Battlereport brave Humans against Nino's loyal Legionnaires

In December, I was asked if I could provide more game reports about our regular game nights/days and share our experiences. Since we started the first week of January with four games, and I had already written a report on the duel against Timms' Fallen Devinity, here is another report from the same evening.

1500 Punkte Brave Humans with Sticks
Armeeregel: Relentless Drill

== (Warlord) Imperial Officer [75]: Fire First, Aim Later, Aim For the Head
 * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]:
 * Steel Legion (3) [175]: Standard Bearer

== (Warlord) Mounted Noble Lord [110]: Weapon Master
 * Household Knights (3) [140]: Standard Bearer
 * Household Knights (3) [140]: Standard Bearer
 * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]:
 * Militia Bowmen (3) [75]:

== Mounted Noble Lord [115]: The Unwrought, Weapon Master
 * Militia Bowmen (3) [75]:
 * Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [105]:
 * Household Knights (3) [140]: Standard Bearer
 * Household Knights (3) [140]: Standard Bearer

For the sake of convenience, I decided to go with the same list as against Timm since the game took place immediately after. I like the image this list presents on the battlefield, with a dynamic mix of mobility, ranged, and melee pressure. Facing the Old Dominion can be challenging with units that are hard to kill and possess Aura of Dead. However, the basic idea of the list is to focus aggressively on scenario points and block the opponent.

1500 [1500/1500]
The Old Dominion


== (Warlord) Xhiliarch [175]: Legio I 'Primigenia', Eternal Discipline, Regalia 1, Regalia 2, Regalia 3
 * Praetorian Guard (5) [285]: Standard Bearer, Profane Reliquary
 * Varangian Guard (4) [265]: Standard Bearer

== Archimandrite [100]:
 * Legionnaires (3) [135]: Optio
 * Legionnaires (3) [120]:
 * Bone Golems (3) [210]:
 * Bone Golems (3) [210]:

The key to the list is to cleverly engage opponents, attack them with Move Charge, and finally cause annoying auto-hits through Aura of Dead. It may sound strange but is extremely effective, especially with the Prætorian Guard equipped with Reliquary, Eternal Discipline, and Legio I, making them one of the toughest and best units in the Old Dominion. Nino's plan seems to focus on improving his reinforcements through Regalia 3, which I don't like as I aim to minimize the presence of Old Dominion regiments on the battlefield in the early rounds.

Game Report:

Off Balance was set up on the table, which my list didn't particularly favor as there were only two zones. Additionally, I had a house on my side, dividing my deployment zone, and an objective marker directly in my way. This prevented me from deploying as wide as usual, forcing me to improvise. At this point, I thought it wouldn't bother me much, but that would change in rounds three and four when I couldn't leverage the advantage of my army through the right forest and the middle markers, hindering my progress.

In round 2, Nino brought in the Prætorians on the right side and the Archimandrite in the center. The remaining light units and a total of two units of ponies appeared on my side. I focused on the marker, which later proved to be a mistake. I knew I had to put significant pressure on crucial targets, ignore markers, and concentrate on zones against this list or variant. However, I was too greedy. Not a good move. Nevertheless, I secured one zone and took the lead.

In the third round, Nino failed to secure reinforcements for the Bone Golems. This relieved some pressure, and when the rest of my forces arrived, I decided to pursue my chosen path. Crossbows aimed and fired at the Praetorians, causing two damage. Then, we advanced; I attacked the marker, and the Legionnaires engaged some of the peasants. Ignoring the congestion in the center, I positioned two regiments of cavalry on each flank and had the Steel Legion march on the right side. Utilizing my card advantage, I executed a cavalry assault against the Praetorians. Overall, I managed to inflict a considerable four damage through impacts and clashes, destroying one regiment thanks to the prior damage from the crossbows. While suboptimal, especially considering the imminent halving of the regiment due to the Aura of Dead causing 16 hits, I still had more cavalry and the Steel Legion, albeit positioned too far back. Movement 5 proves inconvenient for heavy melee units, even with Vanguard, particularly when fighting in the center. Nevertheless, I controlled both zones, and one marker was destroyed, securing a comfortable 11:0 lead.

This didn't faze Nino, as he knew that with the Old Dominion, he almost always falls behind quickly and only needs to completely destroy me by round 7 to win the scenario. The rest of his army appeared, and he ignited the Supremacy. The Prætorians with Clash 2 and the Varangians with Move Charge Clash effectively used it against the crossbows, so it didn't matter much for deck building. If the Varangians, who had already taken some damage, were to come, they would go home with the shooting from the midfield and the charge clash of the riders. The Prætorians, on the other hand, worried me, as I had to eliminate them before the Bone Golems advanced. I almost succeeded as expected, only leaving one Varangian with exactly one life standing. In the following round, the Bone Golems charged my riders before sending the Varangian home. He then initiated a charge, hit five times without armor, I failed to resolve, and my second knights went from 3 models to 1. This deprived me of the option to score there, as the Legionnaires in the midfield (never ignore them! The OD folks on Discord always tell you Legionnaires are bad. They have 13 attacks, hit on 3, and have Terrifying 1. The damage is always sufficient for brave humans - unfortunately) kept me occupied, and I couldn't provide fire support. Therefore, the entire flank collapsed in round 5, but I had hope as I survived the Aura of Dead hits on the other side, and my riders inflicted a whole damage on the Prætors. Somehow, things didn't go well. They then killed the last riders, and I could shoot once and go into melee with the next riders. Through their combined efforts, another stand of Prætorians died, and I wished for the great heroes of humanity, the last bastion against the darkness, the Ashen Dawn as rarely before. These little dirty undead should die and not bother me. At least, I had one zone, as I heroically sacrificed my troops, which could block the other effectively.

In round 6, the Bone Golems arrived on the right flank and engaged my crossbows from the side. This prevented the Steel Legion from charging the Prætorians if the horses were to die. I simply hoped that the horses would perform well this time or that Nino wouldn't roll D5 for D3 and sixes rerolls. I was disappointed. My horses died simply from the Aura of Dead, and I could immediately activate the Steel Legion. They charged the Bone Golems, and 11 hits with Cleave 2 caused a solid 4 wounds... Today was not meant to be :D Then the rest of my army was gradually worn down, and I lost 17:35.

Conclusion: The hot rolls of the Prætorians were annoying, but if I had concentrated more shooters there (and if I had more in the list, because three regiments of crossbows are simply too few against the OD), it wouldn't have been as bad. My deployment mistakes, ignoring the annoying house, and not considering how to score with Off Balance because I couldn't get both zones in round 2 were much worse. The list itself will be adjusted as I generally find the Steel Legion okay but not in this configuration for the points. Let's see what I test in the coming weeks. For the Lübeck Game Day on Saturday, I had planned for 2000 points, and 1500 will be back on Friday at Kutami.