Shael Han
Leaders
The Winterhawk – Force Commander
Dragon Legion Keeper
Infantry
18 Dragon Legionnaires
Specialists
Shield of Taelfon
Hammer of Heaven
Fulung Devourer
Motivation
Call to Glory
Nasier
Leaders
Ashmen Hakar – Force Commander
Ashmen Hakar
Pelegarth Howl
Infantry
11 Ashmen Swordsmen
7 Pelegarth Bloodmask
Specialists
2 Rathor
The Bloodchild
Motivation
Grisly Reminders
Setup-
There was quite a bit of terrain on the field, with the center forested, but the Shael Han right flank (Nasier Left) with open sight lines.
Nasier set up with 2 Rathor, the Pelegarth, howl and The Bloodchild on the right flank and the Ashmen and Hakars holding the center.
Shael Han setup in mass, in the center of the board with the legionnaires forming a wall to the front.
Here is the board we played on:
View attachment 27528
With the entire Shael Han force basically setting up in the B deployment zone (The Devour at the front A and the Hammer of Heaven setup at the back of C) neither force could engage on turn 1. The Rathors moved forward, 6 Legionnaires the Keeper and the Hammer of Heaven shift right to face them. 4 Ashmen and a Hakar raced to support the Rathor. The Pelegarth moved forward, with the Devourer and Shield of Taelfon shifting to face them.
The rest of the Ashmen moved up behind some trees with the Bloodchild, while the Winterhawk and a dozen legionnaires moved forward.
The next turn started with a Rathor bounding forward and sniping at 2 Legionnaires. The first dropped, while healing vapors saved the second. First blood to Nasier. This turn basically had most of Shael Han shifting to the right to get better sight lines, while the Nasier moved up. The second Rathor got another kill, his bounce being stopped by Diamond Wall Stance. The Devourer moved closer to the center to support the Legion, and killed of a Pelegarth with his Spear of Light. The Bloodchild leapt from behind the woods and killed the Shield of Taelfon with a single shot causing 4 hits, and dropping the Shael Han morale and placing the first token for Grisly Reminders. The Bloodchild then allocated the 4 additional dice to legionnaires who all survived wither due to Diamond Stand, Healing Vapors or just plain missing. In return the Hammer of Heaven got a single shot off wounding the Bloodchild.
Important things to note, the Bloodchild is easily worth 2 slots to take. His ability to target specialists and leaders, and then sprinkle additional damage on the troops is fantastic. He did manage to hit the magic defense on one of the Legionnaires, rolling a 10 for his backlash result, but Strong Will kicked in and saved him. Strong Will is a major boon for the Blood Child.
At this point I want to thank Xavarir for asking me to write this up, because I found an error we made in play. My opponent mis-read Walking the Void Path and had it triggering on a magic result instead of an Overkill result. Felt like that ability was going off all the time, but in the end I doubt that it made much of a difference to the actual game, since Overkills would have cause me as many Ashmen/Pelegarth deaths.
The third turn started with e Bloodchild unloading on the Devourer, causing 5 hits, and bouncing 5 more hits into the Legion. Only 2 Legionnaires fell, and then the Blood Child leapt behind the forest for cover. The Rathor started to back away while still firing at the Legionnaires causing another casualty. The Legion, tired of Rathors raced forward to engage both Rathors while forming a chain to keep them in contact with one another. Ashmen charged Legion, eliminating more of them, and then Winterhawk came with his counter attack. A veritable swarm of Legion washed over the ashmen and Pelegarth. Winterhawk slayed 2 Swordsmen dropping the Nasier moral 5 points (4 for Call to Glory, 1 for hitting a 3 model death). The return volley caused as many Ashmen casualties as it did Legion, with Walking the void triggering. With the re-roll granted by the Devourer, 4 Swordsmen fell along with 4 Legionnaires. Tired of all of these Shenanigans, the remaining Pelegarth Swarmed and killed the Devourer, Dropping the second Grisly Reminder token. The Keeper brought the remainder of the Legion in to block the dropped tokens from the Nasier, while the Hammer of Heaven hunted the Pelegarth Howl.
The fourth turn was composed of many mini skirmishes with bodies dropping everywhere. The Bloodchild Jumped out and blasted the Hammer, only to fail in wounding him and having to take 4 Backlash tests. The Legion Keeper failed to kill a Hakar and ended up paying for it with his life (had he succeeded Shael Han would have won). The Pelegarth Howl managed to grab one of the Grisly Reminders, flaunting it in front of the Shael Han, and dropping their Morale by 2. At the end of the turn Shael Han stood with 2 morale, the Winterhawk, Hammer of Heaven, and 3 Legionnaires. The Nasier had All three Leaders, the Rathor, Bloodchild, and a couple of Swordsmen still standing, with 3 morale left.
Shael got the initiative and went to work. If they could drop two leaders the game would be theirs. The Winterhawk did his best but failed to kill the Hakar he attacked. Nasier took their turn and ended the game grabbing a second Grisly reminder.
The game was great fun. Comboing the Devourer with the Legionnaires Healing Vapors made these troops tough as nails. Getting a reroll on every will check is a fantastic bonus. Winterhawk’s inspire giving the Legion two 1 die attacks makes these guys solid on offense too. The ability to chose the defensive enlightenment AFTER dice are rolled is nearly over the top. Between Diamond Wall Stance negating hits, Molding the Spark of Creation counter attacking, and Walking the Void Path inst popping infantry, and the Knockback of Winterhawks training the Shael Han are a scary force to face. The only safety is hitting a Legionnaire with a Strike, and even then Healing Vapors kicks in.
Probably the most difficult thing to keep up with the Shael Han is everything that they can do each action (whether attacking or defending). It will take a few games to turn them into a well oiled killing machine, but after that everyone should be afraid.
As for the Nasier, they were the classic move forward and chew your opponent apart. While on paper the Hakar’s training and inspiration seem at odd with each other, they actually combine nicely to insure that the with the Swordsman’s duelist, they will always be throwing at least two dice when attacking. If I were to play Nasier against Shael Han again though, bringing Alyana Heska next round would be tops on my list. Having Frozen Form to negate Reactions would have saved many a Swordsman from death.
The Pelegarth lived up to their reputation with taking down a Dragon, but they need to keep clustered, as much as the Swordsmen need to be spread. The Pelegarth started to become spread, which lead to them being picked off (though to be fair, my opponent wisely attacked then with single die attacks most of the time to negate their Shield Wall ability.
The Rathor – I like. With few ranged units to chose from, a Range 8 attack with bounce is solid. With their Efrenti Guidence, these guys help the swordsmen complete their task of eliminating enemy models. Finally, the Bloodchild, as I said earlier, this guy is awesome, and one good dice a little too awesome (but since you cannot rely on good dice I would have to say he fits in just fine how he is).
Leaders
The Winterhawk – Force Commander
Dragon Legion Keeper
Infantry
18 Dragon Legionnaires
Specialists
Shield of Taelfon
Hammer of Heaven
Fulung Devourer
Motivation
Call to Glory
Nasier
Leaders
Ashmen Hakar – Force Commander
Ashmen Hakar
Pelegarth Howl
Infantry
11 Ashmen Swordsmen
7 Pelegarth Bloodmask
Specialists
2 Rathor
The Bloodchild
Motivation
Grisly Reminders
Setup-
There was quite a bit of terrain on the field, with the center forested, but the Shael Han right flank (Nasier Left) with open sight lines.
Nasier set up with 2 Rathor, the Pelegarth, howl and The Bloodchild on the right flank and the Ashmen and Hakars holding the center.
Shael Han setup in mass, in the center of the board with the legionnaires forming a wall to the front.
Here is the board we played on:
View attachment 27528
With the entire Shael Han force basically setting up in the B deployment zone (The Devour at the front A and the Hammer of Heaven setup at the back of C) neither force could engage on turn 1. The Rathors moved forward, 6 Legionnaires the Keeper and the Hammer of Heaven shift right to face them. 4 Ashmen and a Hakar raced to support the Rathor. The Pelegarth moved forward, with the Devourer and Shield of Taelfon shifting to face them.
The rest of the Ashmen moved up behind some trees with the Bloodchild, while the Winterhawk and a dozen legionnaires moved forward.
The next turn started with a Rathor bounding forward and sniping at 2 Legionnaires. The first dropped, while healing vapors saved the second. First blood to Nasier. This turn basically had most of Shael Han shifting to the right to get better sight lines, while the Nasier moved up. The second Rathor got another kill, his bounce being stopped by Diamond Wall Stance. The Devourer moved closer to the center to support the Legion, and killed of a Pelegarth with his Spear of Light. The Bloodchild leapt from behind the woods and killed the Shield of Taelfon with a single shot causing 4 hits, and dropping the Shael Han morale and placing the first token for Grisly Reminders. The Bloodchild then allocated the 4 additional dice to legionnaires who all survived wither due to Diamond Stand, Healing Vapors or just plain missing. In return the Hammer of Heaven got a single shot off wounding the Bloodchild.
Important things to note, the Bloodchild is easily worth 2 slots to take. His ability to target specialists and leaders, and then sprinkle additional damage on the troops is fantastic. He did manage to hit the magic defense on one of the Legionnaires, rolling a 10 for his backlash result, but Strong Will kicked in and saved him. Strong Will is a major boon for the Blood Child.
At this point I want to thank Xavarir for asking me to write this up, because I found an error we made in play. My opponent mis-read Walking the Void Path and had it triggering on a magic result instead of an Overkill result. Felt like that ability was going off all the time, but in the end I doubt that it made much of a difference to the actual game, since Overkills would have cause me as many Ashmen/Pelegarth deaths.
The third turn started with e Bloodchild unloading on the Devourer, causing 5 hits, and bouncing 5 more hits into the Legion. Only 2 Legionnaires fell, and then the Blood Child leapt behind the forest for cover. The Rathor started to back away while still firing at the Legionnaires causing another casualty. The Legion, tired of Rathors raced forward to engage both Rathors while forming a chain to keep them in contact with one another. Ashmen charged Legion, eliminating more of them, and then Winterhawk came with his counter attack. A veritable swarm of Legion washed over the ashmen and Pelegarth. Winterhawk slayed 2 Swordsmen dropping the Nasier moral 5 points (4 for Call to Glory, 1 for hitting a 3 model death). The return volley caused as many Ashmen casualties as it did Legion, with Walking the void triggering. With the re-roll granted by the Devourer, 4 Swordsmen fell along with 4 Legionnaires. Tired of all of these Shenanigans, the remaining Pelegarth Swarmed and killed the Devourer, Dropping the second Grisly Reminder token. The Keeper brought the remainder of the Legion in to block the dropped tokens from the Nasier, while the Hammer of Heaven hunted the Pelegarth Howl.
The fourth turn was composed of many mini skirmishes with bodies dropping everywhere. The Bloodchild Jumped out and blasted the Hammer, only to fail in wounding him and having to take 4 Backlash tests. The Legion Keeper failed to kill a Hakar and ended up paying for it with his life (had he succeeded Shael Han would have won). The Pelegarth Howl managed to grab one of the Grisly Reminders, flaunting it in front of the Shael Han, and dropping their Morale by 2. At the end of the turn Shael Han stood with 2 morale, the Winterhawk, Hammer of Heaven, and 3 Legionnaires. The Nasier had All three Leaders, the Rathor, Bloodchild, and a couple of Swordsmen still standing, with 3 morale left.
Shael got the initiative and went to work. If they could drop two leaders the game would be theirs. The Winterhawk did his best but failed to kill the Hakar he attacked. Nasier took their turn and ended the game grabbing a second Grisly reminder.
The game was great fun. Comboing the Devourer with the Legionnaires Healing Vapors made these troops tough as nails. Getting a reroll on every will check is a fantastic bonus. Winterhawk’s inspire giving the Legion two 1 die attacks makes these guys solid on offense too. The ability to chose the defensive enlightenment AFTER dice are rolled is nearly over the top. Between Diamond Wall Stance negating hits, Molding the Spark of Creation counter attacking, and Walking the Void Path inst popping infantry, and the Knockback of Winterhawks training the Shael Han are a scary force to face. The only safety is hitting a Legionnaire with a Strike, and even then Healing Vapors kicks in.
Probably the most difficult thing to keep up with the Shael Han is everything that they can do each action (whether attacking or defending). It will take a few games to turn them into a well oiled killing machine, but after that everyone should be afraid.
As for the Nasier, they were the classic move forward and chew your opponent apart. While on paper the Hakar’s training and inspiration seem at odd with each other, they actually combine nicely to insure that the with the Swordsman’s duelist, they will always be throwing at least two dice when attacking. If I were to play Nasier against Shael Han again though, bringing Alyana Heska next round would be tops on my list. Having Frozen Form to negate Reactions would have saved many a Swordsman from death.
The Pelegarth lived up to their reputation with taking down a Dragon, but they need to keep clustered, as much as the Swordsmen need to be spread. The Pelegarth started to become spread, which lead to them being picked off (though to be fair, my opponent wisely attacked then with single die attacks most of the time to negate their Shield Wall ability.
The Rathor – I like. With few ranged units to chose from, a Range 8 attack with bounce is solid. With their Efrenti Guidence, these guys help the swordsmen complete their task of eliminating enemy models. Finally, the Bloodchild, as I said earlier, this guy is awesome, and one good dice a little too awesome (but since you cannot rely on good dice I would have to say he fits in just fine how he is).
