Game 159 - Night Stalkers - 2021/12/28

 

Greetings!

It's been a while since my last battle report. I had far less spare time for hobby in general, let alone for playing games in 2021. That's what happens when you welcome a new family member in your life :) Fortunately, Erasmus (aka DarkBlack on forums and UB2), who seem to be in a similar situation, came up with a brilliant idea of how to help another new dad not to lose touch with the hobby completely. He reached out and suggested we use Universal Battle 2, with its great feature of saving games, to ... Play By Email! 

If you have never hear of this way, I recommend you check this video by everyone's favourite KoW community member:

Death by Dragons - How to use UB2 to play KoW by email! 

In short, you play on UB2 one turn at a time, on your own, whenever you have a bit of a spare moment to do so. It is obviously not the same as playing a full game in one go. But when you are not able to reliably lock 2-3 hours at particular time of the day, then this is a perfect solution. 

A huge "Thank You!" to Erasmus for reaching out and suggesting we play this way. And even more so for being extremely patient, as it took me quite a long time before we could finally begin our first game. However, when we finally started, all went smoothly and we were able to play a turn each almost every day. 

I must admit that there are some aspects of this way of playing the game I like a lot! For example, I really like that I can take it easy and think a bit about my moves without time pressure. Interestingly, it does not result in me spending a lot to make the moves. It is more about the comfort of doing it at the pace I wanted. This was quite important when everything else in life seemed to be quite hectic, changing fast and quite unpredictable! Hence, a bit of peace to enjoy the hobby was exactly what I needed. 

For our first game by email, my opponent chose his Night Stalker army. I consider this faction to be an archenemy for the Elves so I was thrilled to fight against it. It can be equally fast but is also significantly different in many aspects. Perfect enemy for an interesting game!

What is more, COK2022 was released just prior to when we decided to begin and we both modified our armies accordingly. Erasmus tells me he didn't change much in his force but since a number of units in the Night Stalkers list were updated, there was a lot to try out as if it was new! For me, I also tried to keep my army as similar to the one I used last time as possible. But as you will see, the same units may have gained some new options and I was curious how would they do this time.

We decided to play at 2000 per side. Here are the details of the Night Stalker army:

Tentacle Street Sneakery Club - Army List

Scarecrows Horde (SC), Infantry, Screamshard - 135
Butchers Horde (B1), Large Infantry - 205
Butchers Horde (B2), Large Infantry - 205

Dopplegangers (D), Infantry - 145
Shadowhounds* (S), Cavalry, Chalice of Wrath - 205
Soulflyers* (SF1), Large Cavalry - 165
Soulflyers* (SF2), Large Cavalry - 165

Planar Apparition (PA), Monster - 165
Shadow-Hulk (SH), Titan - 225

Dread Fiend (DF1), Hero (Large Cavalry) - 135
Dread Fiend (DF2), Hero (Large Cavalry) - 135
Butcher Fleshripper (BF), Hero (Large Infantry), Blade of Slashing - 115

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 58 - 2021/05/05

Greetings!

In my first (and so far, only!) game of Mortem et Gloriam in 2021 I played against my usual opponent Paul, who decided that "New Year - New Army" is going to be his motto. After a few battles against his Muslim Indian Sultanates, it was time to fight against completely different enemy - Ottoman Turkish!

Paul chose 1400 C.E. as the year for his army so it was only 16 centuries that separated our armies! However, both empires controlled some of the same territories in their time!

What is also interesting in Paul's force is that it also had Serbian allies included. Quite a colourful army to fight against for sure!

Ottoman Turkish - Army List

Game 158 - Ratkin - 2021/04/25

 

Greetings!

After I played against Ed and his Free Dwarfs, I had a fantastic opportunity to have a game with another prominent member of the Oxford Gaming Club - Simon aka laribord for those who play on Universal Battle 2. We have played against each other since the down of time but there was a bit of a break since our most recent encounter. It was thus great to organize a game again!

This time, Simon brought his Ratkin army. This is the faction I didn't play against often and Simon always adds a special flavour to the armies he designs. It was no different this time and I was really curious about this encounter. Let's check Simon's army in more detail:

Desert Rats - Army List

Nightmares Horde (N), Large Infantry, Blessing of the Gods - 265

Shock Troops Regiment (S1), Infantry, Heavy Halberds (Phalanx), Plague Pots - 160
Shock Troops Regiment (S2), Infantry, Plague Pots - 145
Shock Troops Regiment (S3), Infantry, Plague Pots - 145
Hackpaws Regiment (H), Cavalry, Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar - 170
Tunnel Runners (TR), Chariots, Brew of Sharpness - 245
Vermintide* Regiment (V), Swarm, Staying Stone - 70

Mutant Rat Fiend (MRF), Titan - 220
Tangle[1] (T), Titan - 160

Weapon Team (WT), War Engine - 85

Brood Mother (BM), Hero (Large Infantry) - 140
Brute Enforcer (BE1), Hero (Large Infantry) - 75
Brute Enforcer (BE2), Hero (Large Infantry) - 75
Swarm-Crier (SC), Hero (Infantry) - 45

Game 157 - Free Dwarfs - 2021/04/18

 

Greetings!

This is the battle report from the very first game I played in 2021. Yes, I know, a bit late and I apologize to Ed, my opponent, that it took me so long to get back to our battle. However, I hope it was worth waiting for as I think the game was very interesting and was not resolved until the very end!

Ed decided to use Free Dwarfs army this time. I still have the impression that this army is not quite popular and I was curious what would be Ed's approach to the composition. Here are the details:

Free Dwarfs - Army List

Earth Elementals Horde (EE1), Large Infantry, Blade of Slashing - 225
Earth Elementals Horde (EE2), Large Infantry, Mace of Crushing - 225

Free Dwarf Brock Riders Regiment (BR1), Cavalry, Brew of Haste - 215
Free Dwarf Brock Riders Regiment (BR2), Cavalry, Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar - 215

Mastiff Hunting Pack* Troop (M1), Swarm, Throwing Mastiff - 80
Mastiff Hunting Pack* Troop (M2), Swarm, Throwing Mastiff - 80
Mastiff Hunting Pack* Troop (M3), Swarm, Throwing Mastiff - 80 

Craggoth & Kholearm [1], Greater Earth Elemental (GEE), Titan - 255

Stone Priest (SP), Hero (Infantry), Darklord's Onyx Ring, Bane Chant(2),  Martyr's Prayer(7) [1] - 155
Packmaster (P), Hero (Infantry), Mastiff Munchberries [1] - 100
Berserker Lord (BL), Hero (Cavalry), Blade of the Beast Slayer - 160
Sveri Egilax on Hellbrock [1], Hero (Large Cavalry) - 210

Game 156 - Basileans - 2021/04/11

 

Greetings!

In the last round of the Rage of Isolation 4 online tournament, played on Universal Battle 2 I played against Yan. I had a great pleasure to play against him a few times in the past, although not yet in person. All our games were online. Yan brought a difference force each time and this tournament was no different. While expected either Herd or the Empire of Dust, Yan decided to try out some Basileans instead. I got an impression he really just wanted to play with this enormous Paladin Knights Horde! And some Elohi! And a Phoenix! And some Living Legends!

Basileans - Army List

Paladin Knights Horde (PK), Cavalry, Brew of Strength - 395
Ogre Palace Guard Horde (OPG), Large Infantry, Staying Stone - 240

Men-at-Arms Swordsmen (S1), Infantry - 105
Men-at-Arms Swordsmen (S2), Infantry - 105
Elohi Regiment (E1), Large Infantry - 160
Elohi Regiment (E2), Large Infantry - 160

Gur Panthers* (GP1), Cavalry - 85
Gur Panthers* (GP2), Cavalry - 85 

Phoenix (P1), Titan - 195

Gnaeus Sallustis[1] (GS), Hero (Large Cavalry) - 180
Samacris, Mother of Phoenixes[1] (S3), Hero (Large Infantry) - 195
Priest (P2), Hero (Infantry), Bane Chant (2) - 95

Game 155 - Sylvan Kin - 2021/04/05

 

Greetings!

In the third round of the Rage of Isolation 4 online tournament, played on Universal Battle 2, I played against a second army of Sylvan Kin. This time, however, commanded by the Tournament Organizer himself - Michael.

I believe Michael 3d-printed some of his models for a brand new army at that time already and was testing some of the options online. From my point of view, as an opponent, it was very interesting to see a different approach to army composition than in the case of Nick's army. Even if there were a few elements that were exactly the same, the army looked different and thought it would play differently as well. Here are the details:

Sylvan Kin - Army List

Forest Guard Horde (FG), Infantry, Brew of Strength - 310
Forest Shamblers Horde (FS), Large Infantry - 200

Hunters of the Wild Regiment (HW1), Heavy Infantry - 160
Hunters of the Wild Regiment (HW2), Heavy Infantry - 160
Stormwind Cavalry* Regiment (S), Cavalry, Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar - 235

Boskwraiths Troops (B1), Infantry - 115
Boskwraiths Troops (B2), Infantry - 115

Wiltfather [1] (W), Hero(Monster) - 300
Army Standard Bearer (AS), Hero (Infantry), Lute of Insatiable Darkness - 85
Dragon Kindred Lord (DKL), Hero (Monster), Blade of Slashing - 320

Monster March 5 - Final!

Greetings!

Welcome to the last update on the Monster March 5 painting challenge! As always, the time flies and we have April already! 

This year's challenge turned out to be truly amazing, with a lot of participants and some fantastic models. It was my absolute pleasure to host the challenge again. It was really inspiring to see all your projects! Some of you painted models that waited for their chance for decades, some of you painted a lot more than a single monster. Whatever your personal choice was, whatever the progress and whether you completed it by the end of March or not, it was all a success because you did some painting! That was the main goal!

In this post I am going to round up the contributions from every single participants over the period of March as a way of saying "Thank you!" for posting photos of your models. Without you, there would be no Monster March! I hope that this is also just the beginning and that you are going to continue with your fantastic project throughout the year!

Ok, let's have a look at all these beautiful models that were featured this year!

Monster March 5 - Part 5

 

Greetings!

We are getting close to the end of this year painting challenge! Many of the participants have already finished their projects, some are even going to their stretch goals! But there is still enough time to add finishing touches to your models! Or, like in my case, get back to painting again! :)

In any case, there are some great updates to check again! Let's begin!

Decade of Battle Reporting - 2021/03/27

Greetings!

Much to my own surprise, I have just recently realized that on 22nd March 2011 I posted my very first battle report. Back then I did not even think about what kind of journey I was embarking on. As you can easily imagine, quite a lot happened in the last decade. I would like to take the opportunity and recall some of the most interesting moments of that journey. I hope you will find it an interesting read!

Monster March 5 - Part 4

Greetings!

We are now more than half way through the painting challenge this month! It is usually the time where the models have the main colours done and the focus is on details to complete the project. 

Some of the participants have already completed theirs and are moving to stretch goals! Well done! Some, like myself, are slower painters. And that's perfectly fine too! There is still time to complete your project. In fact, if you have not joined the challenge yet, you can always do it!

Let's see then what was the progress last week!

Game 154 - Abyssal Dwarfs - 2021/03/20

Greetings!

In the second round of the Rage of Isolation 4 online tournament played over Universal Battle 2, I had a great pleasure to play against Michael. 

Michael told me he has recently started playing Kings of War in general and at the time of the tournament last year, did not have a chance to play with real models yet. He chose the army of Abyssal Dwarfs as his force for this event.

This faction has some really tough units to choose from and as always, I am very interested in seeing what exactly attracts my opponent's attention and what made to the army list.

Michael chose an interesting range of units and ended up with, in my opinion, a well rounded and versatile army. Here are the details:

Abyssal Dwarfs - Army List

Blacksouls Horde (B), Infantry, Two-handed weapons - 190
Abyssal Grotesques Horde (AG), Large Cavalry, Sir Jesse's Boots of Striding - 260

Immortal Guard Regiment (IG1), Infantry - 160
Immortal Guard Regiment (IG2), Infantry - 160

Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment (AH1), Cavalry - 200
Abyssal Halfbreeds Regiment (AH2), Cavalry - 200

Lesser Obsidian Golems Regiment (OG1), Monstrous Infantry - 130
Lesser Obsidian Golems Regiment (OG2), Monstrous Infantry - 130

Mutated Mastiff Hunting Pack* Regiment (HP), Swarm - 65

Angkor Heavy Mortar (HM1), War Engine - 115
Angkor Heavy Mortar (HM2), War Engine - 115

Overmaster (O), Hero (Infantry), Infernal Advance [1] - 125
Iron-caster (I), Hero (Infantry), Bane Chant (2), Lightning Bolt (3), Surge (8) - 150

Monster March 5 - Part 3

 

Greetings!

Welcome to the Part 3 of the Monster March painting challenge! We are roughly half way through the month. And I must tell you, that many of the participants made fantastic progress, in some cases surprising even themselves with how quickly they were able to paint their chosen models! 

In general, everyone involved is doing great at the chosen pace. I am sure we are all learning new tricks while painting our models. And that is important because:

Ok, let's see what the participants achieved last week!

Game 153 - Sylvan Kin - 2021/03/12

Greetings!

Welcome to the first battle report from the series of 4 games in the frame of online tournament - Rage of Isolation 4. This was the last event of 2020 I participated in. It was organized by Michael Clarke and the games were played in November and December last year on Universal Battle. Here is the link to the FB page for that tournament where you can find more details on each round as well as a player's pack:

Rage of Isolation 4

This time the rules were really simple. 2000 points armies, preselected scenarios and maps each turn but that's about it. No special rules this time, to make it nice and easy!

In the first round I got paired with Nick Legrand who brought a Silvan Kin army for this event. Interestingly, we participated in many events together but for some reason, we have only played against each other once. And even then it was almost 8 years ago at ConVic 2013 when we both played a different game. However, it brings some memories too so here is the link to that game, in what now seems a different reality :)

ConVic 2013 - Round 3

I have played a few games against Sylvan Kin so far but Nick designed his army around a different concept. It was a very interesting combination of variety of units rather than focus on a single aspect, such as Forest Shamblers for example.

Here are the details of the army Nick used in this game and the tournament:

Sylvan Kin - Army List

Forest Guard Horde (FG), Infantry, Brew of Strength - 310

Kindred Archers Regiment (A1), Infantry - 120
Kindred Archers Regiment (A2), Infantry - 120
Stormwind Cavalry* Regiment (SC), Cavalry, Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar - 235
Forest Shamblers Regiment (FS), Large Infantry - 120

Boskwraiths Troop (B1), Infantry - 115
Boskwraiths Troop (B2), Infantry - 115
Kindred Gladestalkers Troop (G1), Infantry - 130
Kindred Gladestalkers Troop (G2), Infantry - 130

Wiltfather (W), Hero (Monster) - 300
Elven King (K), Hero (Cavalry), Pipes of Terror - 145
El'Rik Nsileen [1], Hero (Infantry) - 160

Monster March 5 - Part 2

 

Greetings!

Welcome to the update after the first week of Monster March 5 painting challenge! It is awesome to see the strong start for many. What is more, it seems that the group of the participants grew as well as more and more people decided to join!

Please remember that is never too late to do so! And even though the main theme is about Monsters, feel free to join with any project you like!

All right, lets see how the situation looks like after week 1!

Monster March 5 - Part 1

 

Greetings!

It is time! Monster March painting challenge of the year 2021 is officially on! I am really happy to do it again, 5th year in a row! It has been a great source of inspiration and motivation for me, I discovered fantastic blogs of great painters in the process and met (even if only virtually) some fantastic hobbyists from many places in the world!

I hope this year it will be as inspiring and as motivating to you, both, as a participant and as a spectator as it has always been to me.

Please remember, there is always a great time to join! And while the theme suggests to bring some big model you have always wanted to paint, it is really about painting any model you want!

As always, the first post is about the participants and their chosen models so let's have a look who decided to join the challenge and what model did they choose this year!

Monster March 5 - Introduction

 

Greetings!

It is my great pleasure to announce that I am going to run Monster March challenge once again! This time, it is 5-year anniversary and I hope you will enjoy the challenge, regardless if you are a new participant or the returning one!

If this is the first time you would consider taking part in the challenge (and I certainly hope you are interested!) or just for the reminder, a short description what is Monster March all about.

It is simply a painting challenge run for everyone willing to participate over the period of a month. It started 5 years ago and with the theme to assemble/model and paint something big. It does not really matter what is the model for, if it is for a fantasy, sci-fi or any other system. The challenge is here to help you with progress on that big project you may have always wanted to do but often found it a bit daunting and overwhelming. 

In the past years the participants chose an amazing selection of models from a very wide cross-section of systems and manufacturers, with a great choice of painting styles etc. Here are the links to the challenges from the previous years if you would like to have a look what the participants submitted (and for some, to refresh the memories too!):

Monster March 1 - 2017

Monster March 2 - 2018

Monster March 3 - 2019

Monster March 4 - 2020

I hope you are interested in participating! Read on to learn how to join!

Stormwind Cavalry

 

Greetings!

I have recently finished modelling and painting a regiment of Stormwind cavalry for my Kings of War army. It took me several months, even though half of the models required re-painting rather than building from scratch. It was this type of a project where you progress in stages, working on it for some time, moving to other activities and then coming back to it again. 

It was quite an interesting experience for me, however, and I learned a few things on the way. Hence, I wanted to share a few more details about various challenges I encountered while creating and painting this regiment. I hope it can be useful for others. 

It feels really great to complete the project like that. Satisfaction it brought also fuelled my motivation further. So, instead of needing a break, I actually started another regiment! It may take some time as well but I know it is worthy the effort!

Game 152 - Salamanders - 2021/01/26

Greetings!

Welcome to my first battle report in 2021! Although I must confess I still have a few games from 2020 to write about and the battle I am going to present today is not even the first battle of 2021. But don't worry, they will all be properly reported sooner (hopefully!) than later. 

What is then so special about this particular game that I decided to write about it first? Well, it is the first battle I played using Tabletop Simulator platform and I really would like to tell you about my experiences without too much of a delay!

Before I continue, I would like to thank Karl, who was very kind to be my guide, coach and the first opponent in this new universe! He prepared pretty much everything one may need to play Kings of War on Tabletop Simulator. As you can imagine, it is far easier to learn new things with someone experienced to show you the ropes. Hence, before I move to the game itself, let me tell you a bit more about Tabletop Simulator, especially if you have not heard about it before).