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!
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)
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.
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 💚
As the tournament was being held offsite from the hotel, shenanigans were kept to a dull roar after day one wrapped and we collectively feasted. All too soon, it was time to rejoin the battle for the Mid-Atlantic. Having gone 1-2, my Herd were drifting down the standings, but I was gunning for that day two rally to shore my record up.
I almost never face Goblins, so that’s cool, but these gobs are being piloted by Steve Forster of Dash28 fame! I do enjoy throwing down with people I recognize from the Internet. Steve’s list seemed fine, free of the really egregious shooting spam I’ve heard about and a little more interested in fighting than being trash (i.e. two Troll hordes and double Slashers). The Slashers were the biggest wild card for me, having been freshly buffed in Clash 2023 and a unit I really like in theory.
We played Salt the Earth I think, except neither of us wanted to burn any so we basically played Pillage 😛 I did not go first this game! But not by choice 😉
BATTLE
I approached this game like most of my Herd games: junk wanders forward to prepare counters from my slower hammers, while my Lycan super-hammer hunts down a flank and applies pressure, with the Stampede forcing enemy hammers back. Versus Goblins this seems to run into an awkward situation where they too have a bunch of garbage pushing forward or holding objectives, except instead of hammers they mostly have short range guns. The twist here is that Slashers are very very good, IMO, and Steve’s dice were especially kind to them, in combat or when trumpeting.
The play of the game for me was spotting a Troll flank with my Lycans at almost full charge, which they nimbled into and suddenly Steve has a Lycan horde in his rear. I made the choice to reform the Lycans towards Steve’s center, rather than clean up the left entirely, but then was chaffed and lost the big worm’s targets. My other hammers similarly suffered to get much momentum going – I’d kill a thing, get shot, maybe wavered out of combat (I have a lot of fury that does nothing in that case), maybe fight again, but I’m bleeding to death and the Goblins don’t care. Come end game, I once again have very little left to score, while the Goblins have more than enough to take it.
HALLOW LOSS (4-9)
I don’t know how Steve got 9 points? It definitely doesn’t look like a draw in those last photos! All the same, well played by Steve and I seriously underestimated the Slashers throughout, and paid the price.
GAME 5: LEAGUE OF RHORDIA
Honour Guard Horde Honour Guard Horde Foot Guard Horde (or Dogs of War?) Knights Regiment Knights Regiment Pole-Arms Regiment Pole-Arms Regiment Halfling Archers Regiment Halfling Archers Regiment Battle Shrine [1] Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez Duke Hetronburg [1] Duke on Horse Baron 14(29)
I don’t have John’s list but this is my best recreation. There are 90 points of upgrades missing, which feels right between all the Indomitable Wills and typical upgrades for cavalry or hammers. John was a super nice dude, and a very low key end to the event. If not on the bottom table, we weren’t far from it!
We played Invade to finish the tournament out. The Hallow took the initiative, for a solid four out of five first turns to me. Not bad.
BATTLE
My memory of this game is the weakest of all of them, but I certainly took a lot of photos! Partially because John’s army looked great. The gist of this match is that I woefully undersupported the left flank – the Stampede wasn’t intended to crash through all that fast stuff, but without backup or hot dice it probably wasn’t going to do much, so was essentially delaying the hammers as long as possible … except it’s Invade, so I’m also just letting US3+ walk across the center line and win the game.
On the right, I needed to keep his knights penned in to get my Brutes into play, which only half worked (I wonder if that horde is Dogs of War? To have blunted the Brute charge or clapped back so hard). Plus my Lycans weren’t able to trade for even one knight regiment, a shameful turn of events to be sure. Duke Hetronburg also proved a real thorn in my side, with his Ht 4 hard for my short army to keep in check. In the end, the Brutes and the Lycan Alpha survived, however weren’t enough to offset John’s Honor Guard and couple infantry regiments – all three units that started the game in the upper left! Thanks Stampede 😦
HALLOW LOSS (?-?)
If I had to guess, I’d say I picked up another 3-4 points. Despite getting a trickle of points every game, a single win out of five games wasn’t the best feel to leave with. None of my games felt out of my control, even against Ken, but they all spiraled away in the late game as my soft bodies got bogged down or shot. It was also pretty clear to me that Tribal Spears would have been super helpful in all but possibly the Dwarf game, with so many cav hammers kicking around. Spoilers for the lists ahead.
Sorry for the wait on these Herd reports, and for their brevity. I’ll try to keep the momentum up so we can get back to 2024 🤦♂️
I took my Hallow Herd to four grand tournaments in 2023: Dead of Winter (January), The Pilgrimage (March), Orc Town (June) and King Beyond the Wall (August). You can read about my Dead of Winter run already, but my goal is to finish reports for all of these events before the year ends eventually! Strap in, dead readers, slideshows and recaps are incoming.
The Pilgrimage GT (March 4-5) was five games at 2300 points held in Philadelphia, PA. Of note is that this is a different KOW region from my own, so me and a handful of the Northeastern lads would be raiding the Mid-Atlantic for a change. With decidedly mixed results 😅 It’s worth noting that Pilgrimage used Modified Bullshroud scoring, which gave 10-5-1 points for W-D-L with additions for scenario points and attrition earned, not scenario or attrition differential.
HERD 2300 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 Tribal Warrior Regiment Centaur Bray Striders Troop Centaur Bray Striders Troop Lycan Alpha – Trickster’s Wand; Hex (2) Great Chieftain – Horn of the Great Migration [1] Centaur Chieftain – Blade of Slashing Druid – Conjurer’s Staff; Bane Chant (2), Heal (2) 14 (27)
In the two months and +150 points between Dead of Winter and The Pilgrimage, all I’ve added is a third regiment of Tribal Warriors and given some tasty upgrades (Wand, Staff, Blade) to the support staff. The concept worked great at DOW, why mess with it? Honestly one of the reasons I went to Pilgrimage was because I wanted to play a 2300 singles event. It sounds weird to say, but those are extremely rare in the Northeast region currently, where we do different points levels or doubles instead.
GAME 1: VARANGUR
The Fallen Horde – Chalice of Wrath The Fallen Horde – Brew of Haste Mounted Sons Regiment – Helm of the Drunken Ram, Guise of the Deceiver Mounted Sons Regiment – Boots of Striding, Guise of the Deceiver Night Raiders Regiment – Bows Snow Foxes Regiment Draugr Regiment Draugr Regiment Magus Conclave – Famulus Magus Conclave – Famulus Frost Giant – Giant Club (!) Magnilde of the Fallen [1] Lord on Frostfang – Snow Fox Skald – Lute of Insatiable Darkness 14(21)
Mike had taken a fairly standard fast Varangur list for this event, with an emphasis on punching as hard as possible but with the usual scenario doers and some shooting of his own. I gave him props for taking a Frost Giant outside of Northern Alliance (with rampage no less!), however he assured me that ‘Frosty the Pillow-Fisted Freakshow’ was mostly a liability. I also took a brief moment to laugh in Herd at his Mounted Sons’ investment in stealth 😅 Note that this is before the Northern Alliance buffs, so the Skald doesn’t grant Ordered March (to the Draugr??) and the Frostlord is still on 9 attaks.
We played Pillage, with the 2 point tokens center and just to the left. The Hallow went first, by design.
BATTLE
The Herd grabbed four of the five tokens immediately and implemented Operation: Bait the Giant All Damn Game on the left. On the right, I used the 19″ charge of the Lycans (1″ longer than Mike’s Sp 9 Fallen, thanks to the Horn of the Great Migration) to force the Fallen to engage, which helped me trade hammers until I had cleared all of the Varangur menace from the board.
HALLOW VICTORY(12-1)
What happens when two hammers smash into each other? The faster hammer with more junk wins, I guess! This was a wild start to the GT and catapulted me to the top table 😐
GAME 2: VARANGUR
Human Clansmen Horde – Norj-Bik (De 5+) Mounted Sons Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver Mounted Sons Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver Mounted Sons Regiment – Guise of the Deceiver Night Raiders Regiment – Bows, Wolf Handlers Night Raiders Regiment – Bows, Wolf Handlers Draugr Regiment Draugr Regiment Lord on Frostfang – Chalice of Wrath, Snow Fox Lord on Frostfang – Staying Stone, Snow Fox Magus – Lightning Bolt (4), Drain Life (6) Magus – Lightning Bolt (4), Drain Life (6) Magus – Lightning Bolt (4), Drain Life (6) Kruufnir [1] 14(24)
So this event had two Australian guests in attendance: Ken Ferris (the then Australian Master) and Jeff Traish (the now Australian Master). After dunking Mike, I had the pleasure of facing Ken Freakin’ Ferris 😵 His Varangur had taken several pages from the elven playbook (recall at the time that Gladestalkers of all flavors had just been buffed, so Night Raiders are doing a pseudo-stalker thing, except with smashier friends), emphasizing shooting with very strong counter-punch and a little sustain thanks to the Magus’ transfusion ability. Again, I took a moment to laugh in Herd at the stealthy knights but let’s be real, it was a nervous laugh.
We played Pillage, with Ken I believe getting the side he wanted. Blessedly, the Hallow got the first turn and took it with gusto, since I had so much shooting to wade through. Note that this game was streamed live – I’m not sure where to or if it’s still around tho, so you’ll have to click thru below per usual.
BATTLE
The first half of the game goes great for me, as I start to roll up Ken’s left flank and remove two of three Mounted Sons regiments early on. I jam hard in the center, preparing to grind in my favor as Brutes pound into the Varangur line. I do have some concern when the Stampede’s early charge into the right Draugr completely flubs, letting a Frostlord start breaking them down, but I’m hopeful that that will hold Ken’s right up until help arrives. All told, the opening three turns have been amazing for me, against the Australian Master of all things!
Then Ken takes a moment to psych himself up – “You’re the fucking Master!” (a direct quote) – and slaps back. His Frostlords heat up and his shooting finally doesn’t have swamp monsters punching them in the face, spelling doom for me. The back half of the game is brutal, seeing my squishy dudes shot off and my harder hitters chased down by Frostlords. I end the game with a single Tribal Warriors regiment cowering on an objective, to Ken’s five.
HALLOW LOSS(3-10)
While it was an honor to play Ken, I will forever remember how close I came to cracking him, on the Internet no less 😤 After the event wrapped, he let me know I was his favorite opponent for taking that rise and fall in stride. What a gent.
GAME 3: DWARFS
Berserker Brock Riders Regiment – Boots of Striding Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Ironguard Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Sharpshooters Troop Sharpshooters Troop Sharpshooters Troop Mastiff Hunting Pack Regiment Steel Behemoth – Golloch’s Fury [1] Steel Behemoth Dwarf Lord on Large Beast Dwarf Lord on Large Beast Faber Ironheart [1] 14(24)
I played Joe in the first game of his first Kings of War event (Keystone GT 2018), and it’s been great to see him do better and better as time has gone on. He’s been riding pretty high with Dwarfs as their star has risen, with Pilgrimage continuing that trend. His version of The Dwarf List eschewed the formation to go the Ironguard + Sharpshooter spam route, with the double Beast Lords, second Behemoth and Brocks giving it a bit more of a counter-punch feel than some versions. Note that this is pre-Clash 2024, so none of those Dwarfs have Ordered March. Thank the gods.
Pretty sure we played Control, with the Herd going first one way or another. Joe’s a largely reactive player, so he may have let me take it, but either way I was content to race into the Dwarven castle.
BATTLE
My takeaway from this game was that I shouldn’t have given the Dwarfs exactly what they wanted. Joe was clearly going to castle around the hill in the deployment zone he chose; I should have clearly gone hard on the other flank and swept in, forcing him to turn his lines as I scored the back end of the lower left section. Instead, I attempted to ford the gunfire on the left while hooking in from the right. That isn’t horrible … but became much harder when his totally incompetent Brocks couldn’t chew through the Centaurs escorting my Lycan super hammer into his lines, snaking them twice! When my Lycans finally did fight, they flopped hard (5 damage instead of 10 with a 3 to rout), dying for their efforts and leaving the right flank to the Centaur Chief to clean up. Fakk me.
Meanwhile, my assault on the Dwarf castle wasn’t going terribly. I had been pounding through all that De 6+ at a good clip, but Sharpshooters on a hill meant my dudes were not only bleeding from combat but being finished off after those combats wrapped. Come end game, I just didn’t have much left to score, with a lonely Tribal Warrior reg keeping me in unit strength.
HALLOW LOSS (3-10)
I’m not sure why I chose hard mode for this game – I vaguely wanted to give Joe a fun match? As fun as being the gallery part of a shooting gallery is! I kind of wanted to pressure test the Hallow as well, since this was one of my few matches into The Dwarf List, if possibly the first? All the same, Joe’s a good dude and a big fan of mine, and I had had a helluva first day.
UP NEXT: Day 2! Back to the bottom third where I belong.
Round 4 dawns and, after some shuffling of match-ups, Cuddle Time is facing off against the cruel embrace of Venereal Taint! Yes, this does mean there’s a chance that Mikael and I rematch, but because he can control his fate this time, I’m matched into the new and improved Northern Alliance. I choose Loot as it’s the best option of those available (only six scenarios are in the pool each round).
Game 4: Northern Alliance
Frostfang Cavalry Horde – Tundra Fighters, Staying Stone Ice Elementals Horde – Blessing of the Gods Human Tribesfolk Horde – Tundra Fighters, Chalice of Wrath Half-Elf Berserkers Regiment – Boots of Striding? Ice Kin Hunters Regiment Ice Kin Hunters Regiment Ice Kin Hunters Regiment Frostclaw Riders Regiment – Ice Bombs? Snow Foxes Regiment Hrimm, Legendary Ice Giant – Icy Breath (12) Serakina, the Ice Queen – Surge (8), Wind Blast (6) Ice Queen – Blizzard (2), Bane Chant (2) 2300 (12/26)
I don’t have Brad’s list, so have made some educated guesses. There are 5 points left, so maybe the Berserkers had something else? The birds may not have had bombs either. All the same, loads of shooting and heaps of frozen to make me go even slower, with wind blast in there to make me go negative inches forward when possible. And I’ll say it right now: Serakina really is the worst.
Craggoth scouted up onto a token, at which point Mikael informed me he couldn’t pick it up, which was fine. Sad for what’s about to happen, but fine. Brad’s Ice Kin Hunters scouted into range, then he won and took first turn, and I begin to have a concern.
BATTLE
Turn 1: The Northern Alliance advances on the wings, forming the classic death crescent. Ice Kin Hunters and the Ice Queen with blizzard spike 4 damage into the central sharpness Earth Elemental horde, freezing them down to Sp 4. Oof. On the left, the Ice Elementals and Serakina do 5 damage to Craggoth, freezing him to Sp 5 and wind blasting him several inches to the left (if he could have picked up the objective he would be immune to wind blast). Double oof.
The Freeforged shamble forward in response. Mastiffs provide some cover to the sharp Earth horde in the center, as well as stop them when the Stone Priest surges the slow horde forward a couple inches. Craggoth skitters back over to the token and picks it up. If his fireball was in range to the Ice Elementals, it completely fluffed.
Turn 2: Brad hardly moves, simply adjusting a couple facings and pulling the Frostclaws and Frostfangs back as reserves. Ice Kin Hunters and the Ice Queen deal 12 damage to the central Mastiffs, removing them. Serakina wind blasts the orb Beast Lord on the left backwards, freezing him to Sp 6, and the Ice Elementals push Craggoth up to 10 damage, freezing him again.
With Brad’s Ice Elementals rolling so well, I decide to evacuate Craggoth while I still can, scuttling him back towards my lines with token in tow. The rest of the iron line powers forward as fast as it can. Mastiffs on the right pick up another token, as the sword Beast Lord plows through the wood and charges the Berserkers (hindered). He does 2 damage (…) but has stripped their TC and is out of Hrimm’s LOS.
Northern Alliance 3: In which I discover that the Frostclaws can in fact fit into Craggoth’s flank. Good eyes, Brad! The birds charge the giant metal scorpion. The Berserkers counter-charge the sword Beast Lord, with the Frostfangs joining them. Hrimm’s frozen aura freezes the Free Dwarf hero for chad for good measure.
In shooting, the Ice Elementals, the blizzard Ice Queen and Serakina do 5 damage to the left Greater Earth Elemental, shoving him several inches backwards. The sharp Earth horde in the center goes up to 7 damage and is frozen thanks to the Ice Kin Hunter firebase, and Hrimm breaths on the Mastiffs, freezing and wavering them on 4 damage. In combat, the Frostclaws tear Craggoth apart, scooping up the token and overrunning 2 inches. And the Berserkers and Frostfangs do 8 damage to the sword Beast Lord, wavering him.
Free Dwarfs 3: Determined to rest some control back, I charge the orb Beast Lord into the Ice Elementals (hindered over the wall) and an Earth Elemental regiment into the waiting horde of Tribesfolk. The Greater Earth on that flank pushes up to the wall and hopes he gets to charge somebody at some point (Brad later told me he would have surged the GEE forward, and while I could maybe have gotten my Sp 4 caster into range, I think it would have pulled his inspiring away from dudes who needed it? Spoilers.) Neither combat is brilliant (3 damage to the Ice Elementals and 4 to the Tribesfolk) but those units are in one place now and not shooting.
On the right, my sword Beast Lord fails his headstrong (the Dwarven Curse strikes!), which sees an Earth regiment charge the Berserkers unsupported as the right Greater Earth charges the Frostfangs. I roll pretty great but 5 damage and 7 damage respectively isn’t enough to do much. You can see I’m already preparing to scoop up tokens with my rear Earth Elemental horde once the sharp Earth horde pops, which has claimed the center token for now.
Northern Alliance 4: Brad begins by backing up 2/3 of his Ice Kin firebase. Success 😤 Otherwise everybody counter-charges their dance partners, as the Frostclaws drag their token towards my table edge and Hrimm and the Snow Foxes mill about. Serakina freezes and wind blasts the left Greater Earth back again (*sigh*), before the Ice Kin Hunters and Ice Queen push the central sharp Earth horde to 11 damage, freezing them of course. Hrimm breaths on the Mastiffs again, and once again freezes and wavers them (on 6 damage).
In combat, the orb Beast Lord takes 2 damage from the Ice Elementals, losing his TC2. The Earth regiment next to him is, however, utterly dismantled by the Tribesfolk horde. On the right, the Berserkers chip 3 damage onto their Earth regiment, and the right Greater Earth takes a sterling 9 damage from the Frostfangs. Note that thanks to Hrimm’s chilling presence both units were frozen, which triggered tundra fighters (vicious) in the NA troops. Nice.
Free Dwarfs 4: A turn too late, I send the left Greater after the non-flying, non-nimble, Sp 5 birds carrying the token. It isn’t wonderful but I feel like it’s better than getting aced by the Tribesfolk when Brad feels like it. The orb Beast Lord hits the Ice Elementals again. On the right, the Berserkers cop a combo-charge from a Earth Elemental horde and regiment, as the Frostfangs receive the combined attention of the slayer Beast Lord and the right Greater Earth. The Mastiffs drop their token and the reserve Earth horde picks it up. Finally, the sharp Earth horde sidesteps 2.5″, dragging their token closer to my deathball.
Combat is decisive on the right, with both NA units bludgeoned into the snow. The orb Beast Lord on the left successfully disorders the Ice Elementals (4 damage total).
Northern Alliance 5: Serakina signals that it’s time for the Alliance to move this turn! Mostly! The Frostclaws drag their token into the leftmost woods, the Tribesfolk saunter towards the central token and melee, as the Ice Kin Hunters mostly decide they’re good where they are, except for one unit that charges into an Earth Elemental horde before they get charged. Hrimm plows into an Earth regiment (freezing everyone within 6″) and his pet Snow Foxes leap on the right Greater Earth.
Serakina freezes and wind blasts the left Greater Earth sideways, ensuring it can’t catch the birds this turn or next. And the two Ice Kin Hunters with the help of the Ice Queen’s blizzard finish off the sharp Earth horde after 5 turns of shooting it. Result. In combat, the Ice Kin Hunters do a single damage to the Earth horde (respect), before Hrimm obliterates his Earth regiment and the Snow Foxes preposterously drag down the wounded Greater Earth! Best Swarm 2019-2023. Also it looks like the Ice Elementals lost their damn minds and did 10 damage to the orb Beast Lord, but the dude held on 12 damage. Wow.
Free Dwarfs 5: The Greater Earth on the left stumbles forward 5″, honestly to get away from Serakina more than anything. Otherwise, the orb Beast Lord counters the Ice Elementals again, the Earth horde fighting Ice Kin Hunters fights Ice Kin Hunters, the sword Beast Lord gleefully charges into Hrimm (hindered), and the Mastiffs charge the Snow Foxes, fancying a chaff off. My reserve Earth horde scoop up the token dropped last turn, adding it to their other one.
The Stone Priest fails to bane chant the Earth horde fighting elves, then it’s on to combat. The orb Beast Lord continues to do 2 damage a turn to the Ice Elementals (5 total after Serakina’s radiance), the Earth horde does a solid 7 damage to the Hunters, the sword Beast Lord slams 3 into Hrimm, and the Mastiffs chomp 2 into the Foxes. Nobody cares but everybody is disordered.
Northern Alliance 6: Brad draws the noose tight, but will it be enough? The Tribesfolk flank the Earth horde embroiled with the Ice Kin Hunters, as more Ice Kin Hunters flank the sword Beast Lord fighting Hrimm. The Foxes counter the Mastiffs and the Ice Elementals do the same to the mangled orb Beast Lord. The Frostclaws drag their token through the woods, away from their giant, dogged pursuer. Sadly (for me), Serakina finds the angle and shoves the Greater Elemental sideways again, frozen forever.
In combat, the Earth Elemental horde holds on 10 damage! Helped I’m going to guess because bane chant on the horde failed? Hrimm and the Snow Foxes can’t fail tho, dropping the Beast Lord and Mastiffs. But the roller coaster continues as the Ice Elementals can’t wound the orb Beast Lord clinging to life.
Free Dwarfs 6: Unexpectedly, I might have this! I delightedly hit the Tribesfolk horde in the front and flank with Earth Elemental hordes. It lives when I beef the Nv test (IIRC I needed like a 4-6 and rolled very low). The orb Beast Lord hits the Ice Elementals yet again, but I don’t think broke them. And the left Greater plods after those damn birds, having never swung all game.
Thankfully there’s no Turn 7, making this a …
FREEFORGED VICTORY
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeew what a game, and pretty unique for Kings of War, with so many movement debuffs. Pretty sure I gave Brad my favorite opponent vote as well. Overall, it was really cool to see the new Northern Alliance functioning as the combined arms force it was designed to be, and I appreciate that while Frostclaws did technically do some really meaningful work, it wasn’t through spamming them or going hard alpha, but carefully timed play. Also special shoutout to Ice Elementals going to 12″ shooting as being one of the best hidden buffs, it synergizes really well with frozen’s -1 Sp. Finally, Serakina can go straight to hell.
Round 5 puts Cuddle Time up against Barry’s Bathwater Experience, somewhere just below the middle of the pack. I end up against Mike, a dude I actually played in the first round of Pilgrimage 2023, in a battle which some day you’ll get to read about 😬 While I was playing Herd last time we met, Mike is still rocking Varangur, except on the other side of the update.
Game 5: Varangur
The Fallen Horde – Brew of Strength The Fallen Regiment – Staying Stone Human Tribesfolk Horde – Chalice of Wrath Human Tribesfolk Regiment – Orb of Towering Presence Mounted Sons Regiment – Helm of the Drunken Ram, Guise of the Deceiver Mounted Sons Regiment – Boots of Striding, Guise of the Deceiver Night Raiders Regiment – Fire-Oil, Bows Draugr Regiment Draugr Regiment Snow Foxes Regiment Magnilde of the Fallen Kruufnir Magus on Horse – Boots of Levitation, Knowledgeable; Alchemist’s Curse (4) Skald – Lute of Insatiable Darkness; Bane Chant (2)
That’s 3 AC(4) casters out of 5 games! My plan for Mike’s is the same as the other ones: ignore them unless they get within 14″ of a Beast Lord (they won’t) and try to kill faster than they can melt my large metal children. Otherwise the list is fairly standard Varangur, with more variety than I’m used to but looks like he was trying out some of the improved infantry options. For reference, he had more shooting at Pilgrimage, as well as a Frost Giant which I did my best to frustrate and keep wandering around not doing much 😉
We’re playing Dominate because I chose scenario 😛 Craggoth scoots up a flank and I win and take first turn. Off to a good start.
BATTLE
Turn 1: The Freeforged stomp forward once again, with Mastiffs scampering ahead to be annoying as Craggoth scuttles up the flank more conservatively than usual, thanks to the Fallen’s presence.
The Varangur line advances apace, the standouts being the Fallen regiment cresting the hill and the Magus whipping down the left flank. Using the power of his horse’s magical boots (???), the Magus is able to cast while marching, scorching 5 damage into the leftmost Greater Earth Elemental. So it begins. Also the Night Raiders land a cheeky damage on Craggoth with their bows, the scamps.
Free Dwarfs 2: Declaring my hatred of the Fallen, I hit Mike’s regiment with Mastiffs and the sword Beast Lord in the front and Craggoth in the flank. They explode spectacularly. I overrun the Mastiffs to jam the Fallen horde but they only go 1 inch, which means I have to reform Craggoth in such a way that Kruufnir (and the Night Raiders) are in his flank. He’s a tough scorpion so how bad can it be? In other news, I punch the left Mastiffs up 12″ to be in the way of Mike’s Tribesfolk, who must be within 11″ of my sharpness Earth horde.
Varangur 2: Things start to get messy as the Varangur make contact across the line. The Tribesfolk regiment hits the waiting Mastiffs, Snow Foxes whip into the sharp Earth Elementals, Draugr hit an Earth horde and regiment, the Fallen horde obliges and charges the Mastiffs in front of them, and Craggoth is hit in the front by the drunken ram Mounted Sons regiment (so that’s CS1+TC2) and the flank by Night Raiders (who have TC1). Kruffnir abstains from combat, instead nimbling around the legendary titan. Finally, the Magus circles his Greater Earth target and Magnilde uses her once per game fly to land within the Freeforged lines, glaring at the Stone Priest.
There is a brief pause broken by the shrieking of superheated metal as the Magus curses the GEE up to 9 damage, after which the axes descend. The Tribesfolk deal 7 damage to the left Mastiffs, who hold. The Snow Foxes and both Draugr regiments deal a single damage to their targets, leaving the elementals unphased. The Fallen horde dunks their Mastiffs unceremoniously, and Craggoth takes only 10 damage from his aggressors.
Free Dwarfs 3: Craggoth, very much alive, kicks things off by flanking his Mounted Sons for great vengeance. I send the left Mastiffs in to block up the horde of Tribesfolk, and use that safety to put the central Greater Earth into the flank of the Snow Foxes. Earth Elementals counter the Varangur chaff down the line (Snow Foxes, Draugr, Draugr). I back up the sword Beast Lord to keep the Fallen horde, the Night Raiders and Kruufnir in his front, rather than charging, getting stuck and flanked / reared. On the left, I decide the melting Greater Earth is basically dead, so push him into the woods and invite charges from the Mounted Sons and/or the Tribesfolk regiment. I turn the left Earth regiment around and prepare to surge 4″ into Magnilde. It won’t save my Stone Priest unless they kill her but crazy dice happen … but I roll 3″ out of 8 dice and they fall short (seen in the left photo below).
After this turn Mike wondered why I didn’t charge the central Greater into the Tribesfolk horde? The Mastiffs could have easily protected his flank from Sons or the Tribesfolk regiment, and the sharp Earth horde did not need help against the Snow Foxes. I didn’t have a great answer apart from being scared of the horde killing my big guy … but would now like to know why I didn’t help clear off the Draugr to the GEE’s right? It would have been great to have that horde freed up a turn earlier, and very much looks like he can their flank.
Anyway. Craggoth splatters those Mounted Sons and turns to face the Fallen horde, showing his butt to the Night Raiders and yet again tempting Kruufnir. Those Snow Foxes are turned to mist, and the Draugr get slapped around (5 damage and 3 damage). The Tribesfolk horde takes a damage from the Mastiffs.
Varangur 3: Screaming Herja’s war cry, Magnilde charges into the Stone Priest lurking in the central forest. The cry is taken up throughout the Varangur host as the Mounted Sons launch into the damaged Greater Earth Elemental (they pop boots to avoid hindering), the Tribesfolk regiment charges the sharp Earth horde, the Fallen hit Craggoth in the front with Night Raiders in the rear, and Kruufnir lopes into the flank of the Earth regiment fighting Draugr. The horde of Tribesfolk deal with their Mastiffs and the other Draugr regiment flails against their Earth horde again.
The Magus sears 6 (!) damage into the orb Beast Lord, and then it’s on. The Mounted Sons down their Greater Elemental and the Tribesfolk horde bashes the last of their mechanical Mastiffs down. That’s the end of Mike’s good news, however. The Tribesfolk regiment does 1 damage to the sharp Earth horde, the Stone Priest holds after taking 6 damage from Magnilde, Draugr do 1 damage to the other engaged Earth horde, and Kruufnir only manages to get his Earth regiment up to 4 damage. The heartbreaker tho is Craggoth snake eyesing on 22 damage 🫂 Devastated but at what cost?
Free Dwarfs 4: Time to capitalize on Mike’s misfortune! The sword Beast Lord flanks the Fallen horde as fast as possible, with the mangled husk of Craggoth counter-charging the Night Raiders to his rear. Kruufnir is flanked by an Earth Elemental horde, as the Draugr receive another round of pounding from their Earth Elemental opponents. The sharp Earth Elementals counter the Tribesfolk regiment, the Earth Elemental reg that was trying to catch Magnidle charge into her this turn, and the central Greater Earth thunders into the Mounted Sons that killed its fellow, with the orb Beast Lord lending (hindered) support.
The Tribesfolk, Fallen and one unit of Draugr are brutalized and sent fleeing, but it’s not all roses for the Freeforged. The Mounted Sons waver on 12 damage (that’s me failing to roll a 4 with no reroll!), Kruufnir only takes 5 damage, Magnidle takes none, and Craggoth likewise can’t strip the thunderous from his Night Raiders.
Varangur 4: The Tribesfolk horde vaults the hedge and flanks the surviving Greater Earth (hindered but bane chanted), as the Mounted Sons disengage. Kruufnir has another go at the Earth reg’s flank, Magnilde goes back into the Stone Priest, and the Night Raiders envelope Craggoth and prepare to end the scorpion at last.
The Magus thankfully only manages to curse 2 more damage into the orb Beast Lord, putting him on a manageable 8. In combat, the Greater Earth is cutting down under weight of the Tribesfolks’ attaks, but Mike realizes he’s butted the Skald right up against the unit, making it impossible to reform to face my sharp Earth Elementals 😐 Moving past this, Magnidle decapitates the Stone Priest and overruns to stand in front of an Earth horde, Craggoth is stabbed into submission by Night Raiders, and Kruufnir faffs against the Earth regiment, bringing them to 9 damage but still no rout.
Free Dwarfs 5: The orb Beast Lord charges the very damaged Mounted Sons (hindered), the sharp Earth Elementals flank the Tribesfolk horde, Magnidle is mobbed by a horde and a regiment of Earth Elementals, Kruufnir is flanked by an Earth Elemental horde on one side and a CS3+TC2 Beast Lord on the other, and the battered Earth reg has one more go at the surviving Draugr.
Rocks fall, everybody dies.
Varangur 5: With very little left, Mike takes what he can but in the end we are playing Dominate … The Skald hides behind a hedge, the Magus cooks the orb Beast Lord up to 11 damage (he holds), and the Night Raiders put 3 damage on the sword Beast Lord (shrug).
Free Dwarfs 6: The orb Beast Lord hits the Skald for 2 damage (hindered), and the Night Raiders die to the sword Beast Lord and an Earth horde.
Varangur 6: The Magus successfully melts the orb Beast Lord using alchemist curse, shortly before the Skald fails to hurt an Earth horde. But of course there’s another turn.
Turn 7: The sword Beast Lord and an Earth horde charge the Skald, caving his skull in. The Magus I think tried to curse off the 9 damage Earth regiment, which regardless of the result, this was another heavy …
FREEFORGED VICTORY
What a smasher to end the tournament on. Before we started, Mike commented that he rolled three snake eyes in the game before … and so naturally he rolled four in this one 😅 Only one was really catastrophic but his dice in general keep getting worse and worse, especially around his alchemist curse – i.e. his strongest counter into my wall of iron that I could never touch. I heartily thanked his dice for the gift. Mike took his drubbing well and I suspect we’ll play again the next time our regions cross.
Despite my truly unexpected five out of five wins, Cuddle Time still ended up 18th out of 24 teams, scoring high in sports and solid in appearance even if our overall battle wasn’t great. Hopefully the rest of the lads had a decent time? I’m still riding pretty high from smashing everybody up, glossing over Game 3’s poor Abyssal Dwarf seal clubbing. I’ll always wonder how much I can write off my wins to choice of scenario? I played Dominate three times and Loot / Plunder for the other two, which seems pretty perfect for me (hell, I chose them!) Being teched into didn’t seem to matter a lot – Alchemist Curse (4) on mobile casters sucked but I pushed through. I think more mobile armies would have been more of a pain for me, at least play-wise, but you really need to be able to lift to take this army out.
Somebody averaged out performance by faction for this event, and well:
🪨🪨🪨
Looking to do some sort of wrap up for my 2023 Herd tournaments, I took way too many photos to not do something with them all. Til then, thanks for reading!
Round 2 saw Cuddle Time up against a three player team whose name I forget! The upshot is that one of our players will be offered up in a random match up against the extra player from another 4v3 match. I end up paired into Mikael’s Empire of Dust (of Team Venereal Taint), but I’m able to choose Plunder, a totally acceptable scenario.
With 4 out of 5 legends supporting a backbone of Enslaved Guardians and a white hot AC (4) caster (that’s 2 of 2 games for those playing at home), I could see Mikael being on the whole ok with my brick of an army. While I was happy to see a single Wyrm, I was also totally unaware of how good the Behemoth is in 3.5E 😛 I’ve no idea when that happened but damn, you go girl. (Long time readers will remember my efforts to make the Ankylodon Battle Platform shine, and we know how 3E has treated that cousin of the Behemoth!)
I scouted Craggoth up and grabbed a 2 point token before also claiming first turn and taking it with glee. (Mikael later checked the rules on Scout and showed me that you specifically can’t pick up tokens, making it the only move that is not a move in the game, including units that turn on the spot as a combat reform. Kooky but them’s the rules. It didn’t particularly affect our game but I appreciate knowing.)
BATTLE
Turn 1: Freeforged trundle forward, with the exception of Craggoth who drags his token backwards behind the woods and some Mastiffs that shoot forward and grab a 1 point token.
The Empire of Dust deploys measuring sticks and advances in a safe and orderly fashion. The Soul Snare drains 4 damage from the token Mastiffs, obnoxiously wavering them, and the sword Beast Lord is hit with scorched earth.
Free Dwarfs 2: Those wavered Mastiffs rotate out of the way, handing their token off to an Earth regiment, while the other Mastiffs hard to the left grab another 1 point token. Out on the right, Craggoth rips into the striding Enslaved Guardians, tossing its 2 pointer to the other Earth regiment. I punch it down in the center as well, sending the sharp Earth horde (bane changed) and the orb Beast Lord into the haste Guardians. The sword Beast Lord (scorched) powers into the lifeleech Guardians to hold them in place as well, and that’s all the Guardian hordes accounted for.
The sharp Earth horde detonates their Enslaved Guardians, backing up to keep Shobik in their front as the orb Beast Lord overruns awkwardly deep into the EOD line. The sword Beast Lord does an unknown amount of damage into the lifeleech Guardians, and Craggoth hammer slams 6 into his horde of can openers.
Empire of Dust 2: The sharp Earth horde cops a front charge from Shobik, a flank from Skeleton Spearmen, and a surge flank from the Wyrm. The beleaguered central Mastiffs are charged by the Behemoth, the right Greater Earth takes the Rev Cav troop to the front, and Craggoth is hit in the front by his Guardians and the flank by the other Skeleton Spearmen. Oh, and the sword Beast Lord is countered by the lifeleech Guardians.
The Mastiffs sneaking off with a token on the left are Soul Snared for 3 damage, the orb Beast Lord suffers 5 damage from alchemists curse (SIGH), and the Guardians fighting Craggoth are healed down to 3 damage and will lifeleech in a moment after the khopeshs begin to fall. Speaking of, the sharp Guardians are beaten into scrap and the Behemoth flattens its Mastiffs. In happier news, the sword Beast Lord takes 8(!) damage but only wavers, Craggoth goes up to 6 damage and doesn’t care, and the Rev Cav do nothing to their GEE.
Free Dwarfs 3: The grind is well and truly met this turn as charges erupt across the field. The left Greater Earth surge charges the Behemoth (with bane chant for CS4), the Wyrm is flanked by an Earth regiment and fronted by an Earth horde (who scoop up a 2 point token in the process), the lifeleech Guardians are comboed by the sword Beast Lord (who passes headstrong! (on my first time rolling it)) and another Earth horde, the other Great Earth counters his Rev Cav troop, Craggoth hits his Guardians again, annnnd the rightmost Earth regiment flanks the Spearmen assailing the big scorpion’s flank. Whew. In non-combat news, the orb Beast Lord turns to glare at the Soul Snare, as the Mastiffs on the left continue dragging their plunder backwards.
I wish I could say combat was decisive, but it really was not. The Behemoth takes only 4 damage from the Greater Earth, the Wyrm surprisingly lives with 8 damage, and both the Guardians to Craggoth’s front (7 damage) and Spearmen (8 damage) cling to unlife. The Rev Cav are turned to dust, however, as are the lifeleech Guardians.
Empire of Dust 3: Brace for the clap-back, dear readers. The Behemoth hits its Greater Earth in the front, with Spearmen into the flank (and off the hill). The Wyrm counters the Earth regiment to its flank, as Shobik saunters into their flank (and off the hill). Craggoth, meanwhile, takes a second round of Enslaved Guardian to the front and Spearmen to the flank.
In shooting, the Soul Snare snaps the Mastiffs up to 5 damage, wavering them, and while the orb Beast Lord escaped the alchemist curse this turn, the sword Beast Lord did not. He’s baked up to 11 damage but holds! Also the last of the damn Guardians are healed down to 2 (and thus 1) damage. In combat, Craggoth is shoved to 13 damage but triumphantly holds as Mikael’s dice betray him. The Behemoth’s Greater Earth Elemental likewise holds on 8 damage, however the Earth regiment in the center is handily flattened by Shobik and pet (handing their token to Shobik in the process).
Free Dwarfs 4: Having survived the grind, the Freeforged oblige the Empire and drop another round of hammers into them. The orb Beast Lord charges and shatters the Soul Snare, the slayer Beast Lord rears the Spearmen fighting the left Greater Earth and one-rounds them, and the Earth horde who fought the Wyrm before grimly finishes the job. Shobik fairs better, absorbing the charge of a bane chanted Earth horde, and the Behemoth continues to prove hard as nails, surviving another assault from a Greater Earth Elemental. Off on the right, the other Greater Earth arrives in the flank of Craggoth’s Guardians, pulverizing them, as Craggoth and the Earth regiment take care of the Skeleton Spearmen.
Empire of Dust 4: Shobik drops his plunder to juke the Earth horde he’s fighting by surging into a different Earth horde (off the hill no less). He delivers them 6 damage. The Behemoth smacks its Greater Earth up to 12 damage but the big guy continues to hold. And the Cursed Priest turns the sword Beast Lord to slag with alchemists curse 😥
Free Dwarfs 5: The Greater Earth Elemental fighting the Behemoth finally gets some help, in the form of a bane-chanted Earth horde thundering off the hill into its flank. The monstrosity is finally ground back into the sands. Shobik is reared by the orb Beast Lord, effectively crushing the old god against the anvil of another Earth horde, routing it. And the Monolith is hit by both a Greater Earth and a smoldering Craggoth, which level it quite effectively.
Empire of Dust 5: While he can’t win the game with just a Cursed Priest and Sebekh-Rai (cowering behind that ruined building and effectively dead to both of us), Mikael can at least kill my large metal children. Alchemist curse puts Craggoth into the dirt, making me sad.
Turn 6: I have little chance of catching that stupid Cursed Priest, but I can hold all the tokens in my grubby metal hands and try to prepare some emergency token grabbing in Turn 7. Mikael flubs his final alchemist curse in Turn 6, and with no Turn 7, that’s a …
FREEFORGED VICTORY
Wowzers. I did not expect to smash EOD so hard, but a combination of getting a jump on his army and receiving 2-3 really clutch low Nv rolls from Mikael’s dice cinched the game. Alchemist curse was definitely brutal this game but, as with the last match, I felt like there was little I could do about it, so just punched harder where I could. Seems legit.
Round 3 put Cuddle Time up against Best MM, a bunch of total gents also circling the bottom tables. Their captain put me up against Justin, a new player with a WIP 10mm (or smaller?) Abyssal Dwarfs army based up for 28mm Kings. We played Dominate as is my want.
It’s been a long time since I’ve faced Abyssal Dwarfs and longer still for triple artillery, and while AD aren’t all that scary anything can happen when it comes to artillery spikes! Apart from that he’s mostly very slow, but very tough and kind of wants the same thing as me. Also Justin has a dragon, even if he foolishly left the AC (4) mage at home 🫠
Craggoth punches up a flank per usual and I go first also per usual. The new usual.
BATTLE
Turn 1: Freeforged, roll out! Craggoth fireballs 1 damage into the right Blacksouls horde and I surge an Earth horde an extra 1-2.”
Our twisted cousins advance apace, with Lesser Obsidian Golems enjoying some surge boosts of their own. The first artillery volley targets a central Earth Elemental horde but only 2 damage is caused.
Free Dwarfs 2: The iron line shuffles along for the most part, although the orb Beast Lord joins Craggoth in a combo-charge on the right Blacksouls. They hold comfortably on 9 damage.
Abyssal Dwarfs 2: The Golems continue leading the AD advance, moving into Charnox range. Combined with the artillery barrage, 1-2 damage is dealt across the Freeforged line to no real effect. Shortly afterwards, the Blacksouls counter-charge on the orb Beast Lord does 4 damage. Not bad, stunities, but not enough. (Those central Golems may or may not have been able to flank surge the orb Lord, it looks like a hard cut and a fairly long charge to make it in. But I can’t recall if I couched him either way at the time.)
Free Dwarfs 3: I pile into his Golems, with the left one copping a front from sword Beast Lord and Greater Earth, and a flank from the sharp Earth horde; and the right one assailed by an Earth horde (bane chanted) and regiment in the front and a Greater Earth in the flank (off a hill no less). Both LOG hordes bite it. The left Blacksouls, meanwhile, are blocked by an Earth regiment (taking 2 damage in the process) and the right Blacksouls are driven off by the orb Beast Lord and Craggoth. I send the scorpion skittering towards the artillery in the backfield. Finally, the red Immortal Guard regiment takes a preposterous 9 damage from one very lucky horde of Earth Elementals.
Abyssal Dwarfs 3: Those Immortal Guard regen 1 damage (😬) and do 3 damage back to their Earth Elemental assailants. The surviving Blacksouls horde dismantle the Earth regiment fighting them, and artillery and/or fireballs push the other central Earth horde to 4 damage.
Notice that big white base behind the wall in his deployment zone? That’s the Overlord on Ancient Winged Halfbreed, just chilling. I confirmed a few times that he was not being forgotten, but content to make me nervous. The Infernox is behind the central building, looking to the left.
Free Dwarfs 4: Driven by an endless desire for murder, my robot dudes storm on. On the left, a Greater Earth Elemental and the sharp Earth horde blend the Blacksouls horde, as the sword Beast Lord bops just 2 damage into the Ironcaster babysitting them. Centrally, the red Immortal Guard are splattered by a Greater Earth in the flank and Earth horde (bane chanted) in the front, with the orb Beast Lord similarly slapping 3 damage into an Ironcaster. Then Craggoth eats his first Mortar.
Abyssal Dwarfs 4: The Overmaster descends! He swoops into the left Greater Earth’s front, and shockingly one-rounds the De 6+ titan with the help of the Infernox in the flank. Damn, Justin! The other Greater Earth cops some artillery damage (3 total), shortly before the surviving Immortal Guard push the central Earth horde up to 6 damage.
Free Dwarfs 5: Retaliation is, of course, swift. The sharp Earth horde hits the Infernox in the front (I explained the weirdness of facing a square to Justin when reforming after killing the GEE), but do only 4 damage despite bane chant. The same can’t be said of the Immortal Guard, who are given the same treatment as the previous batch, GEE in the flank and all. Craggoth eats his second Mortar.
Abyssal Dwarfs 5: Having appeared, the Overmaster swiftly flits off to the safety of the enemy deployment zone 😀 Leaving the Infernox to punch 2 damage into the sharp Earth Elementals. I wish I could say that Justin’s final mortar shot was impactful but I think it missed or failed to wound like most of the previous volleys.
Free Dwarfs 6: Infernox dies to a Beast Lord with CS3+TC2 in the rear. Poor guy. Craggoth eats his third and final Mortar, settling down to digest.
Abyssal Dwarfs 6: The Overmaster flaps into the Dominate zone, ensuring that he’s got at least 1 US to his name 👍
Turn 7: Buuuuut then I surge and bane chant an Earth horde into the Overmaster, which yields just 7 damage. The Overmaster returns the favor in Justin’s turn, routing the already damaged horde and closing the points gap just a bit more. All the same, this is a convincing …
FREEFORGED VICTORY
I think this was Justin’s 4th or 5th game of Kings? He took his lumps like an absolute prince, here’s hoping he had some fun throughout the tournament and maybe even a win or two. (I asked Best MM’s captain why he paired Justin into me, rather than taking me himself, and he told me it was because he knew Justin would have a good game. I really appreciate that and hope it was true, as this looks like a real stomp writing it up!)
And a merry Fall to you as well, gentle readers! With a lull at work I’m finally getting around to reporting some battles again, and rather than wade into a year of Herd tournaments, I figured I’d punch out my annual coverage of the Crossroads GT. In its current format, Crossroads is a 2300 point two day tournament using teams of four players, taking place late September in Elmira, NY. There’s some jiggery-pokery involved in determining match-ups, but my goal as captain of Team Cuddle Time has always been to give most of my players the least painful games possible. Not necessarily best, mind 😅
I tend to do quite well at Crossroads (probably because I have some control over what scenarios I play), however personal records are a moot point when the rest of your team is getting slagged. Spoilers for this year: Cuddle Time did just about the same as it always does, although our painting and sports scores keep climbing, even if our round results aren’t. Good on ya, lads.
This Crossroads also saw me premiere a new army, which seems to be a tradition for me as well. Printed last winter and painted mostly in the summer, I present my FREEFORGED:
Free Dwarfs Earth Elemental Horde – Brew of Sharpness Earth Elemental Horde Earth Elemental Horde Earth Elemental Regiment Earth Elemental Regiment Mastiff Hunting Pack Regiment Mastiff Hunting Pack Regiment Greater Earth Elemental – Craggoth & Kholearm, Fireball (10) Greater Earth Elemental Greater Earth Elemental Dwarf Lord on Large Beast – Blade of the Beast Slayer Dwarf Lord on Large Beast – Orb of Towering Presence Free Dwarf Stone Priest – Surge (8), Bane Chant (2) 2300 (13/21)
The main goal was to 3D print an entire army, for which I chose a single set of not-Warforged by Artisan Guild, one of my favorite sculpting houses but one that historically does not print well for me. Originally I was going to stay the course and use a third large robot lad, but ended up using a converted automaton scorpion from Cast N Play for Craggoth, partially for my own sanity and also to stand out. It’s an understatement to say I’m happy with the big critter.
As for the list, I feel like I’m back in the 2E days of Bloodfire, strapped for unlocks and starving for unit strength 🙃 But I also wanted to run some De 6+ skew, in response to the high speed hammers + low pierce shooting that’s flooding the meta, and I’d say that was a success. I sacrificed the Mastiff’s throwing dogs to juice up the DLOLBs, which I knew from facing Dwarfs need some items to really tune up, and splurged on +1 to hit for a horde rather than Martyr’s Prayer on the Stone Priest. As punishing as that would have been with such high defense, I really wanted a horde that could do something.
I finished basing the army two nights before the tournament, so like with my crabs I would be enjoying a single prep game on the Friday before the event. Clubmate Bill likewise had a brand new army he didn’t understand either, so off we went …
Game 0: Northern Alliance
I don’t remember what’s in Bill’s list but it’s a decent mix made from the refreshed NA line. The opening gambit of the game saw me scouting Craggoth into charge range of both of his Frostclaw hordes, daring them to have a go. Surprisingly Bill did just that! The birds very nearly broke my new toy, but the scorpion clung to life and Craggoth killed one horde while the other was driven off by a Beast Lord and some amount of Earth Elementals. Side Comment: As much as I love universal pathfinder on my Herd, nigh-universal brutal is great as well. Ogre players know.
Anyway, Bill’s heart left the game once the birds were gone. I weathered his shooting in the middle, including my first taste of frozen vs Sp 5 units, and felt the pain of Hrimm one-shoting a horde of Earth Elementals to the front, but eventually forced a concession about mid-game. I’m not sure how Bill did in the tournament but hopefully his birds served him better!
After this we had some drinks and played obligatory board games into the AM, as is customary for Kings of War events.
Round One sees Cuddle Time up against the Ithaca Lakers! The way pairing works, you end up choosing the match-ups for half of your team and the scenario for the other half. My goal was to always choose scenario if possible, on the assumption that that matters way more for a Sp 5 brickhouse of an army. I successfully got myself Dominate this match, and as a reward I was up against Bryant’s Elves. He’s running a pretty late 2E style list with some decent De 6+ cracking power – for those playing at home, please mark a 1 next to the number of AC (4) casters I’ve faced in this tournament so far 😐
Bryant is a good guy who I’ve faced at other Crossroads. He was running OOGL last year (before they were cool) and you can read about our game somewhere on this blog. A game which he’s still kicking himself for, as he told me. Anyway, I won first turn and took it because Sp 5 brickhouse.
BATTLE
Turn 0: Bryant forms a fast wing and a slow wing while I try not to go pure deathball. Then I scout Craggoth up the flank and he suddenly has a concern.
Turn 1: The Freeforged stumble to war! The left GEE must have been surged a bit for extra distance, and Craggoth misses the leftmost Archmage (I want to say the LB only one) with his fireball / tail laser. Boo.
In response, the Elves back away on the left and move into threatening positions on the right. Classic Elves! The Gladestalkers and that LB Archmage tag a solid 3 damage into Craggoth while the advanced Greater Earth suffers 8, no doubt thanks to the loathsome AC Archmage.
Free Dwarfs 2: I send my big boys in to smash while they still can, with Craggoth slamming 7 damage into the Gladestalkers (wavering them) and the melted Greater into some Forest Guard, turning them into goop. The rest of my turn is spent on the right making sure that the only double charge open to the mead Drakons and Tydarion are some Mastiffs. This takes some time but does successfully lock Bryant into one off charges that I can respond to.
Elves 2: The Forest Guard in the upper left flank Craggoth, pushing him up to 11 damage but the scorpion holds. The same can’t be said for the melted Greater Earth, which is finished off by the AC Archmage in a classic flaming paper vs rock situation. Apart from these big guys being aggressed upon, the bulk of Bryant’s turn is spent deciding where and how to dive into the Freeforged lines. Ultimately he chooses to hit the center of the lines, which I think was as correct as it could be, with no Beast Lords in LOS and asked a little more of my surge than other options. Backing up again might have been better? But it is dominate and I was coming to grips with him slowly but surely.
Tragically both Drakons and Dragonlord stick on their Earth hordes, doing 6 damage each.
Free Dwarfs 3: Instead of finishing off the Gladestalkers, Craggoth counters the Forest Guard in his flank. Only 3 damage dealt but another waver should keep him in the game a bit longer. I send the Mastiffs on the right off the hill and into the flank of the Quicksilver Lancers, for an impressive 5 damage (pretty sure they hindered on that fountain). The Drakons are obliterated thanks to a bane chanted surge flank off a hill from the sharpness Earth horde, while Tydarion only takes 5 damage from his own Earth horde. Finally, I spend some time preparing a landing spot for the helm Drakons coming in from the right flank. There only charge is into a Greater Earth, with a slide that will hinder them on terrain. I’ll take it.
Elves 3: Craggoth is flanked by Gladestalkers and I pay for my hubris as they finally pull the machine down. Elf violence continues as the Palace Guard horde scatters a Mastiff pack and the AC Archmage dunks 6 damage onto the sharp Earth Elementals. The Quicksilver Lancers see their own Mastiffs off as Tydarion wallops his Earth horde to 13 damage, then flubs the Nv test. The play of the turn, however, is Bryant using the Silverbreeze to keep the Drakons from hindering on the terrain when they charged my last Greater Earth. My 5 damage calculation becomes 9, which Bryant spikes extra hard to one round the large lad. I am gently shook.
Free Dwarfs 4: The sharpness Earth Elementals and orb Beast Lord pound into the Palace Guard, delivering a ferocious 17 damage but only wavering the elite horde. The blade Beast Lord slams into the Drakon horde and is forced to go it alone when an Earth regiment falls 1″ short on their surge. The Lord still hammers 6 damage into the small dragons but that’ll have to do. Also Tydarion Dragonlord is flanked and fronted by Earth Elementals, ripped from his saddle and reduced to a red smear. RIP to that guy.
Elves 4: The Quicksilver Lancers plow into the sharp Earth Elementals’ flank, routing them handily. Elsewhere, the Earth Elemental reg that has been struggling up the left flank takes 2 damage from the Gladestalkers and their Archmage, shortly before the Drakons gnaw 2 damage onto the blade Beast Lord.
Free Dwarfs 5: The orb Beast Lord charges the mangled Palace Guard, finishing them off, as the (bane chanted) Earth horde next to him pushes the Quicksilver Lancers up to 9 damage but can’t seal the deal. Plucky Earth regiments make contact this turn, with the left regiment slapping a couple damage onto the Gladestalkers (wavered again!) and the right one helping the blade Beast Lord end the Drakon menace.
Elves 5: The Quicksilver Lancers disengage from the central Earth horde, letting the Archmages work their cruel magicks. Thankfully they hold on 10 damage. The Silverbreeze, however, slip a damage into the 13 damage horde and pop them! Otherwise the Forest Guard start heading towards the center because we are playing Dominate, after all.
Turn 6: The Gladestalkers are driven back to the glades by a very determined regiment of Earth Elementals, as the Quicksilver Lancers are flanked and wrecked by the orb Beast Lord. I make sure all 8 of my available unit strength is in the center and see what Bryant can do.
The Elves drop the last Earth horde and toss a few shots at the orb Beast Lord for just a single damage. With 2 US to my 5 US, this is a solid …
FREEFORGED VICTORY
Awesome first game against a friendly face, that I’m genuinely surprised went my way. I’d say Craggoth was the big standout for me, despite not killing anything at all. I knew he could be a pressure piece but wow what a distraction and a half. Also, I didn’t really consider how much Alchemist Curse and CS/TC 3+ in the game these days when I decided to run a De 6+ skew list, but as we’ll see my lessons were just beginning …
(Months pass, seasons change, and yet these reports remain unsung … no longer!)
After a stellar first day, my green Herd are on Table 3 up against another familiar face but with some new toys courtesy of the Big Red Book.
GAME FOUR: BASILEANS
Basileans 2150
Elohi Horde – Wine of Elvenkind, Celestial Fury Ogre Palace Guard Horde – Chalice of Wrath Ogre Palace Guard Horde – Staying Stone Sisterhood Scouts Regiment Sisterhood Scouts Regiment Paladin Foot Guard Regiment – Orb of Towering Presence Paladin Knights Troop – Skirmisher’s Boots, Aegis Fragment Heavy Arbalest Heavy Arbalest Phoenix Phoenix Gnaeus Sallustis [1] Priest – Conjurer’s Staff; Heal (3), Bane Chant (2) 13 (23)
I love Chris’ army, and Kings of Warmachine armies in general. He’s added a lot of shooting since my crabs last faced him, which is somewhat concerning, but fewer Elohi is a win? I tell myself as I prepare to overthink the single horde he has brought.
The fourth round was Booty, a modified Push where each token carried after the first gives -1 Sp down to a minimum of Sp 1. The tokens are otherwise standard loot tokens (so Sp 5 max, no surge, no nimble, no windblast, etc). Basilea\ went first because shooting.
BATTLE
Battlelines! Or slightly after the scouting phase anyway. He’s got two tokens in the hard left Paladin Foot Guard and one in the Sisterhood Scouts near them. I’ve got two in my Tribal Warrior horde and one in the Tribal Warrior reg on the right.
Turn 1: The Basileans form a #murdercrescent, with shooting removing the Centaurs protecting the Brutes and doing 7 damage to the Tribal Warrior horde and 2 to the regiment to the left. Ouch. The Hallow punches it up the center and baits with the Centaurs on the right.
Basileans 2: Chris’ forces largely drift around the left or back up, with the Knight troop flanking the bait Centaurs on the right. Shockingly they survive and are unwavered! Shooting wavers the Tribal Warriors in the central woods but crucially leaves my advanced Brutes holding on 7 damage.
Herd 2: My Lycan Alpha charges off to the left, grounding a Phoenix. The damaged Brutes power up the field into some Sisterhood Scouts, dunking them and spinning to face the Ogre Palace Guard duo. On the right, the Centaurs charge off to bother Gnaeus and the Knight troop is flanked themselves – again to limited effect! I had held the Lycans back as I didn’t want to get charged in response by the Elohi. The Stampede, assuming the right is in my control, heads off to pressure the center.
Basileans 3: On the left, the Phoenix waddles away to let the Foot Guard have a go at the Lycan Alpha. Meanwhile on the right, the Elohi swoop in and one round the Tribal Warriors (with a token), and the Knight troop gets in the way of the Lycan horde, poking some damage through in the process. Gnaeus finished off the Centaurs and prepares for next turn. Centrally, shooting clears off the rampaging Brutes and the OPG back up.
Herd 3: But they don’t back up far enough, thanks to the Great Chieftain’s WC aura. Tribal Warriors and Brutes charge the Palace Guard, with the Brutes wavering theirs thanks to bane chant (and kind of floppy dice). The Lycan horde on the right nukes the Knight troop in its way, with the Centaur Chief grounding the Elohi as the Stampede changes direction again and heads back to the right. Finally on the left, the Lycan Alpha withdraws and rears the orange Phoenix, keeping it disordered.
Basileans 4: The Basilean left slinks backward, with shooting largely whiffing against the Tribal Warrior horde. The Lycan Alpha is lightly pecked by the orange Phoenix and the Tribal Warriors downfield are wrecked by the functioning Palace Guard. On the right, the Elohi and Gnaeus assault the Stampede and only manage to waver it. Hell yea.
Herd 4: It’s officially on, dear readers. The surviving Brutes withdraw and charge the other Palace Guard, making space for the Tribal Warrior horde to plow into the mangled horde of ogres – they had to shed 1 booty token to go back to Sp 5 but worth. Both Palace Guard units are smashed. The Lycan Alpha continues grounding the orange Phoenix, as the Great Chieftain charges and shuts down the blue Phoenix. On the right, the Stampede bips some damage onto Gnaeus (only CS1 when disordered) but the Lycans rear charge the Elohi, decimating them (and taking my token back).
Basileans 5: The Sisterhood Scouts advance to block for the Foot Guard token caddies, but their shooting (and maybe the arbalests’, tho they had been cooling down over the course of the game) successfully wavers the Tribal Warrior horde. Gnaeus finishes off the Stampede and faces the Lycan horde. I’m sure the orange Phoenix slapped away at the Lycan Alpha.
Herd 5: The Brutes leapfrog the retreating Tribal Warrior horde, sadly unable to charge (I might have been able to turn the horde sideways and gotten the Brutes into the Sisters? But this would have offered a flank to the Foot Guard and given them a token, as well as gotten them closer to the central token) but picking up their token in the process, as I can see the writing on the wall. The Lycan Alpha continues disordering the regenerating Phoenix, with the Centaur Chief grounding the blue one this turn. The Lycan horde blends Gnaeus and the Great Chieftain heads off to kill some war engines.
Basileans 6: The Tribal Warrior horde is finally shot down. Phoenixes caw in distress.
Herd 6: The Brutes make contact with the Sisterhood Scouts, detonating them. The Great Chieftain flips over one Arbalest and both Phoenixes are disordered again. The Lycan Horde sails forward 10″ to be on the other side of the table.
Turn 7: We talk things over going into this extra round, and Chris is looking at a loss unless he can roll wildly and kill the Brutes in his turn. He can’t escape their charge with Sp 4 and we’re on his side of the table, so my 2 tokens count double compared to his 2. He goes for it but the Palace Guard don’t work any magic. My Brutes shatter his unit and scoop their tokens up, for a decisive …
HALLOW VICTORY (19-2)
This was a wild game that I didn’t feel particularly in charge of, thanks to his early shooting and the existence of Elohi 😛 I’m happy to have pulled it off, and I think Chris and I are now even in our matches? He might still be a win ahead with his damn Basileans.
GAME FIVE: SALAMANDERS
Salamanders 2150
Rhinosaur Cavalry Horde – Healing Brew Rhinosaur Cavalry Horde Scorchwings Horde – Fire-Oil Scorchwings Regiment Kaisenor Lancers Regiment – Boots of Striding Salamander Primes Regiment – War-Bow Ghekkotah Hunters Regiment Komodon Komodon Rakawas, The Pale Rider [1] Artakl [1] Ghekkotah Skylord on Scorchwing Ghekkotah Skylord on Scorchwing 13 (24)
After a slow start, Eric had gradually pushed up the tables throughout the event, and would turn out to be an exceedingly nice dude (and my favorite opponent). Of the Salamander armies at the tournament, Eric’s was the one I was hearing the most about, in particular the bonkers numbers of shots it has. Obviously, charging into a wall of highly mobile shooting isn’t great for a Herd army but needs must!
The final round was Kill, modified so that units drop loot-esque tokens when they are killed. These tokens have no effect on movement in any way, however a unit must still have US to pick them up. You can hold friendly tokens and indeed should grab them, as the scenario was designed to punish shooting, as units killed at range drop their token into their footprint per usual. Ultimately I don’t like this scenario as it punishes individuals while benefiting US1 heroes, which the meta already does, and could be written to do the opposite but this is all academic. The Salamanders took first turn because shooting. This marks four games in a row where I went second not by choice.
BATTLE
Battlelines! Or rather Scouting Phase, as Artakl has scurried forward.
Turn 1: The Salamanders advance wearily and unleash a startling amount of shooting, with the 10 damage done to the right Brutes being the standout (5+ from the Komodons alone). The Hallow holds firm, then pushes up in response, with the leftmost Centaurs getting the party started by grounding the Scorchwing regiment. I’m a little at a loss for what to do overall but am hoping the Lycan Alpha can dive in from the left and help me open up that flank.
Salamanders 2: Which makes it an extra bummer when Eric 10+ wavers her! Shooting removes the right Brutes and continues hurting Tribal Warrior regiments. The Ghekko Hunters scamper into the right Centaurs and waver them, which is especially annoying when I realize I didn’t put the Lycan horde a full 1″ behind the Centaurs. Bleh.
Herd 2: I attempt to unjam the right by flanking the Hunters with hindered Tribal Warriors, but 24x 5+ / 3+ is too much of an ask and the Hunters are fine. The other Tribal Warriors charge Rakawas for a few damage and to block him up, as 300 points of Lycan mega-hammer picks up the Brutes’ kill token and waits. I think for a very long time about the left, and notice that if the Stampede helps those Centaurs out with the Scorchwing regiment, it can rotate after combat and disappear from the Rhinosaurs’ LOS, leaving only the milksop Lancers to take it on. It’s an easy kill and I go for it … and roll snake eyes. This disastrously gives said Rhinos the Stampede’s flank, and Eric the game. Ah well.
Salamanders 3: The Stampede is obliterated. The other Rhinosaurs flank and explode the Tribal Warriors who fluffed against the Hunters, as Rakawas nimbles around the other Tribal Warriors and helps the Hunters finish off those pesky Centaurs. Rakawas’ abandoned Tribal Warriors are cheerily wavered by the war-bow Primes (off a hill), and the Lycan horde does get shot a bit. Finally, Artakl jams the Tribal Warrior horde, doing token damage in the process.
Herd 3: I melt my clock and eventually realize I can charge Artakl with the Tribal Warriors horde, overrun 5″ into the central Rhinosaurs, and flip them over thanks to the Lycan Alpha in the flank. It’s not great odds (2/3 of a chance the overrun is no good!) but it’s what I got to open the left back up. I make a very real mistake and heal 1 damage off of the Tribal Warriors instead of bane chanting them (I didn’t realize Artakl is De 5+ and not 4+ but more importantly forgot I was aiming to fight the Rhinos, who definitely are De 5+ and I’ve got no TC behind the horde). I do next to no damage to Artakl on 3+ / 5+ yet I hot hand the Nv roll and rout the lizard twice, and I make the 5+ overrun, even if it’s hindered. The Rhinosaurs take 9 damage from the flanking Lycan Alpha, the Great Chieftain in the front, and the overrunning horde (match says 9-11, +2 if I hadn’t messed up bane chant), dread pushes this to 10 and I fail the break. Eric had offered to let me rewind and count the horde’s dice with bane chant on there but I couldn’t, that was well and truly my fault.
Elsewhere, the Lycan horde kills the Hunters (possibly because that was all I was offered, possibly because I didn’t fancy one rounding Rakawas) and turns to be out of Rakawas’ LOS but very much in the Rhinosaurs’. The Centaur Chief disorders the Scorchwing horde, and way over on the left the Centaurs finish off the Scorchwing regiment they had been fighting for 3 turns.
Salamanders 4: Lancers flank and kill the Lycan Alpha, Rhinosaurs (with Skylord in the flank) charge and kill the Lycan horde, Komodons light up the central Brutes a bit, and the Tribal Warrior horde survives the attention of the central Rhinosaurs. Eric hands me two snake eyes of my own this turn, with the blessed Centaur troop surviving against the left Skylord and the Centaur Chief bravely living to disorder the Scorchwing horde again.
Herd 4: The central Rhinosaurs are torn down by the Tribal Warriors and Brutes, as is the left Skylord by the Centaur troop. The Great Chieftain charges the Lancers to hold them down, and that lucky Centaur Chief disorders the Scorchwing horde again.
Salamanders 5: Rhinosaurs run down the central Brutes, the Lancers kill the Great Chieftain (!), and otherwise shooting pummels into the Tribal Warrior horde in the forest, pushing them well into the danger zone. Somebody shoots the Druid to death this turn.
Herd 5: The Lancers are mobbed and torn apart. I continue giving as many kill tokens as I can to the Centaurs, as I know the Tribal Warrior horde is not long for this world and I’m hoping I can get more than 1 point.
Salamander 6: The Tribal Warriors get properly Rhino’d, and the extreme range of the Salamander shooting drops the Centaurs at long last. Their 6! tokens drop in their footprint but even without a Turn 7 the Sallies have plenty of their own, making this a foregone …
HALLOW LOSS (1-20)
Not gonna lie, having a tough match up fall apart so immediately thanks to a snake eyes is a bad feel, but let’s be real, I haven’t been properly boned by snakes in a long, long time. Combined we actually had 5 snake eyes this game, making it all feel very weird, however Eric was a pleasure and I appreciate how accommodating he was as my game disintegrated before it could begin. He would go on to win Best Sports.
Dead of Winter 2023 turned out to be a far more eventful run for me than expected, with a lot more time spent on the top tables than I would have thought my Herd deserved. Ultimately I placed like I always do (just above the halfway mark), which checks out with the big wins and big losses. Great games all the same, and I appreciate my clubmates who pulled the event together with next to no help from me 😅
I’m super behind on reports at this point, but up next I’ll blast through some 2300 practice games, from when my Herd were training for the Pilgrimage GT. Stay tuned!
Gentle readers! I’m sorry to keep you waiting for that sweet, sweet Dead of Winter GT report you were promised a month ago. With the Pilgrimage GT this weekend (!), I find I’m once again up against the wall on my writing duties and well behind on batreps. To that end, I’m going to do full day recaps for this event but hopefully maintain some of the gravitas of what turned out to be a much more successful run than I expected going in.
Dead of Winter was a two day, 2150 point event held here in Albany, NY from January 29-30, 2023, and put on by my very own club, The Shambling Horde. For the second year of this tournament, our club overlords set an added comp twist that no triplicates were allowed, including units of the same size. While you could take 2x Ogre Warrior regiments and 1x Ogre Warrior horde, you couldn’t take 3x Ogre Warrior regiments, for example. I’m not a huge fan of this restriction, as I don’t find triples of units to be bad, but I do think raising it to ban unit quadruplets is cool and good and curtails spam in a more meaningful way, especially when combined with 1995+X style points comp. Regardless, I did appreciate being forced into a little more variety than I would usually run, and was very happy where my list landed. Also note that we used Blackjack Scoring (aka best scoring).
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)
I’ve talked about the list in other reports but here it is one more time! The Horn did make it into the final list, as a cool piece of tech that gives a useful aura when you want to go fast and occasionally puts dread onto somebody who isn’t being punched by Brutes. The list is basically a bunch of hammers with friends that either get them where they want to be or take care of the scenario so the hammers can focus on smashing face.
GAME ONE: ORCS
Orcs 2150
Fight Wagons Legion – Brew of Strength Greatax Horde – Orcish Skullpole, Boots of Striding Youngax Horde – Orcish Skullpole Gore Riders Regiment – Staying Stone Morax Regiment – Orcish Skullpole Morax Regiment – Orcish Skullpole Morax Troop Morax Troop War Drum War Drum Troll Bruiser – Orb of Towering Presence Morax Mansplitter – Gnome-Glass Shield Krudger – Gakamak’s Bloody Banner [1] Krusher on Gore – Blade of Slashing 14 (27)
That’s right, we’re kicking off the tournament with Skullface! He’s brought his personal battlewagon, as many Morax as the comp allowed, a Greatax horde to hold the line, Youngax to be cheap unit strength, and support staff aplenty. My Herd are very punchy, but would I be able to out punch this Orcish warmachine??
The first round is Invade – you may notice that the scenarios are designed to tell a story of our armies moving into enemy territory, taking their stuff, fighting their way out, etc. The Herd went first, probably by choice given that it’s invade.
BATTLE
Battlelines! I don’t have a strong plan for the Youngax and US2 Troll Bruiser pushing down the right flank, but I assign some Brutes to keep them occupied. On the whole, sending just the Brutes that way is a mistake, I should have used them to break the center harder and then spin to face the US6 worth of invaders late game. Spoilers.
Turn 1: The Hallow moves up, flexing its charge ranges across the board. The Orcs present a unified front across the line, with the exception of the Gore Riders jamming the Stampede on the left and the Krusher venturing out on the right. First blood goes to the Mansplitter, who picks up his ONE throwing axe then hits and wounds a Tribal Warrior. Game on.
Herd 2: I know from experience that the Greatax need to be killed in one shot, so Lycans and Brutes both pound into them. The Stampede should easily kill the Gore Riders, especially with a little nudge from the Centaur Chief, and the Tribal Warrior horde can very likely one round some Morax, then take the retaliation on the chin. The rest of the Orc line is held in place to buy time.
After a flurry of dice, the Greatax are indeed dismembered, but the Gore Riders hold on snake eyes and the Morax regiment takes 14 damage and may have snaked as well. I try my best to shake it off but the momentum is already slipping.
Orcs 2: Thrilled to be fighting already, the Orcs counter-charge across the line, with both Morax regiments hitting the Tribal Warrior horde. A War Drum blocks the Lycan horde as Orc individuals lend their axes to the fights. The saddest note, however, was the Gore Riders charging the Centaur Chief and overrunning into the Stampede. I hate when I do this 😦
Thankfully it’s all up from there, with the Tribal Warriors holding on 13 damage and the units keeping the Morax troops back only wavering. The Centaurs thrown into the Fight Wagon legion do indeed die tho. RIP to those heroes.
Herd 3: The Hallow plunges its sharpened wooden appendage deeper into the Orcs this turn, as Brutes flank Morax on the left and Tribal Warriors flank more Morax on the right, with a lot of counter-charging happening elsewhere. In a bit of a throwaway move, the Great Chieftain charges the Krudger with the bloody banner, but amazingly he one-rounds him! This removes the inspiring from the left flank, leading to the death of the Gore Riders and War Drum. All the Morax except for the troop with Centaurs in their face are torn apart as well.
You can see I don’t know what to do about the right flank. The Brutes once again deign to charge, not trusting that they can one round the horde or the troll, but knowing they’ll die in return, thanks to either unit getting a flank (and no inspiring to be had!)
Orcs 3: The Fight Wagon careens into the Lycan horde lurking in the pond, crushing it despite the negative to hit. It turns to face the Stampede, letting the Brutes have its flank. The surviving Morax blend the Centaurs at last and prepare to die. On the right, the Youngax take the hindered charge into the stranded Brutes, with Troll Bruiser in the front and Krusher in the back. The green hammer wavers but holds.
Herd 4: The Fight Wagon is dismantled by the Stampede and Brutes on the left, and on the right the other Brutes counter-charge the Troll Bruiser and manage to one round him through weight of dice. In the center, the Tribal Warrior horde chooses to counter-charge the Mansplitter rather than dropping the War Drum (??), but at least they kill the punchy hero. This leaves a Tribal Warrior regiment and Lycan Alpha to deal with the wounded Morax – a shocking 2 damage later and the troop of blenders is totally fine. Yikes.
Orcs 4: Those Morax counter-charge and blend the Tribal Warrior regiment (and their US3), while the Krusher and Youngax finish off the right Brutes. The War Drum tries to clean up the mangled Tribal Warrior horde but can’t land a hit.
Turn 5: The Tribal Warrior horde shreds the War Drum and the Lycan Alpha savages the Morax troop. For the Orcs, the Youngax face their oppressors and the Krusher either launches himself into the Tribal Warriors horde, fails to hit, and is killed next turn, or readies himself this turn and has a go in Turn 6. Regardless, this is a resounding …
HALLOW VICTORY (20-1)
What a smashfest! Slugging it out with Skullface is always a pleasure, and this match was probably destined to come down to whoever hit first and hardest. Snake eyes notwithstanding.
GAME TWO: SYLVAN KIN
Sylvan Kin 2150
Forest Shamblers Horde Sylvan Gladestalkers Regiment Sylvan Gladestalkers Regiment Silverbreeze Cavalry Regiment Silverbreeze Cavalry Regiment Hunters of the Wild Regiment Hunters of the Wild Regiment Greater Air Elemental Greater Air Elemental Tree Herder – Wiltfather [1]; Surge (8) Nimue Waydancer [1] – Fireball (10), Wind Blast (5), Heal (4), Surge (4) Elven Archmage – Inspiring Talisman; Surge (8), Bane Chant (2) 12 (22)
After dunking Orcs, I’m catapulted to Table 2 to face off against Sylvan Kin and my first two Greater Air Elementals. This also may be the first time I’ve ever faced Sylvan Kin? Thankfully no matter what happens, Darek is exceedingly nice and has a very pretty Warhammer army that is satisfyingly FMC.
The second round is Plunder (2 point tokens in green, 1 pointers in black). Sylvan Kin take the first turn, because shooting.
BATTLE
Battlelines! Scouting phase! The Sylvan Kin inch forward, mostly just putting Gladestalkers into range.
Turn 1: The Sylvan Kin deign to move much, knowing I’m headed to them. Some Tribal Warriors cop 3 damage from arrows. In return, the Hallow punches it forward, grabbing a 1 point token on the left and 2 pointer on the right. I’m a little freaked out by the Greater Air Elementals but I give them obvious charges as bait and prepare some redundancy if they get squirrely.
Sylvan Kin 2: Let’s just start with the boogeymen. The left Greater Air hops the wood and is surged 5″ into the Lycan Alpha by the Archmage, bopping her for 6 damage and wavering the beast. Nice! The right Greater Air plows directly into the 2 token Tribal Warrior regiment, doing them 6 damage (5 + Nimue’s cloak of death). Also on the right, Silverbreeze decide to charge the Lycan Horde, doing a respectable 7 damage (6 + cloak). Before all this happened, shooting drops the Centaurs with the loot and puts 2 damage on the Stampede. Not so bad.
Herd 2: Limited by my huge base size, I end up punching the Stampede and Tribal Warrior horde into the left Hunters of the Wild regiment, shattering it and splitting the Sylvan Kin line. The left Greater Air holds from a Tribal Warrior flank (who grab a token in the process), while the right GAE is disintegrated by Brutes (and the 2 token Tribal Warriors). The right Silverbreeze take 10 damage from the Lycan horde, but sadly hold tight. Brutes in the center prepare to deal with the Forest Shamblers, who are chaffed up with Centaurs.
Sylvan Kin 3: Battle is joined across the board!
The Lycan Alpha is driven off thanks to a Silverbreeze flank and a distressing number of waver tokens are handed out – the Tribal Warrior horde, Lycan Horde and right Brutes all waver under a storm of very good Kin rolling.
Herd 3: The Hallow retaliates in kind. Plucky Tribal Warrior regiments remove the Greater Air on the left and the Silverbreeze on the right, while Brutes thunder down the center and rout the Forest Shamblers in one go, and the Stampede rolls out of its mind and one-rounds the Gladestalkers who bloodied it last turn. A sad trombone can be heard in the distance, however, when the other Brutes fail to dunk the Hunters of the Wild scrabbling at them.
Sylvan Kin 4: The Tribal Warrior horde is smashed down by the Wiltfather (and Gladestalkers), as the mangled Brutes on the right are routed by the Hunters of the Wild. Darek spends some time thinking about the Tribal Warriors vs Silverbreeze situation in the bottom left and decides to trust in his shooting dice. This pays off as the Tribal Warriors (with token) are wavered! The right Tribal Warriors (with 2 point token) are also wavered this turn, thanks to Nimue’s fireball.
Herd 4: The Stampede revs up and one-rounds its second regiment of Gladestalkers (!), and the Hunters of the Wild on the right are blended by the Lycan horde. In the center, the Brutes swing into the Wiltfather for 7 damage, after a failed bane chant. Fighting Wiltdad is a marathon not a race, ok? Nimue is also charged and disordered by the Centaur Chief.
Sylvan Kin 5: The Silverbreeze gallop up from the bottom left to rear charge the Stampede, wavering it on 15 damage! The Wiltfather does a perfect 11 damage to the Brutes (10 + cloak)! Nimue tries to drive off the Tribal Warriors on the right but can’t land a wound (but does land her cloak)!
Herd 5: The Brutes drop the Wiltfather, moments before the Stampede turns and slams 7 damage into the Silverbreeze, I believe wavering them. Nimue is sandwiched between Tribal Warriors and Centaur Chief but survives. The Lycan horde grabs a 1 point token and Centaurs scoop up the 2 pointer in the center, with left Tribal Warriors headed for the final token.
Turn 6: Nimue swings at the token-laden Tribal Warriors on the right once again, damaging them this time but rolling snake eyes for the break (13 damage total)! Nimue survives the retaliation, but the Silverbreeze get Stampeded. I grab all the tokens and prepare the Lycan to scoop up the Tribal Warriors’ if Nimue goes ham on them in Turn 7, but the game ends here with a very decisive …
HALLOW VICTORY (21-0)
What a game! I was certainly helped by Darek committing his Greater Airs early and in places I could easily respond to them, but then his dice rolls with low to no crushing/piercing attaks pulled him out time and again. Lots of back and forth kept the game more interesting than I thought it would be vs shooting and GAEs.
GAME THREE: FORCES OF NATURE
Forces of Nature 2150
Fire Elementals Horde – Brew of Sharpness Scorchwings Horde – Brew of Haste Earth Elementals Horde Earth Elementals Horde Water Elementals Regiment Water Elementals Regiment Greater Air Elemental Greater Air Elemental Pegasus Tree Herder – Surge (8) Gladewalker Druid – Crown of the Wizard King, Ring of Harmony; Surge (8), Heal (4) Druid – Conjurer’s Staff; Surge (4), Bane Chant (2), Heal (2) 12 (20)
I’ve only played Corey three times, between him running Crossroads GT and living on the top tables at most events – so here we are at Table 1 😅 I had heard he was printing / painting a new army this winter, and obviously I should have expected Nature. Lots of great sculpts, bright colors, and a powerful toolbox of units. This is a scary list, tho also more tuned than the stereotypical Nature list using the formation (of which there was one at this GT). The anviliest of anvils, an ultra hammer, a Sp 11 hyper flexible flying scoring shooting killing unit, and amazing thicc chaff join the pure value of two GAEs, a Tree Herder, Ringwalker, and budget Druid. Lots to love.
The third round is Salt the Earth, except we mess it up and don’t deploy a central objective. We agree to have the center two objectives be un-burnable. Nature chooses to go first.
BATTLE
Battlelines! It’s worth noting that Corey chose to take the side he’s on. That giant house on the left would indeed prove to be really hard to work with.
Turn 1: Nature sallies forth, offering the Hallow nothing. The Scorchwings spike off the right Centuars with a lucky opening salvo, then burn their objective. In response, I melt my clock trying to overthink the right Greater Air’s landing places, eventually shoving the Lycan up hard and challenging him to have a go.
Nature 2: I was so concerned about surge that I missed that the right GAE could just straight charge the Lycan Alpha. Sigh. She takes 7 damage and wavers. The Scorchwings abandon the flank while the other GAE hops behind the giant building (OH NO) and the Pegasis continues lurking back there too.
Herd 2: We hammer the Tribal Warrior horde and Brutes into the right Earth Elementals, cracking them and facing as much to the left as possible. The Lycan horde tackles the right Water Elementals over a wall but can’t finish the job. In less decisive moves, nobody can sit the Greater Air in the my lines down, but Centaurs and Tribal Warriors face it anyway. I can’t figure out how to stop the left GAE either – it’s going to hop the building and flank my Stampede. Should I have just suicided the Stampede into the left Water Elementals so it at least does something? Let’s find out together.
Nature 3: The Fire Elementals charge the Tribal Warrior horde, with the Tree Herder hanging back to help surge the right GAE into the rear of the Lycan Horde, which works a treat. Water Elementals hit them in the front for good measure. The left GAE is surged into the flank of the Stampede. Water Elementals hit them in the front for good measure. The Pegasus blocks the left Brutes … and then everybody dies. Including the Tribal Warriors, which was *checks the numbers* a mathematical oddity to be sure. The Scorchwings light the right Brutes up for 4 damage because can.
Herd 3: Things are collapsing a little faster than expected, but there’s always vengeance, m’right? The right Brutes launch off the hill into the Tree Herder, one rounding the big tree despite bane chant failing at the worst time. The other Brutes splatter the Pegasus that was giving to them. I’m allowed to touch the Greater Airs, so the Tribal Warriors on the left do 6 to theirs and the Lycan Alpha does 3 to the right one.
Nature 4: Fire and Rocks crash into the left Brutes as Scorchwings and Water descend on the right Brutes. They both die. The Tribal Warriors on the left are ended by Greater Air in the front and Water surged into their flank, and the Lycan Alpha is straight clubbed to death by one hindered Greater Air. At this point I am strongly considering giving her the Wingbane Cloak 😛
Herd 4: The Tribal Warriors try and fail to kill the right Greater Air, as the Centaurs try and fail to kill the Water Elementals (who are well regenerated at this point). If you squint, you can see the Great Chieftain charge the left Greater Air out of spite. Well, that plucky mushroom man with a spear kills the bastard, pushed over by dread 😀
Nature 5: Nature’s fury is vented on the rears of the Hallow’s last remaining scoring units. They die.
Herd 5: The Great Chieftain trips over the fence and doesn’t do much to some Water Elementals but the Centaur Chief kills the other Greater Air. Get some!
Turn 6: Corey grabs five objectives and the Scorchwings whiff on the Centaur hero, who goes on to kick the Druid as spitefully as possible. My Great Chieftain keeps stabbing some Water Elementals but really whatever. There’s no Turn 6, making this a staggering …
HALLOW LOSS (1-20)
I was hoping for a few more points, but you know, I’ll take that one point in a maybe-worst Herd into maybe-best Nature match. Corey is an absolute machine who didn’t move from the top two tables. One of these days, Reynolds!
Walking away with 42 of 63 points at the end of Day One was quite the achievement for me. I celebrated by having a couple drinks with my dog, somehow getting some sleep, then racking up for Day Two.
The final match of Crossroads 2022 sees Cuddle Time rocketing up from the bottom tables to face The Other Canadian Team. Will the Cuddlers be able to finish strong and continue climbing the rankings, or will they find themselves consigned to the snuggle zone for another year?
ROUND FIVE: TEAM EAGER BEAVERS
Northern Alliance
Trident Realm
Free Dwarfs
Forces of Nature
Operating according to the plan, I put our Ogres into Trident Realm for the second time that day (SORRY DREW), gave our Ratkin the Forces of Nature and their air elementals (SORRY HUGGINS), the Riftforged faced Northern Alliance in a smashfest, and I ended up facing the Free Dwarfs.
Free Dwarfs 2300 Free Dwarf Rangers Regiment Free Dwarf Rangers Regiment *Free Dwarf Shieldbreakers Regiment – Throwing Mastiff *Free Dwarf Shieldbreakers Regiment – Throwing Mastiff *Free Dwarf Shieldbreakers Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Ironclad Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Ironclad Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Ironclad Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Mastiff Hunting Pack Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Mastiff Hunting Pack Regiment – Throwing Mastiff Dwarf Lord on Large Beast – Blade of Slashing Dwarf Lord on Large Beast – Mace of Crushing *Free Dwarf Lord – Wings of Honeymaze, Lord’s Jewel [1] Herneas the Hunter [1] Free Dwarf Stone Priest – Bane Chant (2), Alchemist Curse [1] (3) Dwarf Army Standard Bearer – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
Have I really never reported a Free Dwarfs game?? Is it possible I’ve never faced them??? Regardless, I have faced off against everything but the formation before (it gives the flying Lord scout and brutal, and the Shieldbreakers get nimble and brutal and must purchase scout), so it’s not entirely unknown. I appreciate how high drop and regiment heavy his list is, plus it’s all FMC which makes all those bodies standout. The dude himself was relatively new to Kings – this was his first tournament away from his home town events (Hamilton, ON I believe) – and super nice.
We played Control, which I played 3 out of 4 games, often by choice. I wouldn’t have told you this was the go to for my list, but it makes sense, with how relatively little movement is involved and how much effect 23″ scoot-n-shoot units can have from the central sections. He scouted and then went first, in one of the only instances where I would have taken it 😉
BATTLE
Battlelines! Also scouting phase!Scouting flying heroes are really cool, cause if you get first turn you can … Oh no.
Free Dwarfs 1: The Dwarfs advance their non-scouting elements, including the dogs taking their place on the right. The real power move is obviously the Lord flying into the central Heartpiercers, booping them for 3 damage but more importantly a) turning off their shooting and b) trapping the other Heartpiercer unit behind them, which needed to move up to get into range and looks to be base to base with the booped unit. Ugh. The Coral Giant takes 2 damage from Herneas’ enormous crossbow and I think the Rangers back in the field.
Trident 1: The crabs are in no rush on the flanks, with the Kraken mostly rotating to menace some flanks in coming turns and/or project threat. Speaking of menace, the Coral Giant grimly rotates to help deal with the damn flying Lord next turn, which is easier thanks the trident Centurion landing 2 damage and grounding him. The two Heartpiercer units that can fire slam a respectable 5 damage into the first Ironclad regiment marching down the center of the board.
Free Dwarfs 2: The Lord stomps over to another Heartpiercer unit and bashes it for 2 damage, turning off its shooting and once again trapping that Heartpiercer unit behind it. Dammit. Herneas, the Rangers and the damaged Ironclad’s mastiff put the Coral Giant on 6 damage. Otherwise the Dwarfs continue to push the middle while redressing the right flank as my Sp 7+ threats scuttle closer.
Trident 2: I fight the urge to dive those Ironclad with the Coral Giant, instead sticking to the plan and charging the Dwarf Lord (with Hearpiercers counter-charging). Frustratingly the Lord only wavers on 10 damage, costing me another turn dealing with him. Available shooting shoves those Ironclad to 10 damage but they too refuse to break (or waver even). I’m content to waffle on the right flank as well while I figure out the center.
Free Dwarfs 3: The Dwarf battleline fully reforms as the Rangers step into place. Alchemist Curse from the Iron Priest, Herneas’ ballista, another Ironclad mastiff and possibly some Ranger shots put 8 damage on the left Kraken, which converts to a lucky 9-10 waver. Shooting is less effective against the right Kraken, where both Mastiff pack’s throwing mastiffs do 3ish damage.
Trident 3: Tired of waiting, I let rip on the right, sending the Water Elementals into the Ironclads in the woods and threading the Kraken into some Shieldbreakers. The brutal Centurion charges a Mastiff pack to hold it in place. While none of these combats break (Ironclads hold on 6, Shiledbreakers waver, Mastiffs hold on 3) I’m hopefully well positioned to grind for a couple turns. In the center, the Coral Giant finishes pounding the Dwarf Lord into the mud, and Heartpiercers see the damaged Ironclad off. The trident Centurion has a go at the left Dwarf Lord on Large Beast but De 6+ is too stronk.
Now we’re playing Kings!
Free Dwarfs 4: A lot of time goes into unpacking his options on the right, and we conclude that a) the Kraken cannot in fact be flanked by anything and b) the Kraken can’t corkscrew the Ironclad if the Shieldbreakers stay in its face. So: Rangers and Ironclad combo the Water Elementals (for 6 damage), and the brutal Centurion either takes 3 damage from the counter-charging Mastiffs or from two thrown mastiffs. If it was the former, then the mastiffs were probably tossed at the Kraken or the Placoderms but failed to do a wound. In the center, the Coral Giant holds his ground against the Free Dwarf shooting, sitting tight at 11 damage.
Trident 4: The sound of hungrily clacking claws can be heard as very large crabs plow into the Dwarfs. In the center, a Kraken rampages into some Ironclad as the Coral Giant smashes into their flank, while the trident Centurion holds off the DLOLB over there. On the right, the Water Elementals aim to finish off the other Ironclad and the Kraken prepares to brutalize the Shieldbreakers it had already softened up. The brutal Centurion meanwhile continues petting some dogs, brutally.
All four Heartpiercer regiments are finally allowed to shoot, and the rain of barbs puts 7 damage on the central Rangers and 1 on the regiment in the woods. In combat, all the Dwarf units rout, including the Mastiffs. The Water Elementals sidestep (CRAB. WALK.) to stay in front of the wood Rangers and the brutal Centurion overruns to try to help the right Kraken out, who is in quite a predicament with fighty Dwarfs to either flank. I end up overrunning with the big guy, which puts only a DLOLB in his flank and not Shieldbreakers as well. The slayer Centurion puts 1 damage on his DLOLB.
Free Dwarfs 5: With just a handful of minutes left on the clock, the Dwarfs swing for the fences. Both Dwarf Lords on Large Beasts charge Kraken, ensnared in the front on the left and happily in the flank on the right. Shieldbreakers double charge the brutal Centurion (one ensnared to the front, one clear in the flank and hoping for an overrun into the right Kraken’s other flank). And the Rangers in the wood take on the Water Elementals again (sitting on 6 damage), with the help of bane chant.
Dwarfs on Large Beasts vs Titanic Crabs
Herneas and his Rangers topple the Coral Giant with shooting, shortly before the rest of the Rangers hew down the Water Elemental horde. The Shieldbreakers only manage to waver the brutal Centurion, denying them their overrun into the right Kraken, which would certainly have helped as the right DLOLB only lands 3 damage out of 14 attaks on 3s and 2s. The DLOLB in the center does 2 damage to his Kraken. With that, the Free Dwarfs clock out.
Trident 5: With less than 5 minutes left, I send Heartpiercers into the bottom left section, claim the bottom right with Placoderms (I don’t bother swinging on the Mastiff pack in their face), and shoot the central Rangers off from the safety of the bottom center. The Kraken swing on the Large Beasts to little effect, but the US 1 of the central Kraken contests the DLOLB, meaning the Dwarfs only score the upper right with all three of their remaining regiments. At a score of 3 to 1, that’s a resounding …
TRIDENT VICTORY
It occurs to me that I might have charged the Dwarf ASB with my Kraken in the upper right, with an overrun that might have shot that Kraken into the upper center section, claiming it … but whatever, I was keeping it simple on account of time, burn out and already winning. My opponent was a pleasure to play and sounds like he learned some stuff from our game, which is always nice to hear. Hoping to see him at King Beyond the Wall next year, after missing it the last couple times.
Cuddle Time did well this round, I think winning 2-3 of our games. With a very solid Day 2 and a decent paint score, we actually ended up finishing 11th out of 20 teams! Which I’ll take any day. We also did quite well on Sports, I think getting second most sportsing? Awesome.
Ain’t kidding about that cuddling!
Big thanks to my fellow Cuddlers for another year of being cool and enjoying our race to the bottom. I’m especially proud that everybody but me painted brand new armies for the event! A fact I didn’t piece together until just now.
And thank you for reading! Hopefully I’ll be back soon with some reflection on playing Trident Realm for an entire tournament season, it’s certainly been an adventure but I could really use a break 🦀
After a late night of playing Kill Team, watching board games, talking about Warmachine 4E and obligatory drinking, I passed out only to rise far too soon 😩 It’s Day 2 and time to slam into the bottom tables, Cuddle Time style.
ROUND FOUR: TEAM BIG DEAD ONE
Order of the Green Lady
Trident Realm
Empire of Dust
Undead
BDO was made up of two dudes whose team fell apart plus two of my clubmates (the Empire of Dust and the Undead (yes that’s Jeff from all my scrumming beforehand)). True to my captaining plans, I matched our Ogres into Trident Realm, Riftforged into Empire of Dust, Ratkin into Undead, and took the Order of the Green Lady for myself.
Brotherhood: Order of the Green Lady 2300 Order of the Forsaken Horde – Boots of Striding Earth Elementals Horde Earth Elementals Horde Order of Redemption Regiment – Brew of Strength Order of Redemption Regiment – Mead of Madness Order of the Brotherhood – Banner of the Green Lady [1] Naiad Ensnarers Regiment Centaur Bray Hunters Troop Centaur Bray Hunters Troop Pegasus Exemplar Redeemer – Blade of the Beast Slayer Druid – Shroud of the Saint, Heal (2(4)), Bane Chant (2), Surge (4) Devoted – Heal (3), Surge (7)
Bryant was super excited to play me, as we’d either always narrowly avoided each other or played once back in 2E or even Fantasy times. I’m a fan of his army, great Bretonnian feel and a faction I very rarely face. The list itself seemed legit? If hamstrung by cavalry’s middling place in this edition.
We played Pillage (or maybe Salt the Earth without any salting), with the Brotherhood going first one way or another.
BATTLE
Battlelines!
Green Lady 1: The Order canters forward, with caution on the wings and a trudging wall of rock in the center.
Trident 1: Crabs respond with a generalized scuttling. I’m content to make his life hell on the left flank, as he’s put a ton of points over there when the only token is the one on his side. Heartpiercers punch 2 damage onto the Centaur troop hanging out on the upper right token.
Bun Bun, Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, prepares to sate her hunger for crab flesh.
Green Lady 2: Indecision racks the Order’s lines, ultimately seeing the right advance a bit, the center widen its coverage, and the left mobilize Centaur chaff while preparing to thunder into combat next turn.
Trident 2: Placoderms advance on the right, being a terrible charge target for the cavalry over there, as I try to swap the Coral Giant and Water Elementals without touching the forest. Heartpiercers back up and put 6 damage on the strength Redemption reg on the right and 1 on the annoying Centaurs on the left. The slayer-trident Centurion fires at the Forsaken horde and fails to get a single damage, leaving them free to fly. What a champ. The Kraken don’t take the bait, letting the Order deal with their own chaff.
Bunny Pegasus with the #promove block.
Green Lady 3: While the right side of the Order line faffs around – and heals all the damage on the Redemption cav! – the left goes hard. Redemption knights (hindered) and Forsaken horde (striding boots) slam into the Kraken in the woods, ensnare be damned, as the Pegasus charges the other Kraken to block him up. Despite taking 11 damage, the multi-charged Kraken only wavers. And the Peg does a tight 3 damage from 3 attaks, nice.
Trident 3: The right arm of the crab war machine grudgingly pumps Heartpiercer rounds into the strength Redemption (2 damage, which I know will vanish), presents terrible Placoderm charges and unjams the Coral Giant / Water Elemental situation. We’re both still avoiding the LOS blocking void that is that forest.
Over on the left, the wavered Kraken skitters 4.5″ backwards and regenerates down to 3 damage (hahaha I love it). The other Kraken bops the Pegabun for 6 damage but flubs the rout (might have wavered her). Heartpiercers and trident Centurion combine fire into the Forsaken, doing a bunch of damage and wavering them. I’ll take it.
Kraken getting pumped to power lift a second time.
Green Lady 4: The Order pushes the center at last, with the strength Redemption finally giving up the right flank and skirting the woods to reinforce the middle. On the left, the mead Redemption charge back into the Kraken they’ve been hunting, with the support of the Forsaken again … which was illegal, as he forgot they were wavered and when we remembered during my turn, he rolled their headstrong test and failed it. The Kraken held solid on 10 damage (hindered and ensnared is rough), so vaguely a moot point, but Bryant tore himself up about it all game.
Trident 4: The whole Forsaken issue is cleared up when Bun Bun’s Kraken corkscrews their flank and smashes them into man/horse/bird parts. Heartpiercers from the center punch across and kill Bun Bun, while the trident Centurion strips the TC from the Brotherhood knights. The other Kraken counter-charges the mead Redemption, slapping 5 damage into them, but ominously only regening down to 8 damage himself.
Elsewhere, Placoderm invite the Order to have a go in the center, the Coral Giant breaks the wood line to become a Problem next turn, and the Water Elementals attempt to punch through the Exemplar Redeemer and into the flank of the strength Redemption. It’s a tall ask, so of course the gigantic crab/horde does next to no damage 😀
And finally, the Heartpiercers on the right skewer the Ensnarers that had dared to come into view around the house.
The sweet, sweet overrun that was not to be.
Green Lady 5: With about 10 minutes left on their clock, the Order lets rip. Mead Redemption and pathfinder Brotherhood knights on the left crash into a Kraken each, thunderous be damned. Both Earth Elemental hordes bash into the waiting claws of the Placoderms (one hindered), and the Redeemer counter-charges the Water Elementals.
It took three charges, but the Order of the Redemption finally drop the titanic crab beast they’d spent the game dueling. The other Kraken lucky wavers on 7 damage (box cars!), however that luck doesn’t hold for the Earth Elementals, which do a paltry 6 damage to the central Placoderms. The Redeemer carves 3 into the Water Elementals.
Trident 5: Vengeance is swift as the Water Elementals batter down the Redeemer, even if regrettably missing the ~4″ overrun into the strength Redemption regiment behind. No other combat is as decisive, with the Coral Giant tearing chunks out of one Earth Elemental horde, the Placoderms poking the other, and the central Heartpiercers and trident Centurion pushing the mead Redemption up to 10 damage but only finding a waver.
Green Lady 6: The last 4 minutes of the Order of the Green Lady’s clock is largely spent frantically rolling combat dice. (The mead Redemption reg failed their headstrong, though the strength Redemption hit the Water Elementals with Centaurs in the flank.)
The Water Elementals are triumphantly torn down, but that signals the last of the Order’s momentum. The Brotherhood knights waver their Kraken again and Earth Elementals waver the Placoderms and apparently do nothing at all against the Coral Giant (he may have clocked out before rolling it).
Trident 6: Heartpiercers shoot off the mead Order of the Retribution, the Coral Giant dunks his Earth Elemental horde, and the Heartpiercers on the right I believe tried and failed to remove the Centaur troop they started the game shooting at. With no Turn 7 and 3 objectives to 2, this is a decisive …
TRIDENT VICTORY
All told a very fun match against an enthusiastic player. Bryant was really down about his play not being clean that morning – the waver token, undoing moves without marking corners, etc – and despite me assuring him it was cool he felt pretty bad. Regardless, I hope to face him again some time in a non-team event.
Speaking of teams, Cuddle Time did very well this round, scoring the maximum 60 points or just shy of it. With this hearty bounce buoying our spirits we headed into the final match-ups.
Because that also happened, tho going into Turn 6 this time. Hydra lived at least!
BLOODFIRE 