Herd & Orcs vs. Kingdoms of Men & League of Rhordia - Kings of War AAR

Humanity apparently has the advantage when it comes to naming conventions in fantasy gaming, don't they?

The new version of Kings of War has sparked some interest in the local gaming community, thanks in large part to the old Warhammer armies that have apparently been sitting dormant in many of the gamers' collections. Our collections are varying in their completeness, as some of us (i.e., me) don't have 20+ year old collections to fall back on at a moment's notice. 

So, this past weekend, I took part in a four-player game. Ken and Chris allied together their Herd (950 points) and Orcs (1050) , while Alex and I took two different factions of humans, the Kingdoms of Men (750) and the League of Rhordia (1250). 

We rolled for the mission and got "Kill" - we would play 6 turns (with a potential 7th) and at the end tally up the points of the units we lost. Whichever side lost the fewest points would be the winner.

I took the right side of the human lines with Alex on my left. Opposite of my League forces were the Orcs, while Ken's Herd readied for a charge into Alex's lines.

The first turn saw the Humans shuffle forward, keeping their lines, and firing with everything they had (two Arquebusier regiments, two Musket Block troops, and a Halfling Volley Gun), which put some decent hits on the oncoming orcs and beastmen.

Turn 2 saw the initial charge of the game. After another round of shooting, Ken's Beast Packs charged into Alex's Spear Phalanx. My Household Knights attacked Chris' Gore Riders, but were subsequently counter charged and then flanked by a regiment of Trolls. With so many attacks, my Knights were routed, despite their proximity to my mounted Baron.

In turn 3, both lines were heavily in combat. Alex lost a Spear Regiment but managed to whittle down the Herd force. My horde of City Spear Militia was holding its own, but the Giant that had followed the Orcs into combat found one of my City Militia regiments to be a tasty treat, and routed the panicked survivors. Luckily, the other City Militia regiment was keeping the Morax regiment wavered, and incapable of charging into combat.

Fighting continued during turn 4. Ken's bestial forces were tearing into Alex's remaining two Arquebusier regiments. While my Volley Gun routed a regiment of Ken's Minotaurs, my City Spear Militia horde was routed as well. My Baron, however, routed the troop of Gore Riders. On my right flank, my remaining City Militia regiment was still keeping the Morax regiment at bay, while my City Militia horde charge into and routed the badly-damaged Giant.

The game was mostly over by Turn 5. Alex's Regiments were almost routed, while another round of shooting and combat from the League forces had routed all of the weary Orc units apart from the mounted Godspeaker. We decided to call the game then, as there was no way for the Herd units to reach the League in time to potentially make up the difference in points. Victory went to the humans.

I think the mission definitely favored the slower human armies (which only had five shooting units, but that was five more than the Orcs and Herd combined). Had it been another mission that required more movement (table corners, for example, or getting more units into the opponents half of the table) the game probably would have favored the more maneuverable armies. Terrain placement also favored the humans, allowing them a natural defensive position.