Unit Strategy Review: How to use Dünd

[netherspirit]

Originally Posted by markwars

I don't know whether to be flattered or frightened.

I keep forgetting that you aren't actually Kylie Minogue! :P

[brickman1444]

Originally Posted by netherspirit

I keep forgetting that you aren't actually Kylie Minogue! :P

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by brickman1444

[scaper dude]

Yeah, good luck with the new one.

[Agent Minivann]

I really like the idea of picking off the guy separated from the rest of the army. I think I'll make a mental note of that for when I play my Dund army: Marrden Hounds x2, Braxas, and Dund. It's basically a 400 point army idea I borrowed from GaryLASQ plus Dund. I generally play it with the Hounds the first wave. I try to take out as many heroes as I can with the hounds, squaddies are a bonus. Braxas is the second wave to take out the squaddies. Dund is cleanup. So far I've never got to the cleanup stage of the plan, but I like my chances.

[Joah]

Now I really can't wait to get my hands on this years Dund repaint. :P

Great article Agatagary.

[Junge Roman]

DW7000, yeah, sounds good. Although most people think he can only explode, with his movement and ranged defense he should be pretty good at killing off ranged guys. Although, for my part, I like to see him go boom! I look forward to it.

[Agatagary]

Originally Posted by Junge Roman

DW7000, yeah, sounds good. Although most people think he can only explode, with his movement and ranged defense he should be pretty good at killing off ranged guys. Although, for my part, I like to see him go boom! I look forward to it.

A mind-reader, I see. Junge Roman, your observation is similar to what I was thinking.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Aldin

So I'm thinking:

Braxas
Agent Carr
2xRats
Dund

as a good 500 point army to try him out. Braxas, Carr and the Rats are all cohesion breakers and should leave the opponent's army in "clean up" status. Any thoughts?

~Aldin, considering maps

True. Any figures that prevent Dund's potential targets from targeting him with ranged attacks are great. Swarm the enemy, prevent them from shooting Dund, then Dund can approach safely.

[jcb231]

I do like Dund, and thought your article was quite well done.

I hesitate to say that he should not be used against swarms though. Certainly he should not charge into a swarm, but inevitably large swarm armies have fringe stragglers and require order markers to be placed on a small nubmer of cards (sometimes just one in an Orc-bonding strategy) rather than split over three different heroes. If Dund can cripple even one of those stragglers, you may leave an opponent without any actions all round.

Also, Dund can be used, as the official site wisely mentions, to slow down fast moving troops. This allows slowbies like the Knights or Zombies to catch up and do devasting amounts of damage.

[morgonis]

couple weeks ago i busted out Dund, been playing since wave 1 and never used him, but figured it was about his time....rushed him out to the center of the map and kept atleast a X marker on him until my oppnenet had enough and bum rushed him....but Dund was in the center of the field for around 9 turns....each round it greatly effected the oppnents order marker placement and gave me a advantage since he was afraid to put all his markers on a single card he wasnt able to focus attacks very well whereas I had no such difficulty.
after that game i gained respect for Dund and after reading this thread i have even more respect.

[Agatagary]

I have just conducted a test of this strategy, and I have to say that Dund was extremely effective! Here is the battle report:

<To make the battle easy to follow, my units will be colored Blue, while my opponent's will be colored Red>

My Army
Blastatrons x1
Dund
Gladiatrons x2

Opponent's Army
Aubrien Archers x2
Syvarris
Warriors of Ashra x1
Theracus

Map
A rectangular map. A river runs diagonally across the center, with a road and bridge running perpendicular. Most of the elevation is concentrated on the center, with some ruins at either end. Evergreen trees are between the ruins and the elevation, on either side of the map. The map is asymmetrical, but balanced.

Early Game
I began by sending my Gladiatrons to ford the river, while my Blastatrons headed for the bridge. My opponent advanced Syvarris and the Aubrien Archers. By the time my Gladiatrons reached the other side of the river safely, the Aubrien Archers were in position to attack. Since my Blastatrons were nowhere near their firing position on the bridge, I had the Gladiatrons charge forwards and engage the Aubrien Archers. After a brief skirmish, my Gladiatrons emerged victorious, having slain two Aubrien Archers (the third wisely retreated). At this point, my opponent focused every order marker on Syvarris, who was dangerously close to the Blastatrons (though far away from the Gladiatrons), so I was forced to retreat the low-defense Blastatrons to safety behind some ruins.

Mid-Game
I quickly realized that Syvarris was a threat that had to be dealt with immediately, if my strategy was to succeed. Unfortunately, my Gladiatrons were too far away to reach him quickly enough to ensure victory. Nevertheless, I concentrated my order markers on the Gladiatrons, sending them towards Syvarris. Eventually, I managed to pin him down. I then began to whittle away at his life. With Syvarris pinned down, my Blastatrons rushed forwards again, and made it to the bridge just as a few Aubrien Archers finished off the last Gladiatron engaged with Syvarris. At this point, due to bad luck and reckless tactics, I had only one Gladiatron left (who was marching as fast as possible towards the enemy). As he reached Syvarris, my Blastatrons finished off the elf, and I began attacking the rest of my opponent's army. By the time my four Blastatrons and one Gladiatron were all dead, my opponent's army had been reduced to three Aubrien Archers, two Warriors of Ashra, and Theracus (who was still in the starting zone). In contrast, the only unit that I had left on the field was Dund.

End Game
The Aubrien Archers were the first to reach Dund's position, with the Warriors of Ashra a few order markers behind. This was mainly due to Frenzy, and to the relative proximity of the Aubrien Archers to Dund at the point at which my opponent had finished off my last Blastatron. The Aubrien Archers got the initiative on Dund, but failed to wound him. Dund then failed his Crippling Gaze roll, and charged into combat. Without suffering any damage, Dund finished off all three of the Aubrien Archers, even without a successful Crippling Gaze. The next units to arrive on the scene were the Warriors of Ashra. Fortunately, battle had caused them to become separated. As one approached Dund, I tried again for Crippling Gaze...and succeeded! In the free turns that ensued, Dund finished off the lone warrior and then went off in search of the other one. At this point, my opponent grew desperate and sent Theracus to help. Before Theracus could reach Dund, though, the doggin reached the last Warrior of Ashra and eliminated her. It was now a contest between doggin and gryphillin. Dund lured Theracus to the Banks of the river with a potential height advantage, then used sneaky tactics to grab the advantage for himself. In the following combat, Dund sustained only one wound, while Theracus was slaughtered.

Although it was close, Dund won the battle for me with 75% of his health remaining. The end-game strategy outlined in my article seems to work very, very well.