Clash of Kings Road Trip Part 11 – UK South Region Clash of Kings 2015

Last Sunday myself and Dave made the three hour or so drive down south from Nottingham to the seaside town of Brighton for the 2015 South Region Clash of Kings Tournament. The event itself was hosted by the local club “Brighton Warlords” and held in the Mock Tudor Pub the King and Queen.

The venue itself was massive and looked great with lots of historical pieces and painting adorning the walls. We had our own little room upstairs that would easily accommodate our number. The added advantage of gaming in a pub was that the Bar and food was onsite and we could bring it upstairs to the gaming room! In fact there were several bowls of Apple Pie and Custard consumed before, during and after game 3!!

A little note about the photography in this Blog post. The rooms light bulbs were quite dim and with the sun beaming in some pictures will look a little dark. Not much I can do about it now and hope you can all still appreciate what was on display!

With a couple of late drop outs and 2 no shows we kicked off with 8 players plus myself. The army spread looked like:

David Symonds – Ogres
Martyn Chate – Twilight Kin
Pete Cooke – Kingdom of Men
Matt Gilbert – Undead
Andrew Robertson – Basileans
James Kelly – Ogres
Rhandolph Stearman – Dwarfs
Jon Hickey – Orcs

Badgers vs Romans… but who will win? There’s only one way to find out… FIGHT!!

Break for Lunch

1 game down and time for the players to grab something to eat. Luckily we only had to go downstairs and order something from the Bar. A little wait allowed everyone to have a chat and discuss the important issues of the day…

The Final Game

No full battle report this time I’m afraid (I was very tired from the early start and drive so instead opted for lots of pictures throughout the day) but I have taken the 2 players army lists.

Martyn Chate’s Twilight Kin

Dark Lord on Dragon: Ensorcelled Armour (+1 Defence)
Twilight Kin Standard Bearer: Healing Charm (Heal (3))
Dark Knight Regiment: Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar (ignores melee penalty to disrupted charges)
Dark Knight Regiment
Dark Knight Regiment
Gargoyle Troop: Blade of Slashing (+1 attack in melee)
Gargoyle Troop: Mace of Crushing (+1 attack that has Crushing strength 1)
Blade Dancer Regiment: Brew of Strength (+1 Crushing Strength)
Twilight Spearmen Regiment
Twilight Spearmen Regiment
Twilight Spearmen Regiment

Jon Hikcey’s Orcs

Krudger on Slasher: Wings of Honeymaze
Flagger on Gore: Blade of Slashing (+1 attack in melee)
Flagger on Gore: Diadem of Dragon (Breathe attack 10)
Flagger on Gore: Mace of Crushing (+1 attack that has Crushing strength 1)
Ax Krudgiment
Ax Krudgiment
Ax Krudgiment
Morax Regiment
Morax Regiment
Morax Regiment
Gore Rider Regiment
Gore Rider Regiment
Gore Rider Regiment

The game was very tight and went into turn 7! Although by then there wasn’t much left on either side.

It ended 1450 pts to Martyn and 1240pts to Jon. As it was Kill and Pillage Jon was left holding 1 objective but that only made the draw even more likely. Both players walked away with 10 Tournament points from what looked like the closest game of the game!

Best Army

Although not a ‘Mantic’ Army Pete Cooke’s Kingdom of Men army was the best looking army of the day. It had a little ‘time warp’ feel with Napoleonic Line Infantry lining up with Roman Infantry, Batista and Cavalry but looked great as an army.  Didn’t perform too badly either… when the artillery could hit at any rate! Although Pete couldn’t receive the official awarded (needed to be majority Mantic) we don’t actually produce Kingdom of Men miniatures so I awarded it to Pete any way!

The Results

1) Martyn Chate – Twilight Kin – 47pts – 4540 attrition
2) Jon Hickey – Orcs – 45pts – 3900 attrition
3) Matt Gilbert – Undead – 37pts – 3275 attrition
4) Pete Cooke – Kingdom of Men – 37pts – 2855 attrition
5) Andrew Robertson – Basileans – 24pts – 2715 attrition
6) Rhandolph Stearman – Dwarfs – 24pts – 1835 attrition
7) James Kelly – Ogres – 21pts – 1445 attrition
8) David Symonds – Ogres – 4pts – 750 attrition

Regional Champion – Martyn Chate – Twilight Kin

Martyn wins his FREE ticket to the Final, Undead One player starter army, limited edition Mantica map and of course – the Blaine Trophy!

Runner-up – Jon Hickey – Orcs

Jon won a Dwarf Iron Watch Regiment and a limited edition Mantica Map.

Most Sporting – James Kelly – Ogres (3 out of 3 votes)

James won an Ogre Hero for being the Most Sporting Opponent of the day.

Other awards.

3rd Place – Matt Gilbert (taking the pictures), Best Army – Pete Cooke, Wooden Spoon – Dave Symonds (3 Wooden Spoons in 4 Clash of Kings this year for Dave!)

Final thoughts

Another great day out running an Event for Mantic. I was pretty tired Sunday night but always feel good despite the tiredness after running another successful Tournament. Although slightly smaller than hoped it was still another laid back day of competitive gaming – and by that I mean players are playing to win, but not at all costs or at the expense of others enjoyment, which is exactly what you should see at a Tournament. We had another good mix of armies and abilities. And in fact we have our 3rd different race winning a Regional in the UK (Basileans, Goblins and now Twilight Kin!).

Thanks to all the players who took part, the King and Queen Pub for accommodating us and Pete Cooke and the Brighton Warlords for hosting and providing all the tables and terrain.

So far I’ve traveled 1550 miles on the Clash of Kings Road Trip and although I’ve had an absolute blast playing & orgainsing in Norwich, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Brighton I certainly won’t be missing the early starts and long drives for the next two events! (the last Regional is about 10 minutes from my house!). That said I have had a great time so far running these Regionals and already thinking how we can improve and hopefully increase the number of events for 2016. Kings of War is very well suited to Tournament play as well as casual play which is great to see.

We have 2nd Edition out in the Summer so will also have to turn our attentions to tweaking the Rulespack for the Final. The Final will be 5-6 games over two days so we have a bit of scope to play larger games. Last year for example we played 1600pt Regionals and a 2000pt Final. I am looking forward to the changes in 2nd Edition – not least all the news units we might see in action! I’ve seen a few Ogre Siege Breakers popping up on Facebook for example.

Two Regionals left for 2015

In a month we are off to Stockport and the North West Gaming Centre (home to Element Games) for the North Regional. We already have 7 players plus me and Dave signed up for the Event. The entrants include Dan King (current reigning UK National Champion for Kings of War) and Chris Walsh (Store Champion for Black Dragon Miniatures). If you are interested in joining us or finding out more click HERE.

And the last Regional is at the Sanctuary Gaming Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield and will be held on Independence Day (July 4th for those who’ve not watch the movie!). Dan will also be attending this along with myself and Dave and 8 others but I am also trying hard on Ronnie, Alessio and other Mantic Staff. Feel free to pressure them or challenge them on Facebook! More details of the Midlands regional can be found HERE.

Remember – For the Clash of Kings Regionals you can play with non-Mantic models, the Rules are free to download and the minimum painting standard is 2 colours. It’s £10 for a days gaming, every player gets a goody bag (which includes a mini rulebook and 3 Ogre Shooters) and who knows… you might win a free ticket to the Final in October!