Practice games have been completed, army has been virtually created, hours of YouTube matches watched.
Should I feel ready and confident in what I am going? Yes
Do I?
The List
Spear Phalanx Horde
Pike Upgrade, Indomitable Will, Hammer of Measured Force
260 pts
Foot Guard Regiment
Two-Handed Weapons and Fire Oil
140 pts
Foot Guard Regiment
Two-Handed Weapons
135 pts
Foot Guard Regiment
Two-Handed Weapons
135 pts
Knights Horde
Indomitable Will and Brew of Strength
380 pts
Cannon
100 pts
Cannon
100 pts
Cannon
100 pts
Butchers Regiment
125 pts
Butchers Regiment
125 pts
Butchers Regiment
125 pts
Butchers Regiment
125 pts
Army Standard Bearer
Lute of Insatiable Darkness and Horse
100 pts
Wizard
Inspiring Talisman, Bane Chant (2), LB (3) and Horse
115 pts
Wizard
Boomstick, LB(3) and Pegasus
115 pts
[1] The Captain
120 pts
KoM Overview
Having over 30 games with Kingdoms of Men at this point, I can confidently say I am familiar and experienced with the list. I have made it a point to try almost everything in the list minus a few options.
If you look up mediocre in the dictionary you will see Kingdoms of Men right next to it. While there are a few options that are great about KoM, in general there is always a reason to play one of the other human based armies.
To me there are 3 things that make KoM an attractive choice:
#1 - Cheap Wizards: These guys are fantastic as they can spam LB, be mounted on Pegasus to provide additional scoring and chaff, and have access to Band Chant. All in all these guys are a solid 5 star choice.
#2 - The Captain: while not the end all be all, for 120 points you are getting a steal. He provides Rally (1), is Very Inspiring and gives that awesome Re-Deploy ability. Now, the re-deploy has to be used in your deployment plan, rarely are you using it to counter what the opponent is doing since it is a random number of re-deploys. Normally this ability will be used in conjunction with the Knight Horde. You can drop these guys early and hope that your opponent deploys around it, only to later plop them right where they didnt want them to be.
Another option that I have used to good success is with artillery. You deploy the cannons early, and can re-position them for better angles after you opponent has likely tried to hide.
Again, this is not earth shattering usually, but seeing as it comes on a good character with other useful abilities for 120 points, its great.
#3 - Allies: No surprise here. The list is neutral so you gain access to they missing links that the list usually needs. For me it is usually access to survivable, sturdy chaff as well as the access to native CS.
Outside of these you do have access to lots of Pikes which can be super effective. However there are lots of great units who ignore the Phalanx rule and even with Ensnare will make short work of a Def 4 unit.
How I settled on my Vanguard List
So my list hits on all three of the items above. Great use of wizards, The Captain and allies to supplement my weaknesses.
At its core, the Spear Phalanx can provide serious issues for the enemy, especially when used in a piece of terrain. Cavalry wont usually go near them unless they have support, and against other infantry you will usually win the ensuing grind. Supported by 3 Regiments of Foot Guard with two-handed weapons, enemies will have to make sure that they route the Spear Phalanx and be able to re-position to not get flanked by the Foot Guard.
There has been plenty of talk about the Knights Horde, and by far better players than I (Tom Robinson). This unit provides the ability to alpha, grind like an infantry block and be able to capitalize on enemy mistakes swiftly. Having CS1 makes them a very hard unit to grind with, 32 attacks on 3's and CS1 is fantastic.
Cannons are there for threat projection and helping lock down areas of the board. They also provided a ranged can opener to help soften the tougher targets like Elemental and Dragons. While swingy, they can really devastate the enemy with some lucky turns.
Lastly, we have the Butcher Allies. Again, lots of talk about these guys. Tagged as THICC CHAFF (Ashley Mowat), they're like a perfectly wrapped present on Chirstmas. Great nerve (-/15), CS1 with decent attacks and Def 5 to round it off. I cant think of a better screen for my list, helping setup good combats, lock down smaller units and still be able to threaten flanks.
Conclusion
I am happy with my list, and this will likely be the last event I use KoM in for a while. My first game is against Midwest Pro Shannon "The Cannon" Shoemaker (dont know if that is his nickname but it sounded good), so a win in round 1 would be great but not expected!
Wish me luck!
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