Staff Showcase – Into the Abyss

Jonny here, 

During Ambush launch week, Kay and I played a small game using the models you get in the Halfling and Forces Of The Abyss starter sets. Kay  has now started a Forces Of The Abyss army for Ambush with to intention of building on that great starter set. 

So here they are to take us through their plan,

“Ambush is the fantastic new way to play smaller games of Kings of War, and it’s fair to say we’re pretty excited about it. Working for a tabletop gaming company is not in fact playing games every day (sadly), and it can be hard to find the time and energy to play. Smaller point games however are ideal for a lunch time, as well as being perfect for dipping your toes into the game for the first time, or into a new faction.

For me that new faction is the Forces of the Abyss. I’ve always liked that classic fire daemon look, and the striking red scheme. But I’ve never gotten around to collecting any. So it was time to change that.

Jonny and I played a great game a few weeks ago which you may have seen, and which definitely contained no gameplay errors as we are serious professionals. Any such errors you believe you may have seen were definitely deliberate, good job, you passed our test.

It’s fair to say we were both a bit rusty, and this is a great opportunity to get playing regularly again, refresh our rules knowledge and perfect our tactics.

So, like me you’ve got your Ambush box, you’ve assembled your models and had a game, where to next?

Personally I love the Succubi, stealthy and ensnare both give them a surprising edge of durability, Melee 3+ is fantastic, and you can get Pathfinder which, as we all know, allows you to avoid the hindering effects of difficult terrain but definitely not obstacles.

I really like the models too, so my next choice beyond the starter box was a second regiment of them. In order to keep with that Succubi theme, I then chose a Seductress hero, because again I think she has a fantastic set of rules, and a brilliant model. My own is converted from the Succubi Lurker found in the Vanguard box, with added Gargoyle wings. But I shall be adding the standard model too in full size Kings of War games.

The second regiment, and a hero, brings me nicely up to 750 points, which is a great level to play at. Pushing beyond that, to the maximum Ambush points level of 995, I need a bit more in the way of damage output and a good heavy hitter. So the solution is simple. One of my absolute favourite monsters, the Chroneas, and the force sits perfectly for 995 points.

I’m already intending to make this a full size Kings of War army, and will hopefully update you on that in future.

For now my army is as follows at exactly 750 points:

Seductress with Bane Chant and Enthral
2x Regiment of Succubi with Lurker upgrade

1x Flamebearer Troop with sacrificial imp
1x Lower Abyssal Troop with sacrificial imp and upgraded Crushing Strength*

*shields are for wusses, and this is definitely the official Mantic opinion on that, honest

For 995 points, I simply add:
1x Chroneas
And 20 points left for an artefact.

Thanks Kay, I’m sure like me, everyone one is eager to see how this project gets on.