Kings of War 3rd Edition: #006: KoM vs Trident Realms [Invade]

I was fortunate enough to get in a game with Chop (Kevin) from Three Men and a Wargame. It was his first Kings of War game, so I tried to structure a good introductory game for him, like I have blabbered about before. We were playing at a local shop, Noble Knight Games, which also has a strong online presence as well, both as its own store and on ebay. Check them out! I stopped in over the pandemic, but the gaming hall was under construction at the time. It was open now, and looks great. I am hoping to get in some more games there very soon!

Lists and Set-Up

We chatted about our lists, the game, and then placed and discussed terrain. We decided on Invade for the scenario, since it did not deal with loot tokens, and could be downsized easily to our 4x4 board. He had picked 1250 for the points level, and did up his own very scary list. I didn't snag a copy of it, but it should be the following based on my notes:

This was a far stronger list that I would have expected to face for a first game. But then again he does have a wargaming podcast! Sheesh. Running through his list, the Thuuls are amazing chaff / screens, with both Ensnare and Stealthy and lots of attacks to deal with opposing chaff. The Depth Horrors are pretty strong for the points committed, and the Gigas look like amazing tanks, though will need help in a grind with so few attacks. A speedy Knucker and a monstrous Kraken also joined the ranks of the fish folk, and the force was led by a potent Thuul Mythican. I am pretty sure I heard this as "Magician" and thought she was a just caster with Bane Chant for the majority of the game. I didn't get a copy of the list ahead of time or for the game, so I mostly learned a lot about the army in-game. For a first game, this is quite a strong list, and Ensnare being so prevalent in the army makes them all a pretty fearsome army. Kudos to my opponent for hitting the ground running with a strong list and some good strategy!

I also snagged an army shot this time, since this was just fabulously painted up. 

I was not expecting such a strong list, so I brought what I thought would be a good "learner" list for a first-timer, hitting a lot of the notes from my introductory games post. It was all humans, so everything I have should be readily identifiable (oh hey, bows!), and pretty soft overall. I had a good variety of stuff to try and help nail down basic mechanics as that was the goal here. I could potentially win, but I would need some good plays and a fair amount of luck to do so. 

About the only thing my list really lacked from my introductory advice was repetition. Since this was a learner game, I decided that I wanted to explore some of the old TVI tactics I had reposted and then discussed, so I ran a greater variety of units that I normally would, just to try get a feel for different things. I have a few iterations of TVI lists done up now, so future introductory games will likely explore this playstyle further, allowing me to focus on testing other (arguably more orthodox) things in larger games. For this game I aimed to test:

• TVI Checkerboard. This approach can work in Kings of War, but I definitely needed some experience with it. How do I deploy? What goes where? Can Kingdoms of Men do this ok with some lackluster stats?
• Stronger Defenders. Version 1 of these lists has Foot Guard / Pikes forming a front line. Would these more elite units be able to hold the line and retaliate, or might it be better to have a cheaper front line instead like in my Version 2 lists? Against the multiple hordes and monsters of my opponent, this seems like a great proving ground.
• Jack of All Trades. Would taking a little bit of everything work?
• Mounted Scouts. The regiments have not performed well for me, so I wanted to go back to chaffy troops, and see if those worked better for me.
• Low Inspiring. I took no Indomitable Will, and only the ASB with Lute. Would that be enough sources? Should I spend the points on Indomitable Will in a list like this?

I definitely had a unit strength advantage as well as a drop advantage. I also had a nice assortment of "small arms" ranged options, which despite hitting on 5's felt like a good things to have against the Depth Horrors. However, my opponent had a few monsters, and was generally speedier than I was. He was also running hordes, which as discussed before, is generally how you generally want to run stuff, in order to get the points discount. Overall, I was relatively confident I could deal with the Depth Horrors given their low defense, but both monsters looked like trouble. So my general plan was to try and avoid the monsters, leverage my shooting against the Horrors, and take things on piecemeal where I could, since I'd need some good concentration of force to win any actual fight.

In-line with my introductory games advice, we skipped the deployment phase, and deployed all at once in a blob, while talking things out, since it seemed like he had a general plan of action. With all my extra drops, this put me at a bit of a disadvantage, but again, with an introductory game, the goal should be to learn the game and have some fun, so I am fine with that and would continue to recommend others take this approach as well for these kinds of games. It really speeds things up!

Deployment for the Trident Realms.

My opponent deployed pretty compactly, and pretty quickly. The Thuuls, with Stealthy, are great chaff. I think my only critique would be to make sure things are in front of the Depth Horrors when facing shooting. The Thuuls and Gigas should be able to screen them quite well from my potential shots, but the horde on the right is open.

Sorry for the perspective shift! The other picture was blurry and didn't get everything. This is looking down my entire line from the left flank.

I decided to checkerboard in the center, with Militia, Pikes, and Foot Guard going from left to right as defenders, and Pole-Arms and the two units of Fanatics as a second line. Instead of mixing them into the line, I put both Scouts on the left flank to try and get some shots and just delay that flank. I figured I should be able to outmaneuver the monster, and then force some decisions from my opponent. My right flank had the Bowmen and Ballista. The latter could shoot anything it could see, given the small board, and I figured having the Bowmen, who (hopefully) wouldn't be fighting in melee much, and therefore shouldn't be moving, should help keep the lane open for clear shots as the Trident Realms advanced.

Thusly all deployed, I then just gave my opponent the first turn as I have suggested for introductory games, to get them off and running with the game and the rules.

Top of Round 1: Trident Realms

The Trident Realm moves out!

Basically, everything moved up, as one does, particularly with this scenario in mind. On my left, the Knucker and a grouping of Thuul and the Depth Horrors with the Pipes moved to zone out the scouts from just running by. The Gigas moved up, with the other grouping of Thuul and Depth Horrors with the Brew moving as well. The Kraken wisely hid behind both the forest and hill, blocking it from view from my shooters entirely. Well played!

Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

My line advanced as well, but tentatively. With the Gigas out front, I was hoping I might trick him into coming at me piecemeal. If that happened, I thought I could actually win combats with the main line, and could break through. I felt that that plan needed me to kinda slow-play my advance and draw him out a bit. Hopefully the Gigas would advance, I could take it out, and then deal with the rest.

Shots were fired into the Depth Horrors here by the Ballista and Bowmen, as thankfully the Thuuls were not in a position to grant them cover. Thankfully, some damage was done, but with the Horrors being 16/18, they were not in any real threat of even wavering.

A tentative advance by the Kingdoms of Men.

In the center, the checkerboard advanced, but only moved 5" up. Knowing that this was an introductory game and that I would be giving up the first turn, I had deployed very far back. The Foot Guard took the crater (difficult terrain with Height 0) to hopefully give them a fighting chance to survive any charges in the coming turns. Hindered charges are no fun.

Scouts doing scout things.

My opponent was very kind in showing the threat range of his units. I should be more mindful of this and start doing the same. About the only thing that did move this turn were my Scouts, who were able to take the hill outside the charge range of the Knucker, and both shoot into the Thuuls, at which point I learn that they are Stealthy. Ouch. Still, removing chaff seems like a good call, and I get a lucky Waver for my troubles.

Top of Round 2: Trident Realms

Well, my opponent continues onward, making it to about the halfway point of the table with a fair amount of units. On the left, the Depth Horrors leave the wavered Thuuls behind, and join the Knucker in trying to pin down my Scouts. I am ok with this, as my Scouts are tying up 450 points of stuff, and I am hopeful that I'll be able to get dance around them for a few turns and delay it more.

The Kraken attacks!

The Gigas move up, using the crypt's obstacle fence to help shield them from my Militia. They ends up just inside of 10" of my Pikemen. We discuss this, but I can't recall if we discussed his thinking. I don't recall if he was trying to bait out a charge from the Pikes or just didn't care to back up and correct.

The Kraken can see over the hill, and charges the Foot Guard. I had moved them up into the crater, but I learn now that the Kraken has Strider. Oops. They only take 5 wounds though, and thankfully hold. 

Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

The Kingdoms of Men start to push back. The Pikes have their charge, and with the nearby Fanatics getting a 3 on their d3 Wild Charge, they can make it in as well. Attacking the unit with Big Shield in the front seems like a bad plan, but I was hoping the weight of attacks might help me. I attempted Bane-Chant on the Pikes to help out in this regard but failed to manifest the spell.

Trying to line up the shots... I was thinking this was a decent position for the war machine, but things get gummed up so quickly in the center...

The Ballista and Bowmen decided to shoot at the Depth Horrors I think, though they are in cover, and I think the former did get luck and connect for a few wounds. I think those Horrors are up to 6 damage now, and every little bit helps when its coming from afar.

I also make another double-charge this turn, into the Kraken. The Fanatics are hindered charging into the crater. Unfortunately, I also treat the Foot Guard as hindered. I had done a partial rules reread, and thought I had been playing wrong going into this game. My counter-charge ended in difficult terrain, so figured I was hindered. Rereading the Melee Phase rules as I wrote this up though, a counter charging unit is never Hindered, whether by terrain, special rules or any other reason. This mistake persists through the rest of the game. So here, both are hindered when only the Fanatics should be. Here, I also learn that the Kraken has Ensnare, so hitting on 6's, not a lot is accomplished this fight besides setting up a buffet for the boneless beast from the deep.

Go scouts go!

On my left, I try to be smart with my Scouts and fail. We'll discuss the errors and as they come up in-game. For now, they leave the hill and shoot at the Depth Horrors, but I don't recall if any damage was done. One turn they flopped hard for rolls and I think this was the turn.

Top of Round 3: Trident Realms

The first mistake of the scouts becomes apparent now. My opponent and I had been great about intentions talk, but I failed to keep up my end of the conversation here with my moves last turn. I had assumed the Scouts on the left were also out of the charge arc of the Knucker, but alas, I only eyeballed it, and I gave the Knucker about 20mm of my front. They charge in, but surprisingly only deal 2 damage, and the Scouts hold, which has never happened to me. Usually they just crumple no matter the unit size. While the Depth Horror's cannot charge, they do get up in my face.

Not going too well for the Kingdoms of Men. I learned a lot about the Trident Realms last turn.

The Gigas counter-charge the Fanatics, dealing 3 wounds I believe. They probably should have moved over even more, but the fence is a bit unforgiving. My opponent takes both the Depth Horrors and the Thuuls into the flank of the Pikes, which will not be good. Looking at the picture from the previous turn, they were pretty far back and their leader point may not have been in my flank, but I did not contest this in-game. The Thuuls being definitely in their flank should put enough hurt on the Pikes that it should not matter where the Horrors get in. And they are indeed obliterated. Both will victoriously pivot to face my deployment zone, and look to continue their advance in the coming turns.

*Angry Kraken noises*

The Kraken decides to countercharge the Foot Guard since they are wounded already, and this time sees them off the table with many fearsome tentacle undulations. The creature decides to overrun, but only moves one inch. 

*Confused Kraken noises*

Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

I take the chance and charge the Kraken in the flank, getting around Ensnare. However, this is a new charge, and the Fanatics are hindered, charging through the difficult terrain. I think they get the Kraken up to 13 damage, but I roll a 3 for the Nerve check. Regardless of the exact rolls, the Kraken takes a lot of damage, but survives.

Aha! A *Pincer* attack against the Trident Realms! Counting this as a moral victory.

The Hero charges the Thuul troop, desperately hoping to block things up. Surprisingly, the Hero scores two damage and routs them! We miss that the Magician Mythican has Inspiring, so only roll once. Though, looking at the picture, they might be be more than 6 inches away.

Lots of blurry pictures, but you remember what these look like.

The second and third errors with the Scouts now come to light.... The second error is with the left-most unit that survived the Knucker attack. It is trapped. I can disengage, but cannot pivot and flee due to the table edge, cannot maneuver the unit in any way to get away. I'm all blocked up. So I countercharge, dealing a single wound. The third error is with the other troop. I am so close to the blocking chapel that I cannot pivot and move 90 to avoid this fight either - I'll bump into the building. I'm not engaged so I can't back up to create any more space either. I am stuck here as well due to aggression. Very well played to my opponent here! This troop opts to not move at all, and just shoots into the Horrors, hoping the Pole-Arms can get lucky and finish them off. However, I don't think anything hit this time. The Ballista has no shots as the Kraken blocks sight to the Depth Horrors.

In the center though, things go well. The Fanatics countercharge the Gigas, and are joined by the Militia. The crustaceans still have their big shell-shelds, but again I am hoping that the weight of attacks might help me out. Bane-Chant does connect with the Fanatics, and indeed the duo of unkempt and disorganized units prevails, and then overrun, breaking through the center of the Trident line. 

Top of Round 4: Trident Realms

The Knucker is joined by the Thuul troop, and they shred through one troop of scouts while the Depth Horrors do likewise to the second troop, and overrun towards the Pole-Arms.

Although I did not play them well, the Scout troops did great work to tie up more than twice their points (and more than twice their  unit strength) for four rounds. Imagine if I had used them properly!

Depth Horrors crash into the Hero, and make short work of him. Seeing the Militia and Fanatics run by, it will victoriously reform to threaten them. I mean, the Fanatics were even wounded, so there was blood in the water, so-to-speak. Jokes aside... this is not a bad play at all. I haven't killed much, so if my opponent can remove one of those units, it will make it very hard for me to play the scenario.

The Kraken makes about half of its regeneration rolls, and opts to munch on the Fanatics, dealing 7 wounds, but the crazies are unfazed, and even seem eager for to wrestle and chop more tentacles. 

Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

The Fanatics indeed strike back. However, I again treat them as Hindered when they should not be, as they were counter-charging. Oops! Lessons learned here for sure. With so much damage having been regenerated just now, it is now very unlikely I will be able to deal with the Kraken. 

Not joining that fight are my Bowmen, who decide to disengage, moving back one inch. The Depth Horrors threatening my scoring units are within their line of sight, and just under 10 inches away, so the plucky Bowmen rear-charge the Horrors.

On the left, the Pole-Arms do charge in against the Depth Horrors. To my surprise, they are 4+ to hit. That makes sense, but I don't think these have ever made it to combat before, so yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised by the stats of my own units. However, the Horrors have ensnare, so these are back to hitting on 5's where I expected them to be.

With no unit strength himself, the ASB with lute lags behind, opting to try and cast Bane-chant again, with a choice between the Bowmen and the Pole-Arms, and either are good options. The Bowmen seem like the safer choice, hopefully removing a threat to my scoring units, while the Pole-Arms feel like a greedy play. I opt for the Bowmen, but it fails to cast. Still, the Bowmen roll well, landing close to 15 hits, with most of that going on to wound. The Horrors are deleted! The Pole-Arms attack as well but don't do enough to even waver the other horde of Depth Horrors. 

My Militia and Fanatics had pivoted and moved to get out of the charge arc of the threatening Depth Horrors, who were heroically slain by their Bowmen, so it's a moot point. Those two units are all set up now for scoring for the scenario, so we'll see what else unfolds!

Top of Round 5: Trident Realms

The Kraken regenerates to an amazing degree again, ending up with just one wound as it tears through the Fanatics. If only I had rolled just a little higher in Round 3! It still seems to be hungry though, and eyes up the Ballista, which has been silent for a few turns. 

The Knucker joins the Depth Horrors against the Pole-Arms, and the humans are cut down. The Thuuls follow, and all three units make it across into scoring position on my side of the field.

Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

The Ballista shoots against the Kraken. Looking at the picture though, I probably had a viable shot against the Depth Horrors, and if so, definitely should have taken that shot instead, in order to try and remove more unit strength from my opponent. Oops. The Ballista misses though. 

Yeah, looking at that, I probably could have aimed at the Depth Horrors.

The Bowmen had reformed after besting the Depth Horrors last round, and they join the Fanatics and Militia in running towards my opponent's deployment zone.

Top of Round 6: Trident Realms

The Kraken regenerates its final wound (!), and obliterates the Ballista. I think everything triples against the war machine, even monsters, so the undulating beast does something like 15+ damage to the engine, crushing the gears beneath its prodigious weight.

The Knucker (US 1), Thuul troop (US 1) and remaining Depth Horror Horde (US 3) move firmly onto my side of the table. They should have been scoring already, but now definitely are. With the Kraken (US 1), this gives my opponent 6 Unit Strength scoring for the scenario.

The Magician now reveals themselves as a warrior Mythican character, charging the Bowmen in the rear, but only dealing 2 or 3 damage. I lucked out!

Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

Scoring for me are all my remaining units: the Militia (US 2), Bowmen (US 2) and Fanatics (US 3), giving me 7 Unit Strength for the scenario.

We briefly entertain rolling for a 7th round, but my opponent decides to simply call it here. So we end up with a very narrow victory to the Kingdoms of Men!

Game Conclusion

I was not expecting such a tough list from my opponent, but they brought it and played it well! He came in with a very good grasp of the rules and strong understanding of unit roles. This will be a scary army to face in the future, but I am looking forward to seeing these on the table again. They were a pleasure to play against and just wonderfully painted up.

I definitely felt on the back foot for most of the game, but I did have some good luck. While not played optimally, the Scouts did some wonderful distraction work, and with some big middle turns, I managed to eventually punch through the center, and escape for the narrow victory. 

Testing Conclusion

• TVI Checkerboard. This went ok? I think I need to put a little more space between my front line units, to allow the second line to get into existing fights when the front-line holds. I definitely need more experience with this, but overall, yeah, this worked out ok. It doesn't fight particularly well, but I might be able to body my way to victory with high unit strength. Will need to test this playstyle out more!
• Stronger Defenders. These worked out ok as well. Things took a charge and survived. I do want to test cheaper front line though. Ultimately, a mix will probably be best, but we'll see as I get more testing in.
• Jack of All Trades. This worked surprisingly well, but I think it was mostly luck that he brought a lot of Defense 3 Depth Horrors. The Ballista was silent for a few turns, so I'll need to use that better in the future. But overall, this mixed approach worked out well enough, particularly against a very strong list for this points level.
• Mounted Scouts. I the troop-size just resonates more with me. These were rather misplayed, but still contributed a lot to the fight. I think troops are the way forward with these for me, and I'll try to focus up on using them better going forward.
• Low Inspiring. Hard to say. Having/popping Indomitable Will would not have made a difference anywhere this game, and when everything is meant to be cheap and dispensable, paying for it seems like a bad plan, despite it being a great rule. Having the Lute was good, but I think Bane-Chant only connected one out of three times, but it is nice to have, and should synergize well with a strong front-line of Foot Guard and Pikes. I will continue to explore the ability and Inspiring sources. 

This was a great game, and a fantastic introductory game. Things were close; lots was learned; and fun was definitely had! Many thanks to Chop for making it out and giving Kings of War a try!