My schedule slowed down my gaming these last few months, but I managed to fit in a game with the very accomodating @Cartwright recently. I took the arctic Herd out for another spin, squaring off against his Brothermark again. This time we played Raze and the report can be found here.
Being a bit of a fool, I decided to try out some Hydras and some Herd MSU. We actually both brought a formation and an unusual number of infantry regiments to the table. Scout was really fun to play with, though I am not utilizing it very well yet, and the Herd was able to apply a lot of early pressure. It is a fun army that is resulting in some very aggressive games so far. The game was a lot of fun, so thank you Cartwright for fitting this in!
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Great game! The Herd put a lot of pressure early and jumped out to a lead. Unfortunately a combination of swingy dice and then minor positioning issues exposed the longhorns. But for that overrun roll, I think the Herd win this one.
The hydras were an interesting challenge. Def 5, 16/18 nerve with regen makes them an anvil in the midst of all your glass hammers. My plan going in was to ignore them, eat their 5 attacks per turn, and deal with them at the end. Obviously the Exemplar Hunter threw that plan out the window and YOLOd into a solo charge to start the game, which seems thematically fitting if not tactically sound.
Of the armies you’ve played, the Herd make me think the most because of the speed and how hard they hit. I think the Abyssals are a tougher matchup but the Herd really make my brain hurt and get out of my comfort zone.
Good game and thanks for making the drive!
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Thanks for the write up!
Nice to see something I suggested in the next report!
You already know you could have been more aggressive with the trappers. You did end up using the snares in your opponent’s woods though!
I think this game was closer than it looked; if you got even half your bane chants and/or a good combat against the knights at the end it could have been a different result. The terrain was also not fair to you again, even one piece of flat difficult would help.
Definitely an army that takes some practice to get the most out of, so I hope that you keep playing this for a while.
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Oh, for games like these, I am happy to make that drive anytime! Thanks for fitting this in @Cartwright!
Yeah, I think the Hydra is either going to be a) dump a lot of resources and destroy it in one turn or b) ignore it unit. It’s base damage output isn’t great, so chip damage will give it more attacks short-term, and long-term, regeneration could negate everything. We sorta got to see both approaches this game, so it was a very good learning experience with regards to the titan.
Yeah, the Herd requires more finesse than I was expecting, but it seems like a very rewarding army to pilot when things go right. I went through a hobbying bonanza with them this spring, and I think maybe half the units have seen the table so far. I have a lot to test with them still, so they will have more games coming! None of the Silent Hunt were used well, but they should have a better showing next time. Thanks for the suggestion @Darkblack!
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Thanks for the report! Quite the game, plus I’m always happy to see your Herd get some action. The double Hydras had me raising double eyebrows, especially in combination with the formation, but I was happy to see MSU applied to Herd. As you discovered, you kind of end up not having many hammers to work with - this list has only one in the Longhorns? I did similar stuff with my Herd, dialing it down to loads of Spear regs and fast chaff, but I found that I would struggle my way to the other side of the board … and then do nothing. Once I added hammers back in I found my enjoyment (and win rate) shot back up. YMMV of course.
Speaking of Tribal Spears, shout-out to your left reg! They did a surprising amount of work. I also wouldn’t count out Spirit Walkers entirely, the horde is obviously very good, especially with an item. There’s a reason competitive Herd lists only take one infantry unit, and it’s a Spirit Walker horde. However as you found out, the regs really suffer for being De 3+ and not lifting as convincingly as the horde.
EDIT: Also you’ve reminded me of my enormous backlog of Herd games I need to report on 
Someday? Maybe?
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Interesting - I have not looked into any tournament Herd lists and would not have guessed the Spirit Walkers would have been making the cut in competitive play. Just having TC1, the Walkers seemed like they needed a fair amount of additional investment (item and/or Druid w/ BC) to be threatening and reliable. The Longhorns impressed me though. So much so that I think I’ll look to hobby up another regiment’s worth at some point.
And yes, please get some more reports up @Darkblack! I am in the middle of a move and won’t have much free time until August. I need to live a little vicariously right now!
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Oh no! I’m busy until at least August too. 
My thesis is back from the examiners, so no games until I finish my corrections (it’s the last bit to do).
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Well, my brain is apparently fried. 
I meant to nudge @Boss_Salvage for his Herd reports, though my life would also have been improved by some more exploits from the Fools. 
Best of luck with the thesis @Darkblack!
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I still need to unpack most of my stuff, but I wrapped up my move earlier this week and was rewarded with a game from the ever-accommodating @Cartwright. The battle report can be found here. I brought Hydras and Herd MSU to the table again, while my opponent had added in Ogre Palace Guard to the stalwart ranks of his Brothermark.
Writing up the report… we appear to have had one rather large oops where a routed Gur Panther unit somehow returned to the table, but thankfully I don’t think it changed the outcome of the game much. A big thank you to Cartwright for fitting this in! This was just what I needed this week.
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Good game and glad we could get it in. You played it perfectly by scouting, boxing me in on turn one, and then keeping up the pressure. I was on the back foot the entire game and never got things going. I liked the OPG damage output, and you’ll probably see them more going forward. Looking forward to the next game!
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Thanks for the report!
I think the formation is worth it just for ensnare.
Trappers can become a right pain if they decide to hold a bit of terrain, but that doesn’t mean they have to hold terrain always.
They have TC afterall. Pity they don’t come with steady aim.
Well played too! You used scout moves to get your plan going and it worked!
That is a scary Brothermark list, but one of the problems elite lists have against MSU in invade is that they can’t cover the whole table,
so a few regiments just walk over the line. Like my last report with dwarfs
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Thanks for the report! That Bromark list is really solid, and I’m starting to see a trend where every Brotherhood army starts with 3-4 Penitent regs
Speaking of lists, I took yours to the shop, ironically replacing the Spirit Walker regs before I read the rest of the report 
My goal was to maintain your MSU dictates (no hordes) while also providing hammers, which I still think the list needs. Herd is much more fun to play, and effective, when you have units that do something if they’re lucky enough to survive, so I tried to lean into that below:
The Herd [2300]
Longhorns Regiment (20) [210]
– Staying Stone [5]
Hunters of the Wild (Heavy Infantry) Regiment (20) [140]
Hunters of the Wild (Heavy Infantry) Regiment (20) [140]
Tribal Spears (Infantry) Regiment (20) [135]
Tribal Spears (Infantry) Regiment (20) [135]
Lycans (Large Infantry) Regiment (3) [155]
Lycans (Large Infantry) Regiment (3) [155]
Guardian Brutes (Large Infantry) Regiment (3) [135]
Guardian Brutes (Large Infantry) Regiment (3) [135]
Wild Gur Panthers* (Cavalry) Troop (5) [85]
Wild Gur Panthers* (Cavalry) Troop (5) [85]
Hydra (Titan) 1 [150]
Great Chieftan (Hero (Infantry)) 1 [120]
– Sabre-Toothed Hunting Cat [10]
– Horn of the Great Migration [15]
Druid (Hero (Infantry)) 1 [85]
– Bane Chant (2) [20]
– Heal (2) [0]
Druid (Hero (Infantry)) 1 [85]
– Bane Chant (2) [20]
– Heal (2) [0]
[F] Softhoof’s Herdkin, Tribal Trappers (The Silent Hunt)* [1] (Infantry) Regiment (20) [125]
[F] Softhoof’s Herdkin, Tribal Trappers (The Silent Hunt)* [1] (Infantry) Regiment (20) [125]
[F] Softhoof, Tribal Tracker (The Silent Hunt) [1] (Hero (Infantry)) 1 [100]
18 (30)
There’s 15 points for upgrades which could buy many things, like Sacred Horn for the Chieftain or Rampage / Slayer for Softhoof’s bow. I went with duellist on the Chieftain because you like it and Staying Stone on your most functional hammer and linchpin of the army, the Longhorns.
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Yeah, Cartwright has been using the Penitents effectively for quite some time now. The regiments are cheap, and CS lets them punch above their weight when they get lucky on the hit rolls. I think the Ogre Palace Guards will be really strong additions for him too. I will have some rough games in my future against the Brothermark, so I appreciate you workshopping my list too. Some good suggestions there for sure and plenty to chew on.
The Spirit Walkers did pretty well this game, but both they and the Hunters of the Wild seem to be needing Bane Chant support, so it’s probably best to just run one or the other in the future. The Guardian Brutes are definitely something to consider too! I was happy to get more of them hobbied up this spring, but have just not had the time for games recently with packing and moving. But thanks again for the list suggestions @Boss_Salvage and I look forward to getting through your new Bloodfire reports soon!
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75 point scoring drop with decent unit strength. They’re great chaff and a great way to bulk out the trash component of the Bromark list while still getting to play with the fun elite toys!
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@Cartwright 's youngsters challenged the adults to a game, and we were able to make that happen over the recent weekend. The report can be found here.
The youngsters fielded their Abyssal Dwarfs and Undead, while the adults had Herd and Sylvan Kin as a bit of a nature-themed duo.
Unfortunately the reporting suffered a bit, as it was a quick game with a lot of back and forth, and not a lot of downtime for diligent pictures and notes.
Still, it was great to roll some dice, and to see Cartwright’s new army of Sylvan Kin take the field. Many thanks for to my ally and his kids for hosting me for the afternoon!
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Cheers for the report! Closer than expected after I saw how much shooting was on Team Old 
Although it didn’t seem to make as much of an impact as I expected, given the high defense across Team Young 
Some list-building kerfuffles for the Young as well, between the low to no inspiring and some questionable item choices (strider/pathfinder boots on Wraiths, super tooled up Immortals, non-inspiring Helfane), but plenty of Olds make these mistakes too I will note that the Helfane does get its LL1, quite sure the BRB tells us that units with auras get their own aura regardless of any restrictions.
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Ah, I vaguely remember a FB discussion about Varangur Night Raiders and a similar aura upgrade… that example totally slipped my mind at the time, so yeah, we played this wrong. Thanks @Boss_Salvage and @DarkBlack for the correction!
That makes double Longhorns much more interesting I think? Starting at 14/16 and each with a Rally 1 Bubble, and with Rally stacking, they’d both end up at 16/18, right? Gaining their own Rally plus the Rally from the other unit?
Yeah, the youngsters certainly did not want to play meta. I totally missed that the Hellfane didn’t even Inspire! Sheesh. Some suggestions were offered by the adults in a few spots (such as not not charging the Druid), but they did not always agree, and chose their own way. I can certainly respect that, and it definitely makes for some interesting twists throughout the game!
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Rally is a separate special rule to auras.
It does not apply to the unit with the rule and it stacks differently to auras.
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Also, thanks for the report!
Good to see the whippersnappers getting engaged and making things their own.
Pity the end wasn’t a bit closer. Shows what happens when gladestalkers are left unchecked though
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