MSU Elves in 3rd Edition - First Impressions

Greetings!

Third Edition of Kings of War is here and everyone who has just received their copy of the book (be it hard copy or digital version) is now pre-occupied with studying this huge tome. 

I am, of course, not different at all! I must admit that it is a bit difficult to focus on writing a few battle reports from the past games I have not yet started. I will do it, if only to keep the full record, but I cannot stop thinking about the new rules, changes and how to adapt to the new reality.

Because of that I decided to write this short blog entry to share some first impressions and to help me decide on the direction of evolution of my current army.

I like the game of manoeuvre and the army where I can use various units together to overwhelm an opponent that would be more powerful in a direct fight in one-on-one melee. That is why when embarking on the journey with the new system a few years ago, 2nd Edition of Kings of War, I decided to adapt my favourite MSU (Multiple Small Units) concept. And that is why I decided to do it again with 3rd Edition.

At this stage I am not going to go into details with the MSU concept, how I understand it and how I realise it in my games. This short blog entry is going to focus on the army I used in 2nd edition and how to adapt it to the 3rd edition of Kings of War.

I hope it will be just the first such blog post where I can discuss the way I like composing and playing with this particular style and with this particular faction.

Game 123 - Dwarfs - 2019/10/26

Greetings!

In the last game of the Return of the King tournament I played against Peter and his Dwarfs. Classic match up in any fantasy system! 

It was also quite an interesting situation in the tournament standings as thanks to my two big victories I found myself fighting for a podium. Very exciting! 

I have never played against Peter before so the fact I had an opportunity to play against him at last was even more important! Peter brought quite compact Dwarf army with a formation that I soon learned to respect a lot :)

Dwarfs - Army List

20 Rangers, Regiment, Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinder, Vanguard, Elite and Stealthy due to Herneas' Hunting Party formation

- 10 Ironguard, Troop, Infantry

- 10 Ironguard, Troop, Infantry

- Golloch's Fury, Hero (Monster), Base Size (50x100mm), Crushing Strength ((3), Headstrong, Iron Resolve, Piercing (2), Strider, Very Inspiring

20 Rangers, Regiment, Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinder, Vanguard, Elite and Stealthy due to Herneas' Hunting Party formation

- Herneas the Hunter, Hero (Infantry), Individual, Inspiring (Rangers Only), Crushing Strength (1), Vanguard, Pathfinder, Elite and Stealthy due to Herneas' Hunting Party formation

10 Berserker Brock Riders, Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1)

- Berserker Lord, Hero (Cavalry), Individual, Inspiring (Berserkers Only), Crushing Strength (1), 

6 Earth Elementals, Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinder, Shambling

- Stone Priest, Hero (Infantry), Inspiring (Earth Elementals only), Individual, Surge (8)

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 42 - 2019/10/12

Hello!

During the second day of the WinterCon 2019 and third round of the Mortem at Gloriam tournament, I played against the army of Early Sassanid Persians commanded by Steve.

I have played against Steve many times already and I know him as a formidable opponent. I often learn hard lessons in our battles too! 

It was, however, the very first time when I played against Sassanid Persians. This army intrigues me a lot, mainly due to my interest in the period of history that put them as main enemies to Byzantine Empire. 

I was thus very curious how an army of such an opponent would look like and fight. Here are the details of the army composition Steve brought to the tournament:

Early Sassanid Persians - Army List

Game 122 - Goblins - 2019/10/10

Greetings!

In the third round of the Return of the King tournament I played against Matthew and his Goblins. I have never played against Matthew before so I was happy to have an opportunity to meet a new player!

I was also curious how would I do against Goblins. I spotted Matthew's army in the meantime and it did look quite intimidating, with quite a number of units and a few hordes too. 

When I play against Goblins I have to assume they will outnumber my army and that they will have higher unit strength. So it is always a challenge to play against this faction as one can put a lot of effort in order to rout some units while there is still more to come.

Here are the details of the army Matthew brought for the event:

Goblins - Army List

6 Trolls (T1), Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2), Regeneration (5+), Dwarven Ale

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

- King on Chariot (KoC), Hero (Large Cavalry), Base Size (50x100mm), Bows, Inspiring, Nimble, Thunderous Charge (2), Yellow-bellied

6 Trolls (T2), Horde, Large Infantry, Crushing Strength (2), Regeneration (5+), Chalice of Wrath

- War-Trombone (WT2), War Engine, Breath Attack (10), Piercing (1), Yellow-bellied

- Wiz (W), Hero (Infantry), Bane Chant (2), Blizzard (2)L, Individual, Lightning Bolt (3), Yellow Bellied, Inspiring Talisman

40 Spitters* (S), Horde, Infantry, Bows, Yellow-Bellied, Heart-seeking chant

10 Mawbeast Pack* (MP1), Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Height (1), Nimble, Vicious, Yellow-bellied

10 Mawbeast Pack* (MP2), Regiment, Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Height (1), Nimble, Vicious, Yellow-bellied

3 Mincer Mob* (MM), Regiment, Large Cavalry, Base Size (50x100mm), Big Shields, Brutal, Crushing Strength (1), Thunderous Charge (1), Potion of the Caterpillar

10 Fleabag Rider Sniffs (FRS), Regiment, Cavalry, Bows, Nimble, Yellow-bellied

- 5 Fleabag Rider Sniffs (FRS), Troops, Cavalry, Bows, Nimble, Yellow-bellied

- Wiz (W), Hero (Cavalry), Mounted on Fleabag, Alchemist Curse (10)L, Individual, Lightning Bolt (3), Yellow Bellied

10 Fleabag Rider Sniffs (FRS), Regiment, Cavalry, Bows, Nimble, Yellow-bellied

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 41 - 2019/09/30

Hello!

In the second round of the tournament during WinterCon 2019 I played against Phil. Last time we played against each other (a few months ago during Ascending Valhalla event) he played with Alexandrian Macedonian. This time, however, Phil decided to bring Early Imperial Romans with some Armenian allies. Excellent!

For some reason I consider Romans as the primary enemy for my Seleucids. I thus find it always exciting to play against any flavor of the Roman force. Even in the frame of this faction, there are a lot of options and variations so there is a guarantee there will be no two armies alike. Phil's force was definitely a good example, especially with allied contingent of Armenian cavalry.

Here are the details:

Early Imperial Romans - Army List

Game 121 - Night Stalkers - 2019/09/22

Greetings!

In the next round of Return of the King tournament I played against Jules and his beautifully painted Night Stalker's army. As my pictures to not give justice to his fantastic looking force, I highly recommend that you check his topic with more photos of the units he has collected and painted so far:

Night Stalkers by Jules

For this tournament Jules decided to bring an army in which various units were represented. Here are the details of his army 1850 points:

Night Stalkers - Army List

60 Blood Worms, Legion, Infantry, Lifeleech (2)

- Void Lurker, Hero, Monster, Fly, Crushing Strength (2), Thunderous Charge (1), Regeneration (5+)

- 5 Shadowhounds*, Troop, Cavalry, Height 1, Nimble, Regeneration (5+), Thunderous Charge (1)

- Terror, Monster, Base size (75 x 75 mm), Crushing Strength (1), Ensnare, Regeneration (4+), Shambling

6 Fiends, Horde, Large Cavalry, Crushing Strength (1), Vicious

- Dread-Fiend, Hero, Large Cavalry, Crushing Strength (2), Vicious, Nimble

20 Phantoms, Regiment, Infantry, Fly, Shambling, Crushing Strength (1), Base size (25 x 25 mm)

- Horror, Hero, Infantry, Individual, Surge (8), Bane Chant (2)

20 Scarecrows, Regiment, Infantry, Shambling

- Shade, Hero, Infantry, Individual, Fly, Crushing Strength (1)

20 Scarecrows, Regiment, Infantry, Shambling

Mortem et Gloriam - Game 40 - 2019/09/15

Hello!

Welcome to the first battle report from the series of four that I played during the tournament WinterCon 2019. It took place in Canberra on 20-21 July. I apologise for the delay in posting about these games. I do hope, however, that I can make up for it with tales of great games against fantastic opponents! 

Before I continue, I would like to dedicate the tournament reports to the player I will always consider as my Mortem et Gloriam mentor - Geoff. He helped me a lot when I was learning the game for the very first time and I was fortunate to play against him a few time since. Unfortunately, Geoff was forced to change the plans in the last possible moment and was not participating in the event. I do hope we will have another chance to play, especially that he initially planned to bring an army of Lysimachus. That would have made for a great thematic game against my Seleucids for sure. Next time!

The tournament was organised for two days with four games to be played. We were not restricted to any particular period of history. The initial match ups were made to pair armies from as close periods as possible. Other than that, we only had a limit of points for the army that was set at 10,000 points.

In the first game I was to play against Leigh, against whom I have already played on many occasions. Leigh is always happy to use different armies from different periods. This time his choice was a force of Magna Graecia. Excellent! A new faction against a great opponent, perfect way to start the tournament!

Here are the details of the composition Leigh brought to the event:

Magna Graecia - Army List