A Noob’s Perspective: Easterlings

Dan Slb: Today we have fellow noob Dan Stu (yes we have two Dan S's here at Drawn Combat!) talking us through his thoughts on Easterlings. Be sure to look out for the pictures of his beautifully painted models too!

Hello! Dan Stu here, first time blogger and almost first time SBGer, sharing my thoughts on my gateway faction in to this great little game.

Before we get into the list discussion, I think I should mention a little bit about where I’m  approaching the game from. I’ve collected a couple of games in the past – 40k, X-wing – but almost entirely for their hobby aspects. I’ve always gravitated towards armies that look good above all else, so the actual competitive list building side of wargaming is something I have almost no experience of. I’ve always been content to just get some nicely painted boots on the ground and start rolling some dice. After a long break from hobbying, earlier this year I signed up for a battle companies campaign - a bit of casual fun, they said - and my hobby inspiration came back with a vengeance! Before I knew it, I had around 900pts of Easterlings to paint, a ton of conversions done, an entire RoTK legion on the workbench, and a bank account that was feeling decidedly sorry for itself. There’s even rumours of a Fiefdoms project for next year… This is easily the most ‘seriously’ I’ve ever taken a wargame. Truth be told, it’s the only wargame where I’ve enjoyed playing the game as much as painting the models. So with all those hours spent hunched over a workbench, it was time to make a few lists that would do my shiny boys justice. Here are my attempts so far. 

List Attempt #1 – the Purist

This was my first serious stab at creating a semi-decent Easterlings list using the models that I had purchased at the time. Easterlings are a funny beast. There are no quirky heroes, clever synergies or control elements (outside of Khamul, who I have decided not to use until I have mastered the basics). But there are solid heavy infantry options, Amdur as a noob-friendly beatstick to anchor your list on, and lots and lots of pikes.

Amdur, Lord of Blades with Armoured Horse

4 Warriors with Shield

4 Warriors with Shield, Pike

4 Warriors with Shield, Pike and Black Dragon upgrade

Easterling Captain

2 Warriors with Shield

3 Warriors with Shield, Pike

3 Warriors with Shield, Pikes and Black Dragon upgrade

Easterling War Priest

3 Warriors with Shield

2 Warriors with Shield, Pike

2 Warriors with Shield, Pike and Black Dragon upgrade

1 Warrior with Banner

Easterling Dragon Knight with Armoured Horse

5 Easterling Kataphrakts with Black Dragon upgrade

700pts, 37 models, 8 might

This is your basic pure Easterling force. It uses most of the models I had purchased for Battle Companies, plus all the pikes I could scrape up from the trade groups. (4 pikes in a box of 20 warriors? For a faction known mostly for its pikes? Really, GW?) If you sit down to make a pure Easterling army without using archers or Khamul, you’ll probably come up with the same list.

It’s solid – the warriors are arranged in 3 rows of 9, with all the buffing models spread out so that every model in the pike block feels the benefit of a banner reroll and channelled Fury - assuming you can roll a 3+ on 2 dice to cast it. The back rank is all black dragons, so if you get your engagement right, most fights should have fight 4, 2 pike supports, a banner reroll, and a penalty-free feinting swordsman, with no danger of being trapped due to the phalanx special rule. Not bad at all - in your perfect infantry-on-infantry engagement you should have the upper hand in the duel roll most of the time.

Feint in the front, fight value in the back. The workhorse of any Easterling pike block.

Amdur sits in the middle as the F6, 3-attack hammerhead, providing his free banner bonus too.

And you have a few heavy cav sprinkled in for objectives/flanking/ protecting flanks, who should be relatively immune to bow fire due to the gleaming horde giving them D7 riders / D6 horses.

But if you think the list looks a little one-dimensional, you’d be absolutely correct! If you get your engagement spot on, protect your flanks with scenery, and your opponent politely engages your pike block head on, you’ll do very well at grinding them down with your pure efficiency.

However, there are no tools to deal with monsters or magic, and thanks to S3 almost across the board, you’ll have a hard time killing… well, anything. For everything that the pike block brings in terms of duelling finesse, it lacks in killing power. You’ll be fishing for that big 6 to kill a lot more often than you’d like! Amdur and the Dragon Knight are your only real killy pieces, and while they are great, they can only do so much (and the DK will die when sneezed at thanks to his 2 wounds and ZERO fate). The objective and mobility game is weak, too – your strength relies in you deploying in one unbroken block, and turning / moving is cumbersome, leaving your opponent free to literally run rings around you.

Oh, and elephant in the room - not a fan of Easterling archers. The only thing Easterlings do better than anybody else is pikes, and adding bows just means less room for pikes as far as I'm concerned.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a very fun list, and it showcases all of the Easterlings’ strengths and weaknesses perfectly. But after a few games with this list and its variations, it was time to inject a little flair (and maybe a little competitiveness…?)

List Attempt #2 – Men of the East

You know what’s a really good answer to the following issues?

-          Poor mobility

-          Poor killing power

-          Lack of list diversity

-          Lack of chariots

That’s right, it’s chariots.

Amdur, Lord of Blades with Armoured Horse

5 Warriors with Shield

5 Warriors with Shield, Pike

5 Warriors with Shield, Pike and Black Dragon upgrade

Easterling Captain

3 Warriors with Shield

2 Warriors with Shield, Pike

3 Warriors with Shield, Pikes and Black Dragon upgrade

1 Warrior with Banner

1 Kataphrakt

1 Kataphrakt with War Drum

Khandish King with Chariot

3 Charioteers

700pts, 32 models, 7 might

Allying in Khand makes this list instantly look much healthier. The pricey chariots have inevitably taken a toll on the body count, but the pike block is still 8 columns wide - albeit minus the fury buff from the War Priest. The low killing power cavalry wing has gone, replaced by a couple of katas who are purely there for last-minute objective grabbing. There is a drum to help you line up that all-important first engagement correctly (9” move on infantry, 15” on cav), so that the pike block’s squishy sides can hopefully find some scenery to anchor themselves on - crucial to avoid being outflanked, or engulfed by your opponent’s wider infantry line.

And then there are the chariots, who are equal parts effective, terrifying, and ridiculous fun. Nobody is sad to see a chariot set up opposite them - well, apart from maybe D4 goblins! After a few games, despite their steep learning curve, the chariots seem to add a real second dimension to the Easterlings. They bring damage in spades - 2 free S4 hits per model they run over, and then effective S4 attacks on their monstrous charge boosted by the King’s 6” banner (they will almost always be using piercing strike - if any attacks get past the chariot’s 5+ In The Way roll they’re dead anyway). 3-4 chariots seems to be the sweet spot too - it allows for one or two chariots to inevitably fluff the rolls for their impact hits without ruining your entire flanking move. Plus, they’re a magnet for bow fire.

Obligatory juicy chariot closeup photo

A third point of might on the King for one extra heroic move would be amazing, and this list does find itself thirsty for might - you want as many heroic moves as you can get. But when your chariots are steamrolling their way through the enemy back line, you’ll be having too much fun to think about resource management. The dream scenario – digging in with your pike block, flanking with the chariots and pinning your opponent in a vice – has only happened a couple of times, and required some tricky timing to pull off. But the results were devastating! Just keep this list far away from any Laketown board.

Of course, the list still suffers from the Easterlings’ main weaknesses, and is hampered by their critical lack of hero options and gimmicky tricks. After a few more games I’ll start experimenting with Khamul instead of Amdur, who trades a bit of hero-killing muscle for the much-needed magical toolbox. Plus, it gives me a good excuse to convert up a fell beast.

The other logical ally is, of course, Mordor, who can offer the Easterlings a number of good things - a front rank with punching power (S4 Morannons or S5 black guard), a cavalry wing that can actually kill things  (the Mouth of Sauron and his Morgul Knights with their lances and magic). But this is all yet to come, as the chariots need to run around the block - and over some more goblins - a few more times first.

Bonus List – Black Dragon Beatstick

Amdur, Lord of Blades with Armoured Horse

4 Warriors with Shield

4 Warriors with Shield, Pike

4 Warriors with Shield, Pike and Black Dragon upgrade

Dragon Knight with Armoured Horse

2 Kataphrakts with Black Dragon upgrade

Dragon Knight with  Armoured Horse

1 Kataphrakt with Black Dragon upgrade

1 Kataphrakt with Black Dragon upgrade and War Drum

500pts, 19 Models, 7 Might

It doesn’t have many models. It has very limited access to heroic actions. It only has 1 fate point across the list. It has no magic.

But what it does have is 3 separate 3-attack models at 500pts, and something to prove.

Realistically, as I start getting more in to list building in general, Easterlings seem more and more to be something you’d want to ally in as a heavy defensive infantry contingent. But there’s just something so likeable about the gleaming horde in all their heavily eyelinered, one-dimensional glory. When the stars align and you get that perfect engagement, they work fantastically. So for the time being, the shinier my lists, the better!

The Gleaming not-quite-a-Horde-yet

Dan Slb: Thanks Dan! What do you guys think about the gleaming horde? Are they best as allies or can they cut it on their own? Let us know in the comments!