Convic 2019 Aftermath - Part 4

This is a continuation of my tournament report of Convic. You can find the previous part here.

3 wins in 3 games. You wouldn't dare dream of it. I had come unstuck against Matt before however, so maybe my run of glory was at an end.

Game 4: Dominate (1995pts)
Matt Sellick - Elves

• Archer Horde with Heart-seeking Chant
• Therennian Sea Guard Horde with Brew of Sharpness
• Drakon Rider Horde with Chant of Hate
• Awoken Guardians
• Tree Herder with Healing Brew, Blizzard
• Tree Herder with Blood Boil
• Green Lady with Sabre-Toothed Pussycat
• Elven Prince on Horse with Sabre-Toothed Pussycat

Dominate. Nice and simple. It couldn't be too hard to move a pair of Tree Herders off the centre, right?

Matt's army actually looked pretty small. Sure, there was some good stuff there, but that's a pretty compact deployment.

Cancon 2019 Aftermath - Part 6

This is the final part of my report of Cancon 2019. You can find the previous part here. You can find the start here.

Game 6 - Control
Matt Curtis - Elves

• Horde of Kindred Archers with Heart-seeking Chant
• Horde of Therennian Sea Guard
• Regiment of Palace Guard
• Horde of Forest Shamblers
• Horde of Drakon Riders
• Horde of Drakon Riders
• Dragon Kindred Lord
• Mage with Bane Chant
• Army Standard Bearer with Lute of Insatiable Darkness
• Noble War Chariot
• Noble War Chariot

So I had made it to the final round, and I was perilously close to mid-field after my dramatic improvement on Day 2. I had actually been musing with someone prior to this game that I really hadn't run into any shooting all tournament. I would normally have been pleased about that (I really don't like gun lines), but it occurred to me that my list would probably cause a gun line nightmares. Matt's army was certainly not a gun line, however it had significantly more firepower than any of my other opponents. I guess this was my chance to see how my list held up against someone that actually shot at me a bit.

 A Dragon on the flank, with the Forest Shamblers shooting forward with their vanguard move so they could stand in the forest and pretend to be trees.

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...

New year, new challenges

Happy new year, everyone! I hope the holiday season was good to you, and Santa showered you with an unseemly amount of hobby goodness.

Naturally I spent the holiday break doing things other than updating the blog, which has become a bit of a theme. But I have been up to a few hobby-related things, so it's clearly time for an update.

First up, I am in the midst of preparing for the annual pilgrimage that is Cancon. For the third time I will be playing Kings of War at the event, and this time I have decided to take Elves. I think I have only used Elves once, in my first ever game of KoW. And naturally I will not be playing any practice games. In fact I don't think I've actually played a game of KoW since last Cancon. So yeah, what could go wrong?

Of course, it wouldn't be tournament preparation without trying to use the event as motivation for getting something painted. This time I have decided to paint up the Green Lady, a sabre-toothed pussy cat for her, and a regiment of Stormwind cavalry. In Warhammer terms this is Ariel, Queen of the Wood Elves, and a regiment of Silver Helms. 

Every time I go to paint Elves, I am reminded how much hard work I find it. They have far too many fiddly details that you either spend ages painting properly, or feel like you cheaped out by trying to ignore and hide it. This is probably why I've been avoiding painting these Silver Helms for about 15 years... It's time. I'll just try to ignore the stares of the 30 or so unpainted ones that were sitting behind this batch.

As for Ariel, I've had the model for about 20 years when I got her as part of the prize for the first tournament I ever entered. She has sat partly assembled for most of that time. Better than her husband, I guess. I got Orion at the same time and he's never even seen glue...

OK, so she's meant to be on a 40mm base. She balances remarkably well on a 20mm though, which is what she'll need to do when she is being the Green Lady. After all, she's just an Elf. A really, really tall Elf.

Cancon 2017 Aftermath - Part 3

This is a (rather late) conclusion of my report of my experiences of the Kings of War tournament at Cancon 2017. You can find the previous part here.

Game 6 - Control!

Kort T - Abyssals

• Regiment of Flamebearers
• Regiment of Flamebearers
• Regiment of Flamebearers
• Regiment of Lower Abyssals
• Horde of Lower Abyssals
• Horde of Tortured Souls
• Horde of Tortured Souls
• Troop of Hellhounds
• Troop of Hellhounds
• Troop of Hellhounds
• Efreet with Inspiring Talisman
• Archfiend of the Abyss
• Abyssal Harbinger with the Bangstick

This list above is not correct. It can't be, because it adds up to too many points. I'm probably getting something confused, but the things I've listed above do align OK with what things were doing to me during the game...

This game was another where I found myself being out-deployed because I didn't have enough units. The Tortured Souls were my main concern, but I didn't know where they would be until it was too late for my deployment. They wound up well to my left, where I would have trouble responding properly. The field also had a couple of large fields in the middle, which would slow my movement and hinder my charges. 

I was worried about being out-shot by the combined fire of the Flamebearers and the lightning from the characters, and this influenced my opening moves. I advanced fairly aggressively around the fields, whilst I shot at (and routed) one of the Flamebearer regiments. That was surprisingly easy. Unfortunately I was never going to be able to close the gap with the enemy without letting the Tortured Souls have a go at me, and they predictably caused me issues.

The one unit I left within range of the Tortured Souls but without immediate support was the horde of Warriors. I figured this was OK. They should not be in real danger from a frontal charge, so could counter-charge and would quickly be on the front foot. Unfortunately Kort rolled fairly well and then wavered them. So that pretty well stuffed that plan. I was never going to be able to rescue them in time now.

Painting progress

In the months leading up to Christmas, I had lost all of my painting momentum and motivation. I had burned myself out trying to get organised for a large battle report, and it was all I could do to sit back, relax a bit, and spend more time playing computer games than fiddling with miniatures.

Things have improved slightly from a hobby perspective in the time since then, thankfully. In the lead-up to Cancon I was working on a Chaos Blood Bowl team that a friend was borrowing. I didn't get it finished, but I did at least get it to a usable state. That may be as far as it gets for a while - we shall see.

No, they are not completely painted yet. Well, the Chaos Warriors probably are done. And maybe the Minotaur and one of the of the Beastmen are close. Actually, they're all close.

Cancon 2017 Aftermath - Part 1

Cancon is over for another year, and despite being a bit under the weather during the trip, I survived. As usual I will offer a bit of a summary of my experiences at the tournament. Rather than distract myself with a proper camera, I only took my phone with me this time. So the photos may not be that great, or that numerous. Maybe it will help me talk less this time...

My army was Ogres. I was unsure what to take, but a friend convinced me that Ogres would be compact to transport and move from game to game, so they were a practical choice for a road trip like this one. I decided to take an army with very few magic items (even ignoring obvious ones like +1 to hit on the Shooters) in order to keep things simple and stuff in as many Ogres as I could.

• Horde of Ogre Warriors
• Regiment of Ogre Warriors
• Horde of Siege Breakers
• Horde of Siege Breakers
• Regiment of Hunters
• Horde of Shooters
• Horde of Boomers
• Regiment of Chariots
• Warlord
• Army Standard with the Boomstick
• Warlock with Inspiring Talisman

Game 1 - Pillage!

Andrew Old - Basileans

• Horde of Crossbowmen with Brew of Keen-eyeness
• Regiment of Foot Guard
• Regiment of Foot Guard
• Regiment of Foot Guard
• Regiment of Foot Guard
• Horde of Elohi with Brew of Haste
• Horde of Elohi with Pipes of Terror
• High Paladin on Dragon with Medallion of Life
• Phoenix

Andrew's army was comprised of Stormcast Eternals, or Sigmarines, or whatever they are actually called. It was pretty cool. Lots of flyers, though...

Kings of War: The Deep Fields - Part 2

And so we continue our report of the Deep Fields Kings of War game. You can find the first part here.

Orcs Turn 5

Things were starting to look a little thin on the West side of the field. I charged my remaining Goblin King into the flank of the Elven Army Standard Bearer in an attempt to slow his advance toward my war machines. I failed to even wound him however, so achieved little. With the Slasher finally falling in the centre of the field, the path was opened for my Trolls to have a go at the oh-so-frustrating Tree Herder, whilst the Goblin Sharpstick legion swept on past and engaged the Palace Guard. Unfortunately neither of these efforts were very inspiring, despite doing my best with Bane Chant (I think I failed at least one attempt every single turn. I need Elite re-rolls like the fancy Elf Mages). My remaining Slasher attacked the Archer troop for the second time, but somehow still only managed to waver them. That was bad. There was a purple Tree Herder looking at my flank...

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.

Cancon 2016 KoW Aftermath - Part 1

Cancon is over for another year and I've now had about a week to recover from the trip. As usual I will give a bit of a run-down of my time at the event, but this time it will be a little bit different. My preparation for this tournament was not the best. I put minimal effort into creating my army list, packed at the last minute, and headed off to Canberra. It was only once I had arrived in Canberra that I realised that I had not actually brought everything I had packed with me. I had left a bag behind. The bag contained my rule books, dice, tape measures, some of my movement trays, the paints I was going to finish off my bases with, and also my camera. The night before the tournament I was using a kitchen knife to cut the lid of a pizza box into makeshift movement trays.

In the end my situation was not as severe as it might have been. After laughing at my situation Nick reached out to some of the Canberra locals and a couple of them arrived with some proper movement trays, which worked a whole lot better than the pizza ones would have. People loaned me a copy of the rulebook and Uncharted Empires, I found a spare tape measure in my car, and I bought some dice from one of the stalls at the event. So I was more or less back on track, but the only camera I had was the one on my phone, which still seems to be less than ideal for taking photos of games. I fiddled with it for a bit, but pretty quickly abandoned it as a forlorn effort. I decided to just focus on playing the games and enjoying myself. So this will not be a detailed run-down packed with details and photos.

My army list is below. It is notable for its almost complete lack of magic items. The Duke on the Ancient Winged Aralez should really have had something, most likely 6+ defence. The horde units are also all pretty powerful and would benefit greatly from an item to boost their speed or grant them Pathfinder. Oh well, I wanted to jam lots of things into the list and this was how it panned out:

• Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez
• Baron on Aralez
• Wizard on Horse with Bane-chant, Inspiring Talisman
• Halfling Master Engineer
• Horde of Honour Guard with Dwarven Ale
• Horde of Honour Guard
• Horde of Dogs of War
• Regiment of Household Knights
• Regiment of City Militia
• Halfling Volley Gun
• Halfling Volley Gun
• Halfling Iron Beast

Game 1 - Kill!
Jeff Galea, Elves

• Dragon Kindred Lord with Medallion of Life
• Green Lady
• Mage with Bane-chant, Inspiring Talisman
• Horde of Kindred Tallspears
• Horde of Kindred Archers with Heart Piercing
• Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry with Brew of Courage
• Horde of Drakon Riders with Dwarven Ale
• Horde of Chariots with Caterpillar Potion
• Bolt Thrower

So I turned up at the first round without having actually played a game with Rhordia, and with my head muddled about with a combination of KoW and Warhammer rules after playing the latter far more recently than the former. Fortunately the first round was a simple scenario - Kill! That would help me muddle through.

My first KoW tournament - Smorgancon

After trying out my first larger game of Kings of War, the following day I went along to my first tournament - a small event called Smorgancon. I think it was the first time any of us were involved in a Kings of War tournament, so it was always going to be something of a learning experience for us all. 

I was actually a pretty late entry (a spot opened up when someone pulled out), and my list was not exactly a finely honed precision instrument. I had been toying with lists that might resist flyer-heavy armies, as a theme seems to have been developing in our games that big flyers are very powerful and can be difficult to counter. Rather than taking this as an invitation to go mad with power and field several monsters, I wanted to try making a list that might counter them and help buck the trend. The list below was what I came up with. 

• Ax Horde
• Ax Horde
• Ax Horde
• Ax Horde
• Troll Horde
• War Drum
• War Drum
• Gore Rider Regiment
• Godspeaker with Bane Chant, Inspiring Talisman
• Godspeaker with Bane Chant
• Krudger on Winged Slasher with Medallion of Life
• Troll Bruiser

The theory was that this army could anchor its flank on a table edge, put out a solid 4 feet of orc hordes with no room for anything much to get in between, and then have enough other stuff to both shield the far flank and lurk behind the main line to charge any cheeky flyers that hoped to get into my rear. So theoretically both my flanks and rear would be protected, which would largely negate the impact of the flying monsters. Of course, I didn't play any practice games with the list I came up with. So it was all theory going into the event.

The theory was then undermined somewhat by my own incompetence and lack of preparation. When I arrived (late) at the tournament, I discovered I had failed to pack something - an entire horde of Orcs. I only had 3 in my box. So some emergency changes were made; a Giant made a sudden appearance in my list, and I wound up going into my games 15 points short. Oh well.

Behold my "Giant". Alas, he was all I happened to have on hand! Well at least the base size was correct...