Kevin Spear, everyone! Always a pleasure and his army is a joy to look at. He was back on Brothermark from Rhordia last year (we played in a Round 1 grudge match as you’ll recall), with quite a bit more shooting thanks to the Phoenix buffs and everyone discovering that Arbalests are rather legit (the Bowmen were always there). If it wasn’t shooting, it was charging 16″ / 20″ into my waiting arms. I remember not feeling like I had the brainpower to stay in control of this one …

We played Control, with Kevin going first. Last turn is good for grabbing board sections, right? Here’s hoping I have an army left 🙃

BATTLE

This was a particularly rough second game. Losing the initiative and having my left Centaurs wavered held up my left flank quite badly, and you can see the moments where luck slapped my Brutes down. On the right, I failed a 3″ overrun off his Exemplar Hunter into a knight regiment, losing the Brutes next turn. In the center, I snaked a rout into peasants with more Brutes, losing the momentum and eventually that unit to Kevin’s dragon … although it’s very strange I didn’t rotate to put the dragon in their front? I’m guessing this is the moment I clocked out :/ Because that also happened, tho going into Turn 6 this time. Hydra lived at least!

HALLOW LOSS

Going into this I felt like we were pretty well matched? Kevin and I are at similar skill levels and our armies have interesting answers to each other, but he grabbed the initiative and I couldn’t wrest it away from him, between wavers, losses to shooting and some floppy combats that I needed to go my way. Clocking out again didn’t help.

GAME 3: TRIDENT REALM

Gigas Horde
Gigas Horde
Depth Horrors Horde
Depth Horrors Regiment
Thuul Regiment
Thuul Regiment
Riverguard Treeleapers Troop
Riverguard Treeleapers Troop
Tidal Swarm Regiment
Kraken
Knucker
Knucker
Naiad Centurion – Trident of the Drowned Sea [1]
Thuul Aquamage – Rising Tides, Icy Breath (10), Barkskin (5)
Naiad Envoy – Horn of Ocean’s Fury, Bastion (2)
*The Hidden Ones Regiment [1]
*The Hidden Ones Regiment [1]
*Ineesha [1] – Bane Chant (2)
18(29)

Surely this wasn’t the first time I’ve played Chris and his fishpeople? Soft spoken gent and a canny player, I’ve enjoyed chatting with Chris at basically all the NE events since he started coming to them. As for the list, it seems legit. As with most pre-2024 TR lists, the goal is to buff and deliver Thuul where needed, with a backbone of Gigas and sneaky problem solvers in the Knuckers and trident Centurion. Essentially everything ensnares, so I’d have to flex my dice rolling skills. (Ed. note: These skills had apparently not made it to Cape Cod yet.)

We played old school Loot, with the Herd going first. At least I’ve got that going for me.

BATTLE

Walking through my photos, you can see that basically everything took an extra turn to break – Brutes hitting on 5+ are significantly less great, and I was relying on them to carry me through the tournament. Plus there was that one snake eyes once the Stampede trapped a Knucker against the board edge 😛 Anyway, my Hydra grabbed a token and slithered away to hold onto it (doing his one damn job like a professional token holder), while Chris’ Depth Horror horde was handed the left token and was never really in any danger of losing it. Which meant we were fighting for the center token. I grabbed it immediately with my Tribal horde, and had it in control until very late game when the waves of Thuul wore my Tribal spears and then Brutes down. The Thuul weathered my Lycan horde’s late game dive thanks to layer upon layer of barkskin, clinging to life and winning Chris the game.

HALLOW LOSS

Fun fact, I actually clocked out this game too 😅 I had enough to launch the Lycans in and swing but not enough to roll any of the other extraneous combats going on. In retrospect, the clock played less of a role than I gave it credit for in my second two games of the day, but I was definitely scrambling throughout.

So! At Orc Town 2022 I went 2-0-1 the first day with my crabs, ending the day in the nosebleeds of fourth place. Day 1 of Orc Town 2023 saw me 0-3-0 with Herd and literally in last place … but you know what, the bartenders were great and propped up my flagging spirits with plentiful glasses of Orcto Cooler, one of the tastiest damn hangovers I’ve had the pleasure of drinking too much of 💚

UP NEXT: Day 2! The only way to go is up!

THE HALLOW 20: ABYSSALS

On By SalvageIn THE HALLOWLeave a comment

One last practice game for the Dead of Winter GT this weekend, and I’m up against Bill, our local Abyssals player. He threatened to bring his lightning hell, max Flamebearers list but decided to try out a less skewed army …

Forces of the Abyss 2150

Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champ; Blessing of the Gods
Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champ; Boots of Striding
Tortured Souls Horde
Tortured Souls Regiment
Tortured Souls Regiment
Flamebearers Regiment
Flamebearers Regiment
Gargoyles Troop
Chroneas
Abyssal Fiend
Seductress – Gnome-Glass Shield
Abyssal Warlock – Veil of Shadows (3)
Zaz’u’szu the Betrayer [1] – Bane Chant (2-6), Lightning Bolt (4-8)
13 (22)

Bill has found himself in the same place I did when messing with Abyssals: Where the hammers at? He’s not an Abyssal Horsemen fan (Nv too low), and while he usually runs triple Molochs, 2150 points was too tight for all three of his hordes. Hence the Tortured Souls horde is here to see what it can do. There are 5-10 missing points in this list (depending on if it’s Veil 2 or 3), and I kind of think the TS horde might have had something? But it never came up, much like the Veil 😉

Herd 2150

Lycan Horde – Brew of Strength
Guardian Brute Horde
Guardian Brute Horde
Minotaur Chariot Regiment – The Stampede [1]
Tribal Warrior Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Tribal Warrior Regiment
Tribal Warrior Regiment
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Centaur Bray Striders Troop
Lycan Alpha
Great Chieftain – Horn of the Great Migration [1]
Centaur Chieftain
Druid – Bane Chant (2), Heal (2)
13 (24)

This game I was testing out one more tweak, dropping the Druid’s reroll staff (which hasn’t worked in ages) and the Centaur Chief’s reroll sword for the horn of dread and WC (+1) on the Great Chieftain. The dread has some skornergy with the Brutes’ brutal, but I look forward to having it and the +1″ when facing other Sp 6 combat units. 19″ charges with the Lycans seems legit too. I’ve never run dread before either so that’s a cool thing to check off.

We played Push, using the tournament tweak that you can’t put more than two tokens in one unit. I made the Abyssals go first because 18″ shooting wants only one thing and it’s disgusting.

BATTLE

Battlelines! Abyssals (left to right): Tortured Souls in front of elite Molochs, Chroneas in front of Abyssal Fiend with Seductress, Flamebearers (1 token), Abyssal Warlock (1 token), Flamebearers (1 token) in front of Gargoyles, Zaz’u’szu, Tortured Souls in front of strider Molochs, Tortured Souls horde.

Herd (left to right): Lycan horde, Centaur Chief, Tribal Warriors regiment, Centaur Striders in front of Brutes and Great Chieftain, Tribal Warriors horde (1 token) in front of Druid, Centaur Striders in front of Brutes, Lycan Alpha, Tribal Warriors regiment (2 tokens), the Stampede.

Abyssals 1: The flanks of the demonic castle roll forward, with the Abyssal firebase holding firm. I swear, I fight two Flamebearer regiments with a Warlock sandwiched between them standing in cover every time I face the Abyss 😛

Zaz’u’s lightning does a single damage to the right Centaurs but wavers them! This is actually kind of terrible for me, well played Bill. (Zaz’u always chooses the Gargoyles as his betrayal target, and they’re always regening as a result. I probably won’t mention this again.)

Herd 1: The Hallow more or less surges forward. Lycan and Centaur Chief prepare a trap on the left, should the Abyss engage early, while the Stampede and Lycan Alpha get within max range of the Tortured Souls horde, protecting their Tribal Warriors carting two tokens. In the center, I actually wanted to shove into the woods to flood the Abyssal shooting bunker with targets, but the Tortured Souls on the right are threatening flanks on the Tribal Warriors horde and right Brutes, so I had to be unfortunately conservative. The Brutes prepared to be lit up. (Also the Druid cleans up the damage on the Centaurs.)

Abyssals 2: The only movement from the Abyss is the Tortured Souls horde disappearing behind the hill and the regiment sidestepping for reasons. Cue the firestorm.

Blessedly, the Brutes take a mere 6 damage and hold firm. Wheeeeew.

Herd 2: The first wave of green vengeance crashes into the Abyssal lines! Tribal Warriors and Centaurs charge the left Tortured Souls regiment, with Great Chieftain’s dread bubble in support, and the smoldering Brutes on the right charge the other Tortured Souls regiment. I figure they’re as good as dead so may as well pressurize those hammers hiding behind the hill. I punch up the center with the next wave of heavy hitters, luxuriating in the woods (and grabbing the center token with the Tribal Warriors horde), while the Lycan and Centaur Chief buddy nimble around the house to be a problem in coming turns. On the right, the Stampede moves within the Moloch’s charge range, assuming that they won’t be able to engage out of fear of the Brutes or not without the Tortured Souls horde moving somewhere it can’t do anything or doesn’t want to be.

Both Tortured Souls regiments are cast back to the pit from whence they came. The Brutes turn to face the Abyssal hammers, disrespecting the hindered Flamebearers entirely … and not seeing the Gargoyle flank, tho I would have dismissed that as well, such is my hubris.

Abyssals 3: The Abyss strikes back across the board. Molochs charge the Centaurs on the left and the Stampede on the right, the latter possible because the Tortured Souls horde indeed backs up and sits this turn out too. Canny play, Bill. The Chroneas and Abyssal Fiend plow into the Tribal Warriors horde in the forest, hindering the Fiend but not the striding Chroneas. The damaged Brutes are indeed flanked by the Gargoyles (with Zaz’u in the front), shortly before the Seductress flies over to menace the Druid next turn. The Abyssal fire base targets the poor Centaurs out in the open.

Cloak of Deaaaaaaath!

Those Centaur Striders who were wavered first turn and vaporized this turn. RIP. In combat, the Molochs decimate the Centaurs on the left, and waver the Stampede on the right (on a rock solid 10 damage). The Brutes are surprisingly driven off by the Gargoyles, with no help from Zaz’u who contributed no damage. Finally, the Abyssal titans stomp 7 damage into the Tribal Warriors horde but they’re fine.

Shot from the left showing the Lycan horde and handler lurking around the house.

Herd 3: Gentle readers, you know I’m down to grind, and so we do. Tribal Warriors and Brutes tackle the left Molochs, but not before the Tribal Warriors horde counters the Chroneas (limiting their slide). The Great Chieftain flanks the Chroneas as well. On the right, the Stampede fury counters the other Molochs, with flanking support from the Lycan Alpha. We discuss whether the Tribal Warriors can fight the Molochs too, but I decide that you can’t multi-charge if one of the chargers can’t actually Charge (in the Stampede’s case). Outside of charging, the Lycan and Centaur Chief move into position to assault the Flamebearers, and the Druid prepares to bane chant one last time before the Seductress does unspeakably sexy things to her.

Thankfully the BC goes off! And the Chroneas is blended, as are the left Molochs. The Stampede and Lycan Alpha likewise tag team the other Molochs to death. Bill is surprised at how easily the Molochs fall – I’m not 😤

Abyssals 4: The Forces of the Abyss are feeling a little light on the ground but there’s a lot of firepower and speed left. The Abyssal Fiend charges (hindered) the Tribal Warrior horde again, as the Seductress trips over some roots and (hindered) charges the Druid tending to them. The Abyssal fire base mobilizes, lining up some shots before the Hallow mobs them all. In a surprise move, the hero Gargoyles charge the two token Tribal Warrior regiment, giving me a concern! And Zaz’u and the Tortured Souls horde declare their relevance.

Firebolts and lightning put the Brutes on 7 damage, the Lycan Alpha on 3, and the Stampede on 13, wavering 😦 In combat, the Abyssal Fiend rolls around on the Tribal Warriors horde, putting them to 10 damage, the Seductress bad touches the Druid for 6 damage (she wavers), and the Gargoyles do 2 to the Tribal Warriors regiment.

Herd 4: Time to seal some deals and pack this game away, because I have some concerns about the right with the Stampede so mangled. The Lycan make contact at least, flanking some Flamebearers over a wall with Tribal Warrior friends. The Brutes flank the Abyssal Fiend for maximum carnage, with Tribal Warriors horde in the front. On the right, the Tribal Warrior regiment counters the Gargoyles and the Lycan Alpha chooses to shut down Zaz’u’s lightning. She had a lot of options: flanking the Abyssal Warlock in the center, shutting down the Flamebearers, grounding the Tortured Souls. Honestly she should have gone with the last option, but that’s a bit of hindsight speaking. I figured Zaz’u’s lightning could reach out and mess with my damaged token carriers worse.

*murder sounds* Many demons are smote, and Zaz’u takes 3 damage. (The Stampede turned in place between shots.)

Abyssals 5: It’s feeling like last gasps but Bill is playing for some serious points on the right. The Warlock charges the Brutes to hold them and/or kill them (7 damage so far), and the Seductress hits the Druid again to end her. Zaz’u counters the Lycan Alpha because, but the real move is the Tortured Souls horde jumping into the token-bearing Tribal Warriors.

Flamebearers toss firebolts into the Stampede but luckily can’t land a wound on 5+ / 4+ dice. In combat, the Druid submits under the Seductress’ heavy petting and the Tortured Souls mangle the Tribal Warriors, taking their tokens. Zaz’u and the Warlock do nothing but sure are in the way.

Herd 5: Blenders can be heard revving up as the Warlock is Bruted and the Flamebearers have 79 quality attaks leveled at their frail red bodies. The Stampede plows into the Tortured Souls horde and the Lycan Alpha shrugs and hits Zaz’u again (who has regened down to 1 damage). The Great Chieftain aims to sit the Seductress down, if not kill her.

The center of the board is almost entirely cleared of Abyssal taint. Zaz’u goes to 4 damage but sticks around. The Stampede does a solid 7 damage to the Tortured Souls but it’s not enough. And the Great Chieftain finds -1 to hit and De 6+ far too hard to crack, leaving the Seductress mobile and her Gnome-Glass Shield intact.

Abyssals 6: If Zaz’u isn’t wavered, he counters the Lycan Alpha? And the Seductress counters the Great Chieftain. The only actual business however is the Tortured Souls ending the Stampede.

Which they do, turning to face whatever the Hallow has for them. The Great Chieftain cops some damage too.

Herd 6: Try as I might, the Lycan horde can’t fit on the Tortured Souls, so it rear charges Zaz’u for murdery reasons, with the Lycan Alpha in the front. The Brutes join the Great Chieftain in trying to rid the world of the Seductress.

Zaz’u is detonated, and I think the Seductress may have been dragged down? The ensnare is killing me 😅 But with no Turn 7 and 5 tokens to the Abyssal’s 2, this is a convincing …

HALLOW VICTORY

I think it’s funny that the unit both Bill and I were bagging on all game, the Tortured Souls horde, was the power player that kept the Abyssals in the game, even securing them serious points – we’re using Blackjack at the GT, so 2 of 7 tokens is pretty meaningful for a minor loss. I do think they need any item, and my suggestion was the discounted Wine of Elvenkind. Their mobility is one of their few upsides, so what if even more mobile? With Helm of TC +1 as a back up.

While the Horn of the Great Migration wasn’t mindblowing, I ended up keeping it for my tournament list as a tech choice. Speaking of the GT, I’ll be back in the next week or so with the full rundown, so stay tuned. They’ve already announced our first round matchups, and I’m happy to announce my first game sees the return of a familiar face and his green horde …

FORCES OF NURGLEKIN: ADVENTURES IN COUNTS AS

On By SalvageIn NURGLEKINLeave a comment

Gentle readers! Sorry for the lack of reports, but unfortunately it’s been extremely hard to get games in this Fall, as everybody’s availability vanished and the wait time for the BRB to arrive squashed a lot of enthusiasm for our existing armies. Well, we’ve finally got our Big Red Books … just in time for the holidays to smash into whatever free time we might have 😐

That said, my club recently announced its GT dates and details, which has lit some fires. Last weekend of January will be the second Dead of Winter GT here in Albany, NY – 5 games, 2150 points, no triples of any kind. While I think this is pretty reactionary and am pretty sure no quads makes for more varied lists, it’s interesting to say the least and I’ll be there no matter the comp (that’s a lie, I probably can’t make a Highlander (no duplicates) list with any army I own!) This Zweilander format, as I’ve dubbed it, does invalidate all my current armies – I use a lot of triples or quadruples for theme / skew – however I’m down to play something different.

Of the four armies I currently have, the Scuttlers (Trident) could be rebuilt but wouldn’t be a shooting army any more and would probably need the return of the Gigas; Bloodfire (Salamanders) is based around Fire Elemental hordes and Ember Sprites, which I’d be limited to 2x hordes + 2x regiments of at most (the duplicate limit is per unit per size); the Hallow (Herd) I recently rebuilt into a Brute hordes and Tribal Warriors regs checkerboard thing; and my WHFB legacy Nurgling army was last run as a Ratkin army in 2E built around 3-4 hordes of elite infantry. I reported my Nurglekin games over on DakkaDakka as well as my old blogspot (check out a weirdly competent tournament run here). The Nurglekin are also individually based and in the midst of an eternal redux, making them the most flexible for tinkering …

So over the last month I chopped up a couple Zombicide minis and started converting a new wave of Ratkin weird tek. I played a 2300 game against Cory’s Salamanders and really enjoyed it! Ratkin 3E is a strange faction but the playstyle felt good to return to, with a nice mix of grind and responsive shooting. Here are the few shots I’ve got of that game, which I believe was a draw thanks to a Turn 6-7 Mother Cryza lightning bolt rout:

The announcement of the Zweilander format curtailed my enthusiasm a bit (goodbye triple Shocktroop hordes) but I pushed on for a while. As time with no games dragged on, I found myself less enthused by the double horde build and wanting to mess around with a totally new direction for the green carpet, one that would let me use some WMH minis I’d earmarked for the army but Ratkin doesn’t support, as it has no tall 50mm units.

Specifically for this bastard!

Enter the Abyssals. While I’ve looked at the Abyssal list before, as it’s the usual home for WHFB Chaos Daemons, I’ve never actually played as them, and have a good track record of beating them at events. Abyssals seem pretty middle of the road, with ok anvils, decent mid-range shooting, mediocre hammers, multiple annoying flyers, an interesting selection of monsters and solos, and a fantastic titan in the Abyssal Fiend. On rate, I’m a fan of Lesser Abyssals and would use them for the Nurgling bulk of the army. The list also has many heroes for me to use all the Confrontation minis that make up the army’s individuals. And most importantly, Abyssals have lots of tall 50mm options for my boy Omodamos: Despoiler Champion, Chroneas, Manifestation of Ba’el, and the Well of Souls. Dash28 tells me the Well is the big brain choice, but I love how weird the Chroneas is, plus in an army that hits on 4+ I really want to hit on 3+, preferably all the time thanks to Strider. I came so close to trying out Ba’el in a game, however I’ll be real, I waver and kill Ba’el whenever I run into him. The dude is fine and his LB7 would be great for the army, I’d just rather have a weirder, fearless option.

The Zweilander format presented some challenges to my triple Lower Abyssal hordes plan, but here’s where I’ve landed after two test games vs Undead:

  • In both my test games I ran double Tortured Souls hordes but wow are those not good hammers! Did they really only lose nimble from 2E? Maybe they had CS2 before too? I’m shocked at how incompetent they are, even in the flank, and the H2 is a real liability on flyers. I’m hoping that the points saved from dropping one to a regiment (i.e. the correct size for the unit) and put back into killy items will help them both do their jobs better. Plus it gives me a fast chaff unit in the regiment.
  • The Abyssals, Guard or Lower, have been ok. I’m always itching to drop them to De 3+ and CS1 but the prevalence of P0-1 shooting is keeping me at De 4+ for now. I might swap the Lower Abyssal regs to CS1, so they might ever do some damage (I grabbed a flank in one of my games and did a whole 4 damage even bane chanted), but in theory they should be decent little 115 point anvils with De 4+ and regen 5+. A regen value, by the way, that I am really struggling with – Trident’s 4+ has ruined me 😛
  • Chroneas has been fun, Me 3+ CS3 is nice and chunky, Cloak of Death is brilliant. Temporal Ruptures is neat although would be much better if the Chroneas could heal itself, since it’s one of the only parts of the army without its own sustain. Which, yes, it could do with drain life but after taking DL8 in my first game I agree with the Internet, the upgrade is a trap. Cheaper is best.
  • The hero blend is a combination of models I want to use and duplication limits due to the comp meaning I can’t just run triple Champs. The more I use the Seductress, the more I love her, what a great toolbox hero. I haven’t run her with LB yet, but I had the points spare and for consistency and more ranged pressure I like the spell on her. For a brief time she had BC (for the Tortured Souls mostly) but I didn’t cast it, preferring to get her stuck in. She had Pipes of Terror in my second game, which is probably the go to if I wasn’t taking Boomstick. Finally, the Abyssal Warlock. An obviously great 3E hero who currently spends his days casting bane chant on the Abyssal hordes. It’s a living! With so many individuals I’ve decided to invest a few points into the new Host Shadowbeast, which I think has legs with the otherwise weak CS1 of the Abyssal individuals. I’ve tacked on Knowledgeable for an extra +1 from the spell, 10 points that otherwise would become Slashing + Crushing for the Champions. That might be better? Since it’s always on and not reliant on the Warlock not casting BC, but eh, I prefer simpler lists with fewer items if I can.

Let’s wrap this up with some mini-reports. In Forces of Nurgle 1: Undead, my buddy premiered yet another redux of his Undead army:

It’s a very solid list, with the exception of the Lute which I assured Jeff that wolf would probably never get a chance to strum. Relying on the Lykanis for inspiring will often hold them back from going rambo, but with only Att 5 maybe that’s for the better? Keeps them close for combo-charging instead of trying for flank pressure.

We played classic Loot, with the Revenant Hordes eventually getting a token each and proving far too hard for me to shift with their LL2+ and my terrible dice. The highlight for me was slowly whittling down and routing his Soul Reaver Cav with one Abyssal Champion, thanks to wavering them halfway through the process. Shadowbeast +4 gave him the boost he needed to finish them. The lowlight, tho, was taking seven flanks from Goreblights, only one to two of which were thanks to surge …

One of seven Goreblight flanks, each one of which killed a unit.

I was obviously having trouble protecting my hordes’ and regs’ flanks or blocking the Goreblights out, despite having all these dumb individuals wandering around getting into trouble. Like smashing a Soul Reaver unit late game and then going back to back to block out the final token out of spite:

The Undead did get a Turn 7 to try to grab the third token too, but my Apostates of Darkness successfully held the hill:

Despite these late game heroics, this was a decisive NURGLEKIN LOSS. I went back to the drawing board, waffled around with including Ba’el, kept the Chroneas and rematched the Undead a couple days later. He ran the same list, except with the Necromancer swapped to a Revenant Champion w/ Tome of Darkness + Surge (5) and no Lute on that Lykanis. I assured him that ‘wasting points’ on a model you’d rather bring (he hates his Necro) and is only marginally better is both Cool and Good.

In Forces of Nurgle 2: Undead, we rolled up Push. He loaded all his tokens on the Aegis Revenants and successfully grabbed the center token with the Hann’s Revenants, so again put me in the position of needing to crack very tough hordes with a relatively toothless army. Here’s us squaring off on the left:

You can also see me feeding my trash Abyssal regiments to bop the horde or sleedbump things. I messed up and should have blocked the central Goreblight so it couldn’t (SPOILER) flank me in coming turns 😦 But such was the theme of the weekend.

Like so! This is after that Goreblight flanked to the right, killing an Abyssal Guard regiment and spinning to face this flank, which it walked into. Dammit, me. This horde did survive tho, as the Goreblight rolled normal hits for the first time all weekend (my opponent’s dice were FIRE on all his 4+ while mine were wet garbage), and I got to experience the power of the sacrificial imp double regen, which was great fun 😀

Eventually we crack both Rev hordes, then both roll a bunch of snake eyes in a row that extend the rout of the Undead longer than it needed to be. Highlights: the same Abyssal Champ wavering and eventually routing the same Soul Reaver Cav from Game 1; the Chroneas withdrawing (-1 to hit!) and rear charging some Soul Reaver infantry, only to snake eyes them on 16 damage and die in return; both Tortured Souls hordes mobbing the other Soul Reaver infantry, only to snake eyes them on 16 damage and die in return* (well one anyway); an Abyssal Guard unit with 4 tokens scooting off into the sunset on Turn 4 while all this carnage played out on the left. I eventually got the 3 tokens from that Rev Horde as well, making this a dominating NURGLEKIN WIN.

* If you were concerned about Soul Reaver Infantry’s damage output after the nerf, don’t be! They still hit shockingly hard, especially when you’re Jeff and you consistently wound 13+ times with those 20 attaks.

So after these games and a weekend spent in the kitchen with Abyssals, I’m not sure how I feel. The list I posted above is neat and has some tools behind it and I’m down to try it again … but in game, I gotta say rolling 4-5+ all the time is a real slog. I’m pretty sick of playing armies that don’t feel like they do anything, which is how I felt playing my Herd before I added more to them this summer and embraced the hammers that Herd have available. Ironically, I find myself wondering if I should just play the Hallow, which has some very cool 3D sculpts and is my newest paint, rather than putting work into revising my infantry-centric Nurglekin, whether they’re Abyssals or Rats or whatever. But I worry that Herd don’t have enough going on for me, a control player at heart who doesn’t like alpha strike.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading all this! I’ll hopefully be back before the year ends with a proper report or two as we prep for Dead of Winter.

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 22: FORCES OF THE ABYSS

On By SalvageIn SCUTTLING REALMLeave a comment

Second game of the first day and I’m up against Bill, a new local player who picked up Kings of War late last year. He’s got a largely Mantic Abyssals army with a pair of enormous worms for his Fiends, which I’m 100% here for and look forward to wrassling with.

Forces of the Abyss 2100
Molochs Horde – Despoiler Champ, Sacrificial Imp, Blade of Slashing
Abyssal Ghouls Horde
Abyssal Ghouls Horde
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment – Staying Stone
Flamebearers Troop
Flamebearers Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Fiend
Abyssal Fiend

Manifestation of Ba’el – Lightning Bolt (7)
Despoiler Champion
Zaz’u’szu the Betrayer – Lightning Bolt (4+), Bane Chant (2+)
Abyssal Warlock – Alchemist Curse (2)

Looks the business to me, although he wasn’t sold on Zaz’u’szu. I’ve only seen him used in batreps myself, but then Abyssals is one of those armies where I tend to just face them at tournaments. Maybe not any longer, welcome to the scene Bill!

Second scenario is Control, with me making the Abyssals go first, largely to mess with his Flamebearers.

BATTLE: GAME 2

Battlelines!
Abyssals 1: The demonic line pushes forward in the middle, hampered by terrain on the left, while the Abyssal Horsemen rapidly redeploy away from the crabby right flank. Lightning strikes some Heartpiercers with no significant impact (apart from 6 damage).
Trident 1: Crustaceans scuttle forth in response, using the Abyssal retreat on the right to push hard down that flank. Harpoons rout a Flamebearer unit, skewer Ba’el for 3 damage and the war-bow Envoy tags the left Abyssal Fiend (WAR-BOW). Bastion goes up on the rapidly regenerating Heartpiercers (down to 2).
Abyssals 2: The bulk of the Abyssals continue trudging through the terrain down the center of the board, as the Horsemen have a change of heart and face the oncoming crabs on the right. Significantly more fire is brought to bear this turn, wavering Heartpiercers on the left (6 damage) and wounding the Depth Horror Eternal (3 damage) and right Placoderms (2 damage). Zaz’u has started to significantly hurt his Gargoyle battery at this point (7 damage) as well!
Trident 2: The sound of the grind revving up can be heard as the right Kraken is released upon the poor Abyssal Horsemen, smashing 5 damage into them. The right Placoderms make contact with Zaz’u, pinching 4 damage into him. The Eternal charges the right Ghouls horde to block them up (2 damage caused), shortly after Heartpiercers stick 2 more damage into Ba’el and lucky waver the big bad! Also the other Flamebearers start to take Heartpiercer damage and the war-bow Envoy tags that Abyssal Fiend again (WAR-BOW)!
Abyssals 3: We’re getting danger close now! The Eternal takes a combo-charge from Ghouls and Abyssal Fiend, while the right Kraken is countered by his Horsemen. The other significant movement is the Molochs moving to reinforce the right flank, but otherwise it’s murder time.
The wounded Heartpiercers on the left are dunked by the Abyssal Fiend and/or Flamebearers and/or Warlock, and some combination of those also does 4 damage to the left Kraken. In combat, the Eternal takes 8 damage and wavers (with bastion on him), while the right Kraken goes up to 7 damage and wavers on a 10+. Touche, Abyssals, touche.
Trident 3: Crabs up the ante this turn, diving into combat across the board. Placoderms charge the left Ghoul horde, and the other Ghoul horde is flanked by a Kraken and fronted by the Water Elemental horde. The Eternal fury counters the right Abyssal Fiend, the right Placoderms aim to pop the betrayed Gargoyles, and the right Kraken furiously regens in place. Real Talk: I need a couple of these combats to go my way or I’m in a bad place. I mean, they totally should, but anything can and will happen with my dice 😐
The Centurion spikes Zaz’u off the board with his laser trident, removing the Gargoyles inspiring and helping the Placoderms rend the stony bird girls to gravel and face the Molochs. The central Ghoul horde is evaporated, allowing the left Kraken to reform out of the left Abyssal Fiend’s LOS and seriously menace the Abyssal lines, along with the Water Elemental horde. In other news, Ba’el takes a couple damage from Heartpiercers (bad dice!), the left Fiend is shot to 6 damage, and the left Ghoul horde snipped to 5 damage. The Eternal must have hacked some damage into his Fiend too.
Abyssals 4: Ba’el kicks things off by diving some Heartpiercers far away from the giant crabs staring at him, comboing with the Despoiler Champion. The Molochs hit the right Placoderms, the left Fiend helps the Ghoul horde out with the other Placos, and the right Fiend counters the Eternal. Shooters in the center prepare to waver or kill the central Kraken.
And waver him they do, rolling that spicy 8-9. In fact, everything the Abyssals touch wavers this turn – EVERYTHING. My scuttlin’ realm for a fury aura!
Trident 4: You know what isn’t wavered? The Water Elemental horde charging the rear of the Molochs 😬 Also the Centurion, who hits the Horsemen to help the Kraken grind them out, since the big guy keeps wavering. Loads of regening happens as well.
The Molochs are brutalized, the Water Elementals turning to eat an Abyssal Fiend next turn. Heartpiercer shooting punches more damage on the left Abyssal Fiend (9 total I think) and a little more on Ba’el. Bastion goes up on the central Kraken.
Abyssals 5: The left Placoderms are again charged by Ghouls and Abyssal Fiend, as the Centurion is countered by the Horsemen and the Eternal prepares to be eaten by his Fiend. Ba’el disengages from the Heartpiercers, preparing to style on me, tho the Despoiler Champ charges them again.
Kings of Hills: The Revenge
Instead of shooting or fighting, Ba’el shouts ‘From the Pit I Curse Thee!’, disordering both Heartpiercer units and the bastion Envoy! Bravo. In more violent news, the left Placos are once more wavered in combat, as is the central Kraken from shooting. WTH. The Eternal falls to the right Fiend, the Centurion takes some damage and the Despoiler Champ nibbles on its Heartpiercers.
Trident 5: Crabby vengeance will be ours! The Water Elementals and Placoderms plow into the Eternal’s Abyssal Fiend, as Centurion and Kraken hit the Horsemen, and Heartpiercers go aggro on Ba’el’s flank and the Despoiler Champ’s front. The wavered Placoderms disengage and the Kraken furiously regenerates (9 of 9 damage!)
Horsemen and Abyssal Fiend are routed, but no such luck elsewhere, with token damage at best from the Heartpiercers (although that left Fiend is at like 10+ damage now).
Abyssals 6: With his mind on the scenario, the Abyssal general eases up on the gas on the left and jockeys units into zones. Ba’el and the Despoiler Champ however do hit those Heartpiercers in the bottom right again.
And dunk them pretty hard. Alchemist curse from the Warlock pressure cooks the right Placoderms as well (and was doing a number on the central Kraken all game).
Trident 6: Things are pretty well in hand (claw) for me, especially once the central Kraken eats those Flamebearer’s in his sector. Some other violence happens, but the Ghouls hold and the Water Elementals can’t finish of Ba’el. Check out that clock at this point, with Bill up 20+ minutes over me 😀
Abyssals 7: The Ghouls overwhem the Placoderm, taking the lower left sector from my Heartpiercers. The Water Elemental thankfully holds Ba’el and the Despoiler Champ in place.

Trident 7: I melt the last fragment of my clock thinking about where to put the central Kraken, in the end deciding to gamble on shooting the Warlock and getting +2 points rather than walking into the upper left for a sure +1 point and then possibly denying him a point. The Centurion does not drop the Warlock, however the Water Elemental horde sends Ba’el screaming back to the pit with my last seconds of clock, which is always a good feel. With 3 sectors to the Abyss’ 1, this is another …

SCUTTLIN’ VICTORY (15-6)

I came close to getting an 18-3 on this and sort of gave it away on a gamble, but whatever, it was great to play Bill and I look forward to more games with him. His indecision with the Abyssal Horsemen early game was saved by hot waver dice keeping the right Kraken from rampaging his line, but then that Moloch rear was pretty catastrophic and let the Water Elementals decimate his hammers into the late game. Mad props on using Ba’el’s Curse all the same!

UP NEXT: Nightstalkers!

THE HALLOW 13: FORCES OF THE ABYSS

On By SalvageIn THE HALLOWLeave a comment

Alright, last game of the 2021 Crossroads GT. Middle tables, nothing at stake, opponent is a buddy from our sister club and, crazily enough, I almost played him and this army in my third game ever with Herd, before we swapped the Ratkin player over to me. Call it fate.

Forces of the Abyss 2300
Lower Abyssals Horde – CS1/De3
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment
Flamebearers Regiment
Flamebearers Regiment
Flamebearers Regiment
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Fiend
Manifestation of Ba’el
Abyssal Warlock
Seductress

I really appreciate no item lists, especially when there are units that so often are ‘fixed’ with the same items – looking at the Horsemen without pathfinder or strider here. As my opponent said, what would he drop to get them? Personally I’m not a fan of De3 on Lower Abyssals, with so much P1 shooting in the game, but he doesn’t have the points to make them do work otherwise, so trade-off it is.

Game Five is Plunder, the green tokens are worth 2 points. I scout and lamentably he takes first turn.

BATTLE

Herd 0: Scouting phase! You can just make out the Tribal Spear regiments to left and right of frame. The rightmost Forest Shamblers scoop up a 2 point token.
Abyssals 1: The demons power forward on the right and creep into range in the center with their shooting elements (Ba’el is the morghast / winged skeleton thing in the field). Note that that field is flat terrain, not that I really have shooting that he’s not getting cover against.
The central Forest Shamblers take 7 damage and I really question what I’m doing with them 😅
Herd 1: The Hallow, freshly regrown from its scrum with the Orcs, collectively shrugs and leans on in once more! Double Forest Shamblers charge the Lower Abyssals, while the Brutal Herder scoots his 50mm base into some Abyssal Horsemen. The Druid runs up on the right to be inspiring (just behind the rightmost Tribal Spears). The rest of the tree things push up the rest of the board, with the Beast taking up position to jump into the fire base and the gently smoldering Shamblers picking up a token. Of note, the Centaurs couldn’t become relevant thanks to the obstacle stopping at the double, and the Tree Herder over there wasn’t able to both turn and put his leaderpoint into the forest, so he can’t see anything.
The Lower Abyssals are pounded to jelly and the Forest Shamblers reform in their forest sanctuary. The Brutal Herder manages to waver the Horsemen, which in a moment will be more relevant than I thought.
Abyssals 2: Strap in, big turn ahead as carnage blossoms across the field. Horsemen charge the Beast over a wall (I missed this, good eye!), Gargoyles charge Tribal Spears (hindered), more Gargoyles charge damaged Forest Shamblers, Seductress charges Centaur Chief, Ba’el charges Forest Shamblers (hindered) with Horsemen in the flank (hindered but off a hill), Horsemen counter the Brutal Herder (because Fury doesn’t allow for charging, so they couldn’t cycle to his flank), and the other Gargoyles charge the Druid because wow it’s hard to protect individuals from flyers.
All shooting goes into the central Tribal Spears, who hold on 6 damage. After a flurry of dice, the combats end up with the Beast holding on 3, the Tribal Spears on 1, the central Shamblers back to 7, the Centaur Chief on 5 (even after the duelist buzz-saw), Ba’el’s Shamblers routed, the Brutal Herder on 3, and the Druid it looks like on 1 but definitely disordered.
Herd 2: The Hallow reaches that glorious state where Everybody Is Fighting (Except the Druid). Beast + Tribal Spears (hindered, also carrying a token) charge the left Horsemen, Tribal Spears + Centaurs charge some Gargoyles, Tree Herder + Forest Shamblers charge some more Gargoyles, the central Tribal Spears make contact with one of the Flamebearers, the Centaur Chief spends his one charge of the game sitting Ba’el down (which may have been a mistake, shutting down the fire base was likely more impactful but I wanted to limit Ba’el just in general), the Brutal Herder + Forest Shambler friends charge the damaged Horsemen, Centaurs charge the third Horsemen, and the Tribal Spears on the far right go up and over the hill and into the Abyssal Fiend. Whew.
The left Horsemen don’t rout (maybe wavered?), both Gargoyles down the middle scatter (with the Tribal Spears sidestepping and nabbing a token), the Flamebearers take frustratingly little damage, the Centaur Chief flubs his rolls against Ba’el, the damaged Horsemen are smashed to bits, and the Abyssal Fiend and other Horsemen cop some damage but whatever.
No, you’re adorable!
Abyssals 3: Shooting removed the central Forest Shamblers and Tribal Spears so rapidly I didn’t catch a before shot! Charges see the left Horsemen back into the Beast, the right Horsemen into the flank of the last Forest Shamblers (hindered) with Ba’el in the front (hindered) for a bit of deja vu, the Abyssal Fiend countering the Tribal Spears on the right and the surviving Gargoyles into the rear of the Centaurs. Oh, and the Seductress into the Centaur Chief for another round.
The Beast is pushed to 7 damage but stays frosty, the Centaur Chief whipped to 7 and wavers, the Forest Shamblers to 7 too for all the good it does, the right Tribal Spears to 6, and the Centaurs shredded by hideous Gargoyles.
Herd 3: This game is wildly too close to call, but I do know that the fire base needs to break if I’m keeping my tokens into the late game. To which ends the central Tree Herder powers into the central Flamebearers (couldn’t reach the right ones) and Centaurs charge the left ones. On the left, the Beast counters the Horsemen with Tribal Spears in their flank (hindered forever). On the right, the Forest Shamblers counter the Horsemen after a very long think, and Tribal Spears counter the Abyssal Fiend.

Meanwhile, Tribal Spears move down the center line, intent on scooping up another loot token. The Centaur Chief doesn’t move at all, which seems bad when I think how just backing up 5″ makes the Seductress make more of a decision, but it’s not game ending with how fast she is. Finally the Druid bane chants the Forest Shamblers.

Those Horsemen rout! But it’s a slog across the rest of the combats, with no standout performances. Here at the midway point it’s 4-0 in the Hallow’s favor, and at the time I certainly felt like I might get away with it …
Abyssals 4: The fire base prepares to deal with its Centaur problem, as the Seductress ends the Centaur Chief and Ba’el and the Horsemen flank-n-front the Shamblers. Classic! The Abyssal Fiend counters the Tribal Spears again and the Gargoyles fly as far as they can into the woods, gunning for that 2 point token.
The Centaurs cling to life on 4 damage, however the Centaur Chief, Forest Shamblers and Tribal Spears are all consigned to the flames. RIP tree bois. Ba’el picks up the 2 point token, tying the loot score.
Herd 4: The game is slipping away from me, so time to overthink things I guess? Tribal Spears grab a second token, but they do so in a way that puts them within 12″ of where the Gargoyles will be when they grab the 2 point token. I forget that you can only charge 10″ with a token, despite the Tribal Spears on the left moving 5″ off of that fence. And I also discount that the Seductress exists and can very easily block them. 100% should have barely grabbed the token and turned to disappear behind the wood.

The Centaurs re-charge the left Flamebearers (I’m pretty sure they didn’t flank the Warlock because the Flamebearers have double the shots, tho future me definitely thinks they should have, as it inspires / might actually die), the central Herder corkscrew charges the right Flamebearers (largely so he can look to the right), and the Brutal Herder ramps off the hill into Ba’el. For vengeance. The Druid tops him off with a little healing.

Let’s cut right to it: the Brutal Herder one rounds Ba’el 😀 Double 10+ Nv rolls banish the demon back to the pit from whence it came. The Herder stays where it is, presenting flanks and glaring at the field of Flamebearers. Speaking of which, some Flamebearers get slapped around but whatever, this thing is a regenerating glue trap that shoots.
Abyssals 5: You know things are getting serious when nobody deigns to shoot. The Centaurs are countered by Flamebearers and flanked by the Warlock (hindered), the Tree Herder is double flanked by Flamebearers (hindered), and the Brutal Herder is charged by the Seductress (hindered) and flanked on either side by the Abyssal Fiend and Abyssal Horsemen (hindered). The Gargoyles grab a 2 point token and turn around, bringing the token score to 5-2 in the Hallow’s favor.
The Brutal Herder is torn down, in an unexpected turn of events hot on the heels of an even less expected turn. The Horsemen take the 2 point token (4-3 Abyssals). In the field, the Flamebearers do 1 damage to the Tree Herder and waver the Centaurs on 5.
Herd 5: Dire straits as I’m now playing for a high loss. The Beast flanks into the left Flamebearers (could have done the middle but given that the Tribal Spears are still in the wood, it’s a moot point), and the remaining Tree Herder powers into the Abyssal Fiend as he can reach it. The Druid prepares to zap the Gargoyles with lightning, cover be damned …
… and she pops them with 1 damage! They drop their token, conveniently right in front of the Horsemen 😐 Neither the Beast nor the Tree Herder can rout their targets.
Abyssals 6: The Flamebearers caper out of the field with a clear mission to burn down the Hallow token carriers, bereft as they are of inspiring as well. But also the Horsemen nab the second 2 point token (4-3 Abyssals once more). The Abyssals engaged in combat counter / charge their targets.
The Centaurs finally die to the Warlock, the Beast goes up to 9 damage but holds, and the Tree Herder takes 2 from the Fiend. But more importantly the two Flamebearer regiments do reduce the two token Tribal Spears to cinders, thanks to being both very visible and not 50% in cover, when either of those could have not been the case (4-1 Abyssals).
Herd 6: Gonna need a miracle if this goes to Turn 7 … The last Tribal Spears lug their token over and pick up the two fallen ones in the forest (4-3 Abyssals). The Beast goes into the Flamebearers again, and the Tree Herder grimly prepares to smash the Fiend down at last.
Well, the Tree Herder makes good anyway. The Beast kicks a couple Flamebearers for no meaningful result. But you know, I’ll take a 3-4 token loss, that feels good aft—-
Abyssals 7: The Flamebearers roast my 3 token Tribal Spears, and because we thought it was the end of the game – you can see my big die got messed up after Turn 4, so we reset according to his top-n-bottom round dial – he didn’t bother escaping the Tree Herder looming within inches of his 4 points having damaged Sp 5 Horsemen -_- Possible the Beast as well, if she isn’t wounded?

I’ve got some weird feels about that omission, as Turn 7 ruined me here, for zero upside despite my power pieces. However I had a great back and forth game up to here and as far as I knew we had the turns correct, so either way that’s am …

ABYSSAL VICTORY (4-17)

I won’t say I wasn’t weirdly disappointed at playing so hard, pushing through some terrible luck (like everything to do with the Flamebearers), having some insane luck (the Ba’el dunk!), and then walking away with next to no points for it, but that’s how the cookie crumbles in a game where scenarios score at the end #progressivescoringnowplz It was a helluva match against an honestly better player, and a great way to cap a great tournament. It’s becoming passe to say this, but in person gaming again has been amazing, and a tournament is like the best way to do it. Minus the lack of sleep thing, tho that probably won’t ever change.

Nor will my placement I reckon – I landed 34 of 52, which I swear I’ve gotten before 😓 2-1-2 (but 49/105 battle points) and average paint will do that. I did get 1 favorite army vote from somebody tho! And played great dudes along the way, many of them for the first time since 2E.

Before signing off on this Crossroads series I did want to comment on Turn 7 being a thing. I’m all for its existence, and I’m fine with it at tournaments as well, but 4+ is far too often for me. I’d like it to be a special thing that maybe happens a third or a sixth of the time, but absolutely shattering a game on 50% – or creating a win-more scenario with the same likelihood – is pretty lame and a little too Games Workshop for me at this point.

Part of this thought was sparked by Saturday night’s discussion with a new KOW player but Warmachine vet, who was enjoying herself but scoffed at KOW’s claims that it’s designed for competitive play. To her, 50/50 Turn 7 and the ability to fabricate situations where units must charge an arc but are not allowed to charge that arc both invalidate the competitive design stance, and I agree on the first point, while shrugging on the second and calling it one of KOW’s NPEs.

I think Turn 7 has the potential to guide comp in a way (speed / shooting / survival in that order) and possibly force more conservative play, so maybe that’s why it always seems to wreck me so badly? As I very rarely have anything left in the late game, either to capitalize on Turn 7 or, more often, to survive it. Hence my feels about Game Five here, as I actually had meaningful tools in position for it, but wasn’t allowed to use them. Honestly, Turn 7 on a 50% would be less of an issue if 90% or so of the scenarios weren’t end scoring only. With progressive scoring, you’re awarded for scenario-minded play along the way, which my Herd basically have to do, in the hope they’ll currently be around to reap the benefits at the very end.

Thanks for reading! I’ve just got a couple more games in with the Hallow, so stay tuned.

SCUTTLIN’ REALM 19: FORCES OF THE ABYSS

On By SalvageIn SCUTTLING REALMLeave a comment

Hope y’all had a great holiday season, all pandemics considered. Popping in to toss some shots of my last game of 2020 up (from August!), the report for which got lost in the shuffle, partially because my dice made it a particularly one-sided affair. Also wanted to warn y’all that I’ll probably let my WordPress pay account lapse in 2021 – which mostly means the URL will default to something less cool. Still hoping to log games up here, when they happen again 😞 But anyway, here’s a fast report of a game I barely remember:

Trident Realm 2300
Water Elementals Horde
Water Elementals Horde
Gigas Horde – Chalice of Wrath
Gigas Horde – Staying Stone
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Kraken
Kraken
Naiad Centurion – Blade of the Beast Slayer
Naiad Envoy – Bastion (2), Tome of Darkness
Naiad Envoy – Lute of Insatiable Darkness

This is essentially the final form of the crabs – and will hopefully be painted soon, really putting off painting my last big Mierce crustacean. Water Elementals are really quite good, Kraken work best in pairs, the shooting is real and it’s been cool to realize that individuals have a place in this game.

Forces of the Abyss 2300
Lower Abyssals Horde – two-handed weapons
Lower Abyssals Horde
Molochs Horde – despoiler champion
Molochs Horde – despoiler champion
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment
Succubi Regiment – lurker
Flamebearers Regiment
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Manifestation of Ba’el – Lightning Bolt (7)
Abyssal Champion – Lightning Bolt (5)
Abyssal Warlock – Bane Chant (2)
Seductress – Bane Chant (2)

I’m guessing on some of the upgrades here, but this seems more or less correct. The Molochs might not have champs, which would leave points for the other Lowers to have CS(1) and the Horsemen to get a movement upgrade, both of which seem likely.

Looks like we were playing Plunder, judging by the tokens.

BATTLE

Battlelines!
The Abyss descends upon the crab line, albeit with some restraint. Lightning plays across the central Gigas (i.e. one of two units that can’t regen).
Scuttlers scuttle in response. Bastion goes on the left Kraken and Heartpiercers left and right begin ventilating the Succubi and the Horsemen, despite the negatives to hit.
Turn 2 means charges! Some Gargoyles successfully disorder some Heartpiercers, but unfortunately the Horsemen hard fail against the wounded Gigas. A catastrophic Kraken flank is saved however when the Abyssal Champ’s 2 lightning damage results in a box car waver on the titan! The left Water Elementals also cop a couple damage.
The crab’s respond by going aggro with the left Kraken (into Molochs) and Water Elementals (into Lower Abyssals), and otherwise counter-charging the middle and letting the Abyssals decide on the flanks. Heartpiercers chunk some damage on the unengaged Molochs and Lower Abyssals.
While there’s a lot of damage spread across the Abyssal line, the Gigas go wild and tear the Horsemen to pieces! Something like 11 damage from 12 attaks <chefkiss.gif>
Turn 3: The next wave of Abyssals hits home, as 5+ regen kicks in. The Bastion/Lute Envoy takes some damage from the Flamebearers before the carnage begins …
The Scuttlin’ center crunches like so much seafood, but the rest of the shellfish hold the line – including the Heartpiercers on the far left (9 damage taken!)
The crabs respond with the coldhearted violence of their genus: Gigas flank the Succubi on the left, the grind continues in the upper-left, Ba’el’s Kraken jumps on the central Molochs while the Centurion and some stalwart Heartpiercers sandwich the fallen demon lord. The sound of regening can be heard across the board.
Once again, Gigas one-round a unit (hindering be damned), taking out the Succubi. The central Heartpiercers likewise one-shot the Gargoyles who killed their mates last turn. Everywhere else the grind continues, with special mention for the Centurion and Heartpiercers dealing heavy damage to Ba’el.
The Abyssals continue to pile damage on in Turn 4 – check out all those double dice! – but the Nv checks aren’t there. The white chits show that the Scuttlin’ center has been wavered tho (Bastion Envoy, Heartpiercers and central Kraken).
Amongst all the regening (actually it looks pretty weak for 4/5+), the triumphant Gigas plow into the left Molochs as everyone else counter-charges …
Yes, gentle readers, all that happened. The left collapses thanks to that combo-charge, three turns of Water Elemental affection (eventually 54 attaks CS(1) attaks pays out) and a brutal single round of Heartpiercer fire into the Flamebearers. The right vanishes when those heavily damaged Water Elementals rolled like 17 hits and erased the horde 😅 Also Ba’el was torn down by the Centurion, which is pretty damn epic and exactly what he’s there to do. (The above shot is actually from Abyssal 5 but shows the combat results.)
With the heart and most of the limbs torn off the Abyssal army, Turn 5 is a little lackluster. The Seductress dunks the Bastion Envoy and prepares to get Gigas’d, the central Molochs get their Kraken up to double dice but can only pull the waver, while the Abyssal Champ can’t pop the mangled right Water Elementals.
A Kraken careens from one hill into the flank of the Molochs’ on the other, along with a brutal flank from those hero Heartpiercers. Also the Gigas chitter into the Seductress and the right Water Elementals prepare to chomp down on the Champion.
The Molochs disintegrate, but the individuals hold. Heartpiercers begin barraging the Abyssal Warlock with harpoons.
Turn 6 last gasps from the Abyssals. The Warlock tries to firebolt the wounded central Kraken, for no dice.
The Gigas see through the Seductress’ wiles and snip her in half, shortly after a wall of Heartpiercer fire impales the Warlock. The Abyssal Champion is the only demon left on the board, as the crabs quickly regen almost all the damage done to them. Oh, and snap up every loot token.

SCUTTLIN’ VICTORY

A commanding win for the crabs, thanks in large part to terrible Nv dice for the Abyssals. At the time it felt like this game was really run by the dice, to the point that reporting it felt a little weird, but watching it play out here I’m pretty happy with choices I actively made. Going ham on the left with the Kraken and Water Elementals took me a long time to decide on – this kind of decision almost always bites me – but really paid out, as it held up units that were going to struggle without hot dice and let me grind them down.

Anyway, that’s all the KOW for 2020! Really excited to get back on the table next year, and trying to stay focused and keep working on KOW hobby stuff until then, as opposed to wandering around the grim darkness of GW stuff and getting really nothing done.

Happy New Year!

INCOMING CRABS 🦀

On By SalvageIn SCUTTLING REALMLeave a comment

Or rather, they arrived a while ago, but haven’t been batrepped for unknown reasons … Bloodfire is still on hiatus while I explore fresher avenues, however I wanted to give some coverage to my current army, plus those that come after this one, and this seems like a decent, agnostic place to do it.

So welcome to the new, expanded, ad-free blood-fire.com!

CRABS (FEB 2020) – Big boys by Mierce, tiny lads by Khurasan, token Hadross dude by CMON

Late September 2019, I finished up a new crab-themed Trident Realm army, just a couple days before the Crossroads GT (which was a 2250 point KOW 2E team event). I played a practice game the night before against a team mate, crushing his new Nightstalkers with the fury of a bunch of crustaceans (GAME 1: NIGHTSTALKERS). And with practice out of the way – I had literally never played the army before! – we got a few hours sleep and headed into the event. The list I took for that first outing:

Trident Realm 2250 (2E)
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Naiad Heartpiercers Regiment
Gigas Horde*
Gigas Horde*
Kraken
Kraken
Kraken
Naiad Envoy – Aura of Heroism (2), Banner of the Griffin
Depth Horror Eternal – Inspiring Talisman
Depth Horror Eternal – Orcish Skullpole
Naiad Wyrmrider Centurion – Fire-Oil
*King Crabs

As captain of Team Cuddle Time II, I was vaguely in charge of working out which armies would go up against each other and/or what scenarios they would play, so I had some control over who and what my crabs faced. My goal for the team was to put myself into harder armies but ideally with better scenarios for my Trident … which was total conjecture since I didn’t really know what they could do! Here’s the briefest of recaps:

GAME 2: ELVES

NWC and Kraken doing terrible things to Elf Archers!

 

Couldn’t tell you what the mission was or how things broke down, but holy hell I won! Biggest revelation was that massed heartpiercers are really good at killing big monsters, as his dragon was deleted in a couple turns as it tried to harry my flanks and rear.

GAME 3: KINGDOMS OF MEN

Kraken resolutely face-tanking a charge from a Knight horde!

Knight-heavy (like 2x hordes + regiments + flying heroes) men largely controlled this game, however through the magic of ensnare + hindering the crabs were able to bog down his momentum and smash their way to an inconceivable draw.

GAME 4: BASILEANS

Another fast army, this time 2x Elohi, 2x Uh-Elohi, 1-2x Knights, token foot troops, Gnaeus Sallustis annnnnd the mega-dragon (who is now just the normal dragon). I should have gotten wrecked, however he was extremely caught up in the dance a Kraken and his dragon were having in some woods, where I kept turning or stepping into and out of wood templates and he had to keep over-analyzing LOS and what was going on over there, all while taking continual Heartpiercer damage. Preposterously I won this one too!

GAME 5: UNDEAD

Crabs busting ghosts!

Dawn of Day 2, and while Team Cuddle Time II wasn’t doing stellar (our Varangur player was getting paired up against very hard armies, and pretty consistently getting smashed for his troubles), my Trident Realm was on a real tear! Up against Undead next, a rather standard 2E affair with some hordes, some knights, some wraith troops, some barrow wights, a dragon, etc. Lowlight was a Kraken getting trapped by Wraiths and dismantled – one troop to the front, then more to the flank, then another to the rear! But otherwise the dragon was shot down and the punchy crabs punched hard, with a somewhat lucky Gigas + Gigas + Eternal charge into a fresh horde that helped me roll his flank up and maul through the rest of the Undead line. Another win!

GAME 6: UNDEAD

“Craaaaaab meeeeeeaaat”

Final round of the tournament, and another Undead grinder for me. Main difference here is the abundance of zombies and zombie trolls. I was in control of this game early on, thanks to shooting, but I still remember how, instead of waiting for Turn 3 to engage, when the zombie trolls had been shot off, I jumped the guns and sent the Kraken all in Turn 2, which got most of them killed – including one to multiple wraith troop charges, again. Once the big hammers were down, I scrabbled as best I could but was overrun, earning the armies first loss.

All told, it was a pretty heartening first six games with the scuttlers! Really quite unexpected … although a bit tarnished as the 3E changes for Trident Realm had been previewed the day before the event, and it was clear that almost all the units I was using were going to lose their COK19 bumps. I had a feeling 3E was about to get bumpy for my new army.

Some KOW-less weeks later, the new edition hit, confirming some particularly distressing developments:

  1. Heartpiercers became irregular, making my 2E list illegal and ensuring I will always hurt for unlocks
  2. Heartpiercers lost ensnare, pathfinder and 2 attaks, for the benefit of steady aim, which gutted the reason I based an army around these little, mobile tarpits happy to grab a 24 attak flank when able
  3. Gigas went up to a larger base, making them unwieldy but more importantly meaning I had to paint more of them and rebase the unit (they also lost 1 CS but gained 1 Def and kept their King Crabs Sp, so meh; the added nimble has yet to matter for me)
  4. Kraken lost 3 attaks, severely hurting their abilities as hammers, ironically at the same time as they gained +D3″ charge range

At first I added a Wyrmrider horde for a third hero unlock, but man they suck now. In my first 3E game I lost against Ogres (GAME 7: OGRES):

Then over Wintermas I leant my brother my Ratkin, who brutally beat me at dominate (GAME 8: RATKIN), but then the next day I narrowly squeaked out a win in raze (GAME 9: RATKIN):

With a 3E win under my belt at last, I took on my clubmate’s Abyssals (GAME 10: FORCES OF THE ABYSS), losing again but at least keeping it close:

Meanwhile, my buddy had finally relented to my arm twisting, picked up a load of Mantic minis and smashed through a Northern Alliance army in record time. In short order he hit 2300 points and found himself facing crabs every other week or so. While I won the first match (GAME 11: NORTHERN ALLIANCE), and his first game of full size Kings –

– Trident’s pillowy fists would come up to haunt me, as I lost both of the next two games (GAME 12: NORTHERN ALLIANCE & GAME 13: NORTHERN ALLIANCE). Including this gem:

Aye, that’s a Kraken (with 2 loot tokens) being flanked by Huscarls (with 2 loot tokens) and Half-Elf Berserkers. While the Kraken is in that predicament because I rolled double ones, the North did not repay the favor 😥 Nor did I ever get those 4 loot tokens away from the Huscarls.

Which brings us up to last week! February 22-23 was the US Masters here in New York, and there was a side GT called the Best of the Rest for, well, the rest of us who wanted to scrum and soak up that Masters vibe. I took my freshly reduxed crabs with me and ended up taking a lot of photos with the intent to blog. So strap in, tournament report inbound!

Side Note: Since I’m covering reports for different armies on this blog now, you’ll be able to use the new Category feature >> to more easily select which army you want to follow. Though I do tend to avoid bouncing between armies, it could happen!

GAME 40: ABYSSAL DWARFS

On By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

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 32: ABYSSALS

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After our beatdown at the hands of STG we plummeted down to the bottom and faced Beef & Wings, a crew of 40k players with limited KOW experience, great attitudes and plentiful margaritas ❤ A wonderful follow-up all told.

CROSSROADS GAME 2: TEAM BEEF & WINGS

– Forces of the Abyss vs Salamanders
– Night Stalkers vs Ogres
– Night Stalkers vs Orcs
– ??? vs Night Stalkers

BLOODFIRE GAME 32: ABYSSALS

Abyssals 2250

Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Gargoyles Troop
Abyssal Guard Regiment
Abyssal Guard Regiment
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment – Blessing of the Gods
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment – Cat Potion
Abyssal Horsemen Regiment – Fire-Oil
The Lord of Lies – Lightning Bolt (7)
The Well of Souls
Archfiend of the Abyss – Drain Life (6), Brew of Haste, Wings

A weird list with some truly frightening flying monsters. As you’ll see I continually underestimated the Lord of Lies . . . Worth noting that this was the player’s second game of KOW using physical minis. Respect.

Second round was Push (1 token), and whoever won initiative the Abyssals headed out first.

BATTLE

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Battlelines! Lord of Lies = white GUO, Well = swirly mutalith vortex, Archfiend = Belakor! Salamander push token is on a central Fire Elemental horde and Abyssal token is on the Well.

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Abyssals roll out! Lord of Lies and Archfiend pound down the right flank as the cavalry gallop in towards the flank of fire.

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Bloodfire sludge forward, Sprites voyaging out for a proper chaff-off with all of those Gargoyles.

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The Abyssals close further, while some Gargs pounce on the rightmost Sprites, doing 5 damage and wavering them.

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Sallies pounce on the Abyssal chaff, sending Fire + Sprites into one, Fire into another and dispatching Agnes to laser off the ones harrying the Sprites. Yet more Sprites scoop up the central push counter as the rest of the red tide flows forward.

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The Gargoyles do not survive ;D And the little Mage prays all 5 wounds off of those Sprites.

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The Abyssals strike back, Guard charging Sprites and more Guard combo-charging the extended Fire Elementals with some Horsemen, while the final Gargoyles swoop down on those same Sprites on the right flank. Off shot the Archfiend starts to round the building in the Bloodfire zone, tagging the little Mage with his lightning and popping her.

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The Guards drive off their Sprites, however the Gargoyles do a single damage to theirs and the Fire horde absorbs 10 damage and holds – possibly without inspiring in range!

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The pummeling intensifies as the left Abyssal Guard are slammed by two hordes of Fire Elementals, the Guard next to them are counter-charged by the wounded horde, and the last of the Gargoyles are plowed into by Agnes and those besieged Sprites. The Sprites give their token to the courageous Fire horde. The CLOFD gets double bane-chanted and vomits on the left Horsemen for a few damage.

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Combat is fairly expected, with the double-charged Guard melted, the counter-charged Guard relatively fine and the Gargoyles snatched from the air and splattered by Agnes and her tiny friends.

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Abyssal Turn 4 starts with the Well pulling the damage off the wounded Horsemen, who flank the wounded Fire Elementals as the Guard head back into their front. They drive their elemental foes up to 17 damage but snake eyes the rout! The Lord of Lies tackles Agnes for 2 damage and the rightmost Horsemen finish off those accursed Sprites.

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Fire Elementals mob the Abyssal Guard, reducing them to a whiff of brimstone. Agnes and the courageous Fire horde slam the Lord of Lies but can’t even manage to waver him (8 damage?), and the Fire horde who was lucky enough to charge the Archfiend smash a sterling 9 damage into him but again can’t even waver. In less violent news, the big Mage heals Agnes for 1 damage and the CLOFD pukes a few more wounds into the same Horsemen from before.

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Turn 5 begins with the Well cleaning up the Horsemen again . . . and my heart dropping as Agnes is flanked by the Archfiend and counter-charged by the Lord of Lies. The healed Horsemen charge into the mangled Fire Elementals and the courageous horde takes a charge from a fresh Horsemen regiment.

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Agnes doesn’t make it. Nor does that Fire horde up top, although the courageous horde is fine.

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Fire Elementals rage, swarming those Horsemen up top, counter-charging the central Horsemen and heading into the Archfiend for vengeance. The Well comes under fire from the CLOFD and the big Mage bane-chants the horde about to slag the Archfiend.

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The Archfiend and the surrounded Horsemen get pulped. The central Horsemen merely get batted around.

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Abyssal Turn 6 sees the Well absorb the central Horsemen damage and charge the token-holding Sprites (who picked it up from the courageous horde at some point), looking to tip the objective game. The Lord of Lies scoots his little base into the flank of the courageous horde (!) as Horsemen charge their front

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A thrilling success: Sprites are eaten, healing the Well in the process, and the Lord + Horsemen disperse the Nv 19 Fire horde.

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Bloodfire snaps shut on the remnants of the Abyssals, CLOFD + flanking Fire horde grabbing the Well, another Fire horde flanking the Horsemen, and yet more Fire Elementals charging the Lord for another round.

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*boom*

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Turn 7 happens! The final Horsemen charge the Fire horde with the Well’s token, doing a respectable 8 damage but bouncing. They get flanked + fronted by Fire Elementals and melted to slag.

BLOODFIRE VICTORY

And big wins for all of Team Cuddle Time, thanks Beef & Wings!

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