Ulthuan

Me and my friend had not played in over two years! We had been deliberating over what we should start with or try.

We had been looking at 9th age but not having a solid book read but instead having to print a lot did not appeal to us.
Kings of War looked overtly simplistic. And it was clear that the heroes were not what they are in old WHFB. No customization save being able to take one magic item.

But the books were cheap. Both had bought the thin Gamers edition of the Rules and the expansion "Uncharted Empire". So we went for a 1500point match between elves and dwarves.

You know what? Good old Alessio have done one solid fine job! We realized we would learn the rules quickly enough and with just a few characteristics and one special rule each the dwarves and the elves and their respective way of war came too life on the tabletop.

I lost because I lost focus of the main objective, not because it was unbalanced. Both armies were clearly different but evenly matched. Like I said, they played like you feel elves and dwarves from our beloved WHFB should play.

It is more abstract in some areas but that feels okay. You are playing a battle, not a skirmish between a few hundred warriors. Every desicion is crucial. Movements matters as well as timing.

Great game! Both my Asur and my Asrai will be seeing the tabletop in the future and now I want to make more units! Glory awaits!

KoW ticks all the boxes for me and I quickly learned it is indeed as Alessio wanted to make it - easy to learn but hard to master. It is very refreshing to be able to focus on the game itself and how to outsmart the opponent rather than constantly checking the rules.

You may be interested in their new campaign that is about to start:

http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/ ... -book.html

Me and my friend have observed this and are very interested in the campaign.

I wrote a short review of the book if you are interested:

http://swordmasterofhoeth.blogspot.com. ... sions.html

KoW is my go to fantasy game now as well, and I like it just as much as I ever liked the gaming side of Warhammer (the KoW setting still has some way to go).

I still play elves, but the Kingdoms of Men list has allowed me to play the kind og human fantasy army I always wanted (pikes) and so I am focusing on them at the moment

I really recommend it and am looking foreward to the campaign.

You two make a compelling argument for the game. What's the difference between the free rules pdf and the rules book (besides not having to print everything yourself to have a hardcopy version)?

@Francis; do you have some pictures of your pike army?

Rod

If I may, I will answer the question.

Free rulebook has full rules for the game with the exception of magic artifacts, scenarios and the lists for some armies did not have all the units. In addition, one can easily check these with the free army builder: http://kow2.easyarmy.com/

However, there is also a cheaper version of the rulebook, without the narrative but only with rules and core armies (with full set of units) that is not a huge investment at all.

Swordmaster of Hoeth wrote:If I may, I will answer the question.

Free rulebook has full rules for the game with the exception of magic artifacts, scenarios and the lists for some armies did not have all the units. In addition, one can easily check these with the free army builder: http://kow2.easyarmy.com/

However, there is also a cheaper version of the rulebook, without the narrative but only with rules and core armies (with full set of units) that is not a huge investment at all.

And if we want the KoW rules and the Mantic setting to grow, they need (and so far they certainly deserve) our money.

Prince of Spires wrote:You two make a compelling argument for the game. What's the difference between the free rules pdf and the rules book (besides not having to print everything yourself to have a hardcopy version)?

@Francis; do you have some pictures of your pike army?

Rod

I'll see if I can get some taken. As of now, I have only painted up 40 Warlord games macedonian pikemen so far, but have another 40 on the way. The rest of the army is a mix of caesarian romans, and medieval troops, from Perry, Warlord, and Fireforge games.

I love the freedom that KoW gives me.

Luna Guardian wrote:And if we want the KoW rules and the Mantic setting to grow, they need (and so far they certainly deserve) our money.

Absolutely! That's why I am happy to buy their supplements, especially that I don't need more models.

O, it's not that I don't want to spend the money on the books. I was mainly curious how far you could get started with just the pdf. If you would only get very basic rules then it wouldn't be a proper introduction after all. But it sounds like you can do just fine, starting with the pdf.

And supporting them by getting the books (since I don't like their elf models) is fine. The books at least are lot more sensibly priced then the GW equivalents. And (even more surprising ), their deals are actual deals where buying a bundle of stuff gets you a discount (instead of a higher price as I've sometimes seen at GW...).

Thanks for the info.

Rod

Speaking of special deals:

https://www.manticdigital.com/product/k ... lection-2/

If you have any more questions I will be happy to answer. I just don't want to hijack the topic, it seems we took over already. Sorry Ramesesis.