Round 1 vs Robert Shewring
Control vs Order of the Green Lady
Men-at-Arms Retainers Horde -Aegis of the Elohi -Vial of Sacred Water
Order of the Brotherhood Horde -Sir Jesse’s Boots of Striding -Vial of Sacred Water
Order of Redemption -Blood of the Old King
Water Elementals Regiment
Water Elementals Regiment
Earth Elementals Regiment
Earth Elementals Regiment
Greater Water Elementa
Devoted -Inspiring Talisman -Surge (7)
Druid -Tome of Darkness -Bane Chant -Surge
This is a fast list that hits hard, with some toughness and surge ability. The cavalry will kill something, I will have to hit it back hard enough to remove the horde. If I can trade a regiment of ironclad for the Order of the Brotherhood that’s a win.
Deployment
I’ve denied the left where the building and obstacles would make it hard to advance, the Lord on Large Beast’s job is to hold things up. The plan is that between shooting on the way in and a counter punch I can take the deal with the Brotherhood horde early.
The rangers take the pond to start shooting. The brocks as set up to sweep down the right, to not much opposition, but the forsaken will be an issue, they will have to be baited
**Brotherhood Round 1 **
The cavalry in the centre and water elementals move up to charge and the earth elementals move up their side. The forsaken feel that they are projecting enough threat already.
Dwarfs Round 1
The dwarfs open up as much shooting on the knight horde as possible, doing a respectable amount of damage. They have to charge or get shot off before doing so. I could have backed out of charge range, but I wanted get the engagement going, so that I could move to score. In hindsight; I could have backed out of range and tried to kill the cavalry horde from a distance.
The rangers had to choose between more effective shooting or moving back, this will be a common decision for them, so I should think on it.
The brock riders move out of the forsaken’s range and the other regiment moves forward with the mastiff pack as chaff.
Brotherhood Round 2
The cavalry come in. the brotherhood horde routs a regiment of ironclad (after healing from the devoted and sacred water), while the hindered charge from the redemption knights does not shift the stubborn fools.
The water elementals charge to fight in their element.
Dwarfs Round 2
The counter punch wavers the brotherhood horde. The rangers find that fighting water in water is difficult and the mastiffs try to help. in hindsight, the brocks have set up a trap, so I would have been better served by the mastiff pack sneaking off to score. I could also have sent in brock riders to prevent the water elementals flanking the rangers.
The lord on beast leaves his flank exposed to the earth elemental for a hindered charge, not my best moment.
The ironclad brace for impact! This tactic is not about standing forever, a regiment just has to force the cavalry to slow. Then they can pull out their wounded while the counter charge comes in, they will not be an effective unit for the rest of this battle, but their job will be done.
Brotherhood Round 3
The brotherhood horde rolls 6 for their headstrong and routs the shieldbreakers. the redemtion knights still do not move their opponents. The water elementals overwhelm a regiment of rangers.
The forsaken shuffle around, giving the steel behemoth a flank, while the greater earth elemental does not take it’s flank charge though. The fight the far left starts going to the earth elementals.
It turned out that my opponent thought his greater earth elemental was sp 5. Which raises a question of sportsmanship; generally I don’t want to gain an advantage because my opponent didn’t know something, or something easy to forget slipped their mind (it is one of the things that I like about Kings of War and the community). I often remind my opponent of wild charge or brew of haste when they move too close and always remind my opponent of ensnare when they’re deciding what to charge; for example.
However; I feel that my opponent has to be responsible for knowing their own rules. Easy to forget steps like regeneration are another matter though (who hasn’t forgotten at least once :P), those are rules that actually have to happen; strictly speaking: not doing them is against the rules.
Dwarfs Round 3
The steel behemoth takes a flank charge and brock riders show the rangers how it’s done. These foes are defending their sacred forest though, so the other water elementals and forsaken hold. The ironclad in the woods keep fighting and get a lucky waver on the brotherhood horde.
The units on the left slowly get grounds down.
Brotherhood Round 4
The knight horde rolls another 6 for headstrong, but the ironclad hold! The rest of the left flank does not though. The steel behemoth gets a double on for nerve, it really is not concerned about that fight.
Norgrunn’s axe broke on the big rock! There is also a horde of devoted “environmentalists” coming.
Seems like the time to retreat his flank.
Dwarfs Round 4
The steel behemoth turns while the brotherhood are still jammed up, but still late. The water elementals still hold! The standard bearer moves to try hold up the greater earth elemental.
Brotherhood Round 5
The standard bearer holds while the ironclad leave the field for the steel behemoth to clear.
The left flank gets properly cleared out.
Dwarfs Round 5
The brotherhood horde wavers, again. At least the puddle is finally cleared.
The rangers push on to score where the mastiff pack should be scoring.
The rangers swear under their breaths, fighting water elementals in their element is not a good idea! Let’s not try that again.
Brotherhood Round 6
The redemption knights use their Blood of the Old King to send the standard bearer running, might as well.
The brotherhood horde rolls yet another 6 for headstrong, but fail to impress the steel behemoth.
Dwarfs Round 6
The beserkers stream into the central quadrant to finally scatter the brotherhood knights and add their Unit Strength to the centre sector. This leaves the dwarfs with a narrow draw.
The Order of the Green Lady are more devoted than that though, we roll for and get turn 7.
Brotherhood Round 7
The greater earth elemental and redemption knights destroy a unit of brock riders, retaking the dwarf central sector.
The Men-at-Arms, who really should be blocked up by the beserker lord, hold up the remaining brock riders and nearly rout them!
Dwarfs Round 7
The only hope for a draw is removing a unit to take a sector. The steel behemoth has a tiny sliver of flank to charge and goes for the Men-at-Arms, but rolls low for number of attacks and whiffs. Serves me right for trying dirty tricks. I do despise flank charges like that, but the game is as it is.
That failure takes the Fool’s Hold from a draw to a 4-1 loss.
Thoughts
This game had a few units be frustratingly tenacious. It is tempting to chalk the loss up to that and a unfortunate turn 7 roll, but I didn’t do everything right and figuring out dwarfs is part of the point.
In general, I deployed too much force on the right. I could not bring my brock riders to bear and was forced to attack through water elementals in a pond.
the building and obstacles on the left would make it difficult to attack from there, but the open space on the left would have been a better path of attack.
This game has made it clear that dwarfs can’t rely on one unit to deal damage. We have to bring units together. How to concentrate the force that we do have has to be a major tactical concern when playing dwarfs. Brock riders are not the hammer one expects from them. Me 4+ means that the 26 attacks should give 13 hits, only one more an 18 attack unit with Me 3+, and then only with TC 1. The high -/18 nerve seems good, but with De 4+ only makes their durability on par.
Brock riders are cheaper than hammer cavalry units though and fearless. They do seem more fit to be a supporting unit than something that can carry an attack on their own, bar adding artefacts. My view on artefacts is firmly “boyz before toyz”, but brock riders are worth considering expensive artefacts for; which can bring them up to par (in effectiveness and cost) for a cavalry hammer.
I expected that two units of rangers would be a sufficient amount of pathfinder, but with brock riders playing a supporting role it is worth considering a relevant artefact for one of the brock regiments.
The flame priest almost only used bane chant so the 15 points for fireball (10) would be better spent on Sir Jesse’s Boots. Bane chant is certainly important (see note on dealing damage) and is an alternative way to improve brock riders, as opposed to artefacts, that is more flexible and less likely to go to waste if my opponent deals effectively with the brock riders. It seems that the flame priest will be best used inspiring the rangers and supporting the brocks supporting them.
What did well in the list: The sharpshooters did their job and deployed on either side of that building to make it take longer to engage and deal with them, but concentrating their fire would have been more useful.
The multiple regiments of ironclad did well too, having to deal with separate sturdy units definitively achieved the goal of holding up the enemy better than a horde that would have been multi-charged and probably taken off in turn 2 or 3. The amount of throwing mastiffs was also a good spike in damage.
The Fool’s Hold had come out to claim at least a part of the forest, to set up a camp for logging operations. They met a stubborn and devoted resistance, of the kind one would expect from dwarfs defending their hold. The dwarfs could not help but respect that and retreat under vengeful pursuit.
This forest will have to be respected like they expect their mountain to be respected.
On a practical note, they still need the lumber though. At least charcoal has to be made.
There would have to be guarded expeditions from the hold to harvest the fringes of the woods, outside of what the Order of the Green Lady consider their domain, if possible. Much less productive and efficient. At least while the plantations grew, which they now absolutely have to plant and cultivate.