Another night at the old games club and another Kings of War battle. I will admit that last week I was playing Warhammer Old World and while the two games may seem similar at first, especially if KoW is being played at 28mm. I think the two games actually focus on two different aspects of the same type of game. The result is two different games looking for two different experiences.
Just for giggles my friend and I decided to play without terrain. We also played on a surface that would easily fit on a single 6 foot table. The point was simply to see what it would be like, would we feel constricted on a smaller table or would the game be boring without scenery. Guess what! It worked just fine. In fact, as I reflect on the battle I can see some of my deployment issues, perhaps more clearly than if we had terrain. Anyway...
So standard Battle of Good Guys vs Bad Guys. My friend does have other armies but we are comfortable and not bored with these two yet. This summer I will probably print my own army, I don't print in the winter because I like to open my windows and I cure o’natural so not much variation in the miniatures. Here is the deployment.
The Forces of Chaos in the North are looking to get stuck in as fast as possible and use their superior armour to carry the day. The Forces of Good have cunningly deployed further back (units deployed no closer than 24cm, my furthest stuff was probably 36cm away) to give more time for shooting. This was probably a good idea. Otherwise the goodies had the anvil on the right and the hammer (griffon and cavalry) on the left. There was a small screening force of three troops of carbine wielding light cavalry to the front as well.
Despite setting up a bit further back the approach happened quite quickly, this picture is at some point of turn two. One cavalry regiment on the left broke from the line to charge a demon spawn, which they managed to trample in a single charge with a bit of luck. They will get crushed by trolls later but the spawn is a nasty monster and you don't want it disrupting your line before the main battle. On the right the trebuchets and carbines did a remarkable job wounding the giant. The nice thing about this game is that everything can hurt everything, cheap stuff just hurts it less. I feel like the attrition caused by all units means that you don't need a killer near invincible heroes, and you can worry more about maneuvering your forces. Heroes have a different role, inspiring the troops! Oh on the right, one troop of light cavalry moved off to try and bait the mighty warriors of chaos into exposing their flank to my line.
And it kind of worked… The light cavalry were slaughtered and the warriors were able to reform but they were still in charge range of two regiments of elite human swordmasters. On the left the cavalry had finished off the evil Eagle Riders and the battle had begun in the center. Hopefully there would be time for the flanks to fight their way to the center and win the day. The trebuchets were earning their pay by smashing the Ogre Cavalry and making them re-think their life choices. This may have been significant as that large unit of Ogre Cavalry was going to be killer if it ever got into combat with my line.
Every game has its “most important roll” sometimes it is initiative, maybe it is moral, maybe it is a super gun’s to hit roll and KoW is no different. The Nerve Test is where KoW battles are won and lost. Often, especially when it is a close roll (7 or better you should get that all the time right 🙂) accompanied by cries of anguish and fists pounding the table. In the picture above the center of the Chaos line was badly mauled, indicated by the red dice tracking wounds, but they held their nerve and stayed around to push back next turn. My cavalry on the left got bogged down in combat and without the devastating power of their charge, they were likely not going to make it to the center of the battle in time. Luckily the Swordsmen on the right were demonstrating their elite status and chopping up all the invading raiders, they even kept their nerve at a critical moment so I guess what goes around comes around. Pay attention to the Evil Dragon in the Center.
The dragon had taken some minor damage from the carbines and one trebuchet shot, as well the dragon got a bit greedy and charged the human hero in the center and ate him. I can't remember why it didn't turn to face my spearmen but I remember it ended up exposing its flank to two regiments of commoners who valiantly charged and killed the dragon. In game mechanic terms, the flank charge gave them twice their attacks so it was like the wounded dragon was attacked by four regiments. I can't remember how close it was, but it worked and the dragon was slain.
As the dust settled most things were dead... The frenzied chaos elves in the center had not quite satisfied their lust for blood and were still killing things at quite a pace but were running out of victims. The cavalry on the left was still dealing with their trolls. The general on the griffon had left his cavalry to try and get to the center but did not have enough time, he stopped to kill some trolls on the way and would probably have finished off the warriors, though he would have taken some damage in the process. Ironically the trebuchet made its nerve test, it needed snakeeyes, after the warriors charged it. On my right my swormaster and hero were holding their own. Good game, close game.
Kings of War feels less swingy than other wargames I have played and I think I enjoy the sense of predictability, there are no failed charges, there aren't really whiffs just times when you didn't do much damage, there are not too many moments when the fate of a critical model hangs on a single D6. The result is that your choices of engagements and depth of deployment matters more than your dice. TBH I have not really got into list building yet but it doesn't seem like there will be skew lists either but hopefully more on that in a later post.
As I alluded to at the top, Warhammer Old World, looks better and gives more opportunity to build your perfect character or unit. Kings of War is fast and simple and really focuses on the combat between units. Maneuvers have been simplified so units can move in a more fluid fashion, units don't get stuck on a corner like a bunch of robots. The Nerve Test is central but it is a 2D6 test and there are ways to get a re-role or a plus one if your hero, who is probably junk at fighting, is close enough to inspire the wavering unit. The trade off for not having to endlessly flip through the rules is a game that is simple and quick but may lack depth. Currently, I find the game interesting but I am curious to see how long to see how long it holds my interest.
As for terrain, I really like how it isn't just “use six pieces scattered about the battlefield”. In fact that approach would probably detract from the game. I still think terrain can be used, and should be used, and since the game is so simple it seems like it would be quite easy to just have a single feature, with accompanying scenario and rules, to make the story.
For instance a scenario that requires looting a temple would be quite easy, by just have a small area for the interior of the temple that only a troop or hero can fit into, simply state that all units in the temple are engaged, and done. The rule book even has rules for sieges! Until next time.
