Kings of War Demo Game

I finally got to show my nephew how to play Kings of War. He has lots of experience with other wargames, but this was his first try at Kings of War.

We used my standard 500 points Orcs and Kingdoms of Men forces and a simple 'last army standing ' scenario. I gave him the choice of army and table edge and he chose Orcs.

Set-up

The men of Karpath deployed in the gap between the wood and the cliffs, the bulk of the Orcs were poised ready to advance to the wall, while the Gore Riders prepared to march round the human flank. the Mounted Scouts were ready to try and stop the Gore Riders from rolling up their flank.

Turn One 

The Orcs advance, not to hold the wall, but around it, meanwhile the Gore Riders begin their flank march.

In response, both Spear Phalanxes advance and the Mounted Scouts ride up to the wall. The Bowmen shoot at an Ax regiment and the Scouts at the Gore Riders, but neither are able to cause any damage.

Turn Two

Both Ax regiments advance further, being too far away to charge. The Gore Riders ignore the Mounted Scouts, focusing on getting behind the Human line.

In response one of the Spear Phalanxes charges an Ax regiment,  the other advances to protect their comrade's flank, but is too far away to charge the other Ax regiment. The Mounted Scouts manoeuvre to keep the Gore Riders targeted. Archery is slightly more effective, both targets take slight damage, but not enough to stop them. Similarly, the Spear Phalanx damages the Axes, but not enough to slow them.

Turn Three 

The Gore Riders ignore the Human cavalry and trot on towards their goal. The unengaged Ax regiment charges the Spears facing them while the Krusher looks on.

Both Ax regiments damage their opponents, but the Humans stand firm under the watchful eye of their leader.

In response the cavalry and the Bowmen turn to face the Gore Riders. Their archery does some damage, but not enough to stop them.  Both Spear regiments damage the Orcs; the regiment near the cottage is hurt enough

Turn Four

The Gore Riders see their chance. They smash into the Human Hero. Once they have trampled him into the mud, they do a smart about face, ready to tackle the Scouts. One regiment of Ax wipes out their Spear Phalanx, but by the cottage, the Orcs are still reeling from the damage they took previously. The Krusher is able to charge the Humans, but on his own can't do much.

This is the sort of luck the Orcs were having

Determined to avenge their leader, both the Mounted Scouts and the Bowmen charge the Gore Riders.  Despite the sheer number of attacks, they are unable to destroy them.  The remaining Phalanx wipes out the Orcs they are facing, then readies to face the  Krusher.

Turn Five 

The Gore Riders are still reeling from the damage they took, but the remaining Ax regiment charges the flank of the Bowmen, who are destroyed in short order.  They then turn to face the remaining Phalanx. The Krusher continues to fight the Spearmen.

The Spear Phalanx knock the fight out of the Krusher, the Scouts continue to keep the Gore Riders on the back foot (hoof?).

Turn Six

The regiment of Ax charge the flank of the remaining Phalanx, quickly finishing them off. They then turn to face the remaining Humans, the cavalry engaged with the Gore Riders.

The Scouts finally finish off those pesky Gore Riders and turn to face the threat of the remaining Orcs.

The Final Turn

With a seventh turn rolled, the Orcs take the obvious choice. All their remaining forces charge the Mounted Scouts. Although they can't quite destroy them, they are unable to fight back, so merely withdraw prior to, presumably, retreating to safety.

This was a great fun game. Despite only having 500 points each, there was enough to allow tactical manoeuvring, and the action was tense. I felt that the Men of Karpath seemed to be doing well to begin with, but there were several combats and volleys where I just failed to break the Orcs. The Orcs' high defence definitely helped them. In melee I needed 5+ to damage the Orcs, but they only needed 3+ to damage the Spearmen. If Orcs can hold out long enough to make contact they tend to do well.

My nephew had a good grasp of the tactics required, managing flank charges and picking off my units. I'm annoyed with myself for leaving my Leader exposed and vulnerable to the Gore Riders though.