Falling upon their foes with the ferocity of an enraged lion, the fighting forces of the Crown have proved in conflicts across the world that they boast sharp claws indeed.
To see the fury of the Crown on the battlefield is to witness the wrath of Britannia made manifest, its soldiery forming a stalwart line against which her enemies are broken and destroyed. To the Crown, it is tried and tested methods that will win the day, the armies and tactics that secured its victories in the past, the key to maintaining Queen Victoria’s glorious, imperial domination.
Those who would contest land and resources that are the rightful property of her Majesty must contend with ranks of proud fighters drawn from across the Crown’s many, far-flung Dominions. These myriad origins create a fighting force with the skills to face down any challenge. With a pugnacious growl, Crown armour sweeps across the field of battle as an avalanche of steel, whilst artillery batteries devastate light regiments and armoured columns alike.
For Queen, for Crown, for victory!
Greetings, loyal subjects.
This blog provides an overview of how the Crown play on the Battlefield, including their key strengths and things to look out for, and provides insights into how to build a Crown Force, with example Force Lists for all three Force Scales.
How the Crown plays
The Crown specialises in elite units that pack a real punch against their preferred targets. The majority of Crown Infantry and Cavalry units excel at attacking Light targets. The long-ranged Sharp Rifles, for instance, excel in advantageous firefights, whilst the reckless Spitfire Rocketeers and the cavalier Horse Guards Cavalry can scatter their enemies with a well-timed charge. The latter can even attack the same target twice during an Activation thanks to the Overrun Special Rule. With the Crown, it often pays to go on the offensive.
This is not to say that the Crown lacks defensive capabilities, such as the Ranged (Light) attack of the Drake Field Guns, sporting the Point Blank weapon quality to increase its attack pool if its target is within Short Range. This will shred most Infantry and Cavalry units that get too close, making it particularly useful when placed On Lookout close to a Strategic Objective, ready to punish any nearby enemy units with Opportunity Fire.
Crown Artillery, be it tank-killing Mordred Heavy Artillery or the infantry-decimating Bors Heavy Bombard, can easily clear the Battlefield of enemies owing to their long range, large Attack Pools and the Devastating weapon quality, which allows you to convert excess hits into one extra damage.
The pride of any Crown force, however, is its impressive reserves of fighting machines. Many Armour and Artillery units in the Crown roster can endure punishing amounts of enemy fire before being brought down, with the Resilient (Front) Special Rule increasing their Defence should they be targeted by a unit whose Officer is within the Front Arc of at least half the models in this unit. The Galahad Main Battle Tank and its siege-specialist cousin, the Galahad Breacher, are particularly tough due to their high Defence and Damage Limit, enabling them to absorb attacks that would otherwise be directed at more vulnerable targets.
Looking for something more impressive? The Crown can also field the splendid Sovereign Landship, whose imposing edifice can stir the spirit of your loyal soldiers — its Inspiring (3) special rule allowing nearby units to lose the Suppressed status. If you are looking for a blunter instrument, the immense gun of the mighty Monarch Landship can set entire buildings alight thanks to the Siegebreaker weapon quality, making them un-garrisonable for the rest of the Clash!
Battlegroups
The Crown Faction Battlegroup provides the Lionhearted Commander Bonus, allowing you to discard a Command & Conquest Card and use its value when making a Discipline Test for a friendly unit instead of revealing a card from the top of your Command and Conquest deck. As low-value cards work best in this instance, this Commander Bonus gives a role to every card in your hand. No more waiting to ditch cards because the enemy can interfere with them! As you can trigger Lionhearted as many times as you want (so long as you have cards to spare) this is a great way of guaranteeing that a crucial Suppression Test or Rally Test goes your way.
The Crown Linebreaker Auxiliary Battlegroup centres around Armour and Cavalry units, the option to bolster one of these providing a Crown Force with a hard-hitting spearhead to lead the opening assault. Alternatively, this option can be used to field another Bolstered unit of Blackwatch Heavy Dragoons, whose potent anti-aerial capabilities will make short work of any Aircraft or Rotorcraft units your opponent might choose to field and can prove a problem to Heavy targets too, thanks to their long-ranged attacks.
The Battlegroup’s Linebreakers Commander Bonus also provides you with a Special Command that can be issued to an Armour unit during the End Phase so that they can control a Strategic Objective for this Round as if they were an Infantry or Cavalry unit. Why not try issuing this to a Bolstered unit of Galahad Main Battle Tanks or Galahad Breachers and watch your opponent struggle to push them off their prize?
The Mainstay and Bolster options of the Crown Support Auxiliary Battlegroup allow you to marshal a mighty battery of Field Gun and Artillery units. With the right unit composition, you can use the Auxiliary Battlegroup to build a Force capable of taking out your opponent's most dangerous units before they can get close enough to start threatening your battleline. As an extra advantage, the Gun Luggers Commander Bonus allows you to issue a Special Command that gives a Crown Field Gun unit the Stalkers Special Rule for the duration of their activation, which allows them to Go On Lookout for free at the end of their Attack Step. This can be crucial for getting them into the ideal position for a murderous barrage via Opportunity Fire.
Boons
In terms of Boons that are unique to the Crown, Mad Minute provides a once-per-round Special Command that, when successfully issued to an Infantry unit, adds four extra Attack Dice to their Attack Pool if they are targeting an enemy Light unit with a Ranged Attack. This can provide a very effective boost to the combat capabilities of Crown infantry, especially those at Basic size, should they become locked in a firefight with enemy Light targets. Standard of Albion grants a Special Command that, when successfully issued, gives a single, non-Behemnoth Commander unit the Inspiring (2) Special Rule for the duration of their Activation. When issued at the right moment, this Special Command can really help to keep your battleline fighting at maximum efficiency, effectively turning your units of Rifle Command Platoon into mini Sovereigns!
Key Strengths
Mechanised Infantry
Transports serve an extremely important role in any Crown force by ferrying Infantry across dangerous killzones. Stirling Armoured Transports are dependable workhorses that are surprisingly durable, provided you keep them pointed at the enemy. The high Capacity of the Tristan Assault Transports provides a tougher alternative that’s perfect for elite units. Tristans work particularly well with Royal Engineer Sappers, as a Basic unit of Tristans can transport a Reinforced unit of Sappers without a problem. The unit also possesses the Assault Ramp special rule, meaning that your angry Scots are ready to disembark and immediately charge their chosen target. Alternatively, you can always have a unit embark the mighty Sovereign Landship, which can act as a giant, mobile bunker!
Armoured Might
Crown Armour units, including their Behemoths, tend to sport high Defence and Damage Limit Values, a combination that allows them to shrug off all but the most determined of enemy attacks. Galahad Main Battle Tanks and Galahad Breachers can take a horrific amount of punishment, making them perfect for attracting the enemy General’s attention and drawing fire that would otherwise be aimed at your Artillery or your effective, but brittle, Infantry and Cavalry.
Other Crown Armour units are not to be underestimated either. The Glamis Mobile Guns are an excellent, inexpensive support option whose self-propelled guns can target those Light units that are the greatest threats to your advancing Infantry and Cavalry units.
Rule Britannia
Thanks to the high Discipline values of many Crown units, the Crown can manage the effects of Suppression better than most other Factions. Additionally, the Lionhearted Commander Bonus allows you to use Command & Conquest cards to guarantee Discipline test results and the Inspiring (3) special rule of the Sovereign Landship means that friendly units close by lose the Suppressed status during the Behemoth’s move step. This helps maximise your units’ combat capabilities, even when under heavy pressure, and allows you to get the most out of expensive units before they are annihilated. A canny General might even wait to activate their Sovereign Landships late into each turn so that their Inspiring (3) special rule can affect the highest number of Suppressed friendly units.
Watch out for…
Weathering the Storm
Crown Light units can easily be pinned down and destroyed if caught out in the open. This, combined with their high point costs and Victory Points Ratings (VPR), means that locking them into grinding wars of attrition can spell disaster, leaving you with few remaining units and your opponent with a hefty tally of Victory Points. Make the most of your units’ maximum attack ranges to minimise enemy reprisals and use Dense Terrain, Blocking Terrain, Defensible Buildings and your own Armour units to screen your Infantry and Cavalry until they are ready to strike a decisive blow.
That’s not Cricket!
Although Crown units often excel in a particular role, they frequently have a disadvantage that an enemy General can exploit should they refuse to conform to Crown expectations of a ‘good, sporting fight’. You do not want your expensive Heavy units to be attacked in their Flank or Rear Arcs, as this mitigates the +1 Defensive Bonus they gain from the Resilient (Front) special rule. Having Infantry, Cavalry and Field Gun units close by to defend the flanks of your Heavy units can really help to deter an opportunistic attack, especially if they have the On Lookout status and are ready to retaliate with Opportunity Fire.
Set in their Ways
Whilst many Crown Infantry and Cavalry units can perform well when given free rein of the Battlefield, their high cost and low Defence values means you have to make sure they can trade blows effectively to get the most out of their engagements. Getting your Artillery units on elevated positions at the start of a clash allows you to immediately target enemies that would otherwise be obscured by terrain or larger models. If you have a powerful, close-quarters-focused unit, such as Spitfire Rocketeers, Horse Guards or Blackwatch Assault Dragoons, you could place them in reserve and use the Flank Attack special command to get them into the thick of the melee without having to brave enemy fire.
Building your Force
The Crown Faction Battlegroup Starter Set offers a great starting point for creating your Force, with enough models to easily play a game at Battle scale, including one of the Crown’s magnificent Landships. If you are looking for a smaller affair, the Crown Introductory Set, which also reflects the Crown-specific contents of the Battle for Singapore Two Player Introductory Set, lets you build a Force that will serve you well in a Skirmish, whilst providing a solid core that is ripe for future expansion.
Are you so fond of the Crown’s Behemoths that you’re eager for another? The Sovereign Battlegroup Set provides one of these mighty Landships along with a few Basic Armour, Cavalry and Artillery units to add to a pre-existing force.
For those looking to expand their Forces in a particular direction, the Crown Infantry Regiment offers you basic units of each of the Crown’s Infantry options, their Field Gun unit and an Armour unit that can be built either as Sterling Armoured Transports or Glamis Mobile Guns. Alternatively, the Crown Armoured Regiment, which provides Basic units of Cavalry, Armour and Artillery, can really aid in Battlegroup building, both in terms of adding extra units and bolstering pre-existing ones.
These boxes can easily be combined to create Force Lists tailored to reflect your personal preferences, as shown in the examples below:
Skirmish-Scale List (1,000 points)
This Force List has been built from the Crown Introductory Set and the Crown Infantry Regiment and focuses on using powerful Boons to maximise the efficiency of your Forces.
Forlorn Hope can be a great way of getting a unit, such as your hard-hitting Horse Guard Cavalry, your anti-heavy Royal Engineer Sappers, or your tenacious Galahad Main Battle Tanks, into the thick of combat as quickly as possible to inflict maximum damage. The support qualities of the Force’s Rifle Command Platoon can be enhanced considerably, owing to the Standard of Albion Boon, giving you a way of immediately lifting Suppression from several stricken units at once. In order to maximise your potential Command & Conquest plays in the early Rounds, this Force List also includes the Tactical Brilliance Boon. The extra card this grants in the first turn gives you the option of issuing more Commands, making more use of the Lionhearted Commander Bonus, and maximising your chances of getting the Command & Conquest Cards you want.
Battle-Scale List (2,000 points)
This Force List combines models from the Crown Faction Battlegroup Starter Set and the Crown Introductory Set to produce a Force that centres around controlling Strategic Objectives. The Bolstered unit of Galahad Main Battle Tanks acts as an armoured spearhead that can quickly move onto Strategic Objectives to not only contest them but control them thanks to the Linebreakers Commander Bonus. Most of the Infantry units will begin the game embarked in transports, either Stirling Armoured Transports or the Sovereign Landship, so they can speedily move up the board to start controlling and contesting Strategic Objectives from the first Round, alongside the Force’s Cavalry units.
Cataclysm-Scale List (3,000 points)
Drawing from the models available across two Crown Faction Battlegroup Starter Sets*, this Force List leans into tactics that suit the highly-specialised nature of Crown units. The two different Behemoths each bring their own sets of skills to the table, with the Sovereign Landship acting as a dedicated morale-booster and an immense transport for the Rifle Platoon, whilst the Monarch Landship focuses on pummelling any enemy units that could prove troublesome. Each Infantry unit in this list has a specific role to play, with the Rifle Platoon predominantly serving as a Strategic Objective controller whilst the Royal Engineer Sappers and Sharp Rifles employ their respective anti-heavy and anti-light capabilities. Thanks to the Gun Luggers Commander Bonus of the Crown Support Auxiliary Battlegroup, the Drake Field Guns unit in this army can act as a fearsome, dedicated defensive unit that can make short work of any enemy light units that get too close to a Strategic Objective.
*Whilst these box sets do not contain the resin commander models that come with the Crown Introductory Set, you can convert the Officer of one of your Rifle Platoon units to create a Rifle Command Platoon unit. For more information on representing Commanders on the Battlefield, see the Armoured Clash Designer’s Commentary.
In Short…
The Crown is a faction that provides plenty of tools for a General with an aggressive play style who wants to support an assault with powerful battle tanks and artillery. With abilities that minimise the potential of failing vital Discipline tests, Crown units can keep fighting at maximum efficiency even while taking horrific casualties. Crown Heavy units can also take a lot of damage before being Annihilated and can often make short work of their counterparts in other Factions, providing you with a series of counters to meet the threats posed by enemy Armour and Artillery units head-on. That said, the high VPR of most Crown units means that each one lost is a major victory to your opponent, so it is vitally important to know when to commit your units to the fight.