It’s been about a month and half worth of work, but the Soulbight Spearhead is finished!
When the leaves fall, so too shall the living
— Inscription on the barrow-banner of Vaereth the Withered Crown
In the forgotten hollows of Mournleaf Vale, where the trees grow gnarled and graves lie layered like fallen leaves, the Barrow-Fall Court stirs. Once noble lords of ancient bloodlines, now twisted by time, curse, and oath, they rise not for conquest but to reclaim the dignity of death.
Led by the spectral tactician Vaereth the Withered Crown, the Court is a funereal procession of rusted honour. His lesser commanders, like Serida the Emberbound, are bound to him by pacts of loyalty and undeath. Their ranks swell with The Hollow Guard, tireless skeletal sentinels. The sky howls with The Gloamfangs, fallen nobility turned feral. And when the blood truly runs, the Rustcrown Lancers thunder forth, their cracked lances piercing through the veil between memory and oblivion.
Death’s Season begins.
What better way to celebrate than a clash of wits with fellow Woehammerer Ian at our local gaming club:
Spearhead Game: Sand & Bone
Kharadron Overlords (Ian) v Soulblight Gravelords (Peter)
Ian won the roll off to decide who would be attacker and defender and chose to be the defender.
I chose the Endless Legion regiment ability to bring back a unit of dead skeletons at some point in the game and the Cloud of Bats enhancement for my Vampire Lord to allow them one teleport during the game. Bringing back a unit of skeletons and placing them on an objective would be very handy in the late game, while having the opportunity for my Vamp Lord to teleport over and either kill something or score an objective for a tactic would also be potentially game changing.
Ian chose Disengage as his regiment ability and Leave No Duardin behind as his Generals enhancement.
Ian chose for us to play on the Dolorum side of the gaming mat and the standard length-wise deployment map. As attacker, I chose to take the first turn.
In my Hero Phase I decided to take a risk and jump my Vampire Lord to 6” away from his Frigate using the Cloud of Bats ability, hoping that I could get a tasty charge off and down the Frigate in combination with the Vargheists which could hopefully also tag it in the charge phase.
The Knights and Vargheists moved up the board while my two skeleton units claimed the two friendly objectives in my deployment area and sat still to see how the battle would unfold.
The Knights launched a successful charge against the Arkonaut Company on Ian’s right flank and managed to get a toe-hold on the objective in his zone, which Ian had left open.
The Vargheists didn’t get as high a charge roll as I would have liked and instead had to settle for the other Arkonaut unit on Ian’s left flank. The Vampire Lord pulled of his charge before that, however (learning point here), and managed to connect with the boat.
Feeling confident in both the Vargheists and Knights, I chose to use the Vampire Lord to fight first and managed to only score two damage on Ian’s boat.
Knowing that his Arkonaut companies were at risk, Ian elected to go with his p against the Vargheists first and managed to score 3 damage against them.
I next chose my knights, but Ian used his Translucent Flesh from one of his cards to prevent me from hitting and wounding him on rolls of 1 to 3’s. I used the ability Grid them to Dust from one of my cards to give the Knights fight twice, but I lost a Knight rolling for the mortal wounds from this before I made my first set of attacks. The knights managed to kill only one Duardin as a result.
Ian chose for his Arkonauts facing the Knights to go next, and all of their attacks failed to cause any damage. Neither did his boat attack against the Vampire Lord.
The Vargheists managed to kill 4 Arkonauts with their attacks, which also meant they were able to heal back the 3 damage they’d suffered earlier in turn. (Note, it’s possibly worth delaying the Vargheists’ attacks to heal wounds back rather than choosing them first).
Finally, the Knights for their second set of attacks in and killed all the remaining Arkonauts on Ians right flank. (or so I thought).
With my turn 1 over, I held 3 objectives and more than Ian, giving me 3 points. I also managed to claim two objectives from my tactics cards; Hold Ground, where I had to hold the large terrain piece in my own deployment area (thank you skeletons), and Raze, which required me to have a unit within 3” of the opponents long table edge, which I’d achieved with the Knights on the charge.
Soulblight Gravelords: 5 Points
Kharadron Overlords: 0 Points
Ian used Final Breath, one of his card tactics, to bring back four Arkonauts in the centre of the battlefield on the objective. Then his admiral brings back two arkonauts fighting against the Vargheist with No Duardin Left Behind.
His Frigate disengages with the Vampire lord and flies over the top of him for a bombing run, causing 3 mortal wounds to the Vampire Lord. While his Sky Wardens move towards the Knights to try and prevent them from rolling up his flank.
The Sky Wardens shot at the Knights in the shooting phase, which included a massive 12 shots from the Aethermatic Volley Gun. But, with all that shooting, Ian only managed to take two health of one of the Knights.
The Arkonauts in combat with the Vargheists use their pistols against their massive foes wounding once.
The Admiral shoots at the Vampire Lord but fails to damage it.
After what appeared to be some very unlucky shooting Ian chose to shoot the Vampire Lord with the Frigate, and here his dice rolls turned as he did enough damage to remove the final two health points off the Vampire Lord killing it.
The Arkonauts that have freshly arrived in the centre take some shots at the Blood Knights, killing one and wounding another.
Then Ian did his charges…. With his Admiral connecting with the Vargheists and the Sky Wardens charging into the Blood Knights while his Frigate charged into the Skeletons on my right flank.
Ian’s dice rolling continued as he managed to kill two more Blood Knights in the combat phase with his Sky Wardens.
Not wanting to be outdone, my Vargheists killed the remaining Arkonauts facing off against them.
Ian’s rolls return to normal with his Frigate fighting the Skeletons, only managing to kill one of their number (who would later be returned to the battle at the end of the combat phase through their ability).
Hoping for a little luck, my remaining Knight manages to kill one of the Sky Wardens.
Ian’s fickle dice continue to frustrate him as his admiral fails to damage the Vargheists.
My skeletons return the favour to the Frigate, dealing it one damage in return.
Ians scored 2 for the objectives he held and managed to claim the battle tactic Desolate Landscapes.
Soulblight Gravelords: 5
Kharadron Overlords: 3
Winning the priority roll, Ian chose to go first in round 2 and immediately set about evening the score.
His Arkonauts in the centre move towards my skeletons that are in combat with the Frigate and then charge them.
With everything else in combat, he skipped straight into the shooting phase with his admiral, killing one of the Vargheist. His Sky Wardens managed to wound the last Blood Knight twice, leaving it with one health.
His dice rolls, turning turning in his favour again, continue with his Frigate, killing four of the skeletons and his Arkonauts, killing 5 skeletons on my left flank.
In the combat phase, his frigate kicks things off by killing two more skeletons.
My Vargheists do two damage to the Admiral, and his Sky Wardens kill my remaining Blood Knight.
My skeletons whiff against the Arkonauts that charge them (me choosing them to try and remove them from the objective).
At this point, Ian chose to use one of his cards to use Bloodlust on his Admiral and managed to kill the remaining Vargheists. This left me with just the two Skeleton units on the board. His Arkonauts fail to kill any further Skeletons and we move on to his scoring.
At this point, Ian held 3 objectives and managed to score two battle tactics; Control the Necropolis Dias and Raze.
Soulblight Gravelords: 5
Kharadron Overlords: 8
With only two units of skeletons left, my choices were dwindling quickly.
I run the Skeletons on my left up to the centre of the board to claim the centre objective and make sure thar they’re all within Ian’s half of the board to score not one, but two of my battle tactics this turn.
My Skeletons in the right kill the remaining Arkonauts facing off against them in the combat phase.
Those Skeletons in the centre managed to claim an objective for me as well as two battle tactics, meaning that I held 1, 2, and more for five points in this turn.
Soulblight Gravelords: 10 Points
Kharadron Overlords: 8 Points
With a win of the priority roll, I chose to go first considering what little units I had on the board.
The Skeletons on the right do two more wounds to the Frigate, and the Frigate kills two in return.
Still holding three objectives and managing to score all three battle tactics this turn gave me a massive 6 points.
Soulblight Gravelords: 16 Points
Kharadron Overlords: 8 Points
The Admiral moves towards the skeletons in combat with the Frigate, and his Sky Wardens move towards the objective on the right of his area.
Ian retreats his Frigate out of combat using his ability.
Then the dreaded shooting phase….
The Admiral kills two skeletons.
The Sky Wardens kill 1 skeleton in the centre and the Frigate kills two more of then.
The Frigate charges into combat with the Skeletons killing 1 and suffering no damage in return.
At the end of Ian’s turn, he holds 1,2, and more, as well as achieving two of his battle tactics.
Soulblight Gravelords: 16 Points
Kharadron Overlords: 13 Points
It was the final turn, and things were coming down to the wire. In our little pre-turn discussion, Ian mentioned that he was confident he could score 5 points in his next turn, which meant to claim the win. I would need at least 3 points to keep the victory. Luckily for me, the Battle Tactics I drew made this possible. If I could just run my Skeletons on the centre objective down to the friendly objective on my left flank, I could claim one of my tactics and score two from objectives.
The movement phase came, and I rolled a massive 2″. Not enough.
On to the combat phase and the Frigate kills another skeleton with no reply.
I did score 1 victory point for holding an objective but I doubted it would be enough to keep the game in my favour.
Soulblight Gravelords: 17 Points
Kharadron Overlords: 13 Points
With the game essentially over, there was no combat left, and Ian claimed hold 1,2, and more as well as two of his tactics. Victory to the Duardin!
Soulblight Gravelords: 17 Points
Kharadron Overlords: 18 Points
Post Game Thoughts
That was my first game of Spearhead and I got to say, I can see what people love about it. The match felt close throughout and neither of us felt like we couldn’t win the game at any point. Even when I only had Skeletons left on the field I was more than able to achieve battle tactics to score. Great stuff. Great opponent.
What did I learn? Well first off, I forgot a lot of Heals thanks to the battle trait ability, so I’ll try and remember that for the future. Also, the Vampire isn’t a wise choice to fight against a Frigate on his own.
Tactically, I felt charging up the field and engaging as soon as possible was the correct choice, though I should have perhaps moved my skeletons further forward in the early stages to support. The Vampire, could have perhaps hung back and supported the Skeletons against the Frigate once it made its move against them and THEN I could have used his ability to jump up the board.
The Ember Gambit
“She flew too early. Or too bold. And so the tide turned.”
— Castellan Hrelg of Barak-Nar
The first clash of the Death’s Season saw the Barrow-Fall Court descend upon the skies of Dolorum, their banners whispering through the still autumn air like falling leaves. Serida the Emberbound, restless and untested, led the vanguard, her auburn hair trailing behind her like the last gasp of sunset.
The plan was bold, Serida leapt into the heart of the enemy, seeking to shatter the Kharadron Frigate in a swift, glorious blow. Behind her, the Rustcrown Lancers and Gloamfangs surged from the mists, crashing into flanks and hammering the Duardin’s outer lines.
But the skyfolk were not so easily scattered. Their cannons roared, their frigate soared, and Serida paid the price. Cut down mid-assault, her body vanished in a swirl of bats, her ambition silenced.
What followed was a bitter, grinding war of attrition. The Hollow Guard, tireless and unyielding, clawed back, rallying behind broken tombstones and shattered hulls. Even as Vargheists fell and the Knights were gunned from their saddles, the dead marched on.
In the end, the Court stood but inches from triumph. Their bony hands grasped the threshold of victory, only to see it snatched by the cunning of the Kharadron admiral and the final thunder of sky-steel.
