Ready for the Great CoK-Up

It was a close-run thing, but I find myself packed and ready for Mantic's very own Clash of Kings tournament with a whole day to spare. Hopefully my ranking can match my punctuality and achieve the dizzying heights of 90th of out 100!

The army in all its dubiously-lit glory. I've gone for a smaller number of big units this time.

Before the tournament starts, I would like to pre-emptively blame my performance on the following: bad dice, the drugging of my pre-match beer, collusion between ambiguous rule-writers and keen-eyed opponents and the monstrous communist plot to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids. Clearly my lack of preparation, practice games and idiosyncratic list building will not have any effect on my performance whatsoever. I explain this all now to you so I won't be seen as making up excuses after the fact.

First unit of knights in close-up, the barding-less rear rank indicates better terrain crossing ability.

Sharp-eyed readers will probably be able to spot some re-used models from years ago, such as the Ral Partha Mounted Female Paladin and the Crusader knights. Most of the knights have been fully re-painted to bring them up to scratch, but the standard bearer has only had a few touch-ups on the highlights, and the Plastic Bertrand banner still flies above my mighty army.

Second knight unit. The flag is almost invisible at this angle.

I've been watching a lot of Napoleonic battle reports lately (J P, as recommended by Von Ketteringham) and I'm certainly planning on taking a Napoleonic approach this time. It's not such a bad mix for as a game as abstract as Kings of War, where combat could just as easily consist of short-range musketry as hand-to-hand slogging matches.

The plan is to use the Knights, Celts and Giant to knock through the primary axis of attack, while the hoplites and foot knights hold ground and die slowly. The cannon will be formed into a "grande batterie" to cover a second avenue of approach, either to act as a distraction or to support a push later in the game. The light cavalry will be sweeping the flanks and rear for enemy fliers, or screening the main advance if there aren't any.

Close-up on the foot knights to which a dozen new Perry crusaders were added. This purchase was entirely artistically justified.

A very short update this one, just getting the army showcase done before Clash of Kings at the weekend. Of course, now as well as the tournament report, I will have to show you all the new models painted for this army in a separate post too. I'm going to take a painting break after this I think. All this stress has worn me out.

 

Two additional Perry cannons, earlier models sculpted for Citadel Miniatures many years ago, currently being sold by Wargames Foundry. I've kept the Arsenal FC theme across the battery, which makes it the only uniformed unit in the army.