Battlereport 100k vs. Nords, or Bretonnia rallies once again

 

Hey,

as already announced in the German Discord, I played two small games with the Nords again last Wednesday. Instead of the Jarl list, I built a Blooded list and played it against Marcus' Bretonnian forces (Pommesmann on T3, Bremer on Discord).

Nords [2000/2000]

== (Warlord) Blooded [145]: Dragon, Figurehead of the Naglfar, The Hunt's Instinct
 * Stalkers (3) [160]:
 * Trolls (3) [170]:
 * Fenr Beastpack (3) [140]:
 * Bow-Chosen (4) [270]:
== Konungyr [135]: Dragon, The Broken Blade
 * Sea Jotnar (1) [240]:
 * Ice Jotnar (1) [260]:
 * Huskarls (5) [270]: Standard Bearer, Thegn
 * Bow-Chosen (3) [210]:

Short and sweet: I don’t have to roll for any reinforcements because everything arrives in the round I need it. I think that’s pretty great, so I settle for 10 cards. I also wanted two large Jotnars and double Bow Chosen, and the list was already full. In the US, lists with 10 cards often work, but in Germany, you rarely see them on the podium. Marcus has already achieved that with his cavalry army, and so have others.

Hundred Kingdoms [1995/2000]
Veterans
== (Warlord) Priory Commander (Sealed Temple) [110]:
 * Order of the Sealed Temple (3) [190]:
 * Order of the Sealed Temple (3) [190]:
 * Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [265]: Standard Bearer
 * Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [265]: Standard Bearer
== (Warlord) Mounted Noble Lord [145]: Olefant's Roar, Weapon Master
 * Militia Bowmen (3) [75]:
 * Militia Bowmen (3) [75]:
 * Household Knights (6) [370]: Veterans, +1 Clash, Standard Bearer, Tourney Champion
 * Household Knights (5) [310]: Veterans, +1 Clash, Standard Bearer, Tourney Champion

Marcus played his usual and successful 100K tournament list again after the test phases with the Ashen Dawn block were rather disappointing. Also only 10 cards, but two large blocks of Household Knights with double Ashen Dawn and double Sealed Temple deliver a lot of force over a considerable range. The Figurehead and the Sea Jotnar in my list aren't optimal in this matchup, but since I didn't build the list specifically against Hundred Kingdoms, I accept that. You can also read the detailed thoughts on the Hundred Kingdoms list in the Canadian Horselord Guide. You can find the link here.

In the first game, the scenario Head-to-Head was played, which I find somewhat suboptimal as a Nord. Killpoints are generally not my favorite when I'm only dressed in furs and hides, and the fact that there's only one zone where I might be able to score is really annoying. At least there was a dividing building in the middle, but I didn't have a solid plan for how to take advantage of it. Since Marcus would definitely split up his cavalry, I thought about simply overloading the side with the large zone with everything I had. Then I would likely win the attrition on that flank and just had to try to delay Marcus from entering the small zone as late as possible. If his reinforcement rolls didn't work out, that would probably be possible. But if everything arrived on time, then not so much.

In round 1, Marcus deployed both Militia Bowmen, placing them on the far edges of each flank. I got all my Lights and advanced aggressively on the right flank. In the second round, I was able to build my deck with all the Mediums and Lights. The characters came first, followed by the Huscarls, for whom I had left space between the Bow Chosen. Then came the Bow Chosen, Trolls, and the rest. Marcus received both Sealed Temples, and I was certain they wouldn't position themselves in front of my line— which they didn't. One was placed far left, and the other in the center. Unfortunately, with the Blooded, the Lights can't score, which made me miss the Jarl as Warlord at this point. However, I hadn’t yet experienced using the two Jotnars myself. So, I only threatened the zone, moved the Raiders into the forest, and fired a few arrows at the Militia Bowmen.

In the third round, we both received the remainder of our armies. This was a bit frustrating since I had expected a bit more time. Since we both had 10 cards, I placed the Raiders on top, hoping to take out the Militia, followed by the Trolls, characters, Fenr, Huscarls, Jotnars, and Bow Chosen. If Marcus advanced, I planned to welcome him appropriately. Everything unfolded fairly quickly, but my Stalkers failed to do any serious damage to the Militia and were nearly overrun in melee as a result. My Trolls advanced and offered themselves as a target, which the Sealed Temples attempted to exploit with a Reform Charge but failed their charge roll. Later, I had a good shooting position with just two stands, which was enough to kill one knight. On the right side, both large Household Knight blocks appeared, and to my delight, the Ashen Dawn deployed left and center. I then moved my Huscarls into the zone and positioned both Jotnars in the middle. The Ice Jotnar threatened the small zone, and the Sea Jotnar was positioned to support the right flank but could also shift to the left if necessary. 3:0

Round four, and the big brawl was about to begin. I didn’t care much about the left flank, as Marcus wouldn’t be able to reach the Jotnars, and the zone would only be accessible if he left the living shield of the Militia, which he definitely wouldn’t want to do. He would much rather ride down my poor Huscarls. If the block without the Noble Lord charged them, they would likely survive, as they were too far away for a Charge Clash. With "only" 24 impacts hitting on 3s and Brutal Impact 1, I expected to lose 2, maybe 3 stands. However, if the Noble Lord’s regiment with Olefant’s Roar charged, that would be another matter. They would hit on 1-4 and have the Terrifying special rule. The temptation was there to activate Bastion early to counter this, but I resisted. I had the Thegn in the list because Uziel always plays him, but I realized at that moment that it was similar to other units like the Gilded Legion, where using points for the Bastion Draw Event isn’t always wise. Often, it just puts me in a situation where I want to trigger the event early, but then I only use it and can’t do anything meaningful with the regiment. A Move Charge into the cavalry is an option, but that would leave me overextended, and Marcus could flank me or even reach my backfield, which would spell disaster.

In the second game, I had a similar dilemma, and the Thegn was mentally labeled as unnecessary. Better to buy an extra stand if possible rather than rely on activating Bastion. It’s only useful if the damage is being dealt through mechanisms other than Clash or if the unit is already in combat. Even then, the timing is tricky, so I decided to place the Stalkers at the top of the deck instead. Then came a few Bow Chosen, the King, Huscarls, the Blooded, Fenr, Trolls, and at the bottom, the Bow Chosen and both Jotnars.

The deck order at this point was due to several reasons, mainly because I realized Marcus wasn’t positioned optimally. If his Warlord charged the Huscarls, the second unit wouldn’t have a meaningful charge target unless the Stalkers wiped out the Militia. Since they had failed twice already, that was no longer an option. Even if they did, they would be stuck in the forest, and I could ignore them for two rounds. If he attacked the Huscarls with the wide block, the Noble Lord’s block wouldn’t have a good target, unless he didn’t mind dealing no impacts. Marcus started, saw the situation as well, but his deck was already built, and the first Household Knights were revealed. He chose what he considered the lesser evil and charged the Huscarls with the Household Knights without the Noble Lord. 17 wounds later, I was left with just the King and the Command Stand and was quite surprised. I had somehow overlooked the reroll of sixes, and his attack had gone much better than my defense. This hurt more than expected, but at least the block was still alive.

Meanwhile, my Raiders killed the Militia Bowmen, and his second Household Knights charged through the forest into my Trolls, hoping that I wouldn’t be able to kill either block. At that point, I was also quite skeptical, and I shot down another Sealed Temple with the big Bow Chosen block. As a nice side effect, the last one in the center was down to just one wound. It would have been nicer if he were dead, but overall, I was pretty happy at this point. I could deal with the rest later, but when I looked at the King's 8 attacks with Clash 5, rerolling 6s because the regiment was wounded, my eyes lit up. I love such melee characters, and I also enjoy building my "Muscle Man" in Hundred Kingdoms with 8 attacks, Clash 1, Cleave 1, and rerolls. This one was similarly fantastic. Eight attacks hitting on 5s, rerolling 6s—how insane is that? Eight hits with Cleave 1, plus a few from the Command and the dogs in the flank, were enough to wipe out the Household Knights regiment. No matter how the game turned out now, I was very satisfied. In my imagination, he was furious over the loss of his friends and hacked his way through in a red rage.

This allowed the Bow Chosen to shoot elsewhere later and fail spectacularly. The last Sealed Temple also went into the Trolls, but Regeneration 6 easily absorbed the damage. The Trolls then swung at nothing, and we turned to look at the other flank.

Then his Ashen Dawn advanced dangerously close with a double move, and my Sea Jotnar decided to first shoot the lone Sealed Temple and then make a move-charge into the Ashen Dawn. It wasn’t really to kill them, but more to hold them off. They were standing in the water, and I hoped to hold out for a round and protect my center somehow. Our decks were nearly exhausted; his second Militia moved forward, and he had to activate the Sealed Temple. Using Fluid Formation, he inched a few inches forward and attempted a charge. Without a standard, only one number on the dice could have put him in a position where my Jotnar could charge him—and of course, he rolled exactly that number. The Ice Jotnar just shrugged and hacked the three riders, including their commander, into handy little pieces. This gave me 16 points, a significant card advantage, with the Ashen Dawn on the right unable to do anything until I killed something or took action, and at least the option on the left to eliminate the heavy hitters. 16:0

In Round Five, I basically just had to deal with the Ashen Dawn. So, the Jotnars moved up first, followed by the Huscarls with the Clash-5 King and 8 Attacks, then the Trolls, and finally the rest. Marcus started, and the Ashen Dawn on the left used Blessed to take out the Sea Jotnar precisely and then hit the flank of the Ice Jotnar. The Ice Jotnar took 8 damage from the impacts and killed one of the Ashen Dawn with his axe. After that, the flank was clear, and his Household Knights tried a rescue attempt but failed against the Trolls, just as I had previously with my armor rolls for the Ice Jotnar. So the King could then decimate the Household Knights in the flank, and the Trolls finished them off. It was a mistake on my part, as I could have and should have used the card advantage to delay the situation. At this point, it was almost irrelevant, but only almost. The Ashen Dawn could still do absurd things. They charged into my Trolls and wiped them out easily. At least I still had many arrows that reduced the Ashen Dawn, and my Fenr started the long journey to the small zone near Marcus. 23:4

In Round Six, Marcus started again and chose the Ashen Dawn against the Ice Jotnar. They took him down and entered the small zone while I shot down the other Ashen Dawn. This made it 30:10, and I would reach the small zone in two rounds. Marcus could no longer move if he wanted to keep scoring, and my Bow Chosen could take target practice. We decided to end the game at this point and start a new one. Victory for the Nordmen!

Thoughts on the Game

The Jotnars and the King are incredibly cool, and I was thrilled as they made the little Hanna in me very happy. The big Jotnar goes WHAM and BANG and BOOM. It felt powerful and good, and aside from the Thegn, I was very satisfied with the list. Although I must admit that I prefer the Jarl bonus because re-rolling dice just feels good. Theoretically, the Supremacy of the Blooded mainly affects the Heavies, as you have the Flank special rule on two heroes and two regiments. Also, I prefer having more cards, but with four expensive regiments, there's simply no room for that.

I also won more due to Marcus's mistakes rather than through tactical skill or the strength of the Nords. This doesn’t mean that I find them as bad as the international Discord sometimes makes them out to be. On the contrary, but I don’t see them as top of the food chain or even in the top 3. Like all others, they should have quite a bit to contend with against Wadrhun, City States, and of course, Old Dominion.