Edge of the Abyss

The local alliance of evil armies is crumbling as we relapse into fighting among each-other. Seems like we were not able to share the loot from the recent victory over an alliance of Dwarfs and Forces of Nature.

Our gaming group consists of veterans from the fantasy universe that doesn't exist anymore. We recently got our hands on the rules for Kings of War and are still trying to learn the rules. We have had lots of fun with the system and it's really satisfying to see ranks of infantry marching into battle again.

Still not being experts of the rules we decided to play a game with 1000 points per side, mostly restricted by the Undead forces PoisonTail had at hand. The scenario was Kill and Pillage from the main rules, so kill points and 6 objectives worth 100 points each.

My army was:
- High Priestess of the Abyss, with Bane Chant and Inspiring Talisman
- Army Standard Bearer, with Diadem of Dragon-kind
- 2 Reaper Guard regiments
- 1 Blade Dancers troop
- 2 Crossbowmen troops, one with piercing arrow
- 1 Dark Knights troop

PoisonTail had:
- Necromancer with Inspiring Talisman
- Army Standard Bearer
- Zombie horde, with rats
- Skeleton Spearmen regiment, with rats
- Revenant Cavalry regiment, with Potion of the Caterpillar
- Soul Reaver troop
- Wraiths troop
- Ghouls troop

The battlefield after deployment:

With two cavalry units and the wraiths in the undead army I knew that I had the slower army. Spreading my units out would leave them vulnerable to be picked of one at a time. Therefore, I decided to focus my units on one flank so the units can support each other. The undead deploy around the centre line, which leaves the wraiths and revenants out of reach for the first turns.

The Twilight Kin units (going away from the camera) are: Reaper guards, crossbowmen, army standard bearer, reaper guards, high priestess, blade dancers, dark knights and crossbowmen

The Undead: Soul reavers, zombie horde, necromancer, ghouls, skeleton spearmen, army standard bearer, wraiths and revenant cavalry.

Everything moves forward...

The crossbowmen put a couple of points of damage on the wraiths and are one point from routing them.

End of Twilight Kin turn.

The closest crossbowmen unit moves up as bait. I was trying to create a trap for the soul reavers in an attempt to destroy them, and protect the right flank, before the other Undead units reach combat. Unfortunately I didn't realise that it left the blade dancers exposed.

End of undead turn:

The wraiths and the soul reavers charge and route the blade dancers. The ghouls charge the crossbowmen, but don't cause much damage.

End of Twilight kin turn:

The reaper guard unit on the right flank and the dark knights charge and rout the soul reavers. The crossbowmen counter charges the ghouls and rout them. The other reaper guard unit charge the zombies but their nerve test is passed. The high priestess casts a fireball on the wraiths and the standard bearer uses his breath weapon on them. The unit take some damage, but they pass the nerve test.

End of undead turn:

The revenant cavalry charge the flank of one reaper guard unit and rout them. (Why did I place them like that...) The skeleton spearmen charge the crossbowmen and they waver. The wraiths charge the flank of the dark knights (why did I place them like that...), but they only do one point of damage and the unit is steady. The zombies charge the reaper guards, but only cause 4 point of damage and the unit pass the nerve test.

End of Twilight kin turn:

The reaper guards counter charge the zombies and the crossbowmen charge the flank to help. The zombies are routed. The dark knights charge the revenant cavalry, but don't do enough damage. The high priestess throws a fireball on the wraiths that has taken quite a lot of damage at this point, but they pass the nerve test.

End of Undead turn:

The revenant cavalry and the wraiths charge the dark knights and rout them. The skeleton spearmen charge the crossbowmen and cause a waver. The Undead army standard bearer charges the high priestess, but doesn't do anything.

End of Twilight Kin turn:

The reaper guards charge the revenant cavalry and cause a rout. The Twilight Kin standard bearer uses his breath weapon on the wraiths and the priestess throw a fireball on them, the wraiths are finally routed. The crossbowmen shoot at the necromancer and cause one point of damage and a waver.

End of Undead turn:

The skeleton spearmen finally rout the crossbowmen. The Undead standard bearer charges the priestess but doesn't do anything.

End of Twilight Kin turn:

The crossbowmen charge the necromancer and cause a rout. The reaper guards charge the skeleton spearmen, the nerve test is passed. The standard bearer and the priestess use their shooting/magic on the undead standard bearer, but the nerve test is passed.

End of Undead turn:

The skeleton spearmen counter charge the reaper guards, but don't cause much damage. The Undead standard bearer charges the Twilight Kin standard bearer, but again doesn't hit.

Middle of Twilight Kin turn:

The reaper guards and the crossbowmen charge the skeleton spearmen and cause a rout. The standard bearer uses his breath weapon on the Undead standard bearer and the priestess uses bane chant on the reaper guards. The Undead standard bearer is routed.

With all Undead forces routed it's a victory for the Twilight Kin. It was an interesting game and there were many points where the balance could have swung in both directions.

Going forward we will have to try using larger armies to see how the game works with forces closer to the "intended" size. However, I am impressed with how well the rules work at varying army sizes. Next I will try to tame a couple of werewolves/lycans to add to my army.