Forward the Legions - Roman Kingdoms of Men

Army lists and Tactics
1

So thanks to the new edition, i’m relocating my historical romans army to the fantasy side, mainly because it’ll be awhile before the historicals side gets a new edition, and i might as well build towards the game i’ll be playing more often.

in that mindset, i drew up a ‘target’ 2500pts list, basically a list to help govern what i buy and build to start with, with the idea of basing it such i can cut it down in size to smaller point sizes. took a little tweaking based on feedback by more experienced players, and a closer reading of the KoM section of the new Uncharted Empires book. While this is not a historicals force, i have tried to stick to a quasi-historical feel to the unit selections to make modelling a little easier… less need to say, kitbash roman cannon teams and so on.

i’ve added notes in italics which detail the models i plan to use for these (subject to change obviously) choices mostly due to availability of cost-efficient plastic kits or really good amazon/ebay deals.

Army: Kingdoms of Men
Points: 2500
Unit Strength: 26

265, Foot Guard Horde (Roman Praetorians, Warlord Games)
– Blessing of the Gods
– Indomitable Will
235, Foot Guard Horde (Roman legionaries, Warlord Games)
– Indomitable Will
235, Foot Guard Horde (Roman legionaries, Warlord Games)
– Indomitable Will
195, Knight Regiment (Late Roman Cataphracts, Gripping Beast. [not yet released])
150, Mounted Sergeant Regiment (Late Roman Light Cavalry, Gripping Beast)
150, Mounted Sergeant Regiment (Late Roman Light Cavalry, Gripping Beast)
155, Mounted Scout Regiment (Late Roman Light Cavalry, Gripping Beast)
155, Mounted Scout Regiment (Late Roman Light Cavalry, Gripping Beast)
220, Mammoth (Still TBD, eying the Successor War Elephant by Warlord Games)
75, Ballista (Scorpion Bolt Thrower, Warlord Games)
75, Ballista (Scorpion Bolt Thrower, Warlord Games)
75, Ballista (Scorpion Bolt Thrower, Warlord Games)
155, Captain (EIR: Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Warlord Games)
– Horse
85, General (EIR: Roman General [and Warhound], Warlord Games)
70, Wizard (Frostgrave Wizard II custom, North Star)
– Bane Chant (2)
70, Wizard (Frostgrave Wizard II custom, North Star)
– Bane Chant (2)
75, Army Standard Bearer (* EIR: Aquilifer, Warlord Games*)
– Lute of Insatiable Darkness
60, Hero (EIR: Primus Pilus, Warlord Games)
– Inspiring Talisman

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As I don’t have my UE book yet, my replies are mainly from my sole battle experience in 3rd using Basilea and my dozens of 2nd edition KoM battles, so please bear in mind that some advice may be invalid due to this edition change.

3 hordes in 2k points seem a lot. I tried a similar army once and the hordes definately got in the way. Also, fielding just 3 hordes with no support other than the cavalry and individuals set you up for nasty alpha charges which will delete even your elite hordes in one go.

To keep in theme with the Roman army, why not field troops of auxilaries to support the legions? According to goodarmylists.com there’s the shield wall troop (but not pole arm troop? Really?) @65 or militia regiments @70 points which make really decent chaff.

Bane chant is good, but do you need 3 sources? I’d try to keep it at two, so you can keep it at 4 individuals instead of 6.

Is there a particulary reason why you choose 2,500 points as your target? Most battles will probably be at 2k or 2,250 points. If you’re building the army from scratch, I’d start off with 2,000 as a start. You army will downsize easily enough as there’s plenty of doubling in the roster.

(2 hordes of foot guard + 2/3 units of chaff, knights, 2 unitsof mounted scouts/sergeants, 2 balistae, 4 individuals) will be around 1750-ish points, so you’ll have the option to choose either the 3rd legion, mamoth or additional cavalry to fill out 2k.

Good luck with the project! Looking forward to the army pictures!

2 Likes
3

As the other reply said 3 hordes is a lot an could be tricky if there is a bunch of terrain. You could go with 1 as the 1st Cohort and then some regiments as normal cohorts. I also like at least 2 knights in my KOM armies to give them punch. Some cavalry in Troops is useful as a rear rank (Sergeants are good as nimble) and as chaff to get in the enemies face (Scouts are good here).

I’m still on the look-out for something to be a Giant - something like Talos from the 1960’s Jason and the Argonauts would be good :wink:

4

Think you definitely have the basis of a solid list but couple of points:

Get brew of strength on a horde - you can’t rely on BC and with both it will hurt.

You need some chaff for the hordes as mentioned by @Vince - multi charges with heavy hitters will kill one, then open the battle line. Bowmen or shieldwall troops would fit thematically and just screen off that combo charge.

5 cav reg is possibly too much, even with most being light cav? Maybe drop one scout, one sergeant for some infantry chaff and see if you can find 15pts to upgrade at least one bolt thrower to something heavier?

3+ hordes is perfectly viable (orc players do it and theirs are bigger!) but when I was doing it tended to run 1 aggressive (FG 2hw elite), 1 solid (FG strength), 1 defensive (heavy pike measured force), one cheap (pole arms). Given list is basically running a bunch of solid ones not sure how I’d play it - but give it a go?

5

except that if i follow any of the advice being given here (to get rid of the hordes, to cut back the cav, etc), i no longer have enough unlocks to fit the heroes and ballista needed to support this army properly with ranged fire, spells, and inspiring. and yes i have tried, by the time you add enough regiments to make up the different in unlocks, you don’t have the points for more than a token (and largely useless) set of screening troops.

while i might be able to cut back the mounted sergeants for something else, with the new unlocks system there just isn’t a lot of leeway to get picky here, not if i want to have a decent mobile hammer and a decent anvil.

6

Really best advice is “try it”. Everything is new, barely anyone will have played lots of games so the KoM meta is all up for grabs.

Requiring unlocks you have 6 heroes, 3 war machines and a monster. 3 hordes and three (non irregular) regiments cover that - so the infantry, knights and 2 sergeant units cover that - so does give a bit of wriggle room?

7

I ran quadruple punchy horde rats in 2E (all blight) and gave it a shot this weekend in 3E (all shock troops). While the game went sideways for dice reasons mostly, and maybe a lack of support, it was great to field a wall of meat again :sunglasses: So anyway, I’m a fan of manmoding it with hordes, trusting that they have chaffy friends to help dictate engagements a bit.

Regardless, looking forward to the project!

8

After discussion with a friend and on the Facebook group, this is what I’m going with. Along the way I had some ideas regarding Army background and overall style that should make it interesting, will post those elsewhere when I get it sorted out and written up.

Army: Kingdoms of Men
Points: 2300
Unit Strength: 26

265, Foot Guard Horde
– Blessing of the Gods
– Indomitable Will
145, Foot Guard Regiment
– Indomitable Will
145, Foot Guard Regiment
– Indomitable Will
145, Fanatic Regiment
145, Fanatic Regiment
195, Knight Regiment
75, Bowman Troop
75, Bowman Troop
155, Mounted Scout Regiment
155, Mounted Scout Regiment
220, Mammoth
155, Captain
– Horse
75, Ballista
75, Ballista
85, General
50, Army Standard Bearer
70, Wizard
– Bane Chant (2)
70, Wizard
– Bane Chant (2)

With the 2500 version dropping blessing and taking a second horde of footguard.

1 Like
9

Cant wait to see the pictures of this, because I would do exactly the same! So please post pictures when you get started with these :slight_smile:

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as soon as i get anything going i’ll post it. probably start a thread in the Showcase forum though, since this section of the boards is for army lists.

going for a desert theme, the fanatics, bowmen (and possibly the mounted scouts) are currently planned to be Gripping Beast Arabs, local auxiliaries.

the main reason to work up a list first, especially such a large list, is to figure out what units to plan for, and avoid buying and assembling stuff i don’t need. which was a lesson i learned from when i played 40K, and used to good effect when running Lizardmen in WHFB.

it is easier to work up a big list as a goal, then break it down into smaller chunks.

1 Like
11

Nice basic list. I’d look to make the bsb and general actually do something proactive (lute, diadem, horse etc) and my preference would be strength over elite.

12

thanks to a a roman ballista kit i found on ebay really cheap, and the fact my basing materials orders shoudl be arriving any day now, i’ll be able to get started soon. (and if i can bring myself to stick my old 40K stuff up for sale, i might even be able to buy the rest of the stuff i need to hit 2300 in one go.)

the current build plan is using just the stuff i have:
4 regiment bases of Footguard (legionaries and praetorians), set up so they can be combined to make hordes.
2 Troops of Mounted Sergeants (late roman light cav)
the ballista
a general, standard bearer, and hero.

together i can make a 1000pt force from these. a good start.

the mounted sergeants obviously aren’t part of the larger army plan, but i have a box of light roman cav from gripping beast i got on black friday. not long after i finalized my theme idea and realized the mounted archers need to be auxiliaries not roman, but waste not.

13

got the first unit assembled.

details in this thread

14

due to my experiences* at Indystorm using KoM (a pike and polearm build there) i am going to be revisiting my 2300 point list plan… not sure if i will change much or not but i did learn a few things that ought to be applicable.

*came in dead last. due in part to less than optimal list, but mostly due to tactical inexperience with KoW in general. on the otherhand i did get the “wooden spoon award” and my pick off the prize table, so expect a thread with me brainstorming an Orc army soon, as i grabbed an orc starter box.

1 Like
15

so after digesting the lessons learned from Indystorm, i’ve revised my Roman KoM army list.
i consolidated the footguard into hordes so they can be the strong backbone of the infantry, got rid of the bowmen since i’m no longer sure they are all that useful (keeping the scouts because they seem like they’d be more useful between more attacks, steady aim, and sp9)
redid my heroes so The Captain is where he needs to be, rallying the infantry, all of which opened up enough points to add a 2nd regiment of Knights and some handy magic items to make the main units more effective.

Army: Kingdoms of Men
Points: 2300
Unit Strength: 27

  • 250, Foot Guard Horde
    – Dwarven Ale
    – Indomitable Will
  • 250, Foot Guard Horde
    – Chalice of Wrath
    – Indomitable Will
  • 145, Fanatic Regiment
  • 145, Fanatic Regiment
  • 225, Knight Regiment
    – Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar
    – Indomitable Will
  • 220, Knight Regiment
    – Sir Jesse’s Boots of Striding
    – Indomitable Wil
  • 155, Mounted Scout Regiment
  • 155, Mounted Scout Regiment
  • 220, Mammoth
  • 120, Captain
  • 50, Army Standard Bearer
  • 70, Wizard
    – Bane Chant (2)
  • 70, Wizard
    – Bane Chant (2)
  • 75, Ballista
  • 75, Ballista
  • 75, Army Standard Bearer
    – Horse
16

Solid enough.

Personally think you are wasting points with the chalice/brew and IW. I’d ditch the two items and give one horde elite.

Worry slightly about a lack of punch - plenty of me3+ but not a huge amount of cs.

Sticking as close to your list as possible I’d drop a ballista and the foot bsb. Give horde strength and the other elite as above. Get the lute for the mounted bsb (knights will need BC in the grind). The conjurers staff for one wizard (that reroll is tasty with BC as it really improves chances, plus helps with LB) and inspiring for the other.

This gives the hordes and the knights more punch, you don’t lose anything by way of inspiring and still have the IW as one off use (since doubt fury/headstrong would really be used much more than that?).