Kings of War Fantasy Battle Game - 2nd Edition by Mantic Games Kickstarter (Live and funded)

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**primalexile**

durecellrabbit wrote:
I'm new to KoW so I'm looking at getting 2 starter armies to try it out with but I'm not sure the kick starter is worth it. Looking at the current 2 player starter set the Undead part is exactly the same while the Orc one is a bit rubbish. The 2 player set is £50 and can be gotten cheaper while the kickstarter is $100 extra after the books which is ~£60. I don't really need both a small and big rulebook either.

Presumably there will be a new 2 player set with the new rules at some point although it might have races I might like less. Maybe it's worth waiting patiently or just getting the currently set, I'm not really sure?

I had the same thought but the Abyssal's just look too good to pass up right now.

**Azazelx**

durecellrabbit wrote:
I'm new to KoW so I'm looking at getting 2 starter armies to try it out with but I'm not sure the kick starter is worth it. Looking at the current 2 player starter set the Undead part is exactly the same while the Orc one is a bit rubbish. The 2 player set is £50 and can be gotten cheaper while the kickstarter is $100 extra after the books which is ~£60. I don't really need both a small and big rulebook either.

Presumably there will be a new 2 player set with the new rules at some point although it might have races I might like less. Maybe it's worth waiting patiently or just getting the currently set, I'm not really sure?

Keep an eye on it anyway. They tend to add a reasonable amount of value to their KS, though I'm not sure how that would work with their predefined army deals. Still, you're in the UK so postage is sweet, and you have a couple of weeks to decide. Or even pledge $1 and make your final call in January or later.

**durecellrabbit**

Azazelx wrote:
durecellrabbit wrote:
I'm new to KoW so I'm looking at getting 2 starter armies to try it out with but I'm not sure the kick starter is worth it. Looking at the current 2 player starter set the Undead part is exactly the same while the Orc one is a bit rubbish. The 2 player set is £50 and can be gotten cheaper while the kickstarter is $100 extra after the books which is ~£60. I don't really need both a small and big rulebook either.

Presumably there will be a new 2 player set with the new rules at some point although it might have races I might like less. Maybe it's worth waiting patiently or just getting the currently set, I'm not really sure?

Keep an eye on it anyway. They tend to add a reasonable amount of value to their KS, though I'm not sure how that would work with their predefined army deals. Still, you're in the UK so postage is sweet, and you have a couple of weeks to decide. Or even pledge $1 and make your final call in January or later.

Fair enough. If I'm prepared to wait for a new starter set I can wait to see if the value of the kickstarter improves.

**Ahtman**

primalexile wrote:
I had the same thought but the Abyssal's just look too good to pass up right now.

Are you referring to the Abyssal Dwarves? I keep checking to see if the Abyssal army has pics up as they hit stretch goals but I haven't seen anything.

**primalexile**

Ahtman wrote:
primalexile wrote:
I had the same thought but the Abyssal's just look too good to pass up right now.

Are you referring to the Abyssal Dwarves? I keep checking to see if the Abyssal army has pics up as they hit stretch goals but I haven't seen anything.

No sir, I am referring to the Daemons. Check the updates for the concept art of the Deamons, the abyssal dwarves look pretty awesome themselves.

**.Mikes.**

durecellrabbit wrote:
I'm new to KoW so I'm looking at getting 2 starter armies to try it out with but I'm not sure the kick starter is worth it. Looking at the current 2 player starter set the Undead part is exactly the same while the Orc one is a bit rubbish. The 2 player set is £50 and can be gotten cheaper while the kickstarter is $100 extra after the books which is ~£60. I don't really need both a small and big rulebook either.

Presumably there will be a new 2 player set with the new rules at some point although it might have races I might like less. Maybe it's worth waiting patiently or just getting the currently set, I'm not really sure?

If you're unsure you could just wait it out. These aren't one-ff projects and the rule books and any newly funded miniatures will be available at retail. Or you could pledge $1 and see what happens and, if you decide to go with it, add the pledges to the pledge manage after Christmas. Although I don't know if any stretch goals would be included in those post KS add ons.

**Azazelx**

They've said that the pledge manager monies will still count towards add-ons, and also "we know it's Christmas, so feel free to just pledge a dollar and bump it up after the new year" - so pretty friendly on both accounts there.

**Ahtman**

Azazelx wrote:
They've said that the pledge manager monies will still count towards add-ons, and also "we know it's Christmas, so feel free to just pledge a dollar and bump it up after the new year" - so pretty friendly on both accounts there.

So we could just pledge a dollar and do the $150 deal after the new year?

**squall018**

Ahtman wrote:
Azazelx wrote:
They've said that the pledge manager monies will still count towards add-ons, and also "we know it's Christmas, so feel free to just pledge a dollar and bump it up after the new year" - so pretty friendly on both accounts there.

So we could just pledge a dollar and do the $150 deal after the new year?

Yeah, Mantic does all their KS like that. As long as you get a dollar in you will get the pledge manager and be allowed to get anything you want through that.

**highlord tamburlaine**

I'm wondering if we might see any kits for larger units, like that winged slasher that was mentioned earlier. That'd be neat.

I saw the remark about no terrain *THIS* campaign. Makes me hopeful we'll see some in the future then.

Incidentally, anyone know where those buildings came from on the KS page? I recognize those huts on the back of the board (seeing as I own some), but I'm curious about the buildings on the right.

**.Mikes.**

They were in the original KoW rulebook. From the Credits page:

"Scenery
Tabletop World, Battlefront, Gale Force Nine, Architects fo War, Chris Straw. All scenery from theauthor's personal collection."

**RichS**

For fence sitters like me who hate restic, which of the army bundles contain the least? The mantic plastics I have from one of the crazy boxes are great but I'd also heard some of the more recent ones like the men at arms are pretty poor.
Lastly is there any artwork for the forces of nature around, I had a quick google but didn't find anything official.

**Barzam**

I'd put my money on the elves and the undead having mostly plastics.

I put in a token $1. I'm heading to Japan in a few weeks and won't have the money to throw at a full army. I'll probably grab some Abyssals though when they inevitably put up sprues as add-ons.

**.Mikes.**

RichS wrote:
For fence sitters like me who hate restic, which of the army bundles contain the least? The mantic plastics I have from one of the crazy boxes are great but I'd also heard some of the more recent ones like the men at arms are pretty poor.
Lastly is there any artwork for the forces of nature around, I had a quick google but didn't find anything official.

My dwarf army have virtually none IIRC. Hard plastic and metal the whole way, bar the Brock riders. Same for the Elf army had, although that had no drakons or cavalry, so I can't speak for that.

The ogres are fully restic, I believe, but restic is perfect for such large models, and I love them.

Nature artwork is pretty thin on the ground right now. Models wise so far there are only these two character models:

Then from the KoW supplemtn this for salamanders:

And then some odds and ends from the Dungeon Saga KS:

As an aside, I don't know who the artist is for the last one but I love their style. They also did my favourite image of an Enforcer:

**GrimDork**

If the abyssal army doesn't get my money, the elf army deals are both looking pretty solid too. I think the smaller set is closer in nature to half of the larger one than some of the other forces, though the mega-starter does come with the palace guard and the new character.

Kind of burnt on mass-painting well... anything, it's almost tempting to aim for the lower value dual starters just for variety lol.

Also, if those Salamanders make it into hard plastic... squeee!

**Thraxas Of Turai**

For those of you new to KOW/ Mantics Fantasy Line here is a list of what materials the units in the mega armies (and thus the starter armies, which have the same units) are made from.

Key:
HIPS =Hard Impact Plastic Sprues
RP =Resin Plastic (sometimes referred to as restic)
HYB =Hybrid metal and plastic.
M =Metal.

Spoiler:

Hope that is of help to somebody.

So for Rich S I would say avoid the Basileans and Abyssal Dwarfs, the Orcs (only big minis and cavalry)/Elves and Dwarfs would be your best bet.

**highlord tamburlaine**

I'm afraid of what Alpharius might say to me if we get to the point where Salamander hard plastic sprues might become a reality.

**Pacific**

Thraxas Of Turai wrote:
For those of you new to KOW/ Mantics Fantasy Line here is a list of what materials the units in the mega armies (and thus the starter armies, which have the same units) are made from.

Key:
HIPS =Hard Impact Plastic Sprues
RP =Resin Plastic (sometimes referred to as restic)
HYB =Hybrid metal and plastic
M =Metal.

Spoiler:

Undead Mega Starter Army:

40 Skeletons =HIPS
20 Ghouls =HIPS
40 Zombies = HIPS
10 Wraiths =RP
3 Werewolves =RP
20 Revenants =HIPS

Dwarf Mega Starter Army

40 Ironclad =HIPS
40Ironclad =HIPS
20 Shieldbreakers =HIPS
10 Brock Riders =RP
2 Ironbelchers =HIPS
1 Bombard =HYB

Elf Mega Starter Army

10 Stormwind Cavalry =RP
40 Archers =HIPS
40 Spearmen =HIPS
20 Palace Guard =RP
2 Bolt Throwers =HIPS
20 SCouts =HIPS

Orc Mega Starter Army

40 Orc Ax =HIPS
3 Trolls =RP
10 Goreriders =RP
20 Greatax =HIPS
3 ORC Chariots =RP (HIPS Crew)
1 Fight Wagon =RP (HIPS Crew)

Abyssal Dwarf Mega Starter Army

40 Immortal Guard =RP
10 Gargoyles =RP
10 Halfbreeds =RP
2 Angkor Mortars =HYB
3 Lesser Golems =RP
10 Slave Orcs =HIPS (slaver and beasty are HYB).

Goblin Mega Starter Army

20 Spitters =HIPS
20 Rabble =HIPS
20 Sharpsticks =HYB
10 Fleabags =RP
6 Trolls =RP
2 Mincers =RP
2 War Trombones =M

Basilean Mega Army

40 Men at Arms (Droopy HIPS)
20 Paladins =RP
10 Knights =RP
20 Panther Lancers =RP
10 Sisters =RP
6 Elohi =RP

Ogre Mega Starter Army:

6 Ogre Shooters =RP
12 Ogre Warriors =RP
3 Ogre Chariots =RP
40 Red Goblins =HIPS
1 Ogre Hero =RP

Hope that is of help to somebody.

So for Rich S I would say avoid the Basileans and Abyssal Dwarfs, the Orcs (only big minis and cavalry)/Elves and Dwarfs would be your best bet.

You, sir, are a legend

**SilverMK2**

May well be going for an Abyssal mega army... The Orcs are not quite as fun looking as the whfb versions and I don't feel like some of the unit filler pieces I would want to create for them would be fitting

Abyssals on the other hand can still have plenty of fire and hell portals etc

Any news on the rules and play style of Abyssals?

Also, can the salamander picture above get spoilered? It does not resize on my tablet so it makes this page almost impossible to read

**Ahtman**

highlord tamburlaine wrote:
I'm afraid of what Alpharius might say to me if we get to the point where Salamander hard plastic sprues might become a reality.

Are you afraid it would be a hug?

Droopy HIPS

Wat?

**NTRabbit**

Ahtman wrote:

Droopy HIPS

Wat?

Men at Arms aren't the droopy ones, they're the ones with a gakky circle pattern instead of ringmail because of a fuckup translating a cad file, and because Mantic didn't read the contract properly before signing it. They're fine for filler, but if you're a stickler for fine detail you might want minis from someone else in the front rank.

I think the Goblins were the droopy ones, some kind of weird error that made a bunch of them look all droopy and melty that I think they fixed in later runs.

**scarletsquig**

Quick question for Orlando - Any chance of doing a thing for the OP where the retail value of each of the starter and mega armies is listed as more things get added to them?

Just curious about which ones are the best value, the abyssal starter seems to be worth quite a lot now considering that its $50 and is getting $25 worth of gargoyles added along with all the other stuff.

I do wish I had the time to keep a running total myself, this KS is getting really fun and is everything the first KS should have been - Taking a single army and doing it really well in hard plastic rather than lots and lots of restic.

I really think I'll end up getting the Abyssals from this KS assembled before the Basileans from the first KS which I just gave up on.

**Daedleh**

Champion locked in, Succubi next at $150k

10 added to the starter and 20 added to the mega starter army.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

scarletsquig wrote:
Quick question for Orlando - Any chance of doing a thing for the OP where the retail value of each of the starter and mega armies is listed as more things get added to them?

Just curious about which ones are the best value, the abyssal starter seems to be worth quite a lot now considering that its $50 and is getting $25 worth of gargoyles added along with all the other stuff.

I do wish I had the time to keep a running total myself, this KS is getting really fun and is everything the first KS should have been - Taking a single army and doing it really well in hard plastic rather than lots and lots of restic.

I really think I'll end up getting the Abyssals from this KS assembled before the Basileans from the first KS which I just gave up on.

I haven't really got time to do the adding & calculating for that either at the moment, sorry,

but if somebody else here does one I'll add it to the OP (or if I find one in the KS comments I'll add that too)

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and from the comments why the ROW shipping is so much more than previous mantic KS

Creator Mantic Games about 1 hour ago

@ SquishyD - it's closer to what it actually costs. There are going to be multiple shipments too. Some of the Mars Attacks shipping was horrific, we've vastly undercharged and in a lot of cases, probably lost money. So we've had to charge a bit more.

@ SquishyD - we ship so much more to the UK and US, that we get special rates. So few orders go out to Asia and the postal companies keep on putting the rates up and up. And like we said, there's multiple shipments. It's not really "touch luck" - we held it low for as long as could.

so it looks like all you Australians etc with big boxes of stuff were a net loss to Mantic (like most EU backers were for Reaper in the Bones I KS)

**Azazelx**

Given my order was $750 and in one shipment, I'm sure they still made a tidy profit on it.

They could probably save a lot of money on international shipping (especially to AU) if they just managed to pack the items correctly and not screw up so many orders. Which then requires a second box to be sent out.
Like mine, every time.

**RobertsMinis**

As someone who lives in not-Mainland UK, I don't get the problem with more expensive shipping. I have to pay extra all the time and there are many UK company's who won't ship certain items to Northern Ireland (albeit they tend not to be miniature companies).

Anyway, I'm liking the growth in the Abyssal Army so far.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Now that I can't argue with

(though reports say Mars attacks has generally been better, fingers crossed the improvements continue)

**Aesop the God Awful**

Daedleh wrote:
Champion locked in, Succubi next at $150k

10 added to the starter and 20 added to the mega starter army.

That does look pretty sweet. Maybe I'll just have a little look at the starter armies

**AlexHolker**

I'm glad to see that the price per model is the same for the Succubi as for the Lesser Abyssals.

**Alpharius**

I want everyone to be happy, so if getting to the Salamanders in HIPs makes people happy...

highlord tamburlaine wrote:
I'm afraid of what Alpharius might say to me if we get to the point where Salamander hard plastic sprues might become a reality.

Yeah!