Recently, a mate (Dan) and I have been getting hyped for Kings of War. Consequently, I put together a couple of 1,000 point lists utilising my old Warhammer Fantasy collection. We were able to get them to the table late last year, but I’ve only just gotten around to getting this write up finished.
Disposition of Forces
I took command of the goblins (with orc allies). The force comprised of:
- A horde of goblin sharp sticks with a maw pup;
- A regiment of orc ax with a skull pole;
- A troop of orc morax;
- Two regiments of goblin spitters;
- A regiment of goblin fleabag riders;
- Two goblin sharp stick throwers;
- A goblin wiz; and
- A goblin big git.
Dan took command of the undead, which consisted of:
- A horde of zombies;
- Two regiments of skeleton spears, both with giant undead rats;
- A regiment of ghouls;
- A regiment of revenant cavalry (horses currently lack riders);
- A horde of werewolves (lacking suitable models, these are represented by 40mm bases);
- A necromancer with heal (3); and
- A vampire lord with surge (4).
These lists were built from the models I had on hand, and I skipped on magic items to keep things simple, so I’m well aware they’re not particularly optimal or anything.
Order of Battle
The scenario we rolled was kill. In this scenario you count up the points costs of units that each side has routed. If one side routed at least 10% of the enemy force’s total value (so 100pts in this case) more than the enemy had of theirs, then they are the winner. Otherwise the battle is a draw.
The below description of the battlefield is from my perspective.
Forward of the centre line on my left flank was a field. On my centre left and covering the centre of the field was a wood in front of a house. After a gap, more trees stood forward of the house. These features were left of a hill positioned directly in the centre of the battlefield.
The right hand side of the battlefield was comprised of stands of trees ringing swampy ground. One stand of trees was on my centre right at the front of my deployment zone. The first marsh was positioned next to these trees on the forward left. The next stand of trees ran alongside the hill at the centre line of the battlefield. The second marsh was right of these trees, in the centre of my mid-right. The final marshes were forward left and right of this central marsh, while the final stand of trees of left of the forward and left of the first of those.
I deployed one sharp stick thrower on my far left deep in my deployment zone. To the right of that were the two units of spitters. Right of them were the ax and the wiz, then in my centre the big git and sharp sticks, with the second spear thrower to the right of the latter. Finally my morax were right of the second sharp stick thrower, while my fleabags had the far right wing.
As for Dan’s deployment, he placed the two units of skeletons right up behind the field. Next to those in the open were the zombies supported by the necromancer. In his centre were the revenant cavalry, vampire lord, and werewolves. Finally his ghouls protected his left flank.
I went first and had a very exciting turn indeed. I moved my fleabags at the double up on the right between the marshes while, on the left, my thrower inflicted three damage on the zombies opposite. Dan’s first turn was perhaps even more exciting with his ghouls pivoting to front my fleabags and the rest of his force moving up just short of bowshot (or the hill in the case of his centre). In his shooting phase, Dan’s necromancer healed the damage the zombies had taken.
Turn two and I didn’t like my chances with a hindered charge from my fleabags on the ghouls, particularly with the werewolves there to turn around and ruin my day. Consequently I moved my fleabags back and turned them to face the centre. My left most thrower fired on the zombies again, but the results weren’t very exciting.
Dan spent his second turn moving his forces up again. His right lumbered forward into bowshot, his cavalry crested the hill while his werewolves surged over it, and his ghouls moved up right into the face of my fleabags. Dan’s movement was followed by some very minor surging.
My turn three and I opted for a hindered side-flank charge from my fleabags onto the werewolves. Dan’s ghouls had moved up too far to, in his turn, threaten my fleabags after such a move and I didn’t like the idea of a hindered frontal charge on the ghouls (having moved my fleabags back a little too far the turn before). To support the charge I moved my sharp sticks and morax up. The positioning was such that the werewolves wouldn’t be able to charge the morax or thrower. My ax also shuffled up.
My shooting wasn’t particularly crash hot and the zombies continued to stick around. Melee was similarly unspectacular with my fleabags managing a measly two damage to the werewolves.
Undead turn three and Dan began with a double charge on my sharp sticks. Meanwhile the ghouls repositioned for a rear charge on my fleabags and his right flank continued to shamble forward.
While Dan’s surging continued to be pitiful, melee was another matter entirely. The cavalry in particular performed better than what was probable. Then, at the end of combat, not even an inspiring forced re-roll of the nerve test could see the sharp sticks stick around. The cavalry then continued forward, but fell short of the big git while the werewolves turn round to front my fleabags and morax.
Turn four and I was on the back foot. I responded by double charging the werewolves. I considered charging the zombies with my ax, but decided against it. My big git in the meantime ran away from the cavalry like the little coward he was. In the shooting phase I finally saw off the zombies, while my right hand thrower put some damage on the ghouls.
Meanwhile, in melee, my morax in particular lay the smackdown on the werewolves. They were broken quite easily in the end, but I couldn’t manage the 4+ required to overrun my morax into the cavalry. My fleabags opted to change facing at the end of combat to receive the ghouls’ charge.
Undead turn four and the ghouls went into the fleabags, the cavalry turned and advanced toward the morax, and the skeletons shambled up. No sooner had I commented that Dan should’ve turned the cavalry after the previous combat rather than overrunning than he reminded me of surge. He had no trouble rolling the required single inch to see the revenants into my morax, who were routed easily. To to both of our surprise however the fleabags held firm against the ghouls.
Turn five and I kept my fleabags in combat with the ghouls and turned my ax to face the cavalry, which had changed facing after seeing off the morax. My ranged units focused on the right unit of skeletons, while my other thrower went for the cavalry. Combat was an incredibly close affair. My fleabags did some good damage, but the nerve roll led me down and I fell one or two short of making the ghouls waver when I had better than even odds.
Dan maintained the ghoul-fleabag combat in his turn while his cavalry charged my ax, vampire lord charged my second thrower, and skeletons shambled forward. In the following combats, the fleabags were finally broken and thrower easily routed, but the ax held firm.
In my final turn I held my ground. My shooting saw off the right unit of skeletons to protect my ax’s read, while in combat I managed some damage and a double six nerve test on the revenants, unfortunately when we double checked this till put me two short of breaking them!
Dan’s final moves saw his last unit of skeletons charge one of my units of spitters and the cavalry continue fighting the ax. Both my units were broken in the ensuing combats, except that an inspiring re-roll saved my ax. The same would’ve been said of my spitters, but it was that they were just a little bit beyond the aura’s range.
And thus ended the battle.
Aftermath
I managed to rout 485 points worth of undead while Dan had managed to rout 605 points of goblins/orcs. With a lead of 120 points, the undead took the day!
It was a close fight and things really could’ve gone either way. Had Dan’s dice not been as favourable in the charge on the sharp sticks, or mine been just that little better when overrunning the werewolves or fighting the ghouls, we would’ve had a different result.
Another possibility, now I think about it, would’ve been to disengage the fleabags following the charge by the ghouls and then running off to cause chaos elsewhere.
It’s all learning however and we both had an absolute blast, which is the main thing. Our battle certainly only served to fuel our enthusiasm for the game.
Conclusion
I can see Kings of War being a game I enjoy equally as much as Bolt Action.
Dan and I did weekly X-Wing for five years and one of the things Dan pointed out was that Kings of War is very similar in the sense that the game is all about the moves you make to set yourself up to execute a battle plan. I couldn’t agree more and we both find it incredibly engaging because of it.
I hope you enjoyed this after action report and expect more Kings of War in the future. Next time however: terrain.
Blind Wargaming 