Battle 15: A Brutal Game of Kill and Pillage!

A good friend graciously accepted my recent overtures for a game. Huzzah!

I did up both lists a day or so before the battle, admittedly without too much serious thought. Since he is a parent and we were starting later in the evening, I decided to limit everything to 2000 points. 

For the Regnum, I had a few units I selfishly wanted to use. Both Beasts of War for sure, and my new Knight Regiment as well, since I finished that up just prior to writing up the lists! For 2k, I felt I needed a source of Inspiring other than just my ASB. For better or for worse, none of my other ASBs are finished yet, so I needed to take my General on Winged Beast.

I probably should have taken advantage of my army's cheapness and added in some Militia troops. In my defense, I thought I had, until I went to pack everything up on the night. Oh well. I'll need to make good use of the Scouts I suppose!

The list has some good things going for it, though just about everything has a caveat.

• Lots of Knights! Hopefully, with this many knightly units I'll get a flank charge or two. Lacking Crushing Strength though, I'll need to utilize these well, and get the charge to actually rout units. Grinding something out is unlikely.
• Flying combat monster/hero. Good maneuverability and decent damage output potential. However, he is my 2nd source of inspiring, and balancing that role with his offensive role could be tricky.
• Ranged options. The Beasts have Ballistae, and I have a Wizard. However the wizard's output is low, and the war machines actually need to hit in order to do damage. Four shots per round is good, but war machines are famously "hit or miss."
• Mounted Scouts. I have more fast chaff, and arguably better chaff, as mine cheaper and have a longer range with their bows.
• More drops. I have more units, which should let me get the knight Regiment off on a flank. Depending on the terrain, how wide my opponent deploys, and how I deploy early on, this fact could be awesome or worthless.

I started on the Varangur in early 2017, and since then, I've hobbied up a ton of Varangur, but haven't really tested them out too much. So, for the Varangur list, I decided on a "little bit of everything" and a "see what sticks" approach, taking a variety of units.

While a lack of repetition increases the complexity of the list... most units are variations on the theme of "hey, let me charge something," and I figured he'd manage. While combat-heavy, the list does have some shortcomings I may be able to exploit:

• 11 Drops (Versus my 15). The Regnum has more drops, and the Varangur really want to advance and get into combat. Depending on how aggressive my opponent plays and how he deploys, I may be able to pincer him with some good deployment.
• Slow Inspiring sources. Both his characters Inspire, but both are on foot, which is a potential weakness. However, this is mitigated by the Varangur's higher Nerve in general, and the infantry-focused list; only 3 units, the Fallen, Horse Raiders and Mounted Sons are in real danger of outpacing the army.
• Limited Chaff. The Horse Raiders are chaff, but out-ranged by the Mounted Scouts. The Warband is also arguably chaff too, but even then, that isn't a lot to work with. Fortunately, the Regnum list lacks Militia, so this might not be too bad for the Varangur. And he's got a lot of armor on his side. Combined with the higher Nerve, he may be able to weather a few hits without any ill effect.
• Limited responses to my flier. Only the Chieftain can really pin him down. If I play him smart, my General could potentially run roughshod through some flanks. However, the Regnum's general is pulling double-duty; needing to inspire the troops while wanting to fly around.
• Limited Ranged options. No Magus Circles yet for my Varangur. The Horse Raiders and Skaald are unlikely to do much at range. He will really need to close with me to do damage.

Overall, in combat, he will likely tear through me. Everything in his list hits relatively hard. While the Skaald, Horse Raiders and Reavers lack Crushing Strength, the latter two have Thunderous Charge, and the former two have Piercing thrown weapons. It's a very murdery list, and should be very user-friendly. The Regnum could prevail, but I think I'd definitely give the edge to my opponent with the lists.

My opponent graciously agreed to roll for a scenario, and we got 6: Kill and Pillage. Since I play so infrequently, this was new to me. Or at least I think it was. At the end of the game, we get points for what we killed. That's the "Kill" part! For Pillage, we place some (we rolled up a total of 5) tokens out on the field, and fight over them. Again, at the end of the game, if a unit (not an individual) is with 3" of the token and no enemy unit is within 3" to contest it, you get an addition 200 pts for that token.

So, there's definitely an incentive to kill things, which is simply great for the Varangur, but there is also a possibility for someone behind to make up points at the end with some clever plays, which I think will benefit me more.

In retrospect, there doesn't look to be any restrictions on placement, and we could have been much more devious; him placing tokens in my deployment area to give further inventive to his murderous push; me in his zone to give him second thoughts about advancing. I won the roll off for placing tokens, and we simply ended up scattering them around in the middle. Still that was a bit of an advantage to me. If I could preserve my numerous cavalry troops, they might be able to make up any points deficit in the late game.

My opponent's second deployment. Red rings are pointing out objectives. The center one is on the other side of the central tower.

The above is the table. We were making use of my mat! Though it is a bit shiny throughout the report. (Perhaps that is why it is cheaper then neoprene?) I additionally brought some of my trees and graveyards to use for terrain. He has some fabulously painted buildings, so we used those too.

Deployment-wise, I didn't have too solid a plan. I knew I wanted the regiment of knights on my left, as it was more open. I decided I wanted my Scouts and Wizard to deploy opposite his Warband and Horse Raiders, as the ranged damage should be able to mess up those units. (I didn't realize it until writing up the report, but the Defense 3+ Reavers would have also been good targets for them.) Additionally, I wanted my Beasts of War deployed opposite the enemy cavalry if possible. The Mounted Sons of Korgaan are fantastically deadly, so I wanted to prioritize it with the ballistae if possible.

My opponent deploys his last unit. Still coming for me are both Beasts, my General, and Knight Regiment.

My opponent went wide, with everything on the line. Starting on my the left flank here, are the Horse Raiders and Cavern Dweller, then the Mounted Sons, then the Direfang Riders, then the Chieftain. The regiments of Sons and Bloodsworn and Warband are babysat by the Skaald, and the Fallen are gearing up to swing down the far right of the field.

The rest of my army arrives.

My deployment is soon finalized as well. On my far left is a troop of Knights, Regiment of Foot Guard and my Wizard, squaring up against the Cavern Dweller and Horse Raiders. I'm hoping the Wizard can distract the Raiders, and the Cavern Dweller can be contained by the Foot Guard and Knights. I unfortunately forgot that the Dweller has Strider, negating the nearby woods.



In the center, the Beasts are opposite the enemy cavalry, as desired. I've even remembered to deploy back a bit. I'm hoping to get at least two turns of shooting in. My Knight Regiment is angled to threaten flanks if my opponent gets too aggressive. Shield Wall Regiments accompany the Beasts, ready to intercept as needed. A Regiment of Foot Guard is near the tower to help anchor my line, along with the ASB. The General is around there as well, hoping to screen his movements a bit with the tower until something worthwhile presents itself. On my far right, two troops of Knights and two troops of Mounted Scouts gear up to harass the enemy infantry and try to delay the Fallen.

We roll for the first turn, and after some ties, my opponent eventually prevails. The Varangur opt to go first.

Turn 1: Varangur

On my right, he intuited that he could potentially be charged by my knight troop if he moved up too far, and held the Fallen back, out of range of my troop of Knights. He wanted to try and get the charge off there on his terms. Also on the right, the Reavers play the scenario, and hang back a bit to guard a token.

Behind the tower on the right are hiding Reavers, guarding a token.

Everything else basically moved forward its max speed or near it. The Direfangs and Mounted Sons are even in the pictures; I don't know if the Sons held back or the Direfangs got an extra inch or two accidentally.

Lazy Cavern Dweller...

Despite holding the durable Fallen back on my right, on the left, the Horse Raiders advance ... well, pretty recklessly. Not sure what his plan here was with them. Prior to my turn, the Cavern Dweller would eventually advance into the woods to get in position to support them in future turns

Long shot of the table, this time from the right. Yep, overall, those are some aggressive Varangur...

The turn ends about as you would expect, with lots of aggressive moving. I think he was a little too aggressive with the Horse Raiders, and not nearly aggressive enough with the Fallen. Getting the charge is generally quite important in Kings of War, as defending units don't strike back, but the Fallen have Crushing Strength, and as a Horde, could have easily weathered a front charge by a troop of lowly Kingdoms of Men Knights...

Turn 2: Regnum

On my right, most things inch backwards. The Knights are not eager to engage with the Fallen horde, and the Scouts have at least a turn still to pincushion the Warband and be useful. I need this wing of the army to be distractions so I can hopefully deal with the Direfangs and Mounted Sons, which are the more immediate threat.

The Knight troop nearer the center actually moves backwards too, allowing the Foot Guard unit to pivot and advance up. He's being awfully aggressive with these infantry blocks. Using the building here could help screen this regiment. If my opponent is too aggressive, I may be able to flank something with the Foot Guard.

The Scouts have their orders, and each fire a volley of arrows against the Warband. They roll better than average for hits, and with only Defense 3 on the Warband, four damage slips in between the two of them. The Warband is wavered! Off to a good start with the Scouts!

The enemy cavalry are quite dangerous and the most immediate threat. I stick the General around the central tower here to hopefully get a flank charge in...

The disposable regiments move up.

On my center/left, the Shield Wall know their role. They need to slow down the impending Direfangs and Mounted Sons. This is where Militia would have come in handy...

Further on the left, the Knights charge the Horse Raiders, and despite rolling decently and landing four damage, the Knights will fail to rout them in combat. Math-wise, that should have been expected. Emotions-wise, I really wanted to draw first blood here. 

The Foot Guard advance into the woods, as I have still forgotten that the Varangur monster has Strider. This, despite me having written both lists. Sheesh. The Wizard swings around in front of the Foot Guard to toss some Lightning Bolts on the Mounted Sons, focusing fire with the the Beasts' Ballistae. One of the four ballista shots actually hits!

The rolling isn't great. Even with all the focused fire, only three damage slips in against the Mounted Sons...



I may have misplayed a few things here. I don't recall if I had measured and accounted for the Dweller's charge range when I moved my Wizard. If he IS in range, this is a definite misplay, as the Dweller could have slammed into the Wizard and then (likely) rolled on into the Foot Guard. Additionally, I don't recall how careful I was with measuring and moving the Shield Wall units. Again, if I goofed and the nearest Beast in the picture above is in range of the Mounted Sons... that is also a misplay on my part. I should have then moved the unit further up to better block the charge.

Turn 3: Varangur

Having seized the first turn, the Varangur are swiftly in melee range already... Moving the Shield Wall regiments up was enticement enough, and my opponent happily charges each with a unit of his heavy cavalry. The Cavern Dweller decides the mop up the Knights, and charges in alongside the Horse Raiders...

Mid-move for my opponent. Plenty of aggression so far this turn.

On the right, he's being decidedly less aggressive than the left. The Reavers shift slightly to babysit the token in earnest, and the Fallen shuffle around with charge ranges again. I don't remember if they advance to get in mutual charge range of the Knights or not

My Knights still got him spooked!

The center's temperament is a mix between the two wings of his army. His commander is also trying to sneak around the tower, and the units are moving with less blatant aggression, and more general menace. The tower is compressing his lines a bit. He saw my intentions with the Foot Guard, and decides to hold his Sons back a bit. The more disposable Bloodsworn move up with more daring. He can't make any charges this turn, but he is insuring that nest turn should be a bloodbath if I engage.

Both commanders trying to be sneaky...

Combat goes as you would expect. The Shield Wall get annihiliated: the Mounted Sons do 13 damage, and the Direfangs 11. The infantry is obliterated, and the cavalry reform as best they can for the coming rebuttal. Despite rolling very low for the Dweller's attacks, being in the flank is enough to destroy the Knights, and the Dweller shifts to hungrily eye up the Foot Guard.

Turn 4: Regnum

My opponent has decidedly drawn first blood. Two regiments gone; 10% of my army routed. The Varangur are definitely dangerous!

Without the emotional support of their accompanying Shield Wall regiments, the Beasts get moody and charge the Mounted Sons, joined by the Knight Regiment. The Mounted Sons are utterly destroyed. Most of the triumphant trio regroup to tackle the Direfang Riders next turn. The Foot Guard and Wizard can handle the flank for a turn or two. Right?

The Regnum in action, mid-move.

The Regnum General tries to get even sneakier than last turn. The Direfangs are going to be dealing with a speed bump ASB, and so the General flops down behind the Direfangs, looking to get into the back line of the Varangur. Fliers for the win!

The Foot Guard charge! The Wizard flubs!

On the left, I finally remember that the Cavern Dweller has Strider, and the forest won't help me hold the line. The Foot Guard charge, and manage to deal 4 Damage! The Wizard swings back and *tries* to zap the Horse Raiders... but none of the Lighting hits...

On the right, my Knights hold. Again, I don't remember if they were in charge range or not. I don't think so. The Scouts take a cue from their general, and try to get tricky as well. One unit backs up, and the second sneaks up into the graveyard. Both loose against the Warband. Again, the Warband is wavered, but not routed. Shucks!

Blurry shot!

Turn 5: Varangur

Whether or not the Fallen are in range of the Knights become moot, as they realize the Scouts have left their flank open to them. They will be obliterated. Definite misplay on my part. I very likely had the speed to better utilize the blocking tower... I think I may have been concerned with getting charged by the Warband? That's speculation. This is an obvious misplay.

Um. Whoops?

While the Warband is wavered, the other Varangur infantry press on, joined by the Skaald. We realized that the Sons are actually able to see the Foot Guard, and are in charge range. The Foot Guard get charged. They hold, but are wavered.

On the other side of the tower, the Direfang Riders are forced to charge the ASB roadblock, and will obliterate him, and then overrun, I think. I forget the reasoning. Unfortunately for me... I had forgotten about the lurking Chieftain. Even hindered, Mandalf manages to slam home 3 damage against my General. Both my "sneaky" plays last turn have turned out to be misplays and have backfired in my face. I don't know what I was thinking. 

Roughly 50% according to plan. But look at that exquisite building!

Mandalf the Chieftain charges my General. I totally forgot he was back there when my General tried to be sneaky. Definite misplay on my part; I should have checked on that. Even hindered and charging through the graveyard he slips 3 damage onto my General. I totally forgot he was back there. Definite misplay on my part...

On the left, the Horse Raiders and Cavern Dweller do a number on the Foot Guard, but the regiment holds.

Thank goodness for the stalwart Foot Guard.

Turn 6: Regnum

The Foot Guard counter-charge the Cavern Dweller, putting a few more wounds on it. The Wizard tries again with the whole Lightning thing, lands some hits this time, and Wavers the Horse Raiders. The Knight Regiment pivots and moves up to deal with the Cavern Dweller, as I don't expect the Foot Guard to survive another round. 

Knights to the eventual rescue! The Wizard does something!

One Beast charges the flank of the Direfangs. I hope it will be enough, and it ends up being so. The other moves over to try and support the General next turn as needed. It is a good call, as my General whiffs with all of his 6 attacks....

The right flank is a fool's errand. I don't have enough to deal with the steady advance of those infantry units right now.

On my right... I have two troops of Knights and now one troop of Scouts. The Scouts pivot and race through my deployment zone. I decide it's not worth sacrificing them to try and remove the Warband right now. Instead, I'll run them away, and try to use them to claim an objective later. My misplay has hastened the doom of this flank...

A troop of Knights backs up. I don't like their chances on the charge. The Bloodsworn regiment is very, very unlikely to break from a frontal charge. The Sons do have an open flank... but with the Foot Guard wavered... I don't like the Knight's chances there either. I'd risk it if the Footies were still in the fight. I decide to preserve their points for now and backpedal. They're out of charge range of the Bloodsworn, so they'll occupy them for another turn at least, and the wavered Foot Guard will occupy the attention of the Sons too.

The last troop of Knights I decide to sacrifice, charging the Fallen. The Fallen definitely won't break from this, but it will occupy them next turn, and keep them on the far end of the table for the time being.

Turn 7: Varangur

The Fallen slay the delaying Knight troop outright. Varangur infantry continues their relentless advance up the middle. The Bloodsworn advance very far up, and block in my Knights for the next turn, and the Sons rout the Foot Guard. It's not ideal, but at least I'm still slowing things down. The Beasts may be able to carry me if I slow thing down enough.

On the left, the Dweller eats their Foot Guard there. In the center, Mandalf brings the pain. I think every attack lands, and everything wounds. Brutal comes into play, and what would have been a waver, with a Beast of War sitting nearby to assist, disappears; Brutal pushing the roll into"Rout Territory." The inspired reroll is higher, and my General is no more, having done nothing of consequence.

The Varangur take the center-right. And the right.

It's not a great turn for the Regnum. Over 500 points of my wonderful stuff murderized...

Turn 8: Regnum

I've bagged the heavy cavalry, but lost a lot of my own stuff too. Overall, I'm not doing great at killing, but I think I can win this via objectives. I don't think I can budge the Reaver's from their objective, but I can probably shoot off the wounded Warband from theirs. If I can control the other three (from my perspective on the table: center, upper left and lower left), that should help mitigate my losses.

My desolate right flank. Behind the building, the Reavers are sill babysitting. Good for me I suppose.

I've abandoned my right flank. The Bloodsworn make the decision for my last troop of Knights there, and they charge. Hopefully these knights last longer than their cohorts...

The tenacious Horse Raiders... and fleeing Mounted Scouts.

I really need to clean up my left flank. The Knights charge the Cavern Dweller, and the Wizard blasts the Horse Raiders again. Thankfully, both are routed.

Blurry shot! In comes the dino!

Semi-according to plan, one Beast of War charges the Chieftain. Brutal comes into play (!), wavering the Varangur commander. The second Beast backs up, trying to put some distance between it and the Varangur infantry, which are starting to swing around, advancing now towards my remaining forces on the left. Ballista shots are attempted, but with the moving penalty, nothing lands. I don't think I rolled above a three.

Turn 9: Varangur

The Bloodsworn duke it out with my Knights; dealing three damage to them but not budging them. I don't expect them to win this fight, but I do like having another unit tied up.

The Varangur pushing hard.

The Varangur infantry (besides the Warband and Reavers) move out, hoping to catch and kill the few units I have left...

Turn 10: Regnum

The Knight troop slugs it out with the Bloodsworn on my right.

One Beast backs up, wary to engage with the Sons yet, but missing another pair of desperate shots from the ballista, while the other Beast charges in against the Chieftain again. Brutal again comes into play, this time routing the Varangur leader!

Back to the fight...

After prevailing over the Cavern Dweller, the Wizard is off to rejoin the fight, marching at the double towards the Warband. He's on a mission to see them routed.

This turn, I want the Scouts to shoot at the Warband, and snag the top left objective. Their pit stop does land a few shots, but again, the unit is merely wavered. I really want to deny that objective. Good thing the Wizard is on his way...

Turn 11: Varangur

The Varangur are still on the rampage. The Sons of Korgaan have caught up to the skittish Beast of War now, and the Fallen are swinging around the tower, eager for a fight. Fortunately the former couldn't complete a charge this turn.



The Bloodsworn will now rout the last troop of Knights, but they're too out of position to really do anything. Potentially, he could have victoriously changed facing, aiming the claim/contest one of the nearby objectives, in a possible Turn 7. However, I didn't measure it out. I don't know if that would have even been feasible.

Turn 12:

It's the last turn here, and I've miscalculated slightly on the objectives...

Last turn, the Scouts failed to shoot off the Warband and deny that objective. This turn, they are half an inch short of claiming the objective I wanted them to grab. Double fail on my part.

So close... Again, check out these buildings though. Very nicely painted!

The Knight regiment holds the lower left objective for me. With the Fallen trying to swing around the tower, the Beast finally confronts the pursuing Sons of Korgaan and charges them. The Fallen won't be able to support the Sons, and I like my odds against them for a turn... I think I can survive a counter charge if this goes an extra turn...

For some reason the Skaald didn't join follow the Fallen and Sons. Luckily nothing was routed, but the pursuing Sons do end up being wavered!

Two of three desired objectives claimed, and the Sons are wavered! Great way to end the turn!

The second Beast attempts what my General was trying to do before... and succeeds! He skirts away, out of line of sight of the Fallen and claims the central objective for me.

The Wizard blasts away at the Warband, scores a few wounds, and finally routs it! One less objective for my opponent.

We haven't really tracked points, but it feels pretty close. If it goes to extra turns, I think I can definitely win this! The Fallen and Bloodsworn are out of position; they won't be able to do anything. I can claim the third objective with the Scouts and potentially rout the Sons regiment as well. 

As the guest in his home, my opponent insists I roll for the extra turn determination, and it is not to be. It's going to be close...

My opponent controls 1 objective worth 200 points and he destroyed 1200 points of the Regnum. My opponent has scored an even 1400 points.

I control 2 objectives worth 400 points total and have routed 1120 points worth of Varangur. I scored 1520 points.

I'm in the lead! However, in re-reading everything for the battle report here... I am led to believe that I need to win by 200 points (10% of the lists) here to technically win the scenario. So I believe this game is a draw!

My opponent played a great game, and you can't get closer than a draw. Many thanks to him for playing and for hosting me for the evening!

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I thought I was further behind in Kill points, but it turns out it was actually crazy close with only a 90 point differential! That's amazing. The objectives put me over the top like I was hoping, but unfortunately not quite there after missing the third one. That hurts a bit; I should have double-checked the distance.



My only critique of my opponent's playing would have been to get more aggressive with the Fallen. They are quite difficult to contain; nothing on that flank could have dealt with the horde for long if he had been more aggressive with them.

Plenty to critique on my side of the table though! My errors with my General and Scouts on Turn 4 really put me in a terrible position, as both losses were quite wasteful. The General contributed nothing during the game, so it was really painful to watch him flub and die after getting caught. Apparently I'm not great with fliers yet! Losing the Scouts was equally unfortunate, as it really hastened the downfall of my right flank.

Glancing at my list of battle reports... I last played with the Regnum in August 2017 (against the same opponent no less). Considering that, I think I played a pretty good game! The army is pretty demanding.

My overall plan for the game was good, but my misplays put me in a hole of my own making. I very nearly dug myself out of it though, and am pleased with that. I felt like I learned at lot this game, and most importantly, have a great time. Thanks again to my opponent for indulging me!