Kings of War 3rd Edition: #094 Kingdoms of Men vs Basileans in Invade

Intro and Lists

We had a bit of an ad hoc meetup recently, mostly to line up some learner games and make some introductions for a new player. Being an old Eagle Scout, I overprepared, bringing 3 armies and multiple lists, including multiple larger Undead lists... just in case someone was down for something that wasn't a demo game. I am glad I reigned it in wen it came to pack up and left the other two armies I had sketched out lists for back at home!

The newer player ended up borrowing a Basilean army list from out local Mantic Pathfinder, and then tabling said Pathfinder and his poor Abyssals. With an odd number of attendees, I ended up sitting out the first game, but got the second game in against the newcomer, again running the Basileans. The Pathfinder had built lists at 1100 points, I guess to just firmly get us out of an Ambush-level game. The Basilean list was the following:

I don't know the Basilean army very well, but at a glance, this is a nice, straight-forward list, and looks just great for introductory games. It's going to hit pretty hard, and with Iron Resolve on everything, as well as decent defense, it should be able to grind things down as well, all while avoiding some of the trickier / meaner things the army can run like Elohi hordes, which would be pretty oppressive at this points level.

My opponent didn't have a preference on what he played against. The Undead were still out in the car in a separate bin, and can be a bit tricky to grok, so I unpacked the Kingdoms of Men, figuring they would be the most easy to play against. Up to loosely test is:

• Foot Guard Lifeleech. Between the ASB and the Item, I effectively have Lifeleech 2, which is hopefully significant enough that I will actually remember it. With Clash 2025, my ASBs now grant LL2, so we'll see sneak a peak at what that feels like.
• Knights with Mead. Originally I had Crossbowmen, but felt like all that shooting might be too oppressive to a new player, even it it's all 5+ to hit. We'll see how my shooting feels without the Crossbowmen, and how the knights do in their stead.
• Chariot Troops. The Regiments did not have good luck, but I wasn't as-keen on them given their wider frontage. For distracting and instigating units, Troops seemed more interesting, so we'll lean into that and try it out. The units are still WIP while I figure out the driver arrangements, but got a little more paint and everything got PVA glued into place, so things should be a little more sturdy, and hopefully the extra paint improves their performance!
• Outlaw formation. I'm coming around on them and think that the formation has promise in some instances. That said, I was too static with them last time, and sitting still is for the Crossbow horde, so the goal this game is to move them more, and see if I can make all this more mobile pressure work.

Table and Terrain

We were back at Oddwillows, our usual haunt.  We were using our typical terrain rules, running the building and bones as Height 9 blocking terrain, the forests as Height 6 Difficult Terrain, stone fences as Height 2 Obstacles, and Hills as Height 3, and the ponds as Height 0. 

I like to play easy scenarios in these learner games, as it provides more avenues to win, and always seems to be more engaging for new players. We went with Invade for this game, and will just need to get more Unit Strength over onto the center line onto the other side of the table. 

It was a learner game, but my opponent had already played a few games so the rules weren't brand new, and he was familiar with trading deployments as well from other games, and had done that in his first game of the day, so that's what we did here as well. 

We were playing on a full board, and the Basileans ended up very spread out. From left-to-right we had Knights, Ogre Palace Guard, Ur-Elohi back a bit, more Knights, and then the Men-at-Arms screening for the Priest.

Deployment. The building and forest are about in the middle of the field.

Left-to-right for the Kingdoms of Men we have a Chariot troop, some angled Knights to play around with the building, more Chariots, the Foot Guard ready to make use of the forest, the entirety of the Outlaw formation, and then a final chariot out on the far right.

Seeing the board, I had an inclination to favor the right. Seeing the Paladin Knights come down on the left as his first drop, I decided that I wanted to avoid them as much as I could. I tried to be cognizant of charge lanes, and deployed all my chariots early. I'm starting off regarding the troops as chaff and instigators, so I wanted to lean into that. I wasn't thrilled with the Outlaws all being together, but I don't have a ton of things for them to chaff for, and moving and shooting through the woods ahead of the Foot Guard didn't seem like a great idea.

In a demo game I'd usually give the honors to my opponent, but since he had a few games under his belt and those were "real" games, we rolled here as well. I won the roll for turn order, and was mean and took the initiative for my band of humans. 

Top of Round 1: Kingdoms of Men

I want to try and leverage my shooting. On the left, the Chariots move up to get shots, but won't land anything into the Ogres. The angled Knights hold back, prioritizing another unit of Chariots hopping up, though then the distances are rough and I can't focus-fire into the Ogres. These instead shoot into the Knights, rolling well and getting in 1 damage through the armor... which gets Iron-Resolved down to 0.

Moving up! Cautiously.

The Foot Guard are able to get the leader point into the woods, which was great, but completely unplanned by me. The entirety of Outlaw formation hops up 5" and looses into the into the Men-at-Arms, landing 5 damage, which gets Iron-Resolved down to 4. My notes say nothing about hot dice. While it is true that I have Steady Aim, after working through the report, I'm positive that I donked the Outlaw's special rules up in the opposite direction this time. Volley Fire is conditional, and should not be in effect since I am moving.

Out on the far right, the last Chariot Troop is against infantry, so it moves 9" up with a pivot, to start threatening it. They can see some of the unit around the hill, but not a majority of the facing, and with cover penalties, they will shoot and miss as well. 

Bottom of Round 1: Basileans

The Men-at-Arms move to try and conceal themselves from the Chariot, and I will concur that the hill is effectively blocking my line of sight to them. Unable to see then, these Chariots will need to move next turn.

The isolated Basileans hunker down in the corner.

The Priest heals the Men-at-Arms for 2, bringing them down to 2 damage. The Knights change facing, wary of my central Chariot. I check distances for my opponent, and the Knights are just out of charge range of my Chariots on the far right, which is lucky because I can see a chunk of the unit from around the intervening hill.

Brave Paladin Knights and clever Ogres. The Ur-Elohi will move up in a moment.

The Ogres run up, wanting to use the building to prevent a charge. We go over the charge steps, and explain that I can indeed charge them, I just can't shuffle down as far. My opponent still likes this as he gets out of arc of both the central Chariot and Knights though, so good on him for seeing that.

Capitalizing on that area, the Ur-Elohi will soon run up as well, also nestling into a spot safe from my Knights.

The Paladin Knights on the left bravely run up their full 16 inches getting onto my side of the board.

Top of Round 2: Kingdoms of Men

I can't do anything about the Knights, but it's Round 2, and there is plenty of game yet. 

The positioning of the Ogres so close to the building means that they will need to pivot right away to do anything. Their only potential charge this turn is into the Chariots, so I back the Chariots up to avoid this. The Chariots shoot, but land no damage against the Ogres again.

Pressing in against the Basilean corner.

The central Chariot troop should have a charge into the Knights but it would be hindered. I opt to move them up to block for my knights. These Chariots are faced such that their 100mm wide frontage is just out of the woods, but the 125mm Knight frontage will clip the woods for a hindered charge. The Chariot troop on the right will move up, threatening a charge into the knights as well. These two Chariot troops will shoot into the knights, landing 2 damage which then gets Iron-Resolved down to just 1. 

The Foot Guard move up. They are a charge option for the Knights as well, but are out of range of the Men-at-Arms.

I look to land 3 damage into the Men-at-Arms to bring them to 5 (Iron-Resolved down to 4), but I also look to have moved the formation up a few inches. Three damage is in the realm of possibilities, but again, I should be shooting with cover penalties if I am moving. 

Bottom of Round 2: Basileans

My opponent opts to play the waiting game. Instead of charging, the threatened Paladin Knights will sidestep to get into the woods and force a hindered charge from me. The sidestep also gets the Paladin Knights out out range of my Chariot on the right, which is great for them.

The Basileans hunker down to wait for the Ogres.

The Men-at-Arms are equally cagey, again adjusting their position to use the hill to block out the line of sight from my Chariot on the far right.

The Ur-Elohi doesn't have good landing spots within 10 inches, so she choses to pivot and then fly 20 inches, over the building and towards my deployment zone. She won't have any charges next turn though, which I am happy about.

The brave Paladin Knights continue to swing around.

The Ogres realize they aren't going to catch my left Chariots without a lot of effort, and so they spin around to focus on the real fights. I think this is a great decision on the part of my opponent. 

The brave Knights move 8 inches, getting caught up on terrain. The forest thankfully blocks line of sight, so I still have some time before they join the game.

Top of Round 3: Kingdoms of Men

On the left, I could have gone just 9 inches and pivot to sort-of threaten the rear of the Ogres, but I didn't think that charge would be there next turn with the angles in play. So the Chariots opt to zip 18 inches up. They don't have a charge next turn, but I'm ok with that. This gets them well away from the brave Paladin knights, keeping them out of the game a while longer.

Positioning for the Kingdoms of Men.

The Knights are able to back up to juuuust get out of charge arc of the Ogres, again playing around with the building and punishing them for getting so close originally.

It's a hindered charge, but I send some Chariots into the Knight regiment. I deal 2 to disorder them, and then the Knights Iron Resolve from 3 damage back down to 2 damage.

The Foot Guard change facing to get the Ogres into front arc. The Ogres have a hindered charge, but will end up exposed. The Men-at-Arms are in the flank, but don't have the inches to get in against my horde. Given the angled horde, the Brigand should be in range, but he should be just behind the hill for line of sight.

The Chariot on the right moves up and shoots with a penalty into the Men-at-Arms. The Outlaw formation moves and shoots as well. I think even the skewed unit on the right has a line of sight into the the corner, and if I played this wrong the first few turns, I quite likely continued that trend, so again, apologies to my opponent. The troop of Outlaws on the right should be shooting with cover penalties; but the unit on the left should be fine. I do have a hot dice note as the quartet of bow fire takes the horde from 3 to 10 damage. The little Chariot troop landed a hot 3; the Brigand Hero a strong 2, with the other 2 damage being from the Bowmen troops. Still, Iron-Resolve kicks in again, and the Men-At-Arms end the turn fine, but at 9 damage.

Bottom of Round 3: Basileans

The Men-At-Arms move and pivot, looking to keep avoiding the Chariots on my right. I was spying them from around the right of the hill, and this move hides them again. As it is, their leader point should also just be in the flank of my Foot Guard, for a potential charge next turn.

Speaking of, the Foot Guard take a hindered charge from the Ogre Palace Guard, who land 8 damage onto my horde. I hold.

Movement and charges from the Basileans.

The Paladin Knights countercharge the Chariot, landing 4 damage. I am uninspired, and the check is good enough to see them off the battlefield! Getting the disorder, I was hoping to hold on for a turn, or even just be wavering, but the opposing Knights are free sooner than expected!

Behind my line, the Ur-Elohi wheels around to see the rear of many of my units.

The brave Paladin Knights look to join the battle.

The brave Knights pivot in the pond and move out, entering the woods. From here, they can spy the rear of my own knightly regiment.

Top of Round 4: Kingdoms of Men

Out on the left, the Chariots move and pivot to threaten the knights, and will shoot ineffectually into them. Nothing hits.

I appear to have finally and accidentally played the Formation correctly. One unit moves up, and shoots without penalties into the Men-at-Arms. The other troop holds and shoots into the Men-at-Arms without penalties. The Chariots move up and shoot into the Men-at-Arms without penalties... and altogether, just two damage is done. Still, their Nerve values aren't great, and bringing them to 10 damage I am able to get a very hot Waver against them.

Opposing flanking maneuvers.

I pointed out and demonstrated several times on my opponent's turn that my Knights could draw line of sight to the flank of the Men-at-Arms and easily had the distance. Using a spare cavalry base, I push up, but it seems that I will just barely catch the corner of the Ogres with my own corner, and so I cannot get around them to pivot and complete the charge. This wasn't something my opponent knew, they just kinda lucked into it. 

So the Knights join in the countercharge against the Ogre Palace Guard, contributing an underwhelming 6 damage in total. The ASB will Bane chant the Foot Guard. They do an underwhelming 8 damage, but the grand total is still enough to pick up the uninspired horde. The brave knights are still outriding, and don't have the inches to reach these units next turn, so my Knights turn to face the hesitant Paladin Knights still in my opponent's deployment zone, and the Foot Guard turn to do the same. I am scoring for the scenario with everything, and it's looking pretty good.

I should mention that I remembered Lifeleech! But not Hann's Scripture. My Foot Guard go from 8 to just 7 damage.

The elite Basilean force faces some big setbacks.

The Brigand hero charged in against the Ur-Elohi, but with even chances to disorder the angel, does not, and she will have a free hand. I rolled the Elohi combat last, which is probably a bit of a procedural mistake, though I don't think the outcome would have changed the way they are facing. The wavering Men-at-Arms can change facing to let the knights through, and it's better for my horde to be rear-charged by the Elohi model than the regiment of Paladin Knights.

Bottom of Round 4: Basileans

On 10 damage and wavering, the Men-at-Arms do change facing to get the Chariot on my right into front-arc. There was some indecision here though, and we didn't do a good job of marking the corner, so the horde looks to have moved pretty far back with that pivot.. The Priest steps back, but in an ill omen, the healing magics fails to materialize this turn.

Hindered charges from the Basileans.

Unbothered by the Brigand's attempts to ground her, the Ur-Elohi makes a hindered rear charge into the Foot Guard. I did not know the Elohi had Dread, but in effect, the second damage I did not Lifeleech back has me making the same effective test. She deals 9 damage, and brining them to 16, but she fails to rout or waver my Inspired horde, and I still have Indomitable Will on them, just in case.

The Paladin Knights charge my wimpy knights, and Hindered, land just 2 damage against me, securing the disorder.

Top of Round 5: Kingdoms of Men

It's time for the Chariots to try and shine! On the left, one unit makes a hindered rear-charge into the Paladin Knights, with my knights occupying them in the front. Both of units are again on the low end of a performance spectrum, with the Knights dealing 2 and the Chariots 4, and the Paladin Knights are at just 8 damage. Still, the unit is uninspired, and a good check picks the Paladins up.

Charges from the Kingdoms of Men.

Out on the right, only one of the Outlaw Bowmen troops has the inches to charge the Men-at-Arms, and will do so, joined in a clear charge by the Chariot. Each unit does 3 damage, bringing the horde to 16. The Chariots have Brutal, which I do remember, and I am now able to pick up this wounded unit as well for a big turn.

The remaining Paladin Knights can only just reach the edge of the Foot Guard currently. The ASB hoofs it out of the woods, hoping to free up some space for victorious reforms, while landing a Bane Chant onto the Foot Guard as they counter-charge, and the Brigand rear-charges the Ur-Elohi. The Brigand lands nothing, but the Foot Guard roll amazingly hot to bring the angel to 15 damage. She's Fearless, but I don't snake-eyes it, and we do pick her up and reform.

Three reforms for the Kingdoms of Men.

I look to have reformed a little off-center with the Foot Guard, but am several inches out of range from the Paladin Knights, so it's not determinative.

Bottom of Round 5: Basileans

The scenario is all but lost, but just for fun, my opponent embarks on a bit of revenge. Unable to reach the Foot Guard, he makes a hindered charge into the Knights, landing 4 damage to bring them to 6, but my unit holds.

The Priest attempts to disorder some Chariots, but the single attack fails to connect.

The final charge of the brave Paladin Knights.

And that's it. I've lost a troop of Charioteers, but I have 11 Unit Strength scoring, or nearly scoring. The Paladin Knights are worth 3, but they aren't going to be able to do it alone, and might not even be scoring due to the vengeful charge. My opponent concedes. 

Victory to the Kingdoms of Men!

Game Conclusions

I’m not thrilled with my performance. I opted to run the Kingdoms of Men for this because it was the most familiar of the armies and lists that I brought, and I not only donked up rules with the Outlaws, but unfortunately the errors were to my benefit, unlike my rules goofs in the previous game. It happens, but since I bounce from army to army, goofs happen a little more often for me. My sincere apologies to my opponent.

We chatted throughout and afterwards. As we were packing up, he asked what he could have done differently to get the win. I don't think nitpicking anything at this stage is truly helpful. Scenario play is also hard to grok until you've played each a few times. It's a small points level, and he's only a few games in. He already has strong instincts and was a quick learner, and will develop his own playstyle and priorities for games.  So, I advised playing more games, and playing the same list multiple times, just like he had done today. Playing the same lists eventually irons out your own rules goofs (oof, prophetic advice it seems!), and gives you a better feel for what you lists and units can and cannot do in a situation. I was heartened to overhear others give basically the same advice on how to approach the game; play it, enjoy it, and don't take it too seriously. Kings of War Wisconsin has come a long way in just under a year, and I'm glad to have found such wonderful like-minded people.

Testing Conclusions

• Foot Guard and Lifeleech 2. I think I used the horde well, and I did much better at remembering Lifeleech this game, though that still wasn’t 100%. I still don’t like this rule on ASB at all, but LL2 is twice as good as LL1, so we’ll see how impactful it is as we get into 2025.
• Chariot Troops. I think three troops was too many, but overinvesting is how I try to test out units, and I think I learned a lot. The Chariots don’t have nimble, so their ability to pressure and outride is a little lessoned. With just 8 attacks on 4’s, Hindered Charges really hurt them, and the bow upgrade, while cheap, seems very ineffectual, since you get just 4 bow shows with bad stats. Still, I liked the unit at this size. The bows could be useful for interdicting for something like Crossbowmen, and the smaller units seemed good for instigating, like I had theorized. We’ll try them out in a larger game sometime.
• Bow Shooting. I brought some 32 bow shots, but the range on the Chariots is 18", making a little hard to focus fire. The more elite Basileans, with their high defense and their Iron Resolve, largely shut down my shooting.
• Mobile Outlaws. I am obviously not pleased with how I ran these. I donked up the rule, and so some of those volleys would have had cover. There were only a few rounds where I actually needed to move though, so these could still have some play in future games, and now that I’ve donked up in both directions I’m more likely to play these correctly going forward. I did not like running them all together though. The blog has shown time and time again how Kings of War gives pricing discounts larger units, and how ineffective it is to run smaller units alongside one another. I think these need to be spread around the battlefield doing odd jobs.

My opponent played a great, amazingly cagey game and had strong instincts. He’s even less local than I am, being from the beautiful La Crosse area but hopefully we’ll see him across the table with his own fearsome army soon!