Kings of War 3rd Edition: #088 Kingdoms of Men vs Halflings in Double Kill

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. 

Records and rankings as we went were a little opaque, and with 8 players total, things were quite casual. Going into the third and final game of the tournament though, I believe we actually have the best score of the little group at 2-0. I think the next best was 1-0-1, due to Master-level player Grant Fetter drawing against Rob and his band of Ravenous Halflings in Game 1, when the Halflings catastrophically flubbed a late-game multi-charge that dealt no damage. I believe all the other attendees else had at least 1 loss as we went into the final game. So, we’re doing pretty good in our little corner of the ballroom.

For the third and final game, we got matched up with another familiar face from Wisconsin: the aforementioned Rob and his Ravenous Halflings. We’ve seen Rob numerous times before in the blog over the last few months. Most folks seem to have gone the Tinker route with the Halflings, but Rob’s Ravenous Halflings have been a tyrannical force in Wisconsin over the last year, making great use of layered auras from Saucerors and Muster Captains to enable some big and powerful plays. It is a strong army with a lot of synergies that’s beaten me multiple times, and has now held its own against two Master-level players. Rob brought the following:

The list is essentially just a downsized version of his usual list, with the same core units, and leaving a few of the bigger toys at home. The core has been regiments of Juggers supported by a Muster Captain with a Strider Aura. Heavy Cavalry that is both Striding and Nimble is incredibly tough to deal with, let alone beat. A kitted and upgraded horde of Stalwarts holds the line, with two troops around to block and protect it. A Sauceror is around to give off additional auras, like Lifeleech, Rally, Brutal and Wild Charge. The smaller Harvester is the toy of the day, Grenadiers are around to play the positional game, and Poachers have been a recent inclusion to threaten things at range. I expected him to bring something like, this, and expected it to do well today.

As covered a little more thoroughly here, I brought the Kingdoms of Men to Dragonfall, and leaned into a bunch of titans, with maxed out rampage Giants and a Monarch to lead them. The Halflings are very strong, so I'll probably be relying on Rampage to keep me in the game.

Table and Terrain

The terrain was pretty basic, and tables were pretty uniform in their selection, with no special rules, or weird, oversized 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. I moved on to a new table for Game 2.

Scenarios were determined ahead of time, with the third and final game of the day being Kill, but the scenario was tweaked looked at who killed the most strength instead of points. Still, in addition to the Scenario Points, which was 15/10/5 for Win/Draw/Loss, we were also still 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, so we'll call this scenario Double Kill, in the best Halo announcer voice I can manage. 

Deployment, at an angle.

We were apparently too slow to dibs a new table for our game, and we ended up at the table I had just played on. The Halflings won the roll for sides, and I ended up on not only the same table and the same side I had just played at. Once could argue that this could be good: I knew the ground. But against this army, I was hoping for the other side, to take all of the difficult terrain away from him. Alas.

The Halflings took the left corner, with the Grenadiers on the far flank, then both Poacher units, ready and eager to scout up into the woods. The Heroic Stalwarts formed a front line, with the Juggers as reserve units deployed very late. The Harvester sat near the Heroes, and the Muster Captain and Stalwart troops formed the center. Like before, the armies would likely be wheeling towards each other.

I figured the Halflings, most likely the Poachers, would deploy around the woods. I am definitely not going to win a shooting fight against them, so I mostly tried to avoid that corner with my own deployment. The Crossbowmen came down early, and angled, and I built off that. Again the Foot Guard came down on the other side of the rocks, with the ASBs accompanying their hordes. The Monarch arrived nearby. The Giants deployed near the obstacle, as their Strider should hopefully mitigate that for me. My last deployments were the Pikes and the Mounted Sergeants. 

I didn't have a strong plan going into this game, and I wasn't entirely happy with my deployment. I think I should have gone more reserved, too much is right on the line, against an army I don't really want to fight. I think everything should be back 6" or more, be angled like the Crossbows.

Scout Moves

The Halfling Poachers have Scout, and so hopped up through the trees, eager to get going.

Scout moves from the Poachers, gaining a lot of ground.

Those were out only Scout moves. The Halflings won the roll for determining the turn order, and chose to seize the initiative.

Top of Round 1: Halflings

With Double Kill being the scenario, the Halflings move out aggressively. They have a lot going for them in this match up, and seem eager to get to it! The Saucerer goes for Rally, and gets Rally 2 for her bubble.

Movement for the Halflings.

The Poachers don't have Steady Aim, so move and shoot with a penalty into the Giant, and will land 1 damage. 

Bottom of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

I can't really compete with the charge range on those Juggers. They are already quicker than most of my units, and they can get Wild Charge as well from the Saucerer. I feel like my only path to victory is to try and force some awkward charges, and then punch back with the rampaging Giants, so that is what I attempt to set up for later in the game.

Awkward layering from the Kingdoms of Men.

The wild card are the Grenadiers. I can't really deal with them currently, so this is all to try and frustrate the Juggers. The Pikes move up, preventing a multi-charge into one Giant. That Giant is ahead of the other Giant, preventing another Jugger multi-charge. The Mounted Sergeants hop up to prevent charges into the Monarch, and the Foot Guard hops up to try and support.

View from the Kingdom of Men's corner.

On the right, the Crossbowmen move up and out, at the double. With an early deployment, they zoned out the difficult terrain ahead of them, but now need to try and swing out to contribute to the actual game, and with the Halflings being so aggressive, it seems that I'm going to struggle to get any shots in with them.

The battle lines stare each other down.

Passing the turn, the Juggers should have a few charges without even bringing the Sauceror into consideration.

Top of Round 2: Halflings

The Saucerer goes for Rally, and gets Rally 2 on her bubble again. With the charge range advantage, and my speediest unit already committed, the Halflings now delay, looking to get a more advantageous position before the lines close. 

Just the Stalwart Troop charges in. Charging off the hill, they get Thunderous Charge, and wallop the Mounted Sergeants for 4, and waver them. 

The nimble Juggers pivot move and pivot, starting a slow circle around the humans, but stay out of charge range of my Giants.

The Heroes get a leader point onto the hill, as does the Captain, and the Harvester.

The Grenadiers have charges, but want to be a force multiplier, and so fly over to look down the flank of the battle line for the Kingdoms of Men.

Bottom of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

Had the Halflings committed harder last turn, I think I'd be in good position, and able to beat up on some overstretched Juggers. But my opponent is wiser than that, and is playing to his strengths very well. The Sergeants wavering is not great, but it's probably better than just dying. Having that roadblock around still seems like a net benefit for me.

Line up!

The Grenadiers are a bother though. I would have liked a staggered line to mitigate multi-charges, but experience tells me that I need to respect the Grenadiers. I line up the back line of my units, to just give up the flank of the Pikes. A little too late, I realize that my ASB with Lute is just hanging out.

The Crossbowmen move up, and fire into the Stalwarts on the hill. They land 1 damage, and I get very high check, but with Rally 2, the troop is entirely unbothered. 

Top of Round 3: Halflings

The Ravenous Halflings continue to play with their food. Mostly. With everything out of charge range of my Giants, the Sauceror goes for Wild Charge and options this turn, and gets Wild Charge 3, which is just enough to let a Jugger unit connect with the Foot Guard. The heavy cavalry go in, landing 10 damage, which Iron Resolves down to 9.

Some of the Halflings commit, others don't.

The other unit of Juggers continues to reposition, and the Grenadiers decline to charge the ASB, instead choosing to reposition along the rear of my line, making sure to stay out of the ASB's charge range even.

The second Stalwart troop will launch themselves from the hill, crashing down into the Mounted Sergeants and will both overrun to varying degrees.

The Poachers loose into the Pikes, landing 6 damage, and a pair of hot Nerve checks will unfortunately rout the unit unexpectedly.

Bottom of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

The Crossbowmen take a flank charge into the stalled Juggers, with the Foot Guard counter charging as well (I do remember Lifeleech, taking them down to 8), and the unit will be devastated and routed, as is proper. The Crossbowmen will reform, to try to protect the Foot Guard from multi charges.

This is the chaos I was hoping for!

With the Pikes suddenly gone, one giant moves to shoo away the Juggers. They are quicker than me, and nimble, and I am not going to actually catch them, but this should force a reaction. For now, the Giant is both out of arc from the Grenadiers, and is safe from the Stalwarts on the hill. The Sauceror will need Wild Charge 2 to reach me with them, which seems like an ok gamble. 

The other Giant charges the Stalwarts, striding over the obstacle, and will thump them good. I leave things where they are, trying to protect the Monarch, because it is the only thing that can be really protected right now.

Top of Round 4: Halflings

The Sauceror does try for Wild Charge, but gets no successes. The Stalwart Heroes creep forward, and the Juggers nimbly charge around my Giant into the flank of the other Giant. Fortunately, this is a hindered charge, and only 4 new damage makes it through.

 A hindered charge? Take that Halflings

The Stalwart Troop charges the front of the Foot Guard, landing 2 damage, and the Grenadiers commit to the rear, contributing 4 and a Brutal 2. I'm at 14 damage, but another pair of hot Nerve checks do in my brawling horde unexpectedly, with Brutal 2 making the difference on the second check. Shucks.

The Muster Captain makes a long charge out into the Crossbowmen to tie them up, and lands 3 damage to disorder them and pin them down.

Reforms for the Halflings.

They've been cautious, and without Wild Charge, the Heroic Stalwarts don't have a charge this turn, so they just move up, ready to start bullying things next turn, and the Harvester does the same.

The Poacher units roll a smidge hot, and land 5 damage on the isolated Giant, bringing it to 6 damage.

Bottom of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

On the left, the isolated Giant was ignored, so it moves and pivots, to go deal with the Poachers. I've got easy charges into either of them next turn.

The other Giant countercharges the Juggers, while the Monarch goes into the Harvester. In my head, I think I've boxed the Stalwarts out, but that's not how charges work. Neither is safe, though I don't know what else I could have done. I was hoping for a bit of a chaotic game, but am a bit uncertain what the best moves are.

The Giant rolls up 7 extra attacks, but flubs all the rolls, landing just 3 damage when the dust settles, which the Juggers then Iron Resolve down to just 2 damage. The Monarch does about as poorly, landing 3 damage into the Harvester, but secures a hot waver against the contraption.

The titans largely swing and miss.

The Crossbowmen countercharge the Muster Captain, catch a Bane Chant, and roll just outrageously, landing 7 damage against the Captain and will then shoo him away on the check. They will Lifeleech 1 damage, bringing them down to 2 damage. They will victoriously pivot, to get the Stalwarts and Grenadiers into their front arc.

The ASB with the War bow charges the Stalwarts, though I don't think lands any damage. 

Top of Round 5: Halflings

The Juggers countercharge, and shuffle over to let the Stalwarts in. The Juggers deal just 2 new damage. The Stalwarts are hindered (booyah), but it's a decent quality horde in the flank with the Hammer of Measured Force. The horde rolls amazingly well, and lands 17 damage on their own (they normally hit on 4's, so this is about twice what is expected?), to devastate and rout the Giant. The Juggers will sidestep and the Heroic Stalwarts will victoriously spin to spy the Monarch.

Some dreaded multi-charges from the Halflings.

The Poachers decide to stay still, so as not to incur a movement penalty. They roll warm again, landing another 5 damage into the Giant and take him to 11 damage. The luck continues, and we get a hot Nerve check to waver the titan. Shucks!

The Grenadiers nimbly hop around to threaten the Crossbowmen, and the Stalwarts counter-charge the ASB, landing 2 damage.

Bottom of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

The Monarch doesn't have any good options. Charging the fresh Heroes alone and hindered seems foolish, so he goes into the Harvester again, with the Crossbowmen catching another Bane Chant and hitting the contraption in the flank. I forget that the Harvester only has Big Shield, so the Crossbowmen do some heavy lifting, and the tractor is smashed!

The Crossbowmen are on a tear.

The Crossbowmen (who Lifeleeched down to just 1 damage) spin to keep stuff in their front arc, trying to stay alive.

Reforms for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Monarch can't get away, so turns to get things into his front arc as well.

Top of Round 6: Halflings

The Poachers have a third round of good shooting, and now land 6 new damage against the Giant, and pick him up. 

Obstacles make alignment messy; we both know where the Juggers are.

The Monarch gets triple charged, with the Stalwarts and Juggers making hindered front charges (making this 4 hindered charges for the Halflings... I'll take my victories where I can!) and the Grenadiers making a rear charge, with Brutal 3. Sheesh! The Heroes land 5, the Juggers 3, and the Grenadiers 3... and while the check is good, it is not quite good enough, and the Monarch emerges from the brawl and is only wavered! 

The Stalwarts charge past the meek ASB, and into the Crossbowmen, landing 5 damage on my shooters, and disordering them.

Bottom of Round 6: Kingdoms of Men

The Monarch isn't a real Giant and doesn't have Fury, so it holds, and I pray to not roll up a Round 7.

The ASB with the Bow charges the Grenadiers. The unit is great but a bit fragile. No hit is rolled though.

End of the game.

The Crossbowmen get another Bane Chant, counter-charge the Stalwart troop, and pick them up. 

I get the honors, and do not roll up a Round 7. Loosing for sure, but preserving a good chunk of points by keeping the Monarch around.

Still, it is a strong victory for the Halflings!

Game Conclusions

All the games were very enjoyable, but this got my vote for favorite game / opponent. I just love playing against these ravenous Halflings. It’s a very strong, very synergistic list that is fun to behold even when taking a brutal beating like this.

As-ever, my opponent played a great game. Having the longer charge range and a better toolbox, he could really pick when and where he pounced, and delaying for that positional advantage was very wise. The relatively early charge with the Juggers could be considered a mistake, but we had to start sometime, and that put some early damage on the Foot Guard and prevented them from doing too much this game, so it definitely wasn't a bad call.

I usually need an ample helping of hot dice and good luck to compete with these Halflings, and did not get enough here. Both the Pikes and Foot Guard disappearing with warm Nerve Checks and without being able to utilize IW were bad bounces for me, as were cold dice for me in Round 4 trying to fight back with the Monarch and Giant. Multiple hot rounds with the Poachers to remove my isolated Giant iced out my best way back into contention as the game progressed. All my luck this game went into the Crossbowmen it seems, who couldn’t shoot much, but won four separate melee combats this game,  earning me the majority of my points for the scenario, and throwing me the lifeline I needed.

Testing Conclusions

• Mounted Sergeants. I don’t think I used them particularly well in any game, but they were used well enough, generally-speaking. Games 1 and 2 they were able to distract, and had the Halflings more heavily committed in Game 3, offering them up as Chaff would have been wonderful. Still, they were a 100 Point distracting and instigating unit, and they did well enough in each game.
• ASBs. I think the War Bow landed 2 damage all day, though the Lute had a pretty good success rate overall. In my more commanding positions in Games 1 and 2 I continued to forget about Lifeleech, but did remember in Game 3, though that still wasn’t enough to save the Foot Guard. Overall, the ASBs were good utility units for me, having a plan for each going into the games was a huge boon for me, and I am doing slightly better on remembering Lifeleech.
• Rampage Giants. Rampage seemed to be the right call for the meta, and the only bad match up was against the Abyssal Dwarfs and the Lesser Obsidian Golems, though that was thankfully compensated by flank charges into the constructs. They had a number of great additional attack dice, were a bit inconsistent and seemed to have more flubs than hot streaks with their actual damage output. This might just be my biases though. They were still integral to my successes and seemed to be a good take for the tournament.
• Monarch. The honorary third giant also felt inconsistent, but also did fine. Deployment was weird as I wanted to stick him with the more important Foot Guard, but they already had their Lute-carrying source of Inspiration. Lacking Strider and Fury, the Monarch kept ending up in weird spots. Still, I’d say he did ok, and was a fun pick even without any fancy upgrades.
• Foot Guard. The stronger Foot Guard were the right call for this event, and they did well overall. Iron Resolve certainly helped a little, though wasn’t nearly as impactful as I might have hoped, and I probably don’t need it in larger games.
• Crossbowmen. Conventional wisdom would argue that these should just not be taken, but the shooting horde proved to be a very important unit for me in each game. I want to say my Crossbow choice mattered (like against the Infernok), but I don’t think it was actually impactful overall. The dice seem to either be with them or not.
• My Approach. With a small event, it’s easy to overstate things or extrapolate a bit too far, but I think my considerations with list-building and event prep were on the right track. I played some good games, put up some good results, and had a great time!

Tournament Conclusions

The tournament was small, with just 8 attendees, and only three new faces came up from Illinois, none of whom I got to play against this time. The Kingdoms of Men was actually the best represented army at this little tournament, with one other player bringing them! His army also utilized a lot of Warlord Games Romans, painted up just splendidly. He ran some Foot Guard regimental spam, though that didn’t quite deliver for him.

Recapping things a little bit, Rob and his Halflings had a bounce of bad luck which resulted had a Draw in Game 1 against Grant Fetter, a Masters-Level player in attendance. Both Grant and Rob went on the win their other two games. Rob wasn’t quite able to clean me out this time, while Grant very nearly tabled his opponent in Game 3, securing 1^st Place through the tiebreaker attrition points, with Rob taking a very close 2nd Place. Being pretty informal, we didn’t run though the rest of the rankings. I took either 3^rd or 4^th place (not sure what one person's record was to know for sure, and not terribly bothered to figure it out) either of which I would be quite happy with.

A big thank you goes out to Todd and Grognard Games for running the Kings of War event for us. The event was a lot of fun and a good experience for us Wisconsin folks. Hopefully we'll have some more crossover events and meet-ups soon!