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So I play other games other than 40k. But I speak fluent 40k. With that being said.

In 40K GKs are low count models high point elites, Orks are typically bullets and bodies, SMs are pretty efficient use of points, Eldar and Tau are generally under point valued.

How does KoWs armies stack up similarly?

Hopefully I worded this question coherently.

Balance wise it's really good, both internally and externally. There are a few slightly under or over costed options, but usually it's at a small level, you won't see any really useless unit. Even the supposed no brainers that many players use are more like "training wheels", units that won't make you win a tournament, but will be easier to use for a beginner while another beginner will have a harder time to counter them, but over the long term veterans players will be able to do with or without them depending on their tastes.

There are too many viable and different types of army to build to really list all of them in a short post, but here's a few :

- Orcs are strong in melee, but have almost no shooting, their default style is not unlike Warriors of Chaos used to be in Warhammer Fantasy Battles

- Ogres have relative low model count, they are strong and powerful, but as large infantry they have average nerve so any point of damage against them count.
They are faster than most normal infantry, but if you can hit them first with a strong unit (like a knight regiment) you have a decent chance to kill a whole unit of ogres before they get to strike, so cavalry and heavy fliers can be a good counter to ogres. An error made by many rookirs is to make a too elite ogre army with only hordes of ogres and some monters, leaving them with few units that will be easier to flank, and an ogre army flanked is usually dead.
To prevent that, Ogres can use red goblins as chaff or screens in order to increase their unit count, or they can take less max size units and more ogre regiments or cheap heros instead if they don't like taking goblins.

Ogres have very good mobile short range shooting with the boomers that can also be decent in melee, and the shooters provide a similar long range (but static) powerful shooting. Many players use a horde of shooters buffed with an artefact (mainly the keen eye that give them +1 to hit at range) to get an unit that is a long range terror, but it's also something very expensive in points and a static units that will probably not move much while you want to move the rest of your army, so a good opponent can use that against you.

- undeads have both cheap hordes (skeletons and zombies) as well as some of the more elite units in the game (vampires) and some options between them, so you can make very different kinds of armies. Surge give you options to move (and potentially charge) during the shooting phase, so while units with the shambling rule are slow (no forced march), they can also be very manoeuvrable if you have a caster near them (doing things like pivot during the movement phase, and then surge during the shooting phase to charge an unit that was outside your front arc)

- elves are elite with good normal shooting, but their shooting tend to lack armor piercing. They also have good but expensive wizards, and good flying support with their drakons (large flying cavalry, and there is a hero version) and lord on dragons (very powerful, but expensive)

- Dwarves are slow but tough, and got powerful shooting with average precision at all ranges.

and so on ...

Thank you for the post, very helpful.

I'll deep dive Ogres and Dwarfs me thinks.

There are a couple of free rules PDFs here, if you've not seen them already: http://www.manticgames.com/free-rules.html

They don't have everything--the free lists, for example, are cut-down a bit in terms of selection--but there should be enough to give you an idea.

I have the rule book. But haven't played. Don't really know how the armies synergies. As OP.

The thing to keep in mind for Kings of War is that the game is won or lost in the movement phase - flanking attacks are brutal.

A bad deployment can cost you the game. Keep your battle plan and objectives in mind while deploying.

Keep your mind on the objectives of the battle that you are playing - nearly every game that i have lost has been because I lost sight of the objective, and chased down enemy units that did not further my battle plan.

Use smaller units as screens - even the largest unit can be destroyed when flanked.

Hordes and Legions have a lot of staying power - but can get caught up by terrain. They are large and not all that maneuverable - they can get in the ways of your own units.

Magic is support - not a magic wand for winning the game. (With the exception of Surge, which grants extra movement - which means the shooting phase becomes another movement phase.)

Take allies to fill a specific role in your army - either to strengthen something that you are already good in or to cover a weakness.

The Auld Grump - Ogres and Dwarfs actually go together very well - ogres have a fair amount of speed, while the dwarfs have more staying power.

Are you looking for an army that plays like a particular 40k army?

Most armies have more flexibility in terms of flavour and builds than 40k armies, I think. So you it's more a tendency and most armies can be built in quite a few ways, but it's easier and better to use some armies for certain builds.

In general though:
Ogres, elves and Varangur tend to be elite armies. (like GK)
Ors, goblins, undead do hordes. (Like orks or nids)
Kingdom of men has is in the jack of all trades kind of list. (like SM or gaurd).

In terms of being typically under or over costed: the game is amazingly well balanced, pretty much everything is good for it's points. Yes it really is and yes proper balance is as good as you always dreamed.

 DarkBlack wrote:
Are you looking for an army that plays like a particular 40k army?

Most armies have more flexibility in terms of flavour and builds than 40k armies, I think. So you it's more a tendency and most armies can be built in quite a few ways, but it's easier and better to use some armies for certain builds.

In general though:
Ogres, elves and Varangur tend to be elite armies. (like GK)
Ors, goblins, undead do hordes. (Like orks or nids)
Kingdom of men has is in the jack of all trades kind of list. (like SM or gaurd).

In terms of being typically under or over costed: the game is amazingly well balanced, pretty much everything is good for it's points. Yes it really is and yes proper balance is as good as you always dreamed.

The downside is that when you lose, yu have only yourself to blame. (Well, that and your dice... sometimes the dice just plain decide to hate you....)

I actually like being able to blame myself when I lose. (I lost a game on Thursday - Brotherhood vs. Empire of Dust... two fast armies that hit each other hard. I won one game, Duncan won one game. Those two armies are made to fight each other![/i] Both games were darned close.)

The Auld Grump