Kings of War and Kings of War Historical Rulebooks

Kings of War is a ruleset for fantasy large scale battles created in 2010 with a second edition made in 2015. It uses a streamlined system that is elegant in its simplicity which allows ease of use for making strategic choices. I was on the verge of selling many of my Fantasy miniature armies when a friend convinced me to try the second edition ruleset out. I'm glad I did because although I may not play it as often as other miniature games I have, It will fill the niche of playing these large scale battles I have an itch for once in a while. The rules are also free here.

First, the units. You can have Infantry, Calvary, Large Infantry/Calvary, Monsters, War Engines, and Heroes. They also come in many sizes from solitary heroes/monsters/war engines to Large Infantry/Calvary 3-12 models) Calvary (5-20 models) to Legions of Infantry (10-60 models).  Some units do not have the full range of sizes for flavour or balance. The LOS and distance measuring is very similar to many mass combat games out there. Statistics of the units are Speed, Melee, Ranged, Defense, Attacks, Nerve, and Points. They also may have Special equipment or rules that help with the flavour of the unit or army. Every army is a little different for choices but so far in playing the game you need a little variety to handle what the opponent might throw at you. It also looks better on the tabletop. For most tournaments you can have 50%+1 models representing the size of unit you want. This is because many models have action poses or are larger than 25mm.

Secondly is the Turn: Move, Shoot, Melee. That's it. Each general does their entire turn then it is the other general's turn. After both general's have gone the turn number increases. At the end of turn six, roll a d6. On a 1-3 the game goes one more turn otherwise the

Moving is deciding if your units halt, change facing, advance, go back, sidestep, at the double, or charge. As this game utilizes positioning as an important strategic choice, you will have to think of how to move units with care on numerous occasions. That's because you gain a benefit from charging a unit on their side (double # attacks) or rear (triple). You might also prefer to screen other models like shooters, as you cannot shoot models and units that are engaged.

Shooting is fairly simple. Choose a unit, choose a target, and roll dice. There may be modifiers for terrain and such but the calculation for the final "to-hit" roll is quite simple. One you know the number of hits, then you have to roll those dice that hit to determine if you got past your target's defense. The resulting successes are the wounds on the enemy unit and are indicated by putting markers or dice up to the value of wounds behind the unit. You cannot shoot at a unit you are in melee with. Magic is also done in the shooting phase and there is only six spells: Fireball, Bane-chant, Wind Blast, Lightning Bolt, Heal, and Surge (for shambling models, typically undead or constructs). Now at the end of the phase, if at least one point of damage was scored against a unit they have to roll 2d6 and add the damage taken so far. If it is equal to or greater than their wavering limit, they are limited in their actions the next time they activate. If it is equal to or greater than their routing limit, they are removed from the game. A roll of 12 is an auto rout and a roll of 2 is a steady result.

Melee is the same as ranged combat. If you destroy a unit in melee, you can regroup by changing facing or moving ahead a d6 in inches, or move directly back d3 in inches. If the unit remains, you have to move an inch back. The defender must now test for nerve as per ranged rules. Also units that have suffered at least a point of damage are disordered and cannot use ranged attacks the next time they activate.

There are many army lists with various races and such: Dwarves, Elves, Nature, Man, Ogres, Abyss, Goblin, Orc, Undead...and more as more books come out. For making an army list this site is great plus it prints off the special rules for models and armies too. There are also magic items, each one able to be taken only once, that can make a good unit or model even better and use up those spare points as 2000 is the average game.

On the historical side, Mantic also came out with a book for playing historical armies. The rules are the same but instead of magic items they are veteran abilities instead which mimic many of the magic items. The army list generator is here.They have many periods of history listed with a core list of common forces. Each particular period and region will have special units and models only available to themselves.

Looking forward to playing this game in the future.