Orc War Drum, A Kings Of War Unit Spotlight [Gaming]

This is going to be the first in a series of spotlights I’d like to do on various units that peak my interest throughout Kings Of War. That being said I’ve only really played a few different armies: Kingdoms Of Men, Brotherhood, and Orcs so my experience may be limited. This excluding being on the receiving end of some hurt from another unit in a different faction, but regardless this will be an adventure of both of us.

To christen this segment we will visit a unit that has frequently been on the MVP list for my games recently, and is often the unexpected bane of my opponent. Today will will talk about the Orc War Drum, keeping the beat for the barbarous creatures of evil, as they no doubt march out of step to smash the faces of their enemy. This unit is near and dear to my heart as a more recent convert to the Orc nation so I wanted to share my thoughts on the unit as it is on paper, my experiences and utility of the unit, and the different modeling options out there. We will keep those three topics pretty standard in this segment for future iterations as well.

So let's dive in, or maybe you can say drop the beat…

The Unit On Paper

Sitting at 80 points he is a bit more expensive than a Flagger that would give you Inspiring and possibly Rally(1) if you included the Banner of the Griffin for a total of 70 points. He is speed 5 so he keeps up with all your standard Orc Infantry. Melee 4 makes him pretty average in melee but we will talk more on that subject later. Defense 4 which is nice when coupled with his nerve of -/11. And to top it off he has 3 attacks, which in game is often forgotten by opponents as most support units only have the 1.

For special rules he has height 1, which is awesome since he is a monster and height 4 would just be a bad day for this guy. Crushing 1, look out, he can put some hurt on with his 3 attacks. Don't forget the fact that he is not individual means he has the ability to flank, or be flanked. Rounding it off he has the Great Thunder which gives Rallying(2).

While the special rule before it was "FAQed up" allowed the War Drums +2 to nerve to stack, I would still argue this is an auto include for Orcs in a set of two. Most Orc units have a slightly lower nerve value than counterparts from other lists, Gore Riders for instance sitting at 13/15 while most “Knight” type units have a nerve of 14/16.

Being a Monster he is on a 50x50 which is a godsend as he could have just been another hero on a 25x25 but Mantic gave us just a few extra millimeters of range. This however precludes him from getting individual so moving at the double without pivoting could require a bit of pre-thought. Being a monster though, and with the Clash of Kings rules in play, Mr. War Drum also is the unexpected bearer of 1 unit strength, able to make those late game objective grabs that may take your opponent off guard.

That covers the unit on paper, but I’ve always noticed there is sometimes a disconnect between looking on paper and using them on the field. Sort of a “objects in mirror are closer than they appear” phenomenon.

In Game Utility and Experiences

Trying to deploy inspiring as to cover your formation throughout the progress of the game is tough. But as an Orc player you have to deploy both inspiring and your Rally(2) in a way that it covers your units during the progress of the game. Where that becomes tricky is placement where chaff is covered when desired during the first few turns, but you are also not exposing your War Drum to enemy shooting.

In my most recent games I have been trying to learn deployment in a way that is not reactionary to my opponents deployment. Rather I have a pretty standard formation for all situations and rarely do I deviate. The main part of that is keeping as many units as I can within range of my Wardrum and Flagger. Oftentimes I achieve that by deploying right along the side edge of my largest unit and measure out where the rest should be placed. All you need is the smallest corner to be in range and you are good.

During the battle things can get messy and units often charge beyond where my wardrum can reach to save them and the majority of the other units. Things often come down to a decision about which unit I feel is at greatest risk or most strategic importance, but the survivability of the War Drum has to be considered as well. That's why I usually pair it with a unit or pair of units that I want to remain boosted throughout the game, yet at the same time know they are going to be near enough to each other I will not be faced with any problems.

For example I often run a rather large contingent of Gore Riders on one flank. And while the War Drum is a bit slower than the Orc cavalry, if I face it the correct direction on deployment he doesn't have too much trouble double-moving to keep up. I find that I usually keep the Gore Riders together enough for effectiveness that having the mass of them under protection of the War Drum is not hard.

One of the roles that I also bestow upon my War Drum is a bit outside of his job description, but he is built perfectly for it. That is the position of my rear guard chaff. Orcs have the same problem as Dwarves and other infantry heavy lists, that is they do not have some of the maneuverability to get wide and behind enemy lines. This often means that the enemy does get around and behind your lines, in which case your out of LOS or arch, thus units must divert from their main focus.

An example of this from a few recent games I’ve used my War Drum is Jekyll Island GT. In game 4 against Ogres, a troop of Red Goblin Scouts took the long way around my entire formation. At that point in the game if I had to turn around my main units to divert attention to them I would be reducing my effective combat units from the large slog over the domination objective. Instead my War Drum had to turn itself around and move forward enough to then subsequently charge the flanking element.

While his 3 attacks with CS1 may not off the Red Goblins in one turn, it certainly was not in danger of dying itself with Defense 4 and a -/11 nerve. So in a grind it may be a close call to defeat them after a few turns, but the War Drum is going to stop the enemy for long enough for you to bring backup in. For my example I was eventually able to reform a Gore Rider regiment to the rear after it won a combat and have them charge with the War Drum to clean up enemy resistance.

Another good example is grounding flyers. Often enemies have their big bad lord on dragon that will fly around causing problems. But due to the war drums deceiving nature often they forget its combat utility and by their choice or not leave the flyer in charge distance of the War Drum. All we need is one wound to stop any more shenanigans, so 3 or even 6 attacks on a flank with CS1 should do the trick.

Lastly one of the great late game benefits of the War Drum is the fact it has unit strength and can hold objectives. My first round game vs. Abyssals at Jekyll Island the War Drum forced the game to a Draw by running off on his own to claim and objective in the Control scenario. I’ve always found the War Drums to be supremely useful in this regard as games often come down to a close call between unit strength and points, so always on turn 5 and 6 I’m looking to place my War Drums in the right position for the win.

Modeling

Surprisingly there are quite a few options to model a wardrum for your Orc Army. The official one of course being from Mantic for about 15$. It has two orcs and a drum and would fit nicely on a 50x50. Not a bad option for supporting the mothership or if that is your ascetic. A cheaper way to do this is to also use the small drum arm that comes with the Orc Command plastic sprue which lets you give one orc a drum. He may look funny by his lonesome on a 50x50 but it works.

I myself chose a different company for my War Drums, MOMsminiatures a company based in Spain. I bought 2 command sets from them which had a banner bearer, a captain, and a drummer. It's a cool little model, and is a bit bigger than the average Mantic Orc, but I don’t mind this since Orcs in Lord of the Rings were never the same size anyways. He looks somewhat lonely on a 50x50 but is better off than the single

Mantic Orc.

Another cool option I’ve thought of would be the Games Workshop LOTR Mordor Troll set that comes with customizable parts such as a drum. The only problem is that he doesn't look height 1 and is damn expensive, but its really cool either way. Alternatively in the same line there is Moria Goblin drums that have two goblins beating on a drum set in a really neat dynamic pose. Maybe you could spin that as goblin slaves but that's up to your own conscious, I myself can’t suspend disbelief

that much.

I'd like to note there a few options for modeling out there that I have not even gotten into. A quick Google image search yielded a few contenders. I would love to hear in the comments what you all use and if I missed any!

Closing

A solid supporting unit, the War Drum is the multi tool of the Orc list. It isn't going to be the front line charger but it very well can have many heroic moments in the last few turns of the game or in your back field.

Don’t leave these guys at home.

Fred On Fantasy