Kings of War Battle Report
Once of my lockdown projects was to paint a Kings Of War Goblin army – and I only just got a chance to bring them to the field. This was to be my first game of KOW, so we set it at 1500 points. My opponent was bringing Nightstalkers – and had warned me to leave my ranged weapons at home, as their -1 to hit for the entire army being stealthy (Including the titan!) would render my 5+ to hit rolls worthless.
My opponents army consisted (from memory) of a horde and two troops of spectres, two units of brutes, a unit of flying horse cav, a giant, a wizard, a smaller monster thing. As planned, I had the drop on him numbers wise! Quantity has a quality of its own and all that.
We put down some terrain, and deployed for battle. My legion of Rabble had to go down the center, as there was little other room for them to manoeuvre, and I flanked that with my horde of fleabags and regiment of mawbeasts. This was to make use of the hill and get some good charges in (I hoped.) Behind the legion I deployed my Luggit horde, ready to spring forward once the legion was decimated.
On the other side of the building I deployed my Giant, the mincers (90’s GW fanatics) and my Wiz. Their job was to deal with the cav and my opponent’s giant.
Turn 1
Both sides advanced, my legion began to take hits from the spectres, taking 7 wounds. My mobile units take the hill and my giant goes into the rough ground with strider, while his goes up to the wall to hinder my mincers/rabble. I use the same trick with my troop of Mawbeasts.
My Wiz puts a point of damage on the giant.
Turn 2
The nightstalkers bide their time, apart from one of his monsters charging into my legion and taking them up to 12 wounds. They are made of stern stuff however, and hold. My only loss is my mawbeast troop to the cav on the far right of my army.
My turn sees me charge across the battlefield. Both my giant and mincers go in on his giant, and the rest of the army charges a unit each. The rabble horde begins to manuver to keep the enemy’s flying cav off the flanks of my heavy hitters.
My wiz is impotent as the only target in his sight is being clobbered by some heavy hitters. The clash of dice hitting the table is seen across the field.
Turn 3
The Brutes charge in with the remaining specters, wavering my fleabags and putting hits in. The spectre horde pivots to face the coming threat looming around the building. The beast hits my legion once more, but they hold on with 15 wounds. I make comments that they are not dying quickly enough.
I move my king up to support the left, as the giant and micers come around to threaten the flank, but having to pivot slows them a bit. I of course counter charge where I can, getting a few more wounds in, but the Brutes are tough and are ready to strike back.
My rabble horde of course just keeps its front on the incoming cav. That jungle has stopped them from just charging in, and really neutered them. It may not have been my plan, but the mawbeasts have drawn them into a bad positon.
Turn 4
I really need to take more photos of my opponents turns!
The Specters continue to protect the flank of the army, while the brutes finish off my fleabags and maul my mawbeasts, wavering them. The legion is also wavered, but not destroyed! Get out of the way!
My turn sees the giant and the Mincers push into the spectres, and the wiz miss all his shots into the cav. It’s about this point I lean down to him and stage whisper “YOU DISSAPOINT ME!” apparently loud enough for the whole hall to hear! He’s a goblin Thanos, I expected more. He’s obviously Endgame retired to a farm Thanos. Just my luck.
Otherwise the rabble horde keep their front to the enemy and keep the cav busy.
The only combat is in the center, where I waver the spectres and put a few more wounds on the monster.
Turn 5
With the stakes high, I forgot to take many pictures this turn, as the brutes finished off my Mawbeasts and turned to face the incoming threat, the monster managed to finish off my rabble. His cav flew OVER my rabble and kept moving forwards.
When my turn came around, the rabble gave chase, and the luggit mob went in at last! I really underestimated how long the rabble legion would stick around vs that monster. On the other hand, I had fresh reserves in place. The Giant and mincer countercharged. The Wiz hits the cav and does two more points of damage, bringing his total up to 3 for the entire game.
The combat was a resounding success for me, with the horde of spectres and the monster both being removed, and my force reorganising to push in. I was leaving my rear open the cav, so I charged my king in, He was never going to win, but he was there to keep my Luggits alive.
Turn 6
Possibly the last turn, and things were looking good, thanks to a bit of good planning and a healthy dose of luck – my opponents rolling had been lacklustre at key points – I was in a strong positon.
The brutes charged my giant, wounding him slightly, but the rest could only move to face me. The cav disengaged and flew over the king, and His wizard moved to the top of the hill.
This proved to be a mistake as we both belatedly realized that the Luggits could charge him, then overrun into the brutes!
The charge goes in! the brutes are looking a little worried as I smash the wizard into a fine paste (I make a pointed remark to my own Wiz.) then I roll a 2 on the overrun, leaving my Luggits short!
The king hits the cav again, but is never going to break them. The rabble keep chasing as well. The giant/mincer combo get some hits in, and spatter the brutes into a fine paste!
We roll and get another turn!
Turn 7
The Specters survive, but I’m one short of breaking the brutes! The cav also survive, and the battle comes to an end, a glorious victory for the Goblins!
A great game, and my first victory! With a few caveats.
- I was able to tailor my force a bit. – Knowing I was facing night stalkers allowed me to know to leave my ranged bods at home.
- The Nightstalker General’s luck was poor at the important times – this was not game breaking, but I got the rolls I needed when I needed them – mostly – I did manage three double 1’s for break checks! But when it came to combat, I was rolling better.
- My opponent was explaining the game – I’ve read the book and watched a ton of videos, but explaining the fine details was bound to have distracted him from making the right choices.
- I got lucky a few times – Charging my giant in I forgot he had slayer 1D6 until I’d done it!
So, I’m not going to get overconfident, but I’m looking forward to another game at some point, and starting on my Ratkin Army.
Apparently I have a thing for hordes….