Despite being a little overshadowed by the very deserved hubbub around the incredible new Yoroni faction announcement, last Thursday Para Bellum released their extremely long-awaited Hundred Kingdoms rework. The Hundred Kingdoms are the oldest faction in the game, and while design considerations meant that both Nord and W’adrhŭn reworks took priority, the Hundred Kingdoms are very well-placed to benefit from a rework that brings them up to a more modern state.
In this article, we’ll be looking at the state the Hundred Kingdom are in following the update. We’ll talk about how they play in the wake of their rework, break down the archetypes that will make up Hundred Kingdoms lists, and provide suggested starting point lists for every one of those archetypes. This won’t be a full unit review, although we’ll talk about individual units a little when we discuss each of the sample lists.
If you’re looking for the rules update directly, you can find it on Para Bellum’s rules page here.
Overview of the Changes
While there have been plenty of changes for the Hundred Kingdoms on a unit-by-unit basis, the most important takeaway from the update is in the changes to the faction’s underlying special rules. The old Dynastic Alliance rule has been significantly expanded, now providing not just two separate supremacies, but also two separate army-wide special rules, set in each case by the two factions that form your Dynastic Alliance.
This means that, more than ever, the Hundred Kingdoms are not ‘the cavalry faction’, any more than they’re ‘the infantry faction’ or the ‘the jack of all trades faction’. They are the faction of alliances. These alliances –their politics, mutual interests and rivalries – form the narrative and mechanical bedrock of every Hundred Kingdoms list.
When forming your Dynastic Alliance, you pick a Warlord, and then their Dynastic Ally. Each influences your army equally (the only notable difference being which one matters for scenarios), and are broken down using the battlefield role system previously introduced in the Nord and W’adrhŭn reworks:
Feudal: The numerous noble houses of the Hundred Kingdoms bring the most varied and versatile forces of the faction, with a good mix of light and medium infantry and cavalry regiments. The Family Traditions rule of the Feudal nobility mean that they will feature in most Hundred Kingdoms armies, as the army-wide special rule allows all Feudal regiments to also adopt the relevant role of your dynastic ally (becoming Feudal, and Order, Theist or Imperial troops, as appropriate).
Feudal warlords also bring the only passive supremacy ability of the faction, with all Noble Lords projecting an aura that allows [Feudal] regiments within 8” to reroll clash and defence rolls of 6. This isn’t a huge aura, but you can maximise it by taking multiple Noble Lords, and it will stack with whatever other benefits your dynastic ally brings. The passive nature of this supremacy also helps cement a Feudal warlord or dynastic ally as one of the easier choices for many lists, as it doesn’t compete with the activated supremacy abilities of the Theist, Imperial or Order forces.
In essence, you can rely on Feudal forces to work with any other part of the Hundred Kingdoms, and work well. However, it’s very important to recognize that “count as whatever your ally is” doesn’t actually add any material amount of power to the list in a vacuum – meaning it’s important that any Feudal alliance list is actually built to maximise both the Feudal supremacy aura and the shared battlefield roles.
Theist: The rising Theist church is represented by Theist Priests and Crusader Noble Lords, and provides unique access to both good-quality medium infantry in the form of Sicarii and Crusaders, and the only monster in the Hundred Kingdoms – the towering Archangel.
Theists have some of the most reliable and powerful army rules and supremacy abilities; their Army rule, March of the Faithful, gives Indomitable [1] to all [Theist] regiments within 12” of a [Theist] character (note the synergy here with Feudal characters, as any Feudal characters in a dynastic alliance with Theists will project both their own Feudal aura and also the Theist one), and the new Divine Purpose special rule to all [Veteran][Theist] regiments.
Their activated supremacy, the Spirit Shines, is equally powerful; this supremacy gives you an immediate free spell, and then duplicates the effect of your Theist spellcasting across all regiments in the army. It should, in general, be thought of an Army-wide Blessed effect with a few extra upsides – but even army-wide blessed with no extra boosts is an extremely strong supremacy!
Imperial: The remnants of the Tellian Empire, Imperial forces are entirely infantry-based, with massed ranks of disciplined, well-drilled heavy infantry supported by light and medium foot skirmishers. The Imperial army-wide special rule grants Vanguard [5] to [Imperial] regiments, and their supremacy ability is a once-per-game activatable that grants all [Veteran] infantry regiments a free reform and the opportunist ability for a round. Free actions are always strong, and the supremacy not being gated behind the [Imperial] battlefield role helps offer some synergy for Imperial forces even with non-Feudal Dynastic Allies.
Order: The military elite of the Hundred Kingdoms, the Orders are comprised the most powerful individual warriors in faction. The Orders are currently almost entirely cavalry-focused, although the Order of the Sword and Order of Saint Lazarus will provide some future infantry for Order lists when they arrive.
The Order army-wide special rule grants Flurry to all [Order] Characters and [Veteran][Order] Regimental command stands, and their supremacy ability is a once-per-game activatable that grants +1 Attack and Hardened [+1] to all [Order] regiments for a round. This leaves the Orders as a faction somewhat in tension with themselves, as few of their regiments are good at benefiting fully from all the bonuses on offer (Priory Commanders and Ashen Dawn with Inspired are already hitting on 4s rerolling 6s, for example, making Flurry a low-impact ability for them, and you need to be making clash attacks to benefit from the activated supremacy, which significantly limits its tactical flexibility), but even if you don’t play with an Order dynastic alliance, Order forces still make an excellent addition to a Feudal-Imperial alliance.
For thematic reasons, the Orders and Theists are totally mutually exclusive. Accounting for this, these four building blocks allow for six different combinations, which we’ll explore next.
Dynastic Alliance Combinations
Feudal & Theist
A dynastic alliance between a Noble Family with Theist traditions and the Theist Church is the Goonhammer pick for most powerful Hundred Kingdoms army out the gate in January 2025, with the note that competition here is quite fierce. This combination provides the winner pairing of very strong layered passive boosts and a very strong activated supremacy, with the added bonus of bringing that power onto the field early and aggressively thanks to many of the units you’ll want being Light or Medium.
To really maximise the potential of a Feudal Theist alliance, you’ll want to take multiple Noble lords alongside one or more Theist Priests. As noted above, because the family traditions of the Nobles count as both [Feudal] and [Theist] characters, they project both auras, giving some serious passive offensive and defensive buffs to everything around them.
If you’re willing to take a fourth character, you can splash in an Imperial Officer for his personal buffs or a Chapter Mage for even more spellcasting support. Both characters can even be placed in [Feudal] Men-at-Arms regiments which, while not being the most powerful individual units, certainly enjoy the benefits offered by being [Feudal][Theist] units. Alternatively, you could just take even more Theists – Priests, or Crusading Noble Lords.
Feudal Theist Sample List
== Theist Priest [90]: Dynastic Ally
* Archangel (1) [260]: Aspect of the Redeemer (Shield & Spear)
* Crusaders (3) [140]:
== Theist Priest [90]:
* Militia (3) [105]: [Veteran]
== (Warlord) Noble Lord [90]: Mask of Eaklides, Weapon Master, Graceful Combatant
* Household Guard (5) [230]:
* Men at Arms (3) [110]:
* Household Knights (3) [160]:
* Household Knights (3) [160]:
== Mounted Noble Lord [155]: Elysian Fragment, Tourney Champion
* Household Knights (5) [270]:
* Longbowmen (3) [140]:
Household Knights are pulling a lot of work in this list, with three veteran knight units and a real layering of buffs on them. At any given time, you should be aiming to have your Knights benefiting from the Feudal and Theist auras, Divine Purpose whenever they need the charge distance bonus, and then picking up a further suite of benefits on the turn you trigger The Spirit Shines. The Knights are particularly good at capitalising on the Spirit Shines as they can always make excellent use of Blessed; they can use Blessed for Defence or Clash rolls as any infantry unit can, but if your opponent pulls back or tries to ignore your army on your supremacy turn, the Knights can also make 16+1d6” unstoppable charges and then bless their impact attacks.
Credit to Saxon from Australia for the particular additional innovation in this list, the inclusion of the Elysian Fragment on the Mounted Noble Lord’s outsized knight regiment. The original variant of this list ran a more traditional (and pedestrian) Militia bus to make use of the Fragment, but it works on any Theist regiment, which the Knights absolutely are – and with their high attack volume and accuracy, and susceptibility to getting bogged down in melee combat, the Fragment is a fantastic fit on them.
Feudal & Imperial
While this is ostensibly an infantry-focused Dynastic Alliance, in practice this combination makes excellent use of both the available infantry options and cavalry regiments like Household Knights or even a splash of un-allied Order cavalry, as only two units per turn can be given vanguard with Imperial Rapid Deployment. Adding at least a small cavalry regiments gives units that can advance alongside your vanguard infantry, presenting an aggressively positioned, mutually supporting battle line that makes good use of the Noble Lord aura, which combines particularly well with the Imperial Officer’s ability to grant Hardened to infantry units to make best use of the defence dice rerolls.
While the overall power level of this army falls behind the Feudal Theist alliance, it still competes very effectively, especially if you’re looking for a stronger range of Heavy regiments than just the Archangel. Don’t underestimate the Order splash in this army through a character like the Errant of the Order of the Shield, whose personal entourage of Men-at-Arms will still benefit from all the special rules of the army.
Feudal Imperial Sample List
== Imperial Officer [130]: Dynastic Ally, Seize the Advantage
* Gilded Legion (5) [250]:
* Steel Legion (5) [260]:
== (Warlord) Noble Lord [90]: Mask of Eaklides, Weapon Master, Graceful Combatant
* Household Guard (5) [230]:
* Household Knights (3) [160]:
* Longbowmen (3) [140]:
* Men at Arms (3) [110]:
== Chapter Mage [80]: School of Water
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
== Imperial Officer [100]:
* Men at Arms (5) [180]: [Veteran]
* Hunter Cadre (3) [160]:
This is one of the list I’m personally in the process of painting up, mostly for the Fantasy Empire aesthetic, and it aims to run in a very modular fashion around the Imperial Officer buffs and very modest application of the Noble Lord supremacy aura. The Noble Lord and Imperial Officer in Men-at-Arms in particular want to fight relatively close to each other to benefit from the Noble’s aura, while the heavy regiments can arrive more as and where they’re needed. The outsized steel legion is a bit of a luxury pick, but with two Imperial Officers we have a lot of Hardened to throw around, and with the Chapter Mage we’re able to do at least some healing to keep us rolling in one part of the battlefield.
As much as they’re a cost-efficient unit, it’s important not to overestimate the Man-at-Arms block. They’re cheap, they can punch on for a little, but there’s a strict upper limit to how much you can expect from a 180pt unit. Be prepared to reinforce or sacrifice them the moment they draw attention from something too hot for them to handle.
Feudal & Order
Notwithstanding our comment about how Hundred Kingdoms aren’t ‘the cavalry army’, if you want them to be the cavalry army, this is how you do it. However, much like the other combinations that include Feudal troops, you can also build this combination to be effective and well-rounded thanks to the versatility of the Noble Lord’s warband.
It’s worth noting that the overall benefits of a Dynastic Alliance between Order and Feudal factions will always leave a little bit of money on the table, as the Order army-wide ability will be giving Flurry to a number of units and characters that are already re-rolling hits from the Feudal Noble Lord auras. For this reason, making the most of this pairing means really going in heavily on being able to benefit from the activated supremacy ability, whereas Order troops in small numbers might serve better as a splash in a Feudal Imperial alliance list.
Feudal Order Sample List
== (Warlord) Noble Lord [80]: Weapon Master, Graceful Combatant
* Household Guard (5) [230]:
* Men at Arms (3) [110]:
* Household Knights (3) [160]:
* Household Knights (3) [160]:]
== Errant of the Order of the Shield [100]:
* Men at Arms (5) [170]:
* Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [260]:
== Priory Commander (Crimson Tower) [120]: Dynastic Ally
* Order of the Sealed Temple (3) [200]:
* Order of the Crimson Tower (3) [220]:
== Chapter Mage [80]: School of Water
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
With five units of cavalry, this is a classical Order horse-forward army that still makes good use of infantry. You only have one Noble Lord aura in this list, making it important to run the Errant’s Men-at-Arms unit closeby the Noble Lord if you want to maximise the benefits of the Feudal aura. We’ve managed to squeeze in a water mage as well, to allow some extra ranged support and healing for the two Infantry regiments. Strongly consider holding her back on the first turn if playing against one of the very light-centric lists that are popular at time of writing, as you need to concentrate your counter-deployment against those lists to limit their strengths, and putting her on the board early will telegraph where your other units will appear.
Imperial & Order
A challenging combination due to needing to time two active supremacies which can’t both apply on the same turn, and with totally mutually exclusive targeting – there are no Order troops that can benefit from the Imperial supremacy, and vice versa. This makes for an alliance held together mostly by the quality of the individual pieces rather than abilities.
If you’re set on playing an Imperial Order alliance, you have a few avenues to pursue. One is to make heavy use of an Errant of the Order of the Shield’s warband, which despite being an Order character, includes Imperial troops in the form of Men-at-Arms. Another option is to try to take multiple Heavy regiments – Gilded Legion, Ashen Dawn, etc – and really shove them aggressively on turn three with a combination of flank, vanguard and native cavalry speed. If you adopt this second approach, you’re looking to buy space for the turn three arrival with good imperial skirmish infantry and Sealed Temple knights.
For now, this combination is difficult to gain maximum value out of, but that is likely to change in future as the Orders gain access to [Veteran] Infantry to really make the most of the pairing.
Fuck It, We Ball Imperial Order Sample List
== (Warlord) Errant of the Order of the Shield [130]: Get in Position
* Men at Arms (7) [230]:
* Men at Arms (3) [110]:
* Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [260]:
* Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [260]:
== Priory Commander (Sealed Temple) [170]: Caledburn, Eccentric Fighting Style
* Order of the Sealed Temple (3) [200]:
* Order of the Ashen Dawn (3) [260]:
== Chapter Mage [80]: Dynastic Ally, School of Fire
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
== Chapter Mage [80]: School of Fire
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
I would be lying if I said this is a good list, exactly. But it is a list with nine stands of Ashen Dawn, and making a Chapter Mage the Dynastic Ally (she can’t be a warlord, but she can be a dynastic ally!) technically lets us qualify for the Order-Imperial alliance and so benefit from vanguard on our infantry. Those men-at-arms are all veteran, too, which means they benefit from the activated Imperial supremacy. It’s not much, but if they’re working together they can theoretically wolf-pack any enemies that charge into them by making flank charges with reforms and opportunist. I say theoretical, it’s a very sketchy theory, but sometimes you just gotta play for time while nine stands of demigods arrive.
Imperial & Theist
Another challenging combination due to multiple active supremacies, Imperial & Theist hinges very heavily on two things: general good quality Imperial ranged support for Theist anvil units like Crusaders, and the fact that the Imperial active supremacy works on non-Imperial [Veteran] units. Big Theist blocks can have extreme threat ranges thanks to the combination of Divine Purpose and Combat Manoeuvres, allowing you to project a lot of menace with units that are well-suited to surviving any counterattack. Timing the supremacies is the major challenge; both are flexible and can provide different advantages depending on the game state (Combat Manoeuvres can project threat or allow you to counter enemy positioning during a messy melee, while Spirit Shines offers both offensive and defensive potential) and gauging when to use each makes this combination a high-mastery but potentially rewarding option.
Theist Imperial Sample List
== Crusading Noble Lord [130]: To Banish the Darkness, Get in Position
* Crusaders (6) [270]: [Veteran]
* Sicarii (3) [160]:
* Sicarii (3) [160]:
== (Warlord) Theist Priest [110]: Front of the Line
* Crusaders (6) [270]: [Veteran]
* Archangel (1) [260]: Aspect of the Redeemer (Shield & Spear)
== Imperial Officer [100]: Dynastic Ally
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
* Hunter Cadre (3) [160]:
*Hunter Cadre (3) [160]:
This list comes courtesy of Karl Swanson, who suggested it in the 100 Kingdoms Channel on the Para Bellum Discord. The various character upgrades can be tweaked as you see fit, but you get multiple large, hardy bricks that take about as much resolve damage as Old Dominion units, an early-game shove thanks to a large quantity of mediums and flank units, and all but one of your units scores.
This is also a list that can make use of Flank not just to arrive automatically on the earliest possible turn but also, potentially, control when some units arrive later. The Hunter Cadre are an excellent multi-role unit but they excel when lined up into a unit that triggers Fiend Hunter, and controlling their arrival for proper counter-deployment against enemy brutes or monsters is something that you might consider in some matchups.
No Dynastic Alliance
While this lack of combination seems counterintuitive, it is worth mentioning that a dynastic alliance is entirely optional. Giving up a Dynastic Alliance – particularly when [Noble] allies work seamlessly with every other keyword – does mean leaving metaphorical money on the table, but can allow you to focus on maximising the benefits of a particular faction. [Imperial] forces in particular are well-rounded enough to consider an entirely Imperial army, and an [Order] list built around some kind of extreme skew could also be viable. In general, though, while it is allowed, we recommend against playing without a Dynastic Alliance unless you have a very specific game plan – or are chasing a very particular aesthetic.
Pure Imperial Sample List
== (Warlord) Imperial Officer [140]: Mask of Eaklides, Seize the Advantage
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
* Steel Legion (3) [160]:
* Hunter Cadre (3) [160]:
* Gilded Legion (5) [270]: Drillmaster
== Imperial Officer [100]:
* Gilded Legion (5) [250]:
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
* Hunter Cadre (3) [160]:
* Steel Legion (3) [160]:
== Chapter Mage [80]: School of Water
* Men at Arms (3) [110]:
== Chapter Mage [80]: School of Water
* Mercenary Crossbowmen (3) [110]:
So, full disclosure: I wrote this just to demonstrate that it was possible, but as soon as I’d gotten it down on paper I figured it actually looked really good and I had to go out and have a game with it almost immediately, and it did not disappoint. Hardened, high defence regiments with great morale and spell support, two of your heavy regiments have flank, and fourteen(!) activations which the threat ranges provided by the supremacy ability lets you take full advantage of.
If you wanted to condense the list down a little, you could trim a Chapter Mage and her unit to bulk out any of the infantry – adding more stands of Gilded is an easy way to scale the regiments up, and you could also bulk out one of the regiments of Steel Legion to make better use of the activated supremacy ability (as reforms offer longer threat extension the wider a unit is). Double water mage is also a personally preferred choice in a list with this many infantry, but you could absolutely switch one of them to Fire to get some more aggressive ranged pressure into the list.
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