Onsaught III- Death or Glory

 Post Onslaught III- unit reflection

21-22 July 2023

We held our annual KoW weekend/event down here in Oamaru the weekend of Juy 22-23. This year was Gordon’s turn to run the event so I got to play. In my practice games I lost 6 out of 8 games (losing 6 out of 7 vs Gordon) so didn't have the best of records heading into the weekend. However, my reguar oppoent, Gordon, is a very, very good player, the top around here by a long way. He is very methodical and understands how the game works to a level that I quite simply don’t  and I really have to work hard to get a win or even often get an open flank! So though I ahdn't had the most successfu build up going into the event I was happy with the army I’d come up with and keen ot see how it would perform in 5 games vs 5 very differnt armies. 

My aim for the weekend was to try to win 3 out of 5 games but more importantly simply to enjoy the games and see what happens. I was looking forward to playing a mix of different opponents and seeing how well my Varangur could do. One of my weaknesses with KoW is I simply have no ability to run the same sit twice. Each week I want to tweak this, or try that so a having to play the same sit 5 games in a row is kind of liberating.

I’ve done a video review of my games but I managed to sneak out first place thanks to a large win in the last round and Jeff, my opponent from game 3 who beat me, losing badly to a Ratkin army.

 

I’ve done a video report on the games here , here and here.

 Game 1: Invade vs Wayne’s Free Dwarves

First game up was Invade. We usually start gaming weekends/comps with this one as it isn’t too complicated for new payers but more interesting than a straight up Kill. My Varangur had the mobility advantage over the dwarves so I was able to dictate the tempo of the game and which units were charged when. Some multicharges at the dwarf horde holding the centre smashed a rather arge hole in the dwarven lines and I was then able to roll them up.

Victory to the Varangur.

 

Game 2: Dominate vs Nigel’s Kingdom’s of Men.

Nigel is one of my old gaming buddies and we’ve been to many Flames of War comps together. He has an amazingly well painted Samauri inspired army that he was fielding, the centrepiece being two fantastic Oni (giants). My aim in this one was to avoided the Oni and chip away at his infantry if I could.

Again, I had the mobility advantage but the game was close throughout and was a good, fun game. In the end though the Varangur’s shooting swung things towards the Varangur and they proved victorious.

 

Game 3: Control vs Jeff’s Ogres

popped down to Dunedin and had a game recently vs Jeff’s ogres. He’d changed things up since we last played, more chariots, less shooters. The mission is invade which is the mission I probably east want to face Ogre’s on. With every unit scoring at the end of the game the ogre heroes tend to disappear to claim random sectors of the board so you need to kil them all.

Turn 2 was the decisive turn in this one. I mistakenly allowed my tundra wolves to be charged by an angry horde of Berserker braves. I’d thrown my huscar’;s put as chaff vs Manny the mammoth but as they refused to hold and became road kill squished under Manny’s feet. Then my heavy hitting Son’s of Korgun got themselves chaffed up on the same turn by boomer chariots that I’d failed to recognise as a potential threat- and suddenly I was on the back foot. Jeff didn’t et the pressure off from there and though I cawed things back a bit in the end couldn’t deal with all those scoring characters left on table. A well deserved win to Jeff.

 Day 2:

 Game 4: Smoke and Mirrors vs Dave’s Varangur.

Dave had a very different army to mine having taken 2 hordes of Fallen, 2 regiment of  huscarls, a cavern dweller and lord on frostfang. Another elite army with only 10 drops but almost all hard hitting. I had more drops and also more mobility with my three mounted sons regiments.

This one was another fun game that swung one way then the other thanks to some l time double 1s by both of us but in the end the mobility advantage one out and I managed to destroy al the Falen units and huscarls- the magus with Arcane Curse being instrumental in getting rid of the 2^nd horde of those. In the end my army proved triumphant.

 

Game 5: Raze vs Eric’s Salamanders

I’d not played Salamanders before and so was not sure what to expect. Eric had rather large army but deployed quite linear and with no depth to take the charge of the mounted sons. As a result when his horde of Salamander primes a combo charge of Huscarls and Mounted Sons destroyed them opening a huge hole in the lines that I was able to exploit. The hard hitting Mounted Sons and  Huscarls then rolled up the Salamanders in what proved to be a very one sided fight. I lost a thegn on frostfang and Eric conceded at the end of turn 4.

 

Final results

Going into that last round I was in second place about 12 points behind Jeff. Jeff played Eugene with his Ratkin and had his first loss, my large win meant that I was able to sneak past Jeff and win by about 3 points (105 vs 102) so a great overall result to the Varangur though Jeff could fee righty disappointed to have the rug puled out from under him in the last game as he had played really well all weekend.

Overa, it was a fantastic weekend with 5 good fun game spayed in a friendly spirit which a the end of the day is the main reason I wargame, to roll dice and have  fun.

My aim going into the weekend was to try to win three games and I managed to win 4 so was more than happy with that. The army performed really well for me, was solid and hard hitting. I still made quite a few mistakes in the games but overall think it performed well and ook forward to our next Kings of War weekend which will be held in Christchurch in September. 

 So how did the individual units perform?

 Night Raiders

A great unit. I only lost them vs the ogres- apparently they didn’t appreciate charges by chariots and then hunters. Their main role is to hide in cover and plink away with their bows whenever possible and did well in this role.

Def 3 means they can’t stand up to much in the way of shooting but with stealthy and being  able to hang out in difficult terrain thanks to pathfinder and then charge out with thunderous +1 was at times was very handy. They are basically budget Gladestalkers. Very dependable and I’d not leave home without 2 regiments.

Rating: A

Huscarls

Ah, huscarls. The whole reason I built the army was due to buying some second hand Chaos Marauder figures and needed to build an army round them. I’ve now used them for 13 games. The word I’d use to describe them is dependable; they hit like a truck (20 attacks, hitting on 3s with crushing 2). Their relatively slow move is their main drawback and I think they do need either the mead of madness or brew of haste to mitigate that. It takes a bit of skill to get the most out of them but they make a great second line/ follow through unit. They were great at anchoring the centre where they were either flanked by night raiders or were deployed beside the night raiders to support them. I also often had the lord with the devoted icon (stealth) to further protect them vs shooting.

 I usually used them in a battlegroup with the nightstalkers and Snow Troll Prime. It was very satisfying getting a combination charge into a unit with Mounted Sons. However, they didn’t appreciate being used as bait/thick chaff vs Manny the Mammoth who turned them into road kill very quickly but they were pretty handy in all other games.

Even so, I think I’ll be dropping them down to the new Tribesmen regiment- 150pts, Crush 1, 12 attacks and lower nerve as I mainly use them in a support role so think a regiment or two of bog standard tribesmen will suffice.

Rating: B+

 

Mounted Sons of Korgun

Spd 8, 18 attacks hitting on 3s with crush 1, thunderous 1 means that even after the initial charge then can grind their way through units. But just because they have 18 attacks hitting on 3s doesn’t mean that they can be thrown out at an enemy unsupported. It has taken me a while but finally getting used to ensuring they are supported with either a second regiment, a snow troll prime, thegn on FF, a lord, some tundra wolves or even the night raiders- see my point! Never charge them unsupported if you can avoid it. A lesson it has taken me a long time to learn.

I replaced the frost giant or cavern dweller with a third mounted son Regiment and am glad I did, the extra charge range was invaluable and if I was really sneaky I’d find a way to include  the Brew of Haste for extra charge range goodness.  Like many things in Kings, units in threes are often more effective than taking them in twos.

Rating: A+

 

Tundra Wolves regiment

Tundra wolves oh how I love thee, but oh how badly I use them on the tabletop! 18 attacks, hitting on 3s with an 18” charge range and nimble, these wolves are awesome. Oh, and as of this week (we couldn’t use the new upgraded army lists at the weekend) they come with pathfinder built in! Woop! Woop! They are one of my favourite units but damn I use them poorly at times. By not measuring properly I got them into charge range and killed by:

Game 1: Dwarven Berserkers

Game 3: Ogre Berserker braves

Game 4: Huscarls- okay this one was planned to take out a Varangur conclave. 

With the way I used them on the flanks maybe I should be sticking to running them as troops for a while to get the hang of them rather than using them (poorly) as medium cav/shock troops

Rating: A, but my using them to the best their abilities: B

 

Magus

Alchemist curse and lightning bolt

Very useful. Would be more useful with the boots of levitation (+30pts) meaning he can move 10” and still cast. Or also mounting him and adding the boots- as useful as the elven version IMO. I didn’t use alchemist curse as much as I’d like but took out a unit of huscarls with him in game 4 and whenever he did cast it certainly woke my opponents up and he suddenly became a major threat.  The lightning bolt was handy supporting the night raider bowmen to get another wound or two.

Rating: A

 

Lord on foot: 130pts

6 attacks, +3 hit, Crush str +2,  Def 5, Spd 5. Devoted icon (Stealth)

Mobility an issue (5” move/11” charge) but the devoted icon gave him a 6” stealth bubble to protect the barbarian units so quite good value and was extremely good at protecting my units as a result.

Useful to delay attacks but need to be at least 4 ½” from units for this to work.  He took a couple of charges that I was expecting him to die. Low nerve can also be an issue. 

I can see the value in the Wings of Honeymaze (21” charge range/ Def 4) but also the mounted lord (no Icon) could be useful at +35pts.

Losses:

·       Game 2: Killed as chaff by knights

·       Game 3: Killed as chaff vs berserker braves

·       Game 4: Killed by lord of frostfang

Rating: B+

 

Thegns on Frostfangs

5 attacks (6 with snow fox), crushing 2, strider and nimble. Good mini versions of the Lords. Useful as chaff or supporting Mounted Sons, especially if from a flank. Thegns aren’t quite as tough as the Lords but are a lot cheaper and very, very handy.

·       Game 2: both killed

·       Game 3: both killed

·       Game 4: Lost one to the Fallen

Rating: A

 

Snow Troll Prime

Another inspiring source and solid performer. He got good use as chaff when required and was always going to be expendable. He often got used to support the Night Raiders but was handy in all the games.

Rating: B+

·       Game 1: Killed by dwarves

·       Game 2: Survived

·       Game 3: Killed by hunter

·       Game 4: Killed by frostlord

·       Game 5: Survived

Overall Thoughts

I was happy with the balance of the army and the way it performed. The Mounted Sons are very solid but do need support when charging and the thegns and snow troll were able to provide that support. Likewise the nigh raiders made a good platform

My one loss vs Jeff was when I allowed him to dictate the pressure of the game, a couple of poor positioning of units and he seized the initiative and didn’t let go of it, so well played by Jeff.

It was a sold army, hits hard but needed some coordination, and was also reasonably resilient to boot.

 

Possible changes

Reduce huscarls to the new tribesmen (150pts)

Look at adding a 2^nd Magus rather than the ord on foot- or else ad wings of honeymaze to the lord.

The way I used tundra wolves two troops may have been a better option.

I would also consider brining back the Cavern dweller.

Cheers

Craig 

Oamaru Onslaught III- Varangur

 Next weekend is our third Kings of War competition being held down here at Kakanui. I’ve been working on a Varangur army after having purchased some GW Chaos Warriors online and deciding I “needed” an army to be built around them.

I’ve had a few games and been slowly tweaking things but each game find something ese that I must have in the army or want to include so there are always a few tough decisions to be made. 

I am hoping I’ve got a reasonable balance and a bit of a tool kit vs  wide range of opponents. The army I I’m at taking is this: 

So let's have a look at the units.

Night raiders

I quite like these guys. their shooting isn't bad, stealthy and pathfinder helps keep them alive (by hanging around in terrain. I didn’t have the points to add the Wolf handlers upgrade to add scouting and vicious. I find these units often last the entire game and with 12 attacks hitting on 4s doubled from the flank to give 24 attacks with thunder1 can be very handy in the later game.

The figures I use for these are the GW LoTR Rangers range.

Huscarls

The whole reason I built the army! These guys have a solid stat line: 20 attacks hitting on 3s, defence 5, wild charge 1, crushing 2 and fury (so can countercharge if wavered). What’s what not to like? Spd 5, that’s what. To mitigate this sightly I’ve added the mead of madness so they can charge 12” but even so they can be outranged and easily out manoeuvred so need to be used carefully. If you can screen them properly and they get the charge then they do a world of hurt to most units. They dislike terrain (my last game they wiffed badly by being hindered and hitting on 4s and ony doing 2 wounds) so again need to be used carefully and when possible need to avoid terrain if I can. As a central unit to act as an anvil they are solid too.

The figures I use are GW Chaos Marauders and as I’ve said they are the reason I built the army.  

Mounted Sons of Korgaan

18 attacks on 3+, thunderous 1, Crush 1, 8” movement, nerve 15/17. These are a very useful cavalry unit. So much in so I went form 2 regiments to three at the last minute (dropping my monster- I was contemplating between a Cavern Dweller or a Frost Giant. These guys are my fast(ish) hammers. They need to be protected form shooting and take the charge but with crushing they can grind better than some cavalry. I’ve not sued 3 regiments yet so will se how they go but the key is going to be concentration of force, hitting hard and making sure they are supported by other units whenever possible.

Previously I've added the guise of the deciever to the units to give them stealthy vs shooting but needed to save points so dropped the guide in the end. I have an answer though, the foot lord (see below) has an aura of stealthy they can benefit from so he will need to be nearby for them. 

Originally I had Gripping Beast Goths as my Mounted Sons but wanted the GW Marauder horsemen as the modes. There were none available in NZ so picked up a couple of boxes from the UK but the postage to NZ via NZ post was ridiculous so won’t be getting any more via that route. Spent a few nights painting last week and have just finished al three regiments and am very happy with how they have turned out. 

Tundra wolves

These are one of my favourite units in the army. I was vacillating between a regiment vs two troops but in the end when for the regiment. 18 attacks, hitting on 3s, Def 4, 18” move with nimble and thunderous charge with a 13/15 nerve. The tundra wolves again need to be used carefully but if they can get into a flank they can be deadly. The regiment recently they took out Manny the Mammoth in a game vs ogres with flank charge.

I am sure I’ll miss the flexibility of the two troops but a regiment is 50pts cheaper. It wil be interesting at the weekend to see if I miss the troops.

As for models, I used GW Wargs as my tundra wolves. 

Magus 

The Magus doesn’t appear a popular choice from what I see of Varangur lists and maybe isn’t the smartest use of pts but I’m hoping he will be a bit of a Swiss army knife choice. His lighting bolt hopefully will add a bit of extra fire to the night raiders shooting and Alchemist Curse is a great spell vs heavily armed troops, monsters and heroes. Ideally he’d also have the boots of levitation to add extra movement but in the end I stripped him back to the basic Magus + Alchemist Curse.

The model I use for him is an Artizan Designs Viking shaman. 

Lord

The second of my heroes is a bog stand lord. He has devoted icon (stealth) which gives a 6” stealth bubble for most of my units. He has 6 attacks so is a nice support unit. I’ve used him quite a bit with the wings of honeymaze giving him a 21” charge range but in the end stripped out most of the magic items to afford an extra unit. He performs well for me in most games. He is very insprng (9" range) which is important to my army. 

I use an Artizan Designs Viking as my lord. 

Thegns on Frostfangs

I’ve taken two thegns on Frostfangs as two of my leaders. Spd 7, melee 3+, Def 5 with 5 or 6 attacks and 13/15 nerve, they have Crush 2, inspiring, nimble, strider and wild charge 1. Not as tough as the very popular Lord on a frostfang but they are pretty flexible. I’ve taken one of them with the tricksters wand to try to shut down some shooting and the other has a snow fox to give an extra attack.

They are handy in difficult terrain and are a good support unit, especially if thy can attack from a flank. They will also be used as chaff if necessary. The two of them perform well in most games but again I need to make sure I use them to concentrate with other units whenever possible.

These are the only Mantic models in the army- not much to say except that they are nice resin sculpts. 

Snow Troll prime 

The last addition to the army- dropping a variety of magic items and taking the tundra wolves as a regiment rather than two troops meant I could squeeze in one more hero/monster. I haven't actually used him in a game yet! 

His stats are handy: Spd 6, 5 attacks hitting on a 3 with Crush 2. Nimble, regeneration and vicious melee are handy, along with wild charge 1. His nerve is a bit of an issue at times but hopefully he works out as yet another inspiring source, support piece in combats or if necessary an extra  medium chaff option.

 The model I use is a Reaper Bones Ettin.

 Final comments

So, there we have it my army for Onsight next weekend. 12 units, and 22 unit strength. Hopefully I’ve enough variety to deal with a 5 different missions and 5 different opponents. Is it a winning list? I doubt it but I’d be happy to win 3 out of the 5 games with them which is my goals. We will see if I can a manage that. 

Craig

A few more Varangur for KoW

 I continue to dabble in my new Varangian force for kings of War. A few years back i bakced the Reaper Bones 2 kickstarter, in which were two frost giants. They have been languishing in my pile of shame ver since but I decided I needed a frost gaint in my Varangian army so that was the motivation I needed to get one of them painted up

Mantic Games giants are ridiculousy tall and this causes isues on the table top as they tend to topple over when on any sort of terrain. Though they look nice I have absolutely no interest in fielding such oversized monstrosities, but my own poor wee frost giant feels a tad inferior to his Mantic compatriots so demanded to be put on a bit of terrain to give him a bit more height- the infamous small giant syndrome. 

The rock outcropping "Frosty" is stadning upon is simply a bit of bark which has been painted. The key to using bark though is to seal it with a layer of PVA gue which when it dries shrinks and provides a tough seal- otherwise bark tends to chip and flake over time. The same technique is an old one that I first used on Airfix figures a few decades ago to provide a solid base before painting WWII Airfix and Esci infantry- otherwise paint tended to flake on these plastic figures. 

A quick and dirty paint job and Frosty is ready to report for duty and hopefuly will get his first outing tomorrow night.  

Craig 

KoW: Varangar Army

I haven't been doing aot of gamig related stuff over the past few months but finaly getting back into it and ahving some reguar games of kings of War vs Gordon. I picked up some GW Chaos Marauders off one of the NZ buy & sell sites a few weeks back and so needed to make an army to fit them round and so have built a force of the evil Varangar for Kings of War.

A range of manufacturers used:

·       GW: chaos Marauders, LOtR Rangers (Night raiders) Rohan- (Horse raiders)

·       GB Goths- with Fireforge Medieval Russian heads (Sons of Kogan) & GB Mongols as  heroes

·       Reaper bones Ogres- Snow troll primes

Ragnarrok and kkitbasehes using Victrix and Gripping Beast figures- Draugr

·       Mantic- Frostlords

Craig 

Orcs for Kings of war

 I've been chipping away at a new army for Kings of War, based on using the Frostgrave Gnolls as the bulk of my infantry. As usual I've an eclectic range of figures co-opted into the army- Frostgrave, Northstar, GW and Mantic. 

The characters at the front are some of the character figures from the new Oathnmark orc range and are lovely, very Middle Earth inspired, orcs IMO.

LoTR Orc scouts are being used as Ax infantry and the Frostgrave Gnolls behind are Morax- berserker orcs. 

The Mantic Winged Slasher moel in the background is a lovely model too and makes a great centrepiece for the army, while the Mantic Gore Riders provide a fast, hard hitting cavalry contingent. 

And finally, a shot of the first of the thre regiments of Morax I've painted up. I really love the Frostgrrave Gnolls and with all plasctis are ripe for conversions. For this army I've been adding weapons and arms from the Mantic Goblins as well as the Oathmark Goblins and Orcs to make the army even more varied.

I've not had much success with them so far but reckon 5 games over two days at No Surrender in Christchurch later in the month will be a good opportunity to get to grips with the army. 

Cheers

Craig

Basing figures

 Gordon asked me how I base my figures. I use a pretty basic system these days and tend to stick to two versions of it-  field green or dry straw static grass depending on the army I'm working on. 

Here is the start of my latest project some "Orcs" fr kings of War using Oathmark Gnolls rather than orcs. I paint the figures then place them on the base to  figure out how I want them to look- in this case I wanted an orcish "battle wedge" formation. 

Once the figures are superglued  to the base I cover the base witha product caled permafilla from the local Mitre 10 DIY store. The orcish wardrums I based today and this is not my usual method in that they are based before painting but with only two figures and a drum I figured what the hell. 

Once the permafilla is dry I use PVA or superglue to add some stones borrowed from the local beach to add a bit more texture. 

A few of the basics- permafilla and test pot paints. 

I then undercoast the base black and dry a "heavy" drybrush of a dark brown shade. 

then the stones are drybrushed a light grey colour. 

Finally I use a yellowy/tan light drybrush to pick out the details of the base this step is done quite lightly. 

Next up is the static grass which covers approx 25-30% of the base. I like not having a uniform cover of static grass as the contrasts draw the eye to the base and the figures don't get "lost" in the base. 

Then I add green tufts for even more variety. 

And finally, some late autumn tufts. 

A contrast between the finished base and the one at the end of the dark brown drybrush stage. 

And the bases ready for gaming. 

Cheers

Craig

Southcon 2022- first run for the elves

 For the first time in many years I am heading down to Southcon and will be joining Josh and Gordon to play Kings of War. I’ve had lots of practice games with my Ogres and had planned on taking them but after a single game with my elves changed my mind so am taking an army I have very little experience using- a total of one game under my belt so the list is far from fine tuned.  

The elves are considered an elite army and somewhat of a scalpel force and nowhere near as resilient as my ogres are so it will be interesting to see how they go. 

 2x Palace Guard  Regiments

1x Therennian Seaguard horde

1x Quicksilver lancers (Stormwind) Reg

2x Silverbreeze Cavalry Regs

1x Drakon Riders horde

1x Elven King,  Mount on a Horse, shardblade (melee 2+)
2x Lords on Drakon 1 with the Boomstick

2x Elven Archmage’s- 1 lightning bolt, inspiring talisman, #2- lightning bolt

20x Unit Strength, 11 Units

Palace Guard

Elite medium infantry with CS 1, reasonable defence (Def 4). I was tooing and froing between taking them as a horde and the seaguard as regiments or vice versa. In the end I stuck with my original idea of having the palace guard regiments flanking the Seaguard and trying to manoeuvre into flanks. I see these two units also as working together when possible.

 

Seaguard Horde

The plan is to have hem holding the centre, plinking away with 25 shots hitting on 5+. Spears with Phalanx, hitting on 4s with elite is unit is a solid, versatile unit. I hope to blunt attacks and then counter attack with the Seaguard. The now have steady aim with their shooting too. I’m not expecting their shooting to do much but hope to aim at Def 3 or 4 units as much as possible.

I’ve used the GW Galadheim Elves as for these units and very happy with how they have turned out.

 Quicksilver lancers (Stormwind) Reg

Elite elven heavy cav. They have been boosted n Clash of Kings 2021 with the Quicksilver Lancers option for one regiment which makes them nimble and increases their nerve to 15/17. This makes them a real threat on the flans with their options to turn on a dime. I’d have loved to add Jesse’s boots to them but alas not enough points. I am using Galadhiem Knights and also Riders of Rohan to make up this unit.

 

Silverbreeze Cav reg

I like using light Cav type units and the Silverbreeze are some of the bs tin the game. No thunderous- unless charging off a hill memo to self for during the games!), speed 10,  melee and ranged 4+ which isn’t too shabby, nimble and elite and steady aim. For this unit I am using GW riders of Rohan.  

 Drakon Riders horde

I love the look of this regiment, using the new Mantic mini’s. These guys fly and have CS 1 and TC 1 + elite. 18 attacks, hitting on 3s. A real threat and I will need to combine with my other cav units when possible. A dangerous unit and so one that opponents will focus on.

 

Elven king

Speed 9, 5 attacks, CS 1, with the shard blade (hits on 2+). My mobile anti-flyer and anti character unit. I didn’t have points for the sabre tooth a cat (duelling). A mobile, inspiring support unit.

 2x Lord on Drakons

In my practice game I only had one but have dropped my other unit for a second one. Again I am using the new Mantic Drakon models which are stunning. I have one the Boomstick for 3 lightning bolts but am kicking myself for not taking the blade of the beast slayer. My reasoning was the broomstick turns him into a mini dragon with a breath attack option so we will see if it works out. Again highly mobile with elite melee, fly, inspiring, nimble and TC 1. Not as tough as Gordon’s human kings of winged beasts but are also cheaper. Hitting form the flanks or rear will give them 10 or 15 attacks so I need to make sure I position them correctly.

 

2x elven archmages

Again pretty simple- lighting bolts and one with the inspiring talisman to inspiring trools. I intend to use them as speedbumps/chaff if necessary but their main role witl be for close fire support with lightning bolts with the sea guards.

 

So there we have it, 11 units, 20 unit strength. Having seen the other army lists I think it might struggle in some match ups but I am hoping to be able to work the flanks and manoeuvrability. I don’t think it will do that well but am hoping to win 2 and would happy if I could win 3 games over the weekend.