CJ's "More will come" Profiles: The Easterling Empire

Who's that Pokemon?
Iiiiiit's....Buneary???

At the dying of the light on the 31st Dec the SBG community was teased with silhouettes of a promised new set of models. The bunny ear helmets all but certainly indicate that we will be returning to the Eastern Kingdoms for the first time since A Shadow in the East, which drew inspiration from East Asian influences. Particularly, the Kingdoms of Rhun seemed to be serving a casting of Ancient China as the Easterling Empire and their enemies the Mongols as Khand, their...er...allies? (Khand also has a style similar to the older Han Chinese in armour and chariots, but the mass horseback archer approach seems Mongol-inspired too).

As a casual history nerd and a childhood fan of Mulan, I've often been intrigued how you could supplement the Eastern Armies in a way that would mirror the historical allegories of the old Sourcebook, and compliment the playstyles of the existing ranges. Today, I'm sharing some ideas for profiles that could be great fun on the tabletop for the Easterling Empire, and where appropriate the history they're based on. In a day or two I'll follow up with likewise for the Variags of Khand.

WARRIORS

Easterling Infiltrator 10pts

Where a phalanx or cavalry would be impractical to flush enemies out of hiding, the Empire can deploy specialists in close quarters fighting.

F3/4+ S3 D4 A2 W1 C3

Armour, Throwing Dagger, Daggers

A Knife in the Dark: Within terrain pieces, Infiltrators gain +1 to Duel rolls.

Sudden Strike: Infiltrators gain +1 on Leap, Climp, Jump tests. They may also finish their movement directly into combat regardless of the roll on the test.

Designer's Commentary: We’ve seen the silhouettes of what look suspiciously like Easterling ninjas so this is an attempt at a guess what they may go for. Knife fighters have a distinct advantage in enclosed environments as they do not require the space to swing a blade, hence the Knife bonus. Sudden Strike also prevents enemies from camping out on raised terrain with their bows raining down on your vital middle pikes.

Easterling Imperial Guards 9pts

Only those entrusted by the Emperor for their skill in battle are granted the use of an Easterling Halberd. Those with leadership capabilities are anointed Captains of the Imperial army. Those with brute strength are indoctrinated into the Imperial guard.  

F4/4+ S4 D5 A1 W1 C3

Easterling hand and a half Glaive/Halberd (axe)

Bodyguard

DC: The halberds are really cool and underrepresented and Easterlings have a kill potential problem. Birds, meet stone.

 

Similar to this, but preferably more field of vision

Easterling Double-Arc Shieldbearer 14pts

When the lines meet, the Double-Arc Shieldbearers ram their heavy shields into the ground and brace behind, trusting the pikes behind them to deal the damage.

F3/4+ S4 D7 A1 W1 C3

Two-handed Double-Arc Shield, Heavy Armour

Phalanx, Burly

Testudo: Easterling Shieldbearers gain the Shieldwall rule. Additionally, Shooting attacks require a 6+ in the way to pass through them.

Heavy Shield: If a Shieldbearer elects to Shield, they may use the Bash special strike when winning a fight.

Anchored position: At the end of a Shieldbearer’s movement, it may declare the intention to Anchor. This counts as using half of the model’s move distance. Whilst Anchored, the Shieldbearer’s Strength raises to 6, and Defence to 8, but may not Shield or make Strikes. An Anchored Shieldbearer cannot be Barged, Hurled, or Rended. Additionally, they will not back away if they lose a fight, the opponent must back away instead. If supported by a pike, the Shieldbearer will not count as trapped in a fight, and the Pikes gain +1 to Wound.

DC: The natural extreme of a pike block with large shields is to have specialist front rows with enormous shields that the pikes can use for balance to focus on the strength of the drive. Easterlings struggle against Monsters Hurling through their carefully constructed pike lines, so by raising the Strength and negating BPAs the Scutum Bearer provides a similar role to a Vault Warden as well as preventing the phalanx being easily run over by cavalry. The additional protection from ranged weapons should further encourage an opponent to engage the pike block, whilst the bonus to Wound should help with the perennial S3 issue, as should the option to Bash foes- which provides an additional option for negating mounted Heroes.

 

Double-Arc Shields were used in Chinese warfare from 770BC and evolved into the second design by the end of the Qin dynasty in 206BC. Placing a wall of these down with spears on the shoulders at the side would be a strong position to fight from. During the Warring States Period, the Tower Shield (right) was also used. At 20x36", they covered the majority of a contemporary soldier and two rows could be used to form a Testudo-style defence against incoming fire. Put some Easterling shield corner spikes on the bottom corners to anchor into the groun and that would present a pretty immovable object with a strong man behind it. 

Easterling Warrior Wargear:

Easterling Black Huolong……..20pt

Early pioneers of the use of fire and small explosions for psychological warfare, by the time of the War of the Ring the Emperor’s tasked military strategists and engineers are ready to introduce a prototype mobile weapon of enemy disruption. In a two-stage action, the Huolong takes flight and reins fire down upon the startled enemy formations, allowing the Kataphraktoi to bear down on the scattered foes.

An Easterling Warrior equipped with a Huolong counts towards the Bow limit. This Wargear allows four *Easterling* models in base contact with the Huolong to make a once per game ranged attack during the Shoot Phase in lieu of making any other action in the same turn. A Huolong is treated as a Heavy Object, with 2 Wounds and D6. Any enemy model that spends a full turn in base contact with a Huolong may disable it and remove it from play.

The range of a Huolong is 12”-36”. Rather than rolling to hit, once a target has been selected immediately apply a Scatter roll of up to 3”. On the roll of a 1, the Huolong is a dud and removed from play and no further action taken. After the initial Scatter roll, the Huolong launches four shooting attacks at the target (Sv4+) which Scatter again up to 3”. As the Hulong rises before firing, treat its shots as volley fire for the purposes of In The Way rolls.

Models struck by a Huolong suffer a S5 Hit. If they survive, S5 or lower models are flung back D3, are knocked prone, and immediately roll a D6. On a 5+, the model is Set Ablaze.

DC: In the interests of encouraging opponents to engage Easterlings in an area that they can use pikes to full advantage, some ranged superiority options would go a long way. As Middle Earth is just encroaching on the technological warfare revolution of explosives (thanks, wizards!), something like this on the boundary between paradigms has historical precedent. Personal siege equipment hasn't been done in SBG before, and having a scattering of these worrying microthreats in your Easterling force would open some interesting tactical options including knocking Heroes off their mounts and forcing them to waste a turn crawling to put out fires.

Huolongchushui - "Fire dragon rising out of the water".
The Chinese were early exponents of gunpowder, smoke, and fire as psychological weapons. But before the cannon, gun, or bomb (for mass destruction), this weapon is believed to have represented the mid-stage between conventional ranged weapons and gunpowder-based ones. The four "legs" would be lit, causing the cannon to rise up to a height. Then when the fire reached the main body, more gunpowder would cause an explosion and propel incendiary arrows from the mouth. In that sense, they invented the multistage rocket well in advance of space travel! Excellent for firing at large troop formations, these were used most prominently in naval warfare, where a lucky shot could set an enemy ship ablaze. Fans of Disney may also recognise them as the loose inspiration for the handcannons in Mulan.

Easterling Blockade 80pts

In anticipation of the reinforcement of Gondor by Rohan, the Easterlings constructed a blockade on the main road to negate the horse lords. Were it not for the intervention of Ghan-Buri-Ghan, this simple piece of tactical engineering may well have sealed the fate of Gondor.

D8, 5Wounds, Siege Target

4 inches tall, 8 inches wide. A 1” thick plank is placed high enough to allow archers to see over, but also receive cover from incoming shots. Two ladders are placed at either end. 4 arrow slits are placed at ground level, the outermost 1” in from the edges, and then the innermost a further 2” in from these.

An Easterling Blockade comprises of a blockade manned by 8 Easterling Warriors with Bow, and counts as a warband in its own right. These models do not count towards the bow limit. This may be deployed in the usual manner within the player’s deployment zone as one of the warbands in your Army List. In Maelstrom Scenarios, deploy the Blockade as if it were a Siege Engine. The Easterling Archers may not leave the Blockade voluntarily, may not lie down behind the Blockade, and will not take courage tests for being Broken. If the Blockade is destroyed, they will take falling damage as normal and then be free to act normally.

Enemy models may attempt to climb the Blockade using the rules for Climbing, and fight the Easterling bowmen as though atop a ladder once they reach the top. The four arrow slits may manned by models with bow and be Shot through in the normal manner. Alternatively, each may be manned by an Easterling armed with a pike. During the Fight Phase, each Easterling may make a single Strike against enemy models either in base contact with the Blockade or attempting to climb it, using the control zone rules for defending a barrier. These Strikes receive +1 to Wound against climbing targets.

At the end of a game, any objectives covered by an area up to 6inches perpendicularly behind the Blockade or up to 1 inch in front count as being under the control of the Easterling player for the purposes of VPs regardless of other factors, so long as the Blockade is manned by at least 6 models. This extends to areas of the battlefield (including terrain pieces, objectives, and camps), as well as Relics, Prizes, and can deny VPs for destroyed Supplies.

DC: By creating a choke point between terrain pieces and giving a ranged advantage due to the built-in terrain cover, this profile may force the enemy to advance to the Easterling player where they can have a phalanx formation waiting and bring dice to bear in combat. This should also help to provide a use to any excess Easterling bowmen a player may have! To compensate for the absence of mobility, the Blockade provides a useful and potentially game-swinging piece of board control for VPs.

HEROES

Easterling Dragon Squire 40pts

Young Easterling Warriors with a talent blade-in-hand can be taken on by members of the Dragon Knights in a mutually beneficial apprenticeship. The young Squire fights alongside his Knight in battle, bearing his Standard, and in exchange the Knight gains bragging rights if his Squire joins the rank of the Knights. Quite possibly, he also hopes it may spare him from betrayal when his Squire eventually surpasses him!

Independent Hero

F4/4+ S4 D6 A2 W2 C5 M1 W0 F0

Heroic Strike

Heavy armour, Dragon Standard, and Sword.

Armoured Horse 15pts

A Dragon Squire is assigned to a Dragon Knight, and deploys as part of their warband which may include 6 other models.

Shield of Blades, Phalanx, The Gleaming Horde, Blood and Glory

Dragon Knight’s Herald: Whilst within 3” of his Squire wielding his Dragon Standard, a Dragon Knight gains the Herald of Victory rule (see Amdur).

Reckless Flauntation: When fighting 2 or more enemies, a Dragon Squire can improve his Fv by 1 in exchange for reducing his Defence by 1.

DC: Historically, this is very much the relationship Knights would have with their Squires, and as nothing similar currently exists in SBG, this seemed a fun and characterful opportunity. Dragon Knight-lite, with a boost to his assigned Knight and a thematic double-edged sword special rule reflecting the desire to prove worth.

Illustration of Saxon Knight and Squire bearing his Standard. The Knight is even in black armour, what more do you want?

 

 

 

 

"Specialised armour developed for warriors in chariots who did not need to move so much and could wear full-length armoured coats."

"[Chariots included]...heavy bronze and armoured versions for punching holes in enemy ranks, those converted to carry fixed heavy crossbows, or even towered versions for commanders to better view the battle proceedings."

Easterling Dragon Emperor 200pts

Amdur has been dispatched to lead Easterling forces in the assault on Gondor in the South. Meanwhile in the War in the North, the Dragon Emperor looks to expand his territories out of Rhun and seize the economic and strategic benefits of the Iron Hills, Dale, and the Lonely Mountain. A veteran Imperial Guard who has murdered his way to the top of the Eastern Kingdoms, the Emperor is a skilled tactician, but has developed a healthy amount of self-preservation in his older age.

Hero of Valour

F5/3+ S4 D7 A2 W3 C5 3M 3W 3F

Fullbody Heavy Armour, Emperor’s Chariot, Easterling Battle Stave (See Warpriest)

Heroic Strike, Heroic March, Heroic Defence

Special rules: Horse Lord, Phalanx, Weapon Master (see Dwalin), Herald of Victory (see Amdur)

Iron Will: Whilst atop his Chariot, the Dragon Emperor gains the Resistant to Magic and Fearless special rules, may not lie down, and cannot be knocked prone or flung out of the Chariot.

Superior Vantage: The range of Heroic Actions and Stand Fast! of the Dragon Emperor is increased to 12” whilst mounted in his Chariot.

Fanatic Devotion: When suffering his final Wound, after Fate points are used, the Emperor can allocate one model within 1” which is Bodyguarded to him to suffer the Wound instead.

Armoured Chariot: 120x92mm base, four Armoured Oxen pull a 2-tiered 4-wheeled enclosed fortified Chariot. Two narrow slits at the front on the lower tier enable an unseen driver to pull the reins. The Emperor deploys on the upper tier, protected from incoming bowfire by a parapet (fortification, 5+). He has access to a mounted Reloading Crossbow.

Chariot:  Mv8” S4 D8 A0 W5 C7

Monstrous Charge

Stable Platform: The Dragon Emperor may still fire his Reloading Crossbow after moving up to full distance in his Chariot, with a +1 to Sv. In an exception to the normal rules, he may fire the Reloading Crossbow in the same turn as Fighting. This may include at models in combat with the Emperor and will not require In The Way Tests.

The Emperor’s Chariot follows the “Chariot Charge”, “The Chariot in Combat”, “The Chariot and Magic”, and “Large War Machine” rules of the Iron Hills Chariot with the following exceptions:

As the Driver cannot be seen, he is not an eligible target for Shooting, Strikes, or Magical Powers. However, he is relying on the command of his Emperor to steer. Therefore if the Emperor is Transfixed or otherwise unable to move as normal, the Driver will either make a complete move straight forward, including into friendly models, or will not move at all if the Chariot remained stationary the previous turn.

Models the chariot moves into contact with suffer three S5 Impact hits.

In combat, the Emperor is treated as too high to be struck by any Wargear other than Pikes, which must roll a 1-4 to hit the Chariot or a 5-6 to hit the Emperor. Monsters may strike the Emperor as normal with the same In the Way Test. Enemy models may elect to strike the Chariot, or the Oxen: 

Armoured Oxen: Mv10 S4 D6 A0 W1 C3

If all four Oxen are slain, the Chariot is removed. The Emperor makes a Thrown Rider test and is placed in the centre of the Chariot’s base.

Zhuge Liang's Repeating Crossbow: Shot and reload with one squeeze! Arrows used were often dipped in poison too.

 

Bronze Armoured Chariot, Qin Dynasty, 221-206BC

Khurasan Miniatures Period Chinese Chariot

1st Corps SU40 War wagon

 

DC: The tiered Chariot is based on a War Wagon with an observation tower used by the Guangwu Emperor (AD 25-57) in a battle at the Great Wall. In the absence of any illustrations, imagine a combination of the above pictures. Being relatively impervious to combat, whilst dishing out a few attacks using a long Easterling Battlestave seems like the leadership approach of an Emperor who followed the example of Bronn of the Blackwater who succeeded in life by being really good at killing people. A kind of halfway ruleshouse between the Iron Hills and Khandish Chariots, this should be a fun profile to deploy providing a really big hammer to your troops' anvil, whilst keeping your Leader VPs relatively safe. The ability to remove the Chariot by killing the Oxen makes it comparitively weaker than other Chariots if it loses a fight, but the Emperor can use his Horselord rule to keep them around a bit longer.