Kings of War: Otters and Goblins

I decided it was about time I rebased and completed my goblin hordes. First step, make some bases

I used 6mm hard foam mounted on MDF boards. I then gave them a base coat of PVA and paint

We needed a wall for sieges, my friend did a traditional medieval style wall which looks great. I decided we needed an evil themed wall and set the printers in motion

Finally I got to field my full 2000 points of Otters.  It dawned on me that this was an army list cobbled by a novice player using the figures available going up against a somewhat tuned goblin force.

Rather than be disheartened, tuning and researching my force will give the project more direction in the future.

We played 2000 points , fighting for tokens. My lack of hordes or cavalry or heavy infantry took its toll, but as always the plucky otters put up a decent resistance. I just need a few more hammers. I have centaurs set aside for me at Britcon.

Rather than throw the toys out of the pram I need to do some homework. Is there an optimal starting set up for my current forces? I felt they were spread too thin.

Once I expand up to 2300 what should I add, I don’t think I can fix what I have in just 300 points, but it’s all good. I have a couple design concepts for heavy infantry which are really fun.

I am considering dropping one hero and buffing up my fairly weak Spellcaster. Obviously not go too nuts, they can only cast 6-7 spells per game. It’s kind of like a bolt action tank, big gun, but you are only shooting it 6 times.

Once again my Otters took to the field. They were the plucky defenders against an endless tide of Goblins, it was a matter of holding out while three messengers tried to make it through the goblin lines.

I had to pare back the force to 1500 points which made them suboptimal from the get go. The idea of the herd is quite a mobile army, moving through terrain unhindered etc. Using them as a defensive force wasn’t ideal, but against goblins they could hold their own for a reasonable amount of time…in theory

The goblins approached from two sides, if a unit was destroyed on the goblin side there was a chance it would respawn next turn. The Otters just had to hold out for as long as possible.

One of the three couriers managed to escape the goblin hordes and my valiant defenders held out until turn six. I worked out killing off units was counterproductive, so I just whittled them down and held them off as longs as I could.

These two regiments have been a nightmare to paint low detail miniatures and boardgames pieces. It’s taken maybe three weeks to get through them.

But here they are, finally done.I am still getting the hang of the streams on bases thing. Last batch was a bit runny, fortunately all contained on one of the plastic crafting trays, I definitely recommend picking up a set of these.

I’m not sure what I will do with the rest of the bases yet, I am considering rebasing the goblins as the thicker bases are easier to handle on the table.

Put the final touches onto Badger , Mole and Ratty and hey presto my first 2k Kings of War Army

While I haven’t completed all my army I was able to throw together a 1500 point force for a Monday night game. Unproven and untested I was still excited to get my otters into a game.

My regular opponent brought his beautifully painted goblins, it made a change being the one with the smaller number of units. This was my first time using flying units .

I moved my scorchwings  into shooting range and fired a few shots into the chariot horde…rookie error, . I had put myself in charge range of the chariot horde and that was my left flank wide open already. Not a good feeling on the end of turn two.

We were playing an objective game, my opponent was quite happy to let me park a regiment on one that remained uncontested. So it boiled down to a battle for the other two. I felt very pinned in, but uncharacteristically I charged in, it also blocked his mincers from flanking my infantry charge.

My archers got one turn to be archers before they ended up in melee combat, they held their own admirably, the hordes dished out some punishment too, the dice were really swingy all game for both of us but it was a brutal fun game. It also looked great on the table, both of us remarked upon it.

I also had Idiotproof dalek compliment the otters, considering he makes box art painting jobs look a bit shabby I was rather chuffed, regardless of what level of painting you’re at it’s always nice to get compliments on your work.

From feeling defeated in turn two, it was starting to feel like a proper battle, by turn six I had actually managed to park myself on a second token with a unit strength of four. If there was no turn seven I had turned the tide and sealed a win….so naturally there was a turn seven, my horde of drunk otter marines finally crumbled.

Another loss but first outing with the otters felt great and again a close and exciting game

Really been struggling to paint the last two regiments, it’s a combination of boardgame pieces and low detail sculpts being hateful to paint and becoming increasingly less satisfied with the results contrast paints give. I did manage to finish a hero and a tree herder.

Once again my brave goblins became embroiled a border dispute with the noxious dwarves who brought along some pointy eared chums. It’s one thing learning how to use your army, but another to learn how to use them effectively against the varied mechanics of the other factions.

I intend to play at the beer and pretzels level, I think Crokinole syndrome would kick in at tournament level for me.

So roughly 1500 points each I faced off against the elves and dwarves (all beautifully painted).

I set up similar to my last game against an elven opponent, cavalry and King on the left, although no siege weapons to worry about this time. Trolls and spearmen as the core and mincers and archers and rabble to the right.

My cavalry actually did well to hold up the elite cavalry over on the left. The archers did ok, dropping a few wounds onto the oncoming forces. But I suffered by not managing to get rid of the Broc riders and they took out a horde of trolls. Felt like the game was swinging away.

By turn four the higher quality of my opponents troops was beginning to shine through, and the centre and left were pretty much over. The right flank was more in my favour, but this was an invasion game and it came down to to a unit strength race, I was ready to concede on turn 6, two wavered units…and nothing I could move without dropping points.

Somehow my archers actually made it to 13 wounds and stayed on the table.

Turn 7 , if there had been one would have given my archers one chance to take out  a 1 unit strength elf flier and snatch a draw. Alas it was not to be.

All in all another fun game, I need to get the timing better with my hammer units as the could have done with entering the fray sooner. Well done to my more than worthy opponents.

Crokinole is a ridiculously fun dexterity game from the wilds of Canada. It’s a lot of fun to play , even if you suck at it, think darts or pool…still fun, even when you’re not that good at it.

However if you watch two people playing at a tournament level or high standard the game actually gets pretty unexciting to watch. I worry that Kings of war at that level might get a bit dry. Measuring things to the nth degree I’m all for a few tactics and strategies, but the  fun is in the chaos.

YMMV