G’day Goonhammer readers! Kings of War Champions has finally been revealed: a compact, rank-and-flank wargame that’s all about the heroes (and villains) of Pannithor leading their own bespoke companies to battle. It’s supposed to be quick to get out of the box and quick to play, making this possibly the best introduction to the rank-and-flank genre ever. So what’s this game all about?
The Essence of Rank-and-Flank Wargaming
Kings of War Champions takes the grand experience of rank-and-flank (also known as rank-and-file) wargaming, such as that epitomized in Kings of War, and distills it down to the most essential components. Each army is referred to as a company, and consists of three units led by their unique champion.
The units themselves are straight from Kings of War, albeit their most compact versions: troops of Men-at-arms, a single Nagarri, a Frostclaw Rider. The Champions, however, are completely new heroes and it’s these leaders of the companies that bring the real flavour to the army. These Champions are strategically integral, both in the issuing of orders to their units, but in their own right as fearsome combatants.
Kings of War Champions is played on a battlefield of 42” by 24”, which might be the smallest area for a rank-and-flank wargame ever. This battlefield is dotted with the typical terrain features like trees, walls and ruins that will impact how units move and interact. Like Kings of War, a set of scenarios will ensure the game isn’t just a deathmatch, but a strategic dance of gaining objectives and regions while holding off the enemy. Interestingly, scenarios will have designated attackers and defenders, suggestive of asymmetric scenarios and a greater narrative element.
When it comes to combat, Kings of War Champions has aimed to keep the experience lean but satisfying. Unlike Kings of War, units cannot be Wavered; they are either fighting, or they are Routed, so it always feels like something is happening. In addition, the stats of units have been tweaked. Not only do units have higher Nerve, but they also have more attacks. The idea behind this was to preserve the excitement of rolling lots of dice in combat, which normally is not the case when working with smaller units such as troops and single monsters.
Command Orders are in the game, as they are in many of Mantic’s games, but they are directly tied to the Champion. Each Champion can issue three orders which are denoted by tokens that come with the company box. Interestingly, these are placed face down and only revealed later. This is a fun bluffing mechanic that adds a nice level of depth on top of a streamlined system.
It’s All in the Box
The true simplicity of Kings of War Champions is that the whole game is in the box. The entire contents of each company are contained in their own box (with the exception of the Starter Set, but more on that later). No picking and choosing units, simply use all the models in the company’s box as they are described. These boxes contain all the bases (for multibasing units), as well as the unit cards upon which are written their stats and rules.
While many of us grizzled wargaming veterans absolutely relish the building of army lists from vast selections of units and options, for the new gamer this can be a daunting task. What is a good unit? What is a bad one? Kings of War Champions removes the dilemma altogether and provides a bespoke mini-army with which to do battle.
Each of these companies has been play-tested and balanced against each other extensively. There’s no points with which the armies can be balanced, so instead the stats and abilities of units have been tweaked to ensure that no single force was better than the others. It will be interesting to see what happens when the wider community puts these companies through their paces.
The Faith and Fury Starter Set well and truly contains everything one needs to play Kings of War Champions. It has both the Basilean and Forces of the Abyss Companies, but also dice, measuring tools, tokens, rulebook, a paper gaming mat and cardboard terrain. All one needs are some clippers and glue, and they can get a game going in an hour or two from unpacking the game. Considering the previous record for getting a game of Kings of War from product to table was at least a week, this is a substantial improvement and might find its way under a few trees come Christmas.
One thing that will be very exciting for Kings of War players is the introduction of brand-new plastic Basilean Paladins; the mounted knights of the Hegemony. These will be available separately, but demonstrate that through Kings of War Champions, small releases such as these become viable.
A Personal Touch
The smaller scale of the game lends itself to more personal stories and lore, following these Champions and their companies through their journey into the Kings of War world of Pannithor. Every Champion and unit has an identity and backstory that will weave its way through the lore of the Kings of War Champions. The rulebook is full of stories and histories, and even the unit cards have a little bit about each of the units.
The plans thus far are for 9 companies from 9 factions of Kings of War, each led by their own unique Champion. Thus far we have revealed:
- Alanis Sallustis of the Basileans, a righteous defender of the Hegemony with holy book in hand. She marches forth with Men-at-arms Spearmen (Guardians of Tarisios), crossbowmen (Watchmen of Tarisios) and the new Paladins (Gnaeus’s Lions).
Alanis Sallustis’ Basilean Company. Credit: Mantic.
- The Bloody Cardinal of the Forces of the Abyss, a great brute of an Abyssal wielding a flaming hammer and held aloft by a wretched collection of imps. He is joined by some Abyssal Berserkers (Macabre Missionaries), a Nagarri (The Slithering Bishop) and some Lower Abyssals (Cackling Choir).
The Bloody Cardinal has chonk and hammer. Credit: Mantic.
- Jordan Talensen of the Northern Alliance, a Dwarf clan leader accompanied by his own mechanical Frostclaw raven. He goes forth with Tribesmen (the Wolfpack Hunters and Wolfpack Warriors), and a Frostclaw Rider (Brock Brockersen!).
Jorden Talensen’s Northern Alliance Company. Credit: Mantic.
- La’theal Voidheart of the Twilight Kin. The same La’theal, now a twisted monstrosity of the void! She leads a Void Skiff (Captain Grimdance), three Impalers (The Void Sisters) and some Mutants (The Rejects).
La’theal Voidheart has undergone an unreal “glow-up”. Credit: Mantic.
- Grunk Blackclaw of the Goblins, a goblin rampaging around in a pilfered Dwarf Juggernaut suit dual-wielding mawpup launchers. He’s accompanied by some Goblin Sharpsticks (Grunk’s Jabbers), some Rabble (Grunk’s Stabbers) and a mincer (Grunk’s Grinder).
Grunk Blackclaw encased in juggernaut mechanical suit with custom mawpup launchers. Credit: Mantic.
- The Void Talon of the Nightstalkers, a horrid void-mockery of the Frostclaw ravens. They’re coming with some Butchers (Hammers of the Void), some Tormentors (The Bloody Mist) and Scarecrows (Shadow Harvesters).
The Void Talon’s Nightstalker Company. Credit: Mantic.
The Basilean, Abyssal, Northern Alliance and Twilight Kin Champions are all to come out on release in April. The Goblins are coming in May and the Nightstalkers in June. For each month thereafter, the final three Champions will be steadily released.
A teaser was posted by Mantic. The one with the Crocodog on a leash is clearly Ogres, which is no surprise. The image showing a rusted snow plow in front of a barrel is likely Halflings, being reminiscent of the Halflings’ Harvester.
The final mystery faction was cheekily shown blurred out in a picture of all the upcoming boxes. It’s blue and looks to be wielding a staff. It could be Trident Realms, but also Salamanders. Will there be plastic Placoderms or Ghekkotah? This is really just wild conjecture, but it’s exciting to have a definitive roadmap of Kings of War-related releases.
Thoughts of a Cytoplasm
Everyone tells me that skirmish tabletop games are a hot commodity right now, where the cost of entry to the game is low and the rules are simple. Producing a tailored, streamlined rank-and-flank experience is perhaps the closest this genre of wargaming will ever get to this skirmish-style gameplay. There’s ‘only’ 20-30 models to assemble per army, which can be even less if people follow the tenets of multibasing. This is the easiest it will ever be to try out such a game and it shows that Mantic have really thinking about how to expand their Kings of War market.
In terms of the companies, the new Champion miniatures are superb. My personal favourites are Grunk Blackclaw and the Bloody Cardinal (which are both from armies I collect). The rest of the contents of these boxes are all good miniatures, but clearly they are constrained by using only what they have produced in plastic. This means armies with only one plastic kit are unlikely to get a Champion at this stage (e.g. Salamanders, Riftforged Orcs). But I could be proven wrong, as clearly Champions can act as a means to sneak in a new release of plastic.
What I wonder is if these Champions will get rules in standard Kings of War. None of these Champions match any particular hero unit in the main game. If Kings of War Champions is supposed to be the introduction to rank-and-flank and Kings of War, then as people progress from the small game to the big game it would be nice that they can bring their beloved Champions along for the ride.
Exciting Times for Square Bases
The world of rank-and-flank wargaming has always been a little more out of reach than a typical wargame, so I am excited that Kings of War Champions is coming out. Even for veteran gamers, this could be a fun game the night before a big tournament, or when trying to entice friends to try the hobby. There’s not even thinking involved, just put the units on the table and go. It will be exciting to see where Champions will be by the end of 2026, and the state of rank-and-flank wargaming.
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
