Clash of Kings Australia 2 - Summary

Greetings!

With all the battle reports finally done and posted it is about time to wrap it all up with a summary.

Australian Clash of Kings 2018 was another great success without any doubt. I am very happy that I was able to attend again and I keep fingers crossed that the number of Kings of War players keeps growing steadily.

There were 64 participants which is still fantastic, considering that many of them had to travel from other states to Canberra. It is also interesting to note that the number of spots each system got depended on how many players managed to signed up early enough. There was no fixed number of spots at the beginning so it was great to know many participants committed early to allow the organizers negotiate enough room for 60+ people.

Game 83 - Forces of the Abyss - 2018/03/17

Greetings!

In the game 7, last game of the event, I had a great pleasure to play against Ben of Direct Misfire podcast fame.  Ben had a beautifully painted army of the Forces of the Abyss and I could not decide if I like the painting or the ideas for models and conversions more. It is a great looking army and I consider myself very lucky to have the opportunity to play against it. 

Here are the details of that army:

Forces of the Abyss - Army List

6 Molochs, Horde, Potion of Caterpillar

- 10 Gargoyles, Troop

- Efreet, Hero, Heart-seeking Chant

- Chroneas[1], Monster

 6 Twisted Victims[1], Horde

- Lord of Lies[1], Hero

10 Abyssal Horsemen, Regiment, Pipes of Terror

- Abyssal Champion, Hero, Mounted, Bloodboil

20 Succubi, Regiment

- Abyssal Temptress, Hero, Fly, Helm of the Ram

3 Imps, Regiment

Game 82 - Elves - 2018/03/13

Hello!

In the game 6 of the Australian Clash of Kings 2018 I played against another Elven army, commanded by Bridget who attended her first tournament! 

I must say that I find it very intriguing that since I have started playing Kings of War I have yet to play against the same army twice. What I mean is that unless I play against the same player who decided to bring the same army list again, all the forces I fought against have different compositions. It is truly fantastic, even after 2-3 years as it seems to show that KoW is very well designed game that allows for a huge variety. 

Bridget had an army that further supported this impression. She brought an army that had units of many different types but at the same time it was significantly different to mine. Here are the details:

Elves - Army List

20 Kindred Archers, Regiment

 - 5 Silver Breeze, Troop 

- Army Standard, Hero, Lute of Insatiable Darkness

20 Palace Guard, Regiment, Mace of Crushing

- Mage, Hero, Bane Chant(2),  Mounted, Amulet of Fire-heart

20 Tallspears, Regiment

- Mage, Hero,  Fenulian Amulet, Lightning Bolt (5)

20 Tallspears, Regiment

- Dragon Kindred Lord, Hero, The Fog 

- Mage, Hero, Lightning Bolt(5)

10 Stormwind Cavalry, Regiment, Potion of Caterpillar 

10 Stormwind Cavalry, Regiment, Chant of Hate

Game 81 - Abyssal Dwarfs - 2018/03/03

Greetings!

In the first game of the day two and battle 5 of the tournament I played against Stephen and his Abyssal Dwarfs. I have never played against Stephen before, although I believe we participated in the same events in the past. It was thus great opportunity for me to play against him for the very first time!

Stephen brought an army that had almost ever model from Mantic and it looked great! My pictures do not show properly how good the models look. Perhaps the dark color scheme was also more difficult to present nicely. But it was fantastic to be able to play against a very nice and characterful looking army! He had the following units in his force:

Abyssal Dwarfs - Army List

6 Lesser Obsydian Golems, Horde, Brew of Haste

- 10 Gargoyles, Troop

- 10 Gargoyles, Troop

- Greater Obsydian Golem, Monster

-  Ba'su'su the Vile

6 Lesser Obsydian Golems, Horde

- Supreme Iron-caster on Great Winged Halfbreed, Hero, Surge (10), Banner of Griffin

10 Abyssal Halfbreeds, Regiment, Brew of Courage

- Overmaster on Great Abyssal Dragon, Hero, Blade of Slashing

Twilight Kin - Allies

20 Crossbowmen, Regiment
20 Crossbowmen, Regiment

Game 80 - Undead - 2018/02/22

Greetings!

In the last game of the day I played against Chris and his old school Undead force. We have played against each other many times, both at the events and at local stores. It is always fun to play against him and always a big challenge as his Undead do not crumble easily. On many occasions I was actually soundly beaten so I hoped that this time I will come up with a good plan and would be able to win. 

Chris approach to the army composition seems to favor variety of units so the force he brought to the event was very varied and was comprised of many different units.

Undead - Army List

6 Werewolves, Horde,  Potion of the Caterpillar

- 10 Skeleton Archers, Troops

- 10 Skeleton Archers, Troops

- 10 Ghouls, Troops

- 10 Soul Reaver, Troops 

- Balefire Catapult, War Engine 

- Revenant King on Undead Wyrm, Hero, Blade of Slashing 

3 Zombie Trolls, Regiment

- 10 Wraiths, Troops

- Undead Army Standard, Hero, Banner of Griffin 

 

20 Mummies, Regiment

- Cursed Pharaoh, Hero, Wings of Honeymaze

20 Revenants, Regiment

- Liche King, Hero, Mounted, Heal (6)

Game 79 - Twilight Kin - 2018/02/17

Greetings!

One of the best things about the tournament like Clash of Kings this year was that there was quite a number of new players attending and who traveled far to participate. 

Marcus, my next opponent, is one of such players. He told me it was his very first tournament and 8th game in Kings of War in total! Despite the fact he has just started playing this game he brought beautifully painted army and I wish I had more time to take better pictures of his great looking units. Here are the details of the army he was commanding:

Twilight Kin - Army List

40 Crossbowmen, Horde, Heart-seeking Chant

- Gargoyles, Troops

- Gargoyles, Troops  

- Dark Lord on Black Dragon, Hero, Brew of Haste

20 Reaper Guard, Regiment

- Dark Lord on Black Dragon, Hero, Blade of Slashing 

10 Dark Knights, Regiment, Potion of Caterpillar 

- Army Standard, Hero, Lute of Insatiable Darkness

6 Darkscythe Chariots, Wine of Elvenkind

- Ba'su'su the Vile, Hero

Game 78 - Elves - 2018/02/14

Greetings!

In the second game I was about to play against well known opponent, Mark, who traditionally played Elves as well. We have already had quite a few battles between our armies and they are always very interesting because we have different approaches to the army composition. However, Mark tends to try a few varieties of his army and this time he brought the following:

Elves - Army List

 40 Kindred Archers, Horde, Heart-Seaking Chant

- Dragon Breath, War Engine
- Mage, Hero, Bane Chant(2), Fireball (10), Inspiring Talisman 


20 Kindred Archers,  Regiment
- Dragon Breath, War Engine
- Army Standard, Hero, Banner of the Griffin  

6 Drakon Riders, Horde, Brew of Haste
- Dragon Kindred Lord, Hero, Mace of Crushing

6 Drakon Riders, Horde, Potion of Caterpillar
- Dragon Kindred Lord, Hero

Game 77 - Varangur - 2018/02/09

Greetings!

The first game of the Clash of Kings Australia 2018 was a grudge match against Ken "Chaaarge" and his Varangur. It happened to be a third game in our sport rivalry and the second against Varangur. It was a rematch after we played against each other at Masters too!

We both brought the same armies so it was very intriguing to see how the game was going to develop this time and what would be the result! Ken was a bit nostalgic as this tournament had his personal theme to it, "The last flight of Herja". Perhaps that is why he spent the previous night sinking his sorrows in a pint or two of the local beer. :)

For me the theme supposed to be "Catch the Fluffy!". Ken's King on Chimera wreaked havoc among the ranks of the Outcasts last time so I hoped I would be able to prevent that happening this time. However, I was suspicious when Ken pretended not to be at his best in the morning. He seems to me to be a player who actually performs better under the pressure and who needs to sleep anyway! Certainly not the followers of Korgaan! 

Varangur - Army List

10 Mounted Sons of Korgaan, Regiment, Headstrong, Fury, Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar

- King on Chimera (also known as Fluffy), Hero, Headstrong, Fury, Brew of Haste

10 Mounted Sons of Korgaan, Regiment, Headstrong, Fury, Blade of Slashing

- Magus, Hero, Lightning Bolt (4), Fireball(12), Elite, Mount, Chant of Hate

10 Mounted Sons of Korgaan, Regiment, Headstrong, Fury, Mace of Crushing

- Magus, Hero, Lightning Bolt (4), Fireball(12), Elite, Mount, Heart-Seeking Chant

10 Mounted Sons of Korgaan, Regiment, Headstrong, Fury

- Herja the Fallen

Clash of Kings Australia 2 - Introduction

Greeting!

On the last weekend of January I participated in the official Clash of Kings 2018 in Australia, organized in the frame of the biggest gaming convention, CanCon. CanCon itself was organized for the 40th time, which was quite surprising for me as I didn't know it has such a long history.

The second Clash of Kings in Australia was organized once more by Matt and Tas (who was playing TO) and like last year, the organization was superb.

All tables had fantastic terrain, which is an effect of a great support from the players who attended the event and donated their terrain pieces. All to make sure no table is empty or with the pieces that are of poor quality. In addition, each table had a laminated page with printed out diagram of the relative positioning of the pieces and information on what type and what height is each one of them. 

Each player received acrylic tokens and arc of sight template as well as a voucher. What is also important from the gaming point of view, each player received a set of pages with each one of them describing the scenario conditions, had a map illustrating the special rules of that scenario and simple, 3 step procedure of calculating the final score. It was extremely helpful, also because we used a modified scoring system, called Black Jack. Here is the link to the system:

Black Jack - scoring system for KoW

I will add more details on how this system worked in the report for each game but the aim is to reward fulfilling scenario conditions more than attrition. What is more, the system introduced some differentiation how well the scenario was fulfilled. For example, winning scenario by controlling one more loot token than the opponent was less rewarding than when the player controlled more or even all the tokens.

This year there were 68 players who registered for the event and 64 attended the tournament. 62 players finished all 7 games over the two days which, in my opinion, is a great success as there were not many players who could not make it and even fewer who dropped after day 1.

The event still used Clash of Kings 2017 rules and the full player's pack can be found here: 

Clash of Kings Australia 2018 - Player's Pack