Kings of War/Tactics/The Herd

Why Play The Herd

You know that war scene from Chronicles of Narnia where the music starts playing and the Eagles fly over the battlefield, dropping rocks and shit, and there's a bunch of cheetahs and minotaurs? Why wouldn't you want that as an army? Sure, you'll get kicked out of the game store for blaring the Narnia soundtrack every time you begin the match, but it's worth it to crush your enemy without any scientific stuff like magic, bows, or sticks.

Army Special Rules

• Advanced Deployment: Units with this special rule are deployed immediately after sides are chosen, before units on either side without this special rule. These units can be deployed anywhere on the table as long as it is at least 3" from any objective or loot marker.

• Call of the Wild: All units in this army have Pathfinder unless otherwise noted.

• Alignment: Neutral

Unit Analysis

Hero

• Avatar of the Father: The Big Daddy, the Numero Uno. This is the Herd's unique 'named' character, the earthly manifestation of Kyron. At first glance he could be considered a hero version of the Brutox with an additional point of speed and defence, hits on 3's, is fearless (on the same nerve) and hits with the same strength on the charge. Where it differs is giving very inspiring (9"), Elite (so should barely miss) and Iron Resolve (self heals on a successful nerve test). He also costs 50pts more. Where things get interesting is you have the option of upgrading him to get Wings (so he gets speed 10, Fly and therefore Nimble). Given how popular wings of the honeymaze are on characters, having the option on this monster is potentially huge. Further to that, there is also the option to upgrade him to give him Heal (6) to make him a super Shaman/Brutox Hybrid. Now all this doesn't come cheap. All the upgrades bump up his cost to well over 300pts. Whether he is worth it will largely depend on your play style.

• Centaur Chief:

• Guardian Champion: A cheaper alternative to the Lycan Alpha, similar profile but lacking in speed.

• Lycan Alpha: A fast character with speed of (9). Good defense and nerve values ( as well as 5+ regen) combined with a decent amount of low hitting attacks means the Alpha should not only pack a punch but should be able withstand a couple as well. The profile is very similar to that of the cheaper Guardian Champion so you are paying for the added speed and maneuverability so use accordingly. Best when teamed up with other Lycans to benefit form Inspiring.

• Shaman: Your source of magic as well as inspiring. Comes standard with Bane Chant (3), which is one dice higher than most other armies equivalent caster and has access to Heal and Wind Blast at an additional cost. Unfortunately lacking in the combat department so will be used mainly to buff and support other units, as you would expect from a Shaman. Also has the option to be mounted for an increased speed of (9).

• Shaman on Sacred Beast:

• Tracker:

• Tribal Chieftain:

• Tribal Chieftain on Chariot: As above but gains +2 attacks, nerve and +3 movement. He loses the individual rule meaning no more nimble but more importantly he does now double and triple attacks for flank/rear charges respectively and this combined with ME 3, CS 1 and TC 2 means he is no slouch in combat. Give him the Caterpillar item so he gets pathfinder to fit in with the rest of the army or the ensorcelled armour for the standard hard to hit mounted hero. Has the option to upgrade to get a bow for 10pts and is one of the few ranged options available in the army. If you have the points left over, it is a worthwhile upgrade. Another option is wine of the elvenkind to grant nimble to enable corkscrew antics.

• Tribal Totem Bearer: A cheap source of inspire. Very similar to the offerings from other armies. With our Shaman coming stock with inspire and greater versatility, you should probably always take a Shaman unless you are seriously short on points.

Infantry

• Harpies: The first of our chaff units and with, fly, nimble, vicious and the innate path finder skills, by far the most versatile. With the standard 9/11 low nerve they won't be hanging around, so use their speed and skills to bypass the front of main combat units and hunt down weak warmachines or hit flanks and rears.

• Tribal Spirit Walkers: You can take troop, regiment or horde options and they comes stock with fearless (no wavering), thunderous charge, pathfinder and a high nerve. They are comparable to other armies shock troops but unlike most, the Herd can take them in horde size and with 35 attacks, nerve -/23 and the normal berserker low defence there should be no reason why you wouldn't. Slap 1 or 2 hordes of these down in your lines, backed up by a Shamen or 2 and you have a solid wall that won't be going anywhere for a number of turns.

It's worth noting that the unit footprint is based on 20mm size so with a horde, if you are using your 25mm AHW Gor from the other gaming system, they can be ranked 8x3 on the correct sized movement tray (tray is compulsory as the models will be 200mm * 75mm rather than 200 * 80mm) and be over the 50% minimum model count recommended. This has the advantage of not having an oversized unit footprint if you rank them 10*4 on your existing base.

• Tribal Hunters: The second of our potential chaff units. Varies from the others in so far as it is slower but mitigates this by having the Vanguard rule. Comes with throwing weapons that can be upgraded to bows for free. Pepper enemy chaff with shots and then throw them into the face of the blocks of troops to be the annoyance that all chaff should be.

• Tribal Longhorns: The Bestigor of KOW, with the bonus of also coming on a 25mm base. Only comes in troop or regiment flavours. With ME 3 and CS 1 (as well as the standard herd TC 1 and pathfinder), they will always hit reasonably hard but an average nerve and defence means they are quite fragile.

• Tribal Spears:

• Tribal Warriors:

Large Infantry

• Guardian Brutes: Intended to represent minotaurs and owl bear type creatures. This variation of your large infantry has Crushing Strength (1), Fury, and Thunderous Charge (2). They hit on a point less than Lycans, but they also have one point higher defense and nerve. They're cheaper as well, but are a lot slower. These are intended for more straight forward attacking vice being better at screening, so use them appropriately.

• Lycans: Intended to represent natural werewolves. They come with Crushing Strength (1) and Nimble, in addition to 9 speed, making them far more maneuverable than Guardian Brutes. They hit on a point higher than Brutes which makes up for a lower attack profile. Their defense is lower than Brutes but they do have regeneration. Do note they lack Lifeleech, like the undead version.

Cavalry

• Beast Pack: Fast and vicious. Use these as you would any other chaff. Storm forward and into the face of your opponent, setting yourself up for the counter charge with your following hammer unit or use as a screen to reduce the effectiveness of enemy fire. Alternatively run them round the flanks to get at the vulnerable warmachines or heroes, though harpies can perform this role more effectively due to the 'fly' rule. They come in troop or regiment size, though you'll only take the former. Being a 'loose' formation, they won't give you access to additional heroes or monsters

• Centaur Bray-Hunters:

• Centaur Bray-Striders:

• Centaur Long-Manes:

Large Cavalry

• Giant Eagles:

• Stampede: Comes in one size, Horde and boy what a horde. 30 attacks, CS (1), TC (3), pathfinder and strider married up to our second highest nerve, make this our go to hammer unit. The average hit roll should be helped by the almost compulsory Brew of Sharpness but the downside is this pushes the unit over 300 points and paints a whacking great big target on it for anyone who's ever been on the receiving end of this beating stick.

• Tribal Chariots:

Monsters

• Brutox: Your large giant sized monster. With Crushing Strength and Thunderous charge (2) it will hit hard, and with 8+ 1d6 attacks it has the potential to do allot of damage. With a decent speed of 8 you should be able to get it where it needs to be. Low defense is compensated by a decent nerve value and the bonus of 5+ regen. (Giant sized monsters have a great presence upon the table and as a result can attract allot of attention, for better or for worse.)

• Chimera:

War Engines

• Great Battle Totem: An unique war engine, so you can only have one in the army. It also restricts your base size to 75 mm x 75 mm, specifically noting you cannot take advantage of the exceptional base size rule for this unit. For 80 points you get a war engine with no attacks and no speed and height 4. So what does it do? It comes with Advanced Deployment, Inspiring and rallying (2). What this adds up to is a forward deployable source of a 12" inspiring bubble that also adds 2 to the nerve value of any friendly, non-allied unit within the bubble. It has a def and nerve value so can be destroyed but adds an interesting option especially for certain scenarios (dominate comes to mind).

Tactics

The herd is primarily a melee army that uses blocks of infantry. It has plenty of cheap throw-away chaff units that can be used for various purposes (distractions/war machine hunting/road blocks/cover) and lots of solid troop choices that will hurt when combat is reached. The units generally have a defence value under average but this is offset by a faster than average speed so you should be in position to get into combat in turn 2 with all your troops.