The Captain`s Men and The Dwarf Kingdom of Balimar clashed in a battle for the mountains. The blood of both sides ran down the mountainside and into the streams. Both sides fought valiantly; however, only one side could prevail. The Dwarf Kingdom, though taking heavy losses, was able to hold more of the territory than The Captain`s Men and secured a great victory.
It was known that the King was planning to hunt down The Captain himself, as he knew that without him the company would surely turn tail and run. However the captain proved more difficult to find than expected, and the King was routed instead by the ferocity of The Captain`s hero.
The Brock Riders showed exceptional courage as they faced extensive wounds from the Knights of Men, but they would not allow themselves to be routed. They continued the fight and prevailed over the knights.
Now The Kingdom of Balimar has taken another region in the mountains and it is rumored they have found more Earth Elementals to join their cause. The Captain`s Men, however, must lick their wounds and retreat to Brigg’s Outpost before they are able to face another army in battle.
Ashley Introduction:
Alex and I decided to play Control, as we were both contending for a section of the mountain range and it seemed appropriate. We decided on 2000 points and thought that seemed responsible for the location. Originally we had hoped to make a modified map for Control, like paths through the mountains. However, life happens and we played with a regular map.
As I knew Alex was going to hunt down The Captain, my plan was to deny that as best I could. Even if I wasn’t going to win the game, I needed that moral victory.
Alex Introduction:
The dwarfs were going to have to be fast this mission. This was a little more than a scout party, rangers and brocks to accompany the only two units of elementals the stone priests have been able to summon so far. Burgus has heard little about this “Captain” and is on a mission to best him personally, destroying whatever is in his path.
Ashley List
- Horde Foot Guard
- Horde Heavy Pike Block
- Regiment Pole Arms Block
- 2x Regiments Knights
- 2x Heros Mounted
- Wizard
- 3x Giants
- AND obviously, The Captain
Alex’s List
- Hearneas Hunter
- 3x Regiment of Rangers (Herneas’s Hunting Party Formation)
- 2x Horde Earth Elementals
- 2x Regiment of Brock Riders (Caterpillar, Brew of Strength)
- Army Standard (Lute of Insatiable Darkness)
- Stone Priest (Martyr’s Prayer)
- Burgus Stoneheart, Might of the Mountain (King on Large Beast with Mournful Blade)
Deployment
Ashley
As I deployed I hoped to deny the right side as best I could, using some fear of the giants to my favour. I put my pole arms behind the knights and giants as I wanted to move up and leave them behind to hold that section. The Captain tucked in behind the giant and next to the knights, giving Rallying (2) and hiding from a certain King. My center was foot guard and heavy pike block with another…. *insert drumroll* Giant!
To be honest I just kind of ignored the left side with all the shooting. I was just hopeful to hold it all off. My goal was to go for the right upper and lower sections, and the opposite middle, as I am greedy and want that block worth 2 points!
Alex
The central woods looked like a perfect outpost for rangers, but with all those high defense units this was going to be an uphill fight. Once Ashley committed to the right flank with the second giant, I knew it was going to be a race to see who could wrap around to the middle.
This meant that the cavalry lead by Burgus himself would likely find themselves overrun; they would need to either stall long enough for the help to arrive or, if the opportunity presented itself, try to combo charge and smash through.
Turn 1
Ashley
Let me sum this turn up. We moved up. Oh and Alex was annoying and blocked my knights, thanks for that.. My poor, sad knights; they took 5 wounds from shooting, and with that were wavered. Being 14∕ 16 was of little help as Alex rolls like a god apparently. Better to be lucky than good!
Turn 2
Ashley
As my knights were wavered, I stood in place looking terribly terrifying. However, not being able to do anything with the knights was heartbreaking.
I had positioned the giants so that the knights could not be double charged, so the giants and the knights all took single charges. I kind of forgot about the King here, and my plan to use giants to flank the Brock Riders was getting less plausible. I moved up the middle block to try to get close enough to threaten Alex’s elementals. I felt like I was struggling with getting up the field without exposing flanks, but I also could not let him keep shooting me! Especially after the knights were wavered! Alex had bestowed some fear.
Turn 3
Ashley
Let’s play I spy! I spy with my little eye two regiments of knights. Good luck, there is only one. Another round of shooting was just too much for the regiment of knights on the left to handle. Alas, I was starting to feel the pressure in the middle. My horde of foot guard took 9 wounds! I felt like I was going to have to make a move! Everyone on the right hand flank tanked those charges like the badasses they are.
Turn 4
Ashley
Do you recall when I said that I felt some pressure in the middle and that I felt like I needed to make a move? Well I combo charged a horde of earth elementals with a giant and a hindered horde of heavy pike. AND I ROUTED THEM. I pivoted the heavy pike off the wall, facing all those juicy rears! The giant turned to support the left side of the board. A clever thing I did was charge a mounted Hero into the King while flank charging the Brocks with a Giant. In doing this the King had to kill my Hero and overrun, otherwise he couldn’t charge the giant!
Turn 5
Ashley
Unseen here (but firmly fixed in my memory) is a juicy rear charge from the Heavy Pike into the King. He apparently was unable to withstand 90 attacks; who would have thought? So that’s the highlight. The low point was doing excessive amounts of damage to a regiment of Brocks only to (you guessed it) roll double 1s. Is it even a game of Kings of War without a double 1s roll? So with that, Alex was able to charge my regiment of knights and they did not make it to see Turn 6.
Turn 6 ∕ End Game
Ashley
Though he was brave, the giant in the middle of the field was unable to withstand a double charge. In the end I could only hold limited sections with so much of my force depleted. I was able to capture and hold 2 sections, but Alex captured my center making the score 2-3.
End Game Thoughts
Ashley
This was a game of luck in my opinion. Breaking the elementals and being able to turn to rear charge the King was very lucky. And on the opposite side, Alex was very lucky that I rolled double 1s against the Brocks! Overall it was a very fun game. Alex was a pleasure to play against. I did lose a hex on the map in the campaign but I have full intentions of winning it back next round!!
Alex
A very close game indeed! I was only able to pull the narrowest of victories due to control of the middle and the lucky snake eyes that kept the KoM units tied up that extra turn.
The rangers’ shooting turned out to be very effective. The early waver on the knights pretty much sealed that whole side of the table. Also lucky for me that The Captain could only be in one place at a time and hiding behind the giant left the middle open to some swingy dice rolls.
Although barely winning, this game was a huge loss as Burgus got REAR CHARGED by mere humans without ever even catching a whiff of the captain. Does he even exist?
More reports like this please!
Has my vote for this month.