Game 161 - Dwarfs - 2021/01/30

 

Greetings!

I was very nicely surprised when after I posted about my very first game in Play By Email, I learned that quite a number of players use this way. I also receive a few generous offers to play this way, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who reached out! I will definitely find time to organize a game against everyone who contacted me. 

In the meantime, a sort of rematch was scheduled already. This time, however, Erasmus decided to use another force of his - The Dwarfs of the Fool's Hold! You should check how the army looks like in real life and read their story too!

The Dwarfs of the Fool's Hold - gallery

Who are the Fools? - story 

It was thus another classic match up, with another battle to be added to the long saga of Elves vs Dwarfs conflict. Here are the details of the army Erasmus brought to our 2000 points per side game:

The Dwarfs of the Fool's Hold - Army List

Ironclad Regiment (I1), Infantry, Throwing Mastiff - 125
Ironclad Regiment (I2), Infantry, Throwing Mastiff - 125
Ironclad Regiment (I3), Infantry, Throwing Mastiff - 125
Shieldbreakers Regiment (S1), Infantry, Throwing Mastiff - 140  

Rangers* Regiment (R1), Infantry - 185
Rangers* Regiment (R2), Infantry - 185 

Sharpshooters Troop (S2), Heavy Infantry - 100
Sharpshooters Troop (S3), Heavy Infantry - 100
Sharpshooters Troop (S4), Heavy Infantry - 100
Berserker Brock Riders Troop (BR1), Cavalry - 125
Berserker Brock Riders Troop (BR2), Cavalry - 125

Steel Behemoth (B), Monster (Chariot) - 245

Berskerker Lord (BL), Hero (Cavalry), Gnome-Glass Shield - 150
Dwarf Army Standard Bearer (AS), Hero (Infantry) - 50
Flame Priest (FP), Hero (Infantry), Inspiring Talisman, Bane Chant(2), Increase to Fireball (10) - 120

This army has 15 units, 12 of them are scoring and the Total Unit Strength is 24.

Game 160 - Salamanders - 2022/01/23

Greetings!

It has been some time since I played a game of Kings of War "live", either with real models or online. It was thus a great that when Karl reached out to offer me a game on Tabletop Simulator I had some spare time to do so. It was our long overdue re-match too! We played our first game almost exactly a year ago. You can check it here if you are interested:

Game 152 - Salamanders - 2021/01/26

If you are interested in playing Kings of War on Tabletop Simulator platform, I highly recommend you read Karl's article on Mantic Blog:

How to play Kings of War on Tabletop Simulator

And check all the goodies Karl prepared for you on this FB group:

Kings of War - Tabletop Simulator  

There are a lot of very useful functionalities built in now, that make the experience even more smooth and user friendly. I also learned that you can have moving models as well, in the same way as they are in computer games! I hope I am going to find some time in the future to play with that and create more personalized version of my own as well.

Karl brought his trusty Salamanders again and we both had some updates to our respective army lists since last time. Here are the details of the army list of Karl's Salamanders:

Salamanders - Army List

Salamander Ceremonial Guard Horde (SC), Heavy Infantry - 265
Tyrants Horde (T1), Large Infantry - 240
Tyrants Horde (T2), Large Infantry - 240

Ancients Regiment (A1), Heavy Infantry - 185
Ancients Regiment (A2), Heavy Infantry - 185
Scorchwings* (SF1), Large Cavalry - 120
Scorchwings* (SF2), Large Cavalry - 120

Fire Drake (FD1), Titan - 210
Fire Drake (FD2), Titan - 210

Herald (H), Hero (Heavy Infantry),  Lute of Insatiable Darkness - 85
Mage-Priest (MP), Hero (heavy Infantry), Heal (3), Shroud of the Saint - 135

This army has 11 Units, 9 of them are scoring and the total Unit Strength is 22. 

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