Gamer #1: Joe Neet

With the excitement and anticipation for Kings of War 2nd Edition, I decided to work with fellow hobbyists and gamers to show just how easy, and affordable, getting into Kings of War can be. Kings of War offers a great way to play massed battles with fantasy miniatures in a way you have never able to.

The game system is simplistic in its writing and playing, but really allows each player to hone their skills, learn the strengths and weaknesses of their army, and apply tactics and strategy on the table top to defeat their opponents. The focus of Kings of War is to build armies around their respective core troopers, from there you can add heroes, war machines and monsters to help aid in defeating your opponent.

Taking this journey with me are a mix of different types of gamers and hobbyists:

Todd Warren – an experienced gamer and event organizer that has played a lot of games over the years. He thoroughly enjoys Kings of War and the fun it brings on the gaming table. Todd is also a Pathfinder for Mantic in the Chicago area.

Robert Chandler – an award winning painter and modeler, Rob is a great addition to this project. While he is not so worried about how his troops perform on the battle field, he prefers to focus on the look and theme of his force. Expect to see some great scenic bases, awesome paint jobs and overall great looking army.

JP – JP is another Pathfinder in the Chicago area, and he is also the co-host of the Mantic North America podcast. Not usually a fan of large scale massed battle games, normally sticking to games such as DreadBall and Deadzone, JP has grown to love the smooth game play and quickness of Kings of War, not something that is common with large scale wargames.

Pat Lewis – is our Community Manager for North America. He has been instrumental in our development of organized play, volunteer programs and events that we put on throughout the year. Fan of all games, he just enjoys having a good time and getting everyone excited about gaming and painting toy soldiers!

Alex Landing – the creative genius behind Iron Heart Artisans, a great company that supplies various gaming accessories, and custom acrylic and MDF terrain pieces. Having gone crazy with buying a ton of Kings of War miniatures recently he decided this would be a great way to get some models completed and on the table.

Now that we know all the characters in this tale, let’s talk about what I will be building for this project.

Over the years I have been known for playing small, elite armies in most gaming systems. With Kings of War being played with timed games this is a trend that I would want to continue. Movement is an integral part of winning tabletop war games, and so I would be looking a mobile, small force to play.

Ogres seem to be what I am looking for and is what I will be building for this project. This list boasts some very hard hitting and stout units, which combined with an average speed value of 6, is just what the doctor ordered.

Here is my army list, we will be starting at 800 points:

The idea behind this list is that it gives me a great foundation to build on as I grow the force. In the smaller point levels, 2 Hordes of Ogre Warriors will be a tough nut to crack. The Boomers are there for some added threat to the enemy. While they have a short range and army a little weaker in defense then their Warrior cousins, they still cannot be left unchecked.

Finally I went with an Ogre Warlord. I could have went with a Captain and saved points but I thought the added points of Nerve and Attacks would come in handy in small games. He will also be harder to damage as he will have the Ensorcelled Armor for +1 Def.

Left over from my army box is 3 Ogre Boomer/Shooters that I can add to my current regiment of Boomers as points go up or as a second regiment. We will have to see how games at 800 points go to see where I want to take the force.

So, it’s off to the painting bench to start getting these bad boys complete!