Kings of War Battle - 500 points Ogres vs Goblins

I recently got in a couple of games of Kings of War with good pal Merlin.

The first game was a quick 500 point battle with us both trying out new armies.  I used my new ogres and he used his goblins.

As the host Merlin had come up with the scenario, based loosely on one of the ones in the rule book (or in Clash of Kings 2019).

The Rocky Plains of Babdos.

A clash of 500pts between Goblins and Ogres.           Loosely based on Pillage p86.

Games lasts 6 turns, then throw a d6, on a score of 4+ play one last turn.

Brak-na-Hak sniffed the air, he did not like this eerie place of rocks, something was wrong, very wrong. He had been told that the highly prized Claw-foot, a gnarled healing root grew upon the plains of Babdos amidst the strangely formed rock formations that helped make him feel so uneasy. Brak-na-Hak flicked a hand sideways, indicating to his warriors that they should fan out-it was then that he spotted the goblins. It seems the ogres were not the only ones looking for Claw-foot; Brak-na-Hak hefted his axe and grinned an evil grin at the thought of the fight to come.; there would be blood on the rocks this day. 

Set-up: place d2+1 objective markers on the battlefield-these represent the Claw-foot (not in blocking terrain).

Both players roll a die, highest score places the first objective marker, then players alternate placing markers until they are all placed (at least 12” apart). 

Then players throw again, the highest score chooses table edge and places their first unit.

Players then alternate deploying units until both forces are deployed.

Note: The strange rock formations on the Plains of Babdos are all counted as 'blocking terrain' with a height of 4.

Also: The stones have an aura that affects any unit within 3” of them. The stones have witnessed much bloodshed over the years  causing any unit within 3” to gain +1 to their 'Waver' Nerve value.

Objective: To 'control' more objectives at the end of the game than your opponent. To control an objective you must have a unit within 3” of it with no enemy units contesting it.  

Armies
My 500 points of Ogres consisted of;
Brak-na-Hak, Army Standard (I used my painted ogre leader for him)
1 Horde of Ogre Warriors with the Brew of Haste
1 Regiment of Ogre Warriors with two handed weapons
1 Regiment of Red Goblins

Merlin's 500 points of goblins were;
Krag, Goblin Biggit on Fleabag
1 Regiment of Trolls
1 Regiment of Fleabag Riders
1 Regiment of Fleabag Sniffs

The Battle
Here's the battle report, I'm trying a slightly more concise format than my usual wordy one. Please let me know which you prefer in the comments

The rocky plains of Babdos

The goblin's lair (though they attacked from a different table edge)

The armies prepare for battle

The Goblin Host

The Ogre attackers (red goblins can just be seen on the distant hill)

The goblins advance, keen to drive the ogres away

Trolls and fleabag riders accompany Krag the goblin Biggit

The Fleabag sniffs have seized one objective, while an ogre regiment has another

Fleabag riders charge their red goblin cousins

The red goblins hold out (just), but lose the will to fight

Ogre warriors charge the goblins, killing Krag, while Brak-na-Hak slinks through the woods

The fleabag sniffs swing round to try and flank the ogre warriors while the Fleabags finish off the red goblins

Brak-na-Hak charges through the wood to hit them in the flank, but does no damage.  The ogre warrior units make short work of the trolls and then turn to face the remaining goblin units

The sniffs shoot at the approaching ogres, hoping to break the already damaged unit, but do little to keep them at bay.   The Fleabag riders 'mishear' the order to charge the horde and prefer to hold onto their objective, hopeful of holding it against the ogres.

Ogre warriors and Brak-na-Hak make short work of the sniffs, the warriors advancing further to claim an objective.  The horde knocks the fight out of the fleabags, but can't quite wipe them out.

Unable to do attack, the fleabags hold their position, only to be wiped out when the horde next charges them.  Meanwhile the rest of the ogre force ensures it holds the objectives

At the end of the battle not a goblin is left on either side.  The ogres hold all the objectives, and will doubtless be raiding the goblin caves for more slaves.

A great fun battle, the final result doesn't show that I felt it could go either way for the firs few turns.  The Fleabags failing their 'Yellow Bellied' roll and not charging my ogre warriors was a turning point.  The ogres had already taken some damage and might well have been destroyed.

The scenario helped as well.  I think we were all pretty much focused on the objectives, heading to them (hence my deploying the Red Goblins way out on the flank) and we only abandoned objectives if it looked like we could reclaim them.  The effect of the stones was nice too.