KOW - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Fail

One thing that you see with wargaming is that people just can't help tinkering with their lists. Admittedly there are some games that list building likely makes up over half of your success but if you're playing those games.....just use the Google.

There is a certain percentage of the population who think that life is an equation that you can solve. I subscribe to the efficient market hypothesis that there is a most sufficient list but that list changes when you change the input variables - terrain, player skill, scenario, how hungover you are etc. This is a roundabout way of saying (and excuse the mixed metaphors) that while there probably is a Holy Grail that the goalposts have probably moved while you were looking for it....and now we are all Scientologists.

So how does this apply to Kings of War? Well, especially when people are learning the game, I find that the majority of the focus goes on the list building rather than the tactics. Well to smash another saying "It's not how big it is, it's how you lose it".

Take Joe Newbie* playing his first few games. In the first game he gets shot off the board by an archer horde. He goes out and gets a character with Wings of Honeymaze and puts him in his list. In the second game, he's run down by Heavy Cavalry with high Thunderous Charge. Off he goes and gets some Regiments with Phalanx. His third game sees him unable to move De 6+ enemy so the Hammer gets added in....and on infinitum. 

What Joe should have done after his first game was sit down and look at his tactics. Could he have used cover and screens to nullify the archer horde? Was his deployment part of the problem? in his second game did he take advantage of terrain - in particular obstacles - to counter TC? What about chaff screens?

By the end of his time, Joe has learned nothing, has an army far too big for his needs and probably gets disspirited.

So many people think that it is their list at fault and change that, rather than looking at their deployment, tactics, target selection etc.

When I build a list I will generally play the first iteration for 5-6 games (a tournament is ideal) before making changes. These aren't usually wholesale as that negates what I have learned in those first games. Ideally, this will address any glaring holes. After this I will generally stick with the same list for 20-30 games and use that experience to hone my tactics. As long as you are varying opponents, terrain and scenarios you are always learning.

You get to understand the synergy of groups of units, develop deployment plans etc. Things become more intuitive as you know the capabilities of the units/items in your list as things aren't being changed.

Personally across a variety of games/game systems I have found that for me this has been the most successful approach. YMMV.

* Any similarity between Joe and anyone I know is purely coincidental. He is a construct of my imagination and is in no part representative of anybody I have met or read about living or dead. All litigation should be sent to my solicitor, Malcolm Tucker Esq, Whitehall who will give you the appropriate response.

KOW - Regrouping and Proximity to Enemy Units

There was a question on the Mantic Forum recently regarding the "Regroup'" rule. Regroup occurs after Melee where one unit has been able to rout its opponent.

The rules say: 

​​​​​​“At the end of each combat, if your unit(s) managed to rout the target, it can one of the following:

• stay where it is and pivot around its centre to face any direction (as per a Change Facing order).
• move directly forward D6". The unit must move the full distance This move is not affected by difficult terrain and obstacles.
• move directly backwards D3" (as above).

A unit cannot move through any other units while regrouping, though it can pivot through them as long as it ends clear.

Once the Regroup move has been carried out, shuffle the unit so that there is a 1" gap between it and all enemy units, and so that it is not touching any friendly units. Move the unit the shortest distance possible in any direction to maintain the gap (usually this will be straight back 1" but use whichever direction is the shortest).”

Excerpt From: Mantic Games. “Kings of War.” iBooks. 

Take the following situation:

A Hero on a 40mm square base (blue) has been able to rout its opponent on a 50mm square base - Pink (maybe a Monster, more likely a War Engine).

The victorious Hero is within 1" of both non-combatant units. Previously I had thought that he would be unable to advance D6'' or pivot as both moves would effectively breach the 1" rule by moving within 1" of enemies. My reading of the rules was that that was only possible when Charging. As a result I thought its only options were to move back D3" or do nothing.

In a reply in the thread (here) Nick Williams from the Rules Committee said:

The hero can carry out all three moves. The 1" gap is only applied after the moves have been carried out.

As indicated, this was news to me and I suspect it will be to a number of other players. Certainly it impacts most games that you would play.

TWITTER ACCOUNT

I am resurrecting the Fields of Blood Twitter account that has been pretty dormant over the past year. I intend to use it to notify new posts, take in game shots as well as WIP hobby shots. If this is of interest to you then follow the blog at @fields_of_blood

KOW - Forgotten Units: #1 Ratkin Scurriers

Any army list will have both internal balance and external balance. External balance is the comparative efficiency between races while internal balance is the comparison between unit choices within the same race.

KOW has very very good external balance and in the main good internal balance. However, there are still the odd units you never see (or hear about on the tabletop. I thought I'd do an occasional series where I look at units I come across. What I'm interested in are why you don't see them - is it lack of an army role or is it because for points there are better options.

Ratkin: Scurriers

I don't think I have ever seen them in a list, either live or via the magic of the internet. They come in Troop sized units only. Their key points are:

• Infantry
• Move 6"
• Me 5+
• Ra 4+
• De 3+
• Attacks 8
• Nerve 9/11
• Throwing Weapons, Nimble Vicious

A Troop of Scurriers will cost you 110 points and you can pay an extra 20 points to give them Light Bows. Like all Ratkin they can benefit from Rallying improving Nerve by up to 2.

Assessment

So that's their stats. As a unit choice, I hate them. Not only are they very fragile with a De of 3 and low Nerve but IMO they fulfil no discernible function within the Ratkin army.

They have no speed advantage over Tunnel Slaves who you can buy a Horde for 100 points getting resilience with base Nerve 19/21 - to be honest they compare unfavourably with a Slave Regiment at half the price.

Hacksaws have much greater speed, similar Nerve (1 pt less) but have similar attacks (TC(1)) and cost 15 points less. I used Hackpaws a lot initially but dropped them as overpriced for their usual stomping ground on the flank. To me they are still considerably better than Scurriers and cheaper.

But what about the Ranged Attack I hear you ask? Again you are better served by other choices in the list.

Weapons Teams with Storm of Lead are 30 points cheaper, have a smaller footprint and also have Nimble. Moreover, they also are more likely to be around Hordes that boost their Nerve. Yes, they are a War Engine but neither unit will be long for this world if they get in Melee.

Clawshots are also better value - both in terms of battlefield role and points. With their Piercing (2) and extra 12" range the clawshots have the ability to both inflict wounds on high De targets and on low Nerve targets operating outside Inspiring range. I'm not in love with them - I see them as an expensive luxury - but again I think they are better than Scurriers.

Even the lowly swarm, Vemintide Regiments and Hordes outshine the Scurriers. For 90 points I can get an 18 Attack higher Nerve unit that is still both Nimble and Vicious.

For me I'd have any of these options ahead of Scurriers, with a preference for Slaves, Weapon Teams and Vermintide in that order. I'm sure others have a different order of preference but I'd be very surprised if any Ratkin player placed Scurriers anywhere other than towards the bottom of those choices.

Overall I think that the Scurriers have been significantly mispointed. I don't think we are talking +/- 10 points here. By my assessment I'd struggle to include Scurriers in my Ratkin army at 70 points based on their internal comparisons. That is a whopping 40 points lower than their actual price. Such a divergence is very rare in KOW where it's unusual to be out by much at all.

Are the salvageable? For me, not without a drop in cost. I'm surprised they don't have Vanguard which I think would fit their possible role. But even with that, 80 points seems marginal.

It's interesting that in WHFB the Scurrier-equivalent Night Runners was also a rare beast. Both games seem to struggle with creating a light skirmisher unit at an appropriate price and where there is a meaningful game role. Maybe it is just one of those unsolvable puzzles in life, a conundrum that beats even the best minds!

So what am I missing?

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KOW - Crossing the Rubicon

There's always a point of no return. It's coming up to two years since I started playing Kings of War but now it's time to cross my Rubicon.

"Mmmm.....that appears to be a one way highway"

Up until now I have always baulked at multibasing my GW Skaven army as Ratkin. However over the weekend I was having a Whats App discussion with a gaming mate who doesn't play Kings of War. He told me that rather than play The Ninth Age at an upcoming event he was travelling to, he was going to play Age of Sigmar. 

That coloured my thinking about the relative longevity probabilities of various games and I realised that I had no real reason not to multibase my rats. 

My interest in Fantasy games is very much geared towards the ranks and flanks mechanic. This is based on the Historical Ancient/Medieval wargaming model and is where I have my grounding and interest. Other people like skirmish games but I feel that I am more likely to play that mechanic in a sci-fi setting.

So on Saturday I made an order to Sarissa Precision for enough MDF bases so that I can transfer my rats to multibases. I'm very excited about doing this as I feel that with The Herd I have started to reap the benefits diorama basing can provide.

Sarissa have great service so I am expecting the bases within the next week and then the Vermintide will begin.

KOW - Three Billy Goats Gruff

I have finally finished my Herd army and I thought I'd post photos of it. A lot of the models are Mierce Miniatures that I have purchased through Kickstarter or their regular promotions. There are some old metal GW models in it - ungors and pestigors - as well as Mantic, Malifaux and GW plastics (fenrisian wolves and Thunderwolves).

About 75% of it was painted by a local painter Sam Whitt - who does commission work btw - with the rest by myself. I also some small "enhancements" to Sam's work - mostly rust effects or an added highlight. All the basing is mine. This was my first KOW army and I wanted to really explore the scope for multibasing.

Little Billy Goat in Front of Tribal Longhorn Regiment

Two Beast Packs with Lycan Horde and Chimera Behind

Mierce Lycan Horde with Chimera BFF

Stampede with Mix of Mierce and Malifaux Models

Middle Billy Goat in Front of Spiritwalkers

Centaur Chief and Centaurs

Lycan Horde using GW Thunderwolves

Second Stampede following Formula of the First

The Avatar of the Father

Mierce Guardian Brutes

Mierce Brutox #1

Big Billy Goat Gruff - Brutox #2

Second Guardian Brute Horde

Giant Eagles - GW and Mierce

My Mantichimera (Mane to be Darkened)

Spiritwalker Horde

Tribal Longhorn Regiment

The Whole Migration

I'm really happy with how the army turned out. There is probably 3500 points all in all. I'm going to call it done for now but may revisit it later with a view to adding a Horde of Tribal Chariots.

Next for me is basing Goblins.

 

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KOW - Some Sunday Gaming

A group of five of us got together at my place yesterday for some games of KOW.

I set up two themed tables - one in the wintry North while the second was the sun-baked Desert of the South.

The Frozen North

The Sun-blasted South

We used the Epicdwarf Map Pack so both tables had two each of wood, hill, obstacle, impassable building and Height (0) difficult ground.

There were two Varangur armies and one each of the Elves, Herd and Forces of the Abyss. Managed it so that everyone got two games in.

The day provided the opportunity for us to continue to play the new scenarios and we tried out "Push", "Ransack" and "Scour".

I managed to snap a few pictures through the day.

Herd Advancing on the Varangur

Herd Heavy Hitters Shatter the Varangur Centre

Abyss (Lliam) and Varangur (Neil) Fight for the North

Every Unit in the Varangur had Nimble Making It Very Mobile

I learned a few lessons over the course of the day. The first was just how resilient the Varangur Heroes are with their De 5 and higher Nerve. My Chimera hit one in the flank, expecting to roll through it onto another an inch away but no luck. The crafty Magos took the hit and then bunked out. Similarly a Lycan Horde could only Waver a second Magos on the same turn.

The game also saw an incredible run of Snake Eyes. In each of FOUR occasions where anything but double ones would break a unit, that is exactly what we got. It was the first time I've rolled Snake Eyes when it mattered three times in a game. By the third time resources were starting to get stretched.

Fun way to spend Sunday morning and early afternoon. Thanks to the guys for coming round.

 

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KOW - GW - Why the Resentment?

This afternoon I started reading a thread on the KOW Fanatics page that was signalling GW's announcement today about Warhammer 40k's revamp, as some sort of victory for Mantic. Bubbling below some of the comments was bare disguised animosity to GW.

First of all, I'd be very surprised if the revamp has anything to do with Mantic. To suggest that Warhammer 40k was in any way threatened by Mantic is nonsensical. Warpath to 40k is the proverbial mosquito to an elephant.....the Warpath player base in relation to 40k is a rounding error.

Second, 40k was a bloated mess. It has been 17 years since the last major reboot and the rules currently in use span three editions and ten years. Playing the game has slowed to a crawl - evidenced by the completion rate for 1850 point games at major US events like LVO etc. Power creep which had previously been related to codex release was now being driven by the freedom allowed in list building whereby the game had become seriously divorced from the fluff.

Third, GW had in AOS trialled organisational mechanisms for armies that reduced reliance on individual codexes/army books and instead used the war scroll (datasheet) as the building block. This allowed the use of keywords which meant the rules could be more streamlined. Now I have never played AOS (I have no interest in a skirmish based Fantasy game) but the people who do play seem to like it ..... more power to them.

What I don't understand is the antagonism that some people have towards GW?

GW made a business decision to blow up the Old World because they did not make as much money as they wanted from Warhammer Fantasy. What was the upshot of that? A more splintered community and the removal of 30 years of established fluff. I lament the second part more than the first.

Why? Well it got me to look at Kings of War which I never would have done without the demise of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I'm sure that this has opened up the world of Mantica far more than anything Mantic Games could have done. My guess is that the influx of "refugees" increased the player base for KoW by orders of magnitude.

Personally I'm grateful that I found KOW as I think that the second edition is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable wargames I've played (along with 40k 3e/4e, DBM and the first three years of WHFB 8th). In fact, as I look back now I roll my eyes at some of the WHFB rules mechanisms - comparatively they seem so clunky.

It also gave us "Uncharted Empires". It is highly unlikely that this expansion would have got off the ground or received the commercial reception without GW binning WHFB. KOW players now have 21 largely balanced armies giving a greater variety of opportunity to build and play. Following on from this, I'm pretty sure that the Empire of Dust models and those of the Trident Realms owe at least a hat tip to the large player base KOW now enjoys.

Miniature wargaming needs the GWs of the industry so that companies like Mantic can flourish and grow. While they didn't create the hobby they did undoubtedly push it far more into the mainstream and gave it a high street presence.

Yes they can make decisions we all think are shitty. But they are a publicly traded company and in the end their only responsibility is long term enhancement of shareholder value. There are a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks who felt they made poor decisions (myself included) but you can't argue with their share price. From my perch it seems as though the company is far healthier than it was prior to AoS.

And just as importantly so is Mantic and Kings of War. So why the resentment?

Dancing in the Streets

And there was much rejoicing......

Overnight Games Workshop made the announcement that Warhammer 40k was going to a new edition. More importantly they provided some detail as to what can be expected.

Effectively, 40k will receive the Age of Sigmar treatment. As GW used to say "This is Great News".

After five editions in the current format, the level of bloat set new levels on the corpulence scale. Earlier this year I tried playing the game but the amount of extraneous detail included in the ruleset slowed the game to a crawl. The need for, even experienced players, to have to check the rules and codexes pretty much every turn suggests a ruleset struggling under the weight of bolt-on after bolt-on.

So what have GW said?

• Three ways to play - sound familiar?
• Free rules
• All models including FW can be used
• Codexes invalidated - watch the rush to eBay
• Points values included
• Three Factions - Imperium, Chaos, Xenos

This pretty much suggest Warscrolls under another name - I'm guessing Datasheets.

 

We are like so see other AoS mechanisms. I'm guessing that Armour will go and vehicles will get wounds. Also expect that we'll see the simplified to hit to wound rules but with weapon modifiers.

 

I'm very happy about this announcement as due to the bloat the game was slow and plagued by situations where there are unintended consequences. The ability to layer rules from different books written over a period of up to 10 years was silly.

 

A cleaner Rules skeleton with a reset of unit rules will make the game both more attractive and more accessible.

 

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KOW - Beating the Waver

One trick tactic that a lot of new (and possibly some older) players are unaware of is how you can counter an unfortunate "Waver" from Melee.

This only works if you are "Nimble" but is worth knowing. It may save an important character or unit AND allow you to damage the enemy in return.

When you are "Wavered" you may only:

• Hold;
• Change facing; or 
• Move backwards.

"Nimble" allows you to make a single extra pivot of up to 90 degrees while executing any Move order.

The diagram below shows how you can combine the attributes of these rules to move yourself out of danger and attack an enemy.

The Pink unit has been Wavered in Melee by the Green Unit (1). It is now in a vulnerable position while also shielding the front facing of the victorious Green unit. This makes it impossible for the Green unit to be charged from its front arc.

If the Pink unit is Nimble, it may change its facing before it moves (2). Here it rotates 90 degrees - remember it must stay outside 1" from the Green unit so it must be no wider than it is deep.

The Pink unit can now make a move backwards at half its normal speed (3). If its Move characteristic is very high, it may get out of the Green unit's front arc. However this is very unlikely. What it does do though is open up the front facing of the Green unit allowing another unit from Pink to Charge it.

Remember you must have the "Nimble" rule, so if you are using the COK rules it will no longer work for Flyers as they are automatically "Disordered".

KOW - RUNEFANG IX - Kings of War Event - 3/4 June, Wellington, NZ

With Nicon not including a DBMM event, the Hutt Wargaming Club have organised their own event on Queens Birthday Weekend (3rd and 4th of June). As Nicon is also not including Kings of War, I have been offered space to organise an event.

RUNEFANG IX - KINGS OF WAR EVENT

However this will be different from your usual two day tournament. I appreciate that it might be difficult to get both days "off" to attend a wargaming event on a holiday weekend so I am organising separate events on each day events. 

On the Saturday will be Runefang "KINGS" which will be a four round 2000 point tournament using the 2017 Clash of Kings rules. The Sunday will be a complete change of gear where we'll have "WAR", a large multiplayer event, pitting the forces of Good versus Evil.

Cost is $25 and that covers both days. However you can attend either or both as you choose.

I have attached the Players Pack here

KOW - The Joy of Doubles

On Saturday we had our monthly KOW day at the local club. We had people bring along 1500 point armies and decided to try out some of the new COK scenarios.

The Elves and Herd Set About Trying to Turn Back the Ravening Hordes

Doubles are a great way for players of different skill levels to interact as they tend to be less competitive. They also provide opportunities for wider discussion of rules and tactics. For new players especially, it can be a less intimidating way to learn the game.

The other benefit is that it creates a "bigger" game. We had 3000 points a side on the normal 6'x4' table. The extra 50% in points per side allows both reserve lines and greater width in the battle line. This generally makes the game more "cinematic".

My New Lycan Horde Made Their Debut

In our game Orcs and Undead took on Elves and the Herd in Scour. The Elven Herd Alliance was able to remove two Orc Hordes on the flank by hitting them hard - Guardian Brutes and Swordwind into one and a Stampede into the other. This allowed the Alliance to roll up the flank, secure the objective counters then move into the centre.

The Alliance Forces Were Victorious on this Flank.

There was one great moment in the game on Turn 1. The Orc Skulks had Vanguarded forward and took a shot at the Elven Boltthrower causing one wound. The Orcs then rolled box cars for the Nerve Check (needing 11). Re-roll for Inspired and box cars again.....take it off!

The Undead Rumble Forward Harassed By The Herd Chaff

Certainly recommend Doubles as a change from "normal" KOW games. Really social and it helps you understand a greater breadth of armies.

 

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KOW - Avatar of the Father

As mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I have been painting up the model I'm using for my Avatar of the Father in my Herd. This was one of the eight Mierce Miniatures' Monster I got for my birthday during their recent sale. It is the third of that eight I've painted up in the two and a half weeks since they arrived (so they are not sitting on the shelf!).

The Avatar is the last model I have planned for my Herd army and will mean that I have 3500 points of painted Herd.

This was quite a hard model to paint. I tried to get an inky black and found that it is very hard to achieve without the model looking very dark and detail starting to get lost. The lighting isn't the best - I must get my light box back - but you get the idea how he came out.

This is probably one of my least favourite Mierce sculpts. While it fits the description of a winged avatar, I think it is a bit contrived and awkward. The wings are nice but overall I'm not a huge fan of the model.

He comes on his own rock which I have incorporated into the 50mm square base he is on.

So that's it for the Herd, next projects are the continued basing of Goblins and then the multibasing of existing Orc and Salamander (Lizardmen) army.

My next army painting project will likely be Night Stalkers.

 

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KOW - Analysis of Flying Monsters

Over the past week I have been painting the Avatar of the Father for my Herd army. This has been largely an exercise in completeness - I bought a suitable model and want to paint it so I can draw a line under my Herd - but it got me thinking.

I looked at the cost of the AotF in relation to the Chimera and was trying to determine its "value". It is certainly better than the Chimera but is it 110 points better? That question is one I'm still to answer - I suspect in the context of my army, it's not - but I thought I'd first look at it in relation to the other "big" flying monsters in the game.

As a basis for comparison here is a table I constructed:

The table captures their base characteristics - in this case all have or have been bought "Fly" so get Move 10". It look as though the baseline for all is Me3+/De5+ with Attacks between 8-10 and a base Nerve of 17/19. The cost of that is 290-300 points with Special Rules adjusting relative to each other.

The rules writers have then varied the big flyers to capture individual/race character. So what jumped out at me:

• In most cases you will get a Ranged Attack (a small minority have potential for more than one). Interestingly, these are all of the 4+ hit variety [I think it might be interesting to see a Flying Monster in future with a traditional shooting attack as a variant - probably not greatly effective though without an Attack multiplier]. The four without any kind of ranged capacity have a blue marked background.
• However the points cost of these Monsters means that you will likely want them in combat - especially Turns 2-5 - rather than taking a less aggressive stance. The really confusing one is the Vampire Dragon Lord with his two ranged attacks plus Lifeleech. He seems a real Swiss Army Knife of a unit. I can help feel that while he has tools for everything there is a real opportunity cost associated with that every game. However, I'm sure there will be times that the Surge(3) will win you a game...however it comes at both a fairly large opportunity cost and a (hopefully) small sunk cost.
• If I was looking for an army with a Ranged Attack threat on a flying monster than my choice would definitely be the Elf Dragon Lord. Not only do you get a very high attack breath weapon but you also get the benefits of Elite. This gives you an 8% higher success rate in achieving hits. The go-to Magic Item for a Shooty Big Flyer should be the Boots of Levitation for 30 points which allows a move of up to 20" then shoot.
• Speaking of Magic Items, all of the Monsters bar the three Living Legends and the Empire of Dust Bone Dragon have access to "Hero" Magical Artefacts. In the past the two "go-to" items were Ensorcelled Armour and Medallion of Life. Thankfully, those are now gone and we may see more variety in choices. I think that the Boots are a good choice but for some that rely on Thunderous Charge - Caterpillar Potion. Other choices I like are Blessing of the Gods/Chant of Hate, Blood of the Old King Kittens or Healing Brew (if nothing else taken).
• The removal of Ensorcelled Armour and Medallion of Life has probably given the Living Legends a boost relative to their peers. My Ratkin Daemonspawn used to look enviously at 6+ Flyers but now they have been dragged back to the pack. Still the Living Legends lack the ability to customise.....
• All of these Flying Monsters - bar the Bone Dragon and Void Lurker - are Inspiring (Night Stalkers' Mindthirst being a special case). This means that they can act in a largely self-sufficient manner while still providing potential for army support.

Summing them up, I think my top three choices would be the Elf Dragon Lord (with Boots), the Archfiend (with LB) and the Daemonspawn. I think these three provide the best all-round delivery mechanism.

The two cut-price options that stand out are the Orc Krudger on Slasher (it is the Home Brand flyer) and the Salamander Fire Drake (Wal-Mart version of the Elf Dragon Lord).

However I would say that there are no glaring mispricings in my view. The EOD Bone Dragon is really a different class (more comparable to a Chimera, say). Certainly you could use each of them in an army with some tactical modifications. I feel that with say the Vampire Dragon and Basilean Dragon you may have a small sunk cost on abilities that are rarely used e.g. Surge and Heal respectively but that's a small quibble.

Once again the rules writers have got things pretty right. I think if they were to re-price things there would be very few that would change by +/- 20 points in today's meta.

Am I wrong? Have at it! 

KOW - Warlords' Super Series - 2000 Point Tournament, Wellington, NZ

The second of the Warlords' Super Series "Autumn" is being held in Wellington on May 20.

The Players Pack can be downloaded here

It is four rounds, 2000 points using the 2017 Clash of Kings pack. Scenarios will be randomly generated prior to the round

The event caters for all skill levels.

KOW - Individuals, Line of Sight and Cover

I thought I'd run an occasional series of rules that are easy to miss in the KOW ruleset.

The first of these concerns Individuals, Line of Sight and Cover.

The actual rule - conveniently under "Individuals" - states:

“Individuals never block line of sight or offer cover against ranged attacks.”

Unfortunately Apu's Brave Act Was To No Avail!

I find that in a lot of games that people are not aware of this rule or they play it wrong. My guess is that while an Individual is effectively "invisible" for LOS or Ranged Attacks, it is "material" for movement, charge path etc.

You commonly see people spending a lot of their time positioning Individuals so they are not intervening between a unit (often another Individual) and its target for a Ranged Attack. Under the rules this is not necessary.

KOW - Desert Terrain

Over the past year I have been trying to build up themed tables of terrain based around new "mousemat" gaming cloths. Using the Norwegian Map Pack as a base I am working towards having ten pieces of themed terrain per table.

Mid-2016 I purchased Gamemat.eu's "Sands of Time" battlemat. This gave me the ideal base from which to construct an "Ophidia" themed table. I own two large plastic Sphinxes that have been painted as weathered stone but wanted to tie other terrain choices in.

In the past week I have finished an Oasis (pond) and two copses of desert palms. The base for these were GF9's BiaB terrain sets - specifically their Island Palms and Desert Oasis.

The Desert Oasis comes in a very "ultramarine" state.

To me this looks very unrealistic so I decided to make it more acceptable. To do this I got out the Realistic Water and mixed in some washes so that I achieved a dark, foreboding colour with some real depth. The water is more brackish and I think more realistic.

I've also added some marsh reeds and tufts to make it more organic.

The desert "woods" were the Island Palms with bases repainted to match the Oasis. The trees had a wash applied to their trunks and tufts were added for variety.

I can't speak highly enough of these GF9 kits as a base for themed terrain. Using them allows you to spend 1-2 hours and achieve a great result.

 

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