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2015/07/15 01:07:27
Subject: A KoW 2e Battle Report (A catalog of my blunders)
I saw that someone asked for a KoW 2e batrep so I decided to make one. I'll go ahead and admit, this was not my finest game. If I were to be perfectly honest I made a lot of big mistakes in this game. It was fun though. Basically we broke out a bunch of our old WHFB stuff. I used my empire troops which haven't seen the table in years and my opponent broke out his Bretonians.
Also, this is my first batrep. I wasn't planning on making one when I played the game so I had to reconstruct the game in my head. I also didn't take any pictures. The diagrams I made are decent though.
The lists:
Spoiler:
My list (Blue Team)
Kingdoms of Men 1000 pts
-Regiment of Spears with Brew of Courage
--General on Foot
--Troop of Arquebusiers (Handgunners)
-Regiment of Shield Wall (Swordsmen)
--Cannon
--Troop of Arquebusiers (Handgunners)
-Regiment of Knights
--Cannon
--Troop of Mounted Scouts (Pistoleers)
His list (Red Team)
Kingdoms of Men 1000 pts
-Horde of Knights with Pipes of Terror
--General on Pegasus
--Siege Artillery (Trebuchet)
-Horde of Knights
-Horde of Men at Arms with Polearms
Terrain and Setup:
Spoiler:
We had a pretty good distribution of terrain. There was a lot of differences in elevation, though that mattered way more in our second game.
My plan was to crush everything on my right side of the board and then finish that unit of knights off to the left. As you will see, things do not go according to plan.
Turns 1 and 2
Spoiler:
My opponent won the first turn. He started out by advancing everything as quickly across the board as possible. He wanted to get into my face and limit the damage from my cannons. He also fired with his trebuchet but missed whatever it was he was shooting at.
On turn 2 I tried to arrange my infantry regiments on the right flank to receive the incoming knights. I was surprised at how fast those knights were closing in with their on the double moves. I put my spears forward since their phalanx special rule countered the knight's Thunderous Charge ability. I moved my swords men into position to flank charge the knights. My knights would also get a charge in. It would be glorious. I then decided to send my pistoleers up the side to get behind him and take out that trebuchet. Finally, my ranged units went to town. The left most handgunners put some wounds on the horde of men at arms. Everyone else concentrated fire on the general on the pegasus. Everything hit. The cannons rolled reasonably well for blast damage and his general was turned into a crater. It was glorious. Which was good, because things went down hill rather quickly after that.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I had made a HUGE error in my placement of my spear unit. The fighting in the forest was my downfall.
Turns 3 and 4
Spoiler:
As expected, his knights charge into my spears. His men at arms start their march across the marsh to get at my cannons. His knights on my left wheel in to start their approach. Apparently his knights did not appreciate the demise of their leader so they returned the favor to my spearmen. Even though they had a hindered charge due to the terrain, and they lost Thunderous Charge (both because of my spears Phalanx rule and the hindered charge), that horde of knights wiped my spears off the table. My opponent had 32 attacks to begin with and he rolled well enough that the -1 to hit from hindered charge barely mattered. Incidentally, his trebuchet missed again.
I was disappointed by the disappearance of my spears but my plan did not change. My swords charge the flank, my knights charge the front, and my general charges as well. This is where I realized that I screwed up on my positioning. I should have engaged his knights at the edge of the woods instead of in them. During my movement phase I also kept my Pistoleers on their previous course. Measurement revealed that the horde of men at arms was just close enough to charge my cannons so instead of shooting with my left unit of hand guns I moved them into position to buy one more turn of shooting for my cannons.
I split my fire from my ranged units onto the incoming knights on the left and the horde of men at arms. This was also a monumental screw up. One cannon hit the knights, the other cannon whiffed, and one unit of handgunners managed to get a wound onto the men at arms. If I had concentrated my fire against the men at arms I probably would have broke them.
Since my knights had to clip the woods to engage his they also get the Hindered Charge penalty. The -1 to hit on my 16 attacks hurt me a lot. The attacks that did connect really felt the missing thunderous charge. That meant my knights did just a few wounds on his horde. My swords also suffered the hindered charge but because they attacked from the flank they actually did more than my knights. My general also added a wound or two onto the horde. With the poor showing from my knights though, I still needed boxcars to waver the horde. I didn't get them.
I should have turned my pistoleers in to help with the melee with the knights. I knew there would be trouble when my knights clipped the woods. Those extra attacks from the rear could have made the difference.
Turns 5 and 6
Spoiler:
So, to no one's surprise his knights on the right counter charge and his stuff on the left closes in on my left flank. Again his trebuchet missed
My delaying handgunners got pulverized as expected. I did not expect my general to get attacked though. My poor general got crushed. And then the over run rule that I had completely forgotten about kicked in and his horde got to charge my knights. 32 attacks there hurt, but my knights hung around for another turn.
I absolutely have to get rid of those knights on my right flank so I pile everything into them I can, even my remaining unit of hand gunners. The pistoleers are so far out of the battle that they might as well continue on their original plan.
I remember my basics and concentrate fire from the cannons into the men at arms. One hit is all it will take to have a good chance of routing them. Unfortunately, the cannons have been taking lessons from his trebuchet and nothing connects.
The battle on the right flank though looks like it's going to plan. The knights get some good hits in. The swords get some good hits in. The handgunners even get some hits in. I only need a 7 to waver them and with luck a 9 could break them. No luck though. At this point, I know the battle is pretty much over unless there is some kind of miracle.
Turns 7 and 8
Spoiler:
The hordes make it to my cannons and his knights counter attack mine again. The cannons disappear and my regiment of knights just couldn't survive the second attack from the horde. My opponent regroups all his victorious units so they face the right.
My swords charge in again and my handgunners join them but that unit of knights just won't die!
The pistoleers get to the siege artillery though and finish it off. On that high note for me, I concede the game. If I could have killed that horde of knights we might have gone another round or two, but as it was, there was no realistic hope.
The big take away from that game was how resilient a horde can be. They can be broken if hit with concentrated fire (my mistake against the men at arms) or if hit with full power (my mistake with the knights clipping the woods). Also, sending 10% of my army to pick daisies in the back field was a massive waste of resources. My opponent played a great game and I just didn't have a chance to recover from my blunders.
By far, the mvp for that game was my opponent's horde of knights on the right. They were hard enough to kill on their own. My tactical mistakes only magnified the problem. Like I said at the beginning, it was not my best played game. But it was a lot of fun. And the game was fast so we got another game in even with us stopping to reference the rules pretty frequently. If folks would like, I can do a battle report for the second game (in which I do much better).
Instead of being merely opinionated, try being informed.
2015/07/15 03:33:32
Subject: A KoW 2e Battle Report (A catalog of my blunders)
Looks like fun. I'm planning to hop into KoW now that fantasy is dead, and it looks like it runs very smoothly.
Holy thread Necromancy Batman. We just might have a new record. - Jayden63 commenting after someone responds to one of my battlereports from 27 months ago
2015/07/15 05:07:23
Subject: A KoW 2e Battle Report (A catalog of my blunders)
Dorrand wrote: I Like I said at the beginning, it was not my best played game. But it was a lot of fun. And the game was fast so we got another game in even with us stopping to reference the rules pretty frequently. If folks would like, I can do a battle report for the second game (in which I do much better).
I have yet to have a KoW game that I did not want to "go again".
I am glad you enjoyed, and don't underestimate getting stuck in with a hero in a dual charge with a unit.
Respectfully,
That Lee Guy
2015/07/15 06:19:37
Subject: A KoW 2e Battle Report (A catalog of my blunders)
Had you been setting up to receive a charge then the woods could have worked to your advantage - but not good for what actually occurred.
KoW plays fast enough that you can get in a second game, most nights - which means that you can use painfully learned lessons pretty much immediately.
The Auld Grump - the first game of KoW that I ever played I faced an opponent that was attempting to flank... with an all infantry dwarf force....
Kilkrazy wrote:When I was a young boy all my wargames were narratively based because I played with my toy soldiers and vehicles without the use of any rules.
The reason I bought rules and became a real wargamer was because I wanted a properly thought out structure to govern the action instead of just making things up as I went along.
