Gloryholic

Abstract:
I decided to track all my battle results this year and occasionally post about them. The year 2026 started with a win for me in a tight game between my Carrion Retainers and Eazy’s Gravelords.

My friend Eazy, whom I introduced to Spearhead last year and with whom I spent an entire weekend in the Netherlands on an otherwise deserted campingsite to learn the game, is a long-time undead-player. Of course, his first Spearhead force was the Soulblight Gravelords.

To find out who the baddest bloodsucker out there really is, I decided to challenge him with the Carrion Retainers — a spearhead I had not yet played (or even read the rules for).

After setup, I was sure that I had already lost the game. Surprisingly, Eazy later admitted that he thought the same. Why was that, you ask? Two words: >>BLOOD KNIGHTS<<.

The board setup allowed me to negate his >>Blood Knights<< on one flank and to hide my general. However, while I spend a lot of mental energy thinking about which flank the >>Blood Knights<< would fuck up, it never occurred to me that they might simply deploy in the center! Guess where they started. Yes…

Since I don’t take notes during games and the Goonhammer App does not support Sand and Bones yet, I have to recount the rest from memory:

Round 1:
I was able to score two objectives with my Morbheg Knights and the Archregent at the left and right flank, respectively, while my Cryptguard took the center objective. All my objective cards were literally unscorable.

In Eazy’s turn, the >>Blood Knights<< happened. They charged straight down the middle and annihilated my poor Varghulf Courtier. Poor bastard… Fortunately, Eazy was also unable to score any objective cards and managed to hold only two objectives.

Round 2:
This round was dictated by brutal close combat. My Knights charged his and more or less ended in a stalemate. In the center, his Skeletons and Vampire Lord fought my Ghouls and wiped them out — allowing me to bring them back later in my turn.

Eazy managed to score three objectives and a solid amount of secondary points. It was then that I realized my army was in no way able to hold this pressure and I needed to up my movement game. I retreated my Morbghed Knights back to the objective in his backfield, scored double with it, and also left one objective sticky to score three objectives this turn.

This move not caught Eazy by surprise but also turned out to be one of the key moments of the battle. The Cryptguard returned and moved up, as did my Archregent. In total, we both scored six points this round.

Round 3:
Oh boy… I won the roll-off and had only one card left in my hand, which required me to hold the Blood Podium objective on Eazy’s left flank. Thank God for my friend’s addiction — it was the smoke break he took that gave me enough time to decide go first.

This kept me at one card due to the double turn but allowed me to charge before his >>Blood Knights<< could fuck me up. My Morghbed Knights came back and charged the >>Blood Knights<<, my Cryptguard ran up to take the Blood Podium objective, and my Archregent decided to take matters into his own hands.

The Vampire Lord was weakened by Crimson Victuals, and the Archregent actually managed to kill him. He might also have killed a few Skeletons, but I’m not entirely sure about the order of events. Then the Varghulfs entered the game, and we were both certain they would cleanse the earth of the Cryptguard forever.

Well… we were wrong.

The Cryptguard, supported by an Archregent with six Noble Deeds points, lost half of their warriors but managed to kill two Varghulfs in Eazy’s turn! Skeletons were lost as well, and one Morghbed Knight fell.

While I could only score one card objective (the only one I had), the twist card gave me with two additional points, adding up to six points this round. Eazy scored an impressive seven. At this point, the game is tied!

Round 4:
Unfortunately, the cards betrayed my batty vampire adversary. In the final round, which I started, he was only able to score two objectives, while I took three and scored two cards.

Shortly before the Archregent met his demise at the hands of the >>Blood Knights<<, he managed to bring back two Cryptguard and two Morbheg Knights. While the latter freed the center objective from the remaining Skeletons — before taking heavy casualties from the >>Blood Knights<< — the former managed to kill the last Varghulf.

A very thrilling game ended 17-20 in favor the flesh-eating relatives of the vampire family.

Take aways:
– >>Blood Knights<<: Don’t fuck with them. Don’t get fucked by them.
– Cryptguard: Three attacks with rend 1. That is amazing.
– Archregent: Sucks for a vampire. You obviously want him at six Noble Deeds points, which means he needs to see some action–but he is on 5+/6+ (potentially 5+/5+ near Cryptguard), he’s extremely fragile. Rend 1 with 2 damage is nice, but he probably shouldn’t go in alone and is better suited for killing chaff or weak infantry.
– Morbheg Knights: Very interesting. Like the Archregent, they feel like glass cannons, but with Predator’s Pounce and a 12″ move, they’re extremely mobile. Mobility seems to be their main job until the Archregent is fully powered up and can boost their attacks.
– Varghulf Courtier:..who? Never heard of him. Ah yes, now that you mention it–there was this guy who happened to stand in the way of some >>Blood Knights<<. Poor bastard.

Overall, I liked the Spearhead for its mobility. I do fear, however, that armor and a high number of attacks are a serious problem for them. In comparison, the Soulblight Gravelords have far more tools at their disposal and are much more resilient.

Why do Gravelords heal when they deal damage, while the Archregent does not? Is it because he occasionally eats the flesh of his victims instead of decadently drinking the blood of virgins from golden cups…?