I've been off on holiday, and although I haven't done any painting, I did get in a battle with Merlin. One advantage of 15mm is being able to fit a decent sized army into a small box.
Both Merlin and myself have increased the size of our armies since last time they clashed. (
Here are better pictures of my reinforcements). As is traditional, Merlin, as sort of host (it's complicated; we were up in his neck of the woods, but actually played at the holiday cottage I was staying in), came up with a scenario that continued the storyline we started a while back.
The Battle of Fyngore’s Keep
Krag hawked and spat. Ogres,how he hated them, even
though he had only first met any a few weeks ago; that day they had left him
bloody and battered. Today he would have his revenge. He glanced up at the
giant next to him; Kral Kral Kan would help him gain that revenge. Surely no
ogre could stand against the mighty giant and his huge blood soaked club.
Krag had assembled a mighty goblin host and headed south.
His scouts had told him the ogres were camped near the remains of Fyngores
Keep, an ancient ruin west of the River Thynn. Now the two armies were close,
the ogres, having spotted the goblin army were hurriedly forming ranks. Drums
beating, horns blowing, Krag waved his army forward, this was a good day to
kill some ogre...
This battle is played as Scenario 6 (p87) from the main
rulebook, ‘Kill and Pillage’ with each army totalling 1250 points.
Objective: At
the end of the game each side totals the points value of all enemy units they
routed. There are also 3 objective markers on the table each worth an extra 125
points to whichever side controls them at the end of the last turn.
To place the markers each player should throw a d6, the
highest throw places the first and then alternate until all 3 markers are
placed. The markers should be at least 12” apart.
Game Length: 6
turns, then on a d6 throw, 1-3 the game ends, 4-6 play a 7th and
final turn.
Victory goes to the player with the highest points total
as long as that total is at least 10% higher than the enemy total, otherwise
the game is a draw.
My ogres consisted of a Warlord, a Warlock, a horde of ogre warriors, a horde of warriors with two handed weapons, a horde of berserker braves, a regiment of red goblins and a regiment of red goblin scouts.
Merlin's goblins consisted of a goblin King (Krag), a giant, a regiment of trolls, a regiment of fleabag riders, a regiment of fleabag sniffs, a troop of mawbeasts, a regiment of sniffs and a regiment of goblin rabble, an army standard bearer with boomstick and Magwa and Joos.
The two armies face off
The goblins advance. Early bowfire damages the red goblins
The red goblin scouts charge the fleabag riders
Clash of the goblin cavalry with King Krag looking on.
In exchange the goblin king and his fleabag riders attack the scouts.
Ogre berserkers take advantage of the Potion of Haste to smash into the mawbeasts, wiping them out.
The goblin spitters loose their bows, but hit nothing, showing them how its done, King Krag and his fleabags finally destroy the red goblin scouts. The rest of the goblin line smashes into the ogres. The giant proves completely ineffective, but the trolls and Magwa and Joos cause huge casualties on the warriors with great weapons, wavering them.
The Ogre line takes the charge
The berserkers charge King Krag, barely pausing to trample him, they continue their rampage into the goblin cavalry, finally turning to face the standard bearer. The Warlock shifts to see the goblin rabble and casts a fireball, singing them, but they hold. The warriors try their hands against the giant, wounding him, but not enough to stop him. The Warlord also charges in, hurting Magwa and Joos, but not severely.
The goblin standard and the spitters face the berserkers and shoot, but are unable to slow them down. The goblin sniffs. Magwa and Joos and the trolls execute a neat pincer movement on the great weapon wielding ogres, who fall beneath their weapons, the triumphant greenskins then turn to face the diminishing ogre line. The giant fares a little better against the ogre warriors, but the rabble are unable to hurt the Warlord, even with a flank attack.
The berserkers advance through the swamp, facing the spitters and the goblin standard. The ogre warriors charge the giant, and pull him to the ground (I have an excuse to use a giant now, I'll say they captured rather than killed him). The Warlock once again toasts the rabble, while the Warlord makes short work of Magwa and Joos.
The spitters inflict more damage to the Berserkers, but still can't slow them down. The goblin standard slinks back, fearing what will happen if the berserkers catch him, he is the highest ranking goblin left. The Sniffs move to get good shots off at the Warlock, but they only do minor wounds. Not fancying their chances against the Warlord (and hoping the rolls will sort him out), the rabble turn to face the ogre warriors, the trolls do wound him, but not enough to stop him.
Despite charging through the swamp, the berserkers are able to make short work of the spitters, they then turn to face the goblin army, shouting threats at the standard bearer. The warriors trample the rabble into the ground and then turn towards the remaining goblins, the Warlord hurst the trolls sufficiently to give them pause, and the Warlock's fireballs waver the Sniffs.
Having had the fight knocked out of them, the trolls retreat. Similarly, the goblin standard bearer decides to run away, as do the sniffs.
Despite the goblins trying to escape, the ogres finish them off, the Standard falls to the berserkers, who run on towards teh trolls, just falling short. The warriors manage to destroy them unaided. The Warlock finishes off the sniffs, the air full of the smell of singed fur.
As the dust clears not a goblin remains standing (again, on either side). The ogres are triumphant.
This was a great fun game. Despite the eventual solid ogre victory, in the early stages the goblins seemed to have the upper hand, with superior shooting, and taking out the Red Goblins and the warriors with great weapons. The goblin superior numbers looked like they were going to bring victory, but the ogres hung in there. The berserkers were especially effective, potion of speed giving them a better chance of making those charges, though by the end they were only just hanging in, Merlin was unlucky not to destroy them with his shooting.
I think we both started out thinking of objectives, but towards the end we were just trying to wipe out the enemy, I did make a token effort to move my units towards the objectives in the last turn though.
As there is a new edition of Kings of War due out soon, Merlin and I decided to do something special. We are thinking about starting a campaign, more closely linked this time, rather than just having a vague linking story and the same names.
We will probably go for Ogres and Goblins, largely since our other armies, Herd and League of Rhordia don't get army lists in the new rule book, we will have to wait for the supplement in a few months.
We are still very much in the planning stage at the moment, and we will have to play a game or two of the new rules first, just to see what has changed.
