Clash of Kings Australia 2024 has concluded, marking another riveting chapter in the Kings of War competitive scene. This year’s tournament, results of which can be explored in detail at the Mantic Companion website, showcased a diverse range of strategies and army builds.
The Winner: Jeffrey Traish’s Dwarfs
Jeffrey Traish’s victory with his Dwarfs was a testament to the resilience and offensive capabilities of this army. This must be the least-surprising outcome, but it does point to a renewed Dwarf resurgence with Ordered March.
The Runner-up: Damien Madigan’s Salamanders
Damien Madigan, securing the second spot, presented an elite Salamander army. His army composition, characterized by low drops, emphasized quality over quantity. This approach, combined with decent survivability and commendable damage output, proved to be highly effective.
Third Place: Matt Curtis’s Elves
Matt Curtis’s Elves, clinching third place, offered a unique approach with a lower unit strength of 19. His list, unusual for its heavy reliance on chariots and a relatively lighter emphasis on shooting, demonstrated the versatility and tactical depth of the Elves. This unorthodox strategy highlighted the game’s strategic diversity, showing that even less conventional army builds can achieve notable success. Will this drive a change in the typical Elf builds we’re seeing?
Meta-Level Analysis
In forthcoming analysis, I’ll delve into various factors that influenced victory in Clash of Kings Australia, including unit strength and the number of scoring units.
That may take me some time to pull together. In the meantime, I’ll give some preliminary results. First, the overall player results:
| Player | Faction | Wins | Losses | Draws | Elo |
| Jeffrey Traish | Dwarfs | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2052 |
| Damien Madigan | Salamanders | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1899 |
| Matt Curtis | Elves | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1845 |
| Stephen Devenish | Goblins | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1828 |
| Andrew Whitehead | Nightstalkers | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1788 |
| Trevor Younghusband | Basileans | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1753 |
| Andrew Goodman | Abyssal Dwarfs | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1752 |
| Paul Collins | Goblins | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1749 |
| Ben Rantall | The Herd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1747 |
| Adrian Scott | Dwarfs | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1742 |
| Age Zae | Trident Realm Of Neritica | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1738 |
| Ken Ferris | Forces Of The Abyss | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1734 |
| John Mcgarry | Northern Alliance | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1719 |
| Michael Clarke | Varangur | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1700 |
| Yan Zhi Lai | Ogres | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1660 |
| Mathew Sellick | Undead | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1651 |
| Matthew Trewella | Nightstalkers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1638 |
| Stephen Tuck | Free Dwarfs | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1627 |
| Bruce Tobin | Ogres | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1627 |
| Evan Ferris | Abyssal Dwarfs | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1617 |
| Adam Macaskill | Forces Of The Abyss | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1603 |
| Daniel Bird | Halflings | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1551 |
| Luke Schafer | Kingdoms Of Men | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1548 |
| Owen Jones | Varangur | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1534 |
| Daniel Harwood | The Herd | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1533 |
| Oswald Wendt | Ratkin | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1530 |
| Scott Marshall | Undead | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1516 |
| Robert Sadler | Free Dwarfs | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1514 |
| Glen Porritt | Elves | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1508 |
| Craig Smellie | Undead | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1487 |
| Adam S | The Order Of The Green Lady | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1475 |
| Patrick Williamson | The Herd | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1470 |
| Daniel Glenn Matters | Empire Of Dust | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1469 |
| Michael Douglas | Abyssal Dwarfs | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1462 |
| Joshua Angel | Abyssal Dwarfs | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1457 |
| Trent Walker | Ogres | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1456 |
| Lyle Marsden | Kingdoms Of Men | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1454 |
| Rob | Empire Of Dust | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1444 |
| Steven Houghton | Varangur | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1438 |
| Christopher Willcox | Goblins | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1426 |
| Mitchell Millington | Undead | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1407 |
| Alex Sobinoff | Forces Of Nature | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1403 |
| Tony Winmill | The Herd | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1347 |
| Dale Hastings | Dwarfs | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1344 |
| Antony Pedersen | Empire Of Dust | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1323 |
| Jon Turkich | Trident Realm Of Neritica | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1313 |
| Luke Loseby | Abyssal Dwarfs | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1304 |
| Spare | Spare Army | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1293 |
| Gregory Turkich | Kingdoms Of Men | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1286 |
| Lachlan | Elves | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1261 |
| James Moutsos | The Order Of The Green Lady | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1255 |
| Henry Lukin | Kingdoms Of Men | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1247 |
| Brendan Cousins | Northern Alliance | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1228 |
| Kathryn | Basileans | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1220 |
| Chris Harper | Empire Of Dust | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1157 |
| Ed Hamacek | League Of Rhordia | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1145 |
| Roxanne Henderson | Goblins | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1128 |
| Lindsay | Nightstalkers | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1113 |
| Walter Dirix | Orcs | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1054 |
| Simon Gilbert | Noble Undead | 0 | 6 | 0 | 951 |
And then for faction data:
| Faction | Wins | Losses | Draws | WinPct | Elo |
| Salamanders | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.833 | 1899 |
| Dwarfs | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0.667 | 1713 |
| Forces Of The Abyss | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0.625 | 1669 |
| Basileans | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0.500 | 1575 |
| Ogres | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0.600 | 1572 |
| Free Dwarfs | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0.542 | 1571 |
| Varangur | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0.556 | 1557 |
| Halflings | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.500 | 1551 |
| Elves | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0.556 | 1538 |
| Goblins | 13 | 10 | 1 | 0.563 | 1533 |
| Ratkin | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.500 | 1530 |
| Trident Realm Of Neritica | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0.458 | 1525 |
| The Herd | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0.500 | 1524 |
| Abyssal Dwarfs | 13 | 12 | 5 | 0.517 | 1518 |
| Undead | 11 | 10 | 3 | 0.521 | 1515 |
| Nightstalkers | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0.528 | 1513 |
| Northern Alliance | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0.458 | 1474 |
| Forces Of Nature | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.333 | 1403 |
| Kingdoms Of Men | 9 | 11 | 2 | 0.455 | 1388 |
| The Order Of The Green Lady | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0.417 | 1365 |
| Empire Of Dust | 9 | 14 | 1 | 0.396 | 1348 |
| Spare Army | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | 1293 |
| League Of Rhordia | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.167 | 1145 |
| Orcs | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.167 | 1054 |
| Noble Undead | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0.000 | 951 |
Preliminary data suggests that Dwarfs have shown significant improvement in this tournament, signaling a potential shift in the meta. This is a small sample size from a single tournament (Clash of Kings Australia), but I do think we’re starting to see the impact of Ordered March.
And finally, a cross-tab to see the faction-vs-faction results:
| Faction | Abyssal Dwarfs | Basileans | Dwarfs | Elves | Empire Of Dust | Forces Of Nature | Forces Of The Abyss | Free Dwarfs | Goblins | Halflings | Kingdoms Of Men | League Of Rhordia | Nightstalkers | Noble Undead | Northern Alliance | Ogres | Orcs | Ratkin | Salamanders | Spare Army | The Herd | The Order Of The Green Lady | Trident Realm Of Neritica | Undead | Varangur |
| Abyssal Dwarfs | 1-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-1 | 0-0-1 | 1-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-1-1 | 2-2-0 |
| Basileans | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-1 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Dwarfs | 1-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Elves | 0-1-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-2-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 |
| Empire Of Dust | 0-1-1 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 |
| Forces Of Nature | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Forces Of The Abyss | 0-1-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 2-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Free Dwarfs | 0-0-0 | 0-1-1 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Goblins | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-1 | 0-2-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Halflings | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Kingdoms Of Men | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 2-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-2 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-4-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-1-0 | 0-1-0 |
| League Of Rhordia | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Nightstalkers | 2-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Noble Undead | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Northern Alliance | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Ogres | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Orcs | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Ratkin | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Salamanders | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Spare Army | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 |
| The Herd | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-1-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 4-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-1-0 |
| The Order Of The Green Lady | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 |
| Trident Realm Of Neritica | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 1-1-1 |
| Undead | 1-1-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 2-1-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 1-1-1 |
| Varangur | 2-2-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 1-1-1 | 1-1-1 | 0-0-0 |
Stay tuned for a more detailed analysis in future posts, where I plan to dig into the strategic intricacies and data-driven insights from Clash of Kings Australia 2024.
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