Kings of War: The Deep Fields - Part 1

New Years has come and gone, and despite being suitably distracted and disorganised, I eventually bowed to pressure and organised the annual "big game". It was nothing quite as colossal as some of the previous epic battle reports, but it was still larger than your average game. I had been musing for a while about what a game of Kings of War would look like if the armies were further apart, thus giving things more room and time to maneuver. I decided this was a suitable opportunity to find out. 

In the end I settled on 8,000 points per side, played on a 6'x12' table. The real difference here was that despite being 6' wide, the deployment zones were still only 12" deep - meaning that the armies started 48" apart. So twice as far apart as is normal. It was not a fancy layout, but it would serve to assuage my curiosity.

In an effort to ensure most of the field was relevant, we played Pillage! and scattered 16 markers around (it happened to be how many Halfling and Gnoblar models I had lying around). The game would go for 9 turns with the possibility of a 10th, in order to compensate for the extra distance between the armies.

I shied away from some of the armies that have featured most heavily in our larger games, and instead opted to make the battle between my Orcs and Goblins (with a dash of Ogres) against Elves with Dwarf allies. I threw together lists with few magic items to try to keep life simple for the players.

There ended up being 2 players on each side. Pete and I have played the most KoW, so it was decided that we would be opposing each other. Owen then joined Pete, and I ended up with Nick, who had never actually played a game of KoW before. But he'd heard of it, so was experienced enough to meet our exacting criteria. Given I had made the lists, I let Pete choose which army his side would take. He chose the "Good Guys", essentially revealing them for the bad guys they really were. They just have good publicists. Sneaky gits...

This will be another trimmed down report without maps or anything. Just army lists, pictures (frequently blurry ones) and captions. Hopefully that will be enough to make sense of it.

The Armies

Bad Guys (Nick and me)

(who are really the good guys in this story, since I was playing them)...

Orcs

• Horde of Ax
• Horde of Ax
• Horde of Ax
• Regiment of Morax
• Troop of Morax
• Horde of Greatax
• Regiment of Greatax
• Regiment of Greatax
• Regiment of Gore Riders
• Regiment of Gore Riders
• Regiment of Gore Riders
• Regiment of Gore Chariots
• Krudger on Winged Slasher with Ensorcelled Armour
• Krudger on Winged Slasher with Medallion of Life
• Krudger on Winged Slasher
• Krudger on Winged Slasher
• Flagger on Gore
• Flagger
• Godspeaker on Gore with Bane Chant, Heal
• Godspeaker with Bane Chant, Heal
• Godspeaker with Bane Chant, Heal
• Giant
• Giant
• Giant
• War Drum
• War Drum

Ogres

• Horde of Warriors
• Horde of Warriors
• Horde of Warriors
• Regiment of Boomers
• Captain
• Warlock with Fireball

Goblins

• Legion of Sharpsticks
• Horde of Sharpsticks
• Regiment of Spitters
• Horde of Trolls
• Regiment of Fleabag Riders
• Regiment of Fleabag Riders
• Regiment of Fleabag Riders
• Troop of Fleabag Riders
• Troop of Fleabag Riders
• Big Rocks Thrower
• Big Rocks Thrower
• Big Rocks Thrower
• Big Rocks Thrower
• King on Chariot
• King on Fleabag
• Wiz with Bane Chant
• Wiz with Bane Chant
• Troll Bruiser
• Slasher
• Slasher

Good Guys (Pete and Owen)

(who are in truth the baddies of our story, boo-hiss)

Elves

• Horde of Kindred Archers
• Troop of Kindred Archers
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Horde of Therennian Sea Guard
• Regiment of Kindred Tallspears
• Horde of Kindred Tallspears
• Regiment of Hunters of the Wild
• Regiment of Hunters of the Wild
• Regiment of Hunters of the Wild
• Horde of Forest Shamblers
• Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry
• Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry
• Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry
• Troop of Stormwind Cavalry
• Bolt Thrower
• Bolt Thrower
• Bolt Thrower
• Bolt Thrower
• Army Standard Bearer on Horse
• Army Standard Bearer
• Elven Mage on Horse with Bane Chant, Fireball, Lightning Bolt
• Elven Mage with Bane Chant, Fireball, Lightning Bolt
• Elven Mage with Bane Chant, Fireball, Lightning Bolt
• Elven Mage with Bane Chant, Fireball, Lightning Bolt
• Dragon Kindred Lord with Ensorcelled Armour
• Dragon Kindred Lord
• Drakon Rider Lord
• Tree Herder with Medallion of Life
• Tree Herder
• Tree Herder

Dwarves

• Regiment of Berserkers
• Regiment of Ironguard
• Regiment of Ironguard
• Regiment of Ironwatch Crossbows
• Regiment of Ironwatch Rifles
• Troop of Rangers
• Horde of Shieldbreakers
• Horde of Earth Elementals
• Horde of Earth Elementals
• Army Standard Bearer
• Stone Priest with Bane Chant
• Stone Priest with Bane Chant
• King on Large Beast

The Battle

Deployment

Yeah, it was a bit squeezy. But we made it work. Orcs on the left, Elves on the right.

The Elf left flank (let's call it the East) was mainly populated with their Dwarf allies. Owen had control of that flank, as he normally uses Dwarves.

Nick took charge of the Orcs on the East, facing Owen. He also had command of the Ogres, toward the centre of our line.

There are the Ogres, in the middle. Just a smattering of them to speed up the army a bit and add some more interest.

Over in the West, which was my flank. I had all the Goblins, reinforced with a selection of Orcs, mainly toward the centre.

Just another shot of our lines.

I had plenty of Elves to contend with, including the tree contingent, led by 3 Tree Herders.

It's a very wide gap between the armies. You can see the Elf Dragons near the centre of their line. The blue one is the one with Ensorcelled Armour.

After deployment finished, the trees got restless and used Vanguard to close the gap a bit.

Turn 1

We got the first turn, and off we went! As you can imagine, not much happened in the first turn. Thanks to Pete's Vanguard we actually had targets for all 4 of our Rocks Throwers, but they all missed. We took some minor flesh wounds in return from the Elf Bolt Throwers.

After their big rush in the Vanguard phase, the trees were much less eager to move within charge range in Turn 1. For my part, I was still looking up what Goblins do. Turns out your basic Goblin is not totally amazing. Who knew?

There was a Drakon rider menacing my flank, but I had Fleabags, which I was pretty sure were practically invincible in combat. They have to be amazing with that name, really.

Realistically at this point, all eyes were on the flyers. Everything else was a bit slow to have an immediate impact.

Nick was getting a crash course on the basics as we went along. He was warned to try to ensure the Ogres could get past the forests without needing to turn, so they could move At The Double if they wished. He had things pretty well in hand.

Hard on the East flank. The speedier elements were hiding behind the solid hordes, and the Dwarves showed little inclination to close the gap. Bit of a stand-off.

Turn 1 was always going to be quick. We figured stuff would really start to happen around Turn 3.

 Orcs Turn 2

The Elves had held back a fair bit, but not everything was out of reach. The Goblins flank in particular was able to find a few charge targets, thanks to the speed of the Fleabags. A Krudger on a Winged Slasher spotted the exposed flank of a regiment of Hunters of the Wild, behind one of the Tree Herders. Unfortunately the treacherous footing of the frozen lake hindered its efforts, and the Hunters shrugged off the assault.

Hard on the West flank, Fleabags charged bravely into the front of the leading Stormwind Cavalry. They didn't do a lot of damage, but it was a moral victory.

A combined charge from a Slasher and regiment of Fleabags hit the lead Tree Herder (who had the Medallion of Life), with underwhelming results as it shrugged them off contemptuously. Fleabags were getting in on the action all over the place, looking to interfere with the enemy's response to these opening attacks.

There was less action in the centre, partly because there were no speedy Fleabags, and partly because there were big nasty Dragons on the other side...

An uneasy stand off was going on over on the Eastern front.

The presence of the Winged Slasher hard on the flank probably contributed significantly to the hesitation from the Dwarves.

Elves Turn 2

The the Western flank, the Drakon rider decided he was not OK with the Giant moving in to help the Fleabags, so charged him to interrupt his advance. Not that it mattered much - you will note that the Fleabags are no longer blocking the Stormwind Cavalry. Despite them having lost their lances for the Thunderous Charge. The sinister power of Bane Chant at work, that is. There were a lot of tricksy Elven Mages lurking behind the lines

Most of the tree friends of the Elves were stuck counter-charging the brave Fleabags. The purple Tree Herder accounted for the troop that had engaged him, but everywhere else the brave and noble Goblins held the line - even the Fleabags that took a charge from a horde of Forest Shamblers.

Unfortunately the same could not be said for the Krudger and his Winged Slasher. Their failure to move the Hunters had exposed their flank to the Dragon, and it flew over and ate them, rather unceremoniously. It was a sad (and very early) end to one of the most powerful units in our army.

A regiment of Tallspears "volunteers" to advance ahead of the main force as bait.

One of the hordes of Earth Elementals pushed a bit ahead of their friends thanks to a fairly large Surge toward the Ogres.

Orcs Turn 3

Having poked the Giant the previous turn, the Drakon rider was alarmed to find that the expected counter-charge was accompanied by a charge from the second wave of Fleabags. It was all a bit much for an Elf Prince, who routed under the pressure. 

Whilst this was happening, one of the Rocks Throwers managed to land a hit on the Stormwind Cavalry and wavered them, buying the Fleabags and Giant a little time... Assuming those Archers didn't get any ideas. 

It was a bad time to be a tree. The Forest Shambler horde received a flank charge from a Krudger on Winged Slasher as another Slasher crashed into the front of the Hunters next to them. Both units routed. The other fight was a lot more surprising, as a troop of Fleabags charged a Hunter regiment for the second time, rolled remarkably well, and burst right through. See, I told you Fleabags were amazing!

As well as the progress against their smaller kin was going, the Tree Herders were a problem. The purple one barely noticed a charge from the Goblin King driving his chariot, and the one wading across the frozen lake seemed unconcerned about being repeatedly targeted by the Goblin Rocks Throwers.

The Ax horde near the centre had taken a fair amount of damage from shooting the previous turn, so decided it was a good time to take up the invitation of the "bait" Tallspears. The Gore Riders joined in the fun, charging the Palace Guard a little further back. The Tallspears wavered; the Palace Guard did not.

 

There's a lot of empty snow behind our lines. Not sure this game was turning into the flowing engagement I had hoped for. This is more of a "full court press"...



Nick charged a Giant into the lead group of Earth Elementals, did a little damage, and was pushed back. The Ogres moved up next to him in order to shield his flank from any Surge shenanigans from the other Elementals.

On the East flank, the stand-off became less of a stand-off as Nick made his move. A troop of Stormwind Cavalry had strayed too close in the forest right on the table edge, and the Winged Slasher took the opportunity to charge and rout them before turning to look along the Dwarf lines in a most alarming fashion. As this happened, the rest of his lines pressed forward to ensure the Dwarves would have plenty to worry about.

 

Elves Turn 3

On the West flank, the Stormwind Cavalry started to work their way around the flank. I did have a regiment of Spitters on a hill just to the right of picture, but the Elven knights didn't seem to fussed about this. My Giant died to a hail of arrows and bolts thanks to the combined efforts of the Archers, Bolt Throwers and Mages. On the bright side, the Goblin King in his Chariot managed to fend off the Tree Herder. Of course, without Thunderous Charge he was never going to achieve very much next turn. On his right, my brave troop of Fleabags succumbed to some Palace Guard who were bent on avenging the fallen Hunters. The regenerating Tree Herder continued butting heads with the Slasher, whilst the one in the frozen lake waded across and engaged Elmo, the Troll Bruiser.

The remaining Hunters of the Wild made good use of their Pathfinder and paddled across the lake to engage the horde of Goblin Sharpsticks. This would have been fine, except they rolled a freak waver on the nerve check, and the Goblins just had to sit there glumly in the half-frozen water and wait for things to happen to them. The green Dragon decided that there were no sufficiently tasty targets, so flew over the Goblins in search of suitable prey (there were 2 Rocks Throwers in that direction)

The wavered Tallspears led Pete to decide that getting to the Ax horde was too hard at that point. He would wait for the bait to be properly used up and out of the way. The Gore Riders now found themselves fending off 2 regiments of Palace Guard. I expected this to go badly, but Pete fluffed the damage and they escaped without even wavering!

The first horde of Earth Elementals counter-charged the Giant, whilst the second one moved past and engaged the Ogre Warriors shielding his flank. Both charges inflicted damage, but failed to have more impact than that.

With targets finally moving within range, the Stormwind Cavalry charged the approaching Gore Riders (it was charge or be charged). The Orcs were steady however, and fended them off. The Dwarf lines moved around, trying to work out how to deal with a general advance to their front and a Winged Slasher in the flank.

 

Orcs Turn 4

Time to really get stuck in. One Earth Elemental unit was attacked by 2 hordes of Ogre Warriors, whilst the other received another charge from the Giant as Gore Riders hit them in the flank.

The horde of Shieldbreakers received a combined charge from an Ax horde, Flagger and Chariot regiment. The Winged Slasher had the difficult task of choosing which tasty target to devour first, but eventually settled on the flank of the Dwarf King on Large Beast.

The Stormwind Cavalry paid the price for failing to at least waver the Gore Riders when they were counter-charged, and a horde of Ax joined in the fun.

In the centre, the already-damaged Palace Guard were hit a second time by the Gore Riders. The fresh regiment was attacked by an Ogre Warrior horde and a Winged Slasher. The Ax horde went into the "bait" Tallspears to finish them off.

Toward the West, the Slasher finished swimming across the lake and charged a troop of Archers that was annoying it. I'm pretty sure the Winged Slasher got shot a bit and copped a freak waver roll, which is why he was just sitting around like a non-contributor.

I got sick of being shot, so the Fleabags doggy-paddled their way across the smaller pond and attacked the Archers. The King in his Chariot made a second attempt at the purple Tree Herder, but without his Thunderous Charge, I don't think he even wounded it this time.

I hadn't given up on the other Tree Herder near the camera, but the Fleabags were playing a bit of a lone hand as the Tree Herder kept hitting the Slasher and wavering it.

 

Elmo the Troll Bruiser was suitably disrespectful of his Tree Herder. They would spend several turns whacking each other repeatedly, but every time Elmo would regenerate all but one or two of his wounds, as his opponent gradually weakened.

The Goblin shooting struck again, this time routing the already-damaged Stormwind Cavalry near the small pond.

The massed charge in the centre was successful, routing the Tallspears and both regiments of Palace Guard.

Things were looking fairly promising over on Nick's side. The flanked Earth Elementals collapsed, although the other regiment held together and fended off the combined Ogre charge. Despite having routed their opponents, the Gore Riders had no room to reform to face the second wave of enemies, so their flank was exposed. At least it was sort of shielded by terrain.

The Shieldbreakers managed to hold their ground and repel the attacking Orcs, but the Dwarf King was less fortunate and got a little bit eaten by the Winged Slasher.

The Stormwind Cavalry folded under the combined charge of the Gore Riders and Ax horde. Things were looking rough for the Elves and Dwarves on the East flank.

 

Elves Turn 4

With the "bait" out of the way, the main Tallspear unit and Dragon charge together into the already-damaged Ax horde. The other Dragon changes its mind about going after the enemy war machines; Pete decided it was more important to help win the fight in the centre, where the Orcs currently held a clear numerical advantage.

Whilst this felt like more than adequate force to deal with the Ax horde, the force sent to delay the Gore Riders was a little... underwhelming. Just an Army Standard Bearer, all on his lonesome.

The Hunters of the Wild hit the Sharpstick Horde again, adding to their mounting damage and wavering them once again.

If my Spitters thought they were going to be ignored over on the West flank, they were sadly mistaken. The remaining Stormwind Cavalry swept up the hill and swept the Goblins off it. Boooo.

An Army Standard Bearer rides is horse around my lines and eyes off my Rocks Throwers. Don't look at me like that...

The combined charge shattered the Ax horde, and the Greatax horde that was next to them cops a withering turn of shooting and also routs. How unsporting. They never got to do anything. They were so young!

The Tree Herder and Elmo continue to headbutt each other, whilst the other one finally finishes off the Slasher and Fleabags, with the help of some shooting and magic.

The Archers got upset at being charged by my Fleabags the previous turn, so charged them and started clubbing them with their bows. They were not so easily broken, however.

Having weathered their charge, the Shieldbreakers counter-attacked and routed the Ax horde whilst the Ironguard took apart the Chariot regiment. The Berserkers may have helped by attacking the Chariots in the flank before turning to face the Ax horde. On the far right you can see that a regiment of Palace Guard despatched the already-wounded Gore Riders and pushed out of sight of the Ax horde. I think they might also have just made it out of sight of the Giant, whose club you can just see over their heads...

The remaining Earth Elementals destroyed one of the Ogre hordes. Palace Guard made their way through the forest and flanked the Gore Riders, but failed to even waver them due to the hindered charge and the resilience of the Orcs.

It's a bit of a traffic jam of units trying to make their way around and through the forests near the centre.

 

Well that concludes the first part of the report, such as it is. That's enough pictures for one post. Sorry about how blurry some of the photos are. When running around with the camera in manual mode, I really should make sure I take the time to really hold still.

You can find the second half of the report here.