I have (finally - a long and tedious story) got the third edition of Kings of War from Mantic Games.
A lot of reading and scratching of heads later and Merlin and I have decided to have a test battle, 1000 points of ogres vs 1000 points of goblins.
I'm not giving a full battle report, but I'll show some pictures and discuss how we found teh game compared to earlier editions.
Firstly, choosing an army for the ogres has changed. Previous editions required regiments or hordes to unlock troops, warmachines, monsters and heroes. As long as the unit wasn't irregular, it unlocked stuff. Now, Large infantry regiments don't unlock other units. They don't need to be unlocked (unlike troops), but only hordes and legions unlock stuff. In practice this makes little difference, as I usually take a couple of hordes per 1000 points of ogres, but it does need consideration. I suspect most ogre players are the same, though it will cut down on large multi-drop armies.
One thing we had both noticed, and wondered how it would play out, was the removal of the 1" 'bounce back' after combat. Now the units remain in contact, but the active player does have the option of withdrawing next turn. We had to keep reminding ourselves not to bounce back, it's instinctive, but I felt the game looks better with units becoming locked in melee.
The game plays remarkably similar to the previous edition. Changes seem to be focused on tightening up certain aspects, such as rationalising special rules, and didn't seem to have much effect on playing the game.
We did come across a couple of points that I suspect aren't changes from second edition, rather, we are being more thorough in our rules reading and were probably doing them wrong (oops). These are the effects of difficult terrain and hills on line of sight and cover. As we read it now (and please feel free to correct us in the comments), placing a unit's leader point in an area of difficult terrain means that unit ignores it for the purposes of LoS, but not cover. If the unit then Halts, it also ignores the cover, unless the target unit is also in that terrain.
Hmm, this gave us some problems (and I suspect we have simply been reading it wrong in the previous edition). It seems to us as if that means that regardless of the size of a wood, two units can see each other if they are both in it. Also, a unit on one side of a hill can charge a unit on the other side if it has it's leader point on the hill.
We played the game like this, but there were a couple of moments where it didn't seem right.
Still the game was fun, we had as much fun as with previous editions, and the above wobble aside (which we think was always there, we just missed it, bringing our historical wargaming sensibilities to the game).
Some items have gone or changed. Merlin was disappointed to see his item (Myrdinn's amulet) has gone, and I was disappointed to see the Boomstick still there.
A lot of reading and scratching of heads later and Merlin and I have decided to have a test battle, 1000 points of ogres vs 1000 points of goblins.
I'm not giving a full battle report, but I'll show some pictures and discuss how we found teh game compared to earlier editions.
Firstly, choosing an army for the ogres has changed. Previous editions required regiments or hordes to unlock troops, warmachines, monsters and heroes. As long as the unit wasn't irregular, it unlocked stuff. Now, Large infantry regiments don't unlock other units. They don't need to be unlocked (unlike troops), but only hordes and legions unlock stuff. In practice this makes little difference, as I usually take a couple of hordes per 1000 points of ogres, but it does need consideration. I suspect most ogre players are the same, though it will cut down on large multi-drop armies.
One thing we had both noticed, and wondered how it would play out, was the removal of the 1" 'bounce back' after combat. Now the units remain in contact, but the active player does have the option of withdrawing next turn. We had to keep reminding ourselves not to bounce back, it's instinctive, but I felt the game looks better with units becoming locked in melee.
The game plays remarkably similar to the previous edition. Changes seem to be focused on tightening up certain aspects, such as rationalising special rules, and didn't seem to have much effect on playing the game.
We did come across a couple of points that I suspect aren't changes from second edition, rather, we are being more thorough in our rules reading and were probably doing them wrong (oops). These are the effects of difficult terrain and hills on line of sight and cover. As we read it now (and please feel free to correct us in the comments), placing a unit's leader point in an area of difficult terrain means that unit ignores it for the purposes of LoS, but not cover. If the unit then Halts, it also ignores the cover, unless the target unit is also in that terrain.
Hmm, this gave us some problems (and I suspect we have simply been reading it wrong in the previous edition). It seems to us as if that means that regardless of the size of a wood, two units can see each other if they are both in it. Also, a unit on one side of a hill can charge a unit on the other side if it has it's leader point on the hill.
We played the game like this, but there were a couple of moments where it didn't seem right.
Still the game was fun, we had as much fun as with previous editions, and the above wobble aside (which we think was always there, we just missed it, bringing our historical wargaming sensibilities to the game).
Some items have gone or changed. Merlin was disappointed to see his item (Myrdinn's amulet) has gone, and I was disappointed to see the Boomstick still there.
The battle about to commence.
Goblins!
More Goblins.
Early stages. Shooting and spells do some damage (including wavering the warmachine) but nothing is destroyed.
Goblins charge right over the hill into the ogres
Two ogre hordes can't take down one goblin rabble horde. Clearly the rules are broken!!
Wavering Rabble backs off, allowing the ogres to mill around in no semblance of order and place themselves ready for goblin counter attacks
Trolls seeing their target on the other side of the hill.
Very few ogres left at the end of the game.
So yes, good fun, and a well deserved win for Merlin, who seemed to have got his army working very well this time. There were several instances of me failing to rout units by just one point, and three instances of double 1 Nerve tests, but that's just the fun of the game.
Overall, we really like the new game and won't be wanting to go back. The third edition rulebook is by far the best rulebook Mantic have yet produced. There's a lot more background, which may not be for everyone, but certainly answers earlier editions criticism of the world being bland. I'm sure it will be useful to tie into the roleplaying game as well, and Mantic are developing it further in League of Infamy.
A good report of a fun battle with some interesting comments on the new rules. I am one of the people who would opt for minimum background content, preferring to write my own. Overall though, KOW remains my favourite fantasy battle rules.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the background, though I'll not be bound by it if I want a particular battle in a particular place.
DeleteI'd like to get a copy of the thinner rulebook that is in the starter set, no background but all the rules. It would certainly be easier to lug around to games.
Nice review of the new edition. I've picked up a copy, but have yet to try it out yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks. As I said we found it just as much fun as previous editions, changes are mostly improvements, and the new book is superb. Hope you get to try it soon and enjoy it as much as we did.
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