Kings of War: Otters and Goblins

I decided it was about time I rebased and completed my goblin hordes. First step, make some bases

I used 6mm hard foam mounted on MDF boards. I then gave them a base coat of PVA and paint

We needed a wall for sieges, my friend did a traditional medieval style wall which looks great. I decided we needed an evil themed wall and set the printers in motion

Finally I got to field my full 2000 points of Otters.  It dawned on me that this was an army list cobbled by a novice player using the figures available going up against a somewhat tuned goblin force.

Rather than be disheartened, tuning and researching my force will give the project more direction in the future.

We played 2000 points , fighting for tokens. My lack of hordes or cavalry or heavy infantry took its toll, but as always the plucky otters put up a decent resistance. I just need a few more hammers. I have centaurs set aside for me at Britcon.

Rather than throw the toys out of the pram I need to do some homework. Is there an optimal starting set up for my current forces? I felt they were spread too thin.

Once I expand up to 2300 what should I add, I don’t think I can fix what I have in just 300 points, but it’s all good. I have a couple design concepts for heavy infantry which are really fun.

I am considering dropping one hero and buffing up my fairly weak Spellcaster. Obviously not go too nuts, they can only cast 6-7 spells per game. It’s kind of like a bolt action tank, big gun, but you are only shooting it 6 times.

Once again my Otters took to the field. They were the plucky defenders against an endless tide of Goblins, it was a matter of holding out while three messengers tried to make it through the goblin lines.

I had to pare back the force to 1500 points which made them suboptimal from the get go. The idea of the herd is quite a mobile army, moving through terrain unhindered etc. Using them as a defensive force wasn’t ideal, but against goblins they could hold their own for a reasonable amount of time…in theory

The goblins approached from two sides, if a unit was destroyed on the goblin side there was a chance it would respawn next turn. The Otters just had to hold out for as long as possible.

One of the three couriers managed to escape the goblin hordes and my valiant defenders held out until turn six. I worked out killing off units was counterproductive, so I just whittled them down and held them off as longs as I could.

These two regiments have been a nightmare to paint low detail miniatures and boardgames pieces. It’s taken maybe three weeks to get through them.

But here they are, finally done.I am still getting the hang of the streams on bases thing. Last batch was a bit runny, fortunately all contained on one of the plastic crafting trays, I definitely recommend picking up a set of these.

I’m not sure what I will do with the rest of the bases yet, I am considering rebasing the goblins as the thicker bases are easier to handle on the table.

Put the final touches onto Badger , Mole and Ratty and hey presto my first 2k Kings of War Army

While I haven’t completed all my army I was able to throw together a 1500 point force for a Monday night game. Unproven and untested I was still excited to get my otters into a game.

My regular opponent brought his beautifully painted goblins, it made a change being the one with the smaller number of units. This was my first time using flying units .

I moved my scorchwings  into shooting range and fired a few shots into the chariot horde…rookie error, . I had put myself in charge range of the chariot horde and that was my left flank wide open already. Not a good feeling on the end of turn two.

We were playing an objective game, my opponent was quite happy to let me park a regiment on one that remained uncontested. So it boiled down to a battle for the other two. I felt very pinned in, but uncharacteristically I charged in, it also blocked his mincers from flanking my infantry charge.

My archers got one turn to be archers before they ended up in melee combat, they held their own admirably, the hordes dished out some punishment too, the dice were really swingy all game for both of us but it was a brutal fun game. It also looked great on the table, both of us remarked upon it.

I also had Idiotproof dalek compliment the otters, considering he makes box art painting jobs look a bit shabby I was rather chuffed, regardless of what level of painting you’re at it’s always nice to get compliments on your work.

From feeling defeated in turn two, it was starting to feel like a proper battle, by turn six I had actually managed to park myself on a second token with a unit strength of four. If there was no turn seven I had turned the tide and sealed a win….so naturally there was a turn seven, my horde of drunk otter marines finally crumbled.

Another loss but first outing with the otters felt great and again a close and exciting game

Really been struggling to paint the last two regiments, it’s a combination of boardgame pieces and low detail sculpts being hateful to paint and becoming increasingly less satisfied with the results contrast paints give. I did manage to finish a hero and a tree herder.

Once again my brave goblins became embroiled a border dispute with the noxious dwarves who brought along some pointy eared chums. It’s one thing learning how to use your army, but another to learn how to use them effectively against the varied mechanics of the other factions.

I intend to play at the beer and pretzels level, I think Crokinole syndrome would kick in at tournament level for me.

So roughly 1500 points each I faced off against the elves and dwarves (all beautifully painted).

I set up similar to my last game against an elven opponent, cavalry and King on the left, although no siege weapons to worry about this time. Trolls and spearmen as the core and mincers and archers and rabble to the right.

My cavalry actually did well to hold up the elite cavalry over on the left. The archers did ok, dropping a few wounds onto the oncoming forces. But I suffered by not managing to get rid of the Broc riders and they took out a horde of trolls. Felt like the game was swinging away.

By turn four the higher quality of my opponents troops was beginning to shine through, and the centre and left were pretty much over. The right flank was more in my favour, but this was an invasion game and it came down to to a unit strength race, I was ready to concede on turn 6, two wavered units…and nothing I could move without dropping points.

Somehow my archers actually made it to 13 wounds and stayed on the table.

Turn 7 , if there had been one would have given my archers one chance to take out  a 1 unit strength elf flier and snatch a draw. Alas it was not to be.

All in all another fun game, I need to get the timing better with my hammer units as the could have done with entering the fray sooner. Well done to my more than worthy opponents.

Crokinole is a ridiculously fun dexterity game from the wilds of Canada. It’s a lot of fun to play , even if you suck at it, think darts or pool…still fun, even when you’re not that good at it.

However if you watch two people playing at a tournament level or high standard the game actually gets pretty unexciting to watch. I worry that Kings of war at that level might get a bit dry. Measuring things to the nth degree I’m all for a few tactics and strategies, but the  fun is in the chaos.

YMMV

So next up are the flying unit and the forest shamblers. I have been wracking my brains trying to figure out how to get a decent amount of minis on the right size base. Got there in the end. This is probably the biggest most detailed base I have ever done. Then I put a stream in to make it more difficult.

So, doing a little maths, I have 14 heroes and bigger models to paint pictured here and then two regiments of mouse archers to print and paint. All being well I will have a 2k Kings of War army ready to go by the end of February.

Done some work on the birds, being game pieces means they are a pain to paint

Started the shamblers pretty easy to do, brown undercoat,then grey and green dry brush on rocky and plant like areas. Then a wash with agrax, then another drybrush, did a couple of shades of brown on the tree like appendages.

Next I added flock and some light grey in the eyes which I will hit with bright green contrast paint when dry

The River Guard are the most revered and renowned unit in the Otter Army. They form the palace guard and the backbone of Otter army. They are professional soldiers and garrison forts in most of the major river towns.

The Crossing Watch act as the constabulary ,patrolling the forests by the river and guarding the major crossings. They maintain law and order, but there have been incidences where the River Guard had to step in where blind eyes were being turned to some smuggling operations.

As a wise old badger, Theophilus Stoutclaw, once said ‘ the problem with the Otter constabulary is that half of them are rats and the other half are weasels’

The Marines are a mixed bag, more like an organised militia than a formal regiment. They comprise of volunteers from the poorer areas of river society, criminals pressganged into service and sea otters from the coastal villages. They are a tough crowd of brawlers. They are employed on river patrols and are the bane of the river pirates. It’s not uncommon for captured otter river pirates to be given an option to join as a marine.

Just some quick shots of the finished (so far) articles, I will do a proper gallery with background next.

The otters are progressing, I need to start thinking of a colour scheme.
I decided to be more adventurous with the bases on these guys. Even if it doesn’t come off I will learn things.

What I am attempting to do is add some streams to the bases of the regiments , not sure how it’s going to turn out.

Another consideration is that it will mean the otters will be a bit taller. I guess I need to do the Ottaurs and bird riders in a similar style

Thanks to the lovely project system this entry ended up way out of sync, instead of the usual post fail it decided to post the same entry four times!

The miniatures are getting closer to table ready, I tried placing some one one of the bases to see how they fit, nothing was glued as the minis are not finished.

A bit of a squeeze, but ok, this madcap idea might just work

Having had a long weekend left unsupervised and the unfortunate postponement of Mondays game I took the opportunity to slap some paint on the otters, I decide to use a mix of contrast, speed and express paints as I wanted a fast turnaround

I carried on working on the bases adding paint and flock. Then I prepped them for the water effects. Which is a fancy way of saying I attached lolly sticks to the ends of the bases with rubber bands.

I used a mix of IPA and a clear silicon as per a Geek Gaming Scenics tutorial. I feel like it soaked into the PVA a lot, but it feels stronger and more spongy, fortunately I wanted shallow fast moving looking streams and was fairly happy with the results.

1500 point King of the hill style game.

I rolled out my trusty goblins for a scrap against an elvish and dwarven force made out of my friends old world miniatures. Really nicely painted… around 30 years ago. Kings of War has been a revelation for him as he’s able to enjoy all his old miniatures again without any GW silliness.

Not going to lie, looking at his assembled war host , I didn’t fancy my chances.

I set my infantry to the front and centre, second rank trolls and Mincer mob. Archers flanked the main host to be a nuisance. The table was light woods and some low hills with a few monuments.

I put my King and cavalry out on the left flank in the vague hope that I could get up against his cannon and ballistae unit and go some way to splitting his forces. It had worked quite well for me before, confidently plonking all the cavalry on one flank makes the opponent think that I have a plan or know what I’m doing. I don’t.

The gamble paid off and I managed to draw his elite cavalry over to that side, encouraged by his cannon taking out the first troop of fleabag riders he surged forward and charged the second troop. These fell before the cavalry in short order leaving the goblin king in front of the elite cavalry all alone.

But why was the goblin king smiling…

The cavalry were now in charge range of one of my troll hordes, they’d have to take hindrance for moving through the bushes, but the trolls could hit them squarely in the flank.

But before that I had the king charge them head on, drawing bemused and baffled looks from my friends.

In the middle of the field the pack surged forward and acquitted themselves pretty well, landing a decent amount of wounds and grinding down their forces. One sharpsticks unit managed to best a troop of elven cavalry, not as lethal as the knights the trolls had faced earlier, but dangerous nonetheless. Another regiment held out against a troop of palace guards who on paper where far superior troops.

The grinder softened up an infantry unit before the pesky dragon flew in and took them from behind, although he had to take a flank charge from a regiment of rabble, and again good rolls left a few wounds on the model and tied up the dragon for another turn.

The King , no longer concerned with elvish knights was free to charge into some infantry on the flank, while the second troll horde attacked the front, it was enough to take them out.

Next turn found the king in charge range of the artillery and so the dwarf cannon was taken down, followed by the bolt thrower on the next turn.

The left flank was ours and somehow the goblin infantry had held the centre long enough for the trolls to start wheeling around. The right flank wasn’t doing so well, but all that remained were the dragon and some archers, if the elves wanted the hill then they’d have to knock the trolls off of it.

Despite the dragons valiant attempt turn seven saw a last desperate charge bounce of the trolls, the response was swift and brutal.

I like trolls.

So I decided to do my own themed army – the Riverbank Alliance – it’s basically a re-skinned herd army with the heroes being Wind in the Willows based characters backed up with forest spirits and some anthropomorphic otters and mice.

The figures above are from the delightful Northumbrian Tin Soldier boxset. I may use the others in the set as commanders on some of the regiments.

I haven’t ruled out putting Toad on a chariot either.

The otters and mice will be prints from Duncan Shadow.

I also intend to ransack a boardgame for the ‘harpys’ which will be bird riding mice.

The herd army list I have based this army on features centaurs, and I wanted to include some at some point. Then I thought what about half horse and half otter.

So I set about searching for modular centaurs I could potentially do a head swap on, no joy

I found some 3d editing software online and downloaded it to try and mash two models together. I got there and had a very rough and ready file.

Unsure if it would work I saved it as an stl file then put it into a slicer to add supports and create a file to print.

Printed 10 got 8 good ones, my bed needs relevelling so not unexpected.

I had a break from goblins and started putting together some of the larger units I had acquired. I somewhat under estimated just how big the maxmini giants were. They will have to be rare one-off monsters if I’m going to shoe horn one into any army list

I have also put together some of the cuddly forest friends that will feature in my Otter themed Herd army, if I can get Gerry to approve my army list of course!

Quite excited about making my own themed army, it’s a freedom I haven’t had with Bolt Action.

So my plucky goblins left their snow caves (terrible roofing) in search of a ransacked caravan, having found the wagons, they discovered a rampaging group of Nightstalkers, why they wanted 200 cases of dwarf energy drinks (crimson minotaur, not the cheap stuff) was anyone’s guess.

Let the fighting and looting commence!

We played a control scenario with five point scoring objectives. I split my forces with a cavalry force out two the right to worry that flank, I had two troops of Fleabag riders and a mounted king. There was a convenient hill there too, so I popped a regiment of archers over there for balance.

My infantry took the centre along with the mincer mob and a regiment of archers. My opponents one ranged unit began to make his presence felt, my archers returned fire, it took a while and he popped one regiment of sharpsticks before my archers took him out of play.

Both archer regiments actually punched above their weight, in spite of a permanent to hit penalty because of the Nightstalker filth…I mean stealth.

On the right flank I faced a regiment of hounds and some flying wraith things, I was concerned that the king and cavalry were going to be overwhelmed. So in some ways the placing had worked, I had gotten my opponent to commit his strongest units to take over the flank pulling them away from the centre. In the last game I threw the mincer in straight away, on this occasion I bided my time.

Full disclosure, my opponent forgot to attack one turn, which would have been a significant attack, but the game had progressed too far by the time we realised. Just mentioning because obviously that went in my favour. I also got pretty lucky with the dice and we got flank attacks with individual units wrong, again, in my favour.

So , more through luck I managed to  inflict a good amount of wounds before the cavalry fell, the king held the line and between him and the archers I managed to pop his scariest units

In the centre of the table my spearmen and mincer units began a slow advance to the middle objectives up against doppelgangers and scarecrows, emboldened by the loss of his ranged unit we surged forward. First round was a little disappointing in terms of damage done but the grinding down had begun.

Again my opponent was pretty generous with me being able to flank with the mincers. However in terms of point scoring I really needed a turn 7 to try and pop one or more of his units , end of turn 6 he had more unit strength  on objectives , meaning a win.

Turn 7, everything changed. My archers on the right managed to pop the butchers on one of the objectives, then my mincer tore into the flank of his scarecrows, straw and guts everywhere. Then the spearmen polished off the doppelgangers. I had cleared the table.

Lets be real though, without an error and gratuitous sportsmanship from my opponent this could have been a very different story. It was close right up until the end. Great game.

I had a fairly productive week, with three infantry regiments to show for my efforts. More units for the coming game.