Once a year, Kings of War receives its biggest update in the form of the Clash of Kings books, which makes the errata for this book the second-biggest update! To be fair, this errata changes quite a few things beyond the occasional typographical error, and we here at Goonhammer all have opinions on them!
We reviewed Clash of Kings 2025 and the Command Dice back when they were released in October, 2024. Give them a read to see our initial opinions, but read on to find out what we think of the game now, and how this errata might affect it.
Command Dice Are Seeing Red
The biggest change (for those that use them) is to Command Dice. Previously, players would start with one each of Red, White and Blue Command Dice. As of the errata, this has been changed to three Red Command Dice, substantially reducing the typical number of Command Points generated per turn.
Cytoplasm: The Command Dice previously were quite generous. Unless I absolutely needed to get 4 Command Points for a special order, the base set was sufficient to do the universal stuff. Some Accuracy and Strength here and there, an Endurance when needed. I could do the whole Command Dice mechanic without needing to spend anything on extras.
Now, it’s completely changed. The default dice will generate between 1-3 Command Points per turn, but it’s quite possible to get none. This isn’t a problem in my Trident Realms army, because their Command Orders are some of the cheapest (and best) in the entire game. A Barkskin token only costs 2 Command Points, and getting Pathfinder is only 3 Command Points! But if I want to regenerate my units with Abyssal Mutations then I will need to invest in at least a White Command Dice.
Is this a good change? I’m not sure. It turns Command Dice into an “all-or-nothing” game. Either you invest heavily to get something out of it reliably, or forget about it and enjoy the occasional reroll. This might be Command Dice going out to pasture.
Emma: I’m going to be a bit more blunt than folks might be accustomed to me being, as I was and remain very taken aback by this decision. Regardless of your opinions on Command Dice as a mechanic, which will of course vary, I feel we can all agree that the original formulation – where there was very little barrier to entry in terms of changing your list to make good use of them – made it easy to just say ‘shall we use Command Dice?’. I know that’s how my first few games with them went; we just rocked up with our usual lists and threw in this cool extra thing that cost us nothing. Now, if one wants to have reliable access to the good stuff, they’ll have to make direct tweaks for it. This means you’re likely making your list in advance for it, rather than just being able to easily try it out. I can’t say I love that, and it may be an any% record for fastest game mechanic abandonment after a public release that I’ve ever seen.
What impact this may have on a possible 4th edition is very tough to say. Keeping speculation to a minimum, I’d point out that with the timelines in which these things are generally worked on, abandoning Command Dice outright is a big challenge, especially if – as seems likely – they were given a soft intro now to prepare for wider inclusion later. I don’t envy Mantic this problem, and it’ll be very interesting to see whether they stay the course, rework things, or drop the mechanic entirely going forward.
Urr: I’ve just come back from playing Clash Aus with a list designed to utilise command dice as a major part of its plan, and importantly, it was a blast to use. So does this change impact the list? Yes, obviously, but not much. I’m simply dropping items to get myself more dice, which, as Cytoplasm mentions, turn command dice into an “all-or-nothing” choice. Would I do the same with a faction who’s commands are not as strong as the Nightstalkers? That’s the tough call. I would have loved to have seen the alternate design choice, where the powerful commands went up in points, so if you wanted to use them, you’d still have to invest, but everyone else still gets to play with the universal commands.
And what will become of command dice? We don’t know, but most of the people (that I spoke to) at Clash Aus were generally in favour of playing with Dice, though everyone knew some tweaking was in order. Those that play Firefight were heavily in favour of a port of that system, in which heroes/commanders bring their own command dice AND unique orders. I would love to see that for 4th (with a rework to the unlock system to limit said commanders).
Losing Command of Magic
Another big change might seem small, but completely changes the usefulness of several Universal Command Orders. The Accuracy Command Order allows the reroll of a single die that failed to hit either in Melee or at Range. This order has been updated to exclude spells as potential targets for this order. Now the only way to improve a spell is with the Channel Power Command Order that was specifically designed to boost spells.
Cytoplasm: It’s no secret that if you had a spell you needed to be cast, Accuracy was the go-to order to get it across the line. A re-roll of a failed dice is the same as an extra dice, negating poor old Channel Power right out the gate. Now, at least, the Channel Power order will get some time to shine. But with the reduction in default Command Dice, I reckon that time will be quite minimal.
Emma: As a Celestial Restoration fangirl, I am naturally gutted by the change, but whatever – the rework to the availability of dice makes it, in my view, very unlikely for the already limited pickup in the UK scene to be taken any further. So, the practical impact on me is limited, even if it’s technically a nerf to my pet spell. In general, rerolls on a spell were more impactful than rerolls on a traditional ranged attack (unless it’s like a cannon or whatever, and even then I’d probably rather reroll on the spell), so I’m in agreement with Cytoplasm that folks using Command Dice will now likely give this option a miss more often than not.
Urr: It’s a boring answer to just agree, but I agree. You’ll probably use it turn 1 for a Lightning Bolt, and that’s because there’s barely anything to do with dice early game. There’s a bit of a costing miss with the commands now.
Personal Top Picks in the Errata
Cytoplasm: This might not be the most exciting change for most, but the improvement of the Abyssal Nagarri to Melee 3+ was very welcome. Having used the Nagarri a few times, I have found them to be a useful addition to the list. They are a great support unit that reinforces a key element of the army. Check out my Forces of the Abyss Army Review to see just what I think of them. The problem wasn’t the rules, it was the models – they looked too cool. These giant naga-esque demons “stand” taller than Molochs and Berserkers, wielding giant axes and polearms the size of telephone poles. Despite this imposing appearance, they were liable to bounce off even chaff units, boasting a dismal Melee 4+ on 12 attacks with Crushing Strength (1). The boost to Melee 3+ is purely about the aesthetics of the unit, and now finally, they’re getting somewhere. Maybe one day they’ll be some kind of melee unit, but for 3rd edition Kings of War, they’re more snails than snakes.
Emma: I’m going to get a bit weird with it, and say the change to how scoring Loot Counters works is my top thing from this errata, as I reckon it’s going to have the biggest effect on list building. No longer can you rely on a useful Monster (for example, whose name rhymes with Po Knoll Mine), to make off like an absolute bandit in the end game, nor a Regiment of useful idiots like Zombies to quietly rack up a pile while being ignored. I expect that while it’s not going to set the world on fire and cause a complete revolution, folks will make enough minor changes and see different results in games regularly enough that this ends up being a sleeper hit.
Urr: All the little tidy ups and fixes are welcome, and should be encouraged. Things like Celestial Restoration not “technically” having blast, just a different wording but the same effect, thus escaping the “No Blast” edict on Accuracy shows the age of the edition. I’m just happy we’re getting these classifications and fixes in the wait for 4th edition.
A little bit more publicity and promotion would definitely have helped me to find the changes when I needed to write this section, so there’s still room for improvement.
What’s Next for 2025?
At almost a quarter of the way through 2025, we are wondering what is next for Kings of War. There’s been teasing of a Kings of War Champions, and some images of new models have been floating around the internet. Is this the year we change editions, or is another Clash of Kings in the works? Find out here, and hopefully soon!
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