Questions Questions

With the release of the 3rd Edition of Kings of War, one of the main things you will immediately notice is the huge amount of extra background. The stories, maps, pictures, background, diagrams and general personality of the game has been seriously ramped up. With limited background comes the ability to make up more of your own and because you are able to use non-Mantic models in the game means that is much easier. As the background becomes more fleshed out that ability can clash with the official background. It bothers some people, most don’t mind. Great ideas and exciting armies are a good thing no matter which path you follow.

With more background come more questions. Who lives on that part of the map? How does that race survive in those conditions? How could one army feasibly ally with another based on the geography? Does the character of an army mean my model choices feel out of place? Or, as came up on Facebook the other day, the question that has also been burning in me for a few years now… “If Naiads are all girls then how do they reproduce?” 

One of the main questions I found myself asking as I looked through the army lists, especially in the Uncharted Empire books was why? This was most apparent in a question that I saw on Facebook the other day and it got me thinking.

“Why doesn’t the dwarf army get a Pheonix? The background says they are more enamoured of Fulgria than any other God so it makes perfect sense”

It does make sense. So why don’t they? Lots of different considerations go into it other than the story. The bottom line is that Mantic have to make money from selling toys so from that stand point it would be great idea, the Pheonix is a standout model in a large number of awesome new resin creatures and would make a great centrepiece model (if daunting to paint….. I have one, I just haven’t started yet!). So why not? I guess for two reasons. Gaming wise it would unbalance the dwarf army a little. Their gaming style is not generally one known for speed, and Dwarves, underground dwelling sorts are not for the skies. Plus it’s abilities would unbalance things too. If it was in a Dwarf list I’d be hard pressed not to take that radiance of life and heal (5) behind a wall of Defence 6! And then if they can have a fire bird then why not fire elementals too? They have a fire priest so a surge added to him would make sense…..

But at the end of the day a giant flaming bird would just look totally out of place in a dwarf army wouldn’t it? It would even tower over the mighty Steel behemoths.

It works a little better in the Salamanders army. The army was lagging rules wise in 2nd edition they needed that extra heal, plus it fits nicely along with the fire elementals and the overall fire theme of the army. There’s a lovely little bit of background in the rulebook about the Pheonix’ migrating south and Samacris ‘lending’ them to fight for the Salamanders. It’s little bits like that that really tie the background together. That story somehow just doesn’t fit quite as well for the dwarves. 

In the end it comes down to Mantic and the rules committee and they have to make the decisions based on a huge number of variables.

Mummies and Pharaohs for example, are just totally out of place in the Undead army since the Empire of Dust took that theme but were still included as lots of people already have them in their armies and Mantic sell them in the army sets. So they’re still in the army lists as a slight oddity.

There are a few others that niggle at me too.

The theme of the Herd army appeals to me as the forest coming alive and it’s inhabitants surging forward in a thunderous tide to repel invaders and the list certainly reflects that. So why include Earth Elementals? Slow, lumbering, tough and seemingly at odds with the feel of the army.

A similar situation sits with the Order of the Green lady. A water themed list, Knights with magical water armour, Elementals and Naiads devoted to the Lady… and again, those Earth elementals slotted, seemingly at odds with the flavour of the army.

But perhaps those Earth elementals were a very shrewd business move by Mantic. New armies take time, money and effort. Starting a new one can seem like a daunting task and can put people off. But you know, if you have those Earth Elementals in your Order of the Green Lady army then all you need to buy is a few more units and you have the good core of a Dwarf army. Buy a few more units and you have a Nature army. Or a Herd army. Or a Free Dwarf army. And for those units you can form several armies around them. It keeps the game fresh and exciting for you and it makes Mantic more money (which means they can expand and invest in the game).

Several other units, Water Elementals, Gur Panthers, Forest Shamblers etc can be used in several armies and many are useful in at least two. This makes a great tie into the background too. Pannithor is a huge world populated by myriad creatures and it makes for a good story that different creatures would fight for different causes and allies at different times. It works for the background, works for Mantic, works for the game. Sorted. Obviously it has to be carefully balanced so things don’t get silly.

The main place this doesn’t work for me if the Twilight kin. I like the background that their numbers are thin on the ground and rely on Cronebound beasts and nasties to do their dirty work for them. I’ve always found it a bit weird that they use both Abyss AND Nightstalkers. They’re both suitably evil enough but they have such different feel and theme that they don’t quite fit together. On the other hand it’s a good way to get players of either of those armies to try something new, especially as Twilight kin models are thin on the ground but it also makes the army thematically a little disjointed. Personally I’d ditch the Abyssals and put in some evil monsters. Hydras and Chimera and Manticores, black dragons and giant spiders! Buuuut at the bottom of the map is that Southern rift so there’s plenty to explore in the future.

So there are things I like, things I love. Things I don’t so much. But that is the case with all stories. The main thing I love is the sheer potential. Just like that Southern rift. There are questions. There are hints and suggestions….. And this where the novels come in. That’s what really fleshes things out. It’s the stories. It’s the characterisation. It’s the depth. Mark Barber did a sterling job with Steps to Deliverance and set the standard for the future. It’s fine seeing a toy soldier in a rank. It’s another to know that characters background. It’s another to know what circumstances forced that character to be there fighting. It’s another to know his thoughts and feelings and his drives. The personality. It’s those emotions which make us sympathise with the characters and make us feel like we’re there, part of the army, part of the story. With the RPG on it’s way there is a huge potential for that personality to come through and having those (and the League of Infamy) new resin models means we can bring that character onto the tabletop too. Maybe one day we might even get a limited edition Orion model for Kings of War which would be great. And maybe one day we will get a novel about how the Wiltfather went wilty. Or even a ‘Where’s Mortibris?’ Book for kids.

Whatever happens, it will all take time and by playing games we become part of the story ourselves. I was going to make that last sentence a final joke about the Never-ending Story to finish with but then I remembered about the horse dying in the swamp and I’m going to stop writing and go and struggle with my childhood trauma instead.