Game 127 - Night Stalkers - 2019/11/30

Greetings!

In the third round I was about to play against Jeff. After our last game I was even less optimistic about my chances, especially that Jeff brought his Night Stalkers army. I consider this force one of his most dangerous and tough to win against armies. 

However, games against Jeff are always great and allow me to learn something new!

The army of Night Stalkers Jeff created is indeed a tough nut to crack. Very resilient and highly dependable, thanks to the core of the army composed of Phantoms and Shadow Hulks. Fast and mobile Fiends and in particularly Dread-Fiends create all sorts of problems are are very difficult to stop or even block. 

In general, although the army does not really have any ranged attacks, it has a lot of units that are not easy to eliminate, especially by the regiments I have, that need combined attacks to do so. 

Here are the details of the army Jeff used:

Night Stalkers - Army List

6 Fiends (F1), Large Cavalry, Horde, Crushing Strength (1), Mindthirst, Stealthy, Vicious, Staying Stone

- Shadow-Hulk (SH1), Monster, Base Size (75 x 75 mm), Crushing Strength (3), Mindthirst, Strider

- Dread-Fiend (DF1), Hero (Large Cavalry), Crushing Strength (2), Mindthirst, Nimble, Stealthy, Sure (3)

6 Fiends (F1), Large Cavalry, Horde, Crushing Strength (1), Mindthirst, Stealthy, Vicious, Dwarven Ale

- Shadow-Hulk (SH2), Monster, Base Size (75 x 75 mm), Crushing Strength (3), Mindthirst, Strider

- Dread-Fiend (DF2), Hero (Large Cavalry), Crushing Strength (2), Mindthirst, Nimble, Stealthy, Sure (3)

20 Phantoms (P1), Infantry, Regiment, Crushing strength (1), Fly, Mindthirst, Shambling, Stealthy

- Shadow-Hulk (SH3), Monster, Base Size (75 x 75 mm), Crushing Strength (3), Mindthirst, Strider

- Dread-Fiend (DF3), Hero (Large Cavalry), Crushing Strength (2), Mindthirst, Nimble, Stealthy, Sure (3)

20 Phantoms (P2), Infantry, Regiment, Crushing strength (1), Fly, Mindthirst, Shambling, Stealthy

 - Butcher Fleshripper (BF1), Hero (Large Infantry), Crushing Strength (2), Mindthirts, Nimble, Stealthy, Sure (3)

20 Phantoms (P3), Infantry, Regiment, Crushing strength (1), Fly, Mindthirst, Shambling, Stealthy

 - Butcher Fleshripper (BF1), Hero (Large Infantry), Crushing Strength (2), Mindthirts, Nimble, Stealthy, Sure (3)

20 Phantoms (P4), Infantry, Regiment, Crushing strength (1), Fly, Mindthirst, Shambling, Stealthy

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 46 - 2019/11/27

Hello,

In my next game I played against Steve again but this time he decided to come back to his Early Arab Conquest army. I have played against this force before but it is still the army I find it difficult to fight.

The challenge lies in the fact that Steve, who is a great player in his own right, is in particular well versed in the use of this faction. The great thing about such challenges, however, is that it is a guarantee I can learn something new and valuable.

Steve's army did not change much since the last time I played against this faction and here are the details:

Early Arab Conquest - Army List

Game 126 - Goblins - 2019/11/24

Greetings!

I remember talking to Jeff about the tournament and army lists chosen by the players. He asked me which army list I consider the most challenging to play against. In general, I often find it challenging to play against many armies but often due to different reasons. 

However, this time, apart from Jeff's nightmarish army of Night Stalkers I knew I would always find difficult to win against, I thought Tony's Goblins were at least equally difficult to defeat.

I am often envious that Goblins seem to have it all. Massive amount of units, good shooting, variety of troops, plenty of heroes of various types etc.

Tony's army was not an exception and here are the details of the force he brought to the tournament:

Goblins - Army List

40 Groger's Goons [1] (GsG), Horde, Infantry, Regeneration (5+)

- War-Trombone (WT1), War Engine, Breath Attack (10), Piercing (1), Yellow-Bellied

- King on Chariot (KoC), Hero, Large Cavalry, Bows, Inspiring, Nimble, Thunderous Charge (2), Yellow-Bellied

- Giant (G1), Monster, Brutal, Crushing Strength (3), Fury, Strider

6 Trolls (T1), Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2)

- War-Trombone (WT1), War Engine, Breath Attack (10), Piercing (1), Yellow-Bellied

- Biggit (B1), Hero, Cavalry, Bows, Individual, Inspiring, Yellow-Bellied

- Giant (G2), Monster, Brutal, Crushing Strength (3), Fury, Strider

6 Trolls (T2), Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2), Dwarven Ale

- War-Trombone (WT1), War Engine, Breath Attack (10), Piercing (1), Yellow-Bellied

- Biggit (B2), Hero, Cavalry, Bows, Individual, Inspiring, Yellow-Bellied, Banner of Griffin

6 Trolls (T3), Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2)

- Biggit (B3), Hero, Cavalry, Bows, Individual, Inspiring, Yellow-Bellied

20 Rabble (R1), Regiment, Infantry, Yellow-bellied

- Wiz (W1), Hero, Infnatry, Bane Chant (2), Individual, Lightning Bolt (3), Yellow Bellied, Inspiring Talisman

20 Rabble (R2), Regiment, Infantry, Yellow-bellied

- Wiz (W2), Hero, Infnatry, Bane Chant (2), Individual, Lightning Bolt (3), Yellow Bellied, Scarletmaw’s Fenulian Amulet

20 Rabble (R3), Regiment, Infantry, Yellow-bellied

- Wiz (W3), Hero, Infnatry, Bane Chant (2), Individual, Lightning Bolt (3), Yellow Bellied, Blood Boil

20 Rabble (R4), Regiment, Infantry, Yellow-bellied

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 45 - 2019/11/23

Hello!

In the next game I played against another of my regular opponents, Paul. He decided to bring his Bosporan army with Sarmatian allies for a re-match. There were some interesting changes in his army list, even if it didn't change much visually in comparison to our last encounter.

In general, as before, Paul's army was mainly cavalry with a few units of infantry. However, this time Paul increased the number of bases per unit in some cases and took better quality troops in another. I was obviously curious how would that change the way I would need to respond to this, technically already known, threat.

Here are the details of the army Paul brought for this game:

Bosporan - Army List

Game 125 - Forces of Nature - 2019/11/17

Greetings!

Welcome to the first battle report from the very first Australian Universal Battle tournament and the last event I took part in that was played with 2nd Edition Kings of War rules! Talk about saying farewell to 2nd Edition with a bang! :)

Many thanks to Michael who organised this event for a few die hard UB and KoW enthusiasts! The tournament had 5 rounds and had initially 12 participants. 10 of us finished it. We used Black Jack scoring system and Michael was announcing the scenario for each round just after the previous one was finished.

If you would like to check the results already and/or are interested in the details of the army lists participants used, please follow the link to Michael's blog:

Australian UB Tournament - Season 1

We played at 2250 points which to me was the perfect size for the games. I was really happy to participate, especially that in 2019 I did not attend many tournaments.

In the first round I drew Yan who chose to use his Forces of Nature army. It was quite a different approach to the army list composition than Jeff's so it really felt like I was playing against a completely different force. Even if it was the same faction. Here are the details:

Forces of Nature - Army List

6 Forest Shamblers (FS1), Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Vanguard, Pathfinders, Brew of Haste
- Druid (D), Hero (Cavalry), Drain Lif (6), Heal (2), Individual, Inspiring, Pathfinders
- Beast of Nature (BoN), Monster, Crushing Strength (2), Fly, Lightning Bolt (6), Pathfinders, Vicious

3 Forest Shamblers (FS2), Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Vanguard, Pathfinders, Warden's Watch Formation
- Forest Warden (FW1), Hero (Large Infantry), Alchemist's Curse (10), Crushing Strength (2), Nimble, Pathfinders, Surge (3), Vanguard, Warden's Watch Formation

3 Forest Shamblers (FS3), Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Vanguard, Pathfinders,
Warden's Watch Formation
- Forest Warden (FW2), Hero (Large Infantry), Blizzard (2), Crushing Strength (2), Nimble, Pathfinders, Surge (3), Vanguard, Inspiring Talisman

10 Centaur Bray-Striders (CBS), Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1), Orcish Skullpole
- Pegasus (P), Hero (Large Cavalry), Fly, Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1), Blade of Slashing

10 Centaur Bray-Striders (CBS), Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1)
- Greater Air Elemental (GAE), Crushing Strength (2), Fly, Lightnin Bolt (3), Pathfinders, Shambling, Windblast (6)

10 Centaur Bray-Striders (CBS), Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinders, Thunderous Charge (1)
- Agnih-Bhanu (AB), Monster, Breath Attack (12), Crushing Strength 94), Pathfinder, Piercing (4), Strider, Vicious

20 Naiad Heartpiercers (NH), Regiment, Infantry, Ensnare, Harpoon-gun, Pathfinders, Piercing (1), Regeneration, Brew of Keen-eyeness

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 44 - 2019/11/16

Hello!

I am quite lucky that there is a dedicated group of Mortem et Gloriam players in Canberra so finding the opponent for a game is not a problem at all. If only I had more time to play! :)

We also knew that another event is coming in a couple of months, MOAB (Mother Of All Battles) so it was good to keep playing. Some tried new armies, I simply needed continuous practice with my trusty Seleucids.  

Stephen was toying with his Early Imperial Romans as his dreaded Mamluks were not yet ready. I was very happy with such match up because games where Phalanx is fighting Legion are always interesting.

Stephen decided to take the following:

Early Imperial Roman - Army List

Game 124 - Forces of Nature - 2019/11/09

Greetings!

Although everyone is building new army lists for the 3rd Edition of Kings of War, I decided to continue with my 2nd edition battle reports.

I decided to do so because of a few reasons. First, I would like to make sure to thank my opponents for great games and the best way I can do it is by writing the battle report! Second, the longer I wait to write the up, the more difficult it would be to recall the details and I simply want to finish them to focus on the new.

However, I also wanted to feature the battle reports from the very first Australian Universal Battle tournament too! This game was my last preparation before we started. I also think that it was a great way of saying farewell to a fantastic game of 2nd edition of Kings of War!

It is probably not a surprise that I played this game against Jeff, by far my most frequent opponent! If I can make something work against him, it simply means I am on the right track. 

For this game Jeff chose Forces of Nature army. Not the very first time when Jeff used this faction against me but one can always be sure that Jeff's army list is never exactly the same as last time. Here are the details of his army at 2250 points:

Forces of Nature - Army List

40 Salamanders, Horde, Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Banner of Griffin

- Beast of Nature, Monster, Crushing Strength (2), Lightning Bolt (6)

- Forest Warden, Hero (Large Infantry), Crushing Strength (2), Nimble, Vanguard, Surge (3)

10 Centaur Bray-Striders, Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Thunderous Charge (1)

- Beast of Nature, Monster, Crushing Strength (2), Lightning Bolt (6)

- Forest Warden, Hero (Large Infantry), Crushing Strength (2), Nimble, Vanguard, Surge (3)

10 Centaur Bray-Striders, Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Thunderous Charge (1)

- Beast of Nature, Monster, Crushing Strength (2), Lightning Bolt (6)

- Forest Warden, Hero (Large Infantry), Crushing Strength (2), Nimble, Vanguard, Surge (3)

3 Forest Shamblers, Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Shambling, Vanguard

- Winged Unicorn, Fly, Heal (7), Inspiring, Thunderous Charge (2)

3 Fire Elementals, Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2), Shambling

- Winged Unicorn, Fly, Heal (7), Inspiring, Thunderous Charge (2)

3 Fire Elementals, Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2), Shambling

3 Earth Elementals, Regiment, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Shambling

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 43 - 2019/11/03

Hello,

In the last round of the Mortem et Gloriam tournament during WinterCon 2019, I had a great pleasure to play against Carl who this time commanded the army of Late Republican Romans.

I would also like to apologise the readers and Carl in particular for such a delay in preparing this battle report. It was never my intention to allow for this but unfortunately it happened. I hope I will be able to meet my own deadlines much better in the future. At the moment I am still catching up with quite a few battle reports. I do hope, however, they will be entertaining and worth reading, even if published later than planned.

I have played against Carl a few times already and it started to become a tradition that we meet each other in the last round of the events we attend. Fortunately for me, Carl usually brings a brand new army to each tournament. So I always have the opportunity to play against a different foe. This time was unique, because I was about to fight against Julius Caesar himself at the head of his dreaded Xth Legion!

Here are the details of the army Carl brought to the tournament.

Late Republican Roman - Army List