The Kings were a blast to paint but not the best to put together - who knew? After playing about 10 games with them I now feel it's time to discuss them properly.
I have been running them with Doomy3. Mainly for the point reduction and feat. 16 points of ice seems legit. My first three games with them came at a local event. The 16 point steamroller went reasonably well. Paired with Runes, I came third and only lost on scenario after getting my opponents caster down to 1 wound.
The Kings were glorious in the first game against pigs. Running 16 inches first turn due to the tier benefit and Rush was bonkers. The feat made them unkillable the next turn and I removed any threats. 5-0 to me.
Then came cryx. I knew going into the event that this would be a problem. Cryx like to munch on armour. Armour was all I was bringing. The game started well for me, I got up the table and began scoring/ piece trading. I didn't go for the assassination until turn 4 - a costly mistake. However, the biggest mistake was stupidly activating one King and advancing out of Doomy's control. If I had been able to boost I think I would have killed the caster. Instead, I left him on one and he won 5-3 on incursion.
Then came the glorious moment where I assassinated a caster top of two with trolls. With ret, this was a common plan, but in trolls I have looked for the long game. To put it simply, my opponent didn't realise the Kings had rate of fire three. Abby died after one King had activated.
So that was my first event with them. They did well, were fun and great to see on the table. I have since played a few more games and used them in a mangled metal event yesterday. Yesterday didn't go too well but I had fun and learnt a lot.
So, here is the thing about the Kings and Doomy3. You will catch people out win ROF 3. You will feel great feat turn. You will kill jacks and beasts with ease once you get to them. But, and it's a big but, their relatively low wound count and def 9 mean they can be easily killed after feat. Not only that, but having two means you don't have much of a screen or other pieces to continue the fight once one is removed. Doomy3 also seems to struggle late game if your opponent has been wise and not fed you his army. In short, with the way the meta currently looks to deal with armour (thanks MMM) I think they will need some rethinking. Maybe they need Gunnbjorn.
I loved painting them. I'm happy to see them on the table. They are so, so much better than the Mountain King. For now at least I will give them Christmas off. Doomy3 will also have an Xmas break to rest his weary head.
Next, I feel Calandra, croaks and the knot need to be tested. Puppet stringed Croak raiders under her feat sound OK don't they?
