The World Of Twilight

A couple of you guys have kindly volunteered to playtest the rules for the forthcoming Kedashi, so it seems like a good idea to share the rules here!
These are very rough and liable to change, but feel free to give feedback or suggest ideas! I've included details of new abilities where needed.

Queens:
These are very much support models, but have the ability to respawn frenu, which may prove to be a bit too powerful!
Note that you can never have more frenu than you started with - spawned frenu must come from the 'dead pile'. Frenu that have joined Swarms should be kept separately.
The ancient queen is a character model as rare as the Enarii and will probably have a specific name when she is fully released.
Forest templates are roughly ovals and you should be able to cut two out of a single A5 sheet.

Kedashi Queen - Elite - cost 50pts (although may be pushed up to 60pts or so)
M:6 C:3 S:1 T:5+ St:2 command: 9"
Commander (4)
Terrain (2, forests): deploy 2 forests during setup within the queen's command range.
Spawn Frenu*: place 1 frenu adjacent to the queen
Sacrifice
Dodge*
Protected (2)
Ranger
Trainer (2, initiative)

Ancient Kedashi Queen - Elite, Unique - cost 100pts
M:6 C:4 S:1 T:4+ St:2 command: 9"
Commander (4)
Terrain (2, forests): deploy 2 forests during setup within the queen's command range.
Spawn Frenu*: place 1 frenu adjacent to the queen
Sacrifice
Very Tough*
Tactician **
Venerated
Protected (2)
Ranger
Trainer (2, initiative)

Seldoath:
I see this little monster apoearing out of the undergrowth and tearing into enemies. Not too powerful, but with a lot of shock factor! Ambush and Lunge are experimental new abilities that do suit him... You cannot use Lunge with a Charge.

Seldoath - beast - 60pts (very approx)
M:8 C:4 S:1 T:4+
Stamina: 0
Command Range: 6"
Size: Medium
Abilities:
Charge (2)
Combat trained (1)
Lunge (2)[C]: Use this model's combat action to attack a model within 2". These models count as adjacent for the duration of the combat. This may be used to attack through obstructing models.
Aggressive
Ambush [T]: You may choose not to deploy this model initially. Spend an activation stone to deploy this model anywhere on the table out of sight of any enemy models. The model may be activated during this turn.
Ranger
Savage

Howlers and Abrok:
These should be annoying harrassers. The Howlers themselves won't be terribly effective, but they will be hard to get rid of and one or two can also be used to guide herds of Abrok into their enemies...

Howlers - troops - 10pts
M:6 C:1 S:1 T:6+
Command range: 2"
Pack (1)
Flit
Rider
Ranger
Throw stones: M:6 R:6" C:2

Abrok - beasts - 10pt or 15pts
M:8 C:3 S:1 T:5+ small
Command range: 2"
Pack (1)
Untrained
Transport (1)

Battle Report #1 - Chance Encounter

This one was a quick game, introducing a new player to Anyaral.

As the seldoath now has rules, he insisted that he should play. And with stats like that, there aren’t many people who can refuse it what it wants. It was also an opportunity to test the howlers and the abroks.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/135%20-%20The%20Kedashi.jpg)

The Seldoath playtesting rules. I’d arbitrarily placed it at 30 points, which it turns out is too little.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/151%20-%20Seldoath%20playtest.jpg)

The Howler playtesting rules:
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/150%20-%20Howler%20playtest.jpg)

The Abrok playtesting rules:
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/149%20-%20Abrok%20playtest.jpg)

The Delgon list might look a bit strange, but that was the player’s own choice (she’s learning fast, though).
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/136%20-%20The%20Delgon.jpg)

A KalMalog deployed first, followed by a group of cautious Trebarnii.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/137%20-%20Deployement.jpg)

The abroks, mounted by howlers, follow.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/138%20-%20The%20abroks%20arrive.jpg)

The first KalMalog advances, ready to make some abrok pie. The other one follows.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/140%20-%20The%20second%20KalMalog%20approaches.jpg)

That’s counting without the seldoath, which deploys via ambush (more than 2 inches inside the wood, so the Delgon do not have line of sight to it).
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/141%20-%20The%20seldoath%20hides%20in%20the%20forest.jpg)

The seldoath can be activated immediately: as a Ranger, the forest doesn’t slow it down. It rushes 8” forward and Charges the KalMalog. That’s 6 stones of hurt. The result is brutal (and those Tough saves were all at -1 as the beast is Savage).
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/143%20-%20Brutally%20efficient.jpg)

One KalMalog down (I’ve just only realised that the seldoath died as well - this did not impact the rest of the game, though).
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/144%20-%20Dead%20KalMalog.jpg)

Meanwhile, the abroks block the remaining KalMalog.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/145%20-%20Surrounded%20by%20abroks.jpg)

Combat time. The KalMalog kills one abrok (the other 2 abroks were supporting). The next combat does not go well for the Delgon however: the howlers dismount and engage as well, and with the extra support both the KalMalog and the assaulting abrok kill each other (see the note at the bottom as to why we forced the howlers to fully dismount in order to support).
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/148%20-%20End%20game.jpg)

Victory to the Kedashi.

Questions raised during the game:

• Can howlers throw rocks while mounted on the abroks? We ruled that they could (this was promptly confirmed by Mike).
• If the abroks are in combat, can the howlers support at all? We ruled that they couldn’t (which it turns out is incorrect - they simply have to be placed adjacent to the model being attacked). Being able to support would have meant 8 stones against the KalMalog in the first combat. Goodness.

In case anyone is interested, I have uploaded the cards I've made for the playtests (with the latest rules as per the first post below).

Ancient queen: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Ancient%20Queen.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Ancient%20Queen.png)

Young Queen: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Young%20Queen.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Young%20Queen.png)

Seldoath: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Seldoath.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Seldoath.png)

Howler: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Howler.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Howler.png)

Abrok: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Abrok.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Abrok.png)

Card Backs: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Kedashi%20Playtest%20Card%20Back.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Kedashi%20Playtest%20Card%20Back.png)

Awesome! Thanks for sharing the cards for other players as well.
The intent with the abrok was that you could have a group of them controlled by one or two howlers. The current price differential between the howlers and abrok might make pairing them more effective. I'm intrigued to see how these evolve through further playtesting.
The seldoath opens up lots of questions. At 30pts it would be a great assassin. At 60pts it would be wasted just taking out a strider. I would like it to be able to vanish back into the undergrowth if it survives, but that might be too fiddly.
Lovely to see more painted models taking shape!

Battle Report #2 - Bug Hunt

For the second game with my new convert, we upped the lists to 300 points.

The Kedashi:
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/152%20-%20The%20Kedashi.jpg)

The Delgon:
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/153%20-%20The%20Delgon.jpg)

Deployment. We did not use any forests on purpose, and so the seldoath had to deploy normally this time.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/154%20-%20Deployment.jpg)

The first turn was quick: combat stone, Kedashi activation (with the mounted howlers moving towards the garkrids), and combat stone again.
The Kedashi acted first in the second turn as well, and engaged as many garkrid as possible. The howlers threw rocks like only they know how to do. All garkrid survived, except for the queen. Crunch.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/156%20-%20Crunch.jpg)

The turn continues, with all regular stones being drawn before the first combat stone. At this point most of the garkrids have been engaged and can be nicely dealt with. The second combat ends up being a wash.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/157%20-%20First%20combat.jpg)

New turn, new combat. And the garkrid prove that they give as much as they get.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/159%20-%20The%20garkrid%20are%20tough.jpg)

The Delgon don’t stay inactive, and join the fray. It does not look good for the Kedashi.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/160%20-%20Uh%20oh.jpg)

But then - an abrok manages to kills a KalMalog! (The KalMalog were played very aggressively, with all eracs. So were the abroks…)
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/161%20-%20Dead%20KalMalog.jpg)

The KalMalog promptly get their revenge. It really does not look good for that howler.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/162%20-%20KalMalog%20revenge.jpg)

Does it, though? The little guy is Flit, and legs it.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/163%20-%20Howlers%20are%20Flit.jpg)

Meanwhile, an abrok and a garkrid kill each other.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/164%20-%20Another%20dead%20abrok.jpg)

The next turns sees the Delgon acting first. Looks like fun’s over for the Kedashi.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/165%20-%20Fun's%20over.jpg)

Maybe not. The howlers disengage!
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/166%20%20-%20Howlers%20ARE%20flit.jpg)

The remaining abrok plays next. It moves back, contacts the howler with the dead garkrid, picks them (well, the howler mounting it does), and goes back.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/167%20-%20Back%20and%20forth%20by%20the%20abrok.jpg)

The Kedashi are lucky, and get several stones in a row. The seldoath comes in. The goal is to block the KalMalog as much as possible. Yes they can sprint, but the more they have to, the more stamina they will have to use.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/168%20-%20The%20Kedashi%20are%20lucky.jpg)

It is combat again, and the howlers don’t forget they’re flit: they move away and rearrange themselves in order to block the KalMalog as much as possible. All but one: one very brave howler uses its Flit move to engage a KalMalog. With (extreme) luck, this might slow down the KalMalog another turn.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/169%20-%20The%20howlers%20run.jpg)

Did we say “extreme luck”?
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/170%20-%20Dead%20howler.jpg)

It is now the Delgon’s turn, and as expected the KalMalog sprints ahead and catches up with the abrok.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/171%20-%20The%20KalMalog%20sprints.jpg)

It is combat again. And once again both abrok and KalMalog are very aggressive. Both die.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/172%20-%20Combat%20again.jpg)

At this stage the Delgon have no-one left to catch up with the Kedashi (the remaining KalMalog ran away earlier with its 2 garkrid carcasses). The Kedashi prevail.
(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/173%20-%20End%20Game.jpg)

Some questions raised during the game:

• If a mounted beast kills a garkrid, can the howler mounted on it pick the resulting object without dismounting? We ruled that it was nimble enough to do so.
• If a howler holding an object is adjacent to a mounted howler, can it pass the object to the mounted howler? We rules that it could.
• During combat, a very brave howler uses his flit move to get in contact with an enemy. Can it then attack the enemy in the same combat turn? Can the enemy attack it? We ruled that it could not, but the enemy could (confirmed by Mike).

These battle reports are amazing. I am hoping to get a game or two in this weekend. Will try to post some reports - but can't promise to keep up the high standards.

Wow! Fantastic reports!

I love how the Trebarnii are shaping up to be a competitive force on their own without their flappy allies!   ;D

I didnt want there to be a lack of options for the kedashi/trebarnii!

For the howlers and abrok - the howlers are never actually mounted, they simply grab a lift from the beasts as they pass. The same howler can be moved multiple times and the move/s dont impact its activation. It can support as usual, as long as it is engaged.
Items can be given to or taken from a friendly adjacent model during a model's activation, so you can pick something up and pass it as soon as either model is activated. You couldn't do this during the combat phase.

Thanks again for the battle report!

Seldoath: 1 - Dehran: 0...

(http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/174%20-%20Dead%20Dehran.jpg)

Oops...

So I finally got round to some playtesting...

Started with a fair sized game. A Delgon expeditionary force entering the forest to set up a logging base.

Forces:
Delgon
NuraSen plus 2 KalDreman
NuraSen Pluton plus 2 KalDreman
2 KalMalog
Kal DruKar
2 KalDru
NuraLehn plus 5 KalGarkii

Kedashi
Ancient Queen
2 Kaopi
2 small swarms
8 Frenu
Trebarnii boss
2 Trebarnii warriors
Bagrun
Howler plus Abrok

So the only new figures we tested were the ancient queen, howler and abrok.

Round 1: Delgon had initial activations and moved towards the forest. This was a little unwise, as the small swarms were then sent in against the KalMalogs as well as a couple of bombing frenu. The result was carnage and both KalMalog failed to survive! The Delgon ranged weapons also found themselves engaged in combat after failing to shoot anything.

Round 2: Just a few frenu as casualties this round, but again the Delgon were really on the back foot, trying to disengage the various priests from swarm and bombing attacks. The howler threw some stones and hitched a ride on an advancing abrok. (After the game,
 we felt it proably shouldn't be able to do both in one round - although its stones failed to cause any damage all game, this felt to powerful for a 10 point figure).

Round 3: Crunch time. Again small swarms on the NuraSen  and Pluton and the howler and abrok on the KalGarkii group. THe stones did not go well for the Delgon, resulting in all the KalDreman sacrificing themselves. The resulting gaps did allow a KalDruKar to kill a small swarm.

Round 4: Kedashi activation stones allowed them to manoeuvre round well. they brought up more forces and the queen was able to spawn some new frenu for reserves. Although Pluton seemed to be leading a charmed life and refused to die, the KalDru and some KalGarkii went. Although they managed to kill a Kaopi, the Trebarnii boss and warrior were closing in, with a new swarm and frenu fasst behind.

At this point, with very little forces to protect him, Pluton decided discretion was the better part of valour and beat a hasty retreat.

So what can I say about the new models?

Again, Kedashi are strong in forests (no news there!), so the Delgon learnt not to use activation before the Kedashi, as that makes troops vulnerable to attacks from the forest.

As above, can the howler throw stones and ride in the same activation?

Also, should the Abrok have 'ranger' ability? It is, after all a forest animal. If it is not a 'ranger', then the howler actually moves faster on foot through the forest!

The ancient queen was able to sit back and spawn safe in the forest. It was actually tempting to use 'Tactitian' to put back a Kedashi counter, to force the delgon to go first! Presumably this is allowed?

Another kedashi victory? There's a definite pattern emerging! I'm not sure either of you have lost with your queens yet...
Forests are a huge help! Don't forget you can't do bombing runs out of the forest.
A howler can ride and throw stones in the same activation (same with casanii Warriors and erillai). The stone throwing is more of an annoyance than a real threat.
Good point with the abrok and ranger. I'm not sure it should be the only kedashi model that is slowed down through the forest...
I'm almost tempted to stop the queens from being 'elite' and give them 'venerated' instead (maybe even 'critical' for an ancient). It's a tricky balance for this sort of support model - it may be too easy just to hide the queens. By removing their elite status it allows the enemy to just ignore the queens who hide in the forests and focus on the aggressive units.
Feel free to try that variation for your next games, see how differently it works!

Another thought on the abrok... I could imagine the howlers moving faster through the forests than the abrok - swinging through the trees at high speed while the abrok leap over and through the undergrowth...
I'm still not certain. The other beasts don't have ranger now I come to think of it...
I think I'll leave the abrok without ranger for the moment, although I'm open to discussing it!

The Seldoath has Ranger - pretty much essential for an ambush creature.
It makes sense to me for the abrok not to have Ranger. So far in our playtests this hasn't been an issue.

And on Kedashi victories: add another one to the list. We've played a 3,000 points game this weekend (1,000 each of Delgon, Empire and Kedashi). The Delgon fared the worst (not a surprise), with the Empire holding its own quite well. I'll try and post details later in the week.

The theme was "attack of the Kedashi tree". Dehran brought a band to bring it down; the Empire were tracking him, and the Kedashi were in the middle of it all.

We added the twist the the KalGush were able to burn the forest, which made things interesting:

• The KalGush can set fire to the forest if they shoot and throw at least one Erac. Place a fire counter.
• At the start of each combat, move all fire counters by d3”, in the direction indicated by the scatter die (hey, if we can't use them in that other game anymore, they have to find another use).
• The fire always moves, it will not stay in place.
• If a fire token ends up more than 9” of any other token (border to border), it disappears on a roll of 1-3.
• Any minis caught in the fire zone (using the centre of the fire tokens) gets burned and is removed if it fails a save (at -1).
• It is not possible to fly over / across the fire.
• The fire does not block line of sight, but it does obscure minis on the other side of it.

That's a huge game!
Fire rules look good - I've wanted to do something like that for ages.
Fire counters are the 30mm bases? How does the fire zone work? Is that just the area of the counter, or something bigger?

Quick note to say I've updated the test cards with the latest rules changes:

Ancient queen: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Ancient%20Queen.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Ancient%20Queen.png)

Young Queen: http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Young%20Queen.png (http://www.ar-tat.org/anyaral/Young%20Queen.png)

Yes, we used the counters from the Inferno pack (and made some more quickly out of card once we ran out).

2 counters create a wall of flame if they are less than 9" apart. If there are several counters close enough to each other they cover the entire area in flames. It's actually quite easy to manage in practice.

I lost a couple of KalGush to the fire they had unleashed…  :)

Because I've got a bit of battle report fatigue right now, I've done 2 quick animations describing how the 'bagrun tactic' works. It is valid for the current playtesting rules (I hope :P).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqHV2kL-zD8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqHV2kL-zD8)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIAXqju0x74 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIAXqju0x74)

And on and on until the kalgush incinerates the annoying little frenu...

That's happened before. But then the KalGush itself is most likely dead, and the queen can spend a spare stamina point if required to bring the frenu back.

We've been playing a few more games, but the sloth is strong with me these days, so not battle reports just yet.

In general, the games turn out as expected:

• the bagrun list remains vicious (and won't be played for a bit),
• with a 'classic' kaopi/swarm list, the kedashi do well when there is terrain to play with, less so on a bare table,
• the howlers and abroks are fun to play, and will get more testing. Because fun.

I've also made a video (with a bit of noise this time), showing how many charges a bagrun list can get in a single turn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvukyXqgOa4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvukyXqgOa4)

As for the Belan Rider, it is truly unstoppable…

These YouTube videos are great! Clear and straight to the point.
I wouldn't mind seeing a full battle report on YouTube either. There are so few World of Twilight movies.
Nice work and a fantastic job playtesting the Kedashi list.

Thank you for the kind words. Full video reports might take a bit more time. We did make some tries over the summer with time lapses, but haven't found a good set up just yet…

Not giving up, but it might be a few months.

(not a royal we, by the way! - I have a partner in crime for these things)

Looking forward to it!

Good video!
You are managing to convince me to nerf your forces a bit when I finalise the rules  ;)