The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fluff

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Luna Guardian
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The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fluff

#1 Post by Luna Guardian »

My first battle in years took place yesterday using Kings of War starter rules, 500 points with no limits on the force organization (so we could learn the rules) versus Orcs. I have to say I quite like the rules, and fielding the Host of Lionstone (even in such a small force) after all this time felt rather good. Anyways, onwards!

The summer had been peaceful, if cold. No raiders had violated the shores of Chrace and even the monsters from the Annulii had been fewer in number. Cariel considered himself fortunate that his service had fallen on such a good year. When he had been assigned the small troop of young archers he had had his doubts of their readiness, but their aim had proven true in training and without serious threats on the horizon, their inexperience was less of a problem. "Even if they are green as the leaves" he thought to himself. Then, an owl. Cariel picked up his bow and jumped up, moving silently to alert his wards. And owl's call was the agreed upon warning signal that something was approaching.

When the older Hawkeye reached the lookouts, he was shocked by what he saw. Surrounded by his bodyguards, his Prince stood there, flanked by his great pet lion, talking with the obviously smitten archer. Lord Deral Lionbane was known for his interest in the hunt, but still, seeing him out like this was a surprise. "Hail, Cariel. All's well I trust?" the taller elf asked, patting the archer on the shoulder. "Yes my lord. There's been nothing to report, the woods are quiet." Deral was about to respond when a second owl call pierced the air, then another. The lookouts on the other end of the camp had seen something, and soon everyone heard it. A ruckus that could only be caused by greenskins.


My army:
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Deral Lionbane (Elf King)
- Sabretooth Pussycat

White Lions (Palace Guard Troop)

Archers (Kindred Archers Troop)

Lion Knights (Stormwind Cavalry Troop)

My opponent's:
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Warboss (Krudger)
- Goblin Stabby Sneak
- Goblin Zappy Sneak

Ork Boyz (Ax Regiment)

Ork Boyz (Ax Regiment)

Arrer Boyz (Skulk Troop)

I was outnumbered, but never outclassed!

High Elf Turn 1

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We couldn't find the scenery (we were playing at his place, and since he recently moved the scenery is packed somewhere), so deployment was pretty straight-forward and I won the first turn. I decided to advance along his flank, since it was unlikely that I was going to win any head-on fights against his larger units. The White Lions moved towards the center to challenge the center unit of Boyz and hopefully lure one unit to expose its flank to the Lion Knights. Archers were out of range, so they couldn't shoot.

Orc Turn 1

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Very little happened, the center unit of Boyz moved slightly forward, as did the Arrer Boyz, right into range with my archers. Young and untested they may be, but they are far better at shooting than their green counterparts!

High Elf Turn 2

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(I really need to base and finish these guys)

I did my first big mistake of the game and marched straight forward to the Boyz' flank. I'm not sure what I was thinking, probably the lack of practice. The White Lions and my Elf King moved closer to support, but especially the White Lions were too far to do anything particularly useful for at least one turn more, unless I wanted to risk being charged.
The shooting phase was fairly uneventful, with the Archers managing one wound on the tough Orcs Boyz on the flank. They passed their Nerve test easily.

Orc Turn 2

The Orcs shuffles around to face the Lion Knights in order to charge them next turn with the Warboss moving in to support. The Arrer Boyz shuffled slightly forward and the Boyz in the center of the line pivoted and moved to threaten the White Lions. At this point I realized just how poorly I had played the game so far. To add insult to injury, the Arrer Boyz managed to cause a wound on my Archers, causing them to Waver. No shooting from them next turn! The Orc Warboss tried to summon a lightning bolt to hit the Knights, but snake eyes saved them from any damage.

High Elf Turn 3

My Knights pivoted to face the charge coming their way (turns out I wasn't a complete idiot, the orc boyz ended up being 9" away. Two more inches to the right and I would have been fine!). The White Lions hoofed it out of the charge range of the other unit of Boyz, exposing themselves to the Warboss, but I was confident that my opponent wouldn't go for them.
Shooting phase was less than thrilling due to the young archers having wavered (and Cariel undoubtedly cursing and tryign to get his troop under control). My Elf King also commanded his Sabretooth Pussycat to charge at the boyz, hoping that it would manage a bunch of wounds on the unit and hopefully at least waver them. Alas it was not to be, and the great feline only managed a further three. My opponent easily made his Nerve test without even needing the reroll.
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Orc Turn 3

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(Doesn't look good)

The Boyz charged the knights and the center boyz moved forward to once again threaten the White Lions, this time ready to charge them in the rear.
The Arrer Boyz once again caused some wounds on my Archers who once again wavered. The Warboss' Lighting Bolt was once again ineffective, though this time it was aimed at Deral.
First combat of Kings of War! The orcs' attacks were honestly frightening, since with Crushing Strength my Knights were dangerously vulnerable. But the flower of elven chivalry overcame, taking only three wounds and passing their Nerve test! They would be disrupted, so no Thunderous Charge next turn, but as a result it was far better than I had hopes (or even deserved).

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(Live, fight, die for Lionstone!)

High Elf turn 4

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Charge! Ready to take the fight to the enemy, my proud elves charged their respective enemies, Deral charging the Warboss and the Knights charging the Orc Boys. The White Lions charged the Warboss, not quite managing to get out of the Boyz' charge arc. I hoped for a quick Rout of the Warboss, so they could overrun into the other Boyz and out of the charge range. Shooting was nonexistant, so straight to combat we went!
First off the White Lions wailed on the Warboss. 8 attacks needing 3's to hit, rerolling ones, and 4's to wound ended up as...one wound. Less than stellar show from the elites. Still, I had my elf king with his five attacks, and he managed to cause two more. With three wounds there was a chance that he would Rout, but no, the bugger held fast. And now my White Lions were going to be butchered by a rear charge next turn.
All was not lost though, since my Lion Knights showed their mettle! Even without the Thunderous Charge and thus needing 5's to wound, they hacked the green menace apart, causing 4 wounds. A pair of 10+ rolls later the greenskins broke and ran, allowing the Knights to pivot to face the Warboss. Maybe all was not lost!

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Orc turn 4

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(Ouch)

The turn was quick and brutal. The Boyz predicably charged the White Lions and the Warboss charged my Elf King. Things looked up for a moment as the Arrer Boyz missed everything for the first time, allowing my Archers to pull themselves together and re-enter the fight! The White Lions were wiped out by a big bucket of dice, and I didn't manage to roll double 1's to hold. But now the orcs were open for a counter charge! The Warboss swung hard and fast and caused three wounds. No doubt shaken by the loss of his bodyguard, my Elf King was wavered. No supporting charges next turn, but at least he lived.

High Elf turn 5

The Lion Knights, seeing that their lord was in danger, charged the Warboss. With luck, they would Rout him and overrun into the Boyz. I figured that I had taken enough risks in this game, one more wouldn't hurt.
The Archers on the hill fired at the Arrer Boyz, causing two wounds. It was a delightful change of pace not having to roll against Defense 5+. Most satisfyingly though, that meant that the Arrer Boyz wouldn't be able to shoot! Revenge!
In combat, the Lion Knights swung mightily indeed, and caused five wounds. Even with his 14 Rout value, the Warboss couldn't stand against such ferocity, and was cut down! The Knights then overran straight into the Boyz, routing them as well!
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(Revenge!)

It was then that my opponent bowed out, having only the Arrer Boyz left, which my Archers could keep suppressed fairly reliably until my Knights and King could make their way to them. All in all the game was pleasantly quick and fun, the rules being very intuitive and easy to learn/remember. The Host of Lionstone made its triumphant return to the field of battle!
Last edited by Luna Guardian on Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#2 Post by RE.Lee »

=D>

Thanks for the report - both armies look great and I hope the table gets and undercoat and quick drybrush by next time :wink:
cheers, Lee

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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#3 Post by Luna Guardian »

RE.Lee wrote:=D>

Thanks for the report - both armies look great and I hope the table gets and undercoat and quick drybrush by next time :wink:
Thanks! It's on the agenda, along with painting the rest of our armies :D
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#4 Post by elendor_f »

Nice report! I really like the Lion Riders :D

I have a question, you mention "They would be disrupted, so no Thunderous Charge next turn", but they were already in combat. How does this work in KoW? I have never played it so I am curious :)
"The general has this to say about ensuring against defeat when outnumbered, out–weaponed and outpositioned. It is... Don't Have a Battle."
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#5 Post by Luna Guardian »

elendor_f wrote:Nice report! I really like the Lion Riders :D

I have a question, you mention "They would be disrupted, so no Thunderous Charge next turn", but they were already in combat. How does this work in KoW? I have never played it so I am curious :)
Thanks! In Kings of War you only ever attack on your own turn, after combat is resolved the attacking unit is pushed back 1", allowing the other unit to countercharge. If a unit is Wavered (fail the equivalent of an LD check) they can't countercharge. Hence why charging on KoW is very important
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#6 Post by elendor_f »

Sounds like an interesting mechanic, thanks!
"The general has this to say about ensuring against defeat when outnumbered, out–weaponed and outpositioned. It is... Don't Have a Battle."
"Sounds like a clever man," said Jenkins.
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#7 Post by Prince of Spires »

I only half follow what's going on (not knowing kings of war all that well). But it reads like it was a fun battle
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#8 Post by Luna Guardian »

Had the good fortune to get two games on this Saturday, one 1k against The Herd and one 1,5k against the Orcs. Reports will follow today or tomorrow, but first, the setup.

It had been two days since the elven expeditionary force had landed in the Old World. Back in Ulthuan the seers had located artefacts from during the War of the Beard near the forest of Athel Loren, the home of their reclusive kindred, the Asrai. Prince Deral Lionbane, always adventurous, had volunteered to lead the expeditionary force, also reasoning that his previous dealings with their forest dwelling cousins could avoid any serious altercations from leading an army so close to their borders. The Bretonnians were not to be contacted, and ideally the sons of Gilles would not know that the Asur were ever here. They were fast approaching the area where the artefacts had been found, and the elves were in good spirits. Over the hills however rode the scouts Deral had sent ahead of the main force, and behind them the braying horns of Beastmen followed. The Chracian prince wasted no time in ordering his forces to battle, the vile servants of the Ruinous Powers couldn't be allowed to defile the precious treasures. "Onwards, sons and daughters of Chrace. For Ulthuan!" he shouted, and the clarion calls of Elven horns and battle cries rose to challenge their enemies.


The scenario was Loot with 3 counters that we placed more or less on the center line of the board. My opponent was using the Herd list:
Shaman
- Myrddin's Amulet of the Fire-heart
- Heal (5)

Tribal Totem Bearer
- Kevinar's Flying Hammer

Horde of Spirit Walkers

Regiment of Lycans

Regiment of Centaur Longmanes
- Blade of Slashing

Brutox

My list was:

Elf King
- Ensorcelled Armour

Elven Mage
- Bane Chant (2)
- Myrddin's Amulet of the Fire-heart

Horde of Therennian Sea Guard
- Brew of Keen-eyeness

Regiment of Palace Guard
- Brew of Strength

Regiment of Stormwind Cavalry
- Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar

So my opponent had the edge in speed, maneuverability, and (arguably) hitting power. Not a great balance of forces for the scenario to begin with...
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#9 Post by Luna Guardian »

(I know our Hordes look a little small, but we agreed that its ok, since we were both lacking some figures and just wanted to play. Solemn promise that they will be up to strength in the future!)

Deployment - Beastmen
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My opponent deployed in a rather wide line, with a single unit to claim each Loot marker. Since the objective was to capture more than your opponent and he had faster units that ignored hindering terrain and some of which were nimble, his strategy was sound: rush the objectives, weather the one turn of combat I could offer in the protection of the woods, and make it back to his table edge with at least two of the loot markers.

Deployment - High Elves
(I didn't think to take pictures of my own deployment...)
I decided to go for a favorite deployment tactic of mine, refused flank. I knew this meant that I was yielding one of the Loot markers before the game had even begun, but if I managed to get the other two, I would still win, and this way I had local superiority in numbers. I deployed the Maiden Guard (Therennian Seaguard) towards the back, my Silver Helms (Stormwind Cavalry) to face off against the Centigors (Centaurs), and my White Lions (Palace Guard) to take on the Lycans (who were played expertly by a group of trolls, I could hardly tell the difference).

Turn 1 - Beastmen
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My opponent won the roll to go first and moved everything straight forward, with one unit reaching all of the three Loot markers (The Brutox on the left, the Lycans in the middle, and the Centaurs on the right). The Brutox was out of my threat range in any case, and the other two were sitting comfortably in their woods, meaning that I would be suffering -1 to hit if I attacked them. Bummer. On the bright side, the Shaman also moved At the Double, meaning that he couldn't cast spells this turn.

Turn 1 - High Elves'
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Since I didn't have time to waste, I declared charges with anything that could: The White Lions charged the Lycans aand the Silver Helms charged the Centigors. The Mage moved forward to be in range for Bane Chant, and Deral (my Elf King) moved up to be Inspiring, should things go wrong.

Shooting phase was tremendous. The Mage got the Bane-chant off, meaning that the White Lions were now at Crushing Strength 3 (+3 to Wound in Warhammer terms). Even with the -1 to Hit and their relatively few attacks, I was confident that they would do some damage, and that the Lycans would be at least Disordered, maybe even Wavered. First blood went to the Maiden Guard however, as their arrows killed the Shaman before he could achieve anything in the game. Not necessarily the best use of 25 attacks, but I didn't have other targets.
Image
(Fear the Maiden Guard!)

Combat started with the White Lions cutting into the Lycans like a hot knife through butter. 12 attacks turned into 8 wounds, which in turn utterly Routed the giant wolf/troll creatures. Even with the reroll from the Tribal Totem, they needed a 5 or less on two dice to survive, and the dice just weren't with them. The White Lions advanced further into the woods and recaptured the marker. 1-1!

The other combat sprung another nasty surprise on my foe: His Centigors were not safe at all! Thanks to Maccwar's Potion of the Caterpillar (I kept calling it the Banner of Ellyrion, and my opponent was confusedly looking through the rulebook telling me there was no such item), my Silver Helms charged through the thick woods as if they were an open field. The Centigors are frightening on the charge, but they take punches like baby sheep, and 16 attacks hitting on 3s, rerolling 1s, and wounding on 2s made short work of them! Unfortunately I didn't overrun far enough, and the marker was just out of reach. Next turn!

Turn 2 - Beastmen
The momentum had shifted heavily in my favor with 40% of my opponents points gone in the first turn. He did still have a dangerous Horde and the Brutox however, both uninjured and now at my flank. The Brutox turned and prepared to make a run for it back to his table edge, but the Horde moved closer, ready to charge my White Lions if they tried to move anywhere. It seemed the situation was a stalemate, as the Spirit Walkers were horrifying (35 attacks!) and very reliable. The situation was interesting.

Turn 2 - High Elves

I moved the Silver Helms to take the second marker, meaning that I now controlled two, but one was stuck under threat from the Spirit Walkers. I had a Horde of my own however, and I could force my opponent to come to me. The Maiden Guard pivoted and advanced, getting in position to shoot at the beasts with the rest shuffling slightly to get in position. Needing 6's to hit wouldn't accomplish much, and indeed it didn't as I forgot to cast Bane-chant so the hail of arrows hit with all the force of a handful of wet noodles. Still, it demonstrated that I could keep shooting, and as I was now in position I would be hitting more and more (and wouldn't forget to cast my Really Good Spell again).

Turn 3 - Beastmen
After measuring and making templates, we both agreed that the Spirit Walkers couldn't charge my White Lions this turn, so they moved sideways, trying to get away from my arrows. The Brutox hoofed it full speed, ending up exactly where it had started the game, and these both suited me just fine.

Turn 3 - High Elves
With the Spirit Walkers now out of position, the White Lions broke from the woods and made their way towards my table edge, as did the Silver Helms. In case my opponent decided to give chase, the Maiden Guard moved up to offer covering fire and fired off a few shots, accomplishing nothing important. At this point my opponent conceded, seeing how he could not win the game unless I chose to be stupid (which I promised him I would not do). We shook hands and that was that.

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Victory! Glory to Ulthuan!
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#10 Post by Prince of Spires »

Luna Guardian wrote:(I know our Hordes look a little small, but we agreed that its ok, since we were both lacking some figures and just wanted to play. Solemn promise that they will be up to strength in the future!)
You have to start somewhere. :)

That was one brutal game. Looked pretty good and lots of fun. You picked your fights well I think. Though there were lots of 1-on-1 combats, which I generally don't like since they are too fair. I prefer the odds heavily stacked in my favour. ;)

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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#11 Post by Luna Guardian »

It really was one of those "Everything went better than expected" situations. I also prefer to engage with multiple units, but a) I didn't have enough units and b) I didn't have enough time for the maneuvering that would have needed. Hey diddle diddle straight up the middle, but this time it worked :)
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#12 Post by Luna Guardian »

“The enemy vanguard routed our reinforcements, your brother stayed and fought as long as he could, but ultimately in vain. I am happy to say that he made it back safely, however.”
The White Lion saw his prince's demeanor light up with these news. The loss of the reinforcements was certainly a blow, but family had always been the center of Deral Lionbane's world. “Then we must make do with the forces we have. We've taken up a good position, with Asuryan's guidance we will prevail. What has my brother reported on the enemy composition?”
“They appear to be a herd of beastmen, but the scouts report a second force of northmen arriving to reinforce them. Lord XYX also reported that beasts have a huge monster with them, and apparently this was the primary cause for the carnage”
Lord Deral thought of his options for a moment. He had force-marched his army to the site of the Chaotic energies, choosing to arrive and set up position ahead of the mages that were to arrive later. Now the mages had arrived, but the reinforcements that had been traveling with them had been routed and the enemy was on their way. “Sound the call to battle, we will destroy the servants of the Dark Gods and complete our mission. By Kurnous, we’ve faced worse before” he said and stood up, dismissing his captains to their duties. In the distance, the cold, hell-forged trumpets of the enemy sounded their challenge. They had gained a victory and their confidence and blood-lust was high. With grim determination, he walked out to avenge his fellow Asur.


The game was a 2,000 point Kings of War pitched battle with my elves against a combined force of Warriors of Chaos and Beastmen (Varangur and the Herd). We had played an earlier 1k game against the Herd player, which I had lost rather bad, the Brutox especially making minced meat of my elves. I was hoping that by trying out some new units I could squeeze out a win, but the Varangur units had me worried with their high defense, universal Crushing Strength, and high Nerve values. Although not a PERFECT 1:1 approximatiuon, most units function very similarly to their WHFB equivalents (e.g. Bloodsworn are for all intents and purposes Chaos Warriors, Palace Guard are White Lions [although I also use Swordmasters and Phoenix Guard models, as they don't currently have a separate unit, you can just pick whichever models you prefer], Stormwind Cavalry is Silver Helms and Tribal Spears are Ungor)

Apologies for poor lighting and some of the images. We were more focused on playing than documenting, and its dark AF here in Finland.

Forces:
Chaos (Herd and Varangur)
Image
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Units from left to right as accurately as I recall (some unit upgrades etc. may be missing). My friends have not gotten around to painting all of their units, or purchasing/converting everything needed (case in point, Magus Conclaves are a bunch of orcs and goblins :D ), so I had the advantage with the dice gods! I hoped...
A regiment of warhounds
A regiment of Lycans
A troop of Tribal Spears
A regiment of Warband
A Regiment of Tribal Warriors
Great Chieftain with Hunting Hound and Sword of Slashing
A troop of Centaur Longmanes
A regiment of Bloodsworn
A troop of Sons of Korgan
2x Magus Conclave with Famulus
Cursed Son with Blessing of the Gods
Regiment of Bloodsworn

High Elves (Elves)
Again, all units are in order of left to right.
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A troop of Silverbreeze Cavalry
A regiment of Drakon Riders
A regiment of War Chariots
A regiment of Palace Guard
An Army Standard Bearer with Healing Charm
A troop of Kindred Archers
A mage with Bane Chant and War-Bow of Kaba
Bolt thrower
A regiment of Palace Guard
A troop of Palace Guard
A regiment of Kindred Spears
An Elven Prince with Inspiring Talisman
A mage with Fireball and Myrddin’s Amulet of the Fire-heart
A troop of Kindred Archers
Bolt Thrower
A regiment of Stormwind Cavalry with Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar

Pre-Game
I won the roll for table side, and even though my opponents deployed first and got a +1 to their “who gets to go first” roll, I won that too. This is why you paint and base your army, folks!

Turn 1

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First turn saw everyone rush forward, with especially my opponents eager to get within axe-hitting distance of my elves. I was fairly confident in my left flank, but despite having a lot of mobile units on the right, there wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver. I was also rather concerned with the two Conclaves gunning for my brand new Drakon Riders. My shooting was rather ineffective, a few wounds here and there, but being a dummy I forgot to move my archers forward, thus finding them out of range of the enemy (being used to the 30” range in WHFB rather than the 24” in KoW). My opponents blasted magic at the Drakon RIders as expected, but only scored 2 wounds with the Nerve teste being passed easily. A bigger threat was the Hunting Hound of the Chieftain, which was sent charging against my Palace Guard Troop. I’ve seen these do a lot of damage before as with some good rolls they just stack up wounds on a unit like no tomorrow. This time however, the doggy fluffed all its attacks, and the Palace guard put it down like a...dog (I’m so sorry for the obvious pun)
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Turn 2
High Elves
Going into turn 2, I had a few charges lined up, one of which I really didn’t want to make. On the left flank, my Stormwind Cavalry saw the flank of the warhounds and charged in, the Potion of the Caterpillar allowing them to pass through the forest unhindered. In the center, the Palace Guard matched up against the Tribal Warriors, and although they would be hindered in this charge, I had faith in their sword mastery. But on the right, the War Chariots were faced off against the Brutox, and no matter where I moved them, they’d be charged by it next round. So, in a glorious “all or nothing” gambit, they charged right at the big fist-pumping monstrosity.

Elsewhere my units just kind of shuffled around, deciding to soften the enemy up with shooting a little bit before engaging in combat. The RBTs both shot at one of the Conclaves and manages to cause enough damage to Waver them, meaning I had just halved the enemy shooting for the next round. Hooray! A decent fireball and some shooting by the archers on my left flank also put on a world of hurt on the Warband now moving between the two woods, but they held firm.

In combat, the Stormwind utterly crushed the warhounds with 22 wounds caused. The hounds routed, leaving me with a very strong unit behind the enemy lines, ready to cause some major mayhem later.
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The Palace Guards facing off against the Tribal Warriors did ok, managing 4 wounds despite charging into the woods. If they could hold next round, I was convinced that I could win that fight, if no enemy units arrived to flank me.
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The War Chariots fought bravely, managing to beat on the Brutox a fair bit with their limited attacks, but the stupid thing’s Nerve is so high, that my opponents still needed to roll a double 6 to even see it wavered. They didn’t, it wasn’t, and I was preparing to remove one of my favorite units from the field very soon.
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Chaos
The dark tide rises. The Chaos players wasted no time in charging my chariots with the Brutox and a unit of Bloodsworn. The Cursed Son moved to harass my Silverbreeze Cavalry and the Lycans moved to block my Stormwind Cavalry from exploiting their position. My opponents also moved forth their Sons of Korgan reserve, preparing to exploit my rather poor situation on the right flank. (This is one of the reasons I really enjoy Kings of War more than Warhammer, the fact that you can actually have and use reserves without feeling like you’ve been “wasting” units sitting at the back. Although now I wished that my opponents didn’t have these reserves, but oh well).

Elsewhere the Centaurs, Warband and Tribal Spears all advanced.

Shooting was ineffective, causing another wound on the Drakon Riders, but they held.

The combat however, was a different tale. The Brutox alone could have crushed the chariots, and the Bloodsworn were just a brutal addition to the party. Blood, splinters of wood and fur went flying as the poor chariots were hacked to ribbons and my opponents got ready to go after my Palace Guard the next turn.
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Near the center, the fight went somewhat better. The Tribal Warriors fluffed most of their attacks, and only caused two wounds on the Palace Guard. Even so, I rolled stupid high, but thanks to their high Nerve, nothing bad happened. It was an unpleasant feeling though, after the charior disaster. Talk about a wasted unit…

Turn 3

High Elves
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The right flank was collapsing, the left flank wasn’t doing as well as it should, my Drakon Riders were out of position and I was out of drinks, could things possibly go any worse? Only way to find out is to charge right into the jaws of the enemy and kick them in their shins! On the right flank, everything charged. The Stromwind took on the Lycans, the Kindred Tallspears went toe to hoof with the Tribal Spears, and the Palace Guard faced the Tribal Warriors in the woods. The only unit that didn’t charge was the Palace Guard troop, because they had nothing to charge at, and I wanted to keep them in reserve in case the Chieftain got any ideas (my opponent has used his Chieftain very successfully and very aggressively before, and I learn from my mistakes!). Speaking of characters, my Prince charged the centaurs in the flank. They couldn’t hit me back, so I figured why not cause a few wounds on them, maybe take out their Thunderous Charge when they charged my poor archers next round.

On the right flank, I had to get the heck out of dodge with my Silverbreeze, and double timed them up the hill behind the Conclaves. Doing so meant I had to forgo their shooting for this round, but the Cursed Son would have hacked them to pieces otherwise, so… Also the Drakon Riders continued to do nothing, although I did manage to finally place them somewhere threatening, by parking them right in front of the Conclaves. Come at me, bro! I ain’t afraid of some nerds with their magic sticks!

Shooting is where things changed. I cast Bane Chant on the archers and shot at the Sons of Korgan, managing to get 6 hits and 5 wounds! My opponent had been enthralled by the siren song of Crushing Strength (3) and turned in their shields for great weapons, which had made them a far softer target. Confident, I shot at one of the Conclaves with both RBTs, scoring 6 hits from the Blast rule! Another 3 wounds later, I was certain that the unit was going to rout. On the left flank, another fireball and a hail of arrows saw the Warband take on another bunch of wounds, making it look like they might finally rout. ‘Lo and behold, every single unit I had shot at went poof, off the table! Even the chieftain’s Inspire ability didn’t help the Warband (we had agreed ahead of the game that the Chieftain could Inspire the Varangur units as well, for fluff reasons)! Things were starting to look up!
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Bye bye, Conclave...of orcs?

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Fitting how they fell over as soon as they moved within bow-range :D


Combat saw the elves continue their comeback. In a glorious surge of successes, the Stormwind routed the Lycans with ease (great throws by me, terrible Nerve roll by my opponent), the Tallspears routed the Tribal Spears (to nobody’s surprise) and the Palace Guard took out the Tribal Warriors, as I had expected. My opponent decided then and there that he would only ever use Tribal Longhorns in the future, 3+ to hit makes a big difference! The Prince also managed his mission, causing two wounds and thus disrupting the centaurs, giving my archers a slightly higher chance of surviving.

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He who dares, wins!

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13 wounds and a 13/15 Nerve? You can’t always roll snake eyes!

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This wasn’t even a fair fight

All in all an amazing turn, I started to believe in victory again!

Chaos
I might have reclaimed the left flank, but my opponents still held the right and were planning on pushing their advantage with their most powerful troops still essentially unharmed. If they managed to rout or even waver my Drakon riders and take out a unit or two, I’d be seriously struggling to get rid of the tough Bloodsworn and Brutox.
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(ignore the pile of casualties in the top-right corner)

The centaurs charged the archers and even without their Thunderous Charge, I was likely going to lose that unit. The Brutox and lefter Bloodsworn unit charged my Palace Guard, the Brutox rolling 6 attacks on his randomized d6 attcks. The fun just never stops with that one. The Chieftain imitated my prince and charged my Stormwind cavalry and the remaining Bloodsworn unit moved to a better position not to be rear-charged.

Shooting started dreadfully. The remaining conclave hit with both attacks thanks to Elite, and got four hits with Blast. Needing only 3+ to wound had me rightully worries. Then:
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One wound. I let out a whoop of relief as my opponents just laughed incredulously. The dice gods were with me! Until the Brutox and Bloodsworn massacred my Palace Guard at the beginning of the combat round and left me with a deep sense of impending doom.
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The centaurs had to cause just 1 wound to force a Nerve test, and with 10/12 values, I wasn’t confident. They caused 4, and my initial Nerve roll came up as a 6, Wavered. No shooting, no charging, they’d be sitting ducks for the next round. I had my army standard bearer next to them and was contemplating rerolling, but I’d have to roll 5 or less on two dice to get anything out of it, and if I rolled a, 8 or higher, the unit would rout. One of my opponents taunted me by saying “Come on, games are won by rolling dice”, and so I did. 4! My brave, brilliant archers took on the centaur charge and held firm!

Turn 4
High Elves
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I was surrounding my enemies, but I was also running low on units that could challenge them in a one on one fight. I did a little shuffling to move out of charge ranges and get my own units IN charge ranges. My Prince charged the centaurs in the rear, but sadly wouldn’t get to triple his attacks, due to being an Individual. I also had a momentary case of the stupid, as I didn’t move my archers anywhere! They couldn’t shoot because the centaurs were in the way and the Brutox was about to tear them several new ones, but I just completely forgot about them as I started my shooting phase. At least I remembered to move my army standard and mage out of the Brutox’ way.

Shooting was effective, but not very dramatic. I managed to waver to remaining Conclave, so eliminated my opponents’ shooting, and put several wounds on their Chieftain, but other than that nothing happened. Combat was also short and sweet, the Prince putting a few wounds on the centaurs and wavering them, effectively locking them in place to be flanked next turn.

Chaos
The Brutox, the bane of my existence, charged into the archers. In case you’re wondering, why he has less wounds than before, it’s because the damn thing keeps regenerating!
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Nobody can stop the fist pump party!

At this point my opponents made an absolute mad lad move: Moving their Bloodsworn unit forward as bait! The other one backed off a few inches and the Cursed Son got a charge on my Prince! The former was...an interesting tactical decision, but the second was not a welcome development, especially since I had not thought it possible, having had yet another case of the stupids. The Chieftain charged my Tallspears as well, hoping to rout them as there was no risk of retaliation.

The Brutox predictably tore the archers apart. Sadly no amount of rerolls would had saved them (technically yes, double 1’s always do, but the damage was just brutal), and their brave story came to an end. The Cursed Son also did really well, getting 5 wounds in, with the Prince just barely holding on. The Chieftain put on several wounds on the spears, but not enough to waver or rout them. Still, a few more wounds would put them in danger territory.
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Ouch!

Turn 5

High Elves
I obliged my opponents and charged the Bloodsworn with everything I could. My prince moved out of the Cursed Son’s vicinity, deciding that it is absolutely vital that his leadership be present in this rather one-sided fight.
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The Palace Guard troop seized the moment, and flanked the centaurs, about to contribute to the battle for the first time!
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Then I had YET ANOTHER case of the stupids. I moved my standard bearer and mage to be within spell distance of units, so they could cast Heal and Bane Chant. What I didn’t notice, is that I placed them in a perfect line in front of the Brutox! In Kings of War, there is no overrun rule...except when you rout an individual. And you can chain overrunning individuals. And on the other side of the individuals was my remaining archer unit…

Finally, for shits and giggles I charged my Silverbreeze cavalry into the remaining Conclave. They’re be hitting on the same 5+ as with shooting, but even a single would would guarantee that there’d be no return fire due to melee wounds causing disruption, unlike ranged wounds.

I started (and ended) shooting by throwing EVERYTHING at the Brutox. RBTs, archers, fireball, the bane of my existence tanked it all and kept on pumping. That must have been somewhat disheartening to see for my elves…

Combat was predictably one-sided, with the combined power of the three elven elite units making short work of the Bloodsworn. The Palace Guard turned to face the last enemy units and the Drakon Riders backed up one inch, JUST ENOUGH to get out of charge range of the Bloodsworn!

Chaos
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The Brutox charged gleefully into my army standard bearer, the Chieftain into my Tallspears and the Bloodsworn and Cursed Son into my last Palace Guard regiment. The Conclave shuffled to be behind the Silverbreeze to be out of their charge arc next round.

Skipping shooting and into combat, the Chieftain managed to put a few more wounds on the spears, but thanks to some healing rolls from my turn, the unit stayed. The Palace Guard on the other hand was facing the elite Bloodsworn and Cursed Son, and despite putting up a valiant stand, they routed even with the Prince’s reroll. It was a rather magnificent “last huzzah” for my opponents, who had not realized that they weren’t going to win the game unless something went really wrong for me.
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Then the Fun Train. The Brutox picked up the standard bearer, smashed him on the ground several times, causing 5 wounds (which truth be told was far better for me than I had hoped). However, in true Chracian fashion, when faced with a giant monster, the standard bearer held firm! The rampage of the beast had been stopped by a humble standard bearer, arguably one of the worst combat units in Kings of War! I am so happy that I painted him, I couldn’t be more proud!
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Turn 6
High Elves
It was time to mop up what was left! The Prince ran to the top of the hill, ready to take on the Conclave if they survived (and if there would be a turn 7), the Palace Guard, Stormwind and Drakon Riders charged the last Bloodsworn unit and the standard bearer and mage skedaddled out of the Brutox’s way.

Shooting was a repeat of last turn, with a very important change: The Brutox, the bane of my existence, the fist-pumping murder machine was FINALLY killed! Even with 11 wounds it was far from certain, but the dice were not kind to my opponents and the monster’s rampage was brought to a halt.
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Burn in Hell!

The Bloodsworn were given the end their kind deserves, a bloody one. Last real Chaos unit was routed off the field.

Chaos
But wait, there’s more! Realizing that their Chieftain had a line of sight to my Stormwind, my opponents decided to charge both their heroes into the unit. Forget the last huzzah of the Bloodsworn, this was some Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid nonsense! With nothing else to do, they focused all of their dice rolling powers into this one final act of defiance...and routed the Stormwind cavalry!
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RRRAAAAARRRGHHH!!!

Have to admit, I did not see that coming!

Turn 7
High Elves
We rolled to see if there would be an extra turn, and there was, but it is rather anti-climactic. The Prince routs the Conclave and the Palace Guard routs the enemy heroes by overrunning the Chieftain. The elves have won the day!

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Deral Lionbane tore his axe free from the chest of the last Chaos sorcerer and turned to observe the field. What he saw was disheartening. Dead littered the battlefield, too many of them wearing the green, white and gold of his house. And too many of them because of his mistakes. Yet, the battle had been a major victory. Despite the initial setbacks, the forces of the Dark Powers had been utterly crushed and the few survivors had been sent fleeing. The mages were both unharmed and could now safely conduct the cleansing ritual, returning winds of magic to their natural flow, free from the corruptive elements their foes had sought to exploit. He breathed deep and winced, the wounds caused by the Chaos champion were many and deep. "Stupid, stupid and lucky" he berated himself as his men rushed up towards him, bringing with them healing salves and priests to tend to him. He raised his family's axe far above his head and let out a great roar of triumph. Across the valley the Asur joined in, and a sense of elation washed over them all. It was a hard fought victory, but one they could be proud of and one that would be sung about in the halls of Lionstone.
Last edited by Luna Guardian on Tue Nov 19, 2019 3:11 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#13 Post by Prince of Spires »

Luna Guardian wrote:(Jesus Christ, anyone have an idea on how to post smaller images!?)
I haven't read the report just yet (since the large images make that hard...). But => How to resize images in Imgur

That should help.

Otherwise, resize them before uploading them to imgur. There's a bunch of programs that let you do this. On windows I personally use Irfanview. Which is free and has a simple resize option.

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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#14 Post by Luna Guardian »

Prince of Spires wrote: I haven't read the report just yet (since the large images make that hard...). But => How to resize images in Imgur

That should help.

Otherwise, resize them before uploading them to imgur. There's a bunch of programs that let you do this. On windows I personally use Irfanview. Which is free and has a simple resize option.

Rod
I don't blame you! Now they should be a more managable size, give it a read and share your thoughts, I'd be happy to answer any questions too :)
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#15 Post by elendor_f »

Congrats on the win! =D>
Lady Luck favours whoever has the most painted models, it is known! :lol:

I am not very familiar with the KoW rules but being able to move out of combat as your Prince did after the combat with the enemy character was interesting. Under which conditions can you move out of combat?

Also it seemed to me like your opponent's main threat was the Brutox, was he too cautious with his other main threats?
"The general has this to say about ensuring against defeat when outnumbered, out–weaponed and outpositioned. It is... Don't Have a Battle."
"Sounds like a clever man," said Jenkins.
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#16 Post by Luna Guardian »

elendor_f wrote:Congrats on the win! =D>
Lady Luck favours whoever has the most painted models, it is known! :lol:
Thanks! It is indeed known! And now the army is fully based as well, so I have increased my competitive advantage over my opponents :lol:
elendor_f wrote:I am not very familiar with the KoW rules but being able to move out of combat as your Prince did after the combat with the enemy character was interesting. Under which conditions can you move out of combat?
In KoW, the units disengage after each round of fighting, and each turn only the controlling player's unit attacks. The following turn the other player may counter charge or attempt to pull away, with nimble units, such as independent characters, obviously being able to do so more effectively. You can check the full rules here, Mantic has them available for free :)
elendor_f wrote:Also it seemed to me like your opponent's main threat was the Brutox, was he too cautious with his other main threats?
I think the beastman player was, in our last game the Brutox almost single-handedly wiped out my entire army, since I was entirely unable to roll a hit on it. The Warriors of Chaos player pressed me rather well, but as his Conclaves failed to do much he couldn't limit my maneuverability enough. KoW is a game where movement plays a big role, and after the collapse of the Chaos flank and with my most maneuverable units still in the game, I could pick my battles and double or triple team their remaining highly dangerous units. The Bloodsworn (Warriors of Chaos analogues) are brutally effective and very dangerous, and I don't have any units that can deal with them in a fair 1v1 fight, hence why I packed a fair amount of shooting to soften them up. Their plan was to hold the flank that collapsed with the infantry there, move the fast units (Lycans and hounds) to the center/right flank (their left, my right) and make full use of their superior infantry. It was a solid plan, but they didn't count on fighting the hardened veterans of Deral Lionbane :wink:
Prince Deral Lionbane, head of the House of Lionbane, Lord of Lionstone and Warden of Tor Charta

Luna, try not to beat them too hard. They are proud about their pseudo-glorious past and their present nothingness, you know.
-Elmoth, about Caledorians
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Re: The Lionstone Battles - Kings of War Rules, Warhammer fl

#17 Post by elendor_f »

Luna Guardian wrote:In KoW, the units disengage after each round of fighting, and each turn only the controlling player's unit attacks. The following turn the other player may counter charge or attempt to pull away, with nimble units, such as independent characters, obviously being able to do so more effectively. You can check the full rules here, Mantic has them available for free
Seems interesting! I've been meaning to read them but somehow I end up postponing it always #-o
Luna Guardian wrote:KoW is a game where movement plays a big role, and after the collapse of the Chaos flank and with my most maneuverable units still in the game, I could pick my battles and double or triple team their remaining highly dangerous units. The Bloodsworn (Warriors of Chaos analogues) are brutally effective and very dangerous, and I don't have any units that can deal with them in a fair 1v1 fight, hence why I packed a fair amount of shooting to soften them up. Their plan was to hold the flank that collapsed with the infantry there, move the fast units (Lycans and hounds) to the center/right flank (their left, my right) and make full use of their superior infantry. It was a solid plan, but they didn't count on fighting the hardened veterans of Deral Lionbane
Thanks for the summary :) You are right that it was not them being too cautious with their Bloodsworn but you being able to out-manoeuvre their units and getting the combo charges.
Btw epic moment for your BSB!
"The general has this to say about ensuring against defeat when outnumbered, out–weaponed and outpositioned. It is... Don't Have a Battle."
"Sounds like a clever man," said Jenkins.
Terry Pratchett, Jingo!

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