Sunday 15 May 2016

Kings of Dave 4 - Introduction

Greetings!

Last Saturday I finally made it to my first Kings of War tournament! It was a local one day event organized by Dave who is a very active Tournament Organizer and thanks to whom I had so much fun in participating Warhammer related events in the past.

Many players in Canberra started playing Kings of War so Dave stepped up in again and keeps organizing the tournaments. I knew then that this one would be well led and I was very excited about seeing some familiar faces after such a long break (my last even was CanCon in January 2015!). I was naturally intrigued how I can do during the event because I have mainly played on Universal Battle so far. 

Player's Pack

The main points of the player's pack were as follows:

1. 2500 points armies (Destiny of Kings characters are allowed).
2. 4 games.
3. Scenarios to be determined randomly before each turn, no scenario will be played twice.
4. Scoring system - official Kings of War Tournament Rules Pack

For me the most important part was about the size of the armies. I have been playing 2000 games so far and I had to check if I actually have enough models to boost my regular army to 2500! Fortunately I did and was very interested to check a few new units I haven't used so far! 

I was also aware that one of the biggest challenges for me would be to play fast enough to finish the game in 2 hours. Veteran KoW players would probably say it is more than enough to finish a battle, even the one that lasts 7 turns. Hence, I would like to apologize my opponents here for being a slow player. I am sure, however, that I will get faster with more practice! 

The Army

I decided to upgrade my existing 2000 points army with more units mainly. I will add some more comments on the way I see people composed their own forces during the tournament later. However, I can tell you already that I noticed I don't use nearly as many heroes as other players. I think it is due to the fact I somehow feel better with units than individuals, even if I can see why people are so happy to use them. In addition, the amount of regiments does not allow me to take more anyway. I think we might have some good discussion later, however, as I learned quite a few things about the use of individuals in particular and characters in general.

Outcasts - Army List

10 Stormwind, Regiment, Potion of the Caterpillar (Pathfinder) - 235
- 5 Silverbreeze, Troop - 145
- 5 Silverbreeze, Troop - 145
- Drakon Rider Lord, Hero, Large Cavalry - 160

3 Drakon Riders, Regiment, Dwarven Ale (Headstrong) - 185
- 5 Stormwind, Troops - 140
- Bolt Thrower, War Machine - 90

20 Palace Guard, Regiment - 150
- 10 Gladestalkers, Troop - 130
- Bolt Thrower, War Machine - 90 

20 Palace Guard, Regiment - 150
- 10 Hunters of the Wild, Troop - 135
 
- 10 Hunters of the Wild, Troop - 135 
- King, Hero, Mounted - 140 
 
20 Spearelves, Regiment - 140
- Elven Mage, Hero, Inspiring Talisman, Bane Chant - 110

20 Spearelves, Regiment - 140
- Battle Standard Bearer, Hero, Scrying Gem- 50 

I upgraded one troop of Palace Guard to the Regiment, Archers to Gladestalkers and added two troops of Hunters as well as a mounted King. I also decided to try out Scrying Gem. 

I was a bit limited to the models I could take. I was thinking, for example, about third unit of fast cavalry for instance. I would not mind adding another regiment of Drakons and second Drakon Lord either. But I had a few WiP models there already and my army is currently in a big need of repairs so I decided not to go for more proxies than I had.

On the other hand I was happy to use Hunters and Gladestalkers as well as mounted King too. The troops had Vanguard and Pathfinder special rules so I was interested in using these (and learning if I actually can!). The King was there because I thought it would be good to add another source of Inspire and he could be also quite good in disrupting enemy shooters, for instance.

I had 18 elements in that army but was curious about Scrying Gem and its potential effect on the deployment so I included that artifact too. 

I must say I have never fielded an army with so many models. I brought almost all that I took with me when I came back to Canberra. 122 infantry models, 26 cavalry, 2 war machines and 4 large cavalry (at least in theory :)). 

Teaser

As a teaser I am going to post the pictures of deployments from all games as well as what armies I played against and the scenario we had for that particular round. I will also add shortened army lists from memory, so forgive me if I missed some details. I will see if I can obtain the full army lists for the following reports later.

Game 1 - Goblins - Kill

Game 1 - Goblins - Kill
60 Rabble, Legion
40 Spitters, Horde
20 Spitters, Regiment
10 Mawbeast Pack, Regiment
10 Fleabag Riders, Regiment
5 Fleabag Riders, Troops
5 Fleabag Riders, Troops
6 Trolls, Horde
6 Trolls, Horde
War-Trombone, War Engine
War-Trombone, War Engine
Big Rock Thrower, War Engine
Big Rock Thrower, War Engine
Big Rock Thrower, War Engine
Mincer
Giant
Giant
King on a Fleabag
Flaggit
Wiz
Magwa & Jo'os

Game 2 - Empire of Dust - Loot

Game 2 - Empire of Dust - Loot

40 Revenants, Horde
40 Skeleton Archers, Horde
40 Skeleton Archers, Horde
20 Mummies, Horde
6 Enslaved Guardians, Horde
Balefire Catapult, War Engine
Balefire Catapult, War Engine
Monolith, War Engine
Ahmunite Pharaoh, Hero
Revenant Champion on Warm, Hero
Idol of Shobik, Hreo
Mortibris the Necormancer, Hero (from the Destiny of Kings campaign)

Game 3 - Orcs & Goblin Allies - Kill & Pillage

Game 3 - Orcs & Goblin Allies - Kill & Pillage

40 Ax, Horde
20 Morax, Regiment
20 Morax, Regiment
10 Gore Riders, Regiment
10 Gore Riders, Regiment
War Drum, Monster
Giant, Monster
Krudger on Slasher
Gakamak

20 Spitters, Regiment
20 Spitters, Regiment
6 Trolls, Horde
Big Rock Throwers, War Engine
Big Rock Throwers, War Engine
Big Rock Throwers, War Engine

Game 4 - Abyssal Dwarfs - Dominate


Game 4 - Abyssal Dwarfs - Dominate
40 Blacksouls, Horde
20 Blacksouls, Regiment
6 Lesser Obsidian Golems, Horde
10 Abyssal Halfbreeds, Regiment
6 Abyssal Grotesques, Large Cavalry
G'rog Mortar, War Engine
G'rog Mortar, War Engine
G'rog Mortar, War Engine
Overmaster on Abyssal Dragon, Hero
Overmaster on Abyssal Dragon, Hero
Abyssal Halfbreed Champion
Abyssal Halfbreed Champion
Abyssal Halfbreed Champion

Plans and Expectations

What my attendance to the tournaments before showed me is that it is best to have simple plan, try to stick to it and see if it works. There are many variables that can affect the game flow and I still consider myself a beginner in Kings of War. From that perspective I was going to my first ever KoW event simply to learn from others as much as I could and to test what I played with so far.

In addition it was my first attempt to play games with larger armies than 2000 points so I was very curious how much impact on the games that is going to have. What is more, I was about to play 4 games in one day, more than I have ever played on previous events.

Interestingly, I haven't played all the scenarios yet so I was curious if I get the chance to play these that I haven't. And if yes, what would be the impressions after doing so.

Another aspect I was interested in testing was the scoring system for the tournaments. One can think of it as a modified Win/Draw/Loss system but I was curious how does it work in practice. 

I hoped to play against new armies too! I haven't played against quite a few yet and even if it happened that I faced a force I faced before, it could have been something with a different composition. As it turned out I played against only one new army but the other 3 were different than the forces I played against before.

Another aspect I was very intrigued about is the modelling and painting. I know KoW players are embracing the opportunity to multibase often and I was sure I could see some very inspiring armies out there. 

I will do my best to provide the reports from the event as soon as possible but I need to ask you for patience as preparing maps based on pictures often takes longer. I do hope, however, that it will be worth waiting for!

Stay tuned!

Cheers!


4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Cheers! I am working on the first one. I have managed to get to the first turn so far. That is quite time consuming part where I need to create the deployment order gif, resize the photos and write a bit about the opposing army as well as the plan I hoped would work. :)

      Now I am going to move to creating maps for each turn (that should be quicker). I hope to finish the report in 2-3 days (mainly due to the fact I can spend only limited amount of time during weekdays on the hobby).

      Please, be a bit more patient. :)

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  2. Will be interesting to see how O&G list got on - looks like a good selection.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You will need to wait for this one a bit longer but I can tell you it was my favorite game of the event and I nominated Tony for best sport :)

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