Monday 29 February 2016

Kings of February Tournament Report

Kings of February Tournament Report

Tas Stacey

The Westhaven Militia in all their unpainted glory. I’ve started painting the Foot Guard Horde and the Knights, but it’s going to take a while to finish eh. Hopefully I’ll get it all done in the next 3-4 months.


Back Row: Knights Regiment, Steam Tank (counts as Beast of War with light ballista), Knights Regiment, Cannon, Siege Artillery.
Middle Row: Foot Guard Horde (with Brew of Strength), Wizard (with Bane Chant), General on a Winged Beast (with Ensorcelled Armour), Arquebusier Horde (with Brew of Keen-eyeness).
Front Row: Mounted Scout Troop (with carbines), The Captain (mounted), Mounted Scout Troop (with carbines)

Background

This was my first Kings of War tournament, in fact my first wargaming tournament ever. I’ve been a gamer for close to two decades now (mostly TRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, MtG, boardgames, etc). I’ve always been interested in miniature wargaming, but the barriers to entry in terms of monetary cost and time were just too high to justify for me.


I got into KoW after a mate (Oldy) introduced it to me at Cancon. He convinced me (it wasn’t very hard tbh) that this game was The One. I managed to pick up an old GW Empire army secondhand, based it up for KoW, and played 3 games over February. The tournament was held at Three D6 in Tuggeranong, a great FLGS where I play KoW on thursday nights. We had 10 people in the tournament, 2000 points, 3 rounds Swiss.


There were some gorgeously painted armies there:


I voted for these wood elves as best painted.




Game 1

I was up against a guy called Mark and his elves. I forgot to take a picture of his list, but it went something like:
  • Silverbreeze Cav Troop x 2
  • Sea Guard Horde
  • Palace Guard Troop
  • Stormwind Cav Regiment
  • Dragon Kindred Lord x 2
  • Drakon Rider Horde
  • Mage


We were playing the Invade! scenario, and deployed like this:


I didn’t really have a realistic plan at this point. I should have pointed all my war machines and rifles at the drakon riders and dragons, but instead I focused on the Sea Guard (a hybrid archer/spear unit) in the centre. I sort of thought I could roll his Silverbreeze cav on my left, crunch the centre with my Steam Tank, and then pivot around to take the rest of his stuff. Yeah. I don’t know why I thought my Movement 5 & 7 units could outmaneuver his Movement 10 flyers, let's just say I was optimistic.


My first turn went great I thought, I wavered one of his Silverbreeze Cav Troops, and routed his Stormwind Cav Regiment. I had my General on a Griffon with a defended flank, and my Foot Guard Horde ready to charge across the centre line. The situation at the end of my first turn looked like this:


But this was where I made a crucial mistake. I held my knight regiment on my right flank back. The idea was to use them as a second line of defence, charging anything that tried to flank or rear charge my General or Foot Guard Horde.


Instead what happened was my knights in the back corner were charged by both his Dragon and his Drakon Rider Horde. Together they routed my Knights in one turn, and then did a 180 pivot. All of a sudden I had two massive units with a rear charge on half of my army. And his other dragon charged my Arquebusier Horde, disrupting them. I was cooked mate.


I fought on, but caught between his Sea Guard Phalanx at the front and 2 dragons + Drakon Riders behind, Mark just picked me apart. I got my Beast of War, one Mounted Scouts Troop and The Captain into the scoring zone, vs his Sea Guard Horde, 2 Dragons & Drakon Riders. 17 - 3 loss.


It was a fun match, and Mark got my overall vote for sportsmanship. He helped me quite a bit with the rules, and was a dude to play against. I still don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with units like Dragons, Elohi, Drakon Riders etc (with my Kingdoms of Men army at least). Certainly not 3 of them at once. I guess if I engaged one with my Beast of War, tagged the other with my war machines and rifles simultaneously, and threw chaff at the third, I ~might~ be able to take one out. But that seems like a real long shot to be honest.

Game 2

This game was Dominate!, against Tony’s Ogres.


Tony’s list was something like:
  • Berserker Braves Regiment
  • Berserker Braves Horde
  • Bomers Horde x 3
  • Warlock x 4
  • Red Goblin Blaster x 2
  • Giant


This one was going to be an uphill struggle for me right from the get go:


In the Dominate! scenario, you only score points for units that are completely within a 12” radius circle in the very centre of the board. But as you can see, there was a piece of unpassable terrain right in the centre, taking up like half of the scoring zone. Plus a couple of pieces of unpassable terrain just outside the scoring zone. It was going to be extremely difficult for me to fit my infantry hordes into there. Still, I gave it a shot.


I sent a Regiment of Knights and a Troop of Scouts to tackle his Giant on my left flank. I sent my other Scout Troop to try and slow down his two Goblin Blaster carts on the right, and sort of moved everything else up the middle, trying to crowd out as much of the scoring zone as possible.


The giant tore through my knights and scouts. My Steam Tank and General got into it in the middle, and took out a few units. But his 4 warlocks had 48 Fireball rolls between them, which was just a fkn devastating thing to try and deal with at close range.


By the end I had my Beast of War, Captain, and Wizard in the scoring zone, vs all his warlocks, one of his Boomers, and both of his Berserker Braves units. Another 17 -3 loss.

Game 3

After lunch it was time for the last game, against Luke (? I think, I was pretty saturated with new names by this point) and his Empire of Dust army.


His list (excluding magic items) was:
  • Skeleton Crossbowmen Regiment x 2
  • Mummies Troop x 2
  • Enslaved Guardians Regiment x 2
  • Swarm Regiment
  • Skeleton Cavalry Troop x 2
  • Bone Giant
  • Reanimated Behemoth
  • Pharaoh x 2


We played the Pillage! scenario. If the terrain was all against me in Game 2, it was all in my favour Game 3.


We had to fight to control those 6 green circle objectives, and there was a nice big killing field right in the middle for my artillery and rifles to cover.


I won the roll to go first, moved up and took the high ground, and my shooters just did their thing. Basically everything worked for me this game. My mounted scouts were able to force nerve tests with their carbines, my war machines pummelled his Behemoth and Giant, I got units into his two crossbow units by turn 2, while my Foot Guard horde and Steam Tank just marched up the centre.


I was able to replicate the move that sunk me in Game 1, when my Knights regiments on both flanks were able to penetrate deep, rout a unit, and then reform facing the flanks or rear of the bulk of his army.


And that was pretty much it. His Pharaohs lasted until the end (man they are practically impossible to kill. Like for reals), but the rest of his units were routed, and I controlled all 6 objective markers. 20 - 0 win for me.


I felt bad for Luke, his list was just not built for this scenario and terrain. Because we had to be so spread out to compete for so many objectives, he wasn’t able to pull off any flank charge surge shenanigans. And his most durable units (the Pharaohs) don’t count when it comes to controlling objectives (because they are individuals). If we were playing Loot! or Dominate!, he would have had a much easier time I think.

Conclusion

I finished the tournament 7th out of 10. Really happy with that result for my first competitive outing. I used my Flying General, Mounted Scouts, and Steam Tank much better than I have in my first few games. My rifle horde hits like a truck, but I’m thinking about swapping the +1 to hit magic item for the +12” range one. It is just too hard to get them to a position where they can be effective without being disrupted so quickly by flyers. I would also like to squeeze Scrying Gem back into my list, and maybe beef up my knights with pathfinder, crushing strength, or extra speed.


But overall I’m actually pretty happy with my list. I just need to get a bit more experience with dealing with them pesky flyers and I’ll be laughing I reckon. Kings of War is a great game, and Three D6 throws a great little tournament. I’ll definitely be at the next one!

Saturday 20 February 2016

Battle Report: Invade!, Kingdoms of Men vs Basilea

Ok, third game of Kings. Keen for my Westhaven Militia to get some runs on the board and at least force a draw. I have my first tournament (3 games) on the weekend, hoping to get at least a draw or two there. I played Geldy for the first time.

My List: Kingdoms of Men:


  • 2x Regiment Knights
  • Horde Arquebusiers +1 to shoot
  • Horde Foot Guard +1 CS
  • 2x Troops Mounted Scouts with carbines
  • Cannon
  • Siege Artillery
  • Beast of War with Light Ballista
  • General on a Winged Beast + Ensorcelled Armour
  • The Captain, mounted
  • Wizard with bane chant


You'll notice some significant changes since game 2. I picked up some new models at a swapmeet over the weekend, giving me some more options.

In:
Two troops of Mounted Scouts with carbines
General on winged beast with Ensorcelled Armour

Out:
Two Army Standard Bearers
Regiment Pole-Arms Block
Regiment Foot Guard with two handed weapons
Various magic items, including Scrying Gem

I'm hoping that the new additions will make my force much more mobile, setting up more flank attacks and extending my table pressure. I'm concerned I don't have enough sources of Inspiration, but I really didn't want to drop any more magic items.

His List: Basileans


  • Horde Crossbows +12" range
  • Horde Men-at-Arms (spears) +headstrong
  • Regiment Men-at-Arms (sword)
  • Regiment Paladin Foot Guard
  • Regiment Paladin Foot Guard, exchange shields for greatswords +1cs
  • Horde Elohi +10 breath attack
  • Paladin Knights +pathfinder
  • High Paladin on Dragon +regen
  • Phoenix

A lot of flyers and infantry. One unit of cavalry and shooters each. I should have done a better job of using my superior shooting against this list.


Deployment
It was the Invade! scenario, so the aim was to move as many units as possible completely into the other half of the board. I used The Captain's tactics to heavily stack my right flank. My basic plan was to try and with the right flank with my concentrated numbers, then roll him up.

Turn 2
You can see my problem here. Geldy's advanced his forces in a cohesive line, protecting his flanks. I on the other hand moved my units forward in an awkward fragmented way. I sent my Mounted Scouts off to slow down his advance into my right flank, which they did well enough. I didn't take advantage of the time gained though, so it was ultimately a waste. I also forgot to shoot with them (lol). I left my General out on the right there hiding. My plan with him was for him to be an annoying distraction that just hung around, and he worked well for the most part.

Turn 3
My knights and Captain charged off all keen, leaving the slower infantry behind. The fliers in both sides caused issues. My General on a winged beast and his dragon both got behind lines and had to be dealt with.

I had planned for my Steam Tank to hang back and charge anything that threatened my war machines. Except I positioned it poorly and spent most of the game pivoting, chasing the dragon's tail. Next time I'll just march it forward next to the Foot Guard Horde. 

Turn 4
Basically Geldy's Elohi and Phoenix were way better at locking down my flyer than my steam tank was at locking down his.

Turn 5

Turn 6
Final Positions
Result: 395 v 815. If I had moved the steam tank forward one turn earlier I *may* have been able to sneak a draw, but I doubt it.

Apart from my sloppy advancement, and poor positioning, I had no answer to his flyers. The Dragon, the Phoenix, and the Horde of Elohi are all a difficult combination of high movement, high defence, and high attacks. I understand that there are ways to deal with them, but I'm not there yet.

Perhaps if I had held my knights back as a second line of defense it would have made it harder for his flyers to land behind.

This game was a very much an experiment for me; using two new units and facing flyers for the first time.

Next time I'll remember to actually shoot with my Mounted Scouts (lol), I'll actually get an attack in with my Beast of War, and I'll try not to send my Knights off unsupported. I'll try.

I'll also have to remember to think a little more during deployment and those crucial first two turns. I've made key errors in T1 & T2 every game now. Still, was as good a preparation for the tournament as I'm likely to get.

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Battle Report: Kingdoms of Men vs Ogres

My second game of Kings, against same opponent as first. This time I had a couple of explicit goals to improve on. I wanted to deploy smarter. I wanted my Steam Tank to get into melee. It's shooting is useful, but it is primarily a melee tool with TC and CS. I wanted to use my individuals better, making sure all my units were covered by Inspiring at all times.


My List: Kingdoms of Men

My list was unchanged from my first game.

  • Horde Foot Guard with +phalanx
  • Regiment Foot Guard with greatswords
  • Regiment Pole-Arms (halberds)
  • Horde Arquebusiers with +1 to shoot
  • Regiment Knights with +pathfinder
  • Regiment Knights with +1 speed
  • Cannon
  • Siege Artillery
  • Beast of War wit Light Ballista
  • Army Standard Bearer, mounted with +10 breath attack
  • Wizard with Lightning instead of Fireball, with Bane Chant and Scrying Gem.
  • The Captain, mounted

His List: Ogres

His list was changed (for the better IMO). He dropped a Horde of Shooters for a magic item and 3 Red Goblin Blasters (basically suicide car bombers).



  • Warlord on Chariot w +10 Breath Attack
  • Boomers Horde +headstrong
  • Shooters Horde +1 to shoot
  • Shooters Horde
  • Chariots Regiment x 2
  • Siege Breakers Horde x 2
  • Red Goblin Blaster x 3

We rolled the Kill! scenario, and deployed. I used my Captain's tactical mastery to redeploy three units from my left flank over to my right. Oldy had deployed two Red Goblin Blasters (car bombs) on that side, and they never had a chance to impact the game. I was quite pleased with that little switcheroo.

However I made a critical error here by deploying my Arquebusiers a couple of inches back into my Deployment Zone, for no reason at all. This meant I was more than 24" away from Oldy's Shooters, which meant that my Arquebusiers would not be able to fire on them without moving. (Oldy's units have a range of 36", so no concerns for him there). This meant my Arquebusiers were blown off the table before they could get a shot away.

We also had 1-2 too many pieces of terrain I think, which caused me problems. Hordes are hard to maneuver around.

Deploy
Turn 2
You can see my other critical mistake here, with that pile-up of my units near the small forest in the centre. I got really excited by the thought of my Mounted Standard Bearer just sitting there and spouting off with his magical breath attack while getting lots of defensive bonuses from the forest. I forgot to consider that Oldy's Boomers (the unit directly in front, sort of behind the ruined building) ignore cover bonuses. If I had swapped my Knights and Mounted Standard Bearer around, the game could have gone the other way, or at least been a lot closer. As it was, the Standard Bearer was wavered, and really just cocked things up by getting in the way a lot.

Turn 3
I finally got into things here. My Beast of War (Steam Tank) hits like, well, a Beast. My war engines were doing their thing, hitting most turns. I had my knights holding back on my right flank, waiting for his chariots to engage. They did, and my Knights got the critical first charge in, but were destroyed on the counter-charge.

Turn 5
You really see the fruits of my earlier mistakes here. Pretty much all of Oldy's units had a significant number of wounds on them, to the point where a 7+ on the nerve test would have routed them pretty much. If my Arquebusiers were still around, it would have been a very different story. I am strongly considering deploying them as two regiments instead of one horde next time.

I was pleased with my Foot Guard Horde though. 25 attacks hitting on 3+ is a lot.

Turn 6

It was all pretty academic after Turn 5. I managed to rout his Boomers after a charge from my Mounted Standard Bearer (a single attack!), and my Captain wavered his Chariots but it just wasn't enough. Overall I was much happier with the way I used my Individuals this time (apart from that one mistake which possibly cost me the game). I completely covered my forces with my Inspiring bubble this time around, with not a single unit dying uninspired.

Result: 700 v 175 to Oldy.

By the end of Turn 7 all I had left on the board were my two war engines. He had his Warlord, and one unit each of Chariots, Siege Breakers, and Shooters. I take some comfort from the fact that all his units had a bunch on wounds on them.


Lessons:


Don't go toe-to-toe with Ogres. This should be obvious, but their high Crushing Strength values mean that they will do a LOT better than you on the counter-charges.

Don't deploy your fkn main ranged battery out of range. I mean wtf Tas.

The Captain is worth the points you pay for him. Being able to stack one flank or the other after deployment is super useful.

Red Goblin Blasters are an excellent area-denial tool. One of them put 10 wounds on one of my Knight Regiments, a very important stop for Oldy. He traded a 65 point unit to take out a 215 point unit, excellent value. Especially considering that if he hadn't, my knights would have rolled his Boomers and Shooters in short order. I think they will be a very interesting anti-flyer unit, as well as making life a nightmare for opponents on the Dominate and Loot scenarios.

I need to work out how to get my knights in on a flank charge more consistently. It was a tough ask this particular game because of the terrain, but still.

Conclusion:


Another fun evening with a quality opponent. A couple of glaring mistakes, but generally I played much better. I really want this army to do well. I don't want to have to use flying units to win.

I have my first Kings tournament coming up on the 28th. I'll run with this list, for lack of tournament-ready options more than anything else. I'm not convinced that my two infantry regiments (the halberds and greatswords) are being used effectively. I know running 4 war machines is a very popular Kingdoms of Men strategy. Still, I'm really looking forward to playing in a more competitive environment, and seeing how I stack up.

I'm also hoping to start painting a test unit in for this army this week.

Exciting times in the toy soldiers department!


Thursday 11 February 2016

Battle Report: Invade! vs Ogres

[I wrote this in February]

Background

This was my first game of Kings of War, and my first serious foray into miniature wargaming since I collected about 750 points of 40k Tyranids about 14 years ago.

My mate Oldy got me interested in this particular game, and I picked up the rulebook at Cancon. After a solid read through I was convinced.

I am currently painting up an army of Elves. I really enjoy painting and modelling, but it will be a couple of months at best before my Elves are ready to play with.

Happily, I managed to pick up a second-hand Warhammer Fantasy Empire army for an absolute steal on Monday. After a few evenings spent dusting I had the models all multibased (blu tack and cardboard yo) ready for a KoW game.

We played at one of the two FLGS' that run casual KoW games, Three D6 in Tuggeranong. Great set up, friendly crowd of regulars, nice big selection of terrain to use.

My List (Kingdoms of Men):

I tinkered quite a bit with my models to come up with this list. There are some units that I would have liked to run, but do not (yet) have the models for. Down the track I think I would like another war engine, and some mounted scouts.

  • Horde Foot Guard with +phalanx
  • Regiment Foot Guard with greatswords
  • Regiment Pole-Arms (halberds)
  • Horde Arquebusiers with +1 to shoot
  • Regiment Knights with +pathfinder
  • Regiment Knights with +1 speed
  • Cannon
  • Siege Artillery
  • Beast of War wit Light Ballista
  • Army Standard Bearer, mounted with +10 breath attack
  • Wizard with Lightning instead of Fireball, with Bane Chant and Scrying Gem.
  • The Captain, mounted

His List (Ogres):

Warlord in Chariot with +10 breath attack
Horde Boomers with +pathfinder
3 x Horde Shooters
2 x Regiment of Chariots
2 x Horde Siege Breakers

Deployment
We rolled the Invade! scenario. At the end of 6/7th turn, you add up the value of all units you own that are completely in your opponent's half of the board. Highest score wins. Not a great deployment by me, despite the magic items I had taken to give me the advantage in this phase. My halberds and mounted standard bearer in the center were just wasted. Should have left the Shooter's firing zones completely empty, to force a move.
Turn 2
This 1v2 engagement on my far left flank is where I lost the game. Should have gone in with the steam tank as well.

Turn 3
Turn 4
Turn 6

Result

Heavy loss for the Westhaven Militia. His Ogre Chariots just rolled up my left flank, my center was shot to pieces. My right flank did much better, but not enough to compensate.

What worked? My shooting. The war engines and handgunners did basically all of my damage, each killing 2-3 times their points value. My Landgraf's Own Knights got some good flanking positions in. The extra speed was very useful. My Foot Guard Horde were about average, tanking over 20 wounds before they were routed, but doing no damage themselves.

What didn't? I deployed valuable units in the Shooters' fire zone, and they died for nothing. I engaged in a 1v2 situation with my Tyger Knights. My individuals were quite ineffective. My steam tank was wasted.

I'm not sure Scrying Gem helped all that much. I certainly didn't take full advantage of it, or the redeployment that I gained from taking The Captain.

Had a ball. Can't wait to play again. I'll play a few more games with this list before I tinker with it again.