Armada: Northern Alliance Fleet

A while back after attending the South Oxfordshire Armada event I was inspired to print off a new fleet and after what feels like a long time they have finally been completed.

Wanting something a bit different from my current fleets I went with the Viking themed Northern Alliance/Varangur models. The plan is to use these alongside my Kingdoms of Men army when we next do an Kings of War/Armada campaign. I'd put off the start of painting the fleet to await the arrival of the Army Painter flexible triad paint set so this was also my first outing with those. 

Not really knowing what fleet composition would be best I went with printing off two of everything apart from the XL. Not being a fan of fliers I didn't print off any of those so did save myself a small amount of effort. In general the NA ships pack a good number of Heavy and Close guns generally backed up by a reasonable amount of crew strength. I'm thinking they want to get in close to soften the enemy up with shooting and then finish them off with a boarding action. They also have a couple of Indirect options to shoot on the way in to further soften up the enemy. 

The faction specific upgrades (Dwarven Ale & Naiad Ensnarers) are defence orientated as they add nerve and reduce incoming boarding damage respectively. Whilst the fleet also benefits from the Glide rule which could potentially add 1" or 2" onto a movement step. I think Glide could potentially be useful in a number of scenarios so it will take some practice to make the most of it.

First up we have the XL which in common with all XL's is a bit of a beast. It packs a fearsome broadside and a good number of combat crew so cannot be taken lightly. It's nerve is perhaps a little low but that can be boosted by both dwarven ale and sturdy construction if you can spare the upgrade slots.

The fleet only has one large ship option, the Serpent. Again packing a decent number of guns on the broadsides with a decent crew strength these can put out some shooting pain. They also have a special ability (Ice Blast) that lets them potentially reduce the speed of enemy ships, so this could be useful for slowing an enemy ship for boarding or other reasons.

The Draakar is a true glass hammer, it's the fastest ship in the fleet and has very low nerve and structure points but does pack a mighty 7 crew strength. It's not cheap and is unlikely to survive much shooting or combat against a strong foe but it is capable of wrecking similar sized ships in quick order.

The Ice Breaker is a much more sturdy ship with above average nerve and decent broadsides and crew strength. It feels like this is the safer option between the two medium main battle ships and probably the more sensible choice.

The first support option is the Snekkja which adds to your indirect weapon options. It's not fast or tough and doesn't want to fight up close but they reasonably cheap. You could also double their firepower with an additional forward weapon though that would increase the price to 22 points.

The Skeid is a nice model but I'm struggling to see the value in it's special rule and it's not really quick or tough enough to be an objective grabber so I suspect I won't be putting any on the table.

The last option is the Karvi squadron which allows nearby ships to count as having grappling hooks. The squadron auras are a nice idea but I've generally found them to be too slow to actually use them when needed, so it's probably better to just put the item on the ship that needs them.

It's taken a while to get these all done but I'm glad I've got them all painted up and ready to use, hopefully the South Oxford guys will have another Armada event I can take them too.

 

Ill Tides: Ragnarök

Kings of War: 3000 points of Control
Armada: 300 point fleets

Arlantrix grimaced, this was it, she'd managed to entice the short-arses into a pitched battle and now all she had to do was emerge victorious. In months of skirmishing on land and at sea neither side had managed to gain the upper hand (or paw in the case of the Dwarves) but with their last victory on land her forces where on the ascendancy. Now she had complete victory within her grasp and was determined to take it. Triumph here would make her foremost among the Crones of the Conclave.

Her grand army was arrayed against the enemy who had been forced into deploying units of Human slaves only recently taken prisoner and off shore she could see her reinforcing fleet arriving with even more units. The short-arses also had a fleet but Arlantrix had ordered Zor'damos and her Heartseeker to make sure they did not interfere with the land battle. 

Over to her left Arlantrix could see the fleets getting closer, most of her fleet headed towards the stinking-smoking Dwarven ships on an intercept course whilst the troops transports headed straight for the beaches. The Dwarves seemed to have decided on a similar plan and a clash seemed inevitable. 

Looking back to her front Arlantrix could sense that Sycorax had hesitated at this most vital junction so giving the signal to advance she urged her forces onwards towards the enemy lines hoping to force them onto the back foot. 

At sea her ships had miss-timed their approach to the enemy and allowed them to concentrate fire on the end Butcher, Arlantrix could see smoke pouring from it's gun ports and starting to lick the ends of the sails. She'd been in enough naval battles by now to know that the ship had but moments to avert disaster. But with both fleets heavily engaged their respective transports made full sail towards the coast, only the Heartseeker looked to have the speed to try and stop a transport.

But Arlantrix did not have the time to watch the naval engagement unfold her attention was now focued entirely on the land battle as the first units started to engage. Her Phantoms floated forwards with deceptive speed and caught first one then another unit of foul Gargoyles at the halt, allowing her slower infantry to push onwards into striking range. The advance was not without it's casualties however as concentrated Dwarven fire evaporated a entire regiment of Corsairs holding the right flank.

Arlantrix heard and felt the explosion of the Butcher but did not have time to look and see it's fiery death (*I seem to have forgotten to take the Armada photos*) but she could well imagine the pieces of the former ship being thrown high into the air in a massive fireball.

She could make out the first of the reinforcements coming ashore just as the main battle lines started to clash. As she had hoped her army still had the initiative and all the fighting was taking place with the short-arses well and truly on the back foot. Even the earlier loss of the Corsairs had not stopped her armies advance as the mighty Gordrake had launched itself into the gap left by their deaths.

Looking to her left Arlantrix could see more and more units pouring ashore on both sides of the port, including Zor'damos who should have been onboard the Heartseeker but who instead had been on one of the transports. No wonder the fleet was performing so badly and hadn't even managed to stop one enemy ship. Arlantrix promised to make her pay if she emerged victorious. 

Thanks to her leadership the land battle was going much better than the one at sea, after the initial clash of lines her forces had slowly started to break down the Dwarven lines with gaps now appearing all along the battle front as the cowardly short-arses broke and ran or where totally annihilated. 

The gaps in the enemy lines started to grow larger and larger as her units doubled up on the enemy and totally broke their formations. At last Arlantrix could start to relax with victory seeming to be totally within her grasp. Most of the enemy units where by now broken with just a single winged halfbreed left to cause a serious threat, best not to be eaten at the very moment of her triumph.

From atop a hill Arlantrix paused to gaze out to sea and surveyed the remains of the fleet. The second butcher had gone the way of the first at some point and a smoking hull was all that was left of the fearsome fighting vessel. The Dwarves had certainly gained the upper hand at sea but not without a few losses and their flag-ship was beached in easy reach of her land forces.

On land the victory was complete with hardly any Dwarves left standing, Sycorax looked like he was about to be taken prisoner and the winged halfbreed still flitted about but otherwise victory was total. Nothing would now stop her from ravaging what was left of the human lands and then returning in total triumph to her home lands. The campaign had been a success and she would return back with many slaves and large quantities of valuable materials to continue the reconstruction of Ileureleith, one day it would rise again and all of Panithor would bow to the Twilight Kin, and hopefully Arlantrix.