The 9th Age Vs Kings of War: Army Building and Rules at a Glance

While I have yet to play a game of 9th Age i have been looking at it closely to see if it is anything like WHFB 8th edition, a game that i greatly enjoyed. I have however watched a game of 9th Age, and will be playing a game next week, and what i will say is from what i have seen my hopes are high, it looked like 8th edition with tweaks, not the tweaks you would expect from a ETC group either. These tweaks seem to improve the game and make it better. I have had a chance to look at the army lists for many of the races in the game and so the main point of this post is to focus on the army building options of 9th Age and compare them to the main competitor, Kings of War.

I was lucky in that of the two full army books the 9th age team have produced so far one was the Wood Elves, so imagine my surprise and delight when i opened the PDF and saw this.

The Path to Call to Arms: Long Weekend Edtion

Despite having a Four Day Weekend progress on the army was slow, this is solely down to The Witcher 3, a Fantasy RPG video game, getting a new expansion on May 31st, however some work was done. All the Characters for the army are completed and work as been started on the first regiment.

The Path to Call to Arms: Herder of All Trees

Work has progressed on the Autumn Elves this weekend with a now decided upon Colour scheme for the Glade Stalkers as well as the assembly and painting of my Meirce Miniatures Tree Herder.  

The Tree Herder was always the planned enter piece of the army and i am happy that, after being painted, he fulfills that role nicely. 

Paid in Full: KoW Narrative Battle Report

Part One Here

Yevin Wynwarin sat astride his spectral mount as the column of troops moved on by. They weren’t the most professional army the Asrai every mustered for war and in truth what was currently marching past him was whatever spare troops they had in Winterdell Hall. Three days back a messenger from Taegen Wynwarin’s host had showed up at the Hall’s gate, exhausted and bearing grim news from his brother, his army had been bested by the humans who had also recovered the Waystone Fragments Taegen had been sent to retrieve. Upon hearing this Yevin railed what troops he could gather on short notice and set out at a forced march in the direction the messenger had said Taegen went. That had all been five days ago and he had still to catch up with his brother.

It was a testament to how deep he was lost in thought that he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps coming closer and was startled when a voice said.

“Yevin, I have something”

He turned and saw his mage Oacenth looking at him with an amused expression on his face.

“What” Yevin snapped at the mage, partly out of irritation at the mage’s amusement but mostly due to his embarrassment at being so lost in thought.

“I don’t often catch a Wynwarin by surprise, I was just savouring the moment”

“Are you done”

“Almost”

“Oacenth…..”

“I found their trail”

This stopped Yevin’s next words dead on his tongue. A moment passed before he asked.

“Where, and how?”

“We are on the right trail” He affirmed “I know this because at least one person leading that host was thinking. The Green Lady left a trail only those who practice Asrai Spell weaving could follow, whats more we are only a day behind them”

Yevin’s annoyance at the mage’s slight against his brother vanished at those words.

“When, today?”

“Yes” he replied “Whats more a steady pace will suffice”

“Can we take another day of forced march?”

“Yes” Oacenth replied with some reluctance. “But I cant vouch for our fighting condition when we arrive”

“But I can” Yevin said, with confidence ringing in his voice. “They are my troops, I trained many of them myself, they can do it”

Oacenth nodded “I will give the order”

As he hurried off to the head of the column Yevin smiled grimly to himself, removed his antlered helm from his mount’s saddle and donned it. It had become a symbol of his family, one that he and his brother had started and so when Taegen first saw him at the head of his relief force it would be with his helm on, sunlight reflecting off the iron antlers and atop his spectral mount. And then the Wynwarin brothers would rout these humans, together as one.

Haera, leader of the relief forces’ Wildwood Rangers regiments had just set the pace for her units as she heard the sounds of heavy paws behind her and turned to see lord Yevin come up behind her on top of his mount. As he drew up to her he spoke.

“Warden, did Oacenth give you the news?”

“He did sir” she replied

“Good, I have a task for you and the Rangers you command. When we reach my brother’s host I want you to stay close to him. His messenger had nothing good to say about the state of his remaining forces or his own condition. Guard him Haera, it is all I ask”

“It will be done my lord”

“Good, I thank you”

“Sir”

“Yes”

“Are the rumours true, was the Hunt banished?”

At this Yevin paused before dismounting and motioning her in close.

“I tell you this because you are among my most trusted officers, only Oacenth has been told before now. Yes it is true, the Humans managed to banish the hunt.”
She stared into the eye slits of his mask, all the unspoken implications of that sentence flowing between them like a fast moving stream. After a long pause she spoke.

“Sir, nothing will happen to your brother. This I swear upon my Oath as Ranger”

“Thank you Haera, your words reassure me greatly”

She saluted as he turned, remounted and rode on ahead. In truth his words had done far more harm then he could have ever known. To her the Hunt was sacred second only to Isha and Kurnous themselves and for mere humans to have, have banished them was the greatest blasphemy they could have committed. As she began marching her she could feel the rage building inside her, Yevin had nothing to fear, the humans however had no idea what was coming for them.

By the time Yevin saw his brother’s host they were down from the snowy mountain glades and into the hilly plains that edged the human’s domain. Yevin might have been impressed that so battered a army had managed to pursue its victorious opponent so far but three things stopped that. First was the ragged state of his brother’s army which was far worse than he had been lead to believe. Secondly was the sight of the fully resupplied and reinforce human army that faced his brother’s force across the hilly terrain and thirdly was the sight of not three but seven Waystone Fragments scattered across the ground throughout the battlefield. This last point would have puzzled Yevin if not his entire being had been focused on reaching his brother.

The Path to Call to Arms: Autumn Elves

What with Call to Arms 2016 coming up in August i deiced to prepare new army for the event, or in this case a new take on a old army. 

One of my few grips with KoW is that there is a lack of variety in the army lists, and that while the Elf list is good it doesn't feel like a WHFB Wood Elf list, despite some units that definitely fit the army.  So i decide to take the few units from the Elf list hat could be labeled as Wood Elf units and i made a list from them, the army list that i created is what i would expect from a n army of lightly armoured Elves who fight in primarily Forest or Wooded terrain. 

1 Horde of Kindred Archers w/ Heart Seeking Chant

3 Glade Stalker Regiments

2 Hunters of the Wilds Troops

1 Green Lady's Wild Guard w/ Brew of Strength

1 Treeherder

1 Masterhunter w/ Sabre Toothed Pussy Cat

1 Elf Mage w/ Inspiring Talisman, Fireball (10) and Bane Chant (2)

1 Green Lady

Call to Arms Part 1: Cowardly Elves

Welcome to what may be my last 8th edition WHFB tournament report. This time round i decided to do things differently and split the report into 5 parts, this is mainly because each battle report is a narrative report and as such takes more time and space than a cut down tournament battle report normally would, also these 5 posts will be linked meaning that the battles themselves will link providing a more (i hope) coherent narrative.

Game 1: Undead Legions (10/10 Draw)

Elidyr's forces moved in on the small hamlet and the Spellweaver brought his own unit of Glade Guard to a halt inside the  wood that was the exit from the Worldroots that had brought them all here. He had been dispatched from Athel Loren to a remote southern section of the human Empire to hunt down a Necrach Vampire who had taken several Forest Spirits hostage during an earlier battle, Elidyr's was instructed to kill the vampire, locate his lair and free the spirits. He nodded to Almer, the captain of his Glade Guard, to give the signal for his forces to make ready. As the horn blew the Asrai  took to their positions. The majority of his forces centered around the Worldroots but the Waywatchers too the far left flank along with the Waystalker.

A Pyrrhic Victory

The Universe is vast and infinite but so are the different version of it and there are countless different versions of reality in which events play out differently. So when the Warhammer World was consumed by Chaos this was only one possible outcome, in another reality the End Times never came and perhaps would never come and it is in this reality on this version of the Warhammer World that the following battle is fought. 

The Human settlement was small and unassuming and if you were a casual traveler passing through then you wouldn't pay it any heed, normally however now a casual traveler probably would pay the sleepy little village plenty of heed mainly due to the large Dwarven army camped out near it. Elidyr, a Asrai Spellweaver and more importantly the leader of the Asrai army that had followed the Dwarves here mused that within a few hours casual travelers wouldn't be passing through here much anymore, or that people probably wouldn't use the word "Sleepy" to describe this place after he was done.

The Forest Must be Fed: Kings of War Battle Report and Review

Welcome, especially Warhammer Fantasy Players, to my review of Mantic’s Kings of War 2nd Edition. Now a few points before I get onto the actual post, this was a 1500 point game of Kings of War played using their free downloadable core rules and their Beta Army list rules. The actual Battle report itself will be narrative report set in the Warhammer World Pre End Times and at the end of the report I will give a review of how the game played from a WHFB player perspective, so this will be a long post and it is recommend you get a drink before going on. As previously mentioned this was a 1500 point game with me as the Elves (Wood Elves) and my opponent playing The Herd (Beastmen), enjoy.
 
The Universe is vast and infinite but so are the different version of it and there are countless different versions of reality in which events play out differently. So when the Warhammer World was consumed by Chaos this was only one possible outcome, in another reality the End Times never came and perhaps would never come and it is in this reality on this version of the Warhammer World that the following battle is fought. 

Fionn sighed thoughtfully as he gazed upon the clearing and the imposing Herdstone in its midst. He wondered what this place would have been like if the Beastmen had never come here, would it a peaceful and serene clearing in the forest? Would it be camp for Human bandits? He reflected on these possibilities as the army drew itself into position.

Slow Progress: Skitterleap Day 2

Its now been a whole week since day 2 of Skitterleap so i felt that it was about time i did the day two tournament report, so here it is.

Game 4: Battle for the Pass

Game 4 was against Robert Higgins and his pirate themed Ogres. His list had some issues for me, mainly the two Ironblasters but also the fact that the majority of his troops were toughness 4 multi wounds killing machines. Thankfully said killing machines had little to no armour so that was something to go on.

He got the first turn and began by trying to kill the Glade Lord and his Eagle with the Ironblasters, thankfully they only did a total of one wound to the Glade Lord throughout the entire game. Otherwise he generally advanced towards my own lines with a few bouts of combat between Dryads and ogres. Those combats were all my doing as i tried to halt the ogre advance for as long as i could to get as much ranged damage as i could in,  Pit of Shades came in handy here as it one shot quite a few ogres from the Leadbelcher and Bull units. Finally i cleaned up the Gnoblars in Roberts Deployment zone with a unit of Scouts and Waywatchers.

A Shakey Start: Skitterleap Day 1

Day 1 of Skitterleap 2014 has come and gone and while it wasn't the best start i could have had it wasn't the worst start i have ever had, after the cryptic start lets get on with the report.

Game 1: Dawn Attack

Game one was against Neil Wiliamson and his Warriors of Chaos. Dawn Attack didnt do much damage with its random deployment ways and i took first turn. I opened with an attempt to claim the right flank of the table and began this endeavor by shooting away Neil's warhounds and moving my scouts into Neils right flank. My center remained steady and on the left flank i withered the Skullcrushers and shot some wounds off them. Neil began by genelly advancing on the left flank and center while on the right flank he turned his last unit on the right to face the oncoming tide of Elves.

The Lord And The Weaver: Wood Elf General tactics

After the tournament Call To Arms 2014 i decided against having a Mage general, in both my first and last game my mage general decided to get sucked down a hole which meant that the first game was a bigger lose than it would have been and it meant the last game was a lose rather than a win. For my Skitterleap list i decided upon a mobile Machine Gun/Bow Glade Lord, my reasoning behind this was that he would both more useful (he can shot chaff, hunt chaff, hunt warmachines and seek flanks) and he would be easier to keep alive (his primary role didn't have a built in chance to get him killed without my opponent lifting a finger). However he has only seen a single game so far so i decided to do a tactics post looking at the Pros and Cons both both viable generic lord level Wood Elf generals in order to help any other fellow Wood Elf players who may be having similar issues, there will be a post in the future on Wood Elf special characters which will cover them and the reason why the Treeman Ancient isn't in this post is because i no longer consider him a viable general choice for reasons i will come to later.

The Lord and the Weaver, who will you choose? (assuming you play Wood Elves)

An Other Productive Weekend

This weekend it was time for a break from GW related models for paining, this time i planned to finish off my Firestorm Armada Fleet and continue my Flames of War Polish army, and i was able to achieve both goals. So here is my finished Firestorm Fleet:

Core Blimey: Wood Elf Core Tactica

Having now played with all 4 of the core units in the Wood Elf book I feel that I can speak about them tactics wise while knowing what I am talking about. In the new book the core section got a few slight tweaks with many of the units still filling their old roles, Glade Guard still shot things, Dryads are still our best source of chaff, and Enteral Guard are still the best CC infantry unit we can bring to bear, only the Glade Riders were really impacted by the changes.

Glade Guard

The trusty Glade Guard are still trusty and worth consideration. Really all they gained was access to the new arrows (and lost the S4 at short range bow and the no penalties for moving and shooting). Aside from that they are still the same old 12 point squishy elves we all know and love.

Dynamic Elves

On my recent Wood Elf tactics post I got a comment that seems to sum up peoples view of the new Wood Elves:

Ok granted HoDA's effect is amazing. However, the cost is not 30 points.

The true cost of HoDA is 105 points. A glade captain + HoDA.

There is no material reason to take a Glade captain (including BSB) other than to take HoDA. He's weak in CC, Arrow of Kurnous is a gimmick and a BSB is no help in any type of MSU army (which is the competitive only way to play WE).

The only decent Lords / Hero choices are spell casters, and HoDA on a BS4 Multiple shot for 30 points is not nearly as effective.

Now feel free to disagree, but think about your list for a second. What does that Glade Captain (or even worse: lord) really contribute? And would you be better off having taken 105 points worth of something else?

 Perhaps 5 more Waywatchers or 4 more Wild Riders.

HoDA is amazing, but the army is stronger without the one carrying it.

Now I am not singling this commenter out, indeed I encourage anyone who has a view about my posts be it a view that agrees with mine or disagrees to comment. But the above comment perfectly encapsulates the view many people have about the Wood Elves, that there is only one build that works and that anything that doesn’t fit into this build should be cast aside.

A Tactica All of its Own: The Hail of Doom Arrow Tactica

The Hail of Doom Arrow (or HODA for short) has been with the Wood Elf army for quite a while now. In the 3rd edition book it was a Scarloc only magic item, in the 6th ed book it was 30 point Enchanted Item that did 3d6 worth of strength 4 shots (it wasn't classified as a multiple shot item) and now its current version is a 30 point Enchanted Item that does 3d6 worth of strength 4 shots armour piercing shots (it is now a multiple shot item). It’s an time that many Wood Elf players take and its easy to see why. However there is one question all wood elf players who use the HODA must answer: When do I use it and who do I use it on? As I have been using the HODA pretty much as long as I have been playing Wood Elves allow me to give you my opinion on those two questions. 

While not actually a HODA we would all lime to think that they look like this

Who? 

Looking at the HODA’s profile many Wood Elf players may be tempted to fire it at all sorts of things. Monsters, Big Unis, Small Units, War Machines, Heavily Armoured Troops, Lightly Armoured Troops, Chariots. All of these are tempting targets for the HODA however I advise a more narrow selection of potential targets, Chaff or Small to Medium units. As tempting as it may be to fire the HODA at a Warmachine / Monster and wish for the required number of sixes to kill it this would be a waste of the HODA. I recommend firing it unis along the lines of Chaff, Empire Knights/ Elf Calvary (of all Armour Saves) or blocks of toughness 3 to 4 about 15 to 20 in size. The mina reasons for this is the random amount of shots, you simply cannot rely on the HODA to kill a Monster or War Machine as you need a huge number of shots to hit in order to have a chance at getting the high number of sixes required to wound. Similarly you need an equally high number of hits to transfer over to wounds to put a dent even in a moderately sized Horde (30+ models).

The Dice Decide: CTA 2014 Day 2

Day 2 of CTA was a day applying learnt lessons and the Dice deciding against me. As will become clear by the end of this post the dice were against me for the final two games, which was a shame because I needed 29 points to get 50 across all 5 games, achieving my goal of coming middle of the pack.

Game 4: Blood and Glory 

Game 4 was against Thomas Lissington and his undead Hordes. The game started well with casualties being dished out to the undead in huge numbers. My archers took a toll on his Dire Wold units and by turn 2 they were all gone with the big unit of 20 being squished by the Treekin. The Blood Knights suffered badly at the hands of the Waywatchers and would have died if not for the Banner of the Blood Keep’s 4+ ward save. By end of Turn 2 things were going well, all the Dire Wolves were gone, the Terrorgheist was tied up chasing some scouts who danced around pulling faces at it, his Blood Knights were down to 2 knights plus the BSB and his Ghoul unit as stuck in the dangerous terrain in the centre of the board. On top of that my units had begun to pull around the sides of his remain units in order to deny charges whilst stilling shooting said units.

The Wood Elves Return! CTA 2014 Day 1

CTA 2014 has come and gone and it was a bitter sweet event for me. On one hand I didn't achieve my goal of getting mid of the group in overall placing but on the positive side I learnt a lot about my army, how to play it and the direction I want to take the Wood Elves in future games. Before I begin I want to say that across all 5 games my opponents were excellent sports and opponents, they all were provided genuinely enjoyable games and were joys to play against.

Game 1: Dawn Attack

Game one was against the one and only Nicholas Jebson and his Dark Elf hordes and the scenario was dawn attack. Deployment wise neither of us were badly affected by random deployment with most of our troops landing in the centre, that and both of our forces were mobile enough to reposition themselves if the need arose. I got first turn and began the shooting bombardment, killing a few Dark Elves here and there; the most notable was killing the Chariot that Nick general was riding in (said general succeed into the nearby corsairs). Nick’s opening turns saw him gun his forces towards my lines and generally weathering the Wood Elf firepower, he did charge a reduced shade unit into the some scouts with little effect on either side. The most important event in the early turns was my general killing himself by miscasting, rolling Dimensional cascade and failing the 4+ to not die roll (as it turns out he was foreshadowing events to come), I can’t even remember the spell he cast but I do recall making some vague statement along the lines of “Surly he can’t die now” or some equally dice tempting phase. 

Images from the early game (Turns 1 and 2)

All The Magical Things: Wood Elf Character Loadout Tactics

Wood Elf players are blessed and cursed when it comes to magic item selection for their characters. On the positive side there aren't that many good magic items in the new book so in many ways what worked in the last book still works. On the negative side there isn't a Banner of the World Dragon eskque item in our armoury. We got the dregs of the magic item barrel in terms of the quality and usefulness of our racial magic items. There are a few standouts but they are out numbered by average or just plain bad magic items. However i have already covered the racial items in part 2 of my review of the Wood Elf army book (it can be found here) so this post will be focusing on the core rule book items and how they can be used to benefit Wood Elf characters.

Sadly no Wood Elf magic items were featured in this image

Hobby Rampage

My small painting desk has been frantic with activity of late (thats what happens when building 3 armies all at once). With work going ahead on an Ork army, Tanith First and Only Imperial Guard regiment and a WHFB Khorne Demon army my hobby time has been devoted to building and painting models from these 3 armies, thankfully the Wood Elves are about finished bar a few movement trays that need doing.

So first up i wanted to show the test model for my Khorne Demons colour scheme. Recently i had some family in America who were willing to pick up a few things for me, most of which was a brand new Khorne Demon army and here is the first finished model in that army.

The Storm of Arrows. CTA 2014 Practise

Thursday saw the first practise game for my CTA Wood Elf list, and my opponent was doing the same. Nick Jebson (author of the HMS Distraction) was taking his Beast Hunter list for a spin and looking just at the lists our armies do seem evenly matched. I was taking:

2400 Pts - Wood Elves Roster - Call to Arms List v 1.1

Spellweaver (1#, 305 pts)
   1 Spellweaver, 305 pts (Always Strikes First; Blessing of The Ancients; Forest Stalker; General; Level 4 Upgrade; Asrai Longbow; Hand Weapon; Volley Fire)
      1 Elven Steed (Fast Cavalry; Vanguard)
      1 Channeling Staff
      1 Talisman of Preservation
      1 The Lore of High Magic

Shadowdancer (1#, 185 pts)
   1 Shadowdancer, 185 pts (Always Strikes First; Blessing of The Ancients; Forest Stalker; Level 1 Wizard; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon x1; Immune to Psychology)
      1 Glittering Scales

Glade Captain (1#, 150 pts)
   1 Glade Captain (Battle Standard Bearer), 150 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Asrai Longbow; Hand Weapon; Battle Standard Bearer; Volley Fire)
      1 Gambler's Armour
      1 Hail of Doom Arrow

Spellsinger (1#, 150 pts)
   1 Spellsinger, 150 pts (Always Strikes First; Blessing of The Ancients; Forest Stalker; Level 2 Upgrade; Asrai Longbow; Hand Weapon; Volley Fire)
      1 Dispel Scroll
      1 Ironcurse Icon
      1 The Lore of Beasts

Waystalker (1#, 110 pts)
   1 Waystalker, 110 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Hawk-eyed Archer; Asrai Longbow; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Scouts; Sniper; Volley Fire)
      1 The Bow of Loren

Eternal Guard (20#, 265 pts)
   19 Eternal Guard, 265 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Asrai Spear; Light Armour; Stubborn)
      1 Eternal Warden (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Hand Weapon; Asrai Spear; Light Armour; Stubborn)
      1 Standard of Discipline

Glade Guard (10#, 170 pts)
   10 Glade Guard, 170 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Trueflight Arrows; Volley Fire)

Glade Guard (10#, 160 pts)
   10 Glade Guard, 160 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Musician Mus; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Trueflight Arrows; Volley Fire)

Glade Guard (10#, 160 pts)
   10 Glade Guard, 160 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Musician Mus; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Trueflight Arrows; Volley Fire)

Deepwood Scouts (10#, 160 pts)
   10 Deepwood Scouts, 160 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Trueflight Arrows; Scouts; Skirmishers; Volley Fire)

Deepwood Scouts (10#, 160 pts)
   10 Deepwood Scouts, 160 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Trueflight Arrows; Scouts; Skirmishers; Volley Fire)

Treeman (1#, 225 pts)
   1 Treeman, 225 pts (Forest Spirit; Tree Whack; Causes Terror; Flammable; Large Target; Scaly Skin; Stubborn; Thunder Stomp)

Waywatchers (5#, 100 pts)
   5 Waywatchers, 100 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Hawk-eyed Archer; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Extra Hand Weapon; Scouts; Skirmishers; Volley Fire)

Waywatchers (5#, 100 pts)
   5 Waywatchers, 100 pts (Always Strikes First; Forest Stalker; Hawk-eyed Archer; Hand Weapon; Asrai Longbow; Extra Hand Weapon; Scouts; Skirmishers; Volley Fire)