The full moon lit the fields with an eerie silver glow, casting harsh shadows from the fence lines and creating dark pools beyond the straggling pine trees at the edge of the track. A warmer glow emanated from the small building off to one side of the narrow dirt track and there was a hint of woodsmoke in the air. Hrothwulf paused at the field boundary, his breath smoking in the frosty air, there was a lot of open ground to cover before the shadows would cover them again. He held up his axe and as the rest of his war party knelt silently to either side of him, glancing towards the Farmhouse, he felt rather than heard the mighty Tundra Wolf, Ffalnath, taking up his usual station to Hrothwulfs left. For long seconds the Night Raiders paused, scrutinising the field and trees for any sign of life. Finally, they could delay no longer and set off across the field towards the Farm. Crouching low the Varangur moved stealthily through the low crops, frost crackling under their boots as they went, as they approached the track Ffalnath let out a low growl and his ears went flat against the side of his head. ” Down” hissed Hrothwulf and flung himself forwards. Several loud twangs came from the direction of the scattered Pines and one of the Night Raiders, slower to react than the rest, grunted in pain as an arrow sprouted from his shoulder. “up, up” yelled Hrothwulf “before they reload” and with a blood curdling shout he sprang up and ran towards the shadowed trees, as the rest of his men copied his action he was aware of the shapes moving in the shadows and without breaking stride he hurled his axe into the dark, the rest of the Varangur doing the same a scant moment later, several loud thuds and some gasps and screams told the Night Raiders that their instinct had been correct. Even as Hrothwulf reached to his belt for another axe he saw Ffalnath streak forwards into the shadows and as he vaulted over the fence, he heard the savage snarls as the Tundra Wolf got to grips with an enemy. Hrothwulf landed lightly on the track, from the corner of his left eye he saw a glimpse of movement and with reflexes honed in years of close combat, he brought up his shield to catch the blow of a spear on the sturdy wooden boards, throwing his left arm out to drag the spear wide he swung his right arm round to take his enemy in the knee with the short blade, he yanked it hard back to unbalance his foe and as his opponent fell backwards Hrothwulf was already swinging his weapon in an overhead blow to finish him off. Once the rest of his men caught up and overtook him, Hrothwulf paused to take stock of the situation, closer up he could see some of Pretty Boy Talannar’s Pack Hunters lying in various poses of death whilst his ears told him of more fleeing in the dark. Without the keen senses of the Tundra Wolf, Hrothwulf and his men would have walked straight into the Northern Alliance ambush. Hrothwulf smiled as Ffalnath trotted from the trees, his tongue lolling from his blood-streaked muzzle, the very picture of a satisfied puppy.
The Night Raiders collected the throwing axes they could find and continued their mission, now they knew the Northern Alliance were out there, they needed to know how many and exactly where they were, it was going to be a long night.
Night Raiders – the name is quite evocative in itself, it conjures up images, to me at least, like in the story above. Barbarian Tribesmen that range ahead of the normal (if there is such a thing as Normal Varangur) troops of the Varangur Army to scout out the enemy and raid his lines of communication. Fast moving and lightly armed troops that can perform a variety of functions.
Just like their fictional counterparts in the story I try and run the Night Raiders true to the narrative image I have of them.
Night Raiders have the below profile and the ability to swap their Throwing Axes for Bows for free and to add an Aura of Vicious (Melee) for Tundra Wolves only and Scout for 15 points. Although worded for “Tundra Wolves Only” the Aura also affects the Night Raiders themselves so 12 attacks of 4+ with Thunderous Charge (1) and Vicious can be useful. The Scout, coupled with the Night Raiders native Pathfinder is very handy but can, especially for a rubbish KoW player like me, be a double edged sword and I have to remind myself constantly that just because they can Scout , doesn’t necessarily mean they should. Their Stealthy is great to help counter their Def 3 and coupled with their ability to lurk in cover fairly freely can serve to keep them on the table a couple of turns extra.
The role I see them fulfilling in my Varangur battleline is very scenario dependent. I have run them with both Bows and throwing axes and the change in weapons can make a big change in how they are used in the game.
With Bows, the Night Raiders are mainly limited to being static Missile platforms. With a 4+ Ranged and 24” range they sound quite handy but generally the lack of Steady Aim means that the Night Raiders are usually scouted into an advantageous position on the table (into a wood or other cover or onto a conveniently place hill and then left to plink away for a few turns before moving to claim tokens or kill off some straggling units for extra points at games end. The fact that they are stealthy makes this even more effective as they may only suffer one or two turns of counter shooting before the enemy find better targets amongst the advancing Varangur army to engage. Their ability to strip chaff at range and cause plink damage makes them quite valuable as a support troop type to allow other Alpha strike Varangur units to one shot their opponents with a smaller margin of failure. I have both played and played against this form of Varangur Night Raiders and 24 or 36 shots a turn on 4+ is no joke and if they spike, they can severely cramp your style. Of course, even with bows you can charge them forwards as their Scout/Pathfinder does allow them to move fairly freely through terrain and can put them in a good, advanced position.
With Throwing axes the range on their shooting is reduced to 12” but they gain Steady aim and Piercing (1). This combination suits a more aggressive use of the Night Raiders and does fit in more with my Idea of Night Raiders in respect to the Narrative of the Varangur, although I heard an opinion on a Podcast from 2022 by Varangur players in the US that there was no Varangur Narrative fluff LOL, I think we have come a fair way since then and the Varangur have their own narrative story. I think that the idea that they are of the same basic stock as the Northern Alliance is a great move as it stopped them being the port over for the ex WFB gamers that desperately cling to their Chaos Warriors, but anyway I digress as this could be an entire rant post on its own.
The shorter ranged but more effective shooting afforded by the throwing axes requires a more measured approach to using Night Raiders. I am still learning this approach but so far have found it needs careful manoeuvre and co-operation with other elements of the Army. At the moment I am using Snow Foxes and a Snow Troll Prime to both shield and support the Night Raiders. Again the judicious use of the Scout ability to gain a good position is helpful but not compulsory (I have to keep telling myself this!) and the Pathfinder and Stealthy make keeping the units in cover for the maximum time easier. I have also considered using a Skald with the Ordered March aura to enable the Night Raiders to get into position quicker but I can’t justify the additional non scoring character at the moment. Maybe in a later evolution of the Wulfen.
I will be exploring the Other units that I have been selecting for the army in further Blogposts and I will also be continuing the Tournament reports to chart the Wulfens progress for the Coming season. As I write this I have one more Tournament to attend and a couple of practise games ( one of them against a virtuoso of the Varangur – Darklord Dan- in which I hope to pick up some tips and tricks on how to use my newly painted Tundra Wolves in support of the Night Raiders)
Please feel free to have a browse through the other Blogposts on this site to see how the Wulfen of Hjartsfjord have been developing, from their early days as the Army of Dorkness to their current revamp.
Firing arrow after arrow the Night Raiders fell back through the thick snow, some of their arrows were finding their mark but too few of the Elf Cavalry were succumbing to save the Varangur, the Elves paused as they dressed their ranks and lowered their lances , the blue and silver pennons fluttering as they did, the gleaming silver points of the long spears pointing at the handful of fur clad Scouts in front of them.
The Elf horses began to trot forwards, building speed for the charge which would shatter the Varangur lines and allow the Elves to turn the tide of this battle, then, bounding through the snow came a multitude of sleek shapes, crashing into the flank of the Elven regiment and changing them in an instant from a proud line of warriors into a maelstrom of rearing horses, panicked riders and slavering , snarling Wolves, pulling the riders from their mounts and nipping at the hamstrings of the Elven warsteeds. With a yell the Night Raiders threw down their bows and, drawing axes and long knives, hurled themselves into the fight as well, now that the Tundra Wolves had saved them from annihilation.
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