KoW Batrep 3 - REMATCH of the Century

Not content with just the one battle report this week, we thought we'd have another go at KoW. And before anyone starts wondering why I've had so many days off recently, it's because I applied for Annual leave in between days off to get a stretch of 12 days off from work. Some people have the life :P

We stuck with our previous armies, but tweaked some of the units and added a bit of this and a bit of that. As I mentioned in my my previous post, I left the Vampire Lord, Count Fredrik, aside and kept the Revenant King on Undead Wyrm. I also brought back the Balefire Catapult, increased the size of the Werewolf unit while downgrading the Legion of Zombies to just a horde.

In case you missed it, here's the army that I'll be using in this game:

2000 Point Undead Army

Skeleton Warriors
Horde (40)+10 
Undead Dogs160

Mummies
Regiment (20)
170

Mummies
Regiment (20)
170

Zombies
Horde (40)
130

Werewolves
Horde (6)
245

Zombie Trolls
Horde (6)
175

Balefire Catapult
100

Revenant Cavalry
Regiment (10)
Brew of Haste +15
185

Soul Reaver Cavalry
Troop(5)
195

Necromancer
Grimoire of Unspeakable Darkness +30
115

Necromancer
85

Revenant King on Undead Wyrm
Winged Wyrm +45
Medallion of Life +35
270

Meanwhile, Odella the Huns redemption force looked like this,

Siegebreakers
Horde (6)
Blade of Slashing +5
255 pts

Warriors
Legion (12)
Chant of Hate +25
375

Berserker Braves
Horde (6)
230 pts

Shooters
Horde (6)
230

Chariots
Horde (6)
Brew of Haste +15
185 pts

Giant
190

Mammoth
Ballista +10
220

Ogre Warlord (Odella the Hun)
185 pts

Warlock
Fireball +30
185 pts

We've been very relaxed with how we've set up terrain in previous games, but we thought we'd crank up the difficulty by adding them towards the middles of the table. As it turns out, it would play a pretty big part later in the game.

Pretty straight forward deployment by the Ogres once again, dumping the Warrior Legion and Siegebreakers at the middle of the table. 

His lack of shooting on my left flank, allowed me to deploy the Soul Reavers there, ready to run amok when it can.

I also opted for a more defensive deployment. I completely forgot how long the range of Heavy Crossbows were as I deployed my Revenant Cavalry pretty much right in front of Shooters.

So with deployment done and making some last minute double checks of special rules and whatnot, we rolled to see who would be deciding who to go first.

I won the roll off and allowed Dav to go first.

I was expecting the slower advancement of the main battleline, helped out by the blocking terrain and difficult terrain. The Giant lumbered forward, while the Shooters were ready to capitalise on my grave error.

Shooters pumped some deadly arrows into my Revenant Cavalry causing 5 wounds! Seriously! What have they ever done to Ogres apart from NOTHING?

And with that, it was my first turn. I was forced to turn tail and make a dash for cover with the Revenant Cav. I could ill afford losing this flank this early in the battle, especially with Berserker Braves trundling along there.

The Balefire Catapult hit but only left two wounds on the Chariot horde. Nothing much else was done as I wasn't keen on Surging any of my units and breaking up the main battleline.

The Soul Reavers went on The Double and paced by the open fields without interruption.

I was being cautious with the Revenant King and Werewolves, keeping my distance from the Chariot horde.

Turn 2 for the Ogres was more of the same, minus the shooting from the Shooters who had nothing in sight, so decided to move. I could see that he was carefully positioning his Warrior legion up against the blocking terrain, effectively ending any idea of me flanking it with the Undead Wyrm.

So more mistakes made by me in the early parts of the game. I moved the Werewolves at the Double towards the Chariots, thinking I could Surge them into combat. Derp. Why do I keep doing this to myself? I'm probably better off sticking a post it note on the unit and have "CANNOT SURGE UNIT!!!" written on it.

I parked the Zombies right in front of the Warrior legion, looking for the Counter Charge with my Skeletons and Mummies, and possibly my Zombie Trolls.

So here's where it gets interesting. As I said earlier with terrain adding some degree of difficulty in our movement phase, I've pivoted the Revenant Cavalry and moved them into straight line, just brushing past the watch tower on the right. I had every intent to Surge the Cavalry towards the Berserker Braves.

However, reading the rules on Surge, the affected unit can only move a straight line and if it contacts an enemy unit, that's where you can "close the door" (Warhammer term there) to meet the two units together for combat.

I thought that I could at least pivot once during the Surge move, which isn't the case. Instead, moving a straight line with the Revenant Cav with Surge made the unit run into the table edge first, which denied me the chance to charge the Berserkers. And all this because the watch tower terrain prevented me from pivoting them into a more direct facing towards the Berserkers. Good job watch tower! Now my Revenant Cav is screwed. AGAIN.

Off to Ogre Turn 3 and some Charges were declared.

The Warrior Legion went straight into the Zombie block with the Giant on the flank.

The Siegebreakers just managed to have charge range on the Revenant Cav, whose movement and positioning I botched big time. The Berserker Braves charged the front. Probably not going to end well for the Revenant Cav.

On the far left the Chariots charged straight into the Werewolves. Probably not going to end well for them either.

Shooting saw little action once again as the Warlock had very little LOS, while the Shooters moved themselves up in prime position if the Undead Wyrm were to come out from behind the building.

After combat, the Revenant Cav and Werewolves were easily routed, putting me on the back foot mid way through his turns. I have to admit, given my mistakes, Dav was outplaying me in the movement department and was seeing things well before I was.

The Zombies just managed to Rout from the combo charge. The Giant did very little, after Dav was talking him up. He didn't forget Chant of Hate this time, smashing the Zombies into the ground.

Turn 3 for the Undead and I charge the Skeleton block and Mummies regiment into the Warrior legion. The Mummies were pretty close to being a corner charge, as the Giant on the right prevented the Skeleton horde from sliding over to make room for the Mummies. After the game, my opponent confirmed that this move was deliberate. That's just genius if you ask me.

The Revenant King and Undead Wyrm, charge the Mammoth, which was just peeking the front of it's base out of the forest/difficult terrain. That meant that I wasn't going to be Hindered, so I went for it.

The Mummies close to my right flank charged the Giant, in the hopes that I could at least severely wound it.

In my Shooting phase, I Surged the Zombie Troll unit twice to get it as far away from the Berserkers as possible. My plan was to move these guys up into combat using Surge when the oppportunity came up.

So combat happened and I started off with the messy combat in the middle with the Skeletons/Mummies/Ogre Warriors.

The pic below is a picture of my rolls to wound with the Mummies. Needing a 3+ to wound. Yeahhhhhhhh....

The Skeletons actually did a lot more than the Mummies. The Warriors didn't even come close to Wavering and now anticipated a very juicy charge.

The Mummies against the Giant did just as bad, managing just 2 wounds altogether. So the Giant was looking at a rather tasty counter charge on the next Ogre Turn.

The Undead Wyrm fared better on my left, managing to wound the Mammoth 5 times out of 9 attacks, but the Mammoth didn't waver nor rout and was ready for a Counter Charge. The Chariots on the flank were lining themselves up too.

So the Ogres were licking their lips after seeing all the counter charges to be made this turn.

The Warrior Legion charged the Skeleton block. Mammoth counter charged the Undead Wyrm, aided by Chariots on the flank which were Hindered.

The Giant counter charged the Mummies. I felt pretty lucky at this stage as the Mummies (who were moved back an inch from the previous combat) were JUST out of front arc of the Siegebreakers. Just as well for me, as a flank charge by Siegebreakers would've just decimated the Mummies for a second straight game.

The Berserkers on my right flank were pivoting and moving their way past the watch tower and now had LOS to the rear of my units. I knew I had to push my models forward on my following turn.

With little done in the shooting phase once again, it was off to combat, starting off with the Giant, who was once again talked up by Dav. Then he rolls a 1 for the random number of attacks. And fluffs the rolls, wounding the Mummies 4 times and failed to Waver.

The Mammoth and Chariots together wounded the Undead Wyrm 10 times, but he rolled pretty poorly for the Nerve test. I have to admit, that was a pretty tense moment, which luckily went my way.

The Warrior legion did what it was supposed to do and obliterated the Skeletons, then reforming to face the Mummies.

Patience finally paid off for me as the Soul Reaver Cavalry moved through the left flank without much challenge - then rear charged the Chariots. I thought about counter charging the Undead Wyrm onto the Chariots too, but decided against it and would set my sights on the Mammoth.

The Mummies counter charged the Giant, which was a no brainer. I had to try and support he Mummies with something, because if the Giant failed to rout, then I would definitely see a flank charge by the Siegebreakers in the ensuing turn. So pivoted the Zombie Trolls and moved them closer towards the flank of the Giant. Two sets of Surges later and I was able to get the Zombie Trolls on the Giant's flank!

The pic above represents the dice roll of two Regenerated wounds I got back for the Mummies.

In the combat phase, I managed to rout the Chariots easily enough with the Soul Reavers on the flank. I pivoted them to ensure I had a flank charge on the Mammoth next turn. Speaking of the Mammoth, that thing refused to budge, however, did finally Waver when the Undead Wyrm put another 5 wounds onto it.

The Mummies and the Zombie Trolls finally routed the Giant, but a head on charge by both the Siege breakers and the Warrior Legion was sure to follow.

As expected, the Mummies were charge by the Siegebreakers and the Warriors crashed into the Zombie Trolls.

The Berserkers finally had open space and were really threatening to flank charge a unit. They turned towards the Balefire catapult, ready to charge it when they could.

The pic below is what happened after his turn. The Mummies were routed on a very lucky Nerve test roll from the Siegebreakers. They copped 8 wounds from the Siegebreakers charge and then calmly rolled 10 for that magic number of 18. That one hurt. The Zombie Trolls were wiped out, causing the Warrior legion to pivot and face my other Mummy regiment head on.

The Mammoth could do very little being Wavered and all, and was forced to move back.

I had a few choices on my turn. It was Turn 5 and it was getting dicey. I was losing pretty badly, but I knew I could salvage some points if I played my cards right.

The Berserkers in the flank were causing me headaches. My plan was to charge the Mummies into the Warrior legion, then protect their flank by sacrificing my two Necromancers. One charged the Siegebreakers, while the other simply walked in front of the Berserkers. I didn't have to charge the Siegebreakers with one Necromancer, but I though it would be hilarious regardless. So I went ahead with those moves.

My Undead Wyrm and Soul Reavers combo charged the Mammoth, needless to say, it Routed and gave me that extra pivot to point my Undead Wyrm towards his Ogre Warlord, or should I say, Odella the Hun.

The Combat phase was absolutely crucial. If I were to get any sort of luck in this game, I was crossing my fingers it would happen on this turn. We worked out the Mummies vs Warrior legion combat. I did enough damage that I would need an 8 to Waver the unit of Warriors....

Then BOOM! Rolled an 8 for the Nerve test! Man! I was pumped at that point, throwing punches and yelling "YES!" while in the background, I scared my daughter who was happily watching her Kinder Surprise videos on YouTube...

Needless to say, the Necromancer didn't do much against the Siegebreakers. But it was all about getting them in the way of each other. If the Necromancers weren't there, the flank of my Mummies would've been exposed to charge from the Berserkers. That would've been 60 attacks. Ummm, no thanks!

So with the Ogres on Turn 6, he charged both his Siegebreakers and Berserkers onto one of each Necromancer. The overrun of the Berserkers didn't worry me, as the Mummies' flank was more than 10" away - no chance of hitting it as the overrun is only D6".

The Siegebreakers were looking at a different direction altogether, so I could count them out too.

Odella was trying to figure out ways to escape the charge from either the Wyrm or Soul Reavers, but didn't get far, thanks to that massive legion sized Warrior Ogre unit standing in front of her. Man, that wavered unit played a bigger part than it did. There was little the Warrior legion could do, except walk backwards.

The Shooters took aim at the Soul Reavers, but barely grazed the unit, causing 2 wounds. Thankfully, he didn't roll box cars for the Nerve test. The Warlock, who did very little this game, tried to Lightning Bolt the Catapult, but failed to do anything.

So I lost the Necromancers, but that paved the way for me with an opportunity to draw the game.

The first charge I made was to flank the Warrior block with the Soul Reavers. Happy days. I aided them in combat with the Mummies, who were out for some revenge.

Lastly, I was within range of Odella with my Undead Wyrm, so I made that charge too, rear charging it no less. Now here's my question to long time KoW players - would the Undead Wyrm get triple attacks? The way we read it was - Yes, you can - because we know the Revenant King is a Hero model, but the rules state that if he has a mount, then his model type becomes the mounts type. Which in this case, is a monster. Which would get triple attacks. Did we play this correctly? Hmm. 

Anyhow, 27 attacks later and Odella was toast.

The Soul Reavers and Mummies made the Warrior legion rout, thus ending the game!

We worked out the points and came to another draw! Phew! How did I manage to salvage that game? I was losing pretty comprehensively up until the last few turns, then the flanking Soul Reavers finally shot around and came in to help out the rest of the Undead horde.

It was a crazy game. Almost as crazy as a die getting cocked by the grass mat itself! 

A few things learnt from blocking terrain, which could play a huge role in games in the future. Terrain definitely gets you thinking more of your movement and how you are going to avoid/overcome/get around it.

I always enjoy close battles, more so when I have to work hard getting back into the game after being in the back foot so early.

That wraps up another game of Kings of War. As always, we appreciate the hits, the shares and of course feedback on what we may have messed up/could do better in future.

Until next time, keep rolling those dice!