I have played Empire of Dust and Herd in the 2ed but decided to build a Forces of Nature army for the 3ed. My idea is to use mostly a forest theme combined with centaurs and a few add-ons, will see how it goes. For the first games at 2k points I have used the following list:
2x horde Forest Shamblers
2x regiment Centaur Bray Striders (+ 2x otter)
1x horde Scorchwings*
3x troop Hunters of the Wild
2x Tree Herder (+ 1x Blade of slashing)
1x Druid (+ mount, bane chant, conjurer’s staff)
1x Keris[1]
Total: 2000 pts, US 20, 12 drops
So far, I have been quite pleased with how the army works. I have 7 units with Scout that put an early pressure on my opponent and help to take control of the board from the very start. The centaurs form a second wave, protecting the back of the advancing trees and charging in later on. The tree herders are rock solid and my opponents have already started hating their Radiance of life ability supported by the hero-healers. The Scorchwings fly on their own at a flank, often getting a charge to the side (or even back) later on. The only tool I am missing a bit is a fast chaff unit that would be able to deal with war engines as well. Though, when we raise the army total by 200-300 pts I intend to include two Pegasi to cover this role.
So far, I took the army in 3 battles, scoring 3 wins:
Goblins (quite experienced and good opponent), Dominate scenario
The goblins were quite shooty with 3 rock throwers supported by winggit, blaster, war-trombone, horde of spitters and some lighting bolts on individuals, 2 hordes of sharpstics, 2 hordes of trolls, mincer, regiment of fleeback riders …
I was too fast with the scouts. Then the turning point was when the scorchwings charged the fleeback riders on the flank, killed them, luckily survived a round of shooting from blaster, trombone, 1 thrower and some LBs, and went on the next round to kill a horde of trolls charging them to the back. In the end the goblins had only the throwers and blaster surviving (and some individuals) while I suffered only medium losses.
Northern alliance (seasoned opponent), Fool’s gold scenario
I do not recall the NA army composition that well. It had 2 hordes (bersekers?) and a regiment (huscarls) of infantry, 2 regiments of snow foxes, Hrimm, two heroes on monsterous/large cavalry mount and maybe something else?
The opponent underestimated my speed and made a mistake with his deployment placing all three big heroes in the center and the rest of his army on one flank. I started the first round and was able (over 2-3 rounds) to concentrate my attack on the central big guys (who looked a bit isolated and vulnerable) while blocking the advance of his flank utilizing some terrain as well. The game got a bit interesting after the bluff tokens were revealed but in the end I was able to prevail rather easily.
Ogres (not so experienced player), Raze scenario
The opponent took 2 hordes of shooters, 3 warriors hordes, 2 rabble regiments, red goblin scouts troop, army standard on charriot, Grokagamok and a mounted goblin individual, maybe I do not recall exactly everything.
The opponent deployed both shooters hordes at the edge of the left flank to cover the area where I was supposed to advance to reach 2 of my scoring tokens. I was a bit scared of the shooters, so I switched one horde off immediately using the Keris’ staff and advanced as fast as I could. On the right flank (no shooters there) I had tree herder accompanied by a hunters troop, shamblers and the scorchwings, facing the goblin cavalry, the chariot, warriors horde and a rabble regiment. I managed to take control on this flank after my opponent made a mistake allowing me to charge and kill his goblin cavalry with the scorchwings that went into the flank of the chariot next round. I think it took me 4-5 rounds to clear completely the right flank and center. On the left flank I took some losses due to opponent’s shooting but the two warrior s hordes and Grokagamok were too scary to expose themselves for about 2-3 rounds (hiding behind a forest), then came out a bit too late as my scorchwings started to threaten them from the flank. My shamblers were lucky to survive Grokagamok’s charge and kill him countercharging thanks to bane chant (he already had a wound or two caused by the scorchwings in earlier round). In the end only one ogre shooters horde survived while I lost both centaur regiments and 2 troops of hunters (and maybe one shamblers horde?).
Nice work, and thanks for the mini-reports. It looks like a pretty unassuming list - the double herders are the standout power selection, everything else looks fairly varied and not skewed towards defense or speed (and certainly not shooting) - but seems to work really well together. I was going to ask about Scorchwings, as they seem rather nerfed from COK19’s Skyraiders, however it sounds like they’re performing fine!
Thanks for the response, @Boss_Salvage. The army still needs more playtesting, but so far so good.
I am not completely sold on the scorchwings, at 200pts they seem a bit too costly to me, but I wanted to have some shooting to remove chaff from distance and they do pose a long-range threat when getting into the flank. I admit they have done exceptionally well in the first games but this may change when I face more careful opponents or do not get enough luck when the unit gets shot at. Their def 3 is really pathetic.
Interstesting. Thanks for the feedback and update on the successes.
The tree herders are rock solid and my opponents have already started hating their Radiance of life ability supported by the hero-healers
Im wondering about Radience of life and if there is a explaination why this is “hated”. Two Radience of life appears redundant. How were they deployed?
I’m planing on putting something like this on the table. Also considering the Centaur Bray strider Regiments instead of Wild Hunters. I think we are thinking similar styles of play.
I think the Pegs are an improvement.
I really like the Pegasus units. Worked really well.
Thanks for your comments and your army idea even including nice pictures of the force. Looks really nice! I have just started building my FoN army, so almost everything is unpainted. And considering how slow I am with painting it will take me ages to get to the desired state.
I the first two games I had the Tree herders relatively close to each other, their radiances overlapped on 1 or 2 units in between them. Still, I remember recovering wounds on 4-5 units in total in one round in this particular game which made my opponent quite a bit unhappy. In another round he also scored 4 wounds on one of my hunters units, made it wavered but I recovered 1 would by the radiance and the remaining 3 by healing in my round, so you can imagine how he felt. It was not so big deal in the other games. In the third one, against ogres, I ran my force in two groups, so the herders were completely separated.
The tree herders are good. So far, I have no complaints about their performance. OK, 260 points is quite a bit of investment but the prize seems reasonable. One can compare this price tag with some other “giants” and it looks about all right. I am quite used to playing the Bone giant so, let’s make a comparison with him.
Both monsters have Ne -/18, CS(3) , Strider and about the same number of attacks. The BG is shambling (perfect for the EoD army) while the TH has Pathfinder. I value both abilities about the same, maybe the BG is a slight winner here as Pathfinder does not value that much for a unit with Strider. A huge plus for the TH is def 6, I would pay extra 30 points for def 6 on the BG. The TH also hits on 3+, scoring 6 hits in average while the BG manages 4.75 (with a smaller reliability); the difference makes for about 1 wound - exactly what Brutal on the BG gives in terms of nerve but it is better to make a real wound than rely on Brutal. So, let’s evaluate this TH advantage ober BG by about 10pts. The Radiance of Life is much better than Lifeleech(1) (another +10tps?) and we TH has Inspiring (+20pts?). This should make the TH 70pts more expensive than the BG in agreement with the rules evaluation. In addition, the TH can take a magical artefact (Blade of slashing is perfect for 5pts) and can Surge if needed. In the end I find the TH slightly undercosted but other people may view it differently.
Sure, I never said that I healed more than one wound per unit by using the RoL. I was just answering the question how I deployed (and played) the tree herders …
Thanks for this post - it’s always interesting to see how other people tackle FoN. My list has been determined by the models I have - but I’ve started expanding.
In a low points game I used the EE horde. It was really solid and hard to kill - especially backed up by the druid with the measly Heal(2) - but with def 6 healing 1 wound a turn (whilst threatening to surge…maybe) worked well. Disappointing damage output though - maybe need to invest in bane chant.
I took a winged unicorn with LB - and it turned out to be my MVP over 2 low points games. As long as you aren’t too unlucky with the hits you can pick away at slow armies without getting to grips - I’m trying to figure out how to get more LB into the list at higher points levels - with the general shooting nerf LB is now relatively much more effective .
I’m looking at the air elemental horde next - not only do they have a massive threat projection but with flight and shambling there’s a lot you can do - especially if you’re using tree herders for surge shenanigans. Definitely better than the scorchwings if you can find a few extra points…
Thanks for your comments @scooba. I completely agree that a winged unicorn with LB is a viable option. When I compare him with scorchwings the unicorn seems to be a better choice for ranged attacks. The lower damage output is compensated by a longer range of the LB and better maneuverability of the unicorn. On the other hand, the scorchwings are more of a threat when you manage to put them into the flank (or even back) of opponent’s units. I think the scorchwings would be fine with def 4; sporting def 3 makes them vulnerable and pricey in my view but I like to have a unit like this in my army.
Scorchwings* Meh.
4 Wounds vs Def 5 if there is no obstacal. Good to hold down a dragon, but at 200 points, it’s excessive, especially since the Reg is 14/16 Def3, it can’t take the counterpunch.
Back to combat, if it got a flank 8 wounds would be fantastic.
how often that happens in your games will decide if its a good unit or not.
Shooting is marginal in competitive play now. This scale shows that.
100 pts per wound on Def 5 targets. Yikes. I think I can show that the average in the game floats around 45 pts per wound in combat. So if your unit is 150 points, it likely does 3 pts of damage to a def5 target. This unit is not particulary effective in shooting in that scale. Now vs. Softer targets, they can do well. It’s a combat unit that can shoot, but has no defense like an Elite regiment would have. So its a back line counter punch unit that must bring its target down.
Feels like a “counter play” kind of pick, especially since they don’t unlock anything.
It was not so big deal in the other games. In the third one, against ogres, I ran my force in two groups, so the herders were completely separated.
