Regnum Aeternum - Written Battle Reports for KoW 4th Edition

Kings of War Battle Reports / Games
101

That’s why I don’t like progressive scoring.
I makes an early lead snowball even worse and trades the opportunity to try snatching victory from the jaws of defeat for a demotivating conversation about how many points can still be scored.

Your dwarf list works nicely!
It’s nice to see ranger and shieldbreaker regiments do well.
I’ve had similar experience with rangers. They’re not stars of the show, but they’re dependable and consistently useful.

4 Likes
102

Thanks @Darkblack! Got one more Dwarf game for you:

Battle 045 was Free Dwarfs (Troops w/ Stoneclaws) vs Northern Alliance in Protect and Raze

It was a fun time, but unfortunately writing up the report, this was apparently not my cleanest game! It happens, and I’ll endeavor to tidy up my pivots before our next battle. It was still fun, with plenty to learn from:

  • Brock Lord, Brock Riders, and Stoneclaws all work together nicely. They provide some much-needed reach for the dwarfs, and the Stoneclaw troops are handy but expendable. Plenty to learn still, but we’re off to a good start now.
  • Ironclad troops had some missteps with using them as screens, but are still fun and I’m still getting use out of all four troops to my surprise. We might be able to optimize this in the future, but 4x has been fun for now.
  • Shieldbreakers got some charges off thanks to other units stepping up to block for them, but I’m struggling a bit with Speed 4 at times. Making good progress with them, but we’re still throwing at least one unit away per game due to distance issues.
  • Rangers continue to be versatile and a lot of fun! I still have a lot to learn about how to use them effectively, but this game was a good showcase for them and their versatility, and what I’ve learned so far.

I’ve still got plenty left to explore and learn with the Dwarfs, but I rather liked this more combat-focused game and leaving the Rifles at home for a change of pace. We’ll continue to get them on the table regularly and play around with some new ideas in the coming months!

5 Likes
103

Ope, looks like I mistyped the last battle number, and it is too late to fix. That should have been 046 against the Northern Alliance.

Battle 047 was FoN Herd vs FoN Elementals in Invade!

But now we have a bit of a special and unusual report now, a Forces of Nature civil war! A returning player and his Elementals wanted to fight the Herd, so off we go together, exploring the Fracture update from different perspectives.

  • Grymbrocks are weird, being essentially a cavalry unit with the speed of basic infantry. I used them mainly as a second-line unit, similar to Shieldbreakers I suppose, and they did well enough here, and being able to give them Strider is nice. Relative to normal Knights, the discount for their lower speed is also nice, but with Retaliate still mangled as a rule, they are really struggling with all the normal cavalry issues.
  • Great Totem was a lot of fun, and its Advanced Deployment is neat. The extra support and commands were really helpful to have, and it was a good debut for the unit.
  • I think I’ve said it before, but moving Centaurs to Core was a phenomenal design decision. They are so much more useful now! No hordes anymore, but both regiments and troops are more viable now, and the Troops played very nicely with the new Command orders, while giving the list a little more reach.
  • Combat individuals (and individuals generally) are still as awkward as ever. The Chieftain’s attack number nerf is a bummer and Ydrin is a bit awkward (and with more attacks!), but both still found uses this game.
  • 4x Tribal Spears is probably not optimized, but the MMU approach here was fun, and the Phalanx did blunt a few charges. Not a bad core unit, and I am happy they are back!

A good game and a great time jointly exploring some new options! The Forces of Nature are fun and look to be in a nice spot right now.

3 Likes
104

Thanks for the reports! Great play in the first game, what a match. Not to say you didn’t play well in the second, but the vibe was certainly different there :sweat_smile: Isn’t Kenny your team mate from that doubles tournament that would yeet his stuff forward and somehow it would work out for him??

I was thinking about his list and how to give it some more teeth, while still staying within the elemental theme. Here’s where I landed:

Forces of Nature 2026 [2300 / 2300]

Gladewalker Druid (Hero (Inf)) 1 [190]
– Heal (4) [20]
– Surge (8) [30]
Forest Warden [2] (Hero (Lrg Inf)) 1 [160]
Forest Shamblers (Lrg Inf) Troop [120]
Forest Shamblers (Lrg Inf) Troop [120]
Forest Shamblers (Lrg Inf) Troop [120]
Air Elementals (Lrg Inf) Regiment [245]
– Brew of Strength [40]
Earth Elementals (Lrg Inf) Regiment [180]
Greater Air Elemental [2] (Mon) 1 [195]
Greater Fire Elemental [2] (Mon) 1 [225]
– Fireball (4) [0]

Gladewalker Druid (Hero (Inf)) 1 [190]
– Heal (4) [20]
– Surge (8) [30]
Fire Elementals (Lrg Inf) Regiment [205]
Water Elementals (Lrg Inf) Regiment [205]
Water Elementals (Lrg Inf) Troop [145]

After cleaning up the items and the blizzard, I gave the Air reg strength (scary into everything and worth the extra points), swapped the Greater Water out for Greater Fire (a dedicated hammer rather than slow charger / speedy anvil), consolidated the Earth into a reg (forming an anvil), and tripled down on Forest troops (saving some points and gaining a little more speed). And then promptly binned the Scorchwings for a Forest Warden. I think the Warden has some real potential as a flanker, plus is a third inspire, plus is a third command, plus is happy to carry tokens around. Meanwhile, scorchies continue to just be really so bad. Maybe when they address hybrid units in the next book they’ll see some relief :face_exhaling: If he wants a flying troop, an Air troop feels a lot better, plus is cheaper.

Also! Looking to run some troops of Gymbros myself, I think there’s something there, especially for a more MSU approach.

3 Likes
105

The one and only! One of the most charming chaotic people I’ve ever met.

I will pass the build along! I looked it it the other day, and Druids and Surge 5 felt underwhelming, but I like this, and completely forgot about the Forest Warden. He was considering hobbying up some more trees anyways, so this could be very useful. Thanks! I also missed that the Fire Elemental got a Fireball. I like it. There’s not a ton of shooting for Nature to play with, but I think someone could have some fluffy fun with that.

Also… stealing this. Still not sure why they got a name and stat change suddenly, but that’s solid! :laughing:

2 Likes
106

They are some kind of" badger-men" now. So they changed the background because we shouldn’t use (GW) goats anymore?

4 Likes
107

Ya know what, 100% fair. Thanks Sam. I am being a bit of a curmudgeon. I can gripe that the gameplay changes weren’t telegraphed, but benefit of the doubt says they were still calibrating things. Nature/Herd did get a huge explosion in popularity when 4E launched, but the army does seem more balanced now. And Mantic did just update the list and launch their own line of Herd models. - they can make their aesthetic changes too.

Gamer’s are gonna complain. I should do a little better.

2 Likes
108

I want to see these badger-men sculpts! That’s unexpected and awesome. Still kind of sad that they walked back the owlbear brutes and made them minotaurs again :pensive_face:

109

Got a game in this weekend, taking the Herd to continue exploring the new offerings, and got some good testing in!

Battle 048 is Herd vs Kingdoms of Men in Raze

  • I thought I was doing well with it, but apparently, I got Advanced Deployment wrong in both games so far. The Great Totem needs to come down on your side of the battlefield. It’s still an interesting unit, but less so now, as you have less places to put it, and it will likely be much more exposed. We’ll give it another try, as it is still very neat, but it is less attractive now.
  • Spirit Walkers are totally revamped. Neat abilities with Stealthy and Dread, but we’re running into the old Herd problems of relying on TC to deal the damage, and they only get TC1. Not bad, but this was not a great list for them, and they were front-and-center, and supplementing the line.
  • Tribal Hunters were neat, with Stealthy and a Piercing attack now. They had a good game, but are pretty expensive. This was also not a great list for them, as pricy regiments were just not holding the line well for me this game.
  • The new Command Orders are still fun, but I wasn’t able to capitalize on them very well here. I did not have enough units or speed to really make use of Entangled Thorns. I had high hopes for the Barkskin Order and tried to focus on it and to cast it a lot this game, but enemy shooting was largely able to target other units, or just power through, as the ~1 success isn’t typically going to do much to swing a a fight. Oddly, I think the Command want’s higher Def units as unlike the spell, it is a straight roll, so I’ll try to play with that idea sometime.

It was a good time, and I learned a lot! I think the biggest takeaway for the Herd play was that I probably should be bringing back the Tribal Spears in force. We’ll see what future lists I can cook up to explore.

2 Likes