So coming off of Crucible GT I’ve been playing a human army for the entirety of my time playing Kings Of War. While I don’t view this as a bad thing, my loyalty being to the human race and all, as well as the fetish I have with knights (that I frequently mention it seems, is this a sign?). I think playing the Brotherhood has taught me allot about the game, as the speed and the importance of movement with his faction is very unforgiving compared to others. While KoW is all about moving, Brotherhood is all about that first charge, the “commit” moment. Because once a regiment of knights goes in for the kill, if they don't get it done in 1-2 turns, then without external intervention they may have laid down their lives then and there. From these lessons on maneuverability and speed, I think the next step for me in the hobby of this game will be easier.
Picking up a new faction is a cascade of options, I for one as a person slaves to theme and story had a hard time picking out one that felt right, something I was inspired by. I knew I wanted an army that was Mantic made so that I could support the company that made us this great game. I also knew that which army I picked had to be something that spoke to me, something I would be excited to paint, write fluff around, and think about while I trudged along on the 9-5 grind. Lastly I knew this army had to be something competitive, which since we play Kings Of War, all armies are, but I wanted to maybe not play on hard mode like I have been with Brotherhood and Kingdoms of Men this whole time.
In the end, weighing those three criteria I selected Orcs to be my second and mantic centric army. I liked the models mantic produced as well as the models I saw on the market for things mantic didn’t produce. While they are not in the top bracket of contenders for competitiveness, they still have a good reputation for smashing face. Most importantly, they called to me thematically, both in Mantic’s official fluff, and the fluff that I had in mind to tie in.
So I made the plunge one day at Armada games after participating in a tourney for 1250 points. I bought a mega army which gave me lots to work with and think about. Toting it out of the store I relished in thinking about painting these bad boys up and bringing them to tabletop. I set goals in my head for when I would have it done, and I prepared a few lists so I knew how I would be basing them.
An uninvited guest then came and delayed my plans for an advanced schedule of painting this army, her name was Irma, and it set me back in time as well as hobby space (my space being the garage which quickly filled up with patio furniture). This coupled with Crucible GT and the painting hurdles I had to overcome for that and I have yet to start on my orc army. But with Crucible out of the way, and the holiday vacations ahead of me, I have now set my sights on getting this army started and finished.
Call me crazy but my goal is to have the majority of this project done and at least a playable army ready by the first of the year... I have a few weeks off coming up, so it may yet be doable.
Aside from the Mantic Orcs that I purchased for this army I went in search of a few drummers and troll brutes to fill my ranks. MOM Miniatures was an awesome source of cheap and beautiful models that I ended up selecting to fill these rolls. With two packs of Orc command and a sweet looking Troll about to put the smack on, I felt more complete with my acquisition of the army... but what about heros?
For that question we had to go to theme, and for theme Ii had to return to one of my all time favorite stories, and the origins of my miniature gaming obsessions. The hordes of unused Lord Of The Rings SBG models filling boxes in my hobby room which were begging to be used for this project. Mainly a few darkly shrouded fellows on various mounts that wished to give a good screech or two. Having never been on the LOTR SBG competitive scene, but collecting like I was, I always wanted to do a mordor themed army. Now was the time to execute this dream in Kings Of War, but I had to draw the connection to Mantica and why the red eye or any minions would have its sights on this world.
While my fluff for this army will be material for another post here, I’m hoping that the ideas I present and the fluff I eventually write will be intriguing to you all. I have rummaged over the story again and again in my mind, hell I was even pumping iron in the gym to “Sauron’s March” from the LOTR soundtrack the other day. So once I have the ideas fully formed and a clean product to show you all, I will for sure be posting it here. Further once I know my head from my ass with Orcs and how they play competitively I’ll try and give a good description of my plans for lists and such.
Until next time however I will leave you here, I just wanted to share my future plans since I have this awesome new blog.
-Fred On Fantasy
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