The "Chafftica": Chaff tactics for Kingdoms of Men

 

The Chafftica for Kingdoms of Men

Kingdoms of men are one of the most balanced armies in Kings of War.  I am pretty sure most of the other army’s points and designs come off of the template of Kingdoms of Men.  A question was asked on the Kingdoms of Men forum regarding the best chaff.  The true answer is it is relative to your particular build. 

Foot Chaff: 

I mainly play infantry armies in Kings of War.  That means that the chaff tends to be more infantry centered as well.  It is fully possible to mix between mounted and infantry chaff in fact it may work better depending on your army build and your foe.  It also depends on what works in your local region or “meta”(which is the most popular term). 

Fanatics:  Fanatics are probably the overall best chaff choice for Kingdoms of Men.  Why?  Well that is a fine question:

1.       They cannot be wavered. This is SO important to not have a wavered unit stall your advance.  Though they die pretty easily from missile fire, they also will not screw up your movement phase.

2.       Though they are basic infantry in speed they have Wild Charge D3. That gives them a potential charge range of up to 13”!   This will often allow them to out charge enemy chaff. 

3.       They hit a ton!  A troop has 12 swings for 3 plus with crushing one! That hits as hard as many elite regiments.  Many times I’ve taken out lesser regiments with a simple troop of Fanatics.

4.       Some enemy units can brush off a flank charge from chaff units.  This is not true of Fanatics.  Fanatics will shred most regiments and severely damage a lot of hordes. 

Fanatics are always my first choice for chaff units.  My models are Games Workshop Fanatics, but I have also used some of my old Ulric units.

Shield Wall:  Shield Wall units are the absolute most average unit in Kings of War, but they do have some advantages as chaff units. 

1.       They are CHEAP!  Only 65 points for a unit with armor 4, hit on 4, and with 10 swings.  That is superior to a lot of enemy chaff units as most of them tend to hit on 5’s and have armor 3. 

2.       They can take Indomitable Will.  For only 10 points more (75 total) you get a unit that can’t be wavered for at least one turn.

3.       Their armor allows them to shake off enemy ranged missile attacks. 

I rate Shield Wall as my second choice for foot chaff.  I like how well they work in that role.  Their vulnerability to “anti-chaff” shooting is very good. 

Foot Guard:  Foot Guard as chaff? That is crazy talk!

1.       Foot Guard can be taken as troops. 

2.       The have armor 5 native. That makes it very hard for non-piercing shooting to harm.  An average four dice lightning bolt will do but a single wound to a unit of Armor 5 Foot Guard. 

3.       They can be upgraded with crushing strength at the expense of their armor for free. 

4.       They hit on a three plus, that makes them a threat to anything. 

5.       They have decent leadership of 10/12 in troop form. 

6.       Just like the Shield Wall they can take Indomitable Will to prevent being wavered. 

Foot Guard can be what is called “Thick Chaff”, especially with the Armor 5 version with Indomitable Will.  Many regiments will falter to get rid of them.  With the crushing upgrade they can work as normal chaff similar to Fanatics (Fanatics are better in that role though despite the higher leadership of the Foot Guard and higher Armor)

Pike Regiment:  They are almost too expensive to be chaff, BUT they can be used in that fashion.  No enemy chaff units or regiments, wants to run into a Regiment of Pikemen. 

1.       They are expensive for chaff units. 

2.       They can take a one round charge from almost any unit in the game!  That is what makes them a great dual threat unit.  You don’t really need chaff with these as they are a counter unit to almost anything.  In effect they are chaff, but also eliminate the need for chaff at the same time. 

3.       Samuel S Norberg in his Dash 28 article pushes his 5 units of Pikemen right in the face of his enemy.  Isn’t that what you do with “chaff”? 

Lastly, you can use regiments of almost anything in Kingdoms of Men as chaff as well. They are so cheap and they would have a dual role as adding Unit Strength to your battle line.  Don’t forget Indomitable Will! It is honestly the best special rule in Kings of War. 

 

Missile Chaff:

There is only one “real” choice for missile chaff, but I will go over the other ones to show you why you should or should not use them. 

Bowmen: These are by far the best choice for missile chaff. 

1.       They are cheap! Only 75 points! 

2.       They can shoot (sorta) 

3.       They have normal chaff statistics

4.       They cannot take Indomitable Will

The thing is that Bowmen can be used as chaff.  The thing you have to remember is to NOT SHOOT unless you have nothing better to do.  That is the mistake of all missile chaff, wanting to shoot instead of acting as a normal chaff unit.  I have seen it happen bunches of times with Elven archers where the player stops to shoot instead of making a “chaff” move.  The good thing though several troops are effective counter chaff AS LONG AS YOU DON’T MOVE!  That is crazy right? You can see how hard missile chaff is to use properly.  It takes skill to use Bowmen effectively as chaff; that is the truth. 

 

Crossbowmen:  These are more of a dual role unit but they can be used as “chaff”. 

1.       Crossbowmen cannot effectively move and fire.  They are much better standing still and shooting.

2.       They can be used as a form of chaff.  For example you can put several units on the 12” line during deployment with your army behind them.  You surrender some initiative but they can work especially against fast lightly armored armies. 

3.       That bad thing about them is you will be tempted too much to shoot rather than make the proper moves. 

4.       On the other hand when they can stand still, they can be an effective “anti-chaff” unit by shooting your enemy’s chaff. 

Using Missile Chaff is very hard.  It can be effective but you have to know its role in your army. Your army needs to be designed around using it properly or you are just wasting points.  On the other hand regiments of missile troops can be very effective to stay on an objective and menace enemy troops with missile fire.  Then they aren’t chaff are they?  (I feel units with the Blackpowder upgrade are too expensive to be used as chaff, but the again just about any unit can be “chaff”).

Fast Chaff!

 Many armies have fast chaff!  They have scouting chaff, flying chaff, small fast swarms, and even units of light cavalry.  The Kingdoms of Men have several good choices for Fast Chaff. 

Mounted Sergeants:  These and scouts are probably interchangeable as fast chaff. 

1.       They are WICKED fast! They have a potential 18” charge range!

2.       They hit decently hard with Thunderous Charge 1. 

3.       They are nimble so they have a LOT of movement freedom. 

4.       They are cheap at 100 points and have the same leadership as a troop of Foot Guard

5.       However, they cannot take Indomitable Will. L

Several troops of Mounted Sergeants can really harass your foe.  Their high speed, plus their “nimble” skill, means that they can be a threat to any enemy unit in the game.  Mounted Scouts are a truly dual role unit.  They can act as chaff, or just act as a harassing light cavalry unit. That is what makes them so good, especially if you have a Knight heavy list.  These can clear out the enemy chaff and make it possible for your knights to charge. 

Mounted Scouts:  While these are not strictly chaff units, they can be used in that role in a pinch.  The problem you have with these as chaff is that they have the same issue as Bowmen: shoot or chaff?  I honestly I don’t consider this unit “chaff”, but can be pressed into that role. With the gunpowder upgrade they are so good at shooting and being annoying, that is their primary role. 

Chariots:  Are these a thing?  Can they be used for chaff?  Let’s see!

1.       A chariot troop is 125 points.  For sure that would be on the higher end for chaff.

2.       They do not have an effective shooting attack, so their anti-chaff role is limited. 

3.       They are wicked fast though with an 18” charge range. 

4.       On the charge they will likely do four wounds to opposing chaff units which may be enough to waver or destroy them. 

5.       They can’t take Indomitable Will, so they are prone to waver and hold up your army. 

6.       However they have a nice 100 mm square base which allows them some freedom of movement. 

Knights?

Could you use Knights as chaff?  The issue there is that they are pretty expensive.  At 125 points or 135 with Indomitable Will, they would be THE most expensive chaff choice.  However, if you have an all mounted force and just need something to destroy enemy chaff, these are by far the most resilient.  I used to use small units of Knights in Warhammer in almost every one of my armies. The issue here is just their expense.  I have no doubt they would work. 

Mounted chaff units in Kingdoms of Men are mostly dual role units.  They all can be chaff in a pinch, but that isn’t their primary role unless you have designed them to be so in your particular force.    However, they would excel in the role of chaff/anti-chaff meaning that they can take out enemy chaff units pretty well! 

Hero Chaff: 

WHAT?  Hero chaff?  In fact some of the best chaff units in Kingdoms of Men are hero chaff.  The issue is using unlocks to get enough of them for it to work. 

Mounted Hero:  He is by far the ROCK STAR of hero chaff!  I usually have the maximum amount of these allowed.  My friends despise them!  

1.       He is fast with a 16” movement

2.       He is SO CHEAP!

3.       He is an individual so have a potential 32” threat range! 

4.       He will reliably do one wound.  That means he can hold up any unit for a single turn. Though he is not “mighty”, disrupted units cannot charge through “yielding” units. 

5.       He can take Indomitable Will. This ability is SO powerful as he can disrupt one unit, even if he is wavered, then he can speed off to disrupt another unit. 

6.       He is virtually missile proof. 

7.       Not only is he good chaff, he is one of the best flyer defenses in the game!

8.       I don’t hesitate to charge him into enemy chaff units. They will rarely hurt him and over a couple of turns he will likely destroy them. At a minimum he will hold them up for several turns. 

The Mounted Hero is the best chaff unit in Kingdoms of Men.  Once you start using him you will realize his potential is unlimited.  For sure give him a Blade of Slashing or a Mace of Crushing.  Those will virtually guarantee that he will do a single wound and disrupt an enemy unit.  They are also a great dual role model. They can influence a fight with their swings, and they can ground enemy flyers

Hero on Pegasus:  One of the other best hero chaff units are heroes mounted on a Pegasus.  They are also a multi-role model in that they may have other functions, but can operate as chaff.

1.       CHEAP! Only 90 points! 95 with Indomitable Will!  Even with a 5 point item, he is only 100 points. 

2.       Jet speed.  He can fly and is nimble so the Hero can move freely anywhere he is needed. 

3.       He has crushing strength one so there is a high likelihood that he will do at least one damage, however it isn’t as important If the Pegasus whiffs since it is a monster not an individual.  This makes it a touch more reliable.  And the thing is, it is only a few points more.

4.       It SCORES!  That gives it an advantage over the Mounted Hero.  However it comes with the loss of being an individual. 

5.       They are excellent anti-flyer chaff and excellent chaff for your other flyers. 

The sheer flexibility of the Hero on Pegasus makes it a very valuable asset. It can be argued that its speed alone overcomes it slightly less flexible versus the “individual” Mounted Hero.  I can see the argument for both and honestly it is a choice of each player which one to use. 

Other heroes: 

Any hero can be used as chaff. However, the “Mighty” heroes are the best as they can actually stop a unit from charging your units.  The Captain and the General also have armor 5 and have inspiring, though I do not understand their lack of Indomitable Will?  Even your ASB can be a chaff unit.  He won’t do any damage but because of inspiring he is hard to destroy.  He is “yielding” so that makes him weak as chaff.  Wizards are very poor chaff units, unless mounted on a Pegasus. 

Hero chaff choices are some of the best choices for a Kingdoms of Men army.  I tend to run three chaff units and three chaff heroes.  That way I am covered all over the board.  It I have my choice I run three troops of Fanatics and three Mounted Heroes.  These are enough to give most armies fits.  Hero chaff is by far the most flexible, but not necessarily the best.  It just depends on the rest of your army design.  

The actual tactics

There are so many ways to use chaff that is it almost mind boggling.  Part of that is the type and variety of chaff. Part of that is the current “meta” in which you play.  Regardless chaff ALWAYS has an effect on the game. 

This is just the basic debate on how to deal with chaff units.  Do your charge their chaff or do you allow them to charge yours?  This is the great debate!

1.       If you allow them to charge your chaff, how likely is your chaff to hold?  That is a question you need to answer. 

2.       IF you can destroy their chaff you are in a great position to exploit.  This is a “chaff war”.  If you win that war, you have a very high likelihood to win the battle. 

3.       Can you destroy their chaff on the charge or at least waver it?  Another question you need to know the answer.  For an example, if your chaff charged Ratkin Vermintide or Orc Orclings.  What would happen?  If I were charging with Fanatics I would fully expect to destroy those units.  THEN what do you do?  Do you back up? The answer is if you have a high likelihood of destroying their chaff your follow on units need to be in position to exploit the breakthrough you have made. 

4.       What if your chaff is inferior?  What do you do then?  For example the Trident Realm has chaff with “ensnare”. Only chaff that hits on a three or four even have a chance to take it out. 

Straight Chaff

Diagram 1:  The troop of Fanatics in the Red Oval is acting as “Straight Chaff” for the formation of Foot Guard. 

Straight chaff is simply deploying a unit directly in front of another unit.  This is the most basic formation in Kings of War that almost everyone uses.  There are really are three good chaff units in KoM to use with this formation: Fanatics , Shield Wall (IW), or Foot Guard (IW).  Tha way you are never stuck behind your own chaff. 

A variation of “Straight Chaff” is to move it to one side of your unit.  In this situation if the chaff were directly in the middle the Elf Palace Guard AND the Drakons could charge your Foot Guard horde.  With  the Fanatics troop being on one side of the unit you are protected against double charges. 

 

Advanced Chaff Tactics

There is no better article on advanced Chaff tactics than the one written by my friend Sean Deitrick.  He goes over just about every possible use for chaff and formations.  Even with that mind boggling article, I am sure you will find uses that neither he or I have ever thought about trying. 

https://dash28.org/tag/kings-of-war-tactics/

Advanced Chaff Tactics:  “THE LONE RANGER”

What is this you say? It is simply to master the use of the best of the Kingdoms of Men’s chaff options; The Mounted Hero. 

Mounted Hero:  He is by far the ROCK STAR of hero chaff!  I usually have the maximum amount of these allowed.  My friends despise them!  

1.       He is fast with a 16” movement

2.       He is SO CHEAP!

3.       He is an individual so have a potential 32” threat range! 

4.       He will reliably do one wound.  That means he can hold up any unit for a single turn. Though he is not “mighty”, disrupted units cannot charge through “yielding” units. 

5.       He can take Indomitable Will. This ability is SO powerful as he can disrupt one unit, even if he is wavered, then he can speed off to disrupt another unit. 

6.       He is virtually missile proof. 

7.       Not only is he good chaff, he is one of the best flyer defenses in the game!

8.       I don’t hesitate to charge him into enemy chaff units. They will rarely hurt him and over a couple of turns he will likely destroy them. At a minimum he will hold them up for several turns. 

So now that I have convinced you to give him a try, what do you do with him?  He is what my friend Sean and I call a “Missile”.  You have to think of the Mounted Hero being a missile slung under your wing ready to fire at the approaching enemy forces . 

The basic “Missile” is where you charge your Lone Ranger into a formation with the idea of disrupting it. 

Diagram 3:  Here two Green Mounted Heroes (The Lone Ranger and Tonto) have charged the Palace Guard and the Drakons.  If they cause even a single wound, these units cannot charge through the two heroes.  This allows other untis to charge and  allows the two Generals on Winged Beasts to move to their flank or rear. 

Another use of the Lone Ranger, I call the “Ping Pong Ball”.  That means that he disengages from one melee and hops into another one.  The fact that he has Indomitable Will really helps in this!  I once had a Mounted Hero involved in FOUR different melees in the same game!  

 

Diagram #4  The Mounted Hero fighting the Palace Guard has somehow survived, but was wavered by the Palace Guard.  This turn he activates his Indomitable Will, backs up, will take his free pivot and charges into the Drakon Riders.  The Kingdoms of Men player now has overwhelming force.  With the Mounted Hero out of the way, the Fanatic Regiment and the General on Winged Beast charge into the Palace Guard.  That is a “chaff like” move as the Palace Guard can only kill one or the other. That will allow the 2^nd Foot Guard horde to charge in the following turn.  The interesting thing is if the Drakons are destroyed, the two Lone Rangers can “ping pong” into the Palace Guard fight in the following turn!

One of the things the Lone Ranger can do is to “add” to other chaff units.  Due to his high speed and ability to charge 360 degrees, he is able to easy add to other melees.  For example if your Fanatics are hitting a weak regiment like Goblin Rabble that extra three swings may be all you need to break that regiment.  Regardless, the Goblins can only attack back against one unit or the other effectively “chaffing” the Rabble Regiment! 

Diagram #5 Two hordes of feared Ratkin Shock Troops are approaching the KoM lines!  They have two units of Vermintide deployed as “Straight Chaff”.  One of the Lone Rangers charges the middle unit of Vermintide to hold it back.  It is highly unlikely that the Vermintide will even do one wound to the Lone Ranger. 

On the extreme right the Foot Guard horde is an excellent counter to the Shock Troops.  The Kingdoms of Men player decides that unit of Vermintide has to go!  So he charges them with his Fanatics AND his Lone Ranger!  After the unit is destroyed the Fanatics can either back up or move forward.  The same situation with the Lone Ranger, but he should almost always back up.  If he moves forward and the Shock Troops kill him, and they could potentially attack the Fanatics and eliminate those as well! 

 This is called, “The Crab Walk” by my friend Sean Deitrick in his article (mentioned above).  It is simply to give two layers of chaff so that your units can move into place.  In the following turn the Foot Guard can charge into the Shock Troops.  Since they may have used their Plague Pots you may just want to charge the Lone Ranger back into them again hoping to disrupt them until their Plague Pots wear off! 

One of the other good chaff tactics for the Lone Ranger is the “Gang Tackle”. That refers to a tactic in American Football where you just pile on as many men as you possibly can to take out the opposing ball carrier. In order for the “Gang Tackle” to work you will need at least two Lone Rangers (So you need the Lone Ranger AND Tonto).  The way this works takes advantage of the fact that your foe cannot kill two units at once unless you are a moron and charge them both in the front. 

Diagram #6:  Here the Lone Ranger and Tonto have corned an Elf Dragon.  One hits him in the front (if possible) while the other hits him in the flank.  The deal here is that the dragon can only engage one or the other.  In most cases he would engage the one in the front.   NEVER charge two Lone Rangers into the front of something!  They can kill one of them immediately and then kill the other!  Your goal here is to simply hold up the Dragon until help arrives.  I’ve had the Lone Ranger actually survive a dragon attack, pop their Indomitable Will then immediately attack again the following turn!  Once you get a follow on unit into position, the Lone Ranger can “Ping Pong” into something else. 

In a game against Twilight Kin, I charged two Lone Rangers and a foot General into a unit of Spearmen.  Over the couple of turns the spearmen had a hard time killing any of them, and was in fact wavered by the second turn.  This allowed a follow on unit to easily destroy them, but not before all three of the heroes “Ping Ponged” into other fights! 

One of the things that the Lone Rangers are excellent for doing is becoming anti-missile chaff.  How does this work?  Well the Lone Ranger is an individual, which means he is very hard to hit with shooting.  Secondly he has excellent armor so that makes him very hard to be wounded.  Thirdly, he SHOULD have Indomitable Will, just in case he does get wavered while attacking. 

Diagram #7 Here the Lone Ranger and Tonto have moved maximum distance along with a unit of Fanatics.  The goal here is to disrupt as many shooting units as is possible.  The hard thing for the Ratkn player is that basically if you don’t destroy them, they will destroy YOU!  This tactic obviously works best against small shooting units.  It will work sometimes on units of Abyssal Dwarf Decimators, but usually they destroy the Lone Hero in combat and are ready to shoot again the following turn.  (Note in this situation while playing against Ratkin there is a real chance you may not injure the Clawshots due to the high armor of the Clawshots.  The Weapons team would be doomed since it is a war machine). 

With the proliferation recently of 4+ shooting regiments such as Flamebearers or Heartpiercers, this tactic is even more important.  Despite the high number of 4+ attacks it is very unlikely that they will waver or destroy a Lone Ranger.  If he has Indomitable Will  (In case of a lucky waver), the following turn the Lone Ranger will easily tie up their shooting unit for several turns.  I feel three Lone Rangers are just about the best anti-shooting option in the game. 

SUMMARY:

The fact is Kingdoms of Men have several good options for “chaff” as well as “anti-chaff”.  The one thing they are missing is short chaff like swarms.  That allows your infantry to see over the unit to make easier charges.  This can be worked around, by using good tactics.  For example you can “stagger” your units so that their leader point can see their target. 

Kingdoms of Men also have options for “Thick Chaff” in the form of Foot Guard units with Indomitable Will.  This units can hold against most regiments. The important thing is if your “Thick Chaff” dies, you should be in position to counter. 

They also have three very good options for “Straight Chaff”. These include, Fanatics, Shield Wall (IW) and Foot Guard (IW).  All three of these units either cannot be wavered or have a remedy for being wavered. 

The absolute pinnacle of chaff are the hero choices in the Kingdoms of Men army!  The Mounted Heroes are so versatile that it boggles the mind.  Pegasus heroes can be good chaff AND have the ability to score!  The flexibility is amazing.  Which works for you is dependent on the rest of your army list. 

Lastly, Kingdoms of Men have some excellent “Fast Chaff”.  Mounted Sergeants have a charge range of 18”.  The out ranges most units in the game.  If you need mounted “Thick Chaff” you can use troops of Knights with Indomitable Will.  Scouts or Chariots can be used in a pinch, but they either have other uses or shouldn’t be used at all (chariots). 

There is no excuse in a Kingdoms of Men army to lose the “chaff war”. There are very few armies that have chaff that is that good and most of it is “dual role”.  What you need to decide is the role of “chaff” in your army.  Armies made up of mostly mounted models, will do well with either Mounted Heroes or Pegasus Heroes.  Infantry based armies will likely do better with troops of Fanatics.   There are all sorts of permutations in between.  Some armies like the Sam Nordberg Dash 28 list has so many dual purpose units, it is hard to know which ones of them are chaff or have other roles.  That is the beauty of Kingdoms of Men; they have maximum flexibility!