"A thing of beauty is a joy forever, 

just like that cool-ass book-box you made for your plastic toy soldier stuff."

- John Keats, a famous poet

Be careful, young Sir, for within this tome is bound the fortunes of your future wars. All their many twists and turns are already contained within, so be mindful, nay, be ever hesitant to open this tome. For the die of Fate may roll this way and that, and the Gods of the Roll hold no allegiance ever longer than a single roll.

                        - Sir Reginald of the Snake Eye, Veteran of the Pre-CoK Second Edition

Hello, fellow wargamers!

I had the idea of making something a little flashier for all my gaming aids, since I became fed up with a clear plastic box always giving the games I played a, well, second-hand feel. Like drinking wine from a plastic cup, or serving Big Macs at a fancy dinner, it always felt a little out of place.

So, I began to reimagine the vessel that should hold my fortunes in all the battles to come.

A box, certainly, for a pouch would be unwieldy and always slightly difficult to fish stuff out of. But what kind of box? A treasure chest? Nay, too heavy and difficult to lug around. An ammo crate? Pha! That's for those degenerates who play scifi games (No, don't look into my cupboard, no those are not Deadzone figures).

A book, then.

Oh yes, a book. A book contains a story, a world, a meaning, ever ready to spring into being with but a glimpse of the pages, ever able to realign itself: as I grew, so too did the stories in the books grow and their patterns gained new, deeper meanings.

This book would contain not a story as such, but the tools for crafting an infinite number of stories.

Book-shaped boxes are surprisingly easy to find online, and looking around for one that suited my needs didn't take long. One should take some time to find a suitable box, as it's one of those parts of a project in which you can spend time to save time. Picking an ill-suited box will force you to cut corners later, or spend oodles of time modifying it to fit your needs. I payed around 20 euros for my choice.

I decided to use dense foamed plastic, the stuff they use in old-fashioned sleeping pads for camping, as it game me a lot of granularity in terms of creating layers inside the box, and combines durability and ease of modifications in a nice package. For this project I wanted a thin sheet as I wasn't going to sleep on it, and multiple thin layers were both easier to cut and easier to form into a different layers for different objects. The box was deep enough to easily incorporate things in the bottom and another item, like the LoS tool, on top of them.

I cut out stencils for every individual layer from paper and used those to mark the slots I wanted on the foam and then veeeery carefully cut the pieces out. I changed my plan twice along the way, as I came up with more clever ways to position the things I wanted to fit in the box. I also found out that foamed plastic sticks to the blade of my hobby knife, so having a file at hand became necessary, so I could scrape off the scrap from the blade. A sharp blade is key, for it makes clean cuts while a dull blade makes uneven tears.

I cut everything before starting to even think about gluing, as I wanted to build a sturdy, non-removable filling for my box. My box took five layers to fill, and that gave me plenty of room for my chosen tools. The gluing was actually a little bit tricky, as I had made some cutting errors and had to fix them at this stage.

I used a contact glue, the gooey stuff that makes elastic bonds and that smells terrible. As foam is veeery elastic and bend readily, any glue that forms hard but brittle bonds such as superglue would be poor choices, I believe. I glued the layers in the box, one layer at a time and let them set properly before attempting to add another layer. That process took the better part of two days.

As I my labor neared completion, I noticed a grave mistake in my set-up. I had left out the most crucial of tools, the Die of Doom. Luckily I had time to make amends and made room for that miniscule, but all-powerful die:

Storms rage as mighty heroes clash and power-hungry wizards unleash words of power that rend the very fabric of reality, but none are equal in power or terror to the Die of Doom. On its worn, pale faces are written the outcomes of every battle, and Woe be unto thee, if thou should fail to defer to its command. The storms of War die down, or rage with renewed fury, heeding the fateful rattle of its roll.

Ask not for whom the Die of Doom rolls; it rolls for thee.

Finishing touches to the box took some pondering, as I was unsure what kind of a finish I wanted. I went the easy way and ended up painting it all black. The foam is relatively easy to paint, as it's porous so regular miniature paint forms a relatively sturdy layer on it.

A tape measure, a turn counter, a LoS arc, a LoS laser, room for thirty-something dice, room for counters, room for objective markers (including Bluff tokens). And of course, a very central place for the Die of Doom.

Next up... Not sure, perhaps a battle report?

Cheers,

AoW

From beyond the pale - Revenants, Goreblight and some characters join the fray

 The ruins of the castle, once a sad monument to a failed Order, were now a gaping wound in the fabric of life. A cold wind blew and a hoary everfrost clung to dead branches of the woodlands surrounding the tumbled walls.

Perching on a high fell, the slopes of which were of sheer, dark stone, Coldguard Keep was a fastness of a kingdom long since fallen into ruin. Here they had stood against the frozen wraiths during the Long Winter, their faith a shield against the relentless onslaught of ice and death marching down from the North year after year. The passes guarded by the unyielding edifice of Keep, manned in a ceaseless watch by the Knights of Coldguard and the Guard of the Ford, were the rock upon which the waves of Winter's onslaught broke time and again, ever to assail but never to conquer.

And so it would have been, should their vows have held true.

Here they had stood, and here they had fallen, ultimately brought low by the hardening of their hearts, and the subsequent abandoning of their post. Dearly they paid for their forgetfulness, but dearer still is the price yet to be paid, for on Pannithor death is rarely a sanctuary, and never does it settle the debt of betrayal.

The revenge visited upon the Knighs of the Kings was long in the making, and as it oft goes, also bit the avenged just as deep as those it was taken upon. The Necromancer perished at the height of his spell, but the gates to the Underworld had already been opened. Now the dead streamed forth, eager to avenge both their deaths and their unlife to the living.

The courtyard was teeming with unlife. Runed, grave-worn armor was donned, and ghastly heads were covered with mighty helms, as proudly plumed in death as they were in life. Blades, bitten by the bitter turning of the years, now glow with a deathly hunger. Ragged banners were raised, ghostly horns blared in the mountain air. The Guard of the Kings had risen again.

There is a blast of frigid air and a ghostly laughter rising from some deep place echoes through the roofless halls as the King Arisen gallops forth from the gates. Once a brother to the one who came back first, the Cold King, the one who now returns is a creature washed clean of empathy, honor or indeed any thought save to bring ruin and to bring all living things into the icy embrace of Death. Once a mighty captain, and the co-ruler of a powerful kingdom, the one who returned now bears little resemblance to the noble lord, brought low by the tides of fate.

The inner sanctum of the Keep lays in ruins, its stained glass windows shattered into blood red shards and dry, cold dust swirls in the slow drafts of air that sigh and moan through the corridors. In the centre of it all there is a gateway of massive stone slabs. Once leading down into the crypts of Kings, it now opens to sheer nothingness. Not a darkness, but a desolate deepness gapes under its massive lintel.

From the shapeless opening a shape begins to emerge, while the echoes of the necromancers unholy spell give form to yet another abomination. A faceless creature emerges, clad in bony armor and sinew crafted from the flayed souls of the dead. This creature is not something brought back, but something altogether foreign, a creature native to the sunless lands. Driven by hunger, its very presence seeps the life from all those around it. As it lays a massive, clawed foot onto the stones, an unseen miasma begings to spread and the stones of the ruined castle groan in protest to its presence.

The thing that should not be has come, a Goreblight has emerged, nerver-living, yet ever hungering.

Worst of the Undead are those that are neither forced by others nor bound into any will save their own. The Keep, once the domain of Kings, is now the seat of a deadlier power than any there has held before. A Liche Queen, once a mighty mage-queen, now guides the Dead with an iron will. With a voice devoid of the warmth of life she now commands her legions, and all are subject to her will. A single word from her ethereal lips can freeze a hearty warrior to the bone and a single motion of her hand can call the dead from their graves.

Greetings, fellow KoWsters!

After a longish break from this blog, I decided that it's time to revive it as 2021 is showing some promise when it comes to hobby opportunities. With those opportunities also my hobby mojo is coming back and with that, the graveyard that is my hobby desk is receiving more than sad glanses and forlorn moments of silent reflection. Dust has once again been driven into the small, dark spaces under the paint racks, and water once again sparkles in the cup at the paint station f.

Lately my desk has been filled with Revenants from Mantic and a repurposed Plague first gen mutant and I've also seen an unexpected return by the second Revenant King that I built more than a year ago.

Multibasing my revenants

Mutibasing is one of the coolest things about KoW. it gives me the freedom of expression rarely achieved when basing models on single bases. The small dioramaesque interactions and the ability to create different feels to different units really bring the units to life. Is this unit a ragtag mass of frenzied critters or perhaps a well-ordered, cohesive fighting force? Both can be expressed with ease, along with a multitude of other things.

For my Revenants I wanted to stick to my ruined castle theme, this time crafting the front courtyard of the castle's main hall. Mantic's plastic bases are an excellent material for building bases as polycement makes the structures very sturdy once it dries properly. I used them for the flagstones of the castle stairs, while I clipped and cleaned their sprues for the colums and masonry of the cracked doorway arch. Two Basilean horses donated their heads to make ornaments above the doorway: one still on the wall, the other fallen and cracked, to be almost buried in snow. I carved out the central circular holes to make stained glass windows, using plasticard for the glass panes themselves.

The main problem when making stuff yourself is getting enough detail into the base. With this base I tried to add detail by making cracks and chipped edges to the stonework, while also making sure enough (but not too much, mind you!) is happening on the base. These bases feature ruined walls, crumbled masonry and broken glass and also stone braziers, filled with ghostly flames from which more Revenants are rising. 

I knew I was mainly going for a Horde, so I planned the entire base before getting to work on the models themselves. I use 3mm MDF for the bases as it provides some additional resilience to warping from PVA and other water-based materials. Previously I've used warbases.co.uk, but I probably need to find another provider due to the Charlie Foxtrot known as brexit.

I usually use some pen-and-paper sessions to draw concepts and to map out materials needed, build order and possible problems. This Horde breaks down into three parts; a regiment and two troops. I don't expect to use them a whole lot, but who knows. I wanted to strive to minimize transitions from one separate base to the next when they're put together. That means "themes", or parts of bases need to continue from one to the next, which is problematic when I also decided to go for minimal overhang. Some people like to go for a dynamic feel with the miniatures hanging far over their base, but I find this to be an inconvenience during games as fitting units flush together becomes difficult.

In this base the themes carried over is for one the broken wall of the castle, which runs in a direct line on both the regiment base and the rear troop base. The two troops have a few things that "carry over", a fallen bit of masonry spans both bases and some stained glass, also. Another continuing theme is the stairs, as both the regiment base and the front troop have an identical, short stair. 

The goal is to have a unit that looks tied together without being boring. I also wanted an.. organic? look to the base, meaning I didn't want it look like a flat piece of wood that I glued a miniature ruin on and then threw in some models. Using a piece of MDF and just gluing some random ruins on it usually leaves very little reasonable interaction between the base and the models. 

What I mean by reasonable interaction is simply that models need to look like they're moving through whatever is on the base, and that means the base needs to look like there is some reasonable continuation of whatever is on the base that can be imagined to continue around it. I think you shouldn't glue a horse in full gallop so its hind legs are touching a wall (I mean, how the hell did that horse accelerate to full tilt with one stride?), nor should you just throw a random goblin on the roof of some partially ruined building that's on the base (I mean, sure, goblins are weird, but the single dude haphazardly glued to the roof rarely adds the desired effect). A horse clearing a fence is cool, an ogre crashing through a fence is cool, a dwarf fording a running stream is cool. All these require something else than just having a random ruin on the base.

Now my goal isn't to moan about other people's basing, but more to explain the thought process behind mine. I wanted my Revenants to look like they're marching through the ruined castle and that means the models must be positioned so that a person looking at the base can kind of see the motion even if it isn't there.

Ice and snow

The fun part about basing my Undead is the winter theme. Snow and ice present a challenge as they have a very recognizable look and feel to them, which is difficult to capture at this scale. One problem with creating realistic snow bases is that once there's quite a bit of snow, the snow is everywhere. It's not clumped, it's not here and there. It's everywhere. Every surface that's not vertical will be covered by it, and every nook and cranny will be filled up with it. The magical winter wonderland that's super pretty in early February in Finland looks really really boring when recreated as a base. That's why I decided that I'd rather strive for a look that looks realistic rather than is realistic.

The recipe for my icicles I stole from a long-lost youtube video, and it's simple. Using clear plastic, such as is found on the flyer base stems and sprues, I heat the plastic over a candle until it gets a sheen to it and starts to bend slightly. It's important to be patient, it takes a little while and you shouldn't try to speed the process by getting too close to the flame, otherwise you'll get soot on your icicle.

Once the plastic is malleable, I gently pull the ends away from each other. This creates the icicly narrowing shape. Be careful not to pull the ends too far apart, as this will snap the plastic and the narrow parts will curl before they cool. Once you reach the desired thinness, hold the plastic in place for roughly half a minute, as this will allow the plastic to cool down.

I am yet to manage a totally sharp icicle, but I am also yet to try.

Snow is a little tricky, and I ended up using Army Painters snow flow, glued with oodles of superglue layer upon layer until I achieved the thickness I wanted. What I wrote above about snow forming a uniform cover isn't necessarily true always and everywhere. Cold doesn't yet mean snow, at least not a lot of it, because snow = rain, and there are plenty of cold, dry places where there is snow, yes, but it's not a deep cover. That is a whole lot easier to manage.

A thing to keep in mind is that snow is usually soft and must be waded through. That's why it's usually a good idea to make the base, add the models and then add the snow as that allows for a move realistic interaction between the snow and the models. Patience is key, and if you're using snow flock, then multiple thin layers is the way to go.

For the Goreblight I went for a look that the monster is dragging a victim caught in its chains through the snow. which was a bit of a pickle since snow does yield under weight, but doesn't get easily brushed completely off. I went for a compromise with some stone showing under the lady-in-distress, as I think it made the movement more apparent even without me explaining what's going on.

Snow can form uneven piles, but that requires two things: constant cold temperatures that keep the snow from becoming dense, and wind. The constant cold is easy enough to imagine, but that would mean that there should be NO icicles on my base, as icicles start forming when the snow melts in sunshine, but the temperature hangs below freezing. This wouldn't do, so damned be realism! I wanted big, dramatic icicles with banks of snow, so I made big, dramatic icicles with banks of snow.

Next up: a story about hobby related vanity project.

Cheers and thanks for reading!

AoW

KoW in Finland - building a community

Greetings, KoWsters!

With 2020 behind us and the Third edition tried, tested and found worthy, I decided that it would be a good idea to write a post about my thoughts regarding building a community around a game and also giving a rundown on what the community in Finland is like today.

2015 - a slow start

The way I see it, in 2015 when GeeDubs killed their version of rank-and-flank fantasy, the fantasy wargaming scene in Finland was pretty stale.

Back then in Finland we had a bunch of people playing ETC-hammer, which was, in my view, a version of 8th edition that was patched almost beyond recognition. There was a semi-active tournament scene, with a few tournaments run every year. Then we had a lot of people like me and my friends, who never played new people and mostly kept to ourselves. It was regarded self-evident that there would always be a WHFB by GW and people would always play the game.

Well, come summer of 2015, it turns out that that self-evident fact was not very waterproof. AoS was a joke, and for many of us, it seemed in poor taste, although I hear nowadays it's an okay game if you like 40k. The uproar was deafening, and for the first time ever many people, myself included, looked beyond GW for a game.

Here's actually what I consider to be the biggest single threshold for people playing GW games: they often feel like they're being unfaithful if they take up a game that's non-GW. I felt the same, at first, but soon it started feeling like I had been a part of a weird, weird cult. Miniatures by another manufacturer? Pha! A game that's not titled Warhammer? Peasants! The weird thing, in my view, is that after playing other games for a change, I actually came to realize that WHFB 8th edition had never been a good game, even with ETC fixes. It achieved depth through randomness and complexity, neither of which are dominant in KoW. It had a cool backstory, or had had a cool backstory, but by 2015 that cow had been milked completely dry.

In 2015 we had one tryout KoW-tournament in Finland, with around ten participants. There seemed to be some enthusiasm, but the whole landscape of FB mass battle systems was still blown wide open. No one was sure which game to pick up.

Me and my friends stuck with Kings of War, since it seemed a lot more balanced than WHFB had beem

2016-2017 Participating in everything

I quickly realized that the community I had once taken for granted was anything but, and that behind the seemingly endless flow of tournaments and game days was a handful of people who were working their butts off to make things happen.

The first step I was willing to take was to start attending tournaments. The first few tournaments were only four players, but soon we had a regular six to eight people playing. That's not many, but taking into account that Finland, despite it's area, is only 5 million people, it was a start.

During these two years I spent maybe ten weekends driving to which ever rundown warren of miniature wargaming geeks I could cram myself into for a few hours of gaming. I met a bunch of people and slowly got to know them some, despite being a semi-introverted sluggard when it comes to making new friends.

2018-2019 Pulling my weight

2018 was the year when I really started to put time and effort into making things happen. I organized my first own tournament while still continuing to drive obscene amounts (shut up, Americans, we know you drove longer) in order to participate to tournaments held elsewhere. A weekend here, another there.

Two weeks back I found myself at Ropecon, demoing KoW for an evening and then hosting an event the next day. The tournament at this venue has become the tournament in Finland, despite being only a one day event and the games being of a relatively few points at 1750. Two eventful days full of people coming and going and even getting a surprise game in myself as the backup player!

Round one under way, seven tables means a small tournament, but enough to make it interesting.

After working to build a community for a few years, I notice a thing starting to happen. A new face here, another there. Not everyone comes always, nor does every new face become a regular attendee, but a few do. Slowly but surely we have started to gain some traction, and though it's been a long four years and we're still far from a big game in Finland, I think we're starting to get this thing moving.

The year 2020 didn't happen, as we all know, so nothing to report on that blank space of time.

KoW in Finland - what's going on today?

Previously we've been hosting four to five tournaments per year in different towns and cities in Finland, mainly in Jyväskylä, Turku and in the capital region. Turku hosts a tournament in autumn and late spring, while Jyväskylä usually has a winter tournament, while the capital region is still picking up it's game. The main event has thus far been the Kings of War tournament at Ropecon I mentioned earlier. Tournaments are small, usually 8-12 players, with Ropecon attracting around 14-16 players every year. Small tournaments, but tournaments none the less.

One off games are happening every now and then, but I think we're not reaching the level of communal activity I'd like to see. That goes to say that people tend to play in their basements rather than at clubs, which is fine unless you want to attract more people. The people playing KoW seem to be from their late twenties to their early fourties, so family life and jobs take a toll on people's ability to get those games going. What surprises me is that it seems that some people in Finland are still looking for the right game to scratch that fantasy itch, even after many years of WHFB-refugeeism.

Currently I think we have around 20 active players, maybe more, and I think there's some genuine interest with quite a few others as well. I'm pretty thrilled at 3rd Edition and the coming tournaments of 2021!

What's required to build a community?

In Finland, I'd say KoW is, right now, a second-rate game. 40k is king with a ton of players, and on the second tier we have a bunch of games from T9A to Warmahordes to AoS to KoW, with many games regularly hosting tournaments. So all in all, the miniature wargaming community in Finland is actually pretty active. My goal has, for the past five years, been to get more people interested in playing Kings of War. Community, e.g. the people playing the game and sharing the passion for their hobby, is at the heart of the hobby, and that means that in order to have a community, you have to get players.

A community is built, I feel, mainly, through relenteless work, a lot of time for the game to gain ground and some shameless advertising.

My tips for getting a community going, although I'm far from being good at this stuff myself:

1. Always attend everything you can

Whether it's a day for one off games in the next town over or a two day tournament, go if you can. Your presence will be noted, and the worst publicity a game can get are events getting cancelled due to lack of attendance. That sends a very discouraging message to anyone that could potentially be interested in the dame.

People want to pick up a game that has players and that's why it's important to help making these events happen.

2. Get in touch with local gaming clubs

Even if they don't actively play Kings of War, or even if they don't show a lot of enthusiasm for it at first, being an active member in the club will draw people's attention and maybe give you a few casual opponents to play against once you get them introduced to the game. People who already play miniature games are, in my opinion, the likeliest people to pick up Kings of War as they know how to start a game.

Interact, mingle, and if you have a friend you usually play, take your games to the local gaming den instead of your basement. That'll give you some visibility.

3. Demo the game

Running demo games is the best way to show the game off.

People are likelier to pick up a game they've tried and found interesting, so I recommend you actively demo the game. Pack two armies with you, small ones preferably, hoist your butt to the local wargaming cave and host a demoing event or a day for one off games. Even if you attract just one Joe Random, who happened by accidentally, remember that the community consists of individual players. Every player counts, especially in the beginning.

4. It takes time

People who are potentially interested in the game need time to get going, and will be more likely to turn from potential players to active ones if you keep the game visible for enough time for them to first feel like they'd not be wasting their time by picking the game up and second for them to have enough time to actually get a force assembled.

5. Ask for help and offer to help

Local wargaming clubs will, most likely, be happy to help you organize stuff and to make things happen so that they could add another game into the bulk of games they as a community represent. If someone is thinking about organizing an event in their area, go a

6. Remember that it's just a hobby

Take time off, let your miniatures sit in the corner and go drink some cold beer or whatever you do when you want to just relax. It's easy to burnout the joy of the hobby if you take it too seriously or don't have enough other stuff to keep you busy, because it can take a long while for the game to gain some players.

--

At any rate, I for one can't wait to see CoVid-vaccines rollout and we can get back to the really important stuff, wargaming.

Keep safe and roll lots of sixes,

AoW

Kings of War movement tricks I - "Shadow of the Wyrm"

 Greetings!

I decided to end my blogging hiatus with a somewhat different post, by trying to invade an area that is difficult to write about; tactics.

The difference between tactic and strategy has been oft debated and rarely explained in a satisfactory manner, but in this post I will use tactic to refer to a set of positions, unit movements and measures one uses to achieve a limited goal. While my strategy might be to concentrate my forces and take three out of five counters, tactics are the smaller steps I use to achieve those larger goals.

In this post I will explore one tactic for creating opportunity to advance regardless of the threat of faster opponents. Most of us have been at the receiving end of fast units and pinned down with very limited movement options due to the simple fact that the enemy is so much faster. It can often be difficult to find avenues of approach without taking near suicidal risks or the advance getting bogged down to a snail's pace.

Fast units, such as flyers, are often used for just such a purpose: threaten the opponent, force them to either accept unfavourable charges or back down and win the game by pressuring the opponent to yielding more and more ground.

The key to solving the issue lies partially in the fact that flyers, like Dragons, Elohi, and so on are expensive. That means they are often outnumbered and thus are under pressure to achieve local superiority in a fight of their own choosing. Keeping that in mind is important, as it means it's easier to see flyers and other fast striker units for what they are and what they need to achieve. They're not all-powerful super units, but rather very expensive units that need to be able to achieve board control in order to function. If that is denied, they become relatively easy to manage. 

In this blog post I will go through and explain one tactic for wresting initiative from a more mobile force without accepting extremely poor odds.

Note that the examples given aren't neutral points-wise, and should be viewed as illustrations of a concept rather than as a match-up of specific units.

Initial situation: Basilean threat

In this situation the Basilean flyers have moved up to threaten the Wights on the left. They are safely outside the charge ranges of all Undead units and the Elohi are positioned so that the Wights can't escape their field of view, while the Dragon is lined up to threaten all three Undead units.

This puts the Undead in a precarious situation. They can't strike at the Basileans this turn, and moving up against them seems very dangerous; a combined charge from those units is enough to knock out any one of the Undead units with even a modicum of luck. They can't stay as they are, nor can they effectively withdraw.

However, the Undead can adopt a relatively simple tactic to overcome this type of a situation, one that I call "the Shadow of the Wyrm" and it revolves around the very simple mechanic of unit Height. By advancing very aggressively with the Wyrm, which is Speed 7 and height 6, directly towards the Dragon, the Undead can create a "shadow" on the field in which it is safe for the Revenant Cavalry to advance and close the distance between themselves and the Basilean units. Meanwhile the Wights pivot slightly and move up, escaping the Dragon's Line of Sight.

Undead follow-up: Throwing shade

The initial problem with flyers and units that outdistance one's own is simple: you can strike at me, but I can't strike at you. This move doesn't seek to change that in itself, but rather forces the Basileans to either accept very, very risky charges or to reposition themselves, changing the situation to something more like "you can strike at me, but do you really want to?"

The Basilean units are still the ones to get the first blow, but the risks involved make other options seem more inviting.

* There's a slight movement error in the Wights' position, they should be 0.1" to the left in order to escape the Dragon's LoS. The move is possible, so the situation remains unchanged.

The Basileans are far from trapped, but their powerful combined charges have been denied for this turn and the Undead have managed to signicantly advance on the board. Is the game over? Not by a long shot, the Basileans have plenty of options open, but their strongest move has been blocked. Did the Undead conduct a winning move? Maybe, depends on what's going on elsewhere on the board. That's why this is a tactic, not a strategy. 

This move will not, on it's own, win the game. It's one way to scale the obstacle of being threatened by units with superior movement. I find this move particularly good on the flanks where flyers often tend to congregate in order to dislodge their opponent's centre, as when confronted on the flanks, the flyers have far less options for escaping an unfavourable frontal assault.

There are a few key things to look for when trying to set up a LoS shadow on the field:

- You must be able to move up sufficiently close to the unit you want to block, because you want a wide shadow that results from proximity to the enemy

- Make sure you have retaliating units ready to pounce on any frontal charges the flyers may make

- Only advance if it benefits you, don't go forward for no reason!

- Advancing against flyers is dicey, make sure you can deal with them trying to sneak over your lines

Undead vs Nighstalkers - 2000pts Loot

The barren wastes stretched to the horizon around the rocky outcropping, a seemingly endless expanse of rolling hills from which this lonely peak lifted its time-ravaged head.

On top of the hill there was a rider, a darksome shape against a steel grey sky. The wind was a bitter breeze, but it blew around the rider unfel, wasting its fury. His tattered cloak snapped and fluttered in the gale, but it was long since such matters could reach him, let alone pierce his death-cold flesh.

The rider looked down into the valley, interspersed with huddling groups of trees. To mortal eyes it would have seemed of little value, but to his eyes, long ago clouded by death, the power buried here by some ancient strife shone with a light of its own.

Three there were that were buried here, and three he had come to claim.

But so had others, for on Pannithor the powers that seek destruction and death are rarely aligned, and as he watched from the hilltop the slope across the valley seemed to shimmer and sway, only to be torn into gaping maws a moment later. Great rents tore into the fabric of reality, and terrifying creatures came forth.

Cold hate burning in his eyes, the Revenant King pointed his sword towards the nightmarish fiends that poured forth from the gates, motioning his armies forward. The battle, nameless and but one of many, had begun.

--

Greetings, fellow KoWsters!

I ended up playing in the cozy little tournament I myself arranged at my hometown, Jyväskylä. Originally, I was the back-up player, but since one player fell ill, I was, unfortunately and with a heavy heart, forced to step into the fray myself. This gave me a nice opportunity to field my Undead that had recently reached 2k painted.

It's a list I planned and started building in late 2nd Edition, and boy did I get lucky with the swap to 3rd Edition! Wraiths, Wights and Wyrms are all very much a thing in this edition, as well as the Balefires that I threw in the list in order to demonstrate that war engines are viable option.

“Flowers of Frost” - 2k Undead
Wraith Regiment
Wraith Regiment

Revenant Cavalry Regiment
Revenant Cavalry Regiment

Wight Horde*
Werewolf Horde

Balefire Catapult
Balefire Catapult

Necromancer - Drain Life(5), Surge (6), Conjurer’s staff
Lykanis
Revenant King - Mount, Surge (5), Blade of Slashing
Revenant on Great Undead Burrowing Wyrm - Inspiring Talisman

The idea behind the list is that all units are agile and good at projecting threat and each unit packs a punch so there are no "easy match-ups" for my opponents. Every unit is relatively tough as well, so there are no glass cannons, but also no super units that would be ideal targets for enemy shooting. Catapults provide some ranged threat and are there to make sure I have tools to fight off stalemates and force my opponents' hand. By targeting heavy-hitters and monsters (and titans) they are just enough of a threat that one has to take them into account, ignoring them might be disastrous.

My list aims to win games by enticing my opponent to engage in close combat without adequate groundwork and then taking advantage of the synergies provided by phantasm-units' Sp 7 and Fly and Surge. The list doesn't have all that much Surge, only 11 all told, but I don't think the strength of Surge to be in its very limited ability to counter Shambling's lack of At the Double!, but in it's ability to realign on-going combats to my advantage. Enabling "impossible" charges is what Surge is there to achieve in this list.

Thus the strength of my list, in my view, lies in its units' ability to support each other in combat. The units have small footprints and high defence, meaning that I can usually make combats last many turns, giving me time to set up some funky Surge-action.

However, the list has some built-in weaknesses. First off all, there are no Speed 10 flyers, which means I can get out-ranged by flying units. Second, I have zero true anvil-type units. Wraiths are a tough nut to crack, but they're no Revenant Horde. This means I can't reliably soak a charge from heavy hitters. Thirdly, the list has no real chaff, either, so my ability to choke my opponent's movements is very limited as is my ability to sacrifice units as my list needs all of its units to get favourable trades in order to stay in the game.

--

In the first game of the tournament I faced a pretty scary Nightstalker force from the next town over.

Scarecrow Legion - Hammer of Measured Force
Fiends Horde - Brew of Strength
Doppelganger Regiment

Reapers Troop - Screamshard
Reapers Troop - Screamshard
Phantom Troop
Needle-fangs Troop
Needle-fangs Troop

Shadow-hulk
Terror
Void Lurker
Horror - Aura (Vicious, melee inf), Bane Chant

The list seemed to contain the two items mine doesnt: speed 10 Flyers and chaff. These, combined with the built-in Stealthy of Nightstalkers meant that I felt hard-pressed to gain the upper hand so I wouldn't get pinned down early in the game, and then picked off one unit at a time.

Pre-game questions that I had were:

- Could I contain the flyer threat without yielding the Loot tokens?

- Could I gain enough benefit from my Balefires, or would they simply be a 200pts handicap?

- Could I take down the Titans without paying too heavy a price?

They approach, the nightmarish and the profane. Howls shred their way through the screaming winds as the Werewolves come forth, leaping while the thunder of the hooves of horses makes the ground shake. Ghostly forms come streaming down the hill, gliding above the battlefield without a sound.

Across the field the gaping maws of nightmare spew forth creatures without shape, mindless and hungry for the lifeforce of this world when a sudden silence falls. Then a growl rises, rises, and above the teeming mass of fiends three shapes rise. One winged, one with a giant, gaping maw and the third a mass of lashing tentacles.

The battle commences.

Both our deployments showed some layering, meaning both of us left some units behind the first line as a reserve to counter enemy units slipping past our lines and to charge into the fray once it became clear where help would be needed.




“We must strike them, now, before their hold on this plane becomes too strong to sever.”

The Necromancer’s thoughts were a whispery echo in the frigid halls of the King’s mind. Had he possessed the ability, he would have snorted in contempt at the sniveling creature’s spineless mumblings. He let his cold gaze turn to the ghostly fighters and sent them advancing with a thought and then rode forth with his knights.

Too strong to sever… He would drink from whatever energies drove these creatures forth and claim it as his own.

(Picture taken after UD1, NS having already started their movement phase by moving Needlefangs).

The Undead won the roll and went first in order to maximize Catapult effiency. There was some careful movement forward in the centre, because I didn't want to commit my troops too early on, and moving backwards is a whole lot more difficult than pressing on later in the game. I decided that the best way to approach the Nightstalker's Stealthy was to ignore it and play the game as if they didn't have it at all and use them, as planned, to create pressure and lure them to charge too early in the game, or at least to put pressure on them to seek out charge opportunities, possibly putting themselves at risk while doing so.

I think the larger scale tactics of KoW are a lot about knowing when to charge, when not to charge and, on the other hand, when to advance in such a way as to enable the opponent to charge, while only offering poor targets. For example in such a way that the charges presented are either Hindered or against targets that will almost assuredly survive the charge, leaving their units in untenable positions.

The Werewolves moved up to pressure the centre of the 'Stalker line while the Lykanis hung back behind the hill, threatening possible fly-overs. The Balefires chose to target the Fiends on the right flank as they couldn't hide due to their height, didn't have any means of getting rid of any potential damage and didn't have easy access to my Inspiring units for more protection. Here the point wasn't to count on my Balefires to take the horde out, but more on making it dangerous for my opponent to count on them NOT doing that.

On their turn the Nightstalkes moved up as well, not really concerned about offering my units charges. Only on the right flank is their advance really careful so as to avoid my Werewolves and Lykanis. The monster moved up into the woods, moving to protect the Needlefangs that took the Token. Phantoms move up also, threatening whoever I send in to claim the Token.

In a sinuous, flowing motion, the Wyrm crashes through the woods, making little of the trunks barring its way. They snap like twigs as the mighty beast thunders through the forest, leading the ghostly warriors streaming behind him into the enemy line as ghostly fire streaks across the darkened sky

The rider, long since worn clean of any name he might have borne in life, roars and lifts a ghostly blade high into the air as his mount bears him into the fray and a deathly tongue of flame leaps up the length of the blade. It has quenched so many lives and grown more bitter and more powerful with each one.

These deaths will be no different.


Already on the second turn I knew for certain that I couldn't claim the token on the right, so I concentrated on trying to take the left flank and the centre tokens. Thus, I had this one chance to move in to take the token from the Needlefangs and so I did. I sent in both a regiment of Wraiths and the Wyrm, because I wanted to make sure that I could crush the Needlefangs. I was unafraid of moving up my Inspiring Wyrm, since the option of denying its Inspiring would have effectively rendered the whole unit useless. Mindthirst, the Nightstalker ability that enables them to tap into enemy Inspiring while depriving them of Inspirers of their own might seem like a hindrance at first glance, but it is not to be mistaken for a weakness. Instead, it enables the NS to skip spending unlocks and points on units that Inspire. 

To counter this tapping, I suggest the following: do nothing to counter it. 

Of course, there will occasionally be the moment when you want to turn tail with your cheap Inspiring hero to deprive the NS of your Inspiring, but for the most part it falls into the same category of mind-gamey special rules as Stealthy. The real power of both abilities is to make you as the opponent make poor judgements as you try to bendover backwards to fight against the two special rules. If you don't, and simply play the game as you would anyway, you'll find that you won't fall into the trap of hanging back with your super-killy monster to deprive a 100pts troop one turn of Inspiring, or start looking for ridiculously useless targets since shooting feels so ineffective.

At any rate, the Wraiths and the Wyrm make short work of the Fangs, taking the token and then forming up in a way that has the Wraiths footprint protecting the flank of the Wyrm. The Wyrm turned to threaten the Phantoms on the flank, making sure they move up or back down on the next turn.

In the Center I chose to charge, suboptimally in itself, the Nightstalker line and threw in just about everything I could. I wanted to get to fighting over the central Token before my opponent could bring in his Void Lurker to pin my line down. I brought in my Revenant King to Inspire my units, enable Surging on following turns and finally to shutdown either Fliers or Casters as needed. The King doesn't do much damage, but he does do some damage very reliably. Thus I sought to make sure that whatever my opponent does with his Lurker, I can pin it down. A stable threat is one that can be countered.

On their turn the Nightstalkers move up on the right flank while the Void Lurker went for the midfield. On the left the monsters charge my positions, surprisingly dividing their punching power between two targets instead of focusing on bringing down one unit. Both Wraiths are locked in combat while the Phantoms fly over and land close to my flank, trying to dislodge my line.

Doppelgangers and Scarecrows delete one of my Revenant Cavalry Regiments.







They fight, as they did in life so now do they continue in death. Faceless horrors clash arms with the emaciated forms of the undead warriors of bygone eras, their weapons passing harmlessly through their incorporeal forms. Scythes seething with unlife reap a bloody toll and monsters roar as they wrestle for supremacy.

A tide of profane magicks rises, rises and then reaches a crescendo and the ghosts wail with piercing, keening voices as they swarm over their opponents, striking as they envelop the foe.


On this turn the power of both Surge and what is commonly known as the "cork screw"-maneuver are displayed. I disengage one unit of Wraiths from the Horror and join their ghostly bretheren in fighting the Shadow Hulk. This move is based on the fact that a unit disengaging from one foe can easily draw LoS to an enemy on their side and then can pivot and charge the enemy in the flank. However, even their combined efforts aren't enough to bring down the Hulk. No easy victory on this flank, it seems.

The Wights turn and land one inch away form the Phantoms, after which the Necromance has no difficulty in Surging them forward and into the Phantoms. Hindered or no, 18 attacks, CS (2) and Brutal make short work of the flying pests and the Wights turn back to face the main battle. This was actually very, very important since had the Wights not made it back in time, I would've probably lost the entire flank. That would've been the end of it for me.

Werewolves and the remaining Revenant Cavalry rout the Scarecrow horde and turn to face the coming charges.

Nightstalkers spend the next turn teaching me the importance of careful play, for I had overlooked moving the Lykanis and thus his Fiends came charging my hero. So much for controlling that flank to any extent. Luckily they don't manage to Rout him, only Wavering my wolfie.

In the center the Void Lurker aids in bringing down my entire center line, Routing both Werewolves and Revenant Cavalry Regiment, leaving the Token they controlled in their possession. Victory was fast slipping past my fingers. The Terror manages to bring down one unit of Wraiths, but the Hulk fails to bring down the other. The situation is looking dire.

But no, victory shan’t be wrested from the creatures of the void so easily. Wolves cry out as they are torn asunder and the formation of the Undead Knights is shattered.

The Cold King curses and rides into the fray, his blade singing an ancient song of death.

The Undead begin their counter offensive and the Wights charge the Terror, while the Wraiths trust their own blades to bring down the Hulk. The Wyrm hangs back in the second wave, recreating what is commonly known as "strategic depth" in order to regain control of the flow of the battle. My trust is rewarded and the Hulk collapses to the ground, while Wights fail to budge the Terror.

On the right flank my Lykanis limps to the side, offering the Fiends the raw deal of either letting him go after the Token on the Needlefangs or then spending another turn killing him and drawing themselves even further from the increasinly pivotal central Token.

On their turn the Stalkers take the "bait" offered by the Lykanis, bringing his cursed life to swift end. That was the choice I would've preferred my opponent to take, as it meant his Fiends were practically out of the game. His Void Lurker comes in and takes out one regiment of Wraiths  and then turns to face the Wights.

The Winged Being from beyond slashes and bites, claws and strikes, breaking armor and snapping cold bone, but the creatures laugh in harrowing voices, like ice breaking on stone, and reform before its eyes.

Who are these evil memories given shape, seeking to drown the world in sorrow and pain?

Nameless, accursed, deathless.

Wights Disengage from the Terror and turn to face the Void Lurker. In Hindsight I noticed a slight rules break here, as there was less than one inch between the Wights and the Terror after the move, but luckily it wasn't pivotal. Still, noticing that I broke a rule feels bad. Rules are rules, and I like to run a clean ship in this regard.

The Wyrm lunges forth, jaws wide, and sinks its teeth into the writhing mass of tentacles, ripping it nigh in two. The Terror is no more. The Revenant King comes in and comes charging into the Lurker, denying him the use of his wings. Balefire Catapults notice the troop of Reapers trying to sneak off with a Token, take aim and bring a swift rain of ghostly fire on them. Their spiked forms are engulfed in balefire. When the fires die down, only charred bones remain. Oh, and the Token, too, of course.

On their turn, the Void Lurker comes after the Wights, but fails to destroy them. Doppelgangers move towards the now ownerless token. The second Reaper troop moves in to aid, but are woefully late for the party. Fiends finally get to close in on the catapults.

It is a terror beyond imagining, these warriors. Borne back from the deeps of death by their hatred of all things living,  their unholy voices rise in cackling laughter as they cleave their opponents in half and show their mastery of the field.

The Cold King, Arisen, hacks and slashes, killing at will, his slow, deep thought unburdened by the unnatural foes that he now faces. He notices, in a passing manner, that they wear his own face, called back from beyond a terrible count of years. These phantoms throw his old self against him, but he cares not, for the knight he once was and the one they now reflect, his true self, he killed that knight himself a long, long time ago.

They posses no horror that he has not yet visited upon himself a thousand times over in the hollow halls of death.

The Wights counter and easily crush the Void Lurker, showing how decisive the Fearless ability can be: where normal units have an "almost dead"-state, where they waver and are usually one slap away from death and unable to punch back, Fearless units are actually not only more resilient, but also are better damage dealers since there is no way other than Rout to keep them from harming you.

The Wyrm moves up to intercept the Reaper troop, moving also towards the central Token, while the Revenant King charges the Doppelgangers and effectively denies them the Token. Even as he is unable to claim the token himself, the Revenant King, unharmed thus far, is well equipped for late-game maneuvers such as this. The Doppelgangers' abilities avail them not, since they can choose between their own feeble attacks or swap them for a meager three attacks. They wouldn't be going through the Revenant King any time soon, and even though he's not Mighty, his three attacks are enough to quite reliably keep the Doppelgangers Disordered, thus making them unable to charge through him. I find it very important to enter the last few turns of a game with many highly mobile pieces remaining on the board; as my opponent's ability to control area wanes, the power of these units grows.

On the Nightstalker turn the Doppelgangers take part in an exercise in futily as they pound the Revenant King, while the Reapers attack the Wyrm, also without much effect. The Fiends take out the first Catapult.

At this point it was quite certain that this was to be a draw, as the Reapers stopped the Wyrm from reaching the Token quite the same way as my Revenant King kept the Doppelgangers from doing the same. The remaining Balefire managed to create a last-minute panic as it managed a solid four damage on the Needlefangs in the far right corner. Unfortunately for me, the unit didn't Rout.

My Wyrm kills the Reaper troop, but has no way of reaching the Central Token. 

On the Nightstalker turn there were no further developments, so a draw it was.

--



The field darkens.

No songs shall be sung of this day, for no heroes fought here.

If Evil fights Evil, but neither wins, who won? 

It sounds like poor jest, a clumsy riddle, and it’s best not to answer.

More thoughts and analysis to come!

Isle of Idin - Slow grow Campaign for KoW

It is said that when the Shining Ones had entered into Pannithor and had dwelt there for a time, they begun to long for whatever paradise they had left behind, or been cast out of. They longed for a paradise lost and in remembrance they shaped the Isle of Idin into its likeness.

Others, giving little heed to hearsay and old wives tales, say that the favourable, gentle winds and weathers of the world have shaped the land into a place most amiable.

Whatever the truth may be, it remains that the Isle is indeed a green jewel nestled in the warm bosom of the Infant Sea. In times past it has been a home to many peoples and continues to be so to this very day. Proud, ancient elven cities still persist on the Isle as well as rich Dwarven holds, dug deep under the rich mountains of Idin. On the Isle of Idin gentle farmlands and schools of wizardry have existed in peace and prosperity for a long count of years.

All this and more has existed under the mighty, gentle hand of the kings of House Bardast. Of old, Primovantorian descent, the Bardastian monarchs have been farsighted and prudent in the management of their kingdom and have seen it prosper beyond the splendour of other nations.

But all is not well in the Kingdom, for the last King, Hastius XI, died without issue, and as it is the nature of human, elf and dwarf alike, power left unclaimed is a prize most wanted. Rival claims to the throne have sprung like weeds on an untilled field, with each claimant drawing from age-old alliances and tapping into military, monetary or political strengths each house has carefully nurtured under the watchful eye of kings past. The council of Idin, convened to choose a new monarch for the Isle, sat for many moons but no claim was accepted. The throne remains vacant.

So it is that now the Isle of Idin teeters on the brink of war, all its riches ready for the taking.

Outsiders have now begun to make claims on the lands on the Isle of Idin, and the tumult and chaos have opened the door to darker powers as well. Goblins and other creatures of less-than-savoury nature have been seen sailing close to the shores. War's brewing..

Greetings!

After a work-induced hiatus from maintaining the blog, I return with a campaign!

We decided to host a slow-grow campaign with a light map element attached to it and I'll write a bit about the system we're using plus some thoughts and ideas of what a good campaign consist of. My previous campaign, a map-based campaign for Vanguard, fell to ruin and sank into the deeps of forgetfulness due to my own inactivity and a lack of thought-through system for using the map.

As I consider myself a creature capable of learning, I decided to come back better prepared, so I set myself some ground rules regarding the campaign and its mechanics. The map needs to play a role in the games. It has to incentivize the players to grab areas and interact with the map and it needs to be easy to grasp. It shouldn't break the core rules of the game, nor should it be overly elaborate. It should reward winning games, but it shouldn't hinder further progress. Thus I came up with the following outline and rules.

Our campaign will have, initially, five rounds.

As this is meant as an introductory campaign, we'll start at a surprisingly small size of 350 points. These games will be played on 3' x 3' tables and are mostly meant for teaching some new-comers the basic mechanics of the game. Another reason for starting that small is simply to provide some external support for people looking to get their armies painted. I find that small, attainable steps are better for this than more ambitious goals that tend to dismay some players more than they inspire.

The timetable is, roughly, as follows:

Round 1: 350pts in January
Round 2: 500pts in February
Round 3: 750pts in March
Round 4: 1000pts in April
Round 5: 1250pts in May
Round 6: 1500pts in June

I wanted the timetable to be loose enough to give ample time for painting up the required units, but I am also prepared to make it tighter should players want it.

Map - an overelaborate scoreboard

I've always had a thing for maps.

Whether it's in miniature war gaming or in a fantasy novel, I've always fancied pretty maps and I decided to make one for this campaign as well. I had an old frame lurking about and I decided to use it as a base for my map. I knew that I wanted to make a three dimensional representation of the area we'd be fighting over as I think that adds nicely to the immersive aspect of the game. I want the players to form rivalries and epic stories about how they defended Tor Idinor against marauding goblins or how they sacked the Tower of Fire, driving out the Druids who used the magical power in the war for supremacy of the Isle.

The main point is to be a glorified scoreboard as I don't want the map element of the campaign to overrule the basic mechanics and balance of the game too much. There are some in-game interactions between the map and the games, but they are deliberately kept relatively small.

The map is made out of cork with some wood filler for added shapes. The forests are sand mixed with PVA to make a pretty liquid paste that doesn't clump up but retains an uneven texture that can be drybrushed to give it an "deep" organic look. The water is simply PVA shaped, painted and gloss varnished to give it a sheen.

The cities and castles were a pain to make, as I wanted them to be more than just map markers. The amount detail that would've gone into it had I given into my desire to keep working on it would've been immense, but I wanted to cut it short in order to get it done and so the cities aren't quite as big as I wanted them to be, nor are there roads and bridges.

Playing the map

With some help from a fellow player I wrote a quick and simple set of rules for playing on the map. I kept them as simple as I could, because I wanted to make sure no one felt like there was some weird mini-game they had to master in order to take part in the campaign.

The map is divided into roughly hexagon-shaped counties. Each county represents one "point" in the campaign so the more you get to claim, the better you're doing. Some counties have special areas in them that can be claimed. Each player also has a war-party they can send to harass (and potentially destroy) special areas in unclaimed counties or counties controlled by other players. These aren't meant to represent the players' armies as such, as it's assumed that each invasion force has thousands of troops on the Isle. The war-party is simply an artefact on the map that can be used to create more narrative and more immersive play.

Each round begins with an initiative roll, which is 2d6. Ties are rerolled until a sequence emerges.

At the outset each player takes their turn and claims one of the landfall counties spread evenly on the coasts of the Isle. On later turns and at the end of each round the players can claim counties that are touching one or more counties they already control. If a player can't claim more counties that are adjacent to their counties, they may then claim a new landfall county.

The rolls for Initiative were 3, 5, 7, 11, 11. The elevens were rerolled and so the victor emerged. The first player decided to take Ankh-Or harbour as their starting point because they wanted to claim the desert counties as their own. Then other players chose their starting points, each carefully examining their potential and their distance from cities and castles. Questions of defending their own areas also arose. Which harbours offered the safest bonuses, which towns and Spires were the most difficult to assail?

War-parties

After claiming new counties, players take turns in placing their war-parties on the map. War-parties can move in direct lines from any county controlled by the player but they can't cross mountains, enemy-controlled counties or large bodies of water. Note that they can attack an enemy controlled county, but can't go across it to reach deeper into their territory.

Any special area attacked by a war-party can't be used until the opposing war-party is driven off or moves out on it's own. A war-party can destroy a special area so that it yields no more benefits for its controller. This happens if the attacker and the defender do not play any games during a round and if the defender does not move a war-party in to defend the county.

If a county has two war-parties, the players are encouraged to play a game and see which one wins! If the defender wins, the attacking war-party has to retreat and the defender can again use the bonuses from that county. If the attacker wins, the defender has to retreat and the bonuses are denied for the round. Due to the disturbance of defending forces, the attackers will be unable to focus on the siege and so the special area (castle, town etc) is still held, albeit under siege!

Counties can't be taken once claimed, so they can be burned to the ground, but their ownership doesn't change hands. This is to keep better track of the score and how each players games are going and to keep "win more"-mechanics from forming.

War-parties have a few additional functionalities depending the player's army's alignment:

- War-parties of good armies can protect an unclaimed county they can reach. This way the player can claim the county's special area bonuses even though they can't claim the county. This is, of course, unless the county is attacked by some other war-party.

- Evil war-parties can sack unclaimed counties, destroying their special area bonuses the same way they would in an enemy-held county, unless the war-party is harassed by another war-party.

- Neutral armies can do both Protect or Sack unclaimed counties, but once they sack an unclaimed county, they can't claim bonuses from protecting a county. The good people of the Isle simply wont aid butchers and brigands!

Special areas

Some counties give bonuses, although only one of these can be used when building an army. There are four different bonuses from four different areas:

Villages

There are eight villages on the map. They are also the closest bonus areas to the landing counties. An uncontested village allows one non-hero unit to be given a free magic artifact worth no more than 10 points.

Cities

There are four cities on the map. Each city allows a 10 point deductions to a non-spell upgrade of a non-hero unit. So a 25 point upgrade could be purchased for only 15 points.

Spires

There are four wizard's spires on the map. Each spire allows a 10 point deduction of a spell upgrade. This way a 20 point Banechant could be purchased for only 10 points.

Castles

There are four castles. An uncontested castle allows a player to use an additional war-party. A player can have a maximum of two war-parties. If a castle is attacked by an opponent, the war-party immediately retreats back to the castle to defend it. It can't be used to relieve the castle of the siege, so the bonus is lost the same way other bonuses are lost if the county is attacked.


This way there is some small benefit from playing the map, but the game itself isn't overly affected by the area bonuses. The point here is to encourage narrative games and to create flavorful rivalries between players and to avoid the usual "well, these two armies just kill each other for no apparent reason".

The initiative is used also during the next phase, as the players send out their war-parties. The first player, playing Empire of Dust, decided to send heir war-party North from the Southern desert to sack Trade Town, the fair city that has grown fat and rich under the shadow of Mount Idin. First they checked whether their war-party had a clear path and then they counted the hexagon-shaped counties between their own landing zone and those of others to ensure they were attacking a bonus area they themselves had little enough chance or need to claim.

The player going second played Forces of Nature, and being careful to claim a bonus for the round, to protect the ancient Spire of Fire even if they can't claim the focus of magical energy yet. Basileans sent their forces Northward, to lay claim to the Spire of Frost to claim the same bonus.

Finishing the round

After the games of the round have been played and players are ready to move on the next round, it's time for some cleaning up before moving on.

Players can play any number of games during a round from a single game to as many as they can squeeze in. The games played affect the map campaign and translate into "score" as follows:

- If the player won more games than lost this round, they claim two additional counties following the normal rules for claiming areas.

- If the player played an even number of wins and losses, they claim one additional county. They also gain +2 initiative next round.

- If the player lost more than won, they gain +4 initiative on the following round.

This means that those with fewer areas are likelier to get the areas they want next round, so winning wouldn't become more of a "win more"-thing.

Smoke rises in a thick column towards the steel-grey skies and heads driven into spikes adorn the brunt ruins. The towering cliffs of Mount Idin seem to weep at the loss of the fair city as the restless dead move away, retreating to their domains in the desert.. The fair city of Trade Town is no more. For years to come, the name will be an ill omen, a symbol of wanton destruction.

Meanwhile, to the east the rising sun graces the Spire of Fire, its proud head crowned with the colors of the Wild. With the druids and their forest-folk allies guarding it, it's wizards have promised and delivered their vast knowledge to the aid of the Forces of Nature.

Basilean flags hang limp from their poles on a windless morning. Driven back on all fronts, the Hegemon's Finest must fight on doggedly, if they hope to claim the Isle of Idin for the Hegemon.

The Wyrm-call: Creating an abomination

The ruined castle was quiet.

Gone were the ghostly visions that they had been prepared to expect.

It was quiet, so quiet.

High Paladin Antonin's heavy footfalls echoed in the desolate corridors as they, he and his company of Paladins, made their way through the ruins. The madman had spoken true enough when he raved about the horrors that had been woken, for he could feel his skin crawl with the rippling energies of the place: something dark dwelt here, barely held in check by some balancing force.

Whatever it was, Antonin was determined to be the one to lay it to a final rest.

"High Paladin, this way, the sanctum is here", the familiar voice of his apprentice seemed a hushed thing in the surrounding dark as she beckoned them to follow.

The inner courtyard was as empty as the rest of the castle, with tumbled piles of fallen masonry, sprinked with snow, laying strewn about the paved open space.

And in the middle of the ruins of the mighty castle rose the Sanctum of the Rose, a high domed chapel, whose stained glass windows had withstood both enemy and time alike.

"Let us enter. I have a feeling that whatever waits us inside is the key to this blasphemy."

--

Greetings, fellow Kowsters!

As it happens, the 3rd Edition crept up on me before I managed to build up my Undead to its full extent, and now I'll be revising the list I had planned. Not that I mind, mind you, as all I've seen so far of the Third has seemed very promising indeed.

In order to take a break from painting up the core of the army, I decided to have a go at the Undead Wyrm. It was a pretty interesting task, both exciting as I like the model and a little daunting as I knew I wanted to change the posture of the Wyrm: the original pose looks too static and not tall enough to warrant the Heigh 6 that Third Edition apparently assigned it.

The base was a mix of cork and wood filler. I like to glue the cork pieces from the center and leave the edges without glue so that I can break the even lines between the layers easily. They really stand out if you stack many tiers of cork one on top of the other and it stops looking natural. I glue the cork, let it set and then use pliers to rip small bits off it at the even seams before sealing it with glue. That way I can get a more continuous look to the stone effect.

I wanted to give the snowy ground some wawiness to make it look more like it was wind-swept and deep. I did that with wood filler, using a sculpting tool to shape the mass into mounds. Wood filler tends to form sharp edges and spikes, which don't look snow-like at all, so I got rid of these by rubbing the wood filler, once set, with a wet finger. The water softens the top layer enough for it to lay down into a smooth layer.

I cut through the connection were the tail connected to the chest from two sides with a hobby saw. Resin is nice to work with in that it's pretty soft to cut through and heat bendable. Which was exactly what I did once I had cut the tail loose.

The model soaked in near-boiling water for many minutes as, even at the thinnest parts, the tail is very thick. I didn't achieve a perfect fit with my base and i decided that it's easier to add more cork to fit the Wyrm's position than to reheat the Wyrm itself.

I then glued the Wyrm in place, adding the tail part after fitting the wyrm on the rock. I used greenstuff to hide the cut between the two parts as well as the cut from disconnecting the tail from the chest. I'm definitely not in my comfort zone when I'm working with greenstuff, especially if the work is anything more complex than a simple gap to fill. This time the gap between the two parts was the minor issue that would solve itself along with the more pressing matter of a clearly deformed and thinner part where the tail had been separated rom the chest. Luckily, it turned out okay with one try and the "undead" part of the model gave me some leeway in that it was easy to give the greenstuffing some detail by copying the rent look of the original parts of the model.

--

"High Paladin. Welcome."

The voice was little more than a whisper, but the bare stone of the chapel walls carried it clearly. Antonin lowered his gaze from the faded murals that covered the walls and focused his attention to the huddled shape near the middle of the chapel. A dark, ragged cloak obscured whatever true shape the creature wore, but the voice was that of an aged man. Antonin stepped forward and slowly strode down, drawing his heavy blade as he descended the broad stairs that ringed the central depression of the derelict sanctum. Quietly, his Guard spread along the walls having trailed their commander into the sanctum, circling the space.

"Thank you, though I do question the sincerity of your welcome."
"Do you? There's no need, for I have, truly, been waiting for you."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Well, not you specifically, perhaps. But one as like you as to make no difference."
"Oh? In that case I surmise that this former servant of yours did no so much escape, as was let loose on purpose, to draw one like me here."
"You do me an undeserved courtesy, High Paladin, for I did not harbor such plans. I am not the evil mastermind that you would make of me."
"Simply an evil commoner, then?"

Rising, the creature cast off the torn cloth that it had huddled under, and the near-dark of the chapel was pushed aside, for the creature's form was wreathed in ghostly fire, pale and pallid green. A shade, a memory of a living man it was, its form held together by the will of the man who should have been dead, but still lingered on, now fully turned to evil. A chill, dry laugh rattled forth from the shade as the two came face to face. The dead are not without mirth, even if theirs always stems from malice. 

"Perhaps not that, either."
"Perhaps."
"So what comes next, High Paladin? Shall you strike me down?"
"Yes, these things usually go that way sooner or later."
"Believe me, High Paladin, I truly wish it would not have to go this way, but I feel that our two creeds are very much inconsolably opposed."
"Creed? Which creed might that be? I know mine, Justice, Faith and Salvation of the Innocent. Yours is more of a mystery, I'm afraid."
"I am of the dead, High Paladin, we who are dead have only one creed. Vengeance."
"Vengeance for what?"
"For oath-breaking, for thievery and for the audacity to still draw breath under the warmth day. Vengeance upon those who are yet to drink from the dried-out chalices of the afterlife, and upon those who would steal our final rest and finally upon all those, who would forsake all bonds of fellowship and cast away their duty. And for what? A few cursed breaths of life more?"
"You despise those who called you back, yet you yourself are a Necromancer, are you not?"
"Yes, I am, and as such I myself will pay, too! One ill turn deserves another, and we who have now risen, albeit through abominable means and into this abhorrent existence shall not rest until all have paid what they are due."


The creature's rasping voice had grown in strength, from ghostly whispers to a thunderous boom that seemed to reverberate from the stone of the chapel itself. Then all grew quiet and a brooding silence settled over the sanctum. 

"I see", Antonin said sharply, "I, for one, have heard enough, but I do agree with you on one account: those who call back the dead shall pay their due, and I shall begin the tally with you!" 

His voice rose to a shout and then the High Paladin struck, the holy symbol upon his chestplate suddenly leaping with divine light. His sword drew a mighty arc through the air and then it struck the shade with a flash of light, followed by a thunderous crack.

As the light faded, the High Paladin saw the shade no more, but the roiling energies of the cursed place still loomed all around them, as a black stormcloud, waiting to be released. Then, a ghostly whisper came, seeming to emanate from the very air of the sanctum and as it spoke, maledictive runes began to glow on the walls. A sickly green un-light that hid more than it revealed.

"I am sorry, Paladins, for you did not deserve this, but for the dead, the means are always justified by the ends, and I need that which I lack but you posses: life.

Only life can pay for death, and what must be borne back from the deeps of death is a heavy burden indeed.

I did not meet you here to fight you, I met you here because I needed your life to pay for the passage of one greater than us all. I would ask you to forgive me, but I hold no such wish and do not wish to lie to you.

Perhaps we shall one day meet in the dry darkness beyond."

The glow of the runes grew as the voice died down.

High Paladin Antonin ran for the doors, shaking them and trying to make them budge, but the accursed runes had seeped across their ancient woodwork and they would not be opened. Antonin's paladins had spread around the hall while the two, the holy man and the shade of evil, had faced each other, now began hacking at the windows and the doors in a frenzy, seeking a way out of the chapel. They didn't scream or beg, they fought to spring themselves from the trap

There was a flash of darkness and a sense of having forgotten something, something more valuable than anything else in the world. The runes glowed. High Paladin Antonin felt himself plunged throught the world and out of it, into a place both under and beyond the confines of Pannithor itself. Then he was gone.

The stones of the chapel shook.

Something had been woken.

Something was coming.

--

So there is my Revenant on Great Burrowing Undead Wyrm! I spent quite a bit of time on figuring out how to make it blend in with the rest of my army (who are all bronze armor and the rest is ghostly green) before finally settling on having the Wyrm's purple hide having the color it bore in life and the innards of the beast glowing with an unearthly green. I wanted the beast to look like it possessed a body that had been nigh-impervious to the ravages of time.

The base looked a little bare, being all snow, ice and stone, so as an afterthought I chugged in a banner showing the sigil of the army and a grave of a man-at-arms. I half-buried a shield in snow and replicated the "helmet on rifle stock"-look of modern war graves with a "sword and helm"-configuration.

Next up: Third Edition thoughts and transition from 2nd Edition!