Topic: Empire KoW Advice

[ZeroTwentythree]

Although I have enjoyed KoW, I have not done nearly as well with it as I have with WFB. In particular, I'm not sure how to adapt my Empire armies to either Kingdoms of Men or League or Rhordia. But I'm having difficulty with both decent lists and actually gameplay. Anyone have any good general advice for either army?

 I like that there are more options, especially with two lists, allies, etc. And I'm really OK with not 100% emulating old Empire lists. Just looking for something that will at least put up a fight... which I'm not currently doing.

[Zygmund]

Not real advice, but I'm in a somewhat similar situation. While I really like the game, every single game has been a struggle and the outcome a loss.

My feeling is that KoW really is a delicate game, and you need to think ahead maybe even more than with Warhammer Fantasy prior to the 8th ed. Even if you can measure everything. Likely this is due to less practice. Even math-KoW might help to understand the nature of various unit confrontations better.

There are strong deathstars in the game for most armies, but they tend to be hordes, and could be maneuvered and flanked. Frontally engaging those units with anything weaker, not to say regiments, doesn't work without flanking. Still, I haven't been able to achieve a single flanking against them. It's hard to say if this is because of little practice or because of the basic nature of the game. Possibly you should go for two hordes in a list for a starter.

Empire style/skill artillery and shooters are clearly weaker in KoW. I still feel they have a role, but what exactly, I haven't been able to deduce.

I've never taken a monster/tank in a list, nor ogres, nor knight regiments or hordes. They could bring some needed muscle and maneuverability with narrower frontage. Hard to say. Must practice more.

-Z

[Midaski]

I've had a couple of games - which is more than anything else of a large scale for a few years now - and went 1-1.
Both games result were about flanking, but that may have been both of us being mainly old 6th Edition players.

I may look at 9th Age, but I don't get a lot of opportunity to play games at the moment, and the simplicity of a small number of movement tray sizes, with the fact casualties stay on the tray, and as 023 says you can easily use my old Empire figures makes it attractive and I want to play more.

[ZeroTwentythree]

There is a good deal of setting up & manuvering for position involved. That's part of what I like about KoW. In that respect it reminds me of the glory days of WFB6

However, I'm apparently nor adjusting to KoW well enough yet. 

I think a lot of the KoM & LoR unit choices are very "average," for lack of better term. I need more experience to figure out how to make them work. (And what doesn't work.)

[Illumini]

I have done very well with my Kislev Rhordia, and I have several friends that play KoM / Rhordia that also do well overall. I run cavalry heavy, a friend runs pure melee infantry heavy and the other runs infantry heavy with a good amount of shooting.

KoM, League and Brotherhood are all a bit tougher to play than many of the more fantasy heavy armies, but they are close enough in power level to be competitive with a good strategy / tactics. A bonus with playing human armies is that you can blame it when you lose

It is hard to give generic list advice, since almost all units are fully playable. If you give us an idea of what kind of units you want to use, or what kind of theme you want, preferably with a draft list, it is easier to help.

I can give the generic advice that the following units are good and fairly easy to use:
- Human wizards. They are cheap, the KoM ones come with lightning bolt, and drain life is ace with infantry hordes. Bane chant is very neccessary for humans because of our low CS.
- Volley guns (helblaster). Consistent damage dealing for a cheap price. Can´t go wrong with 1-3 of these guys. Bring the next unit to keep them around longer.
- Battle shrine (war altar). Brings both good shooting, a scoring unit and the +2 nerve bubble that keeps your chaff and warmachines around for an annoyingly long time.
- Honor guard (demi gryphs). One of the best melee damage dealers in the game. Give them haste potion to increase their threat range and they will treat you good.

Human infantry, cavalry, heroes and monsters are all also fully usable, so there are a ton of options for good lists.