Kings of War 800 points - Dwarfs vs Ratkin

I had a small game of Kings of War with my daughter this morning to try out Version 2 of the rules. An 800 point battle with her Dwarfs up against against my Ratkin (complete with new DIY movement trays).

I didn't have time to write a battle report as we had my 1 and a half year old son scouting the table waiting for us to get distracted. It was then he pounce on any figures or dice close to the table edge!

It was a great little game that went back and forth over about 6 turns before the pressure built so much that her poor Dwarfs routed from battle in quick succession. Even though it was a rather small game I did find that the rules seem a little smoother. They are written very clearly and play at a good pace. I feel that Deployment will be very important now with a good strategy behind it.

Heres a few snaps of this mornings game and I eagerly await my next chance to get some Kings of War action!

 Overview before the battle

 I'm using some of my Poison Wind Globadiers as a Weapons Team. 

 Berserker Lord has no other choice but to be charged by the Horde of Ratkin Warriors

 A handful of dice seals his fate and he is no more 

Cheers for looking, Happy Gaming.

Saga Army Showcase: Pagan Rus

According to the Primary Chronicle,  The Rus Kingdom emerged around the middle of the ninth century after Scandinavian, Finn, Balt and Slavic tribes agreed to invite Three Varangian Princes to come rule after years of unrest and tribal fighting. They had in fact drove the Varangians back "beyond the seas"  some years earlier when they rallied together and refused to pay tribute to the raiding Varyagi (Vikings).

Two of the three Princes died shortly after their arrival leaving Rurik who settled at Novgorod to unite the local tribes and towns. He done so with great tact and ambition and managed to forge a dynasty that would rule Russia right into the Middle Ages...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I chose the Pagan Rus as my next saga faction (my first faction was Welsh) due to wanting 3 things..

1. A Badass looking Warlord

2. Awesome figures to surround him

3. A Warband that played completely different to the Welsh

The Pagan Rus ticked all those boxes so i jumped online to the War and Peace Webstore (Australia's finest online Miniatures store) and snapped up the 4 point starter box, as well as an extra blister each of Varjazi (Hearthguard) and Militia (Warriors) to make up a 6 point warband.

It took me a fair amount of time to put paint to mini with this project due to a number of things. My work schedule, time with the wife and kids etc. etc. 

I finally managed to start these guys about two months ago. Painting very small amounts here and there when managed to scrape together some spare time but most importantly the desire. I wanted to do the models justice but just couldn't give them the time they deserved... Well, that all eventually turned around (as it normally does) and this Project picked up momentum and then some! The models took to brush beautifully and i really enjoyed getting them done.

So, here we are, my 6 point Pagan Rus Warband led by a Badass Warlord!

 Warlord flanked by a unit of his faithful Varjazi

 Slav Militia

A unit of Levy 

 All three points of Varjazi by the side of their Khagan!

 The full 6 Points in all its glory

Ready for battle!

Togther, we stand like Bears!

I'm very proud of this Warband as I hadn't put this much time and effort into my painting for quite some time. I feel refreshed, pleased with the result and eager to sink my teeth into my Infinity project in the next few weeks.

 Banner by Little Big Men Studios (via War and Peace)

Paints used were a mix of P3, Vallejo and Games Workshop.

Cheers for looking, happy gaming.

4pts Saga; Vikings vs Welsh vs Pagan Rus

Today I got to put my new Pagan Rus warband on the table to battle it out with my Brother and his tenacious Vikings, as well as my eldest Niece who put my Welsh warband to work. She has a Norse-Gaels warband herself but it was not available at the time. She did however play the Welsh rather nicely.  We set-up outside on the Veranda as it a cracker of a day.

The Warbands were as follows;

Welsh

Mounted Warlord

1 Unit of Mounted Hearthguard 

1 Unit of Hearthguard

2 Units of 8Warriors

Vikings

Warlord

1 Unit of 4 Berserkers

1 Units of Hearthguard

2 Units of 8 Warriors

Pagan Rus

Warlord

2 Units of 4 Varjazi

2 Units of 8 Militia

We set up and played out a victory point scenario that had the Welsh and the Pagan Rus set-up on separate corners of the southern table edge and the Vikings coming down from the centre of the northern edge. The stage was set and the free for all began!


The Welsh coming in from the West

The Viking Menace marches in from the North

                                          The Pagan Rus crossing                  A Raven's Eye view

                                                   from the East

A slow advance from all due to A Great Winter setting in while I tried to get a hang of my new Rus Battleboard.

The Pagan Rus Militia see some shadows in the distance.

The Northmen press on.


My Niece decided to split her forces (as with my Brother) and take the fight to both fronts.
Her mounted Hearthguard charge forwards towards my slow advance,

However as they rode ahead of the rest of the Warband they soon realized they were all of a sudden left all alone.. "Fear of the Dark" crept in causing them to become exhausted...

Once The Exhaustion had set in I followed it up by "Endless Wastes" and that was the end of the poor Welsh Hearthguard..

The Action then heated up to the West as the Vikings made their presence felt and stormed towards the Welsh! This Melee wold go back and forth until the very last turn of the game depleting both warbands..

This However left a Welsh Warriors unit all alone and once again a sudden "Fear of the Dark" set in..followed up by Endless Wastes..and their numbers started to dwindle.. (they would in fact end up being completely consumed by "Endless Wastes".)

On the Eastern side of the battlefield the Pagan Rus formed up to accept the charge of the encroaching Northmen. Using "Standing Like Bears" and "For the Khagan!" together I was able to buff the Militia to take on the Berserkers who had been buffed with "Frigg", "Thor" and "Ullr" which i was rightly afraid of! 

After the crash of shields the Berserkers were done! They did however slay my Militia down to a single man.. He was quickly taken care of when my Brother activated "Loki" in the next orders phase to remove him from the game and securing another victory point.

From here the game pretty much wrapped up on the final turn with the victory points tally being as follows;

Welsh - 6 Points

Vikings - 6 Points

Pagan Rus - 12 points!

So on their first foray on the tabletop the Pagan Rus come away with a convincing Victory! I definitely enjoyed this warband and it plays completely differently to my Welsh, which is exactly what i was looking for; two very different yet rewarding play-styles. As it is with the Saga, on occasion certain scenarios do present better situations for certain factions, and I think this scenario was better suited to the defensive/controlling Battleboard of the Pagan Rus. But, as I'm a humble Warlord I'll be more than happy to admit it was my tactical genius and wit that got me over the line so decisively! 

As the norm when I play against my brother you should treat yourself and check out his battle report over on the Lucid Gaming blog as he is far better at After Action Reports than I am.

Cheers for looking, happy gaming.

Infinity, Bolt Action and Saga, Oh My!

I've been a little busy (as per usual) of late and the hobby had to take a back seat.

But.. I've got more time now it seems but most importantly, I have my mojo back!

I've got a few projects about to start up, carry on and finish up so will be updating the blog a bit more for the rest of the year.

First off; Infinity. Yes I know I'm pretty late to this party. Having seen the game played on and off over the years and being interested enough, I never took the plunge. This all changed when my Brother brought his Operation Icestorm set over the other week and we played through the scenarios from start to finish. Wow! The game has to be one of the more "organic" feeling games I've ever played. We've not even scratched the surface on the full rules but I'm already finding myself wanting more! So, after careful consideration I've settled on building a sectorial force from the Ariadna faction; Caledonian Highlanders. Awesome figures and seem to suit my style of gaming. I've ordered up from the Combat Company here in Australia. These guys rock. Fast and reliable every time.

 Can't wait to paint these highlanders...Especially Connor MacLeod!!

 More Highlander goodies. 

I'm also wrapping up another project while I'm at it. This is the last unit of my British Army for Bolt Action. These guys have been basecoated, dipped, and are now awaiting a few highlights before the basing is done to finish them off. I chose to Dip this particular army due to the drab scheme, i think it suits them and makes quick work of them. The latter of which was important to me because i started this project when I was burnt out from painting and really couldn't put a great amount of work in. They still come up nicely enough on the tabletop.

And Finally, a project which helped bring the joy back to  painting after a rather lengthy time off.. My Pagan Rus Warband for Saga is just about done. Beautiful miniatures from gripping beast, these guys really made painting fun again. I'll post an army post about these guys in the near future once I've done some finishing touches. For now I'll just leave you with a picture of my favorite model from the range. The Warlord himself, I honestly think the colour scheme gripping beast used on the Rus looked stunning and tried to stay as true as i could to examples on their website. This miniature was the deciding factor when i was choosing my 2nd faction for Saga and I'm glad i chose them. They really are a very pretty warband to behold and were a treat to paint!

Cheers for stopping by.

Bolt Action; British vs German 850pts

A few shots from the Bolt Action game I had with my Brother the other day. 850pts and rolled up Top Secret for the mission. The game was a good one that included poor rolls to bring our troops on from reserves, less than average rolls for Tank fire, and a botched Artillery bombardment on my part! I think the Artillery mishap is what cost me the win in the end with the game ending in a draw. My Brother wrote a great batrep over on his blog here.

A few pics;

After grabbing the objective it all went terribly wrong when I rolled a horrible Artillery Bombardment result and basically wiped out everyone in this picture!

Snipers firing from cover.

Another enjoyable game of Bolt Action.

Cheers

6pts Saga; Welsh vs Vikings

Managed to get a game of Saga in today. A 6pt battle against my Brother's menacing Vikings. It was a was a heap of fun and I knew I was in for a good day when I got to deploy first due to having a stunning Beard! 

I tried to use the battleboard to the best of my ability and use the Welsh in a way which I feel was more tactically sound. Last time I faced these Vikings (here) I didnt really stand a chance given my poor tactics. I have a tendency to use a very aggressive playstyle and it's just not how the Welsh should be played. Today as I mentioned, I played them in a much smarter way and used Hit and Run tactics more befitting the Welsh battleboard. While still learning at this point I think my Welsh will become a formidable opponent for whoever dares to challenge them!

The overall result was a victory for me, winning 13 points to 8!

The warbands were roughly as follows;

Welsh

Mounted Warlord

1 Unit of 8 Mounted Hearthguard

2 Units of 12 Warriors

1 Unit of 12 Levy w/bows

Vikings

Warlord

1 Unit of 4 Berserkers

2 Units of 4 Hearthguard

2 Units of 8 Warriors

1 Unit of 12 Levy w/bows

And a few photos from the day. Check out my brothers blog here for a batrep and some more/better pictures.

 A shot of the Warbands before we start.

 Unit of warriors PoV

 Hearthguard, roll out!

 Hearthguard vs Berserkers. After realising how much of a threat these berserkers posed, I needed them gone asap. Lucky for me, I was able to survive an initial attack and pepper them down with javelin!

 Levy just hung on after a crashing attack from the viking warriors. They actually managed to dish up some pain too which was nice!

What may have been.......

A cracking game that has left me keen for more! Cheers.