Buying more models and an interview with a fellow lunatic

I am feeling very Spanish at the moment. Well actually, I don't feel very Spanish at all. I'm on the other side of the world, after all. But recently I seem to be being inspired by numerous things from that part of the world. It feels like in various ways, the people over there are keeping the hobby alive and kicking!

First up, I ordered another pile of models from MOM Miniaturas during the Black Friday sales. Granted, they took a while to get here. I gather they've been keeping themselves very busy, with the sales and Christmas and preparation for their upcoming Kickstarter.

This is the second time I've put in a big order with MOM, and although I've painted a few of the ones I got the previous time (a few warrior priests and some heavily armoured Dwarfs), I now have quite the backlog...

My loot spread out on the table for me to fondle...

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 7

This is the final part of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 7: Control
Tony Lee, Conquistadors

You what? Conquistadors? I did think I remembered someone asking if you could take Kings of War Historicals in the event, but I didn't realise someone had actually gone and done it! How interesting. I actually looked at Tony's list properly, on account of not recognising a single thing in it...

Hernan Cortez leading an army of Conquistadors with Aztec assistance. I don't know what I was expecting in my final game, but this was not it.

I used Vanguard to start closing the gap using a hill as cover on the left flank.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 6

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 6: Scour
Matt Sellick, Elves

Brimming with confidence after actually winning a game, I now ran into Matt, who was also using Elves. Matt was my only opponent whom I had actually played against previously, although I suspect that was all before the switch to Kings of War.

This game was the first time my opponent also had units with Vanguard, and it really threw me. Not only did he have Vanguard, but he had more units with it than me. Unlike in Warhammer, there are no protections in KoW preventing units with Vanguard from getting really close to each other. So I was left trying to work out what to do when we could advance units right up into each others' faces without knowing who was going to get the first turn.

This was the most confusing decision I ran into during the event. Probably the smart thing to do would have been to stay out of charge range even though it would have meant wasting my Vanguard. But I couldn't decide what to do and was acutely aware of the fact that I was starting to waste time with my indecision, so I pushed things forward in a cavalier and foolish action, choosing to hope I would get the first turn. Naturally I did not.

So many things with Vanguard. What am I to do with this?

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 5

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 5: Eliminate
Kate Price, Basileans

Game 4 was a bit of a low point for me. I had been absolutely smashed at the end of a long day. I arrived on the second day hoping that things would improve. Maybe I could avoid any game-losingly bad decisions. That would be a start.

Game 5 was against Kate's Basileans, featuring a Dragon, 2 units of Elohi and a horde of Knights. What could go wrong?

Well it seems like the first thing that went wrong was that I missed taking photos at the start of the game. Could be worse. I had remembered to Vanguard, but once again I failed to get the first turn. By now I was kind of expecting that, so I had positioned things to receive a charge. Which is exactly what the Wild Guard did.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 3

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 3: Occupy
Bridget McGarry, Elves

2 games, 2 losses. I was beginning to detect a pattern. I was the common factor. Maybe it was me (gasp)?!?

I was starting to realise that my army didn't have a very large number of deployments. Bridget was able to hold onto her Dragon until after I was committed. I admit I was a little unhappy to see it arrive hard on my flank. Oh well, if I got the first turn it wouldn't be able to see anything...

I was a little undecided about how I wanted to Vanguard. If I didn't get the first turn, I was certainly going to be charged, and would have preferred not to get charged by both the Stormwind Cavalry and Dragon on the same target. I couldn't easily avoid it though, so was left simply hoping they would be greedy and spread out.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 4

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 4: Push
Ed Hamacek, League of Rhordia

I still hadn't won a game, but I guess at least I had no longer lost all of them either. I had points on the board. Surely the only way was up now.

Ed's list made me nervous. A wall of Knights and Honour Guard, and 3 Volley Guns to boot. I knew how tough this list would be - I had used a slightly less focused version of it at a previous Cancon. After the horrors of the War Trombones in the first game, I was really worried about letting the Volley Guns rule the field. And with 24" range, they really could control a large area. I decided once again that the key might be to rush them. 

Ed had stacked most of his stuff in the centre or over on the other flank, so that pair of Volley Guns was relatively exposed. I Vanguarded as far as I could with the Forest Shamblers. Honestly, it was dumb. I should have hung back in the trees and then advanced into the field to hop from cover to cover. I don't know what I thought I was going to do. Surge? What if I didn't get the first turn?

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 2

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 2: Invade
Nick Prosser, Brotherhood

Well, my first game was a bit of a struggle. But now I had practice and I was heading down the tables to play other people who also got schooled in their first game, so things were looking up. Next up with Nick with his Brotherhood army.

Nick had arranged a screen of Villein light cavalry for his main units, and had lots of flying Forsaken guys on his flanks.

Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 1

Cancon is done and dusted for another year, and I survived once again. Honestly survival was one of my key motivators this year - the conditions were pretty oppressive at times in terms of heat and humidity, and despite spending the first day of the convention just wandering around and talking to people, I was exhausted. So I was really worried about how I'd hold up over the next 2 days when I'd also be playing 7 games of Kings of War. Suffice to say I decided I'd be happy with being able to walk out the door at the finish, so I was determined not to exhaust myself over-thinking my games.

As I mentioned previously, I decided to take Elves to the tournament. I had basically never used them before (I did once when the 2nd edition rules were still in beta), and I hadn't played any other games of KoW in a year either. So I was going to be a bit rusty, even if I did want to be competitive. This also contributed to my "take it easy" philosophy. I was there to blow off the cobwebs, play a few games, meet some people, and generally make up the numbers...

This was my army list:

• The Green Lady with 1 Sabre-Toothed Pussycat
• Tree Herder
• Drakon Rider Lord
• Elven Mage with Fireball, Bane Chant
• Horde of Therennian Sea Guard with Chant of Hate
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry with Potion of the Caterpillar
• Green Lady's Wild Guard (Regiment of fancy Hunters of the Wild)
• Horde of Forest Shamblers
• Bolt Thrower
• Bolt Thrower

I had intended to try to paint up a new regiment of Stormwind Cavalry for the event, but ended up being extremely busy in the lead-up and it soon became apparent it wasn't going to happen. I didn't even really finish the Green Lady, but she was usable enough.

Anyway, this is how things went on the day...

Game 1: Scavenge

Tony Winmill, Goblins

Tony was very nice and helpful, happy to explain how the scenario worked and also what this "Blood boil" spell was that he was carrying on his 3 wizards. It was quickly becoming apparent to me that my lack of practice would be exacerbated by my lack of familiarity with the Clash of Kings rules. Oh well, what was the worst that could happen?

The first game was always going to be rough. I had never deployed this army before, and had to try to remember rules and other inconvenient things...