Kings of War Battle - Herd vs League of Rhordia - Gugrot's Revenge

I had a return visit from Merlin recently and we continued the vague storyline of my League of Rhordia vs his Herd.  Last time he lost, so I decided that his general from the previous battle was being made an example of.  The Herd leader from the first battle had survived though, so clearly he would be after revenge.

The scenario briefly involved the League attempting to try and execute the Herd general from the last game in a village on the edge of the Wilderlands.  There were probably political reasons for this, but it was an unwise choice as Gugrot, survivor of the battle at Froswick Farm saw his chance to take Bas-Ra back, not to rescue him, but so he could face punishment for his failure before his peers.  

Bas-Ra could not move as long as there was a scoring unit within 6".  If he was ever able to move, he would move at normal rate (his chains slowed him down) towards the nearest short table edge, avoiding troops of either side.

Whoever ended up with Bas-Ra could claim a Major Victory, if he escaped then a Minor Victory went to the side causing the most damage to their opponent.

God's eye view of the battlefield

The village of south Elig just prior to the arrival of Duke Errington and the trial of Bas-Ra, ex Herd general.

Looking out to the wild from the village.  

The two forces line up

The Herd, eager to deny the League the chance to execute Bas-Ra

The League, determined to see the Beastlord pay for his crimes

The Herd advance

The Herd advanced, one of the Centaur Brayherds taking advantage of the cover offered by the wood, followed by the Guardian Brutes.  Desultory missile and spell shots caused minor casualties to the League forces, but they just shrugged it off.

making their way through the Wilderlands.

The League tries a flanking maneuver

The bulk of the League army stayed where it was, adjusting it's position slightly in response to the Herd.  The two regiments of Knights rode off in an attempt to flank the enemy.  League archery was little better than the Herd's had been, but Cali Starbrow, Halfling sorcerer extraordinaire, used the arcane power of his spells (and magic 'hat') to blast the huge Brutox back, hurting it in the process.

The Herd continues its advance

 The Beast Pack ranged far out ahead to try and put pressure on the League while the rest of the army sought cover in the fields and woods.  Lucky shots from the Centaurs in the centre of the field, along with the magical power of the 'Boomstick' wiped out the crossbowmen in the village.  The Herd cheered, the rest of the humans and halflings would soon follow.  Encouraged, the shaman brought a blizzard down on the Dogs of War, but it caused only a little damage.  Gugrot, now armed with a bow, proved no marksman and the Centaurs on the flank were unable to touch the Halfling Knights.

The League awaits the enemy

Duke Errington's response was measured.  He accepted that there would be casualties, though the loss of the crossbows so early in the battle was unfortunate.  The Halfling Knights were spurred into action, but the centaurs were too far away to contact.  They hoped to draw them out and disrupt the Herd battleline.  The Household Knights continued their trek around the enemy flank, hoping there would be something left for them to charge by the time they arrived.
Teh Halfling archers softened the Centaur Brayhunters up for their mounted kin.  The halfling scouts drew a bead on the huge Brutox, easily visible beyond the field, and missed.  Cali once more used his magic to push  the Centaurs facing him backwards, the hybrid creatures neighed and cried out in pain as they moved.

The Herd makes contact

 With shouts, cries and bellows the majority of the Herd army crashed into the League.  The Brayhunters charged into the Halfling Knights while the Guardian Beasts rushed up to the hedgerow defended by the Halfling Archers while Gugrot assaulted them from the side.  Both the Longmanes and the Brutox smashed into the Dogs of War.  In the centre of the village the Longhorns charged the City spear Militia, the Centaurs were unable to reach the enemy, but ran forward and eyed Bas-Ra as he struggled against his bonds.
All this action distracted the Shaman, who failed to direct his magical Blizzard successfully; he had hoped to hurt the onrushing knights.  His Totem Bearer proved a better shot with the Boomstick, though the Knight's armour reduced the power of the blow.
The Centaurs on the flank slew a few of the Halfling Knights, but they held firm, as did the City Militia, though more of them fell to the Longhorns.  Several of the mercenaries fell before the combined assault of Brutox and centaurs, but they too held and prepared to return the compliment.

The Herd makes some progress against the League

The League retaliates

On the left flank the Halfling Knights closed the gap with the Centaur Brayhunters whilst in the field the Halfling Archers drew knives and prepared to take down as many of the Guardian Beasts as they could.  Seeing their opportunity, the Halfling Scouts smartly pivoted and charged the Longmanes in the flank, while the Dogs of War charged their front, ignoring the hulking Brutox for now.  In the village Duke Errington made a snap decision.  He suspected that the Beasts he had seen ranging off to his right might be behind the village by now, but the Herd in the centre was the bigger threat.  He ordered his Guard to charge the Centaurs and urged the Militia back in against the Longhorns.  Cali and he held the gap between the Inn and a farmhouse, aware now that the Beasts arrived.  Meanwhile on the right flank, the Red Knights crested the hill and viewed the  battle before them before urging their mounts down ready for action.  Out of sight of the rest of the army, the Red Knights rode up between the wood and the hill.
Cali pushed the Beasts backwards, but his casting was hurried and they only stumbled a few yards and seemed otherwise unaffected.
The Halfling Knights speared several of the Centaurs, but the remainder of the pack held.  Their archer kin were unable to harm the Guardian Beasts and fell back from the hedge.  They knew the beasts would be over soon, and things looked grim.  The mercenaries and scouts fared better, wiping out the Longmanes.  The scouts once more smartly turned ready for the onslaught.  In the village the Militia acquitted itself well.  Though they were unable to wipe out the Longhorns, they killed many of them, and the rest just milled around in confusion.  The House Guard did even better, slaying all the Centaurs, then about facing to prepare for the Beasts.

The Centaur Brayhunters charged into the Halfling Knights while the Guardian Beasts closed once more with the weary Halfling Archers.  Gugrot took his chance and ran into the Halfling Scouts.  in the village the Beasts met the House Guard, the Longhorns looked around in panic, able to little more that face the dangerously close Knights.

Both Shaman and Totem Bearer used their powers to inflict harm on the Knights, but they were unfazed by the magical barrage.

The Beasts gored a few of the House Guard, but the stout warriors held.   Although the Brutox killed only a few of the Dogs of War, they stumbled around in confusion, unwilling to fight further for the while.  The Halfling Scouts lost more of their number to Gugrot, but proved braver than the mercenaries and refused to yield.  Their kin fared less well, falling to the Guardian Beasts who then swarmed over the hedgerow.  On the left flank the Centaurs slew some more of the Halfling Knights, but they held.

The League takes loses

Leveling their lances the Red knights charged the confused Longhorns who were also charged in the flank by the City Militia, the White Knights advanced, unsure whether to go for the Shaman or the Totem Bearer.  On the other side of the village the House Guard waded into the Beasts, greatswords swinging.  Things were going less well for the League on the left flank; the Halfling Knights charged back into the Centaurs, but the Dogs of War began to withdraw.  Shrugging fatalistically, the Halfling Scouts showed their discipline once more and spun round to attack Gugrot.  They knew they had little chance, but if they could slow or stop the enemy general, perhaps their sacrifice would not have been in vain (and if I had remembered they had Pathfinder they might have done a little better.  A little).
Cali tried to get round to see the Brutox.  It was injured and had shown none of the strange healing that it's kin had at Mardale (a very poor run of Regeneration rolls from Merlin), alas the building was just too tall to see the creature beyond.  Duke Errington move into shouting distance of the Dogs of War, maybe he could bolster their courage for the inevitable Brotox attack.
Unsurprisingly, the Longhorns broke under the combined League assault adn on the left flank the Halfling Knights also wiped out their Centaur opponents, wheeling round to face the Guardian Beasts and, hopefully, begin to turn the enemy flank.  The Halfling Scouts were unable even to hurt Gugrot (see earlier comment about forgetting Pathfinder, but it wouldn't have made a difference). The House Guard chopped and sliced the Beasts, but they were too maddened to notice their heavy casualties (yet another double 1 Nerve test).  Duke Errington knew his men held the village, and he was confident they would keep it, and the prisoner, to the end.  But he was worried what damage the Brutes and the Brutox could do, especially to the vulnerable Dogs of War, and Gugrot had yet to be even scratched.  Perhaps he would have to wade in again; he hated getting his armour dirty.

The League fight back

On the left flank the Guardian Brutes took the Halfling Scouts in the flank; they were too engrossed in Gugrot and hadn't seen their danger.  Gugrot growled and moved into the field while the Brutox, miraculously healed, smashed into the Dogs of War.  The stubborn Beasts once more charged into the House Guard.
The Shaman, seeing his danger, targeted the Knights with another Blizzard, but only a few fell.  The Totem Bearer's Boomstick was even less successful, missing completely, as did Gugrot loosing his bow at the Halfling Knights.
Unsurprisingly, neither the depleted Halfling Scouts nor the Dogs of War held, both being smashed into the mud by their bestial opponents.  In the village the House Guard continued to take casualties to the Beasts, but insufficient to worry them.

Before the Herd assault...

...and after, the Halfling Scouts and the Dogs of War destroyed

Duke Errington ordered his troops to protect the village, he knew it was now safe, but he had to do something about his left flank.  The Halfling Knights couldn't hold out much longer, and there were some fierce opponents still there.
North of the village the Red Knights charged the Shaman, while the White Knights charged the Totem Bearer.  The Halfling Knights desperately charged Gugrot.  They had seen all their kin destroyed by the Herd, would they fare any better?  The House Guard once more charged into the Beasts, determined finally to wipe them out.
Cali wisely retreated over the fence behind the inn,  He aimed his spell at the Brutox, but the Wind Blast was weak and the huge creature merely stepped back a few paces.
The House Guard pulled down the last of the Beasts and pivoted back to face the village square and the prisoner.  The White Knights easily rode down the Totem Bearer despite losing impetus charging through a hedge, unfortunately their Red Brethren blocked their way onward to the Shaman.  The Red Knights charge hurt the Shaman, he still stood, but his head spun and he couldn't concentrate.  The halfling Knights injured Gugrot, but it was just a scratch.  In dismay they backed off, they knew he would be after them next.

The Knights' charge

and its aftermath.

Enraged, the Brutox charged the Halfling Sorcerer hiding behind the fence.  Teh Guardian Beasts turned to face the threat of the Knights, while the Shaman, too dazed to do anything else, retreated back towards the woods.  Gugrot could see his plans fading away like morning mists.  The men were destined to keep Bas-Ra; he no longer cared.  Now to destroy these annoying half-men and then vanish.  He would have his revenge one day.

The Brotox, clearly unused to man made fences, was unable to hit the Sorcerer (though afterwards Merlin realised the Brutox had Strider, doh!), and backed off, confused.  Gugrot fared better, trampling the last of the Halfling Knights beneath his hooves.

The Herd's final throw of the dice

With an impressive display of horsemanship the Red Knights charged the Shaman, pulping him into the mud near the woods.  Timing their move to perfection, the White Knights charged the Guardian Brutes, but they were hindered by the hedges, and did little damage.  Cali once more blasted the Brutox back.

The League's final charges.

Few left on the fields of slaughter, but more League than Herd.

The triumphant League hold the village

Duke Errington surveyed the village and its surroundings.  This should have been a simple exercise in justice; a demonstration to the locals of both the dangers of the Wild, and the power of the League.  Well, at least he had shown that power today, though at great cost.  Apart from Cali, the mysterious sorcerer, all the halflings had been wiped out.  This was becoming a habit.  If he wasn't careful, the Halfling elders would refuse his calls for aid.
Still, the Wild was beaten back again, at least for a little while.

The remaining Herd decide they've had enough

Looking back Gugrot could see the pillar of smoke rising from the village.  The humans and their unnatural half man allies were burning Bas-Ra.  He called out and the rest of the Herd, what remained of it, withdrew to fight another day.

This was always going to be a tricky game for Merlin, thinking about it now it would have been fairer if Bas-Ra had been placed as an objective in the centre of the table, with rules for releasing him, and the possibility of him escaping a capturing unit.  Still, the advantage was supposed to be mine, a continuation of last game's story line; just, perhaps, not quite so much of an advantage.
Regardless, we both had a great game, and I'm looking forward to what Merlin has cooked up for me in the summer.  I just hope the Halflings of the League don't decide to hire my new ogres and start a halfling uprising against Duke Errington.

This battle saw a couple of (minor) firsts; our first 1500 point battle with either of these armies, so we were still getting to grips with how they work best, and the first use of my League of Rhordia terrain set.  As I mentioned recently, I'm building themed sets which fit nicely into boxes, I think it looks pretty good. I'll do a post about it soon, there are still a few little bits to adjust and add to.

I've got the orders of battle and a few extra pictures on a seperate post here. 

A Box of Wargaming Terrain

I've been doing a fair bit of sorting out of my gaming stuff recently.  In fact I am reassessing what I play and what I need to play it, with the intention of thinning out my stuff and having coherent collections.  One aspect of this is terrain.

I have mentioned several times recently that I want to have a good look at what terrain I have and how I use it.  One problem is that I have a lot in various boxes and piles, and I can't always find it when I am preparing for a game.  It seemed a good idea years ago to put all my trees in one box, but now I can't find that box, so I have to do without trees (or use the few scruffy ones I can find, along with odd scaled models).
I also like to theme terrain to a particular army or location.  When everything is lumped together, or spread across the house, it becomes difficult to maintain this coherent look when setting up a battlefield.
Finally, in the past I've been less than good at storing my stuff, (hence why a lot has gone missing) so quite a bit of terrain has been damaged.

I'm trying to address this, so I've decided that I will have a series of boxes of terrain.  Each one will be built to a theme, so when I want a game, I just have to grab the relevant box.  I'll organise each box so that there is a surplus of terrain.  If everything is on a 6 foot by 4 foot table, it will be cramped for a normal wargame such as Kings of War, the idea is to choose items from the box, say about 75% of them.  However, for skirmish games like Vanguard, where denser terrain is good, simply put everything on a smaller table.

When I was a printer, my boss used to say 'Preparation Prevents Pretty Poor Performance' (well, he didn't say 'Pretty', but you get the idea).  So I have scoured T'interweb and various wargames books to come up with lists to guide my terrain collecting and building.  Useful resources include Epic Dwarf for the amount and general size of terrain pieces (though definitely not the set up as it's far too random for my liking), and the Battlefield chapter in my battered sixth edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles book for ideas for theming terrain.  Here's an example of the list I drew up for a League of Rhordia themed terrain set. The list shows the maximum for a set, a normal battlefield might have less items on it.

RHORDIA
No.	Item	Size	Height	Special	Notes
1	Hill	12” x 9”	1	-	Rounded, grassy
1	Multipart hill	16” x 12”	1 or 2	-	Four part for edge/corner use or one large hill
2	Woods	9” x 9”	3 or 4	Difficult	Deciduous trees, orchards
3	Hedges or fences	3 x 4” long sections	1	Obstacle	Hedges or fences
2	Fields	6” x 4”	0	Difficult	Crops, poss with hedges/fences
1	Building	8” x 6”	3 or 4	Impassable	Villa, inn etc. or Halfling home
1	Building	6” x 4”	2	Impassable	Farm, barn
1	Building	6” x 6”	5	Impassable	Tower/fort
1	Water	6” x 6”	0	Diff/ Imp	Duck pond or lake

NB dimensions given in scale inches, so the pieces will be smaller for a 15mm terrain set.

The idea is that the terrain gives the feel of a settled rural environment, just ripe for an invasion of Herd, Orcs, Ogres or similar.  In fact, I'd do a very similar set for my Kingdoms of Men.

I decided to begin the project with this set of 15mm terrain as that is the stuff I have the least of, and despite being mostly recent purchases or builds, its a very rag-tag collection.
I've got some of this already.  All the buildings are already built, and you can see an example of one here.  Likewise I've already build a good number of hedges (see here for how I did it) and I painted up some comercial fences a while back.  I have some of those cheap trees from China via eBay which will do.  Eventually they will be moved to an Ancient Greece set as I have some orange trees and trees in blossom on the way. I will make bases that delineate the woods, a pond should be easy, and then there are fields and hills to build.

I've planned the whole set to fit inside a 9 litre Really Useful Box, so the hills are cut so that they occupy a layer at the bottom of the box and everything else sits on top.  The multipart hill fits nicely in the corners, and the single hill sits in between.  When I come to do a set for 28mm I'll simply scale up and use a bigger box.

I've tried setting this lot out on a table using paper templates for the various items, and I think it looks OK.  I'll tweak things a little, so for instance I'm going to make the fields so that they can make one large or two small fields, and the hedge sections will fit around them if I want.  I might also make extra woods and fields if space allows.  I'll certainly do a few extra decorative pieces that have no effect in the game (or can act as objectives, especially in skirmish games, such as gallows, signposts, piles of sacks or barrels and the like.

You might notice that there is no running water in the set.  That's because I'm not quite sure how I would do it, though for 15mm I might just use blue felt painted and with some rocks etc.  I'm sure to need a river or stream in a later set, or even as a late addition to this one.  I'll do roads in a similar manner, just using brown or grey felt, but since they have no effect in the rules I use, they aren't a top priority.

I'm hoping to get this lot done pretty soon, especially since I have a fair bit made already.  I'll post my progress soon.

*EDIT* Here's the completed League of Rhordia box of terrain.

Kings of War - A New 15mm Army

Recently a few people have asked me what minis we use for 15mm KoW.  The answer depends on the army, of course, but there is now a reasonable range available.  The more 'niche' and Mantic specific armies don't tend to be covered, but pretty much everything else is.  Personally I use Essex for most historically based armies, such as the human troops in the League, and I'll look at their earlier Medieval ranges if and when I do a Brotherhood force.  Their halflings are good too.
Both Magister Militum and Ral Partha Demonworld do very nice 15mm fantasy, and there are many more.  If you want to know more, check out the 15mm Fantasy facebook group.

With one exception, or so I thought.  Having been awed by the sheer number of attacks Ross' hordes of ogres could put out for a small frontage (especially deadly two against one vs orc hordes) I was thinking about getting some for 15mm, but I couldn't find a range that nicely covered the options in the army list.  Then I literally stumbled over the answer.

Many years ago Merlin and I discovered the Caesar Miniatures range of 1/72, or roughly 20mm, historical figures and collected quite a few of their ancients range for Warhammer Ancient Battles.  I still have a half painted Assyrian army, and quite a few Greeks.  Then Caesar brought out a fantasy range, and it would have been rude not to get any.

Caesar miniatures first box of orcs (random image form internet)

Of course, it was an impulse purchase, or purchases, as we never really got round to doing anything with them.  I had quite a collection of the goblins and orcs boxes, about a third painted, but since I had O&G in 28mm and 15mm they just got boxed and buried, until I knocked the box over.

I didn't see orcs, I saw Ogres.  20mm orcs would make great ogres.
I had two or three boxes worth, some painted with green skins, so I set out to see how well they covered the army list.  Pretty well it turns out.  There are some options not covered, but I knew that Caesar had done a second set of orcs, so I ordered one of those to bulk out and add variety.

I began with a test unit of the least armoured of the orcs.  They would do as the Berserker braves.  One of the sculpts has two weapons, a club and an axe, the other has a spiked club.  In the past I carefully cut off one weapon from the dual wielder, along with the fancy top-knot off most of them.
Ha, a quick read of the KoW list suggests that the berserker braves have two weapons.  I might do some pinning later.  I had originally planned to save one of the top-knotted minis as a shaman, or Warlock for the KoW ogre list, but when set two arrived it has a far nicer warlock mini.  In fact the whole set is generally nicer.  The figures are in some respects cruder; the first set has a much smoother finish, but the second set has far better detail, down to wrist bands with teeth in them.  The only thing that isn't so great is the prominence of the mould lines.
As I wanted to add extra weapons to the berserker braves I went straight on to a horde of warriors and a couple of heroes (Warlord and Warlock).  Here they are, painted and based but awaiting texture and varnish.  I have plans to add a little something to the base to emphasise the scale.

A horde of Ogre warriors

Ogres facing humans.  They look suitably large

Ogre warlock and warlord

To help me remember, here is my ogre flesh recipe.  I deliberately went for reddish skin tones to link them to Mantic's official ogres.
Base coat VGC Terracotta, wash AP Dark Tone, highlight with base colour then up through Gory Red to Blood Red, extreme highlights Fiery Orange.

Of course this doesn't quite cover all the army list entries.  I'll have to do some conversion work for the hunters and for both missile types, and there aren't any red goblins, but plenty of manufacturers do goblins (see above).  It's just a matter of choosing a make, and selling a bit of stuff on eBay to fund them.

You may well ask why I need another army?  Well I currently only have one workable KoW army in 15mm, and I like to have two so I can get people playing.  I am gradually working on Varangur, basing the 'normal' troops on my Scythians, but it seems to be a slow process, especially as I am unsure what to use for many of the units.
Ogres are ideal as the second army as they are relatively few in number, and being neutral, can fight with or against any other army.

Kings of War Battle - League vs Herd 2

A quick break for lunch and change of scenery from the first battle (AAR here), then on to the main event.

Bas-Ra, the Herd Guardian Champion is encouraging Gugrot and his beastmen Herd to continue their raids which seem to be increasing in intensity and ferocity. The Herd have advanced a larger force led by Bas-Ra himself towards the village of Mardale.

Rapidly mustering whatever forces they can, the League of Rhordia occupy the ground in and around Mardale to block the Herds advance.

Led by Lord Errington and his Halfling commanders, Ogli Starberry and Sergeant Alefast, the League of Rhordia forces deploy their forces and await the rapidly advancing Herd.

Duration: 6 turns, with a 7^th turn on a roll of 4+

Set-Up: The Rhordian forces can deploy anywhere in the bottom SW quarter of the table, in and around the village of Mardale.

The Herd can deploy anywhere North of the River Mar or East of the road. The player who won the last game decides who deploys the first unit.

Who goes first: the player who won the last scenario decides who takes the first turn.

Victory: This is a ‘Kill’ scenario, if at the end of the game, one force has killed/routed at least 10% more in points of units then they are deemed the winners. 

We went into the second battle with full stomachs ('Yay', cried the Halflings) and the advantage going to the League.  They had held off the invasion of the Wild long enough to mount a spirited defence at Mardale.

Bas-Ra had heard nothing from Gugrot.  Hopefully the ford had been taken, preventing the League marching to cut his army off at one of their stinking villages.
When his army arrived however, ranks of soldiers greeted them.  Clearly Gugrot had failed.  Bas-Ra would have to do this the hard way.

The League army defends Mardale

Some of the Herd army survey the river

Bas-Ra's more ponderous troops use the bridge to cross the river, the rest wade through the waters.

The Brutox crosses the bridge

In response, the League army dresses its ranks and cautiously advances, so far unable to see the enemy.  Lord Errington prefered to keep any violence outside the village if possible, but he knew if he could draw the Herd out into the open he would have an advantage.

The League defenders adjust their line

and prepare to face the Herd

The Herd centre advances up the hill, while the Centaurs pause at the foot for the hill and loose a volley at the Halfling scouts. Despite being hard to hit, the devastating volley wipes them out before they can even draw a bowstring.

Bas-Ra surveys the enemy

The bulk of the League army held.  With a cry of "Bacon Sarnies for All" the Halfling Archers darkened the sky with arrows, wiping out the Beastherd.  Ogli Starbrow, the halfling Sorcerer moved round until he could see Bas-Ra and blasted him backwards with gusts of wind.  The power of his magic hat (Zephyr Crown) hurt Bas-Ra
(A couple of turns later we realised that the Crown requires a damage roll. Oops.  We reinstated half Bas-Ra's damage at that point)

Again the bulk of the herd advanced, eager to get to grips with the enemy.  The Centaurs, full of their victory over the Scouts, turned their bows on the Halfling Knights.  These fellows were tougher, although a few fell, plenty remained, clutching their spears with determination.

Lord Errington knew it was time.  He had held his forces back, hoping the enemy would advance within charge range.  He regretted the loss of the Scouts (they had an uncanny ability to find him the best game birds he had ever tasted), but now the enemy must pay.
The Household Knights charged into a regiment of Minotaurs while the City Militia bravely tackled the Longhorns.  The Houseguard moved to encircle the Longhorns, but left their flank dangerously exposed to Bas-Ra himself.  Meanwhile, the Halfling Knights moved up close to the Centaurs, taunting them.  The Halfling Archers loosed at the Brutox, the huge beast easily visible above the melee in front, Sergeant Alefast joined in with the bow gifted him by Sir Pontos (Warbow of Kaba).  The monstrous creature bellowed in pain, but wasn't slowed by their puny arrows. Once again Ogli channeled the arcane magic of his hat at Bas-Ra.  The beast howled in pain and frustration as he was moved out of range of the Houseguard.
The Knights did what they do best, bathing the flanks of their steeds in the blood of the Minotaurs; nothing of the creatures survived the devastating charge.  The Militia were less successful, felling some of the Longhorns, but too few to halt them.

The City Militia face the Longhorns

Straining, the Brutox focused the magical energy of the Wild.  With shock the Halfling Archers saw their arrows fall from it's flesh, some of its wounds knitting together.  Looking down it saw the Knights trampling through the bloody remains of it's little brothers; eyes full of anger it charged them.  Following it's lead, the Centaurs charged the Halfling Knights and the Longhorns clashed with the Militia.  Bas-Ras's Totem Bearer took a strange metal sphere from a bag and flung it at Lord Errington.  The metal 'pineapple' bounced off his armour, leaving the Duke looking bemused.  Rage made the Brutox clumsy, it crushed a few knights, but many remained.  The Centaurs slew more Halfling Knights, but they also held.  The City Militia took horrendous casualties, but even so, refused to break under the eye of their Lord, but they wouldn't be fighting immediately either.

At their Lord's urging, the Halfing Knights clashed with the Centaurs and the Household Knights, despite their casualties, rushed the short distance into the Brutox (Wavered, but Counter Charging with Fury).  Lord Errington himself charged into one flank of the Longhorns, whilst his Houseguard took the other.  Seeing their opportunity, the Militia withdrew.  The Halfling Archers wiped out the Totem Bearer with a concentrated volley of arrows, whilst Ogli pushed Bas-Ra into the river where he spluttered and floundered.  (At this point we realised out mistake with the damage and reinstated some of the lost points.  This round of damage was still enough to Waver him though).The Halfling Knights tore through the Centaurs, but miraculously they held (another double 1 Nerve test!).  Their human brethren fared similarly against the Brutox, but Lord Errington and his Houseguard wiped out the Longhorns.

Look, no Longhorns! (and shortly after, no Halfling Knights)

The Brutox again drew on it's magical roots and healed most of it's wounds.  It then waded into the fray once more, and pulled down more of the Knights.  The Centaurs fared even better, finally ridding themselves of the annoying Halfling Knights.

Seeing Bas-Ra unsupported, Lord Errington led his Houseguard against the beast.  The Knights rushed in against the Brutox again, knowing that if they failed to bring it down, they couldn't survive another attack from its fearsome blade.  Sergeant Alefast and the Halfling archers loosed a volley at the Centaurs, who milled around in confusion at their casualties.  Spurred on, the Knights brought the Brutox down finally, and by the river, Bas-Ra was wounded, but fought on.

Full of Fury, Bas-Ra rushed into the Houseguard, to little effect.  The Centaurs turned to face the Knights, but couldn't bring themselves to charge.

In response the Knights charged into the Centaurs, trampling them beneath their hooves.  Bas-Ra barely had time to register this when Lord Errington and his Houseguard cut him down.

Thus the pride of the Wild was lain low, and the expansionist ambition of the League of Rhordia remains unchecked.

Kings of War Battle - League vs Herd 1

I'm back from an enjoyable day of Kings of War against Merlin.  My League of Rhordia faced his Herd twice, one small 500 point game to set the story up (and remind ourselves of the rules and get to grips with what were new armies to both of us), and one larger 1000 point battle.
As is traditional with our gaming days, the host comes up with a storyline to run through the games, Merlin decided the Herd were attempting to halt League expansion into lands they considered sacred wilderlands.
This is my briefing for the first game;

The beastly Herd led by the Longhorn Champion, Gugrot have been raiding local farms and small holdings, killing everyone and taking the livestock. The League of Rhordia is now sending patrols out to counter the beastmen. The patrol  led by Sir Pontos comes across a host of beastmen who seem intent on crossing the River Mar at the ford by Froswick Farm. This river marks your border; you cannot allow this to happen? Can you stop Gugrot and his beasts who walk like men.

Duration: 6 turns, with a 7^th turn on a roll of 4+

Set-Up: both armies deploy within 12” of a table edge as per normal rules.

Who goes first: both players roll a die, highest score chooses who goes first.

Victory: Whoever has control of the ford at the end of the game is deemed the victor. This player will decide who starts deploying first and who takes the first turn next game. 

Here is my write up of the battle, after all, history is written by the victor.  I've tried to keep it as story like as possible, and mostly avoided using game terms.  Where I felt they were needed I've put them as asides in brackets.

The two armies face off outside Froswick Farm

The stout defenders of the League

and the ferocious attackers from the Wild

Sir Pontos sighed in dismay.  He had pushed his troops through the night, yet even so, the Herd had arrived at Froswick Farm.  Unable to fortify the place he knew he would have to fight in the fields.  The Herd hated taking fortified places, in the open they loved to run and hunt and kill.

Even as his troops were taking stock of the enemy, the Herd moved cautiously forward.
In response the House Guard and militia advanced, the halfling knights swinging wide to try and encircle the enemy.  Their bow armed comrades waited for the Herd to come into range.

The opening moves

The Herd continued their advance, the centaurs loosing arrows at the House Guard, though causing few casualties and the Beastherd turn to face the Halfling Knights
The League right flank continued its advance, the House Guard unable to march through the ploughed field.  Sir Pontos drew back a shaft on the enchanted Warbow and missed, with a chorus of sniffs the halflings at his side showed him how to do it, and a volley of arrows felled a few of the Longhorns.

The Longhorns are starting to take damage, while the Beastherd face the Halfling Knights

who arch on towards the enemy lines

The Herd stepped up to the road, the Centaurs again shooting at the House Guard, but their arrows went wide or bounced off the human's strong armour.  From the Herd's right flank a mass of squealing boars charged the Halfling Knights. Despite their sharp tusks the boars accomplished little.

The Knights and Boars clash

Sir Pontos ordered his right flank to advance as he drew his bow again.  Better luck this time as a Longhorn fell, pierced by his arrow.  Shrugging, the halfling archers felled more Longhorn, but the beasts refused to break (double 1 Nerve test).  As the boars milled around, the halflings urged their wardogs onwards with a shout of "bring home the bacon".  The Beast pack fell to their onslaught and the knights urged their hounds onwards.

Gugrot surveys the battlefield, his Beastherd has gone, he'll have to protect the right flank himself.

Gugrot saw it was time for him to smash his enemy.  He ordered the Centaurs and Longhorns to charge the House Guard and the City Militia.  Trusting to his army, he determined to take on the halfling knights himself.  He slew with joyous rage, stepping back to see the halflings and their dogs milling around in confusion.  Alas the rest of his army fared less well.  The Centaurs were unable to harm any of the House Guard, and the Longhorns were too far away, they ran as fast as possible, but ended up some distance from the City Militia.

The Herd attack

Sir Pontos blanched as he saw the knights in trouble.  There was little he could do from where he was.  Best to concentrate on the forces around him.  The House Guard smashed into the Centaurs, and displaying a precision to be proud of, the Militia smartly pivoted around to smash into the Centaur's flank.  Trusting to their training he once more drew his bow and loosed at the Longhorns, but he was distracted by thoughts of the knight's probable fate and missed.  The Halfling Archers were less happy.  They knew their brothers were doomed and determined to make the Herd pay.  Another volley felled many more Longhorns, but still the beasts refused to break (another double 1 Nerve test).  On the right flank the combined might of House Guard and Militia destroyed the Centaurs, the men then tried to dress ranks to face the remaining enemy (I forgot to pivot the House Guard and Militia, a disastrous error for the Militia it turned out).

With a snarl of rage Gugrot smashed into the Halfling Knights.  This wasn't supposed to be how it happened.  Bas-Ra had told him it would be a great triumph for the Wild, but he could see few of his army left.  The Longhorns, perhaps learning from the Militia, were able to charge their flank, smashing them utterly, then pulling back round to face the pesky archers.  Gugrot pulled down many more Halflings, but the plucky chaps refused to break.

The Longhorns in their moment of triumph, and the House Guard can't even see them!

Sir Pontos ordered the House Guard to turn to face the enemy, that was the trouble with these fancy noble types, sometimes they missed the obvious.  With a nod to the archers they all loosed, and the storm of arrows felled the remaining Longhorns.  The battered Halfling Knights tried to withdraw, no longer having the stomach for fighting.

The Halfing Knights are in a tight spot

Gugrot knew he was doomed, only he remained, but he would take down these pesky half-men and their dogs before he died.  Head down he caught the last of the knights on his horns, then turned to face the rest of the League force.

Gugrot faces the remaining League army

Calmly, Sir Pontos ordered the House Guard to advance towards the Herd leader.  Volleys of arrows injured the creature, yet still it came.  With a final volley of missiles (and another double 1 Nerve test!) Gugrot shook the bloodlust from his eyes.  Seeing his cause was doomed he fled back to the Wild that had birthed him.  The Humans and their halfling allies would have the advantage now; they would be able to get word to their forces at Mardale, and Bas-Ra's army would face prepared defenders, not panicking villagers.

A great fun game.  Victory to the League, but I've a feeling Gugrot will be back.
The second battle was a larger affair, you can read the AAR here.

Kings of War League of Rhordia - Further Reinforcements

At the beginning of March I blogged about my League army and how it needed some remedial work.  I also showed a regiment of crossbows that were part finished and teased about something dog related (but not Dogs of War).
Well I've got a fair bit done throughout March, in and among my other projects.  That's the beauty of the five box system; you can put a project down without feeling you are abandoning it.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the completed League stuff.

Here are those crossbows, finished and based.

The rear troop when deployed as a regiment,

and the front troop.

Those dogs I mentioned.  Halfling knights on warhounds.

The command troop, the command figures are simple conversions of the existing poses.

Rear troop

Some genuine Dogs of War.  That's two regiments (or one horde if placed side by side).

This is what one of the regiments looks like from above.

I have to say I'm pleased with my 15mm progress throughout March.  I've flags to add, but that that's all.  

The crossbows are Essex miniatures.  There are four different poses in the regiment, I have used a different one in each rank.  As is normal for my missile units I haven't added any command figures.

The halfling cavalry are Splintered Light,(I mentioned here about receiving them and the good service provided).  The banner is just a single colour to match the cloaks, I felt it was too fiddly to add any more detail.  The cross design on the shield is supposed to be a crossed knife and fork; they are halflings after all.  I have another troop of these painted with red cloaks, but I'm waiting to finish the final four to make another regiment (the minis had gone missing when I was prepping them).

The pikemen are from a variety of different manufacturers.  I had already painted up a number of the gambeson wearing pikemen years ago for my Empire army.  These were some of the unpainted minis left over, plus some others culled from one of my boxes of old lead.  The minis aren't great for detail, but en masse I think they look fine.  I replaced all the pikes on the minis, which entailed a fair bit of trimming, drilling, straightening wire, cutting and filling points.  

36 times!

It'll be a long while before I do that again, though I do have enough for another couple of regiments.

I've also got a character figure almost finished, and I have rashly started on a new 15mm project, inspired by some old minis I have (more on that later).

So sticking to a structured painting schedule and approaching it methodically has worked really well here.  I'm tempted to say it takes the fun out of it, but actually knowing that I would actually manage to finish a unit I could use on the battlefield gave me a goal to aim for and helped a lot.

I'm due for a game of Kings of War tomorrow against Merlin, and I'll finally get to use my League army.  Of course I'll let you know how it went.  And Merlin, if you're reading this pre battle, don't worry; not all of this will be playing tomorrow.

Kings of War - Mantic Wraiths

I recently painted a wraith for an undead warband for Vanguard and I liked the paint scheme so much I decided to do some more.  I have a set of two 500 point armies for teaching Kings of War, though it was built back in the days of first edition and was based on the Morgoth's Revenge boxed set.  To work in 2nd Edition it needs a bit of re jigging (an ongoing process that really deserves a box of it's own), and one change was the troop of wraiths.  Troops are now 10 minis rather than either 10 or 5, and the boxed set only had five of them.  When I finally tracked them down I was surprised to find that of the five I had only painted one!

Looking at what I had already painted a while ago I realized I wouldn't reliably be able to match the paint scheme (and I prefered the new wraith) so I moved the earlier wraith to the Vanguard warband, and painted up five new ones to go with the latest paint job.  If you're interested, the one I painted for Vanguard is the one on the left with the two handed sword.  Coincidentally the same pose as the older one that is now part of the Vanguard warband.

Six Mantic Wraiths

I'm happy to use just six wraiths to represent a troop of ten; the unit footprint is correct, and I've added some additional interest with a couple of gravestones.  The small one at the front (which marks the unit's centre point) is from the Mantic skeleton sprue; the larger one at the back is from the Renedra gravestones set, an excellent source of stuff for Undead bases.  I'm not too happy with the veining I tried on the marble, it looks more like biro graffiti, at least it's at the back of the unit and one day I'll go over it again and make it look more natural.

The wraiths were pretty easy to paint.  A white undercoat followed by VGC Bonewhite for the bones, followed by VGC Bright Bronze for the metal armour and similar.  Anything iron I painted in VGC Chainmail.  The metal was given a wash of black ink and the bones and iron a wash of AP Strongtone, then the robes were repainted white.  Once all this was done, the robes and armour were given a wash of VGC Green Ink, with touches of Dark Green ink in the deeper folds.  This ink nicely dulls the bronze and gives a feel of age.  As this is a bit of a special unit, at least in a small army, I added a few extra highlights to the bone and some of the weapons.  I'm really pleased with the effect, they almost glow.

The unit is based on a Warbases movement tray.  I've had these a while and I think I had them custom made (Warbases are excellent at that).  I got them originally for my elves, a long neglected project, and they have eight rather than ten holes that fit the circular base on the bottom of a Mantic mini.  The holes are offset as well, giving a rather irregular look.  I just filled in a couple of the holes since there were only six wraiths.

Once again I have used Luke's APS' basing scatter; this is the Arid Grasslands mix, as opposed to the Patchy Plains I used on the handgunners, which I think looks good for undead.  I haven't added any tufts (yet), but might try a few of the drier looking ones.

I've also been playing around with a new photo booth/light box thingy (a nice birthday pressie) and with editing the photos a bit.  I hope you can see an improvement.  I'm even going through some past photos on here and either replacing them or at least editing them to give (hopefully) better results.  So it might be worth revisiting past favourites (or not).  Please let me know if you think things have improved.