Kings of War 3rd Edition: #086 Kingdoms of Men vs Ratkin in Invade

Intro and Lists

I recently attended Dragonfall 2024, a convention held relatively nearby in beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The convention had a wargaming component, and the Kings of War event was hosted by Todd of Grognard Games, which has a pair of shops in nearby Illinois. It was a tiny one-day, three-game event at 1500 points. We had eight players sign up, and opening pairings were semi-random. I started the day out against some silly costumed Ratkin player. He brought the following:

The Rats were piloted by a... creature deserving of a lengthy preamble. He's a fellow Brian; a fellow blogger (running the wonderful The Nerd's Tale); a dude who is also our local Mantic Pathfinder, and an all-around good guy. Yes, he wore a costume, complete with tail, and temped fellow players with offerings of cheese. Very sneaky stuff. He was hot off a great showing at the recent Wildcat GT (which you can read about here, from him), and continued running his beloved Ratkin.

Look at that! he can essentially go edge-to-edge with everything.

I was expecting double Mutant Rat Fiends Friends from him, but instead he was going even more against the grain of "orthodox" Ratkin play with a list he had dubbed "The Expendables." For a 1500 point game, there was a ridiculous 27 Unit Strength, and the list as a whole was designed to blunt charges with Plague Pots, and then just try to endure charges, grind, and play the scenario by swarming objectives and being too numerous to kill.

As covered a little more thoroughly here, I brought the Kingdoms of Men, and leaned into a bunch of titans, with two rampage Giants and a Monarch. We'll see what I can do against all these rats!

Table and Terrain

The terrain was pretty basic, and tables were pretty uniform in their selection. No special rules, or weird pieces. The buildings were Height 7 blocking, Boulders also Heigh7 blocking, Forests were Height 10 Difficult, Hills were Height 3, Obstacles were the normal Height 2, and each table had a "rough spot" of Height 0 difficult terrain. 

The scenarios for the event were determined ahead of time, with the first game being Invade, from the main rulebook. For the scenario, whoever gets the most Unit Strength into the opposing half of the board wins. Easy enough! In addition to the Scenario Points, which was 15/10/5 for Win/Draw/Loss, we were also supposed to compare the differential of points killed for an additional modifier, of up to +/- 5 Points, depending on what side of the differential you were on. 

The Rats won the roll off for sides, and kicked us off. Despite the incredible unit strength, there wasn't the big of a drop disparity, and it became clear early on that the Ratkin wanted to layer up in a corner and push on through. 

With so many units run in multiples, walking through the Ratkin deployment is a little too cumbersome to attempt in detail. Essentially we had a regiment of spears out on the flank, a Red Spear horde in front of a horde of Wretches, a horde of Wretches in front of a Blue Spear horde, and a final Purple Spear horde in front of two regiments of Spears. Characters all all support characters with Bane Chants and/or Heals, and were scattered around. They'll be in supporting roles, and were a little hard to track for reporting purposes.

Deployment.

Despite the army differences, I was the one to go far wider. Out on the left we had the Crossbowmen and ASB with the Bow, with the former angled to move up on the first turn. I believe the Sergeants were my final drop, placed out there to pressure and constrain. Early drops were the central Giant, Pikes, and Monarch. Once I realized the Ratkin were layering, I dropped the Foot Guard and other Giant out on my right, with the Giant nearer the table edge, due to my lessons learned from Trevor and Battle 085 when I was evaluating some options for this event.

The Ratkin are numerous, but since they are layered, if I can start fighting anything, their advance should suffer. At that point, I just need to hope that my higher quality of units can slay enough rats to win, and make it across the table.

I won the roll off for turn, and given the scenario, opted to go first.

Top of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

Things moved up! On the right, the Giant moved up around 11 inches, gaining ground but not giving up a charge. The Foot Guard, Monarch, and Pikes moved up around 10 inches, with the Pikes and Foot Guard ever so slightly ahead of the Monarch. The Rats don't have the charge range to hit anything, but I was trying to build up some good habits with the new list.

Opening moves for the Kingdoms of Men on the very important right.

The central Giant also moved up around 10 inches. I wanted him to keep pace with the line, prevent the Ratkin from making a Round 1 charge and threaten some striding charges next turn, just like the other titans. With them spread around, I should hopefully be able to multi-charge something.

Opening moves on the left.

Out on the left, the angled Crossbowmen moved 10 inches, and the Mounted Sergeants zipped up as far as they could get while staying out of charge range. With Speed 9, they should have a few options next turn. The Crossbowmen moved at the double, and are actually still out of range of anything, so no shooting is done, and it is a quick turn.

Bottom of Round 1: Ratkin

The layered Ratkin line moves up, but is very wary of the rampage Giants. The central one has a nice range and good arc, and after some finagling, my opponent opts to just scoot some Wretches up, kinked, to prevent the central Giant from flanking anything. 

The Rats move up, cautiously.

Barkskin lands for 4 against the Wretches. I haven't used the spell before, and it's kind of neat! For those not in the know, like me, its "Hit" roll is variable, where you need to meet or beat the target's Defense Value, meaning on some 2+ Wretches, it'll be hitting on a 2+, and then each successful hit will block a point of incoming damage on the following turn. A neat pick to get just a little more usefulness from the Wretch hordes.

The Ratkin Spears in the front pop their Plague Pots, and brace for the oncoming charges.

Top of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

Pots or no, I feel like I gotta go in. I'm at about the center line, and given the scenario, if I can keep the fighting over on his side of the board, I feel like that's good for me.

Charges from everything but the ASB.

On the right, the Foot Guard and Giant go into the Spear horde, with the Giant rolling up some good extra attacks, but landing only 6 damage due to hitting on 5's. The Guard catch a Bane Chant and contribute 9, and we do manage to pop the first horde in one go with a lucky Nerve check. The Foot Guard stays put, and the Giant backs up 3".

The Wretches don't have a Plague Pot, and the Monarch deals 5 and the Pikes Deal 7 to this horde. The Wretches hold. We later realize Barkskin should have been applied, so they are really only at 8 damage, and we correct this a little later.

Post-combat reforms.

I measured and we discussed, and the central Giant can get a pretty safe charge in against the Spears, so I take it, hoping to gum things up more. Spacing is awkward, and the very central Blue Horde doesn't have an arc to come in and support. He did have a charge into the Wretches, but I thought it better to gum up his lines here instead.

Over on the left, the Crossbowmen move up, and should be scoring at this point. I believe they and the ASB land 2 damage against the regiment of Spears on the far left. The Sergeants are safe, and opt to just nimbly shuffle about. I don't really want to commit against Spears, but as long as I was here, threatening flank charges and stuff should keep my opponent boxed in a bit.

Bottom of Round 2: Ratkin

Having layered his list, the Ratkin are a little traffic-jammed.

On the right, one regiment has the inches and space, but not the pivots to reach the Giant, so both regiments go into the Foot Guard, and both pop their Plague Pots. They'll land 4 damage combined, and I'll Iron Resolve 1 back to end the turn at 3 damage.

Combats from the Ratkin.

With this charge completed, the Wretches countercharge the Monarch, but can't really shuffle down very far. They'll roll  really well, and land 6 damage against the Monarch, and get a Barkskin 5 for their trouble from a nearby Ratkin spellcaster.

The regiment getting shot moves up, to create some space, and the Blue Spear horde in reserve shuffles over. Thanks to the Birthing Daughter's Aura, the Wretches in the backfield make a Striding charge against the central Giant, joining the Spears in their counter-charge against the towering titan. In retrospect, this might not have been possible, since the two hordes were pretty squarely layered? Needing to share frontage, and with the Spears sliding down to their final position first, I'm not sure now if the Wretches would have been able to connect against the Giant with just one pivot. I've gummed myself up with layered hordes before, so I might suggest that my opponent use a bricklayer approach to avoid any messiness like this in the future. Regardless, both hordes make it in in this game. The Spears deal 2, and the striding Wretches roll hot here as well, landing 5 more on the titan.

Top of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

Out on the left, I have some time, so the Sergeants pivot once and gallop off towards a corner. I couldn't safely nimbly pivot and apply pressure, so we'll depart for now. I'm not entirely pleased with this. I should have just backed up or something to keep applying pressure, but oh well. It's early in the game, and if I can get behind the hordes next turn, this could very well be worth a turn of not pressuring.

Movement on the left.

The Crossbowmen land 3 damage against that regiment, bringing them to 5 damage, and will waver their target. I was hoping to just pick that unit off quickly, but being out of range in Round 1, it's taking a bit, though the damage is still accruing decently.

The Giant in the center continues swinging against the Spear Horde. He's not Ensnared by the Plague Pots this turn, but unfortunately lands just 3 of 13 hits, and then just 2 of 3 of those for damage. Yikes.

More grinding combats.

The Monarch and Pikes charges the Wretches again. I forget the Wretches are Def2, and Bane Chant the Pikes. Oops. The Monarch does 8, with Barkskin brining that down to 3 new damage, and the Pikes contribute 9 new damage, and we are able to pick the horde up on the second attempt. Victorious, the Monarch backs up 3" and the Pikes change facing, to protect him.

Reforms in the Top of Round 2.

The Foot Guard land 9 against their regiment, but the unit is Rallied, and just barely safe. The Giant flubs, rolling up 10 extra attacks, but only deals 4 damage total off those 18 attacks. Ouch.

Bottom of Round 3: Ratkin

The Ratkin Bane Chant several units this turn, though I do not keep track of what. On the left, the wavered regiment does nothing. Since the Giant wasn't able to break the Spears, the Wretches makes another striding charge, this time into his flank. The Giant starts the turn at 7 damage, ends at 19 damage, and is toppled. The Wretches victoriously change facing.

Two hordes have fled, but the Ratkin keep scurrying forward.

The Blue Spears pop their Plague Pots, and charge the Pikes, with the Ratkin War Chief (Colonel Hotpocket) contributing 1 in their flank. Even Ensnared, the Spears land 6, the War Chief contributes 1, and the Pikes are Wavered.

The Pikes falter.

The Ratkin Spear regiment lands 4 damage into the Foot Guard, who then Iron Resolve down to just 6 damage total going into my turn. 

Top of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

I've lost a Giant, but I am feeling pretty good about things overall. On the right, the Giant charges back in against the regiment, but flub again, landing a just slightly better 6 damage, but then the Rats are found to be quite insane.

Combats in Round 4 for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Foot Guard do better, and no longer Ensnared by the miasmatic Plague Pots, bring the regiment up to 21 damage and dispatch them, devastating and then routing them, as is proper, and then pivot to face the rest of the field, trusting in the Giant to finish off the insane Rats next turn.

The Pikes pop Indomitable Will, and countercharge, scooting down to let the Monarch join in and share frontage. The Spears here just popped their Pots, and the Monarch contributes 2 and the Pikes 6 to take the horde to 8 damage, but definitely aren't breaking them this round.

Reforms for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Mounted Sergeants nimbly about-face, and are eyeing flanks and rears of the remaining Ratkin units in the middle section of the board.

The Crossbowmen finally stop moving, and patiently line up their shots against the regiment. And now they fail hard, landing just 1 damage against the Regiment, which holds just fine this time.

Bottom of Round 4: Ratkin

The Wretches that felled the Giant move as far as they can, just bumping into the obstacle, and should either be scoring, or just about. With them out of the way, the Red Spears in the woods make a hindered (and Ensnared) charge into the Pikes, I believe the Blue Spears countercharge the Pikes as well, trying to make sure those get picked up this turn. That does happen, and the Red Spears overrun, looking to score in the coming turns.

I believe the War Chief continues poking the Monarch, landing an additional 2 damage against my Inspiring titan. 

The Ratkin break through!

The regiment enduring the Crossbow fire is able to get into the woods, and thus into cover. Heals go out, and the regiment is brought down to just 3 damage.

The Birthing Daughter delivers! The Sergeants are disordered and stuck up.

Protecting this late scurry forward is the Birthing Daughter, who is indeed able to slip in 1 damage against the Mounted Sergeants, and disorder them. The Sergeants had several rear charges available to them next turn, so this is quite a good development for my opponent!

The insane Spears land 4 into the Giant, bringing him up to 6 damage, but the Giant holds strong.

Top of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

The Monarch was charged by the War Chief, but has a charge into the Spears, so takes that instead, focusing on removing the opposing Unit Strength. The Monarch lands just 4 damage, I believe taking them to 12 damage, and now the Spear Horde is found to be insane. Ratkin.

Combats for the Kingdoms of Men.

Given the long overrun of the Red Spear Horde, the Foot Guard can see them, they are definitely within charge arc, and I do have a flank charge into them, which still seems cheeky though since I can only connect with about 1/4 of that facing. But I do take this, and will best the unit. I do forget about Lifeleech though. They horde will victoriously turn to face the Blue Spears fighting the Monarch.

The remaining Giant clubs the first group of insane rats down, and then changes facing to help the Monarch as well. It doesn't seem worthwhile to chase after the Ratkin.

Parting shots from the Kingdoms of Men. Nothing hits.

The Crossbowmen need to move to shoot at the departing regiment, and land no hits, since the Ratkin unit made it to the woods, and my Crossbowmen were shooting with -2 to hit. 

The Sergeants countercharge the Birthing Daughter, landing 2 against her.

Bottom of Round 5: Ratkin

The Birthing Daughter lands no damage against the Sergeants this turn.

The insane Blue Spears do charge back in, and do pick up the Monarch, but I should have enough to contain and best them next turn and prevent them from scoring.

The Ratkin Spear regiment and Wretches continue to flee.

Top of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

The Foot Guard and Giant charge in to avenge the Monarch, and scatter the last Ratkin Spear Horde.

The Sergeants roll hot, and land 4 damage against the Daughter, and will rout her, overrunning a mighty 1 inch, and I'm not sure if they'll have the inches to get into anything if we do get a Round 7.

Bottom of Round 6: Ratkin

The Ratkin move more, just in case, but we don't roll up a Round 7.

End of the game, with game aids galore.

For the Ratkin, the horde of Wretches are scoring for 3, and the Spear Warriors regiment for 3 as well, giving them 6 for the scenario. 

The Kingdoms of Men have the Crossbow horde for 3, Mounted Sergeants for 1, a Giant for 2, and the Foot Guard for 4, giving us 10 for the scenario.

We won the scenario, and killed far more than we gave up. It was a strong victory for the Kingdoms of Men, and a great start to the tournament!

Game Conclusions

It is always a treat to see this army across from me. Everything is just so crisply painted and the army is overflowing with fluff! We have named units and characters to hand-painted banners. And that is without mentioning the man behind the scurrying and scheming! Win or lose, I know I am going to have a good time. He's done an unreal job growing community over the last year, so a massive thank you goes out to him for all he does.

Focus back on the game, usually, my opponent has two mutant rat titans of his own, and has also even started using the titanic Demonspawn Scud in his recent, larger games. I was expecting at least the friendly duo here, like we’ve seen before, and I think we got very lucky he went with his “expendables” approach, which played really well into my Rampage Giants, even if neither had a particularly stellar showing for their damage outputs. I think we also lucked out that he layered up and didn’t go super-wide and just try to blitz across the field, a potential approach that had me concerned while we were setting up.

Getting the first turn was huge for us, as we were able to box him in at the start of the game. We had some good advantages as the game started, and the Ratkin were certainly numerous, but we were largely able to endure the scurrying and come out of this with a strong win to start off the event.