Something brand new, as my regular Lannister opponent is on the hunt for badges. I hadn't seen Starks on the table in a long while. I was also experimenting with a freshly painted Rattleshirt and a panic inducing list. We got Here We Stand, and resolved to just kill each other. Here's the game link.
Note that the Starks allegedly eschewed the refuse flank tactic, but if you look at the table, their forces are focused on their left flank, with the right consisting of fast moving cavalry. Ha!
Round 1 already started off pretty wild. With our armies deployed almost on the line, I had the Umbers start and immediately outflank my Raiders. I did not remember the Stark shift tactics card, so the Raiders got immediately charged. The Savages failed a 4+ to charge in. Thankfully, the Raiders survived two rounds of attacks.
As the armies closed in and postured, I had my Bonelord's Chosen march up to act as bait. The Stark Outriders obliged, going into their flanks. This proved crucial in pinning them down. Unfortunately, the Spearwives were too far to charge.
At least round 2 was prepared to be a bloodbath.
Round 2 - fight!
On my right, I began with the Savages charging in and decimating the Berserkers. They hit back hard. However, I tried and succeeded with the following combo: give all the Berserkers' non innate abilities to the Raiders. Attack with 6 dice on 2+, vicious, sundering. Kill the Berserkers with Raiders. Laugh at the Stark player's tears.
With the Winterfell Guard charging in, the Savages' days were numbered.
I countered with the Spearwives putting a dent into the Stark cavalry. Even though they 11-d their panic after the shooting, they failed the next one, healing up the boney guys.
Finally, the Greataxes had to charge the Thenns following a taunt order. Hold the line! And some panic checks and attacks later, they were not very well off.
In a super cool combo, Greatjon's Winterfell Guard slammed through the Savages, then overran into the Raiders, killing them both. In another surprise move, the Thenns Hold the line!-d the entire remaining Greataxes, charging into the Winterfell Guard and killing them.
Both of my units dying triggered The Endless Horde.
In the meantime, the Spearwives were dying in numbers to the Outriders, augmented by Winter's Might. With only 3 models left, the Great Walrus was fully empowered, and their maximum attack dice/reroll/Vicious/side attack combo destroyed the Outriders.
Crushing victory turn 3! Yeah, that was a complete surprise to both of us.
There were a number of factors contributing. Probably the biggest was my opponent's unfamiliarity with such a one sided offense oriented list. Rolls were probably average as a whole, but the good rolls seemed to concentrate with the Outriders where they didn't really matter (two 10-11 panic rolls were awesome, though) and left the Greataxes/Berserkers hanging. My panic tricks did come in somewhat, but were less of a factor than intended. Redistributing abilities and models came in big, I'm getting the hang of it. Thenns were the MVPs as usual, with a couple of great Hold the line! rolls, controlling the middle, and being surprisingly killy with Rattleshirt's trophies.
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