Game 107 - Forces of Nature - 2019/02/03

Greetings!

It's been a while since I have posted a battle report from the game played in Kings of War. It was not due to lack of games, quite the contrary! In fact, I have quite a number of them to report so let's try to get back on track!

This game was played against one of my regular opponents, Ed. He has recently participated in UK Masters event (3rd time in a row!) with his Empire of Dust army. However, for the new season and under CoK2019 rules he decided to go for a new project - Forces of Nature. 

I have not played against Forces of Nature army for a while. I consider this faction one of the core Mantic armies and it is great to see some models being released for them. Forces of Nature army has also got 3rd formation in CoK2019 update and guess what, Ed decided to take all three of them in his force!

Here are the details:

Forces of Nature - Army List

The Wild Hunt - Formation

10 Centaur Bray-Striders, Cavalry, Regiment, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1), Brutal

- 5 Centaur Bray-Striders, Cavalry, Troop, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1), Brutal

- 5 Centaur Bray-Striders, Cavalry, Troop, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1), Brutal

- Centaur Chief, Hero, Individual, Inspiring, Crushing Strength (2),  Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1), Bow, Brutal

All units in this formation have Brutal special rule

Boulderguard - Formation

6 Earth Elementals, Large Infantry, Horde, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Shambling, Iron Resolve

6 Earth Elementals, Large Infantry, Horde, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Shambling, Iron Resolve

- Greater Earth Elemental, Monster, Crushing Strength (2), Pathfinder, Shambling, Iron Resolve

All units in this formation have Iron Resolve special rule

Wardens Watch - Formation

3 Forest Shamblers, Large Infantry, Regiment, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Shambling, Vanguard, Speed 7

3 Forest Shamblers, Large Infantry, Regiment, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Shambling, Vanguard, Speed 7

- Forest Warden, Large Infantry, Hero,  Crushing Strength (2), Pathfinders, Nimble, Vanguard, Speed 7, Sure (3), Inspiring (Forest Shamblers only)

All units in this formation have +1 Speed (effectively Speed 7) and Forest Warden has Inspiring (Forest Shamblers only) special rule

In addition, the following units completed the army at 2000 points:

5 Centaur Bray-Hunters, Cavalry, Troops, Bows, Nimble, Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1)

Centaur Chief, Hero, Individual, Inspiring, Crushing Strength (2),  Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1)

Druid, Hero, Individual, Inspiring, Pathfinder, Heal (2), Bane Chant (2), Surge (7)

Beast of Nature, Monster, Crushing Strength (2), Pathfinders, Lighting Bolt (6), Fly, Vicious (and increase attacks to 7).

Three distinct formations give this army a lot of unique character. You can also easily see what may be the role for each one of them. Boulderguard will be unshakable center formation, slowly but purposely marching towards the enemy. A druid will make them even more reliable thanks to Inspiring presence and Surge ability may take an enemy by surprise

The Wild Hunt is a fast and maneuverable melee formation. The Centaurs are more fragile but make up for it with their speed and good fighting abilities. I imagine that these units will try to get into flanks of the enemies but can also be efficient in chasing off smaller troops and less reliable regiments on their own.

The Forest Shamblers are the link between slow Elementals and fast Centaurs and are perhaps the most versatile formation of the army. With the Vanguard and Speed 7 they can strike at the enemy early too.

The army as a whole seems to me to be a very versatile force with good support of shooting and quite numerous melee specialists. It has 14 elements total, out of which 11 units are scoring and the combined Unit Strength is 17.

I am also in the process of adapting to the new rules of CoK2019 and implementing lessons from 2018. For this game I came up with the following army:

Outcasts - Army List

3 Drakon Riders, Regiment, Large Cavalry, Thunderous Charge (1), Crushing Strength (1), Fly
- 5 Silverbreeze, Troop, Cavalry, Nimble, Bows
- 5 Windborne, Troop, Cavalry, Nimble, Bows, Windborne Arrows
- Drakon Rider Lord, Hero, Large Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Thunderous Charge (1), Dwarven Ale

3 Drakon Riders, Regimen, Large Cavalry, Thunderous Charge (1), Crushing Strength (1), Fly
- 5 Stormwind, Troops, Cavalry, Thunderous Charge (2)

- Army Standard, Hero, Banner of Griffin

3 War Chariots, Regiment, Large Cavalry, Thunderous Charge (2), Bows, Potion of Caterpillar

 - Elven Prince, Hero, Infantry, Crushing strength (1), Wings of Honeymaze

3 Forest Shamblers, Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Vanguard, Pathfinders
- Forest Warden, Large Infantry, Hero,  Crushing Strength (2), Pathfinders, Nimble, Vanguard, Sure (3), Inspiring Talisman

20 Palace Guard, Regiment, Infantry, Crushing Strength (1)

20 Palace Guard, Regiment, Infantry, Crushing Strength (1)

20 Sea Guard, Regiment, Phalanx, Bows

This army had Forest Shamblers and Forest Warden added instead of Regiment of Storm Wind cavalry and Mounted Prince.  Forest Shamblers were added for their ability to keep on fighting and not worrying about waver results that are a plague of my small units. This force has 15 elements, 13 scoring units and total of 18 Unit Strength.

It seems that we had armies of similar numbers and as always a lot depended on scenario. Initially I intended to focus on more fragile elements of the opposing army, first with shooting and then in melee. I thought I had a slight advantage in speed and shooting so I wanted to use that to my advantage. 

If I could win the fight against Centaurs and neutralize Beast of Nature, perhaps I would have enough units to engineer multiple charges I needed to defeat Earth Elementals.

Terrain

Terrain details and objective markers

 Deployment and Scenario

Deployment after respective Vanguard moves

We played one of the new scenarios, Raze. It is a very interesting one and I was looking forward to playing it correctly this time! :) 

The orange markers indicate the objectives for Ed to claim while white ones are for me. The dark one in the middle cannot be claimed but can be controlled and whoever does it by the end of the game gets more scenario points. 

I expected Earth Elementals to be positioned somewhere in the middle and I decided to split my army in two forces. The one on the left had the objective to tie down the enemy units there, preventing them from claiming the objectives. 

At the same time, the units on the right were to carry the fight to the enemy, win on that flank, claim the objective and turn towards the center. If the forces on the left were still intact then those from the right could help in converging on the center. 

If the plan worked I should have been able to prevent Ed from claiming 1-2 of his objectives, claim at least 2 on the right and put up some fight to win the scenario either for the central objective or to help the left flank to claim theirs.

Ed won the roll off and he chose to go first.

Forces of Nature - Turn 1

Early attack by Warden's Watch!

Forces of Nature opened the battle with the aggressive attack on one of the flanks. Forest Shamblers, led by their Warden approached the enemy undetected and charged surprised Elves. However, Elven line held the ground, even if the units there were blocked in a bottleneck.

Other elements of the army advanced slowly and attacked Elves at range.

Elves - Turn 1

Counter Charge.

Elves had no other option but to counter attack. Drakon Riders aided Storm Wind cavalry while Forest Shamblers attacked the enemy Warden. Drakon Lord also attacked, if only to do a bit of a damage on the foe.

On the opposite flank Elves used their ranged attacks to target the Centaurs but their efforts were not enough to even Waver the enemy. While flying Prince decided to distract the Beast, Windborne cavalry pushed back Greater Elemental to slow its advance towards the objective.

Forces of Nature - Turn 2

The struggle continues

Forces of Nature units pressed forward. On the left flank the Centaurs sped forward to claim the objective, using the opportunity and the fact that Elves did not block the passage to it.

On the right flank the regiment of Centaurs did the same but this time thanks to the fact that Forest Shamblers were holding the line and prevented Elves from taking control over it. 

Outcasts - Turn 2

Elves attack on both flanks.

As the plan to prevent the enemy from claiming the objectives failed, Elves switched to a more aggressive mode. War Chariots attacked the Centaurs while Drakon Riders charged the Chieftain. While the Centaurs perished, the Chieftain was more stubborn and held his ground. Seeing this, Windborne cavalry tried to help the Drakons to push the Beast back. It allowed Elven flying cavalry to claim the first objective.

The struggle on the right flank continued, this time with Storm Wind cavalry routing one group of enemy Shamblers. However the other unit kept on fighting!

Forces of Nature - Turn 3

Centaurs should not be underestimated!

Just when Elves thought they may be gaining a bit of advantage on the flanks, Centaurs stormed in. Bray-Hunters surprised Elven War Chariots and wavered the unit with their unexpected attack. 

Similarly, their Bray-Striders companions attacked Palace Guard and elite Elven infantry had to spend time to regroup after such a ferocious charge.

Outcasts - Turn 3

Elven advance was stopped.

Elven advance was stopped and they were regrouping in order to be able to push the enemy back again. It was true on the left flank in particular where War Chariots were inactive. Somehow the shooting from three units had almost negligible effect and the Beast of Nature was not pushed back out of the forest either.

Bitter fight on the right flank continued but only one troop of Centaurs was routed and Elves were losing precious time already.

Forces of Nature - Turn 4

Elves lose the left flank.

Forces of Nature pressed their advantage on one flank and managed to rout two Elven units. That was a very powerful blow to the Elven army as it was not able to stop their enemies from claiming the last of the objectives. And it also lost units that had a chance to hold off the advance of the foe. It was now up to cornered fast cavalry to give some time for their companions to win and regroup elsewhere on the battle field.

Outcasts - Turn 4

Elves attempt to advance at the center.

Fast cavalry on the left had the mission to slow down and distract as many enemy units as possible now. Yet again their combined fire did very little to accomplish that. 

On the opposite flank Elven units finally managed to rout some enemies but this fight was far from over. Because of that Elves could spare only two units to start converging on the central objective against very tough Earth Elementals.

Forces of Nature - Turn 5

Execution delayed.

Silver Breeze cavalry took the attack from two enemies at the same time in order to allow Winborne cavalry to escape and hopefully finish off the beast.  Miraculously, this unit survived the initial attack without a scratch!

However, on the opposing flank the Forest Shamblers fighting for the Elves were finally defeated. 

Outcasts - Turn 5

Elves claim last objective.

Elves finally claim the last objective but the center of the battle field is occupied by the Earth Elementals. Remaining units on the right flank were winning but it may have been too late.

Fast cavalry did their best to hunt down the stubborn beast but yet again it survived, despite a large amount of damage done this time.

Forces of Nature - Turn 6

Elementals fortify around the center.

While Earth Elementals consolidated their position around the center of the battle field, the units on the left flank finally got rid of the Windborne cavalry. Only one unit was left there but not for long.

Outcasts - Turn 6

Elves attack the center - too late and too little.

Elven units finally routed the last enemy on the right flank but it was too late for them to help their companions in the center. In the desperate attack Drakon Riders and Palace Guard attempted to fight against Earth Elementals. However, as probably expected, such an attack had extremely low chance of success.

Turn 7

Forces of Nature win!

Forces of Nature counter attack one more time. Two more Elven units are routed and two more were wavered. It made sure that Elven army had absolutely no means to mount any attack against the center formation and few survivors withdrew from the battle field.

Summary

Turn-by-turn animation summary.

After-battle

Many thanks to Ed for a great game and congratulations on well deserved victory. Also, my sincere apologies that it took way longer than anticipated to prepare this battle report.

I really like Ed's choices for units With all three formations in a single force he created a very unique and characterful army. All components seem to work together very well too. I must admit I gained more respect for the Centaurs in particular as they can hit harder than I expected. I like Bray-Hunters in particular as they seem to be very versatile unit that can shoot and put up a decent fight at the same time.

My plan did not work. First, I made a mistake in not anticipating the possibility of being attacked turn 1 by the Forest Shamblers. They may have not taken a lot of damage but they did help to claim the objective. In addition, they slowed down my forces there and in the end I had only two units available for the attack in the center.

The left flank did not do well either. Again, I let the Centaurs snatch the objective and while I managed to get mine thanks to Windblast spell that pushed the Beast back, I did not rout enough enemies there and did not rescue any unit that would have helped in the middle.

My goal to find a version of the army I want to play with in 2019 still continues. This game is not conclusive because it seems that either my plan was not the one I should have adapted or I didn't execute it well. In such circumstances it is hard to say if the army I fielded had all the tools necessary to win if I played better. 

Thanks for reading!