The Crucible
 |
| The Realm of Avondale and their Bronze |
So we are now a week removed from an awesome time at The Crucible 6.5 GT in Orlando, FL. This was my first Kings Of War GT and miniatures convention of any type and it exceeded my expectations in every way. The event was held at the Park Inn down on the south side of Orlando, a pretty large venue that was filled up every day with all sorts of miniatures games like Bolt Action, Team Yankee, 40k, and of course Kings Of War.
Several of the local shops like Armada Games from Tampa (our mother ship store in FL for Mantic Games products) and Dogs of War Gaming from Palm Bay were out in force with lots of products to support the many ongoing games. Several people even had private collections up for sale which were going at amazingly cheap rates (surprisingly I did not give in to any of these deals as they didn’t fit my army needs). The event itself gave out some awesome swag to those who opted to pay more for the swag bags. Some cool lanyards with name badges, a tape measure (which came in handy as mine broke mid tourney), one of those new swag sticks for measuring distances barely relevant to KoW, and a set of tokens which always get used for KoW scenarios.
But the real reason I attended and am writing this post is to talk about the premiere event, Kings Of War. This was the second iteration of The Crucible GT this year as the event itself decided to move its regular event date to October and instead of making everyone wait a year they held a second event. This go around we have 12 participants, each bringing a completely different faction. This is one of my favorite things about Kings Of War as the diversity of the armies is so great that you don't have to play the same army twice. All of these players were Central Florida locals, as it seemed most of those out of town players understandably couldn't make the trip a second time in one year. But none the less the group for Kings Of War was a very friendly bunch and I’d play each of them again happily. I think the laughs and beers we shared during this event made it one of the most unique at Crucible as many of the other attendees wondered why we were having so much fun at a competition… well that's KoW for ya.
 |
| Jamie W's Kingdoms of Men |
Another aspect of the group and armies that was noticed by others was that each and every army in attendance was painted, and to a very high quality at that. Some of the armies like Jamie W’s Kingdoms of Men which featured a village display board complete with sunflower groves and a pub, or Paulie S ‘s Nightstalkers floating on their castle from another plane of existence simply blew me away with the level of skill and creativity in our community. I think the level of effort and passion that went into some of these armies has only inspired me more to put more time into enhancing my own skills in painting and terrain so that I could somehow attempt to be on these guy’s level next year.
That being said, I was pretty proud of getting my own Realm of Avondale themed Brotherhood army completed and to the table by the time of the event. A week before the Crucible I still was several complete models short handed for the event, and was rushing to get this purple menace of an army that I have spent years completing done. I started out my humans in first edition of Kings Of War, way back in 2013. I have added allot on to it, but I never felt complete with the army until I finished the models for Crucible.
As my army sat atop their display board now completed there was a big sense of closure on a project that had long languished on the painting table. Next year I swore to myself I would have another army done, so that as I begin to paint my orcs I would have a clear goal set for myself… But now it was time to play.
~The Doubles GT~
 |
| For the Brotherherd! |
I won’t go into too much details about each game, as I do not have the best memory about every subtle movement that I made to defeat my foes. However I will quickly summarize which factions I played, what the scenarios were, and some mistakes I saw myself making in each round. I won't say I’m the best general compared to some of the more skilled players in Central Florida, but I do think I have improved from the days of blindly pushing my units forward and hoping for the best.
The first day of the 3 day event was Friday and was a doubles event, there would be three rounds with each player teamed up at 1000 points to form a 2000 point collation. Myself at my fellow Space Coast, FL native Heriberto G allied to become the Brotherherd, a- you guessed it- alliance of the Brotherhood and the Herd. We didn't focus too hard on gelling our lists in the days prior, but I don't think many did either as the consensus was with making the Doubles event pretty casual. Our first game (if I can remember correctly) was against Jamie W’s KoM and Rocky A’s undead. A most unholy alliance that proved pretty effective against the Brotherhood/Herd combo, but we managed to pull a victory in the end. I could generally judge these games and how well we were doing in doubles as to how much of my Brotherhood or Heriberto’s Herd was left. If I was alive then clearly we were losing as I just maneuvered awful in getting my units to the fight. If I was almost all dead then I knew a proper sacrifice to the dice gods had been made in the blood of horse and knight that we were gonna win.
The second game was against Chris and Jacob’s Abyssal/Goblin alliance which was pretty annoying, being it was either flying around me or it was in a horde of green menace marching on me.Yet I was glad that I was able to strike down an arch-fiend in the processes, but we ultimately did end up losing.
The third and final match of the Doubles event was against Boyd B and Cody S’s Ogre and Roman alliance. This was pretty cool as I had never fought against a historical list before. But I soon would wish I hadn't. We would fight in the forest, which I would have thought would be a sure victory being my allies special ability is pathfinder and some of my units had it as well, but fate did not have our names in mind as the ogres and Romans would tear us something Julius Caesar would be proud of.
Overall for the Doubles event me and Heriberto placed third, and obtained the coveted Counter Charger award. I was overly stoked because my one goal in the GT was to get the Counter Charger, but the bronze (heh, there is a theme) was a nice addition.
That evening allot of the guys attending the event stuck around for a few drinks at the hotel bar and board games available in the massive library in the hall. As I stated before it was an awesome group of guys and we had allot of fun until late that night. Though I prob should have gone to bed earlier as the next day would be the long trudge of the singles GT.
~The Singles GT~
The second day of the event would be the start of the main GT and when the majority of the participants arrived. It would be three rounds on this day and I was excited to try out my 2,000 point Brotherhood list that I had been hard at work tailoring for the past few months. My first game would be against Janner H and his Trident Realms, a nightmare to me as his army was built in with allot of Phalanx and Ensnare. The scenario was loot, and despite the majority of my knights being wiped off the table, I was able to steal a win with my maneuverability.
Next up I played against Rockey A’s undead, with a dominate scenario. This is not the type of objective my army is good at as sitting in one place trying to take hits and survive is not the Brotherhood’s cup of tea. So after a wide flank by a Vampire Lord and Wraiths caught me in a bad spot at the center of the board, I had my first loss of the GT, but despite this, it was fun.
My third and final game of the day was against Jason H, Janner’s brother and his Varangur. This scenario was control. Again holding ground is not my armies strong suit, though I will not blame my eventual loss on the situation but rather my bad generalship in not committing my heavy cav and flying cav to the fight after they had won on their flank. Instead I went on a foolish errand of trying to secure zones at only turn 4 which allowed Jason to come in and contest rather swiftly.
That night was again loads of fun with the Kings Of War crew as we played some Once Upon A Time and Betrayal On Haunted hill in the board game area. Even a bit of munchkin which I have not played before yet found quite enjoyed. But yet again time flew and it was late and time to get some rest before the rest of the GT, and the eventual drive home.
After a good night's rest it was the final day of the GT with only two games remaining to improve my 1W-2L standing. My first opponent of the day would be the TO Cody S. and his ringer army of Ogres, and thankfully the scenario favored me and we would be playing eliminate. This would allow me to an extent to use my maneuverability to keep my own expensive units away from Cody’s Ogres while getting advantageous charges on his own expensive units. This one ended up being a victory for the brotherhood and put me in a better position overall.
My final and by far my favorite game would be against Jamie W’s Kingdoms of Men list. The objective was Occupy, which would prove interesting as sitting on the middle line of the table facing down a line of ranged weapons was not the most tactically sound thing to do. So I did the Brotherhood thing to do… I charged. All of my cavalry barreled to Jamie’s deployment zone in a storm of fire for three turns. Not surprisingly all but one regiment and my Exemplar Forsaker made it to melee, where they tied up some of the ranger units for a few turns. It seemed like all was lost at this point but within the last few turns of the game we began to scurry around be map to secure objectives with our units. Each roll became horrifically critical as any sort of failure of a headstrong roll or nerve check would mean handing the win to the opponent. At the end of turn 6 I had the win, but as luck would have it, a turn 7 was rolled and like a sudden death round we each prayed the rolls would go our way. By the end with just one objective secured by the sheer luck that my Order of Forsaken had Brew of Haste, I had won the final game.
Amazingly I ended up finishing 3rd in the GT with combined Paint/Sports/General score. This is well above any expectations that I had for myself and I was quite astonished, I personally was just shooting for Counter Charger and a good time at the GT. So what a surprise it was to see that I placed third, but I know next time should more of the high skill players show I will deff have to fight to keep my bronze crown. But in any situation I had a TON of fun and it was an awesome weekend that I wish would come more than once a year. Next year even if I were to place dead last I am excited to have a chance to hang out with some awesome dudes.
~My Faction Choice and List~
 |
| The LZ is hott |
Aside from all the fun and camaraderie experienced at the Crucible, the competitive side of me begs to tell you all about my army and list, which is where I will get more detailed into the tactical aspects of each unit and how I thought they performed.
Before the list rundown however, I want to explain a bit about Brotherhood and why I play them. There has been allot of talk recently about the need to have 4 human factions (Baseilia, KoM, League of Rhodia, Brotherhood) and whether or not some of these need to be consolidated into fewer lists. This is something I am adamantly against, as for one I think the diversity of factions is one of Kings Of War’s strong points. As I said above I did not play against the same fraction twice in the singles GT which made each game a new adventure that was loads of fun. The second reason I think this would be a bad move on Mantic’s part is that Brotherhood, KoM, and The League do not play the same at all. I used to play my models as KoM, until I realized that my knight and cav fetish was better served using them as Brotherhood. And man oh man did I see a difference in play once I let the Cav out of the bag. Not only is the maneuverability and speed of the Brotherhood far different than the ranks of infantry and shooting style of the KoM, but the flavor of knights within the Brotherhood and its selection is much more dense. Redemption Knights, Order Knights, Forsaken Knights, Initiate Knights, how would I play all these unit types in KoM or League? I’m pretty against retconning an entire faction to begin with, but to part with my beloved brotherhood would be heartbreaking.
The Fluff
After the Edge of the Abyss and the fluff Mantic wrote about the Brotherhood being destroyed, I and many on the Brotherhood FB group were a bit worried. However I do think that Mantic still has plans for us, and until then I as a player remain loyal… though through my own self created army fluff my Knights may not remain loyal…
Yes the theme of my Brotherhood army is titled “The Realm Of Avondale” which would suggest that they are a separate Kingdom and country of their own standing apart from the Brotherhood. This is due to my own romanticisation of feudal kingdoms, princesses, kings, and the leal knights and men at arms within them. Yes it would make more sense fluff wise to be KoM but again, the style and play of Brotherhood fits me better. Without going into a ton of detail, here is the fluff page I wrote up for them and had framed next to my display board at Crucible:
A man bleeds his choices…
No battle weary warrior knows this better than Lord Commander Julian Avondale of the Brotherhood. The swaths of blood left by the Commander of the Order of Requiem reach far and wide across the surface of Mantica. Through ambiguous victories against the scions of evil along the edge the dark Abyss, to cruel campaigns along cursed roads in the far corners of Mantica. The knights of the Order of Requiem along with their leader have bled in the name of good across all the battlefields of the world. But as they sheath their swords at the edge of a nameless trail after a wearisome day, what purpose did it serve?
The denizens of fiends crawling from the charred chasm of the Abyss will rise once again with more followers tomorrow. Orcs of the great plains will rally amongst a warlord and come down from the mountains again. Sorcerers of Ophidia will raise fallen knights who once served alongside their order to plague Mantica in a fortnight. The battles and blood are endless for the Brotherhood. And for the growing discontent within the mind of Lord Commander Julian, it was a blood price from which the Brotherhood was the only ones taxed.
As his men died in the fields, the elves hid in their woods, not troubled to spend their own lives to fight battles amongst the Brotherhood. While the Order of Requiem drove the Goblins back to their cursed foothills, the dwarves watched from their caves, too craven to fight on open land along side them. The Order of Requiem and the Brotherhood had shouldered the responsibility of fighting evil wherever it rose. The “good” peoples of Mantica saw little reason to risk themselves when they knew the Brotherhood would serve… and die.
It was along the campaign road in the west where villages all but abandoned by the protection of the League of Rhodia that Lord Julian found something worth fighting for. The Lady of this small fief fought long and hard to save her people with little aide, but the Order of Requiem and their commander would soon answer the call. Marrying the lady of the fiefdom of the Sword Grove, Lord Julian and his Order rescinded their ties with the Brotherhood. There they vowed to protect and serve the peace that existed within this petty kingdom, founding the independent Realm of Avondale. And from this collection of villages they now reside as it’s defenders, content to defend their own against all who would betray it’s beauty. No more bloody campaigns defending those who could not be bothered to take up their own sword, no more lives wasted by their brother’s in the field of some strange land.
It would be many years that the Realm of Avondale would grow and thrive undisturbed, thriving in it’s new found peace. But all that is good can not stay hidden forever, as soon the Abyss expanded and swallowed the fortresses of the Brotherhood. The order that was, now lost to oblivion.
Many of the remnants of the Brotherhood sought out the fabled commander of the Order of Requiem, pleading he take up his sword in the name if Mantica once again. Their stories of hordes of evil and demonic scourges begged the sensibilities of the now King Julian as he sat upon his throne in the Realm of Avondale. As the knights looked to their leader a choice would have to be made once more… a bloody choice… to march to war.
The List
So there is my fluffing around the whole Brotherhood fluff and into my own crown and kingdom. Now let's get into the list and how I think each unit did competitively:
Villein Martyrs w/ Dragonshard Shield: Great unit for bringing up the rear. Routinely would park it on an objective or a flank, and at the right moment pop the shield which would really cause my opponents to gasp. Biggest example of this is the last game playing Occupy when I contested a single objective against a footguard unit and halfling volley gun for the victory. They are a better choice than the Villein Spearmen because of the -/22.
Order of the Brotherhood: Mainstay unit, 15/17 is big deal, they can take 2 possibly 3 combats of average hits and survive. Headstrong worked for me 75% of the time which was huge. Great for shoving out there to make the enemy worry before my big boys could really come in.
Order of Redemption w/ The Caterpillar: I love these guys because to me they are the mini horde. Unlike the horde of Order of Brotherhood which begs to be double/triple charged these guys are only a regiment and still have 20 attacks. With the cat they just move around the board like its nothing. They didn't do as well this tournament for me, but thats because we had an extra objective called Headhunter (kill the most expensive unit) and being tied with the Order of Forsaken the opponent would choose these guys almost always since they were stuck on the ground. However when they hit, they kill. Specially if you banechant them for the extra CS. This would be the center of my main line with both order of brotherhood regiments and thus be the anvil of my force.
Villein Recon: One of my favorite units, I want to find a way to get a fourth in. These guys are perfect chaff with the nimble and 9 speed. They also are great at getting in the end field to destroy shooters/war machines (saved me from ogre shooters one game). Perfect for just adding attacks on to a combat as well. Or I would even use them to hold down an objective that was on a forgotten part of the map far away from combat, the enemy would often forget about them and they would give me extra victory points.
Order of Forsaken w/ Brew of Haste: This is my favorite (cause I love my models) and in my mind the MVP of my list. I would routinely put these guys on a flank, fly up first turn to make it look like i was threatening their line. This would cause the opponent to devote nearly twice the points cost of the forsaken in enemy units to divert and maneuver to counter. This is when Id do the “oh shit” move and fly them with 22” move over and into the backfield of the enemy. This begins to split the enemy’s battle line and cause it to have to turn around to face the threat. By turn 3/4 I would either still be flying them around to distract or I would finally commit to a flank or rear charge. They also saved me on the last game by flying the complete distance of the map to kill an enemy unit in my deployment obj of occupy, then fly to secure a middle objective for the win. Brew of haste makes these guys amazing.
Villein Siege Arty: 4 damage total the entire GT, to say I was disappointed with spending 80 points on them is an understatement. It was pointed out to me that they are best in threes. Which I would agree because that was used against me to great effect. However as I love my cav armies I don't intend many Arty builds in the future and will most likely not take this again.
Forsaken beast w/ vicious: Solid dude don't get me wrong, he held up an entire legion of thralls for 3 turns, stopped a Siege Breaker Captain (whatever they are called) for a few turns till he died, and drew lots of ranged attacks away from my cav. But I'm debating in my head his merits vs just another Order of Brotherhood reg. as they have the same nerve, same defense, more move, and better melee value. Only downside is they are not on a 50x50 or CS. He did not do bad, the first round which was Loot he grabbed up a token and squeezed through a tight space. But again… more cav. Ill have to do some soul searching on him in future lists.
Exemplar Forsaker w/ healing brew: Not a bad option for your lists. I ran him as a flank denier. He would sit in my deployment zone and stare down the enemy's flanking units while my core element moved forward. If they chose to chase my main battle line, the Forsaker would have the rear/flank. If they chose to go after the Forsaker, he would wait until they were committed in doing so and then fly over their heads to join the main force and get opportune charges against objectives, causing the opposing elements that were chasing him to waste several turns moving around to catch him. He attracted allot of ranged attacks, but at 15/17 and healing brew was extremely survivable. He grabbed objectives, was a big workhorse… errr workdragon.
Exemplar Adjutant Mounted w/ The Lute: Of course the standard auto include of any brotherhood army to account for those times you have to run over difficult and be hindered, counter charge, or really need to kill something.
So there you have it! My thoughts on my first ever GT, the Crucible, and my faction/list. This is the first of what I hope is many Kings Of War related blog posts and I hope you all enjoyed reading it and seeing my insight on the game!
Many thanks to our TO and local Mantic Pathfinder Cody S for putting on such a fun event!
Till next time!
-Fred On Fantasy
Step 1: Make a Plan
Starting off I would decide what sizes bases I would need to make with the amount of clipboards I had. Being that I was working on my Orc army at the time, I would have to make quite a few 125mm x 100mm bases. The clipboards themselves would allow me to make 4 such bases with a bit extra leftover where the clip is screwed in. This is where I get my 25¢ cost per base. Though most armies use the 100mm x 80mm bases which you could theoretically get more out of the clipboards, driving your cost per base further down.
Exactness is key like I said before with Kings Of War bases. Its a game at its core of boxes and the angles that they make, therefor you have to make sure that you have good measurements for the bases that you cut. After the base has been cut out I measured each side and the middle of the base to ensure that it is exact. If not I trim (very slightly) with either an exacto knife or the snip until I have reached the desired measurements. Typically at this point id use some sort of right angle to ensure that my corners were right angles (a good indication if you cut/measured right) it is also very key for obvious reasons you have right angles in Kings Of War. I would often use my KoW wavering or LOS widget to verify.
