Varangur newbie

I am an old wfb player who recently found kow. As chaos was always my first love i have fully embraced the northern clans (btw so much better than wfb thematically).

As i am very new im trying to get a little direction. Obviously the draugr are a for sure. Huscarls are for me another given just because they fit my theme and seem great point balance. I also have maybe a horde or two of fallen.

What are peoples experiences with night raiders/mounted sons/reavers? Clansmen?

Reavers are tempting as a flank/killy chaff but the points…also clansman with the def 5 upgrade and in a horde seem like a solid investment?

Additionally what are people doing with lords and monsters? On the mantic public lists not seeing any monster usage. To expensive? Underperformers?

Just trying to get a feel as i build out my list.

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Of the additional units you mention, mounted sons are clearly the best option - being able to get Stealthy is excellent.

Never really use much in the way of shooting, so night/horse raiders don’t tend to get a run out, but regiments of the former can do a job al a gladestalkers.

Reavers, unfortunately, just aren’t really worth it - huscarls being better all round. If trying them, lifeleech is mandatory, and get lord with stealthy aura so they might get into combat!

You can get decent mileage out of a clansmen/draugr/huscarl based list as you have a lot of drops, nerve and US

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Re monsters

The lord on frostfang is just such good value (and the thegn as a budget option as well), that these tend to get used over the monster options.

The chimera is nasty, but really pricy and prone to attracting all available shooting early.

De5 & LL means the cavern dweller is a real tank and me3 means consistent damage; the jabberwocky a decent chunk of nerve for the points and combos nicely with drain life from a magus; the reaper/slayer option on the giant is nice, but can be really swingy

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Two regiments of Night Raiders have suddenly become quite popular in tournament lists, thanks to stealthy and scout and the popularity of Gladestalkers in other lists. I’m not super convinced myself but they help Varangrr play a bit into the meta at large.

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Thanks.

I was thinking the hurs,dreag,clan is solid so verifying that helps.

The reavers are to bad because i love the idea but again i cant seem to make them work. Maybe will try a troop or something…

I had read mixed reviews on the raiders.

Is there a good place to find tourny lists other then just the public army list on mantic?

I had read the varangur foot list that was posted on an earlier thread which i have been working off of.

A couple weekends back I was at a tournament with four or more Varangur players and had the pleasure of playing two of them, both of which used Night Raiders and 2-3 regiments of stealthy Mounted Sons. I was playing Herd tho so cheers for all those negatives to shooting :sweat_smile:

Which is to say, there’s no public database for tournament lists, but they’re made public in some small way for every event. Doesn’t really make them easy to track down :confused:

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This uk evenrs/results.

Some will have direct access to lists, otherwise you need to play detective a bit and either go through the Companion or hunt on FB as they are often put in dropbox files etc in tournament chat/fb events

https://www.kowmasters.com/index.php?p=home

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I wrote a tactica on Varangur infantry lists on this very forum. I’ll see if I can dig it up.

Found it: Foot Varangur

Ahh you may have already read it. In that case I would just say play with what you want. Most stuff in Varangur works well. Although I still cannot get reavers to get their points back. Big fan of night raiders and huscarls though. Krufniir is also a fun option.

I specifically read your infantry post first and thats what im building around.

I wanted to get any updated or additional opinions because i noticed you were toying with reavers.

I want them (reavers) to work because they seem to have so much going for them and i like the beserker fluff, but i am worried they are to soft to get into combat.

They have had an update recently which made then slightly better (ie addition of D3 wild charge and cheaper lifeleech).

On the rare occasions I have played them, I use then as a second line to protect them being one shot before they strike. This can either be as troops or regiments. They would need to move behind units or chaff that move faster than them to get the most of their movement speed, so for instance troops of night raiders with throwing axes and wolf handlers scout upgrade, horse raider troops or snow foxes.

Hope this helps. Its not as if reavers are bad per se. Many people just find the defence 5 huscarls more flexible.

I can’t remember if they have the barbarian key word, but if they do then a lord with the stealth aura mark can accompany them to protect against shooting, if you want them as your front line.

Although this won’t protect them against heavy cavalry or anything that moves faster than them. So good use of chaff will be required.

You’ll have to let us know how you get on. I am convinced that they can work. They just require a bit more finesse than other options.

They do have barbarian in troop type. I was thinking of giving them a magic item that allows the additonal free wheel and having them as second line troops.

Follow the chaff and use wild charge to essentially run around and flank once chaff engages.

I do agree the huscarls are my primary unit and are decidedly much easier to place in the army.

I have done something similar before. One troop would often follow my snow foxes in order to charge into the fray on my more aggressive flank.

The problem I have is that they do not survive a counterpunch from anything stronger than chaff, and heavy cavalry regiments will often outlast them even if they get the initial charge.

Haha. Yeah thats what i was affraid of. If that nerve test was higher they could be beasts on the charge. The attack number is high (although the 4 eh) and the lack of waver is great…

I am going to mess with it and see where i get.

I know you favor the infantry but have you used any cav as fast flank or chaff? Varangur seem to lack any heavy with closest being sons. I am still torn on the cost to value.

Mounted sons are still great and I am a big fan of horse raiders for acting as chaff for my infantry. Defence 4 light cavalry is nothing to sniff at, even if they are only speed 8.

One option beyond my infantry approach is to link reavers with cavalry troops (mounted sons probably). With the reavers acting as the second line for when they finally break through the defence 5 of the sons (stealthy heavy cav can also shield the reavers).

Against slow lists without decent chaff you can tie up the enemy in their half and pin them in places where you can pick the charges. Leaving draugr regiments, night raiders and clansman to pick up the objectives. This has worked for me before, although likely won’t work against experienced players too often.

The advantage of this will be that your reavers will be charging into already damaged units and their speed can ensure that a large gap does not appear between your cav and infantry.

I like this option.

Ill throw out a finished list.

Im working on painting draugrs now…

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What are you using as draugr?